Policy Lead for Petroleum and Conventional Energy at the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Kodzo Yaotse, has called on the government to prioritize investments in critical sectors such as health, education, and agriculture for comprehensive economic transformation. He emphasized the importance of avoiding excessive reliance on petroleum revenue for the growth of these sectors.Mr Yaotse noted that ACEP observed a failure by the government to allocate budgetary funds to these sectors in recent years, attributing it to the belief that extractive sector revenues adequately supported them.

“The observation we have no­ticed in the data is that, as more resource revenues are allocated to a particular sector then the traditional government revenue that is originally supposed to go there keeps reducing".

“Have control over the country’s debt profile and free up more space to be able to carry out other devel­opmental projects to help resolve current challenges,”Mr Yaotse.

Speaking at an engagement with students of Wisconsin International University College, Ghana (WIUC-Ghana), Mr Yaotse highlighted the need for revenue from the extractive sector to complement other funding sources for key sectors, rather than being the primary source. The theme of the engagement focused on strengthening accountability for good resource governance through active citizenship. Mr Yaotse cautioned against the trend of allocating more resource revenues to specific sectors, resulting in a reduction of traditional government revenue intended for those sectors.

He stressed the negative impact such trends could have on the government's economic recovery program, hindering progress measurement in health, education, and agriculture.

Mr Yaotse urged the government to manage the country's debt profile effectively, freeing up resources for other developmental projects to address current challenges.

He emphasized the importance of tracking and monitoring projects funded by extractive sector revenue, stating that debt declaration alone did not ensure accountability.

Encouraging students to engage in national policies, Mr Yaotse urged them to contribute through research, advocacy, project tracking, monitoring, reporting, and partnerships.

The President of WIUC-Ghana, Professor Obeng Mireku, echoed the importance of collective action and shared responsibility in managing the country's natural resources sustainably.

Dr. Bright Mawudor, Dean of the School of Business at WIUC-Ghana, called on the government to focus on people, processes, performance, purpose, and planning to maximize the benefits of resource management.