The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) says investor confidence particularly in the oil and gas sector will soar following the favourable ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea that Ghana can go ahead with ongoing exploration and exploitation.
According to one of the biggest business groups in the country, Ghana will benefit significantly from the ruling as it sends positive signal to investors as well as strong rule of law.
Executive Director, Seth Twum Akwaboah told a cross-section of journalists that the ruling is a good omen for the country since it will also boost foreign direct investments in all sectors of the economy.
“The ruling is good for the country as investor confidence will rise, foreign direct investment is expected to go up in the oil and gas sector in particular. We need to however resolve our grievances with the Ivory Coast so that we can continue drilling new oil wells.”
Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Saturday ordered Ghana not to carry out any new oil drilling activities in waters disputed with Ivory Coast, pending a final judgment.
The African oil-producing neighbours took their case to the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea after months of fruitless negotiations.
Ivory Coast had asked the body to suspend all ongoing oil exploration and exploitation by Ghana, but the interim ruling did not go as far as that, saying doing so would risk "considerable financial loss to Ghana" and could possibly harm the marine environment.
The body instead told Ghana to "take all necessary steps to ensure that no new drilling... takes place in the disputed area".
The maritime border between the two countries cuts through offshore oil fields that both nations are eager to exploit, but there are claims the boundary has not been properly demarcated.
The area in dispute is believed to hold the biggest hydrocarbon resources discovered in West Africa for the last decade.
Ahead of a final ruling on precisely where the maritime border lies, the tribunal ordered both parties to "pursue cooperation and refrain from any unilateral action that might lead to aggravating the dispute".
Meanwhile, shares of Tullow Oil surged immediately on Monday after the weekend ruling that rejected Ivory Coast demand that work on a Tullow-operated field in disputed waters off the coast of Ghana be stopped.
Tullow’s shares had jumped 4.43 per cent to 436.50 pence per share though they had earlier surged as much as nine per cent. The company’s stock is still down more than 40 per cent on an annual basis.
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