energy4everyone

24 hours later, we’ve arrived.

Reeling from a long journey, the last leg shared with more than a handful of development workers on their way to lend a helping hand, we cleared customs and headed for our accommodations for a long night’s nap.  We shared a car with a German Development Officer heading up north to complete a poverty assessment in Sunyari, as well as a local engineer working on an offshore oil extraction project.  The conversation quickly turned to the nature of our visit and e4e’s mission.  The engineer, excited to share thoughts on the Ghanaian energy landscape, summarized his thoughts by saying that ‘while renewables are the preferred source for large scale distribution systems, the feasibility continues to be a major deterrent. Oil is a dependable, available, and a smart cost effective solution.’  A fair debate, and one that continues across the globe.

During our meeting with the E+Co investment team today Vincent, E+Co’s local Investment Officer, agreed with our view that positions energy as the great enabler.  In fact, he went so far as to say that the Ghanaian government has started to promote energy as the strongest engine for economic growth.  Backing that statement up with the following exhibit:

Current electrification rates in Ghana sit at approximately 56% of the population having access to the national grid system.  The government’s goal is to reach 100% by 2020 (understanding that alternative energy will fill the gap in rural exceptions where grid connection is not feasible or even possible).

e4e wishes them all the success, and hopes to be able to play a role in achieving this bold target!

Don’t forget to follow us along the way at http://twitter.com/energy4everyone

Tags: E+Co, ghana energy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.