The United States (US) Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Robert Jackson, has noted that Ghana lost more than $24 billion in economic growth between 2010 and 2016 as a result of insufficient power supply and outages.
Speaking at an interactive session with students of University for Development Studies (UDS) on Wa campus, said unreliable and inadequate power supply reduced the expected speed of economic development in the country.
However, he revealed that US government’s Power Africa Initiative (PAI) scheme is underway to help Ghana achieve its vision to develop a strong and efficient power sector.
According to him, under the second Millennium Challenge Compact, he said, the US government was investing 498 million dollars to transform Ghana’s power sector.
Jackson averred that “Part of that $498 million includes nearly $66 million to develop NEDCo [Northern Electricity Distribution Company] into an efficient and self-sustaining power utility – one that can spearhead economic growth in Northern Ghana”.
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Mr Jackson said under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) law, many goods from selected African countries, including many made in Ghana products, could be exported to the US free.
The Ambassador made it clear that at the moment Ghana attains reliable electricity supply, what it would need would be a healthy and educated workforce to maintain it.
