Japan will continue to reinforce its support for the power sector to facilitate the provision of stable and reliable supply for Ghana’s socioeconomic development.
Mr Koji Makino, the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) Country Representative for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, said the Agency would continue to support the building of electricity facilities such as substations, transmission and distribution lines to enable a stable and reliable power supply which contributed to industrial development.
He said electricity transmission and distribution were equally important as its generation hence the need to invest massively in those sectors.
He said the Agency, in collaboration with the Ghana Government under the Project for Improvement of Power Distribution System, had funded the construction of two primary substations for the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) in Tamale and Sunyani.
Mr Makino, who made this known in Tamale during a three-day tour of JICA funded projects in the Northern Region, said the two projects cost 1.686 billion Japanese Yen or $16.4 million.
The Tamale Project would beef power supply to approximately 5,084 existing households customers at the University for Development, Nyankpala Campus, Sheshegu and Tolon and about 3,916 new households customers would also benefit.
For the Sunyani substation 4,577 existing household customers would directly benefit while 4,380 new household customers would be connected to the national grid including the Sunyani Hospital, Chira and New Dormaa.
Mr Makino said currently JICA, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, is implementing co-operation in six sectors namely health, infrastructure, agriculture, education, governance and private sector development.
The Country Representative said the project areas were selected through a dialogue with the Government of Ghana based on Ghana’s development strategy and Japan’s co-operation strategy outlined in the Tokyo International Conference for African Development.
Mr Makino said JICA would continue to provide support for capacity development, policy and institutional capacity improvement as well as social and economic infrastructure, thereby stimulating sustained poverty reduction through equitable growth and human empowerment.
Mr Moses Tawiah, the NECO Engineering Director, described the project as one of the best to be implemented in the country.
He said power played a key role in the socioeconomic development of every nation and expressed his gratitude to the Japanese Government for the project.
Source: GNA
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