The chief executive officer of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has issued a call to action to all countries in Africa to create an energy plan to help the continent meet its rising energy demands.
According to Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah, who is an attendee at the 2023 Africa Development Conference (ADC) at Harvard University in the United States, the main obstacle to a common energy strategy in Africa is a lack of political will to put a coordinated structure across the entire continent into place.
He also made the point that there is a policy overload in Africa because different countries have different ideas about how to promote the continent’s energy agenda.
“As important as it is to help each other reach our energy goals, progress is slow because Africa is still a big continent and different countries have different ideas about how to meet the energy needs of their own countries,” he said.
Mr. O-A Danquah urged for greater collaboration across different countries in streamlining energy blueprints to overcome this obstacle. He also said that while African countries must lead the way with clear approaches and policies, success can only be achieved with courageous acts that back them up.
The CEO of the GNPC went on to explain that Ghana is one of the few countries south of the Sahara that is on course to achieving universal access to electricity and that the country is also rapidly utilising its natural gas resources to power households and industries, unlike the situation in many other African states.
Because of its successful energy policy, Ghana might serve as an example for other countries seeking to chart a similar course.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who spoke at the event, discussed ways in which Africans might redefine the continent’s economic progress in ways that work for them.
He stressed the role that technological innovation plays in realising this objective. According to him, the most significant obstacle to Africa’s progress is the continent’s failure to address the fundamental issues such as the lack of a solid identification system for its citizens, precise property addressing, financial inclusion, reliable payment systems, effective public service delivery, etc.
Dr. Bawumia, said:
“For many years after independence, we have been trying to transform our economies without data and transparent systems.” Without data and processes, African countries can’t be a part of the fourth industrial revolution.
The two-day conference, whose theme was “Reimagining Africa’s Growth On Our Terms,” concluded on April 16, 2023.
National fuel natural gas prices
Price per litre of petrol in Ghana between 26 December 2022 and 3 April 2023 The average price in Ghana during this time period was 14.62 GHC, with a low of 12.68 GHC on January 2, 2023 and a high of 16.58 GHC on December 26, 2022.
