Like her closest anglophone neighbour to the left, Ghana suffered a nationwide power cut on Sunday, the West African country\u2019s electricity provider GRIDCo said, as it attempted to restore power.
The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) said it was dealing with \u201ca total system shutdown\u201d.
In Nigeria, power system collapses have been a regular feature despite the billions of dollars spent in the last 22 years of democracy. Not less than $10 billion have been spent on Nigeria power systems, but the situation is no better today, as administration after administration since 1999 has often given excuses for failure in the important sector.
Ghana used to be the example for Nigerians desirous of steady power supply, but the situation appears worsening there.
\u201cAt approximately 2.10pm on Sunday March 07, 2021, a challenge in the power system led to a total system shutdown. This led to an interruption in power supply to all parts of the country,\u201d the company said in a statement.
\u201cThe technical team is currently working to restore power supply,\u201d it added. \u201cGRIDCo is also working to ascertain the reasons behind the total system shutdown.\u201d
Ghanaians took to social media to express their frustration.
\u201cCan you give us a timetable for these power outages. It\u2019s so not cool. We\u2019re fed up and we can\u2019t continue to suffer in this heat in our own homes,\u201d Vivian Quartey posted on Facebook.
\u201cGRIDCo and ECG what is this? Do you want to destroy our home appliances? Enough!!\u201d Frank Dodoo added on Twitter.
Power had still not returned in the capital Accra by 1845 GMT, an AFP reporter said.
Some 84 percent of Ghana\u2019s population has access to electricity, according to the World Bank \u2014 one of the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
The country has both hydropower and thermal plants fuelled by crude oil and natural gas, and exports power to Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso.
However, power cuts are frequent \u2014 a problem that sparked major demonstrations in Ghana in 2015.
The country has enjoyed one of the fastest rates of economic growth in the world since the 2000s, fuelled by its significant supplies of gold, cocoa and oil.
However, some regions continue to suffer chronic poverty, and the global Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to Ghana\u2019s economy.
Ghana\u2019s economic growth is set to fall this year to 0.9 percent, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts \u2014 the lowest rate for 30 years.
Additional reports by AFP
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