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Networks, trust and capital mobilisation: challenges of embedded local entrepreneurial strategies in Ghana's oil and gas industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2015

Austin Dziwornu Ablo  and
Ragnhild Overå
Austin Dziwornu Ablo*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway
Ragnhild Overå*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway
*
Email:austin.ablo@uib.no
Email:ragnhild.overa@uib.no
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Abstract

In December 2010 Ghana pumped its first oil and a local content law was passed in 2013 to promote local participation in the oil and gas industry. This paper examines Ghanaian entrepreneurial activities and the dynamics of local participation in the emerging oil and gas sector. We explore Ghanaian entrepreneurs' strategies of mobilising networks to acquire information, build trust, raise financial capital and reduce risk with the aim to gain entry, win contracts and participate in the oil and gas industry. We argue that the resources and strategies activated by entrepreneurs embedded in the context of the Ghanaian business environment are inadequate and problematic when deployed in the context of the international oil and gas industry. The international oil companies' cost-intensive standard requirements and state officials' informal interventions further limit local firms' prospects for participation in the oil and gas industry.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , September 2015 , pp. 391 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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