President Nana Akufo-Addo unveils country’s roadmap for green growth and decarbonizing key economic sectors 

His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, launched the country’s new Energy Transition and Investment Plan today during a Global Africa Business Initiative event in New York. 

The plan marks Ghana’s commitment to fighting climate change and fostering economic development in tandem. It details a credible pathway for how Ghana can achieve net-zero energy-related carbon emissions by 2060 through the deployment of low-carbon solutions across key sectors of its economy, including oil and gas, industry, transport, cooking, and power. 

Ghana’s government intends to use the plan as its main tool to engage the international community and investors for support with its energy transition. All measures suggested in the plan represent a USD 550 billion opportunity for the international community to invest in sustainable development in Ghana. If the plan is achieved in full, it would generate 400,000 net jobs within Ghana’s economy. 

The country's existing Energy Transition Framework previously set a target of net zero by 2070, but this new plan shows Ghana has increased its ambition and is targeting net zero by 2060. 

Various sectoral changes and technologies are proposed in the plan. Four main decarbonization technologies – renewables, low-carbon hydrogen, battery electric vehicles and clean cookstoves – would cover over 90 percent of the targeted abatement by 2060. 

Without pursuing the plan, under a business-as-usual scenario, Ghana’s emissions are expected to rise from 28 Mt CO2e in 2021 to over 140 Mt in 2050, with the bulk of emissions growth coming from transport, driven by population growth, GDP per capita growth, and vehicle ownership. 

By implementing this plan, Ghana and its partners can instead bring the country’s energy-sector-related carbon emissions to net zero, while demonstrating that action against climate change does not need to come at the expense of economic development. 

The Energy Transition and Investment Plan was developed by the Government of Ghana with technical support from Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). 

“This pioneering Energy Transition and Investment Plan maps out Ghana’s journey to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 based on the latest data and evidence, ensuring that as our economy thrives, it does so in harmony with the environment. This plan is a testament to our dedication to fostering green industries, nurturing the evolution of cutting-edge low-carbon technologies, and propelling our nation towards a sustainable industrial revolution while giving equal growth opportunities to men and women.” 

-His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana 

“Ghana’s commitment to a just and equitable energy transition has translated to an ambitious plan that builds a case for low-carbon and energy-efficient solutions across Ghana’s entire energy system. These solutions present a tremendous opportunity for partners and investors from around the world to contribute to climate action and sustainable development in Ghana.” 

-Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy

Consultations on Ghana’s much-anticipated energy transition and investment plan took place in Accra last week, as diverse stakeholders from government, the private sector, youth and civil-society organizations offered feedback on the plan ahead of its launch.

This energy transition and investment plan is expected to serve as the government’s main roadmap for achieving universal energy access and net-zero carbon emissions, as expressed under the country’s current Energy Transition Framework and Nationally Determined Contributions, while fostering economic growth and protecting jobs.

Ghana has set goals to diversify its energy portfolio, increase the role of renewables and reduce energy intensity. All of these will need to be done in parallel and the upcoming energy transition and investment plan provides a detailed view of what is needed in terms of technical assistance and investment across key sectors. 

By mapping out these needs, the plan will serve as the main tool for the government to engage the international community and investors for support. The Government of Ghana is developing the plan with technical support from Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo and Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy, met in Accra to discuss the plan's findings and recommendations, ensuring it is backed from the highest levels of government.  

“Ghana is committed to a clean, equitable energy transition that harnesses the full potential of renewable sources and energy efficiency. However, ambition alone will not transform our energy systems, which is why we embarked on creating an energy transition and investment plan that details what is needed to reach our goals. I look forward to working with international partners to realize the many opportunities presented in this plan.”

 

His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana 

Ogunbiyi also participated in an inter-ministerial committee meeting, where she briefed ministers on how the plan is designed to support the work of various ministries, including environment, transportation, industry, and others.

“It was a pleasure to meet with President Akufo-Addo, government ministers, local community groups and youth this week and hear first-hand how committed they are to a just and equitable energy transition. Their commitment has translated to an ambitious energy transition and investment plan that builds a case for changes across Ghana’s entire energy system. These changes present a tremendous opportunity for partners and investors from around the world to contribute to climate action and sustainable development in Ghana.”

 

Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy

At additional stakeholder engagement events, the private sector, civil-society organizations, youth and other advocacy groups were given the opportunity to weigh in on what they would like to see the plan prioritize. Among the points raised was the need for equitable access to the social and economic opportunities generated by the plan, such as jobs, particularly for women and youth.

Feedback from all consultations is guiding the plan’s finalization, with its launch expected to happen this fall. 

A similar plan was launched in Nigeria last year and a dedicated Energy Transition Office has been established to drive the plan’s activation, having already secured USD 3.6 billion for its underlying projects.

