Ghana has received over 20 proposals from top firms in the US, Germany and China among others to address the energy crisis, the trade minister has revealed.
According to Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, the power deficit of some 500 megawatts has provided an opportunity for foreign direct investment as well as public-private partnerships in the energy sector.
Speaking to top global business leaders attending the Africa CEO Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, Dr. Spio-Garbrah said the blackout locally known as ‘dumsor’ has attracted proposals from other countries such as Denmark, India, South Africa, Turkey, and Brazil among others.
He said these projects are from all sources of energy, including gas, coal, wind, solar, biomass, waste-to-energy, mini-hydro and even sea wave.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah noted that if investors considered the human life cycle, “from birth to death or from cradle to grave”, or even the average person’s daily needs, opportunities for investment in the urban communities of a country such as Ghana ranged from housing to transportation, to shopping centres, food supply, building and office equipment and supplies, and utilities. Increasingly, for major public investments in utilities such as water, sewerage, sanitation and water treatment, and waste disposal and management involved various models of public-private partnerships.
He described Ghana as a country with the second-highest penetration of power to the general population, at 76% of the population, second only to South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa, 80% of whose population had access to electricity.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah explained that Ghana’s rural electrification project is a major success factor to Ghana’s capacity for rural industrialisation.
Source: GhanaWeb
