A price floor defeats that objective and limits the benefits that should accrue to consumers
In Ghana's ongoing negotiation between market freedom and regulatory stability, a former parliamentarian has renewed a fundamental question: can a price floor and genuine deregulation coexist? Paul Apreku Twum Barimah, once the voice of Dormaa East, argues they cannot — that the National Petroleum Authority's minimum fuel price, however recently adjusted, is a contradiction dressed as policy. His call to scrap the floor entirely reflects a broader tension familiar to developing economies: the temptation to protect a sector through control, even as that control quietly burdens the people it claims to serve.
- A former MP is not satisfied with the NPA's recent price floor adjustment — he wants the entire policy dismantled, not trimmed.
- Efficient oil marketing companies sit on cost advantages they legally cannot pass to consumers, while less competitive operators are shielded from the pressure to improve.
- Low-income households and transport workers — the most fuel-dependent segments of Ghana's informal economy — are absorbing costs that market competition could otherwise reduce.
- Global crude prices are falling in places, and geopolitical shifts are creating supply opportunities, but the price floor prevents those gains from ever reaching the pump.
- The NPA's adjustment signals awareness, but Twum Barimah insists awareness without structural change is not reform — it is delay.
Paul Apreku Twum Barimah, former Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, has called for the complete abolition of Ghana's fuel price floor, arguing that the National Petroleum Authority's recent decision to lower the minimum threshold misses the point entirely. He acknowledged the adjustment as a sign that NPA leadership under Edudzi Tamakloe is responsive to market signals — but stopped well short of calling it a fix.
The price floor, introduced in April 2024 to stabilize the downstream petroleum sector and curb what the NPA termed unhealthy competition, sets a regulatory minimum below which fuel cannot be sold. Twum Barimah argues this is a fundamental contradiction: Ghana had already deregulated its fuel market, and a price floor reintroduces the very constraints deregulation was designed to remove. The result is near-uniform pricing that protects inefficient operators while preventing more capable ones from competing on the only dimension that matters in a commodity market — price.
The human stakes are concrete. Efficient oil marketing companies possess the supply chains and operational capacity to sell below current rates, but the rules forbid it. Low-income households and transport operators, who feel fuel price movements most acutely, are denied the savings that genuine competition would deliver. When global crude prices dip, the floor price acts as a wall, blocking those benefits from reaching local consumers.
Geopolitical turbulence — involving the United States, Israel, and Iran — has created volatility in global oil markets, but also opportunities. Some operators have secured product at lower costs through alternative supply arrangements. Under a free market, that advantage would flow to consumers. Under the current regime, it evaporates at the pump.
Twum Barimah's position is unambiguous: the policy should be scrapped in full. Partial adjustments, he argues, leave money on the table for the households that need relief most, and preserve a system that defeats the entire purpose of deregulation.
Paul Apreku Twum Barimah, who represented Dormaa East in Parliament, has taken aim at Ghana's fuel price floor policy, arguing that the National Petroleum Authority's recent decision to lower the minimum price threshold does not address the core problem. On May 3, 2026, the NPA announced an adjustment to the policy. Twum Barimah welcomed the move as evidence that the Authority's leadership, under Chief Executive Edudzi Tamakloe, is paying attention to market conditions. But he stopped short of calling it a solution.
The real issue, he contends, is the policy itself. A price floor—a regulatory floor beneath which fuel cannot be sold—fundamentally breaks the market. It prevents oil marketing companies from competing on price, which is the primary lever of competition in a commodity business where the product is essentially identical from one seller to the next. Twum Barimah knows of operators with the operational efficiency and supply chains to sell petrol and diesel below current rates. They cannot do so because the NPA's rules forbid it. The result is near-uniform pricing across the market, which sounds stable but is actually a form of price control masquerading as deregulation.
When the policy was introduced in April 2024, the stated goal was to curb what the Authority called unhealthy competition and to stabilize the downstream petroleum sector. But Ghana had already deregulated its fuel market. A price floor reintroduces the very constraints that deregulation was meant to eliminate. Twum Barimah argues that true deregulation should promote efficiency and competition—the things that drive innovation and cost reduction. A price floor does the opposite. It protects less efficient operators by preventing more efficient ones from undercutting them. It also makes it harder for smaller and emerging firms to gain market share through aggressive pricing.
The human cost falls on those least able to absorb it. Low-income households and transport operators—the backbone of Ghana's informal economy—are most vulnerable to fuel price swings. If efficient operators could pass their cost savings directly to consumers, these groups would benefit most. But the floor price prevents that transmission. Twum Barimah also points to a timing problem: when global crude oil prices fall, a fixed minimum price can block those savings from reaching the local market. Consumers miss out on the benefits of favorable international trends.
Geopolitical volatility adds another layer of complexity. Tensions involving the United States, Israel, and Iran have roiled global oil markets. Some oil marketing companies have managed to secure products at lower costs through alternative supply arrangements—a competitive advantage that should translate into lower pump prices. Instead, the pricing regime locks them in place. They cannot compete on the one dimension that matters in a commodity market.
Twum Barimah's argument is straightforward: scrap the policy entirely. Acknowledge that the recent adjustment is a step, but recognize that it is not enough. Let the market work. Let efficient operators compete. Let consumers feel the benefit of competition and global price movements. The price floor, he insists, defeats the entire purpose of deregulation and leaves money on the table for the households that need relief most.
Citações Notáveis
Reducing the floor price is commendable, but the policy itself must be removed altogether to allow competition to work effectively— Paul Apreku Twum Barimah, former MP for Dormaa East
Deregulation was intended to promote efficiency and competition. A price floor defeats that objective and limits the benefits that should accrue to consumers— Paul Apreku Twum Barimah
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Twum Barimah think a price floor is worse than just letting prices rise and fall freely?
Because a floor prevents the companies that are actually good at their job—the ones with better supply chains, lower costs—from proving it. They can't undercut their competitors. In a commodity market, price is how you compete.
But didn't the NPA introduce the floor to stop what they called unhealthy competition?
That's the irony. Ghana already deregulated fuel. The floor reintroduces price control through the back door. It's supposed to be a free market, but it's not—it's a managed one.
Who actually loses under this system?
The people who can least afford it. Transport operators, low-income households. They're the ones paying the price for a policy that protects inefficient operators instead of rewarding efficient ones.
What about the global oil price angle he mentions?
When crude falls on world markets, that should mean cheaper fuel at the pump. But a fixed floor blocks that. Consumers miss out on international price drops because the minimum price stays the same.
Is he saying the NPA's recent adjustment was pointless?
No. He's saying it's a gesture, not a solution. You can lower the floor, but as long as a floor exists, you're still preventing competition from working the way it should.
What would full deregulation actually look like?
No minimum price. Let the market find its own level. Efficient operators undercut inefficient ones. Consumers benefit. Innovation happens because companies have to find ways to cut costs to survive.