"Ghana\u2019s electricity crisis is holding the country back

" \r\n \r\n \r\n Ghana\u2019s electricity crisis is holding the country back - how it got\u00a0here \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\nFor well over a decade Ghana was exalted as one of the most promising and\u00a0 fastest growing \u00a0economies on the continent.\r\n\r\nBut\u00a0 recent reports \u00a0of the country\u2019s steep\u00a0 economic dip , high\u00a0 inflation \u00a0and\u00a0 rolling blackouts , popularly referred to as \u201cdumsor\u201d, suggest the era of inconsistent electricity between 2012 and 2016 is back.\r\n\r\nThe west African nation is experiencing power rationing and electricity cuts. It has\u00a0 lost 10% \u00a0of its total electricity generation capacity. Not only is the supply of clean energy insufficient in Ghana: access is also uneven. The rural poor rely on other forms of energy such as firewood or biomass to meet their needs. Biomass accounts for over\u00a0 46% \u00a0of energy use in Ghana\u2019s rural areas.\r\n\r\nThe correlation between energy, economic growth and development is widely recognised. The ability of energy to power economies is also well known.\r\n\r\nThe gaps in electricity delivery in a nation typically lauded for its economic success and political stability are at odds with energy abundance that I note in\u00a0 my book \u00a0on Ghana\u2019s energy politics.\r\n\r\nThis latest crisis could upend Ghana\u2019s previously notable economic gains.\r\n\r\nThe current energy paralysis is particularly worrying for two reasons. Ghana is frequently touted as a hub for foreign investment and tourism. Neither of these can flourish without energy. Secondly, it could prompt Ghanaians to leave the country and discourage people in the diaspora from returning.\r\n\r\n Some history \r\n\r\nUnderstanding Ghana\u2019s electricity conundrum requires a look at past policies. In less than a decade following independence in 1957, the country could boast of having one of the continent\u2019s largest dams and hydroelectric projects, the Akosombo and Volta River Project.\r\n\r\nPolitical upheaval in the following decades destroyed the vision of progress. A rapid succession of regimes and the ravages of structural adjustment policies in the 1980s and 1990s challenged the ability of Ghana to clean up decrepit energy institutions.\r\n\r\nPoor energy supply and demand chain dynamics or forecasting produced deeply disparate outcomes. Energy institutions did not adequately capture heightened demand in urban and rural areas. This happened amid international financial institutional pressure to liberalise the energy sector as a condition for support. Utility sector reform inadvertently made it harder to supply energy to those who needed it the most. Added to this were insufficient funds and budgetary constraints which limited generation and transmission capacity.\r\n\r\n Energy capacity \r\n\r\nIn 2019, an International Energy Association\u00a0 report \u00a0noted that half of Ghana\u2019s electricity came from hydropower, 30% from domestically produced gas and 23% from oil.\r\n\r\nGhana\u2019s hydro-wealth includes an installed capacity of 1,580 megawatts of energy from three dams: Akosombo, Kpong and Bui, which account for roughly 54% of its total electricity generating capacity.\r\n\r\nThe completion of the Bui Dam by Chinese contractors\u00a0 in 2013 \u00a0was intended to offset poor access. Additional thermal plants constructed since 2017 should have improved disparities in electricity delivery.\u00a0 Thermal plants \u00a0draw from steam power that is generated by burning oil, liquid natural gas and coal.\r\n\r\n The rural poor \r\n\r\nBut\u00a0 less than 60% of the population \u00a0has access to electricity. This energy poverty has been acute since the 1990s. It\u2019s especially alarming for a country that boasts a resource of\u00a0 a billion barrels of offshore oil .\r\n\r\nThe connections between rural development and electrification were noted in a Ministry of Energy\u00a0 report \u00a0over a decade ago.\r\n\r\nIn my view, the use of electricity as a tool for political parties is incompatible with addressing provision to the rural poor. Around\u00a0 2.99 million people \u00a0in Ghana live in extreme poverty, the majority in rural areas.\r\n\r\nThe country\u2019s energy \u201cfutures\u201d appear tethered to donor-driven aid and investment. The political wherewithal or impetus to develop a framework that meets differing energy needs remains absent, as I demonstrate in my work.\r\n\r\n Other implications \r\n\r\nGhanaians and international observers are asking what is to be done. Regional power sharing arrangements like the\u00a0 West Africa Power Pool , intended to boost long term energy security, have yielded little thus far.\r\n\r\nIn my view, a key step is to ask what kind of sustainable energy future the country wants.\r\n\r\nCalling for donor-led and international financial assistance is not the answer. It is time to change expectations about grid connection, the preferred way of electricity delivery in Ghana, as previous\u00a0 studies have shown .\r\n\r\nFor Ghana, harnessing renewable energies that are sustainable, dependable and affordable, especially for the rural poor, is a key step.\r\n\r\nAnother strategy is to encourage public dialogue about the country\u2019s energy futures.\r\n\r\nGhana must deploy a just and inclusive energy framework that attends to its rural populations just as much as its urbanites.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \t \r\n \r\n "

"Ghana\u2019s electricity crisis is holding the country back

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