President John Dramani Mahama is seeking Russian technological support to diversify Ghana’s electricity generation sources, with solar and nuclear power emerging as key areas of potential cooperation ahead of his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Mahama said Ghana was interested in exploring alternative energy sources to strengthen its generation capacity, while building on its position as a major electricity supplier within the West African sub-region.
The proposed discussions are expected to take place on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit, where the two leaders are expected to explore new areas of cooperation between Ghana and Russia.
President Mahama said Russia’s technological expertise in solar and nuclear energy could help advance Ghana’s ambitions to diversify its energy mix and deepen economic relations with Moscow.
He noted that Ghana already exports electricity to Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin, while maintaining power exchanges with Côte d’Ivoire, underscoring the country’s role in regional electricity supply.
However, he said Ghana was considering additional energy sources to strengthen its capacity and meet its future power needs.
“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 meeting with President Putin would create opportunities for cooperation beyond existing relations, particularly in the energy sector.
“We’re looking forward to the bilateral meeting with President Putin because I think that that meeting will open up new areas of cooperation. For instance, in the area of energy, Ghana is one of the leading producers of power. And so we’re looking at alternative energy sources like solar, we’re even looking at nuclear, adding nuclear to our energy mix,” he stated.
He said Russia had advanced technology in the areas Ghana was seeking to develop and expressed hope that the discussions would help attract investments and strengthen economic ties between the two countries.
“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 planned bilateral engagement signals Ghana’s interest in leveraging international partnerships to broaden its energy options and support future electricity demand.
While the proposed cooperation could create opportunities for investment and technology transfer, the outcome of the meeting is expected to determine the specific areas in which Ghana and Russia may pursue closer collaboration.
