Ghana plans to export electricity to Nigeria

Ghana plans to export electricity to Nigeria
Ghana says it is planning to export
thousands of megawatts of electricity to
Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other neighbouring
countries that have power deficit.
The Ghanaian President, Mr. John Mahama,
who made the disclosure at the Africa Global
Business and Economic Forum in Dubai on
Wednesday, said his government had made
huge investments in power generation that
would enable the country to export excess
electricity to Nigeria and others.
“We have given priority to electricity
generation in our country. We have
prioritised energy in such a way that we
want to become the hub for power
production in West Africa. We want to
generate electricity to the point that excess
power can be exported to Nigeria, Ivory
Coast and other countries that have power
deficit,” he said.
To achieve this dream, Mahama said his
country had secured export-import financing
from China as well as special funds from
Abu Dhabi to commence series of power
generation projects, adding that a third
hydropower dam project was already at an
advanced stage.
The Ghanaian leader spoke in a panel
discussion along with President Paul
Kagame of Rwanda and President Mulatu
Wirtu of the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia.
Mahama added, “Where Africa faces some of
its challenges lies its biggest opportunities.
We are leveraging on public-private sector
partnership to build infrastructure. Be it
roads, electricity, ports or communication
systems; if we create the right environment,
investors will come.
“Creating the right environment that will
attract foreign direct investment is key.”
In achieving this, the Ghanaian leader joined
Kagame and Wirtu to emphasise the need for
African governments to strengthen anti-
corruption agencies in their various
countries.
“Issues of accountability and transparency
are very important. There must be
mechanism to fight corruption. We all have
institutions but the major thing is resourcing
them to effectively fight corruption and
perform effectively,” he noted.
According to Kagame, African governments
must create a system that is not
sympathetic to corruption, saying this would
help drive the required Foreign Direct
Investment into the continent.
He said, “It is one thing to have the
institutions; it is another thing to allow them
to work. Governance and structure must be
in place to make them to work,” he said.
“African governments must fix infrastructure,
investment in development of education and
skills, and also enhance connectivity among
African countries.”
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plans-to-export-electricity-to-nigeria/