Last week in Accra, Ghana, SEforALL hosted the Ghana Cooling for All Workshop, which aimed to identify gaps in Ghana's sustainable cooling policy implementation framework and pathways to achieving sustainable cooling for all.  

Ghana is a high-impact country in Sustainable Energy for All's Chilling Prospects research series because it has approximately 8.7 million people in poor rural and urban settings that lack access to sustainable cooling solutions. Ghana also remains vulnerable to heat stressors caused by climate change, with high temperatures ranging from an average of 31 to 40 degrees Celsius, and at the same time has faced challenges adapting to the threat of extreme heat due to several barriers, including a lack of access to sustainable cooling solutions. 

The workshop was held over three days and had over 90 participants, including youth, students, development partners, national associations, financial providers, and importers. 

The Cooling for All Workshop in Ghana had three key outcomes:  

• Increasing awareness of sustainable cooling among key stakeholders in Ghana 

• Recognizing the need for implementation finance to unlock additional private sector finance for passive and active cooling 

• Identifying partnership opportunities to increase the capacity of stakeholders on cooling, especially passive cooling 

These outcomes provide an opportunity for SEforALL and partners like C40 Cities to support the Government of Ghana with capacity building needs and data-driven policy, especially for passive cooling in buildings and cities, as it implements its National Cooling Action Plan and works to deliver sustainable cooling for all.   

SEforALL is also continuing to support the Government of Ghana's cooling and energy efficiency ambitions by convening the Mission Efficiency Community of Practice, which fosters coordination and cooperation among cooling and energy efficiency stakeholders, including connecting project developers with finance. 

Day 1 Recap 

On the first day, the Ghana Energy Commission’s Director for Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, Mr. Kofi Agyarko, welcomed participants and set the tone for the workshop by highlighting that cooling was no longer a luxury, and that collaboration and local solutions were necessary to deliver Cooling for All in Ghana. He stressed that such gatherings present an opportunity to chart a more concrete path towards implementing cooling solutions, particularly those that prevent food losses and save vaccines.  

Peace Kaliisa of the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure followed, noting the success of the landmark Centre for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain at the University of Rwanda and that additional financing was needed for capacity building. Remarks by Dr. Fenwicks Musonye of the Kenya Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority concluded the opening, emphasizing the need to increase awareness of energy efficiency benefits. 

The remainder of the day included deep-dive presentations on cooling access gaps in Ghana and the status of the National Cooling Action Plan. SEforALL led another session that delved into passive cooling, especially in building design, led by Energy Efficiency Specialist Elizabeth Wangeci Chege.  

The final session of the day emphasized the need to promote energy-efficient cooling devices in off-grid and on-grid, a discussion which also provided industry associations with the ability to dialogue with regulators on the current Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) regime and the need to shift to High Energy Performance Standards (HEPS). 

Day 2 Recap 

On the second day, SEforALL hosted a consultation on the Global Cooling Pledge for COP 28, with stakeholders from Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda emphasizing the need for further capacity building and implementation finance. In a subsequent session on innovation, representatives from Rwanda and Kenya shared their feedback on increasing innovation in cooling, including the use of passive designs to create shade and decrease heat in their regions. They also shared how policies and MEPS have lagged behind due to a lack of focus on active cooling, providing an opportunity for Ghana to understand their experiences.  

The National Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Workshop Owners Association and Accra Centre of Excellence advocated for enhanced access to the latest innovation in air conditioners in the Ghanaian market, and SEforALL used this platform to explore opportunities for manufacturing in Africa to reduce the cost of air conditioners and other sustainable cooling technologies. 

The workshop also showcased business models and financial opportunities for sustainable cooling in Ghana. This included Akofresh, a startup company that provides off-grid cooling solutions powered by solar systems, solving the problem of food waste by using cold rooms for storage in Akomadan. The company is targeting other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to replicate the success seen in Ghana.  

Finance was raised as a key issue across all sessions, and the workshop included a session with the Private Financing Advisory Network Country (PFAN) Coordinator and the Ghana Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance (SUNREF) Coordinator who discussed challenges and available support for cooling projects. The SUNREF Coordinator noted that USD 35 million is available for renewable and energy efficiency projects, but that no project has been presented on cooling yet, with high interest rates and foreign exchange fluctuations as key barriers. PFAN Country Coordinator commented on the lack of thorough business and market analysis, necessary tools for investors to understand growth potential. 

Day 3 Recap 

The workshop concluded on its 3rd day by providing training to stakeholders on sustainable cooling in buildings and cities. SEforALL was joined by the Ghana Green Building Council and C40 Cities to deliver the training. Stakeholders were drawn to green roofing, which is barely seen in building construction in Ghana, and the benefits of integrating passive cooling with active cooling to lower overall energy needs.  

