Professor published in Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law

Professor Evar Oshionebo has published the article "Sovereign Wealth Funds in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Ghana Petroleum Funds" in the Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law.

Abstract

The Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 established the Ghana Petroleum Funds (GPF) for the purposes of investing and saving Ghana's petroleum revenues. This article argues that, while the Act provides clear legal and governance frameworks for the GPF, the effectiveness of the GPF could be hindered by certain flaws inherent in the Act. The Act does not sufficiently empower some of the oversight mechanisms that are vital for the efficient management of any sovereign wealth fund. Moreover, the Act appears to place needlessly broad discretionary powers on the Minister of Finance by empowering the Minister to declare information relating to the GPF as confidential if they think that disclosure of such information would prejudice the performance of the GPF. The article argues that the Minister's discretion could be counter-productive to the transparency of the GPF, a key prescription of the Santiago Principles.