Ghana is better placed to be energy hub in West Africa – Dr Steve Manteaw
Ghana is better placed to become the energy hub in West Africa, especially in the area of renewable energy, the Co-Chair of Ghana Extractive Industry Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, has stated.
According to him, the country had all the critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, bauxite, silica sand, manganese, iron ore, and steel, for renewable energy power generation and transition.
Dr Manteaw stated this in an interview to reporters during the GHEITI Technical Workshop organised by the GHEITI Secretariat under the Ministry of Finance, saying, “Ghana should be pragmatic about” its energy transition agenda.
“By being pragmatic, I mean the country do not become fixated with just oil and gas, as if that is what will resolve all our problems. The oil and gas are useful, but again, we need to also position ourselves to be able to attract investments into the renewable energy sector,” he stated.
The workshop was to discuss the 2021/2022 GHEITI Reports for the Mining of Oil and Gas Sectors.
Dr Manteaw observed that, “As a country we are better placed to take advantage of opportunities in the renewable energy sector by seeking investments into these critical minerals that are needed for energy transition.”
The Co-Chair of GHEITI indicated this in response to a question from the Ghanaian Times on what Ghana should do to attract investment to the renewable energy sector given that the country’s oil production is dwindling and the global agenda for the countries to shift from fossil to renewable energy use.
During the programme, the oil and gas reports for 2021/2022 revealed that the country’s oil production for the past four years has been dwindling due to the lack of investment to explore for new oil to increase the country’s oil production.
Ghana has currently developed an energy transition framework and projects which would be fully shifted from fossil to renewable energy by 2070.
Dr Manteaw futher stated that the shift from fossil to renewable energy was one of the factors the country was not attracting investments to the oil and gas sectors, indicating that, “Ghana, being a fossil fuel-driven country, of course will not be able to attract much investments from the EU for fossil fuel projects.”
For instance, he noted that the EU was currently implementing a Taxonomy Programme, which the country could rely on to raise financial resources to increase investment in renewable energy.
He said due to the programme, the EU was discouraging investment in fossil fuel and was rather encouraging investment in renewable energy.
Thus, Ghana could raise funds from the EU Stock Market to fund renewable energy projects in the country.
Dr Manteaw stressed the need for the country to position itself to seize the investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector in order not to lose out in the renewable energy market, given that the country was not attracting much investments in the oil and gas sector.
The Co-Chair of GHEITI said the move by the government for the country to shift from fossil to renewable energy by 2060, a decade ahead of the 2070 target was very encouraging.
He also stated taht the discussion by GIHOC with the government to revamp the Aboso Glass Factory to use Silica Sand for the production of solar panels for solar power generation was laudable.