Ghana’s Petroleum Hub Development Corp. (PHDC) has entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with an international consortium for a proposed $28-billion second phase of the country’s multiphased petroleum hub to be built in the Jomoro municipal district of the country’s Western Region.

Signed with a consortium led by UAE-based Global Sphere FZE on behalf of investors from South Korea, Mali, and the UAE, the MOU covers development of Phase 2’s planned 300,000-b/sd refinery, two petrochemical plants, 4 million cu m of storage, and a multi-berth jetty under a build-own-operate model that—if approved—would lead to start of construction within 6 months of the agreement’s Oct. 19 signing, PHDC said in a release.

Phase 2 will be the second tranche of the three-phased project that collectively aims to add three grassroots refineries totaling 900,000 b/sd, five new petrochemical plants, fresh storage capacity of 10 million cu m, and at least two jetties supporting imports and exports.

Dr. Toni Aubynn, PHDC’s chief executive officer, described the MOU as an opportunity to develop Ghana’s industrial capacity and create jobs.

Investor representative Boubacar Belco Bah said the consortium would work with PHDC, AMS Technologies, the project development consortium, and technical and financial institutions on project preparation and risk allocation, including plans for participation by Ghanaian contractors, professionals, and service providers.

While its confirmation of this latest agreement sets out Phase 2’s proposed installations and construction window, PHDC did not specify financing commitments, detailed partner responsibilities, or a commissioning schedule.

The precise identity of AMS Technologies was neither revealed nor could be confirmed, but PHDC previously announced an investment consortium dubbed “AMS/Double Tree Capital Bank” visited PHDC offices in early December 2025 with an expression of interest in exploring investment opportunities for Phase 2 of the project.

Advancing the project

Previously estimated at a combined cost of $60 billion for development in a 2024-36 window, the three-phased Jomoro downstream hub is planned across a 20,000-acre tract PHDC earlier secured in Ghana’s Western Region.

Established in 2020 to oversee the project and facilitate private-sector investment, PHDC signed an agreement in June 2024 with a consortium comprising Touchstone Capital Group Holdings Ltd., UIC Energy Ghana Ltd., China Wuhan Engineering Co. Ltd., and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd. for the first phase, which will include a 300,000-b/sd refinery, a petrochemical plant, 3 million cu m of storage, and jetty and port infrastructure.

Phase 1 of the project officially broke ground Aug. 19, 2024, in Nawule, Jomoro.

Under the hub’s overall plan, each of its three phases is to include a 300,000-b/sd refinery, with the potential to expand to 500,000 b/sd each between 2030-35. The master plan also provides for five multipurpose petrochemical plants, with natural gas and refinery-derived products as planned feedstocks.

The project comes as part of Ghana’s objective to expand domestic processing of its natural resources, as well as to reduce the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products.

Production from the planned hub would also be able serve markets across Africa, including the African Continental Free Trade Area, while also contributing to regional development of supporting port, logistics, utilities, and industrial infrastructure, according to PHDC.