A latest report by the World Bank has placed Ghana first in access to electricity in Sub- Saharan Africa.
The World Bank’s April 2023 Africa’s Pulse Report, which assessed electricity access rate between 2015 and 2021 scored Ghana 81.2 per cent.
According to the report, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, and Senegal followed the ranking order, scoring 77.0 per cent, 76.0 per cent, and 73.5 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, Nigeria, Rwanda, and the Gambia placed 5th, 6th, and 7th after scoring 69.1 per cent, 65.0 per cent, and 61.0 per cent respectively.
The Report also noted that Ghana, together with Rwanda, and Kenya are on track to achieving full energy access by 2030. The World Bank noted that access to energy is one of the most profound development challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa.
The report stated that In 2022, 600 million people in Africa, representing 43 per cent of the continent, lacked access to electricity, out of which the vast majority of them – 590 million or 98 per cent are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Countries Closing Energy Access Gaps
The Report said although countries have made progress in closing energy access gaps, millions of people lacked modern energy services.
“Africa’s rapidly growing population has translated to energy demand increasingly, outstripping supply. At present, Africa has 18 per cent of the world’s population but less than six per cent of global energy consumption.”
World Bank
The World Bank indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has eroded gains made in the preceding five years as the number of people without access to electricity increased by four per cent in 2021, compared to 2019.
“The pandemic had the largest effect on the installation of new stand-alone off-grid systems, as the majority of new connections since 2020 have been grid connections.”
World Bank
Meanwhile, last week, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with AKSA Energy Company Limited for a 205MW (ISO) Thermal Power Plant.
The 240-month agreement was signed as part of the strategy to stabilize and enhance power reliability in the middle belt of Ghana, as well as encourage power exports.
The benefits of this AKSA agreement include enhancing power generation capacity and voltage stability for customers in the middle belt of Ghana and for exports and also to ensure highly competitive commercial terms and price which will reduce the indebtedness of the energy sector, because ECG is relieved of bank guarantees and fuel purchase.
The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh charged ECG to ensure the full operationalisation of the agreement in the interest of Ghanaians.
With all these efforts by the Ghanaian government to add more capacity to the national grid, it is not surprising that the country emerged the first in the latest research findings.
