Economist Professor Godfred Bokpin has said Ghana is becoming a failed state following the prolonged power outages experienced across parts of Accra on Wednesday, July 29. 2026.
According to Professor Godfred Bokpin, it was unacceptable for the country’s capital to experience extended electricity outages.
He questioned the country’s preparedness to manage such disruptions, highlighting that unreliable electricity supply discourages investment.
Speaking at the Prudential Bank Business Seminar on Transforming Cross-Border Trade, Professor Bokpin stated, “We are becoming a failed state. Can you imagine in a serious country, your capital has been without power for almost six hours? That is not something we should talk about as theory. That is serious”.
“What is the backup? What is the plan? How do we move forward with this? How do investors plan with this? How do investors do their business model with this? We should not allow this to continue,” he stated.
Professor Godfred Bokpin argued that when the state fails to provide essential public services, the private sector is forced to fill the gap at a higher cost.
He added, “When the state fails on the provision of basic services like water, education, health, the private sector steps in at a higher cost, and that is why there’s a reason why the state cannot fail, and the state should not fail because it is the reason why the state is conceptualised as a tax state”.
“The state must provide reliable power” he stressed, adding that the provision of basic public services is a core responsibility of government.
“The state should not try to do all roads in this country. We should leverage private capital… PPP. That’s the only way to go,” he said.
Meanwhile, Richmond Rockson, the Head of Communication at the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, has revealed that the widespread power outages which occurred around 3 am on Wednesday were caused by a lightning strike.
According to Richmond Rockson, preliminary investigations from GRIDCo revealed that the widespread power outage was caused by a lightning strike.
Speaking on TV3 New Day, Richmond Rockson stated, “Per our briefing from GRIDCo, preliminary investigations revealed that the widespread power outage was caused by a lightning strike. We await further briefing from them”.
Some netizens reacting to the development stated, “If after 60+ years as a country, our National grid is still so vulnerable, then I’m sorry we need to sit up. The lights going off for over 18 hours yesterday is just as much a national security issue as it is about anything else!”.
One X user added, “If one lightning strike can plunge large parts of the country into darkness, then Ghana’s power infrastructure clearly needs stronger protection. This should be a wake-up call, not just an explanation”.
His comment follows reports that large parts of Ghana have been plunged into darkness early Wednesday following a widespread power outage (dumsor) at around 3 am.
In Accra, affected communities included Oyarifa, Adenta, Madina, Legon, Nungua, Tesano, Adabraka, Weija and Dansoman; Kasoa and nearby towns were similarly affected, leaving many households without power.
Reports suggested that in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Aburi in the Eastern Region, parts of the Central Region and Northern Region also reported power outages from about 3:00 am on Wednesday.
The cause of the disruption remains unclear, as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) are yet to issue an official explanation.
Meanwhile, Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has begun restoration efforts after a power system disturbance affected the National Interconnected Transmission System.
GRIDCo disclosed that the incident occurred at about 3:11 a.m. and resulted in the simultaneous tripping of some generating plants across the national power system.
They disclosed that engineers and system operators have activated established restoration procedures to return power to affected customers.
“GRIDCo has activated its established system restoration procedures. Our engineers and system operators are working continuously, in close collaboration with power sector stakeholders, to restore power within the shortest time possible without compromising safety.”
“At the same time, a comprehensive technical investigation has commenced to determine the precise cause of this system event.”
“GRIDCo sincerely apologises for the inconvenience and appreciates the patience and understanding of the public during this period.”
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