The Deputy Director in charge of Power at the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, Sulemana Abubakar, has admitted that Ghana currently lacks a fully efficient energy value chain — a situation he says is contributing to the power supply challenges facing the country.

Speaking at the JoyNews National Dialogue on Thursday, April 10, Mr Abubakar explained that while the government’s wish is to guarantee uninterrupted power supply and affordable petroleum products for both households and transportation, achieving this is only possible with a highly efficient energy sector.

“It is the wish of the government that we have an uninterrupted supply of power, petroleum products are affordable, so that we keep the lights on and vehicles moving,” he stated.

He explained that Ghana’s energy sector was initially vertically integrated, but reforms introduced in the power sector aimed to improve efficiency, leading to the unbundling of key segments — generation, transmission, and distribution — with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) now handling distribution.

“To have an efficient energy sector, we need efficient generation, efficient transmission, and efficient distribution,” Mr Abubakar emphasised.

However, he was quick to point out that the current situation does not reflect this ideal. “Unfortunately, we do not have a fully efficient co-value chain system,” he said, adding that the distribution segment in particular continues to face numerous challenges.

“These inefficiencies within distribution are manifesting in some of the power supply challenges we are experiencing now,” Mr Abubakar noted.

Despite the situation, he assured that the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, which is responsible for setting policies for the sector, is constantly reviewing strategies to create an enabling environment to address these challenges.