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

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Periodical article

Title:	Networks, trust and capital mobilisation: challenges of embedded local entrepreneurial strategies in Ghana's oil and gas industry
Authors:	Ablo, Austin Dziwornu Overå, Ragnhild
Year:	2015
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies (ISSN 0022-278X)
Volume:	53
Issue:	3
Pages:	391-413
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	petroleum industry community participation entrepreneurs
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X15000385
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 article examines Ghanaian entrepreneurial activities and the dynamics of local participation in the emerging oil and gas sector. The authors 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. They 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. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]