Ghana launches $550bn energy transition and investment plan

BREAKING NEWSOctober 4, 2023 at 10:35 AM UTC

Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, launched the country's new Energy Transition and Investment Plan during the Global Africa Business Initiative 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 $550 billion opportunity for the international community to invest in sustainable development in Ghana. If the plan is achieved in full, would generate 400,000 net jobs within the economy.

Key Takeaways

Today, more than 770 million people lack energy access in the world – mostly in Africa and developing Asia – regions with populations that are also the most vulnerable to the climate crisis. Addressing this problem while not neglecting climate change requires a reallocation of capital to decarbonizing global economies, particularly a clean energy transition in emerging markets. Without the new 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. But it can instead bring the 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.