THE VOLTA River Authority (VRA) has through the West African Power Pool (WAPP) priority project, begun preparations towards the supply of power to Mali and its environs in the Sahel Region by 2023.
The project which was approved in 2011 and funded by the European Commission consists of establishing a regional power interconnection line of about 800km linking Tumu-Bolga in northern Ghana to Sikasso-Bamako in Mali through Bobo-Dioulasso of Burkina Faso.
This is to allow for power exchanges between coastal countries with access to cheaper energy resources and landlocked Sahelian countries, which in effect will contribute to the creation of a regional network and market for energy in West Africa in the medium to long term.
Chief Executive Officer of VRA, Emmanuel Antwi Darkwa, who granted an interview after receiving an integrity award at the maiden Annual Public Service Excellence awards on Friday, said; “Once that is done, we will supply power to Mali, and once we get to Mali then we are in Senegal, once we are in Senegal we are in Guinea and once in Guinea then we are in Liberia through Sierra Leone, Cote D’ ivoire and then back to Ghana.”
He indicated that the VRA was poised to become a dominant power supplier in the West African Sub region as it had an efficient modus operandi, comparative advantage in indigenous power generation and also currently exports power to Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin.
“We are not going to limit ourselves to only Ghana because we have provided a solid foundation for economic growth as we have power available and we want to look beyond Ghana,” he said.
The awards scheme was initiated by the Africa Centre for Integrity and Development (ACID), a civil society organization that is focused on strengthening systems of integrity in the country.
Spokesperson for ACID, Francis Anane said that the decision to commend the CEO of VRA was based on the performance of the organization which had made enormous contributions in terms of its power generation and supply to Ghanaians and also its corporate social responsibility.
“We have also seen the quality of leadership in the set up of VRA and so wanted to award them for their leadership role and also set an example for the youth,” he said.
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