The day also included the launch of the Sustainable Energy Policy Hub, a virtual tool supporting policy decision-making processes in the areas of electricity access, clean cooking, energy efficiency and sustainable cooling, with participants using the tool to develop an analysis of Ghana’s policy and regulatory framework using the Hub’s decision trees on sustainable cooling and energy efficiency. 

This year Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Having started as an initiative within the UN, our sphere of influence and impact on the global sustainable energy movement have evolved greatly over the past decade. 

Our 2022 work demonstrates our ability to build higher ambition, stronger policy and planning, and faster results, all of which are urgently needed to achieve affordable and clean energy for all by 2030 and net-zero emissions by mid-century. 

Of course, our work would not be possible without the support and collaboration of our many partners and funders, who we would like to thank for their commitment to helping us build a better future through sustainable energy. 

As the year comes to an end, now is a good time to look back at what we’ve achieved together. 

Higher ambition 

Our advocacy and diplomacy work aims to build high-level political support for energy access and transition around the world. In 2022, we enabled critical dialogues on energy among global leaders and secured significant new energy commitments from governments, companies, financiers, and others. 

SEforALL Forum 

Co-hosted with the Government of Rwanda, the Forum brought together the global energy, climate and development communities to learn, inspire and collaborate. Our partners used this global platform as an opportunity to launch new partnerships and commitments towards the energy transition. Collectively, they announced an impressive USD 347 million in commitments over the three days in Kigali, along with the launch of several important new initiatives, including Mission Efficiency, a global coalition dedicated to improving energy efficiency.  

Youth engagement at the Forum was extensive, with more than 300 youth bringing their voices to the various Forum sessions. Young people’s futures truly are at stake with the energy transition, so we make it a priority to support them in accessing today’s energy sector leaders. 

Ministerial Roundtables  

To foster collaboration among African countries in defining and advancing a just and equitable energy transition for Africa, we organized a Ministerial Roundtable at the Forum in Kigali. There, ten countries agreed on seven transformative actions towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7, outlining them in the Kigali Communique, which signals to the global community where support is needed in Africa for energy access and transition efforts. 

As a next step towards garnering this support, we held similar roundtables on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September and at COP27 in November. Importantly, the conversation at COP27 was organized as an Africa-Europe Ministerial Roundtable, which we hosted along with the Africa-Europe Foundation. African and European ministers listened to each other and strategized on how to accelerate Africa’s race towards a just and equitable energy transition while working together. 

There is now greater momentum for Europe to support Africa in achieving its energy goals, something that will be aided by establishing a “Africa-Europe Energy Leaders’ Group.” 

COP27 

The UN climate conference was also a major moment for us because of the SDG7 Pavilion, which we again hosted with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). For the second year in a row, the pavilion was the main hub at COP for discussing and showcasing how to unite global efforts on energy, climate and development, and it served as a platform for the launch of several exciting new initiatives. 

With GEAPP and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, we launched the ground-breaking Africa Carbon Markets Initiative at COP27, which aims to support the growth of voluntary carbon markets in Africa for financing clean energy access and transition. With Bloomberg Philanthropies, we also announced our partnership with the government of Ghana to develop an Energy Transition Plan that will provide a detailed, data-driven pathway for the country and its partners to achieve its energy and climate goals. 

By 2019, the African continent was the least energy efficient region in the world, and by 2021, all regions in the world except Africa and Eurasia saw an increase in energy efficiency investments. 

Mission Efficiency is creating a platform that will foster coordination and cooperation among energy efficiency stakeholders in Ghana to help change this trend. The Mission Efficiency Community of Practice in Ghana is an energy efficiency ecosystem supporting progress on policy, technology, finance, and services solutions that will drive a just and equitable energy transition.  

The Mission Efficiency Community of Practice held its very first Ghana meetup on 30 November 2022. It brought together various partners from the finance and energy efficiency communities, notably the Energy Commission, the SUNREF Programme, Ghana Standards Authority, United Nations Development Programme, GIZ, PFAN, IFC, Ghana National Cleaner Production Center, the Customs Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority Association of Ghana Industries Energy Service Centre, among others. 

Ghana has achieved great progress in energy efficiency appliances, but there is a need for improvement in other sectors, especially buildings and transport. Aligned with the effort to drive energy efficiency improvements across sectors, Ghana’s Energy Commission is promoting Drive Electric Initiative and collaborating with Mission Efficiency. However, the Energy Commission stressed the need for support from donors in ensuring enforcement and awareness creation to encourage electric vehicle drive in the energy transition. 

