Koforidua, July 20, GNA- Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister of Energy, on Wednesday said government would pursue a policy of full cost recovery on energy used in the country.

The Minster, however, said the problem at hand was how to get along with all the stakeholders in the energy sector.

Mr. Adda was speaking at the end of a two-day extra-ordinary executive committee meeting of the Union of Producers, Transporters and Distributors of Electric Power in Africa (UPDEA) at Akosombo. He urged all agencies involved in energy generation and distribution to behave responsibly as the Government moved towards the implementation of the policy.

Mr. Adda said the Government was revamping the agencies responsible for energy generation to ensure that greater part of their resources were used on their core businesses.

The Minister said the Government had, therefore, decided to set up a company to manage a new 400-megawatt hydro electricity facility adding that workers of the Volta River Authority could be asked to work any such establishment.

Mr. Adda said the Government had diversified the source of electric power generation in the country, and would welcome private participation in the energy sector.

He said the Government had signed various agreements to enable it purchase power from private organizations that might undertake electricity generation.

Mr. Edward Njoroge, the first Vice-President of UPDEA, observed that the current energy crisis in Ghana was not unique to the country and that other African countries were going through similar experiences. He said the rapid economic development in African had resulted in high demand for energy while poor energy generation and distribution had led to a wide gab between supply and demand for electricity. Mr. Mutima Sakrini, the General Secretary of UPDEA, said access to electricity in Africa was generally very poor and worse in the rural areas, except countries in North Africa, which had about 98 per cent electricity coverage.

He stressed that access to electricity in the rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa ranged from three to 30 per cent except South Africa, which had about 50 per cent coverage.

Mr. Sakrini noted that many African countries were undergoing load shedding because of the inability of power plants to generate enough energy due to unstable water level as a result of climatic variations. He suggested the establishment of interconnectivity at sub-regional and continental levels for the pooling of resources so that in times of difficulty, countries could help each other. Mr. Sakrini also advocated the diversification of sources of energy, introduction of pragmatic measures and the harmonization of plans for the generation and supply of electricity within countries in the sub-region.

The Deputy Chief Executive of VRA, Mr Eric Yankah, said the Authority was working to meet the energy needs of the country. Countries that participated in the meeting were; Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, Ethiopia, Mali and Cote d' Ivoire.