Energy crisis will end soon – Cretz

The US Ambassador to Ghana, Gene Cretz has expressed optimism that the ongoing energy crisis in the country will end soon.

According to Mr Cretz, the US was currently involved in several projects with the government that would produce more megawatts to address the energy crisis in future.

US envoy made this known at a roundtable with journalists in Accra to announce his departure from Ghana after three years of service.

“I think that the pieces are in place now and there are several projects that the US has been involved in. In addition, once the Millennium Challenge Compact really kicks in, you will see a revamp of ECG and its ability to generate electrical power, transmit it and get revenue to the point where it makes that particular enterprise efficient. I think it is all there in a mix; it is just taking a little bit of time.

“One has to be positive but I don’t know if we can put definite end dates to when the power situation is going to end, but I think Ghana is on the way towards really revamping its power sector for future needs,” Mr Cretz said.

The US government is expected to release over $500 million through the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) Fund to help improve power distribution in the country under the second compact of the MCC programme.

Under the MCC, which will last for five years, Ghana has agreed to offer the management of ECG to a private company to boost efficiency.

Mr Cretz said Ghana government has made a decision with regards to the kind of concession under which ECG would be managed for a few years.

“The board had been constituted on the Ghanaian side and papers had been drawn up to specify the requirement of the concession here that would guide the activities of the project for the next several years,” he said.

The US Ambassador disclosed that Ghana was not out of the woods yet but was hopeful the economic situation would improve in the next couple of months.

“I see a confluence of events in developments that would be taking place over the next couple of weeks and months that I think would lead the government and the country out of its current economic troubles. I’m very optimistic that over the next several months you would see a turnaround,” he added.