KK Sarpong leaves post as GNPC CEO after five years

The deputy CEO in charge of technical operations at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, is now the substantive boss of GNPC.

He takes over from Dr KK Sarpong, who steps down this week after serving in the role for five years.

Dr. Sarpong’s contract expired earlier this year, but he gracefully decided to stay on for some additional time to oversee the transition process to a new CEO, reports asaaseradio.com.

“The Board with the backing of the President (the appointing authority) has decided on Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, who is the most competent for the job, especially with his multinational global experience in the energy sector,” a source said.

“Dr. Sarpong’s insightful decision of making him Deputy Chief Executive (Technical Operations) in 2020 undoubtedly helped pivot Danquah to the top spot; due to his diligent execution of GNPC’s core operations,” the source added.

Mr Opoku Ahwenneh Danquah’s appointment comes at a critical time for the domestic oil and gas industry, with a dire need to increase the country’s dwindling oil and gas reserves as the “West” calls for an energy transition to renewables.

Profile of O.A. Danquah

Danquah has over 18 years of experience in Strategy across multiple businesses with most of his focus in, but not limited to oil and gas. He joined GNPC from Vallourec, where he managed the North American Strategy, Development and Innovation team.

Before this role, Danquah held senior management positions at BHGE (Baker Hughes) and General Electric (GE). Prior to that, he was on the Advisory Board and also the Global Strategic Marketing Manager at Schlumberger’s upstream consulting arm (SBC).

Interestingly, this was the consultancy that put in place GNPC’s current operational framework post-Jubilee oil production. Mr Danquah also held a Director role at Hart Energy where he helped to establish their consulting and research group.

His professional tenure also includes working for Wood Mackenzie, IHS CERA, Euromoney Institutional Investor and Bank of America.

In addition to authoring various key industry publications, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Middlebury College, with a minor in French.

He also holds a master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Tufts University with a focus in both International Business and International Relations.

Danquah completed his Strategy coursework for his master’s degree at Harvard Business School. He is an alumnus of Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC, Legon), where he represented the school in the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ).