By
Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Oct. 09, GNA – Mr Akinwumi Ayodeji
Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank Group, says the Bank has
provided technical assistance worth 1.5 million dollars to Ghana towards
removing barriers to investment in the renewable energy efficiency.
He said Ghana was showing the way towards
universal access to energy because she currently had about 80 per cent energy
access coverage, which is one of the highest in the Sub-region due to the
utilisation of off-grid solutions.
He, therefore, urged other African countries
to emulate the strides made by Ghana to achieve universal access to energy.
Mr Adesina made the remarks in a speech read
on his behalf at the opening of the Fourth Ghana Renewable Energy Fair in
Accra, on the theme: “Renewable Energy: Exploiting Energy Resources at the
District Level”.
The three-day Fair provides the platform to
promote renewable energy technologies and create linkages between the various
stakeholders in the renewable energy space including researchers,
entrepreneurs, industries and consumers.
The Fair, jointly organised by the Energy
Commission and Ministry of Energy, involved conferences and exhibition of
renewable technologies, which attracted captains of industry, energy experts
and development partners.
It would also ensure collaboration between
government, the private sector and civil society organisations to deliberate on
pertinent issues on renewable energy and proffer solutions.
Mr Adesina said energy efficiency was one of
the key solutions for climate change, adding that the Bank had identified some
African countries, which it was supporting to establish energy regulatory
frameworks to attract private investment into the sector.
He said for the African Continent to achieve
universal access to energy, there was the need for bold action to be taken to
achieve the target by 2030.
He said the Bank recently launched a 100
million-dollar Energy Inclusion Facility to cover financing of energy projects
in some African countries to ensure energy efficiency.
Mr Adesina said the Bank was working closely
with the World Bank and countries like Germany and Switzerland to structure the
230 million dollars programme for energy efficiency for both private and public
sector investments on the Continent.
He said in Africa about 600,000 women and
children died prematurely annually due to bad cooking solutions, therefore, the
Bank had committed to supporting 150,000 households to have access to clean
cooking solutions.
Mr William Owuraku Aidoo, a Deputy Minister of
Energy, said energy was the engine for economic growth; therefore, the
Government was reshaping its renewable energy laws to address the challenges
confronting the sub-sector.
This, he said, would ensure the country was
abreast of the current global energy renewable industry and take full advantage
to propel economic growth.
He said while the nation was witnessing
economic growth, the issue of sustainability of renewable energy resources and
environmental consciousness should be critical in the strategies and policies
that underpinned the nation’s development.
The Deputy Minister lauded the World Bank,
Swiss Development and Organisation and African Development Bank for their
immense support to Ghana’s Energy Development Access Project towards the
implementation of renewable energy initiatives nationwide.
He applauded the contribution of the
governments of Denmark, Germany, China, Japan and the United States of America
for supporting and funding wide range of renewable projects.
Ghana is a signatory to the COP Paris
Agreement under which she committed herself to unconditionally reducing the
rate of greenhouse emissions by 15 per cent within the business enclave by
2030.
To that end, Mr Aido said the nation had
incorporated some mitigation actions in the energy sector objectives from
medium to long term, including increasing the penetration of renewable energy
by 10 per cent in the electricity generation mix.
It would also promote cleaner cooking
solutions and rural household lanterns to replace kerosene as the main
lightening fuel and double efforts of energy efficiency and conservation processes.
He said as the nation utilised the renewable
energy resources, there was the need to ensure that the local capacity and
industries were built not only at the national level but at the district levels
to take advantage of the rapid growth in the renewable energy sub-sector
worldwide.
GNA