Government determined to increasing electricity penetration in rural areas - Dr Ben Asante

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana National Gas Company Limited, Dr Ben KD Asante has disclosed that the policy path being pursued by the government is to increase accessibility to electricity using sustainable and responsible power generation module.

According to him, despite Ghana’s impressive record as one of Africa’s leading countries when it comes to access to electricity, the government is not sleeping on its laurels as it hopes to achieve a landmark 100% record.

He said that the government wants to achieve this through power generation sources which are eco-friendly.

“Our policy basically is to look power generation. The direction the government wants to take is increasing power penetration even in rural areas. As things stand we are one of the highest in terms of electricity coverage in Africa. We also want to use it for secondary industries,” he said.

Dr Ben Asante made the statement during the 14th Multi-year Expert Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The meeting was held from Monday, October 9 to Wednesday, October 11 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 14th session of the expert meeting is a neutral platform for sharing country experiences in terms of successful strategies and policies implemented at national, regional, and international levels to effectively manage commodity price volatility.

More precisely, the expert meeting assesses the links between commodity price volatility and key macroeconomic indicators in Commodity Dependent and Developing Countries (CDDCs), and the links between commodity price volatility and food security in net-food-importing countries.

The meeting in Geneva also discussed market and technology-based instruments that can help manage price risks.

The next session, to which the Ghana Gas boss has been invited, is scheduled to be held in Belgium.