Less than one year in Office, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana has said his administration in less than one year restored electricity stability after inheriting erratic power situation from the erstwhile John Mahama government.
In Nigeria, there had been sustained calls for the review of power transactions carried out by former administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, but analysts say due to vested interests and intractable political issues, the present government had found it hard to do the needful as power crisis continues unabated.
While noting that adequate power supply is critical to the operation and success of industry, especially small and medium scale enterprises, which provide the bulk of employment, Akufo-Addo explained that the power agreement review by his administration has further brought in competitive rates of power billings.
President Akufo-Addo said “tariff rates for non-residential users of electricity, which embrace many SMEs, have been reduced by an average of 14 per cent to boost their competitiveness”.
Giving insights from his one year in government at the Flagstaff House, President Akufo-Addo said “In addition, a review of 24 power purchase agreements, which has led to the termination of eleven power deals and the rescheduling of eight others, has enabled us to save the government treasury about $7 billion in excess capacity charges over a 13-year contract period,” he said.
“We also issued a seven year and ten year cedi-denominated bonds, totaling GH¢4.7 billion, which have halved the $2.4 billion energy debt we inherited, and have helped improve the liquidity of the banks, and the balance sheets of the SOEs in the energy sector,” he said.
He assured that in 2018, Government will consolidate these gains and ensure the flow of regular, affordable power to support the economic development of Ghana.
