Refocus efforts on making electricity cheaper, Ben Nsiah urges Herbert Krapah
Nsiah also called on the Minister of State-designate at the Energy Minister to address the debt issues plaguing the energy sector
Energy expert Ben Nsiah has urged Herbert Krapah, th Minister of State-designate at the Energy Ministry to prioritise reducing costs of electricity in Ghana.
Nsiah’s call comes after President Nana Akufo-Addo nominated Krapah amid expectations that the current Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, will be confirmed as the running mate for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s Big Bulletin on Wednesday (3 July), Nsiah emphasised the need for a stable, reliable, and high-quality power supply nationwide.
“As a country, what we expect from the new minister is to ensure a stable, reliable and quality supply of power to our various households,” he said.
Nsiah highlighted that Ghana’s electricity costs are significantly higher than those in neighbouring countries.
“If you take the energy sector recovery programme, it says that our electricity should be sold around 18 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to promote growth and also improve the welfare of the Ghanaian; as we speak, our electricity is around 20 cents per kWh, very, very expensive compared to Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, and our other competitors,” he explained.
He stressed the importance of making electricity more affordable to drive the country’s growth. “We must refocus our efforts on making sure that electricity becomes very cheap in the country and that promotes the growth we want,” Nsiah added.
Nsiah also called on Krapah to address the debt issues plaguing the energy sector. “The next thing I also want to see the minister do is also look at the debt in the energy sector. In the last few days, the minister of finance has come out to say that historical electricity debt has been restructured,” he noted.
Nsiah emphasised the importance of preventing the accumulation of new debt. “We also need to ensure that new or recurrent debt is not compounded to a level that also burdens the energy sector and that also means that full compliance of the cash waterfall mechanism is taken into consideration by this new minister,” he concluded.
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