Ghana’s Government Pursues Ambitious Goals for Renewable Energy

Recently, the Ghanaian-German Economic Association (GGEA) brought together CEOs and officials in Accra for an exclusive dialogue. We were delighted to accept the invitation.

Founded in 1999, the GGEA offers its members - from German SMEs to corporations and Ghanaian-German joint ventures - various services such as providing up-to-date information on economic, trade and other bilateral issues, networking with business partners, authorities and institutions. The aim of the GGEA is to provide a platform for an active exchange between public and private institutions.

Germany's ambassador is in good spirits, but...

The outgoing German ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull, who has represented Germany in Accra since September 2021 and will hand over his office at the beginning of July, was also present. Krull gave an economic outlook and is cautiously optimistic about economic development in Ghana.

The country directors of GIZ and KfW also gathered at the table. The business representatives included Interplast, one of Ghana's largest producers of plastic products, Brussels Airlines, which has a strong presence in West Africa and conship, one of Ghana's major logistics companies,, and Universal Motors Ltd, distributor of Volkswagen Ghana, along with other major companies from Ghana.

Ghana's government wants to gradually expand renewable energies

The Ghanaian government was prominently represented by the new Deputy Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Richard Gyan-Mensah. With a master's degree in energy law, Mr Gyan-Mensah has the necessary background and is deeply involved in the topic. Ghana is pursuing the goal of achieving a 10% share of renewable energies (excluding hydropower) in the electricity mix by 2030. This is to be realised through projects such as the installation of mini-grids in rural areas and the introduction of net metering systems for solar energy in urban regions (more on Ghana's current energy mix here).

Gyan-Mensah emphasises that the transition to renewable energy must be gradual, taking into account the existing use of fossil fuels while promoting the expansion of clean energy sources. The government plans to lead by example and install solar energy systems on public buildings such as parliament and schools to increase the use of renewable energy (read more here).

In addition, the National Energy Transition Framework envisages reaching a total installed capacity of 83 GW by 2040, of which 21 GW will come from renewable sources. Gyan-Mensah emphasises that these measures will not only help to reduce CO₂ emissions, but also create economic opportunities and improve energy security (more on the Energy Transition Framework, which provides an outlook up to 2070, can be found here).

Of course, we do not need to emphasise that we welcome the expansion of renewable energies, share the vision and are actively involved in its implementation.

We would like to thank the GGEA once again for the invitation and the exciting dialogue they initiated!