The discussions were varied and touched on critical topics across sectors, such as green building certifications, energy efficiency in industry and harnessing ESCO potential. Similarly, participants shared various challenges for energy efficiency such as certification prices, need for testing facilities at a sub-regional level, especially for the additional 17 appliances that the Energy Commission plans to regulate, and lack of data to raise awareness on energy efficiency and attract investments.  

Participants engaged in a roundtable to find short, medium and long-term strategies for advancing energy efficiency in transport, buildings, appliances and industry. This discussion provided valuable inputs to all stakeholders on the direction and drive needed for improving energy efficiency in Ghana, and next steps in various sectors. 

Out of the meeting, SEforALL was able to connect Solar Taxi, Ghana’s first local EV company, and the Private Financing Advisory Network, as well as getting SUNREF support for the financing industries audited under the Energy Efficiency in Industries in Ghana project funded by Green Climate Fund. This provides opportunity for various industries to get funded for pursuing greener production.  

The Mission Efficiency Community of Practice aims to build on these initial conversations and linkages while also promoting innovation going forward. This will ensure increasing progress in Ghana achieving SDG7.3 on energy efficiency. 

Electricity access remains a significant global challenge, with only incremental progress made to date towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.

The affordability of electricity plays an important role in determining whether households gain and maintain access to electricity. Closing electricity access gaps therefore requires special attention to supporting affordability.

New research published by Sustainable Energy for All in partnership with Climate Policy Initiative examines this issue in-depth, particularly how subsidies can support affordability. The Role of End-User Subsidies in Closing the Affordability Gap assesses three end-user subsidy programmes – in Ghana, Uganda and Togo – and builds on existing literature regarding the development and implementation of end-user subsidies for solar home systems.

Based on analysis of the three subsidy programmes, the brief outlines a set of attributes key to end-user subsidy design – financing structure; delivery modality and implementers; technology targeted; market targeting mechanism; verification system; and target market – and identifies the various methods available to build each component.

Ghana

The Ghana Energy Development Access Project launched the Improving Rural Energy Access through Solar Home Systems programme in 2010. The programme is widely seen as a success – likely the result of accurately calculating the subsidy thresholds for different regions in the country and targeting those populations that needed the subsidy the most. The programme also demonstrates the benefits of working with reliable third parties; the inclusion of both the Association of Ghana Solar Industries and rural banks were programme strengths.

Uganda

The Energy for Rural Transformation (ERT) Subsidy programme has been implemented jointly by the Ugandan Government and the World Bank since 2002. The programme has suffered from structural challenges, although the lack of transparency around it has made specific identification of these challenges difficult. Given the information publicly available on the programme, it appears likely the programme’s challenges may have been due to a more complicated subsidy value than the Ghana programme and more stringent verification requirements that led to delayed payments. Furthermore, high prices and private companies’ capacity limitations to deliver high-quality products of high quality led to consumer distrust.

Togo

The Togo government launched the CIZO project to enact enabling environment supply-side and demand-side interventions. Various multilateral institutions such as the European Union and African Development Bank have provided financing for the initiative (EUR 10 million and EUR 12 million, respectively). Implementation of the programme has been slow despite the use of digital technology to verify installations and beneficiaries and provide the monthly subsidy payments. The programme is relatively new so drawing conclusions at this stage is challenging, but early indications are that accurately calculating the affordability gap for SHS products could be a key factor in determining the correct subsidy threshold for increased uptake.

Key takeaways from existing subsidy programmes

The assessment of these programmes suggests effectively employing the menu of design attributes available to policymakers is critical to effectively target and verify beneficiaries while also determining the right threshold of the subsidy being provided.

The brief highlights crucial ongoing data and information issues that must be addressed at the national level to effectively design targeted, efficient subsidy programmes. Most notably, the difference between a successful and unsuccessful end-user subsidy programme is heavily influenced by consumer affordability estimates. This is how entities would determine which markets to enter, what would be the required concessionality to crowd in investment for an initiative from the private sector, and which subsidy thresholds for a technology would lead to increased uptake.

Therefore, the brief recommends that researchers advance a modified energy burden threshold for measuring the affordability gap in developing and emerging economies. An energy burden threshold is the percentage of household income spent on energy costs. Spending on energy beyond the defined percentage is called an energy burden. This threshold is used to determine affordability gap calculations at the moment.

This brief argues that the energy burden, which is defined by certain researchers as 6 percent or higher, is probably not accurate in a developing country context and needs revision based on market conditions and the type of technology.  

Policymakers should also invest resources to improve data on several fronts: demographic data to more accurately target subsidies, technology, and access tier data to assess the potential for phases interventions of subsidies, and household consumption data to minimize potential for market distortion.