By Issah Mohammed, GNA
Accra, Aug. 25, GNA – Mr Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), has urged Ghana to champion affordable and resilient energy systems to drive Africa’s industrialisation.
He said Ghana’s impending role under the chairmanship of President John Dramani Mahama of the African Union (AU) presented an opportunity to place energy affordability, industrialisation and energy security high on the continental policy agenda.
Mr Boakye made the call at the 2026 Future of Energy Conference (FEC) in Accra, where he stressed the need for a coordinated African response to global energy and trade developments that could increase the cost of energy-transition technologies.
“We intend to activate the organs of the African Union to strengthen global collaboration and bring this issue more firmly into the continental conversation,” he said.
Mr Boakye cited developments in the global supply chain for solar panels and battery storage as emerging uncertainties for African countries seeking to accelerate the energy transition.
“China has its backs on these energy systems, creating new uncertainty for countries seeking to accelerate the energy transition. This is precisely the kind of issue on which the African Union must engage collectively,” he said.
Mr Boakye said affordable energy was critical to Africa’s economic transformation because manufacturing, natural-resource processing, job creation and digitalisation all depended on reliable and competitively priced electricity.
“We cannot build globally competitive industries on globally uncompetitive energy,” he said.
Mr Boakye said energy affordability should be treated as part of industrial policy rather than solely as a utility-sector issue.
“Energy policy and industrial policy cannot be separated,” he said, adding that high energy costs increased production expenses and constrained the competitiveness of African enterprises.
Beyond national measures, Mr Boakye called for stronger regional cooperation through Africa’s power pools to improve electricity trading and optimise countries’ diverse energy resources.
He said deeper integration would require future energy infrastructure to be designed with interoperability in mind to avoid unnecessary costs.
Mr Boakye also advocated innovative approaches to financing and structuring energy projects, noting that the cost of capital directly affected electricity prices.
He cited Ghana’s renegotiation of Independent Power Producer (IPP) contracts, which ACEP supported, saying the exercise contributed to savings of about $250 million in debt and $7 billion in future payments and commitments.
The experience, he noted, demonstrated that reducing energy costs did not always require new power plants, as significant savings could also be achieved through better contracts, financing arrangements and risk allocation.
Mr Boakye urged African countries to combine stronger institutions, better data, appropriate technologies, innovative financing and regional cooperation to build affordable, reliable, sustainable and resilient energy systems.
He said energy must ultimately serve as an enabler of Africa’s economic transformation rather than a constraint on development.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
25 Aug. 2026
Reporter: Issah Mohammed