Professor Akabzaa Delivers Maiden CBAS Public Lecture

Prof. Thomas Mba Akabzaa, delivering the lecture

Prof. Thomas Mba Akabzaa, Chief Director of the Ministry of Petroleum and former Head of the Department of Geology, now the Department of Earth Science has delivered the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) Public Lecture. The lecture which was on the topic, ‘Ghana’s Economic Development Challenge: The Energy Factor’ was chaired by the Provost of CBAS, Prof. Ebenezer O. Owusu.

Prof. Akabzaa in his presentation, shared his experiences on Ghana’s challenges in providing adequate energy to meet the requirements of our growing economy. He also gave insights into experiences he has gained from leading policy making initiatives for the energy sector in the last couple of years. He noted that Ghana’s current effort in implementing a country growth and strategy in phases aimed at scaling up to upper middle income status is hampered by the country’s inability to provide reliable energy on sustained basis.  

Prof. Akabzaa indicated that it has been demonstrated that every dollar invested in reliable and affordable energy resonates into $15 dollars addition to GDP, yet in Ghana, sustained supply of reliable and affordable energy has been illusive, particularly, in the last twenty five years with episodic crisis as we have today. He opined that while the country has always focused on the power crises and its economic impacts, little consideration has been given to the malaise of uncoordinated national planning that fails to integrate all sectors of the economy in the planning and execution of projects.

Touching on the historical energy planning malaise, Prof. Akabzaa blamed the nation’s inability to produce sufficient energy to meet national demand on poor energy planning and implementation in the last forty years. He also attributed the insufficient energy supply to the derailment of Kwame Nkrumah’s seven-year Development plan which was aimed at concerted efforts to sustainably develop our energy resources to match economic development. He lamented that the rapid expansion in Ghana’s demand for electricity, without matching investment in energy infrastructure in subsequent years led to demand for energy outstripping supply. According to the speaker, if electricity supply is to meet this growth, we will require new capacity in addition to about 200 MW each year to catch up with increasing demand in the medium to long term” he added.

Prof. Akabzaa advocated that Members of Parliament and members of the Council of State must not serve on boards of public institutions. He said this proposal was guided by the simple philosophy that persons that officiate in a football game where such as referee and assistant referees are also players on the field, then that game could no longer be described as football.  Reflecting on his experiences as an academic in the civil service, he recommended that good governance in the management of public institutions could be guaranteed if there was a legislative guidance regarding the eligibility of persons to serve on specific boards. He emphasized that the country has failed to address some institutional challenges particularly poor management, not for lack of knowledge, but for our addiction to political expediency. He stressed the need for better corporate governance for enhancement of oversight and transparency. He added that identifying challenges and prescribing solutions in the power sector would require bold non-partisan efforts, some requiring significant, “if not total buy-in of the citizenry”.

He reiterated that the Volta River Authority (VRA), the country’s power producer could not totally be blamed entirely for the breakdown of its machinery, because of lack of spinning reserves that allow adequate generation to meet demand when plants are due for scheduled maintenance. It was noted that VRA’s requests for load shedding to enable them to shut down some plants for maintenance have often been resisted by the ministry for political expediency, thus delaying such maintenance schedules, and thereby, affecting the tolerance level of the equipment,”. He noted that in 2003, the government of Ghana approved a decision to separate the management of VRA’s hydro and thermal plants, but it was not implemented. He suggested that it was time to implement this separation to make the best use of the available gas supplies.

On the way forward, Prof. Akabzaa said that challenges in the energy sector were not insurmountable, but required competence and bravery to make the right policy choices, and the political will and boldness to implement them. The Chief Director stressed the need for Ghanaians to internalize energy conservation habits such as switching on lights only when we need them, the use of energy efficient bulbs and taking energy consumption into consideration in the design of buildings. Consequently, he called on educational institutions to provide the consuming public with architectural models that adequately take into consideration the culture, environment, climate and general level of economic development. He also noted that as strong economic performance continues to escalate, the power sector in Ghana would continue to face a very tight demand-supply balance in the coming years. In his view it is imperative that the country adopts complementary short term measures to soften the economic and social impact of power scarcity. He also called for closer collaboration among government, industry, research and academic institutions as one of the regulatory interventions to address the energy issue.

The Chief Director was hopeful that the new entity that the government intends to establish to manage thermal plants would partner private actors in new projects to build the core competences of the indigenous technical staff and also have access to efficient and modern technology.

Professor Akabzaa donated GH¢ 20,000 to the CBAS as seed money towards the Endowment Fund that the College plans to establish to support post graduate studies in the College.

Provost of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu (left) making a presentation on behalf of the College to Prof. Akabzaa

On behalf of the College, the Provost of the CBAS, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu expressed his gratitude towards Professor Akabzaa, and presented a citation to him for his meritorious and indefatigable services to the Department of Earth Science, The College and University at large.

Present at the lecture were Deans and Directors of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, Heads of Departments and Units, Members of the College Advisory Board, Staff and Students of the University as well as members of the University community and invited guests.

An attentive audience at the Lecture