Dumsor (Blackout) is back in Ghana

It is with sad heart that I am bring this bad news to my followers.

Ghana is back to “dumsor”. That is the Ghanaian term for load-shedding. Sadly this is happening without notice. Just found out on a TV program “Tarzan’s Take” that there is a law on the books that none of the major cities namely Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi is to see more than 48 hours of blackout “dumsor” in any one year period. Speaking for myself in the suburb of Accra (New Achimota) March 09, 2014 to March 16, 2014; I had “dumsor” every blessed day. Monday March 10, 2014, I had “dumsor” for 10.5 hours. There was one other day that I had more than 8 hours.

Now that I am aware of this 48 hour law, I will start keeping tabs on the “dumsor”, that is the frequency and the duration.

I thought when I spoke to the information officer at the Energy Ministry, the data provided is something I can take to the bank, I was living in a fools dreams. It looks like the demand is 1985 megawatts per day, while the production is 1650 Megawatts. Folks, that is a deficit of 335 Megawatts. You cannot squeeze water from a rock, neither can you get blood out of a cabbage.

This country is NOT ready for foreign investors. It is bad when you have to pay to get what is not supposed to be paid for (bribery). But this electricity thing is something else.

It looks like the hippos are back in this environment with a vengeance

Electricity in Ghana

Electricity in Ghana

Hello everybody and thank you for following my blog.

The last time I wrote, it was about the then amount of power being produced in Ghana. I am happy to say on this update that “Bui” generator number 3 is up and running. The hydro-dam at Bui ( which is skirting the Brong Ahafo Region and the Northern Region in Ghana was commissioned today (Dec. 19, 2013), and key for the operation was publicly turned over to the CEO of the Bui Power Authority by the chief engineer of the Chinese construction company, with a fanfare amidst some traditional drumming and dances.

So it is a fact, Ghana is generating more power than she is consuming. The kudos for this project, goes to the former President John Agyekum Kuffuor. I have to confess that I was one of those who criticized this project at the time it was announced about six years ago. My reasoning  for the criticism was a fact and still has NOT changed, but the end has justified the means. The landscape has changed, animals have lost their habitat, humanoids have lost their ancestral homes and burial grounds. But, after it is all said and done, Ghana is now producing about 650 MW of excess electricity.

Kudos as I said, goes to the former President Mr.J. A. Kuffuor who had to wear thick skin to take the criticism and insults (from people like me), and the Government of China that gave the major funding and the technical expertise. The cheetahs are running wild today in this environment.

Before I forget, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG which is government owned) raised the tariff by more than 75%, which was effective October 01, 2013. Can’t win them all!!!!

Electricity in Ghana

Electricity in Ghana

Hello everybody and thank you for following my blog.

The last time I wrote, it was about the then amount of power being produced in Ghana. I am happy to say on this update that “Bui” generator number 3 is up and running. The hydro-dam at Bui ( which is skirting the Brong Ahafo Region and the Northern Region in Ghana was commissioned today (Dec. 19, 2013), and key for the operation was publicly turned over to the CEO of the Bui Power Authority by the chief engineer of the Chinese construction company, with a fanfare amidst some traditional drumming and dances.

So it is a fact, Ghana is generating more power than she is consuming. The kudos for this project, goes to the former President John Agyekum Kuffuor. I have to confess that I was one of those who criticized this project at the time it was announced about six years ago. My reasoning  for the criticism was a fact and still has NOT changed, but the end has justified the means. The landscape has changed, animals have lost their habitat, humanoids have lost their ancestral homes and burial grounds. But, after it is all said and done, Ghana is now producing about 650 MW of excess electricity.

Kudos as I said, goes to the former President Mr.J. A. Kuffuor who had to wear thick skin to take the criticism and insults (from people like me), and the Government of China that gave the major funding and the technical expertise. The cheetahs are running wild today in this environment.

Before I forget, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG which is government owned) raised the tariff by more than 75%, which was effective October 01, 2013. Can’t win them all!!!!

Electricity in Ghana, July 2013

Electricity in Ghana, July 2013

Well, since I am still in Ghana and the information is readily available from the authorities, I might as well take advantage of the situation.

I had a face-to-face meeting with the most senior information officer at the Ministry of Energy, and here is what I was provided. I am putting it this way because, what is being generated and the demand, do NOT balance out.

There is currently a hydro dam under construction with three turbine generators, one came on-board in June 2013 (delivering 133MW), and another is suppose to come on-board July 2013 (delivering 133MW), with the last one coming on-board in September 2013 (to deliver 133MW). As of this writing, July 28, 2013; the July 2013 unit has not come on-board.

