Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance said this during the presentation of the 2017 budget statement to Parliament in Accra. He said in 2016, significant efforts were made to address some of the challenges in the sector, which included an increase in the total installed generation capacity by 880MW.

He said government intended to ensure that Ghanaians enjoyed reliable, efficient and affordable power to provide comfort in their homes and support the development and growth of their businesses.The Minister said ECG and NEDCO would continue with system upgrade projects to improve the quality of power supply to customers.

“Furthermore, steps would be taken to ensure that outstanding issues surrounding the implementation of the Ghana Compact II are addressed, to allow for its implementation, in order to achieve the desired objectives,” he added.Mr Ofori-Atta said with regards to oil and gas, Government would work with the Jubilee Partners to address the shortfall in oil and gas production resulting from the 2016 damage on the turret bearing on FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.

He said Government would adopt a three- phase approach to convert the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah to a permanently spread-moored. “First, gas from the TEN field to the Gas Processing Plant (GPP) is expected in the first half of 2017. GNPC is engaging with the partners to develop an integrated technical and commercial schedule that will target gas start-up in the 2nd quarter of 2018,” he said.

On railway development, the Minister said government believed that rail would be a major catalyst to drive the growth that was envisage in the coming years. He said rail transportation provides safer, cheaper and faster way of moving goods and people to facilitate trade and support economic activity.  He said it was Government’s vision to open up the country and provide new opportunities to our people to do business and trade among themselves.

He said Government would complete the Sekondi to Takoradi via Kojokrom section and continue with the section from Kojokrom to Tarkwa through Nsuta. This will help improve the operational performance and revenue of Ghana Railway Company Limited and enable the Company wean itself from Government support and in addition, it will enhance the performance and competitiveness of the manganese mine located on the corridor.

The Minister said work would commence on the Western Line, which started from Takoradi and terminated in Kumasi having two branch lines namely; Dunkwa to Awaso and Kojokrom to Sekondi, covering a distance of 340km. He said the corridor when completed, would facilitate the haulage of manganese, bauxite, cocoa and other bulk commodities, the Feasibility Studies and Front End Engineering Design have already been done on the Line.

“We will also initiate discussion to secure funding for other major projects, such as, the Central Spine, which stretches from Kumasi to Paga covering a distance of 700km,” he added.