ACCRA, March 5 — Government of Ghana has earmarked all the proceeds from the expected second Compact of the Millennium Challenge Accounts (MCA) of the American government to the energy sector.
Presenting the government?s budget statement themed: ??Sustaining Confidence in the Future of the Ghanaian Economy? to parliament here on Tuesday, Minister for Finance, Seth Tekper said the implementation of the compact was expected to make the West African country self-sufficient in energy generation.
Having successfully completed the Compact I of the United States (US) government?s MCA with a grant of 547 million U.S dollars Ghana was selected again as one of four countries to submit proposal for the second compact and is expected to receive?between?350 million dollars and 400 million dollars.
Ghana?s energy sector has been under undue pressure from shortfalls in power supply as gas flow through the West Africa Gas Pipe Line which was curtailed due to marine related accidents has not yet been restored.
The country?s Electricity Company and Volta River Authority (VRA) which generates electricity have been implementing a load shedding regime even affecting neighboring Togo and Benin which depend on Ghana for substantial portions of their electricity.
?The country faces an infrastructure funding gap of1.5 billion U.S dollars ?a year. In the coming year, government will increase its effort to involve the private Sector in public infrastructure development,? Tekper reminded the MPs.
In connection with that, he said the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law had been developed to provide the framework for the increased involvement of the private to meet the current infrastructure deficit.
With the on-going construction work on the 400 Mega Watts Bui Power Project under a China-Ghana agreement progressing satisfactorily the minister announced that? transmission lines for power evacuation from the station to various points were also 98 percent complete.
?We are determined to avoid the phenomenon of long delays in completing government projects, and ensure that all major capital projects have clearly identified sources of finance without which there will be no approval by the Ministry of Finance,? Tekper assured.
Ghana, according to 2008 figures generates?8.167 billion kWh of electricity annually from current installed capacity of?2,170MW?of electricity with 60 percent of that coming from hydro source, but aims at reaching 5000 MW installed capacity by 2016.? Enditem.
Source: Justice Lee Adoboe
