President John Dramani Mahama is seeking to deepen Ghana’s energy cooperation with Russia, with solar power and nuclear energy emerging as key areas of interest ahead of a planned bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The meeting, scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the Russia Africa Summit, is expected to explore new opportunities for collaboration between the two countries, particularly in energy investment, technology transfer and broader economic relations.
President Mahama said Ghana was looking at alternative energy sources to diversify its electricity generation capacity, adding that Russia’s technological expertise could support the country’s ambitions.
He noted that Ghana already played an important role in electricity supply within the West African sub region, exporting power to Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin while maintaining electricity exchanges with Côte d’Ivoire.
Despite its position as a regional electricity supplier, the President said Ghana was exploring additional sources of energy, including solar and nuclear power, to strengthen its generation mix and support future demand.
“The solidarity between Ghana and Russia is one that is historic and we believe that the time has come for us to bring it back to that level and that’s why I personally agreed to come myself for the Russia Africa Summit,” he said.
President Mahama expressed optimism that his engagement with Mr Putin would open new avenues for cooperation, particularly in developing energy infrastructure and attracting investment.
He said Ghana was interested in learning from Russia’s technological capabilities in solar and nuclear energy as the country considered options for expanding its power generation capacity.
“I know that Russia has advanced technology in some of these things and so we’re looking forward to that meeting and I’m sure that after the meeting it will draw our relationship even closer in terms of investments and in terms of economic relations,” he added.
The proposed engagement forms part of efforts to strengthen longstanding relations between Ghana and Russia while identifying areas of mutual economic benefit.
For Ghana, cooperation in alternative energy technologies could support efforts to diversify electricity generation and improve the country’s capacity to meet growing energy needs.
The outcome of the bilateral meeting is expected to provide further clarity on potential areas of collaboration, including investment opportunities and the application of Russian technology to Ghana’s energy sector.
