Ghana warns of power cuts while Italy's Eni works to boost gas supply
Ghana, the world's second biggest cocoa producer, has been trying to ramp up oil and gas production to increase revenues and prevent fossil fuels from becoming stranded.
It has reached a deal with Eni to increase natural gas supply by 30-million standard cubic feet per day to 270-million, the energy ministry said in a statement on X on Wednesday.
To facilitate the upgrade, Eni will temporarily halt some operations, resulting in "an impact on the availability of gas for power generation", the statement said.
Speaking at an event on Monday in the southern city of Kumasi, energy minister John Jinapor said Ghana was "likely to experience some interactions or interruption of power" while the plant was offline.
"Once the work is done, we shall stabilise supply of gas, increase gas production and that will improve the delivery of power," he said.
Eni's Offshore Cape Three Points project off Ghana's Atlantic coast meets 65% of the country's energy demand, according to the Italian company's website.
Last week, Tullow Oil said in a statement it was planning to increase the supply of gas from its Jubilee and TEN projects to about 130-million standard cubic feet per day.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Senegal working on rebasing country's GDP, says finance ministry
Senegal has begun recalculating its gross domestic product using an updated base year in a move that could result in an improvement in its debt metrics, its finance ministry said on Tuesday in response to a credit rating downgrade. Senegal revealed last year it had billions of dollars of previously unreported debt, leading the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to suspend its lending programme and triggering a series of ratings downgrades and a sharp selloff in its government bond market. The IMF is awaiting final details on the extent of the misreporting and how it was able to take place before possibly restarting its programme with the West African nation. "While the [Senegalese] authorities have expressed their intention to rebase GDP, this is not a prerequisite for progressing in our engagement," said the IMF via a spokesperson. "The timing of a potential Board meeting will depend on the progress made in resolving the misreporting issue and reaching agreement on key policy measures." The government has been working on a "GDP rebasing exercise" the finance ministry said in a statement, the results of which are expected to be published in the coming months. "This exercise, which has been in preparation for some time, will provide a more accurate picture of the size of the Senegalese economy by adopting a scope aligned with its level of economic development," the ministry said, without providing an estimate of the likely revision. Updating the base year that a country uses to calculate its economic output is an internationally accepted practice. It is meant to take into account new emerging industries and other developments, but it can raise questions among economists when it results in big debt-to-GDP improvements. The finance ministry statement was responding to a credit rating downgrade by S&P late on Monday, in which the agency warned that the government's debt-to-GDP ratio had jumped to almost 120%. S&P debt figures had not taken account of the potential impact of the ongoing rebasing exercise, however, the finance ministry said. Senegal's international bonds , which have lost over a quarter of their value since September's hidden debt announcements, rose following the government's response to the ratings downgrade. The country's 2033 maturity climbed by almost 1.6 cents to 66 cents on the dollar — a third below its face value. Senegal's finance ministry did not respond to requests for comments on the GDP rebasing plan. Some observers remained sceptical of the long-term effectiveness of the exercise. "It will flatter the debt-to-GDP ratio but gross financing needs will remain elevated," said Kevin Daly, portfolio manager for emerging debt at Aberdeen Investments in London. Aurelie Martin, emerging market fixed income analyst at Ninety One, said Senegal's long-term stability will also require it to ensure revenue and foreign exchange generation. "A higher GDP mechanically results in a lower debt-to-GDP ratio, which is undoubtedly positive. It is not, however, a silver bullet," she said.

TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Ivory Coast cashew output could hit record 1.5-million tons: regulator
Ivory Coast's cashew output could reach a record 1.5-million metric tons this year, helped by the West African country's increased fight against smuggling, the head of the regulator said on Tuesday. The world's top cashew and cocoa producer has already collected 1.4-million tons of raw cashew nuts as of Tuesday, with about 100,000 tons still in the hands of farmers, said Mamadou Berte, director of the Cotton and Cashew Council. The expected output beats the 1.15-million tons forecast and last year's output of 944,000 tons. "This year, with all the measures we've taken to secure our borders, we think we're reaching our true production in terms of quantity," Berte said in an interview, adding that new cashew plantations also contributed to the growth. The sector estimates 200,000 to 250,000 tons of raw nuts are smuggled every year across the borders into Ghana and Burkina Faso, where cashew prices are usually higher. But Ivory Coast stepped up its fight against cocoa and cashew smuggling with the help of special units that carried out targeted checks and surveillance operations on the eastern and northern borders.

TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Senegal raises R11bn in oversubscribed domestic bond offering
Senegal has raised 364-billion CFA francs (R11.53bn) in its second public bond offering of 2025, exceeding its initial target of 300-billion CFA francs (R9.50bn), the West African nation's finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The issuance, which ran from June 19 to July 8, was arranged by CGF Bourse with Societe Generale Senegal as co-lead. It forms part of the government's broader strategy to diversify budget financing sources, deepen the domestic capital market, and manage public debt. Senegal has seen mounting concerns about its debt levels. Its international bonds have lost roughly a quarter of their value since revealing in September it had what analysts estimated as up to $14bn (R250.91bn) of previously undisclosed debt. That pushed its debt-to-GDP ratio towards 120%, making it one of the highest in Africa. Despite the debt concerns, the latest offering was oversubscribed by 21.3%, reflecting strong demand from both domestic and regional investors. The ministry attributed the success of the issuance to growing investor confidence in Senegal's economic outlook.