Power Crisis: World Bank’s Anna Bjerde calls for implementation of Emergency Action Plan to salvage energy sector
Anna Bjerde, the Managing Director for Operations at the World Bank, has made a call to the Government of Ghana, urging them to swiftly implement an emergency action plan aimed at rectifying the inefficiencies that have been plaguing the country’s energy sector.
Ms Bjerde emphasized that failure to address these issues promptly would lead to entrenched challenges and an exacerbation of the existing problems within the sector.
Speaking at a media briefing held at the World Bank’s headquarters on Friday, July 14, following her recent three-day visit to Ghana, Ms Bjerde stressed the necessity for substantial investments in billing, metering, and collection processes to achieve the desired revenue outcomes.
She cautioned that without a sense of urgency in addressing the inefficiencies, the government would be forced to allocate more resources to the struggling energy sector, diverting funds from other crucial areas of the economy that require attention.
“If inefficiencies in the energy sector are not addressed with a sense of emergency, things will get worse and the Government will have to spend more on the sector when it could have used those resources to do something else,” she remarked.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation, Ms Bjerde stated that Ghana requires a comprehensive emergency action plan to rescue its energy sector, with a particular focus on power generation. She further noted that the World Bank has been actively assisting the Ghanaian government in implementing reforms aimed at improving overall efficiency within the energy sector.
“Ghana needs an emergency action plan to save its energy sector, and the Government as it implements its emergency action plan must critically look at and invest in billing, metering, and collection to get the desired revenue from the sector,” she noted.
Meanwhile, the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), a prominent energy policy think tank in the country, has shed light on the primary objective of the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme for the country’s energy sector.
According to ACEP, the objective of the IMF programme for the energy sector, is to establish a financially self-sustaining power sector, relieving the sector of the burden of significant under-recoveries projected to reach an alarming GHS 97 billion ($8.81bn) between 2023 and 2026.
ACEP outlined that the IMF programme places considerable emphasis on two critical areas: the implementation of cost-reflective tariffs and the enhancement of distribution system efficiency. These measures have been designed to address persistent issues that previous programmes failed to adequately tackle.
The urgency of the energy sector situation necessitates immediate action from the Government to tackle the inefficiencies that have plagued the power sector. As emphasized by Ms Bjerde, by swiftly implementing the recommended emergency action plan and prioritizing vital areas such as billing, metering, and revenue collection, Ghana can lay the foundation for a more efficient and sustainable energy sector, capable of meeting the country’s ever-growing energy demands.