The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCC), Mark Badu-Aboagye, has welcomed President Akufo-Addo’s pledge to cover communities bereft of electricity coverage in his second term.
According to him, there should also be a significant reduction in the cost of power itself, across the country.
Speaking in an interview, Mr. Badu-Aboagye commending the move by government intimated that, the cost of electricity to businesses is crippling rendering its usage cumbersome to them.
“I think it’s very good and welcomed news. For every business operation, electricity is very key, either in the services sector or agriculture sector. And also more importantly in the manufacturing sector. So electricity to all the other parts of the country for us, I think is going to open up a lot of businesses.
“But let me also be quick and add that it’s not just enough sending electricity to these areas, I think the cost of electricity is also very key. If you look at the cost and compare to other parts of the world, especially even in West Africa, the cost of electricity to businesses in Ghana is very high. If it’s there and the businesses and the SMEs cannot use it, of course, they cannot benefit from it. So they should also consider the cost and affordability of electricity as well”.
President Akufo-Addo in his inaugural address in Parliament, following his swearing-in ceremony for his second term on January 7, 2021, intimated that his government will be committing enough resources to ensure power supply is extended to all communities that are lacking before he leaves office.
“I pledge before this august House and the good people of Ghana that all I do will be for the common good, and, with the firm foundation laid in my first term of office, we shall take a significant step towards reducing the infrastructure deficit that has plagued us all throughout our nationhood.
“The remaining fifteen percent (15%) of our communities without electricity would be covered by the end of my second term. We have already begun constructing hospitals in the remaining districts that do not have one – a process which will be completed within a year”.
In the past decade, Ghana has experienced severe electricity supply challenges costing the nation an average of US $2.1 million in loss of production daily. This situation has developed even though installed generation capacity has more than doubled over the period; increasing from 1,730 MW in 2006 to 3,795 MW in 2016.
The peak electricity demand only increased by 50 percent during this same period, increasing from 1,393 MW in 2006 to 2,087 MW in 2016. The electricity supply challenges can be attributed to a number of factors, including a high level of losses in the distribution system, which is mainly due to the obsolete nature of distribution equipment, as well as nonpayment of revenue by consumers.
That notwithstanding, data from the Energy Ministry revealed that access to Electricity in Ghana as at the end of 2020 was around 84 percent.
Promising a reduction of percentage of Ghanaians without access to potable water following the commencement of work on a number of water supply projects across all parts of the country, the President revealed the majority of “our people live in unacceptable housing, and we shall tackle the problem with vigour”.
