Entrepreneurship, poverty and accountability: critical reflections on the impact of Ghana’s local content laws on affected communities

Resource extraction in sub-Saharan Africa has often taken the form of enclaves, which have generated few upstream and downstream industries, and overall, catalysed minimal economic development. In 2013, three years after drilling its ‘First Oil’, Ghana passed a local content law. At the time, it was heralded as a ‘game changer’ that would facilitate unprecedented inclusion of indigenous people in the oil industry. However, despite its good intentions, participation from affected communities remains low due to a dearth of skills, incompatible business structures and a lack of capital. Rather, fishing communities bordering drilling sites have seen a destruction of their livelihoods. Female fishmongers who are the primary breadwinners and formal financial supporters of fishermen in these communities have experienced a steep decline in their business activities. Using a qualitative research methodology, this paper draws on the life histories of 10 purposively selected female fishmongers in the Western Region of Ghana whose economic activities have been gravely affected by a lack of accountability on the part of the government and its agencies, misaligned CSR projects implemented by International Oil Companies, and the limited capacity of NGOs to champion the cause of these communities. The paper finds that because these fishmongers are confined into an informal space, their needs are often ignored when CSR-related and social policy decisions are being made. It is argued that local content regulations, which tend to ignore the needs of micro-enterprises, often exacerbate, as opposed to alleviate, poverty. Equipping micro- enterprise owners with basic business skills, such as the knowledge to draft business plans and an understanding of core markets, would go a long way toward positioning them to manage effectively the risks large-scale extractive industries pose to their livelihoods, and put them in a better position to create job opportunities for others