16 May 2007, by Nana Kofi Acquah in Accra, Ghana. The government of Ghana has totally changed their strategic approach to the energy crisis in the face of the current worsening energy crisis. Initial name calling among the two competing political parties, the incumbent National Patriotic Party (NPP) and their rivals the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has finally given way to openly looking at the problem at stake and finding plausible ways of solving them.
 
Ghana requires approximately $4.5 billion in the short to medium term to meet the infrastructure requirements for reliable and efficient production and supply of energy, according to the Minister for Energy, Mr. Kofi Adda. He asserts that ensuring constant supply of affordable energy is going to require the government to rehabilitate, expand and even introduce new energy production and supply infrastructure to meet current demands.
 
He outlaid a five-year plan with the strategic goal of fixing difficulties within the sector particularly those bothering on infrastructural development, institutional reforms and regulatory lapses including inadequate pricing he says, "recent events have led to additions in the generation capacity whilst energy efficiency and conservation are being promoted nationwide...this also means strengthening the capacity of the energy sector institutions in planning, management and co-ordination of the sector."
 
Mr. Adda said this at the launch of "Infrastructure for Growth - the Energy Challenge", an incoming two-day high-level Conference on Financing for Development, in Accra on Thursday. The conference is expected to bring together finance and energy ministers from across Africa, members of the donor community and some civil society groups, and is scheduled for May 30-31. The objective of the conference, among other things, is to further deepen dialogue on financing for development and affording participants the opportunity to take stock of the nature and extent of the energy situation in Africa, including an assessment of the current infrastructure and the financing gap.
 
Several African countries face serious energy supply problems today because they cannot afford the capital investment needed to improve the sector..."access to sustainable and reliable energy still remains the major factor for social and economic growth, which leads to poverty reduction." However, African governments cannot solve the problems alone. He therefore, calls for "Independent Power Producers who have the capital to invest in the energy sector to make the sector more competitive, efficient and cost effective."
 
Overlooking what problems the government might still be having over their joint partnership CMS Energy of USA, Mr. Addai pointed out that partnership with the private sector would lead to a sustainable development in urban and rural areas, adding, "whilst looking at the capitalization and investments in the energy sector, alternative sources such as solar, wind, biomass, biodiesel are being encouraged to diversify the energy supply mix."
 
The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, launching the event, pointed out that the energy crisis was all across Africa hence the need to work at national and international levels to find medium to long-term solutions.
According to him, the NPP government recognizes the negative effect of the current power rationing on economic growth so they " will take advantage to explore further financial avenues to increase our generation capacity in the long term."
 
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