Mills Explains His Better Ghana Vision

Perhaps for the first time, Ghanaians heard their president define what exactly he means by the ‘Better Ghana’ he seeks to achieve for the citizenry. President John Evans Atta Mills told audience at the maiden Ghana Policy Fair that the elements of a ‘Better Ghana,’ include a vibrant economy, ability of the Ghanaian to afford three square meals a day, and security of lives and property.
Attaining the full ideals of the ‘Better Ghana’ vision may seem difficult but President Mills said he has absolute confidence in the ability of the people of Ghana to support his government to achieve his dream of having a Ghana with a buoyant economy, a nation in which citizens can afford three square meals a day and a country in which citizens are assured of good security.
“I have faith in the Ghanaian; we can do it with God on our side. With unity of purpose, Ghana could become the beacon of hope not only for Africa, but the whole world,” President Mills said optimistically on Friday, when he addressed the audience at the dialogue session of the Ghana Policy Fair at the International Conference Centre in Accra.
The Fair was organized by the Ministry of Information to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government to open up to the public, and to enable them know and understand major policy directions being pursued to promote the nation’s socio-economic development.
The President reminded the gathering that the main aim of his administration was to ensure effective utilization of the mandate of the people, and called for effective exchange of views and ideas to move the nation forward in the right direction.
“Let’s put Ghana first and think of what we can do to attract people to ourselves and not what will make the country unattractive to people. Let’s think of what we can do to make people proud of us. It does not matter your political coloration,” he advised.
The President stressed the urgent need for dialogue among all segments of society, as well as the need for constructive other than destructive criticisms to help ensure effective exchange of ideas on how to achieve the ‘Better Ghana’ agenda of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
President Mills acknowledged the fact that things were not perfect in the country, in view of the challenges confronting the nation, but was confident that with focus and hard work “we would be able to surmount the difficulties.”
While acknowledging the fact that his government owed the people a duty to ensure that their mandate was not abused, President Mills reminded the people that, “all our needs cannot be met.”
The President further made a passionate appeal to all Ghanaians to work together as one people for the common good of the country, instead of allowing their differences to divide them.
“We need to work together. Let us not allow ourselves to be divided by our insignificant differences," he underscored.





GHANA TO EXPORT POWER BY 2015
Kobena Sam
Ghana is expected not only to become a major exporter of oil by 2012, but also a major exporter of power by 2015. This will, however, be dependent on the nation’s ability to develop an “Energy Economy” that will be able to secure an effective and reliable supply of high quality energy services for the development of all sectors of the economy.
This is the vision of the energy sector, as contained in the executive summary of the National Energy Policy of the Ministry of Energy.
Explaining the content of the policy at the Ghana Policy Fair which ended at the weekend, Dr Alfred Ofosu-Ahenkorah, Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, noted that even though the goals are ambitious, they are feasible. He disclosed that the nation is endowed with a lot of energy resources that need to be utilized for the full benefit of citizens.
Dr Ofosu-Ahenkorah identified the challenges affecting the energy sector to include unavailability of the requisite human resources, how to increase energy supply and further ensure expansion of energy infrastructure in a sustainable way.
According to him, the energy policy will gradually ensure full cost recovery in the generation and transmission of energy, stressing: “the policy will lead to a vibrant energy sector.”
With respect the petroleum sub-sector, Dr. Ahenorah explained that the goal was to ensure sustainable exploration, development, and production of the nation’s oil and gas resources, and to further ensure prudent use of the revenue accruing from the sector.
He noted that the energy sector would require adequate focus, as well as team work and commitment from all stakeholders to ensure that it makes the needed impact on the national economy.
“Making the necessary impact on the national economy will require that the management, operations and monitoring of the energy sector receive adequate focus. Team work and commitment of all stakeholders should be the primary driving principle to ensure smooth implementation of the National Energy Policy,” he stressed.
Effective management, he noted, is required to ensure sustainable development of the energy sector. To achieve this requirement, Dr Ahenkorah prescribed transparent regulatory regime and strong institutional and human capacities, as well as a vibrant financial platform.
He regretted that the regulatory agencies were limited in their professional capacity and operational effectiveness, leading to uncertainty in the regulation which results in difficulties in the supply and delivery of energy services.

