Achieving universal coverage of electricity is a priority - NAPO

Energy Minister-designate, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has indicated that he is prepared to ensure Ghana achieves universal coverage of electricity if he is approved as the energy minister.

He made this known after minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu asked him to give timelines to ensure universal access to rural electrification if approved as a minister.

The nominee in answering said the policy goes beyond electricity because it will include solar energy and by 2030, the country should be pursuing the energy for all initiative.

Recently, a publication by the World Bank indicated that Ghana witnessed a 12% growth in rural electrification between 2012 and 2014 under the John Dramani Mahama government. Comparatively, the World Bank revealed that rural electrification increased by almost 1% under the incumbent Akufo-Addo government between the period of 2016 and 2018.

In a recent release on the performance of the electricity subsector, Ghana recorded the highest year-on-year quarterly GDP growth rate of 16.0% for the second quarter of 2020.

The nominee told the committee that ensuring universal access to affordable electricity by 2030 means investing in clean energy sources such as solar.

The government he assured will expand infrastructure in the energy sector and ensure that Ghanaians have access to energy.

Currently, some 84 per cent of the population enjoys access to electricity.

Experts have described this as impressive considering that in mid-2017, data from the World Economic Forum, 62.5 per cent of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa had no access to electricity.