Ghana settled half its debt to energy producers who\u2019d threatened to turn the lights off in the West African economy over their inability to cover operational costs.<\/p>\n
Ghana paid $750 million in tranches over the last three months, Elikplim Apetorgbor, who heads a chamber that brings together companies responsible for close to half of the country\u2019s peak energy demand, said by phone Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to explore all avenues to ensure that we get to zero\u201d debt, a government spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions after confirming the payment.<\/p>\n
The move shows Ghana is seeking to re-prioritize the settlement of ballooning energy debt after focusing on its response to the coronavirus pandemic. The state reacted to the health crisis with more than 3 billion cedis ($519 million) that included providing free electricity and water to citizens, tax waivers and credit to small businesses.<\/p>\n
Read more: Ghana\u2019s Power Abundance Becomes Burden as Energy Debts Mount<\/p>\n
No new debt has been accrued this year as the government has been paying weekly invoices for power, said Apetorgbor of the Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors and Bulk Consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ghana settled half its debt to energy producers who\u2019d threatened to turn the lights off in the West African economy over their inability to cover operational costs. Ghana paid $750 million in tranches over the last three months, Elikplim Apetorgbor, who heads a chamber that brings together companies responsible for close to half of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":9159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\n