The Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah has asked Ghanaians to appreciate the strides made by government in improving the country’s energy situation rather than complaining.
According to him, stated Ghana’s current energy situation is much more efficient than that of many other African countries. According to him, the country’s installed 3,000 megawatts capacity, is the highest penetration of power per population in the whole of sub-Sahara Africa.
The African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) has revealed that Ghana`s expected generation this year amounts to 580 Megawatts, which will be less than the projected peak demand of 2,600 Megawatts. But addressing some business delegations at a breakfast meeting in Accra, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah said about 78% of Ghanaians have access to electricity, arguing that not having the means to tap the power does not mean it does not exist. “The water system and electricity works a lot better in Ghana than in many parts of Africa, and indeed to our surprise Ghana is actually the country with the highest penetration of power per population in the whole of sub-Sahara Africa.”
The onetime presidential hopeful of the governing National Democratic Congress asked Ghanaians to appreciate the strides made by the current and former NDC administration in resolving the power crisis and stop the complaints. “In fact, about 10 African countries put together, the power they have is less than Ghana.
If you add the power available to Burkina Faso, Mali, guinea, Sierra Leon, Liberia, Benin, Togo etc, Ghana has more power than them. In countries like Sierra Leon and Liberia, they have 50 Megawatts, the whole country 100 Megawatts. We are dealing with 3,000 Megawatts and we are complaining”. Ghana has been battling with energy crisis for about four years resulting in the shedding of load to support the daily activities of citizens.
Although there has been a significant improvement in the situation, cost of living has gone up following increases in the price of electricity, water and petroleum products.
