Former Minister of Finance Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has maintained that the country’s lack of industrial energy – which makes electricity tariffs unreasonably elevated – could hamper efforts to industrialise the country through government’s 24-hour economy.

This comes on the back of a 9.8 percent increase in electricity tariffs and 15.9 percent increase in water tariffs – effective January 1, 2026 – announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).

The tariffs hike has been met with strong resistance from the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which warns that implementing the new rates could erode the earlier-announced 9 percent base pay increment for workers.

The former minister made these comments at the launch of a book, co-authored by a technical adviser at the Ministry of Energy and A former Executive Secretary of Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Dr Ishmael Ackah and Dr Charly Gatete.

Speaking at the launch, Dr. Amin Adam asserted that the nation’s current energy architecture is incompatible with government 24-hour economy.

Beyond the focus on residential ‘lights on’ power, the former minister framed energy as the primary input for value addition, job creation and a tool for correcting the ever-widening trade balance.

Therefore, he argued, government’s dream of an export-led economy is “going nowhere” without deliberate policy to increase the country’s baseload and drastically reduce the cost of energy.

The former minister maintained that without an aggressive shift in energy sourcing that complements the energy mix with cost-effective but controversial options like coal and nuclear, Ghana’s dream of becoming an industrial economy will remain an illusion.

“I am not a prophet, but I can stand here and say that it won’t go anywhere. Industrialising Ghana will not be a success if we don’t have industrial energy. Where is that industrial energy?” the former minister quizzed rhetorically.

He noted that: “With coal, people have problems. Nuclear, people have problems”. However, he maintained that achieving industrial-grade baseload power requires these technologies which are environmentally and socially contentious, arguing that coal is still being used globally.

The founder and former Executive Director-Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) and Deputy Minister of Energy under the erstwhile administration is not unaware of the energy problems the country faces.

He emphasised that Ghana lacks reliable, high-capacity and affordable baseload power required to run factories and large-scale processing plants 24-hours a day. He therefore trashed persistent calls for the addition of renewable energy into the country’s energy mix – saying while it is crucial for climate goals, it is unreliable.

“Everybody is talking about renewable energy. That doesn’t give us industrial energy,” he asserted.

The former minister also maintained that the nation’s gas-to-power ambitions are impacted by infrastructure and supply constraints. “We need to look at sources that guarantee industrialisation so we can exploit the many, many, many resources that we have around the country,” the former minister stressed, pointing to Ghana’s vast mineral and agricultural wealth that remains largely unprocessed for export.

“You cannot achieve this if we don’t produce industrial energy,” he said.

He acknowledged that though Ghana has the technical people its power sector remains in perpetual crisis, threatening the industrial ambition.

“Energy is a very sensitive political subject. It is the only sector that can cause the defeat of a government,” he noted.

Due to this, he said, the system is “politically captured by the uninitiated” – whereby final decisions are made by individuals lacking sector expertise, often overriding technical and commercial advice for short-term political survival.

Former Minister of Energy Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh argued that the lack of intelligent, context-driven regulation further compounds the energy situation in Africa, especially Ghana; stating that regulation is not only a bureaucratic end but also a “means” to build investor confidence and earn public trust.

“Africa does not have the luxury of copying and pasting foreign regulatory models,” he stated, calling for regulators who are innovative to come up with homegrown regulations that reflect the African context.

He further urged regulators to be independent and not cave-in to political pressures. “An independent regulator listens but is not captured, consults but is not controlled, respects government policy but must surrender its mandate to seek out the public interest,” he explained, emphasising that independence must be matched with responsibility and transparency.

He took aim at the Trade Union Congress (TUC), criticising them for sitting on the board of PURC and then coming out to publicly condemn it’s decisions after taking part in approving them.

“You cannot be part of the table to make a decision and when that qdecision is made, you quickly go out and shout,” he said.

‘Energy Regulation in Africa: Dynamics, Challenges and Opportunities’ compiles the inputs of 71 energy regulation experts from 40 countries across Africa, including a chapter written by current Minister of Energy John Abdulai Jinapor.

The book offers a deep dive into nuances of Africa’s energy sector regulation with a compelling diagnosis of challenges and opportunities in the sector and proffers workable solutions to the sector’s challenges.