Lastest energy challenges worrying

There seem to be what looks like another round of unplanned power outages, a phenomenon which is bringing back the bad memories of dumsor.

Last year, when the President boldly stated in Parliament that he was going to fix the energy crisis in the country, many were those who heaved a sigh of relief, although there were skeptics.

But just before the end of the year 2015, there were positive signs on the wall that restored hope to residents and businesses across the country that rely heavily on power.

Unfortunately, however, in the last couple of months, the situation seems to have recurred. Although, not as severe as was the case some three years ago, the unplanned nature of the outages is creating serious challenges for domestic consumers and businesses.

Particularly for business owners, the outages are increasing their operational cost and they have to rethink their decision to call back the many workers who were laid off some years back as a result of the severity of the situation.

What is worse this time around is that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has not published any timetable for the users of the resource to know when to expect an outage. These schedules, at least, help businesses in particular to plan shifts for their workers. Small business owners such as seamstresses and hairdressers also plan when they can be in their shops to meet the deadlines of their customers.

The Daily Graphic is worried that at a time when the country intends to be the energy hub in the sub-region, these challenges in the sector still persist and are creating  many problems for residents and businesses.

We are also concerned that the causes of the challenges are not being properly communicated to the public as government officials and spokespersons continue to give different versions of the real situation.

For the government to meet its growth targets, the contributions of the manufacturing and industrial sectors of the economy, no matter how small, is key and, therefore, the situation should be a serious bottleneck that requires much serious attention.

In these times when Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destinations have become more competitive, Ghana needs not toy with its competitive advantage to allow such investments pass us by. Much as we may tout our political stability and other democratic credentials, no investor would want to invest in a country where energy supply is not predictable. When these investors are keen on getting maximum returns on their investments, the Daily Graphic thinks the prevailing energy situation cannot attract investors.

It is gratifying, however, that the government has made some efforts to increase our generation capacity but  the managers of the power sector must work hard to ensure that the grid operates at all times.

The Daily Graphic hopes that the government will consider the negative effects of the power crisis on the economy and the livelihoods of the people and do all within its power to make outages the exception rather than the norm.