Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has emphasised that Ghana’s energy expansion agenda is pivotal to driving industrialisation, cautioning that persistent power instability across Africa continues to inflict heavy economic losses and undermine manufacturing competitiveness.
Outlining Ghana’s domestic energy strategy, Dr. Forson said the government is scaling up generation capacity to guarantee stability and support industrial growth, with a target of 3,000 megawatts of additional installed capacity by 2030. Speaking at the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable on Thursday, May 28, he noted: “Ghana understands these challenges deeply. We are therefore targeting 3,000 megawatts of installed generation capacity by 2030. President John Dramani Mahama recently announced that the government is building 1,200 megawatts. Our goal is to achieve 3,000 megawatts of additional installed capacity by 2030, of which 30% will be renewables.”
He further highlighted that Africa loses an estimated US$25 billion annually due to power outages, describing the situation as a major constraint on productivity and value addition. “We cannot industrialise in darkness. Energy remains central to Africa’s transformation. Yet over 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. Africa collectively loses an estimated US$25 billion annually through power outages,” he said.
Dr Forson stressed that the continent’s resource base makes the energy deficit unacceptable, given its endowment in gas, hydro, solar, wind, and critical minerals. “This is unacceptable, in fact, in a continent endowed with abundant gas, hydro, solar, wind, and critical minerals required for the global energy transition.
“How can Africa speak meaningfully about industrialisation without reliable and affordable power?” he asked. He argued that the next phase of Africa’s industrial transformation will depend on shifting from raw exports to value addition across key commodities.
“The next quarter of a century will therefore become Africa’s industrial century, not just extracting lithium, but refining lithium, not just exporting bauxite, but producing aluminium, not just exporting cocoa, but processing and building competitive value addition and value chain,” he said.
He added that energy reliability is not only an infrastructure issue but a prerequisite for industrial competitiveness and job creation. He also highlighted trade integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a complementary driver of growth, noting its potential to reshape intra-African commerce.
“Trade integration is an economic survival strategy,” he said.
Source: Emmanuel Oppong
