As part of his two-day State Visit to Benin, President John Mahama and his Beninois counterpart chaired a bilateral meeting between the two countries. The discussions centred on Ghana’s supply of electricity to Benin and Togo, and how Ghana can support Benin with gas for their newly constructed Thermal Power Plant.
The meeting also considered opportunities in infrastructure development involving countries along the corridor, including port operations, road and rail network. The two leaders also discussed extensively their collective positions on the thorny issue of integrating the subregion as a sure way to boosting economic development and the living standards of the people.
Of considerable interest to President Mahama and his host were the security situation in the subregion, the sahel areas and the economic growth of countries on the continent.
President Mahama, who was accompanied to the meeting by the Minister for Energy & Petroleum Emmanuel Kofi Buah and the Chief Executive of the VRA Kweku Awotwe, assured President Boni Yayi that Ghana will increase the megawatts of power supplied Benin as its generating capacity improves.
He argued that availability of sustainable power is the panacea to Africa’s challenges as it will provide the necessary impetus for industrial and productive development. Accordingly, Ghana he said, is working on various energy sources in order to position itself as a net exporter of power to countries like Benin and Togo, which continue to rely on it for electricity.
At the end of the deliberations, the two sides signed a Communique agreeing to reconvene the Permanent Joint Ghana- Benin Commission with Ghana hosting the next meeting.
