AGI Takes Gov’t To Task

The Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI) has urged government to fully implement the energy reform programme to ensure that Ghana meets its energy capacity.

This comes after government announced an end to the year-long load-shedding programme from the beginning of this month.

Tony Oteng-Gyasi, president of the association said for Ghana to attract potential foreign investors to boost the economy, it would have to improve upon its energy generating activities.

Ghana is looking at generating 6,000 megawatts of energy by 2012 and already, some emergency plants have been installed and connected to the national grid.

During the power rationing exercise, industries were the hardest hit. The power outages did not favour businesses as many employees were rendered redundant.

Businesses were warned about the situation earlier, when the Akosombo Dam reduced its capacity to a little above 60 per cent in the third quarter of 2006.

But that resulted in higher operational cost as industries were spending millions of dollars in running their standby plant generators at the end of every month.

Companies such as Unilever and Goldfields Ghana Limited say they spent $50,000 and $100,000 respectively every month to fuel their plants.

The AGI 2007 Business Climate Survey, which was launched last month, was very much concerned with the prolonged national load shedding programme which weighed down the confidence of businesses in all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

Most businesses and Chief Executives Officers interviewed perceive the national load shedding programme as the foremost setback in doing business in all the sectors.

Mr. Oteng-Gyasi however noted that though the energy situation seems to have improved, the business environment is still not confident as it should be because of a lack of re-assurance from the government.

Four hundred and fifty-one (451) Chief Executive Officers across the country were interviewed during the survey in August 2007.

By Felix Dela Klutse