Ghana to buy 80MW of power from Ivory Coast to watch AFCON semi-finals – Report
Ghana is buying 80 megawatts of power from the Ivory Coast to enable citizens have electricity to watch the African Cup of Nations semi-final match between Ghana and host nation, Equatorial Guinea, the Bloomberg news has reported, citing the director, business development of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Kofi Ellis.
Ghana plays Equatorial Guinea at Malabo today February 5, 2015.
This is not the first time Ghana is buying power to enable citizens watch a football match. In June 2014 Ghana bought 50 megawatts of power from Ivory Coast to enable citizens to watch TV when the Black Stars played against the USA at the World Cup.
Ghana is currently enduring power shortages, and electricity is being rationed.
The VRA has indicated that the country’s current total installed generating capacity needs to be increased to 5,175 megawatts by 2023 to address the current power shortages and ensure an adequate supply of electricity.
Despite the daily complaints of Ghanaians about the power outages, citizens have generally been patient about it and the president has commended them for that, urging them to maintain that tempo as frantic efforts were made to restore power for both domestic and industrial consumption.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi