The AbibiNsroma Foundation says Ghana’s energy transition presents a critical opportunity to restructure governance toward greater equity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Global institutions, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the African Union, have emphasized the importance of locally grounded, participatory models for climate action, it informed.
“Yet Ghana’s current approach remains heavily centralized and investor-focused, sidelining traditional authorities and rural communities who hold deep ecological knowledge and bear the greatest burden of energy poverty and climate vulnerability, Mr. Bob T K. Amiteye, Convernor of the Civil Society Organisation told journalists in Tema.
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During a presentation of research findings and a documentary on the sea erosion of Tema Manhean shores in the Greater Accra Region, he said the exclusion of traditional leaders and the community from climate related activities was worrying and counterproductive.
According to him, Community-led energy governance structures offer a transformative solution.
These institutions would allow for inclusive co-decision-making, ensure fair allocation of project benefits, and strengthen accountability through citizen-based monitoring and localized oversight.
In Ghana’s context—where challenges like insecure land tenure, artisanal resource extraction, and regional energy disparities persist—such frameworks are not optional but essential.
The CSO strongly advised that traditional leaders and the community structures must be recognized by law, integrated into national energy planning, and resourced through targeted funding and technical support.
Institutionalizing these models can help Ghana fulfill its climate and energy commitments, including those under its NDCs and broader development frameworks.
A transition driven by community legitimacy and embedded accountability mechanisms will not only accelerate the shift to renewables but also deepen democratic participation and build resilience from the ground up, it said.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 600 million people remain without electricity (IEA, 2023), while fossil fuel dependence and extractive economic models continue to shape national energy agendas.
Large-scale renewables are expanding but often replicate the socio-economic exclusion models of previous fossil regimes.
Community consent is frequently overlooked in project siting, while benefits (jobs, electricity and revenues) are rarely equitably distributed.
The CSO says Ghana’s energy sector is considered among the most developed in West Africa, yet significant disparities persist.
Quoting the Ministry of Energy’s 2022 report, it said approximately 15 per cent of rural populations still lacked grid access, and grid reliability remains fragile, particularly in peri-urban and agricultural regions.
Ghana’s flagship renewable energy policies such as the Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP, 2019) largely focus on scaling generation capacity but offer limited institutional space for community leadership or co-governance.
In mining-affected zones such as the Western, Ashanti, and Ahafo regions, land-use competition and extractive development exacerbate local tensions.
The group said despite constitutional guarantees of participation, many communities lack legal mechanisms, technical resources, or political leverage to influence energy decisions that affect their land, livelihoods, and health.
Ghana is at an inflection point. The Volta River Authority (VRA), GRIDCo, and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) form the backbone of the national energy system, yet community involvement in energy planning remains weak, Mr Amiteye informed.
Recent solar and wind projects in the Northern and Volta regions have faced delays and local tensions, partly due to lack of transparency and limited engagement with land-owning communities.
At the same time, mini-grid and off-grid projects backed by donors such as GIZ and the World Bank, have shown promise, but risk stagnation without stronger community co-ownership mechanisms.
He said research from University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR, 2023) highlights that over 40 per cent of off-grid energy projects in Ghana suffer from maintenance or sustainability challenges within five years of deployment.
The core issue is not technical design, but governance, according to the Abibiman Foundation.
If the just transition is to deliver economic diversification, energy democracy, and social equity, Ghana must reframe communities not as passive beneficiaries, but as active stewards of energy infrastructure, investment decisions, and benefit flows.
GNA
