Energy Minister Confirms at ISA Summit: Ghana Now a Net Power Exporter

At the International Solar Alliance’s Africa summit in Accra on September 4, Energy and Green Transition Minister John Abdulai Jinapor declared what many in the industry have long tracked: “Our power supply is fairly stable. We have enough, and we are even exporting,” he told the press, drawing a line under years of volatility in Ghana’s grid.

The data tells the story. In 2002, Ghana was a net importer, running a deficit of 534 GWh. Two decades of heavy investment in generation and transmission have flipped the balance. By 2025, exports climbed to 2,113 GWh against imports of just 57 GWh, giving a net export of 2,056 GWh—a turnaround that places Ghana among the few net energy exporters in the West African market.

Power exports are emerging as a new line of forex earnings for an economy long tied to cocoa, gold, and crude. At the same time, efficiency gains are reshaping the grid itself. By  2025, Ghana transmitted 24,654 GWh of electricity with transmission losses of 3.86%, beating the PURC benchmark of 4.1% and down from 5.01% in 2021. The improvement signals a leaner, more reliable backbone for the power system, even if distribution losses remain higher and more costly.

For regional partners under the West African Power Pool, the shift is significant. Once reliant on Côte d’Ivoire for imports, Ghana now supplies power north and east—to Burkina Faso, Togo, and Benin—anchoring stability in a market where outages remain the norm.

And the momentum is not just in transmission or exports. With the moves being made to procure Ghana’s second gas processing plant, fuel supply for thermal generation is set to deepen, reducing the risk of shortages and reinforcing the base on which renewables can be layered. Together, these developments suggest a power sector that is not only exporting more than it consumes but is also edging toward the resilience needed to sustain that position.

If these gains are held and expanded, Ghana could yet entrench itself as West Africa’s steady hand on the grid—an energy exporter whose first dividend remains stability at home.

Beyond exports, Ghana’s credibility at the International Solar Alliance is anchored in a green transition that is steadily moving from rhetoric to execution. In the first half of 2025 alone, Accra launched its first solar-powered EV charging station, seeded rooftop solar across public institutions with KfW financing, and backed its agenda with a GH¢1.2 billion allocation for renewable expansion and energy efficiency. State players are shifting too: BOSThas rebranded , now BOSTEnergies, reflecting its foray into the green energy sphere, building on its Green Transition and Alternative Fuels Department and depot solarization initiatives from Buipe to Tema, showing that even the country’s most traditional infrastructure can be retooled for a low-carbon future.

International partnerships have amplified this pivot. Through IRENA’s APRA initiative and the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programme, Ghana is unlocking blended capital for mini-grids, net-metered solar, and a dedicated Renewable Energy Authority.

Hosting the ISA’s Regional Committee in September underscored this new profile: Ghana is no longer simply a market player but a convening power in Africa’s clean energy diplomacy. The trajectory is clear—domestic reforms, anchored by investments in both gas security and renewables, are positioning Ghana as a sub-regional leader capable of exporting stability, not just surplus power.