Below is an excerpt from the Executive Summary of the Ghana Energy Policy
Ghana’s Development Challenge
Ghana has a huge potential to grow and transform its economy through industrialization, creating jobs and ensuring equitable distribution of wealth. The fundamental goal of Ghana government’s agenda is to achieve macro-economic stability and grow the economy to a middle income status by 2020.
The Energy Challenge
Ghana’s total energy supply has to grow significantly to achieve the development agenda goal. The challenge is how to increase the energy supply and expand the energy infrastructure in the country in the way that is sustainable.
The Energy Resources and Vision
Ghana is well endowed with a variety of energy resources including biomass, hydrocarbons, hydropower, solar and wind. It has the capacity to produce modern bio-fuels and is exploring options to develop nuclear energy.
The sector vision is to develop an “Energy Economy” to secure a reliable supply of high quality energy services for all sectors of the Ghanaian economy and also to become a major exporter of oil and power by 2012 and 2015 respectively.
Energy Policy Platform
The National Energy Policy outlines the energy sector goals, challenges and actions. In general, these goals are ambitious, but they are also feasible. The Policy covers the broad spectrum of issues and challenges relating to the following areas:

(i) Power Sector Supply;
(ii) Petroleum Sub-sector;
(iii) Renewable Energy Sub-sector;
(iv) Waste-to-Energy;
(v) Energy Efficiency and Conservation;
(vi) Energy and Environment;
(vii) Energy and Gender, and
(viii) Managing the future of the sector

A summary of the sub-sector policy framework is provided below.
Power Sub-sector
The goals of the power sub-sector are to increase installed power generation capacity quickly from about 2,000 MW today to 5, 000 megawatts (MW) by 2015, and to increase electricity access from the current level of 66% to universal access by 2020.
The challenge is how to attract investments to build the necessary infrastructure for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity throughout the country. This is key to ensuring the sustainable development of the sector.
Apart from financing, the policy focuses on institutional and human resource capacity strengthening as well as regulatory reforms required to create a competitive electricity market. Creating the right environment for private-public partnerships in the development of the new power plants is essential to the growth of the power sector. The biggest obstacle to achieving this is the issue of cost-recovery, a challenge that this policy tries to directly address.
Petroleum Sub-sector
The goals of the petroleum sub-sector are to ensure the sustainable exploration, development and production of the country’s oil and gas endowment; the judicious management of the oil and gas revenue for the overall benefit and welfare of all Ghanaians, and the indigenization of related knowledge, expertise and technology.
The major challenges regarding the sector, especially the upstream petroleum sub-sector, are how to sustainably develop the oil and gas industry and judiciously manage the revenue received from the industry.
In view of these goals and challenges, the policy focuses on the regulation of the petroleum industry with respect to licensing and operation of oil and gas companies; improving Ghana’s institutional and human resource capacity; enhancing local content, and fiscal incentives that will ensure maximum benefits to the people of Ghana. The policy seeks to ensure transparency in the use and distribution of the oil revenue.
Renewable Energy Sub-sector
The Renewable Energy Sub-sector covers biomass, mini hydro, solar and wind resources. The goals of the renewable energy sub-sector are to increase the proportion of renewable energy to the total national energy mix and ensure its efficient production and use.
Waste-to-Energy
The policy is to convert most of the waste generated in municipal activities, industrial operations and agricultural operations to energy. This comprehensive waste management approach will enable Ghana to generate reasonable amount of energy from wastes. The major challenge is to reduce the high cost of waste collection and management.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Energy production, transportation and utilization result in losses and wastage. Reducing these losses will lead to significant benefits for the national economy. The challenge is to reduce the wastage in all aspects of the energy sector.
The policy will focus on removing the obstacles that have constrained the promotion and implementation of energy efficiency and conservation measures. The policy measures required to promote energy efficiency and conservation are fiscal incentives, awareness creation, institutional and human resources capacity development, and financial intermediation.
Energy and Gender
Energy issues are of concern to all. However, women are one of the most important actors in the energy sector. In terms of their contact, use and management, renewable energy sources, in their very crude or primary form, are used mostly by women. Biomass (primarily wood fuel and charcoal) constitute 66% of the total energy consumed in Ghana. The negative health impact of indoor air pollution from traditional biomass fuels on women, girls and babies remains a critical issue.
The goal is to mainstream these gender concerns in the energy sector and align them with proper health, safety and environmental standards.
Managing the Future
Policy actions addressing regulations of the sector, mobilization of investments for the sector, strengthening of capacity, research and development are addressed in the document.
This document also contains information regarding the regulations governing operations within the energy sector, as well as information pertaining to strengthening the various regulatory agencies to enhance their effectiveness.