Anyway, with the one unit in June2013, the Grand Total being generated from hydro, thermal, and solar sources amount to a little more than 2478 Megawatts. And the daily demand as I was told is 1850MW, with 50MW of this figure going as export to Togo and Benin. If this is so, there should not be a blackout (and the authorities are calling it load shedding) of any kind because there is a net power output of more than 628MW on any given day. But there is blackout (or “dumso” in the local lingo) through July 2013.

If you are planning on doing any business in Ghana, and you think you will need electricity around the clock, my best advice is to have a Standby generator.

My personal observation and conclusion is that, there seem to be a little more of the cheetahs running around in Ghana than the Hippos, but still, there are hippos in this environment.

Is it too little too late??

Is it too little too late???

Please accept my profound apology for the long absence. I have been away from my US base, and I am now in Accra, Ghana, West Africa.

What prompted me to resurface at this time? It is very simple, I have been in Ghana for almost three years now, and the luxury of gathering facts from inside Africa in order to put it in my blog is a bit difficult and expensive. The land-line phone system in Ghana is nothing to write home about, to put it mildly; and the wireless modem method (which is what I am using now) is very expensive because everything is measured by the gigabyte of downloads.

But let us go to why I am writing now. Africa, over the last 10 years or so, have been abandoned by the “West”. And before anybody jumps on my back or neck and says, the West does not owe Africa anything, let us remember the old say, ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune”.

China, has entrenched herself all over Africa in the last 10 years or so with either free money, or interest-free loan.  Speaking specifically about Ghana, interest-free loan to build hydro power at Bui in the Brong Ahafo Region (the project is almost complete) has resulted in an additional 150 or so megawatts of electricity being injected into the emaciated arm of Ghana.

Recently, Ghana deported 167 or so Illegal gold miners to China, then last week another 1072 were deported, folks that is almost one thousand two hundred Chinese from only one country in Africa. These Chinese are from just one specific area in Eastern China (and last year exported one Billion US dollars illegally to China).

Ghana has been going through something called “dumso” (pronounce “dum sor”). This means ‘off and on ‘ in one of the local languages. The question is, why is the electricity going off and on, because for those who know something about the Bible and the New Testament,  the question is,“are you your brothers’ keeper”? Toga and Benin CANNOT support themselves, and rely on Ghana for electricity; hence the rotating blackout in Ghana. The management of ECG in Ghana (electricity company of Ghana) is calling it load-shedding, it should be call “forced rotating BLACKOUT” because Ghanaians have been taking care of their brothers for years in this respect.

Let us hop over to DR Congo and the Grand Inga Hydro project; the funding here again is China. He or she who pays the piper, calls the tune. For the benefit of those who do not know, this is supposed to be the largest hydro project in the world when completed, and it is supposed to more than double the electricity supply in Africa (south of the Sahara when completed).

The question is, why all of a sudden US president Obama is offering to put 7 billion US dollars into Africa to light her up??

Electricity Somalia

After an extended absence we have arrived in Somalia.


The main headlines that one gets out of Somalia have been mostly about piracy and blackmail. Well, there are other economic activities, besides; the pirates need to invest their ransom from the ship owners.

The main supplier of electricity in this environment is Ente Nazionale Energia Elettrica popularly known as ENEE. We are saying main supplier because Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Galkayo have all been sub-divided with private companies each taking care of its sector; of course each company have its own security to avoid sabotage.

Virtually all operational plants are of the thermal type (diesel powered generator sets). Ethiopia is trying to be neighborly by helping with supply to a few towns along her border. But until there is a permanent administrative government, instead of the free for all that currently exists, we do not see any long term stability in the supply of electricity in this environment.

As dry as this land is, there are more hippos than there are cheetahs.

Electricity Kenya

We have arrived in Kenya to see what the electricity production look like, and the main player in this environment is Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KenGen).

The main source of power generation in this country is Hydro (almost 60%), with the remainder coming from geothermal and thermal. That places KenGeny power among some of the greenest in the world.

Kenya has taken on a very ambitious program to develop one of the largest wind farms in the world, and if this becomes viable, that would make Kenya the most self-sufficient country in East Africa. The windmill farm or the wind farm is targeted for completion and inauguration in 2012.

So how many Kenyans or what percentage of the population has electricity? About 20% of Kenyans have access to electricity; the exact numbers are hard to come by, whatever the case is the 20% is pretty generous estimate. Kenya seem to be trying to develop more power plants, especially in the area of geothermal.

As with all hydro power, maximum power generation is dependent on the amount of water or level of water; and Kenya is going through some sporadic rainfall, this have affected the output of electricity.

Even though less than 50% of the population is enjoying electricity after more than 45 years of self rule from Britain, the effort seem to be on the positive side, and it seems the cheetahs outnumber the hippos.