Let me thank you for your continuous interest in the work of ACEP. We all have a country to build, to improve on the socio-economic conditions of our people, and to provide inclusive growth and development for our sustainable well-being.

Over the past 6 years since ACEP was founded, we have rightly taken our position in the policy space of our country as an evidence-based fearless leader in Ghana’s petroleum and energy sector advocacy. We are also gradually taking our place as a pan-African think tank contributing to the policy discourse in other African countries and at continental and global levels. A casual review of the new rules for the implementation of Section 1504 of the United States Dodd Frank Law issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission clearly demonstrates ACEP's growing influence on the global stage. It is this record that we bring to our engagement with African citizens and governments.

Today, we are launching yet another initiative to fulfill our mandate of holding our governments accountable, informing and educating citizens of alternative policies for our petroleum and energy sector; and providing platform for civic participation in the policy making process. The "Citizens Agenda for Energy Sector Development" which is also called the "Citizens Energy Manifesto" is our flagship elections project aimed at using democratic elections as an instrument for generating policy reforms, building political consensus of policies and holding elected officials accountable for their promises.

We are therefore launching the first “Citizens Energy Manifesto” in Ghana for this year's general elections. The next one will be in Sierra Leone and Kenya in 2017, where we will work with partners to launch the project. It is our plan to make this a credible platform in Africa for ensuring issues-based elections on our continent.