Ghana's government said on Wednesday it had fixed an electricity
supply deficit that caused years of frequent blackouts that hurt
businesses and angered voters ahead of an election next year.
The power cuts, known as "dumsor" in Ghana, have been a hot political
topic with many residents suffering 24-hour blackouts. President John
Mahama promised in February to fix them by the New Year and Power
Minister Kwabena Donkor also said he would resign if the deadline was
not met.
"The Ministry of Power wishes to inform the public that its Load
Shedding programme in respect of electricity supply has been brought to
an end," a government statement said. Load shedding denotes planned
power rationing to prevent a nationwide blackout.
The government has paid to add power generation capacity this year to
overcome the problem caused by increased demand from consumers and
businesses, insufficient water for hydro electric plants and inadequate
supplies of gas for turbines.
The power crisis began in 2012, the year of the last election, and
the main opposition New Patriotic Party says it was a sign of the
government's failure to manage the broader economy of the West African
state.
For years, Ghana was one of Africa's leading economies through its
exports of gold, oil and cocoa, but growth has slowed due to lower
global commodity prices. The government is also adhering to an
International Monetary Fund programme meant to cut spending and raise
revenue to solve a fiscal crisis.
By: Reuters.
Reporting:Matthew Mpoke Bigg.
Editing: Mark Heinrich.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
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