Ghana to become an energy hub in Africa - GE CEO

Global infrastructure giant, General Electric (GE) is to make Ghana a major hub for its power business in Africa and a key driver of its ventures in oil and gas and healthcare.

Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GE, Mr Jeff Immelt affirmed that GE was making good on its commitment to improve Ghana’s energy and healthcare sectors.

He said this at Peduase Lodge in the Eastern Region when he paid a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama.

The meeting was a follow up from the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC in August 2014, where GE revealed its vision to make Ghana a major hub for its power business in Africa and a key driver of its ventures in oil and gas and healthcare.

Mr Immelt reiterated GE’s commitment to the implementation of the ‘Ghana 1000’ project, which is expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2016.

President Mahama thanked GE for the significant investments in critical sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

He said government was commitment to continuing to create the enabling environment that will make Ghana the preferred destination for investment in Africa.

GE Ghana CEO, Mr Leslie Nelson said GE’s footprint in Ghana cuts across critical sectors, including healthcare, power, and oil and gas.

He explained that apart from capacity building efforts in the oil and gas space, GE has identified over 100 districts that would receive portable ultrasound equipment and offer training to 1,000 midwives in the country.

GE is the world’s leading technology and financial services company with over $140 billion in annual revenue. In Ghana, GE operates in the power & water, oil & gas, and healthcare businesses and has grown its operations by more than five-fold since 2010.

The ‘Ghana 1000’ power project, initiated by GE in conjunction with Endeavour Energy, Eranove (formerly Finagestion), Sage Petroleum and the Ghanaian government, will create what would be Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest integrated gas to power project and will substantially lower the cost of electricity while increasing reliability.

The project will comprise a Floating Storage Regasification Unit vessel to supply gas to the power plant, the first of its kind in Africa.