By Rachel Quartey and Rukayatu Musah
Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, says decisive reforms and strategic investments are restoring stability and investor confidence in Ghana’s energy sector after years of financial strain and unreliable power supply.
He disclosed that government has cancelled 202 wasteful contracts, saving millions of dollars, and renegotiated Independent Power Producer (IPP) agreements, cutting the sector’s debt burden by about 500 million dollars.
According to him, the strict enforcement of the Cash Waterfall Mechanism has ended the practice of weekly borrowing and ensured full and timely payments to power producers.
“As I speak, in one year the Minister of Finance has restored the entire five hundred million dollars. In 2024 only six billion cedis was declared under the Cash Waterfall Mechanism. Through the reforms in 2025, we declared fifteen billion. Some IPPs are now receiving one hundred per cent of their invoices, compared to thirty-eight per cent previously,” he said.
Abu Jinapor explained that the sector has significantly shifted from expensive liquid fuels to gas for thermal power generation, resulting in major cost savings.
“Liquid fuel can be three times the cost of gas. Since July, we have not imported a single parcel of distillate fuel or light crude oil. We have increased domestic gas consumption by about seventy million standard cubic feet and an additional thirty from Nigeria,” he noted.
The Minister announced that Ghana has now enjoyed nearly ten months of uninterrupted power supply, with national electrification approaching 90 per cent.
“For about ten months now, we have not had a single day of load shedding. Not even one day,” he confirmed.
However, he cautioned that rising electricity demand due to economic recovery could lead to future deficits if additional power generation is not secured.
“We must be proactive. This year we will procure additional power through competitive tendering or by using VRA as a front, so we can provide cheaper power for the people of Ghana,” he said.
In the petroleum and gas sub-sector, Mr. Jinapor revealed that government has signed new agreements worth over 3.5 billion dollars with the Jubilee and Sankofa partners to increase gas production, reduce prices and boost crude oil output.
The agreements, he said, will reduce gas prices from 3.1 dollars to 2.5 dollars per unit and increase gas consumption by another seventy million standard cubic feet.
He also announced plans to construct a second gas processing plant and confirmed that the Tema Oil Refinery has resumed crude oil processing for the first time in several years.
On Ghana’s green transition agenda, the Minister outlined plans to install thousands of solar-powered street lights, deploy solar irrigation pumps in farming communities and roll out solar-backed electric vehicle charging stations nationwide.
“Ghana has about seventeen thousand electric vehicles, the highest in Africa. If we don’t act now, these vehicles alone could consume all our electricity. We are going to install solar-backed charging stations so people can charge their cars in minutes at very low cost,” he explained.
Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, commended the Minister and his team for what she described as remarkable progress in stabilising the energy sector.
She stressed the importance of long-term planning, continuous evaluation and adaptability in addressing Ghana’s energy challenges.
“This gives us the opportunity to review what we did in the past, what didn’t work and why it should work better now. Long-term planning is very important if we are to solve the problems of this country effectively,” she said.
The Vice President also encouraged stronger collaboration between the energy and agriculture sectors, noting that increased gas availability could support clean cooking and boost food production to enhance national food security.
