In response to the epileptic power supply experienced in Nigeria, a neighboring West African country has decided to export electricity to Nigeria.
Ghanaian President, John Mahama, made the disclosure on Wednesday at the Africa Global Business and Economic Forum held in Dubai, United Arab Emirate, Punch reports.
Ghana President, John Mahama
He said Ghana is planning on exporting thousands of megawatts of electricity to Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other neighbouring countries with power issues. He hinted that his government had made huge investments in power generation that would enable the country to export excess electricity to the aforementioned countries.
“We have given priority to electricity generation in our country. We have prioritized 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,” Mahama said.
According to him, to accomplish the said goal, Ghana has already secured export-import financing from China, and a special funds from Abu Dhabi to start several power generation projects. He said also revealed that a third hydropower dam project was already at an advanced stage.
Mahama, who was speaking at a panel discussion alongside President Mulatu Wirtu of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, said: “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.
The Ghanaian President insisted that creating the right environment that will attract foreign direct investment is a key to development. He also urged Kagame and Wirtu to hamper on the need for African governments to strengthen anti-corruption agencies in their various countries.
Mahama further stated that issues of accountability and transparency were very important, adding that there must be mechanism to fight corruption and pointed out that although they all have institutions but the major thing is resourcing them to effectively fight corruption as well as perform effectively.
In his response, Kagame, who also insisted that African leaders must create a system that is not sympathetic to corruption, expressed optimism that such would help attract the required Foreign Direct Investment to the continent.
“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. African governments must fix infrastructure, investment in development of education and skills, and also enhance connectivity among African countries,” Kagame said.
It would be recalled that on September 5, 2014, the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has described the President Goodluck Jonathan administration as an agent of darkness.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government had earlier hinted that improvements in power service delivery enabled significant growth to 4,000MW, as compared to the previous level of 3,000MW.
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