The Casualties of Our Energy Crisis

...The first casualty of the energy crisis is the manufacturing industries. The Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) has been made to close down. Other companies, which use much energy, face a similar fate as VALCO. Some companies are producing below their capacity at the same fixed cost of labour. No wonder production by Ghana Cement Company Limited (GHACEM) has gone down, causing the price of cement to skyrocket in the market. Now GHACEM has become an importer instead of a producer.

A social dimension of the casualty is the laying off of some staff. Again, VALCO has shown the way by laying off almost all of its labour force. There is no sector of the economy wherein those retrenched workers could be accepted.

The crisis would create opportunities for importers who would be importing from Asia to bridge the deficit.