Editorial: Transparency concern raised about amended PRMA Act

The Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) amendment is sparking concern among civil society organisations about transparency in the use of oil revenues. At a CSOs) Budget Forum, this concern was highlighted.

For instance, unlike previous budgets which detailed the share of Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) utilised, the 2025 budget statement and mid-year review listed projects without indicating specific allocations.

Policy Lead for Petroleum and Conventional Energy at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Kodzo Yoatse notes that it makes accounting for how much was spent later a difficult thing. He hence urged government to ensure expenditures continue complying with the PRMA.

This concern became pronounced after the ABFA was restricted to funding government’s flagship ‘Big Push’ programme. Mr. Yoatse however warns that dedicating all ABFA revenues to road infrastructure over the next two years will crowd out funding for critical equity programmes.

In the past, petroleum revenues supported education, health and agriculture. With this change, those interventions may no longer materialise, he laments. “Government has to disclose how it intends to fill the gap and complement those expenditures.”

Furthermore, Mr. Yoatse points to transparent disclosures to show how government is working at addressing declining output. “Production has been falling for five years,” he said. “If we don’t put in measures quickly, our future as an oil-producing country will be endangered.”

“If the levy ‘s objective is to pay for energy sector shortfalls while government works to improve revenue efficiency through new measures, then the expectation is that, at some point, we should no longer see debt accumulating in the power sector,” Mr. Yoatse notes.

The pre-budget engagement by CSOs is said to be in line with the Finance Ministry’s ‘2026–2029 Budget Input’ request. The ministry has begun the process of developing its budget statement and economic policy for presentation to parliament by November 15, 2025 and requested inputs from the public for consideration in the 2026–2029 National Budget.

The CSOs Budget Forum therefore took stock of budget performance so far – from January to date – and made recommendations for the years ahead.

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