WOGFund Boosts Local Firms Participation In Oil Sector

Date published: August 21, 2014

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19@gmail.com) & Pix by Eric Owiredu

Weston Capital has launched the first ever sector focused fund, the Weston Oil and Gas Fund (WOGFund), aimed at enhancing the participation of indigenous companies in the oil industry.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Weston Capital, Rex Kontor, said the WOGFund would support the “drive for local participation in the oil and gas industry by helping build the financial capacity of local companies operating in the sector. “The fund will create an avenue for individuals and corporate entities to participate in the success story of the oil and gas industry”.

Mr. Kontor explained at the launching ceremony that the fund would support Ghanaian companies by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of debt instruments and equities. He added: “The fund is an open-ended one, approved and licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission he said “with an unlimited number of shares at initial price of Ghana pesewas 20 per share.”

Mr. Kontor mentioned that among the aims of the fund was to create an avenue for indigenes to assume center stage in the oil and gas industry by “creating an investment vehicle for them.” Again, he said it was also meant to create an avenue for multinationals and support agencies to channel sustainable investments into helping build the capacity of local suppliers and services providers to deliver industry required international standards.

The activities in the oil and gas industry require “huge capital,” the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commissions, Adu Antwi Anane said. “As a specialty fund with a focus on the oil and gas industry, it creates an avenue for every Ghanaian to invest in the country’s oil and gas sector” he noted explaining that it would bring innovation in, and also help provide the needed capital for further expansion of the industry.

The fund would “let ordinary Ghanaians feel part of the oil and gas industry and generate more public interest in the industry,” he stated.

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