Promoting the Solar Industry in Ghana through Effective Public-Private Partnership (PPP): Some Lessons from South Africa and Morocco

Samuel Amo Awuku, Amar Bennadji, Firdaus Muhammad-Sukki and Nazmi Sellami
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Samuel Amo Awuku: School of Engineering, Robert Gordon University, The Sir Ian Wood Building, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GE, UK
Amar Bennadji: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Robert Gordon University, The Sir Ian Wood Building, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 1FR, UK
Firdaus Muhammad-Sukki: School of Engineering & the Built Environment, Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
Nazmi Sellami: School of Engineering & the Built Environment, Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK

Energies, 2021, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Over the past decades, solar energy has gained much attention in Ghana, especially after the 2012–2016 power crisis. The government through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) has attempted to increase the shares of solar generation to augment its efforts in reducing the energy deficit of the country, especially in remote and off-grid communities. However, the extent to which PPP has been utilized as a viable tool for solar sector development in Ghana is questionable. This study discusses the current state of PPPs in Ghana’s solar industry and compares how it has been efficiently used as a tool to promote the solar industry in South Africa and Morocco. Fundamental theories such as Altruism, Game, Principal-agent, and Pareto Optimality (PO) were used as analytical tools to examine how PPPs are handled in the selected cases. The study ascertains that the Game and PO are applicable theories that have guided SA and Morocco’s solar infrastructural development. This study discovered that PPP has been efficiently used in SA and Morocco to push its solar industry to be among the best in the world and Ghana can perfectly emulate it. The study further reveals that the Principal-agent analogy and altruistic intent of the Ghanaian government tend to discourage Private sector participation in the solar industry. It further suggests the Pareto Optimality, Game approach, and a win-win transparent attitude towards PPPs. This study recommends a well-developed PPP structure and law for Ghana. It encourages transparency and discourages partisan preferentialism to increase PPPs in Ghana’s solar industry.

Keywords: Public-Private Partnerships; Ghana; South Africa; Morocco; solar energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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