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Oil and gas analyst Kwame Jantuah has urged government to develop a strategic long-term energy plan by investing heavily in solar energy to ensure the country enjoys sustainable power supply in the coming years.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) with Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM on Tuesday 28 February, he noted that successive governments had not invested much in the energy sector hence the challenges being experienced with power supply.

His comment comes on the heels of the recent recurrence of the erratic power supply situation, which has seen many parts of the country without electricity, sometimes stretching for days.

“The sunshine we have in Africa is not the same sunshine we have in Europe, but they have solar and they are using solar massively. Why aren’t we doing it here? If we had leaders who sat down to think, would we not use solar? Would it not be cheaper? And a lot of European companies have had to force Africa to think about solar when we have the sunshine here and we can produce solar panels here,” he stated.

“Is it that we don’t have the kind of innovation that others have or is it that the type of leadership we have are only interested in their own and not interested in making sure the people are comfortable. It’s a conundrum I find difficult to understand. And, so, if you feel solar is something that would be good for your country or continent and the prices are high, you lobby, you make your voice heard on the world stage that ‘Africa has sun, solar is the way to go, solar is expensive, so international bodies let’s bring this down because it will help the continent even if it means scrapping taxes on solar panels.”