Ghana’s minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Ekow Spio-Gabrah says the current energy crisis facing the country which is commonly known as “Dumsor Dumsor” is a blessing to Ghana since it has attracted proposals from other countries such as Denmark, India, South Africa, Turkey, and Brazil among others, who are willing to invest in the country’s energy sector to address the situation.
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.
His comments came when he addressed top global business leaders at the Africa CEO Forum in Geneva, Switzerland.
He revealed that Ghana has so far received over 20 proposals from top firms in the US, Germany and China among others to address the energy crisis.
For him, these projects are from all sources of energy, including gas, coal, wind, solar, biomass, waste-to-energy, mini-hydro and even sea wave, and 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.
Spio-Gabrah said,?Ghana as a country has the second-highest penetration of power to the general population, at 76% of the population, second only to South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa with 80% of whose population had access to electricity.
Source: spyGhana.com
