The Japanese Government says it remains steadfast in its mission to provide the needed aid to Ghana for sustainable growth.
This is informed by the Japan Development Cooperation Charter – which espouses cooperation aiming at self-reliant development through assistance for self-help efforts.
“Japan continues to provide all these support to Ghana, because we understand how crucial it is to create a solid infrastructural foundation in order to achieve progress.” Mr. Mochizuki Hisanobu, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, said.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Accra Central Bulk Supply Point (BSP), at Adabraka, in the Greater Accra Region.
The Japan-funded US$40 million BSP project was executed through the Asian giants’ external technical agency, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
It is in line with the decision to construct a BSP in proximity to the Accra Central Business District (CBD) – one of the fastest-growing economic and commercial hubs in the West African sub-Region.
The CBD has in recent times seen an upsurge in commercial and industrial activities.
This comes in the wake of the setting up of various multinational companies and reconstruction of single-storey buildings into high-rise facilities with high-power demand equipment – which has scaled up the power demands.
The BSP, the fourth of such an infrastructure to be inaugurated by the Government of Ghana in the last 18 months, has a 161/34.5 Kilovolt (kV) substation in a single bus configuration.
It aims to ensure a significant reduction in power losses, especially at the medium voltage level, improve operating voltages to consumers and evacuate additional capacity for projected load growth within the CBD.
Currently, the electricity load in the commercial hub was growing at a rate higher than the system average of 10 per cent per annum, according to the Ministry of Energy, which supervised the construction of the new Accra BSP.
Mr. Hisanobu said the over 60-year friendship between Japan and Ghana “has been nothing short of exceptional and stands as a testament to the value of cooperation and the amazing results that can be achieved when we collaborate together towards a shared objective.”
“Today, we celebrate the successful completion of a project that will have a positive impact on the lives of many Ghanaians, especially for those who conduct their business in the CBD.
“When Japan supports a project such as this, it is because we are thinking about the transformative power of electricity and the potential it holds for Ghana’s future,” the Ambassador said.
Other notable areas being given assistance by the Japanese Government include education, healthcare delivery, construction of roads and other policy domains.
