Minister of Energy Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has revealed the government’s efforts to pave the way for locally produced solar batteries.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by his deputy Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, at the maiden Africa Energy Conference in Accra, he said “The world must sympathise to turn to the African continent in our aid for basic development with the resources available while honouring collective energy commitments. Moreso, Africa’s total contribution to global carbon emissions is less than 4%.” he pleaded.
He added that Ghana’s local technical capacity must be rapidly improved to reduce reliance on Western assistance and that African countries’ energy-related cross-border cooperation must be encouraged.
“Ghana’s recent discovery of high-grade lithium is an achievement that the government intends to capitalise on in exploring the real possibility of locally manufacturing solar batteries.” Natural sunlight has become a commodity that African countries must position themselves to fully exploit,” he said.
He added that the naturally occurring sunshine has also become a commodity which African countries must position themselves to harness fully.
“As we embrace the present opportunity of exploiting energy sources readily available to us, I urge African states to also plan around energy sources that will be available and accessible 20-30 years from now, and to start investing in the development of same.”
He advised African countries to strategize through current challenges and employ new and innovative measures to attract energy finance and investments.
Africa Energy Conference
The Africa Energy Conference’s maiden edition focused on highlighting the infrastructure gap, financing options and energy transition opportunities in the Africa energy sector, and was held under the theme Africa’s energy future – achieving all-around competitiveness and sustainability to support the continent’s development ambitions.
It brought together experts and industry players from across Africa to proffer solutions on how governments and the private sector can access financing to bridge the sector’s infrastructure gap and achieve lower emissions and energy transition targets in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
