The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) is calling for sweeping reforms in Ghana’s power sector, insisting that inefficiency and mismanagement — rather than low revenue — are the true causes of the sector’s financial distress.
Reacting to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) proposed electricity tariff increment for next year, FABAG and its partners — the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association — argued that businesses should not be made to pay for the sector’s failings.
In a joint statement issued in Accra, the associations accused the PURC and utility companies of focusing on tariff hikes instead of addressing structural inefficiencies, losses, and corruption within the power supply chain.
“The skyrocketing cost of electricity in Ghana is not just unsustainable; it is anti-business and anti-growth,” the statement said. “Tariffs are crushing competitiveness and creating fertile ground for illegal connections and power theft.”
FABAG warned that the country’s current electricity pricing model was undermining industrial growth and pushing many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the edge of collapse. It said the persistent increases in power costs were forcing some factories to downsize operations, while others were turning to unregulated or illegal alternatives to survive.
“When electricity becomes unaffordable, it becomes a target for illegal access. We are fast creating a society where honest business owners are punished while defaulters and illegal users thrive,” the statement cautioned.
The Association further highlighted that energy-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, cold storage, and food processing — which form the backbone of Ghana’s production and job creation — were suffering the most from rising tariffs.
“The pricing structure discourages local manufacturing and makes imports even more attractive,” FABAG lamented. “We cannot talk about industrialisation when the very foundation of industry — affordable and reliable power — is being misused.”
FABAG and its partner groups urged the government and the PURC to suspend any planned tariff hikes and instead focus on cleaning up inefficiencies in the system. They proposed reforms such as cutting technical and commercial losses, enforcing transparency in utility operations, and exploring cost-effective renewable energy sources to stabilise power supply.
“The solution is not to keep raising tariffs,” the statement concluded. “It is to fix the inefficiencies, strengthen accountability, and build a power sector that supports business growth, job creation, and economic transformation.”
The call from FABAG adds to growing pressure from Ghana’s business community for a comprehensive review of the country’s energy pricing and governance structure to align with industrial and economic competitiveness goals.
