News
Ghana: Incumbent President confident of winning second term
Mill’s chances of winning a second term hinge on the state of the economy but also improving his frosty relationship with former president Jerry John Rawlings, who still wields political influence.
Mills is expected to face his 2008 rival and main opposition candidate Nana Akufo Addo in the December 2012 poll.
Ghana enjoyed a heady 2011 thanks to the start of hydrocarbon production in the Jubilee field, which UK-listed Tullow Oil estimates contains 2 billion barrels or more.
Mills said he had met with Texas-based Kosmos Energy, one of the firms working in the field, during a trip to the United States last month and had met with executives to “iron out” disagreements.
Ghana had blocked a planned multi-billion dollar sale of Kosmos’ holdings to Exxon Mobil in 2010, arguing Kosmos had breached Ghana’s oil code.
Mills also said that Ghana was seeking “alternatives” to an agreement struck with South Korean conglomerate STX to build 200,000 houses, which is estimated to be worth $10 billion.
