Over the past three years, Ghana under the NPP and NDC governments has blown an estimated GH¢8 billion on expanding streetlights across the country.
However, despite the billions spent, many major roads, highways and communities continue to be plunged into darkness at night, raising serious questions about how the funds have been used.
From Ghana’s capital, Accra, to other parts of the country, non-functioning streetlights have become a familiar sight on Ghana’s streets, with poles standing along major roads but providing little or no lighting.
The situation has renewed concerns about the efficiency, value for money and sustainability of Ghana’s streetlighting system.
In this article, we examine how Ghana spent GH¢8 billion on streetlights within just three years, while many of the streets they were meant to light up remain dark.
The information cited from The Fourth Estate revealed that Ghana, through the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, spent a whopping eight billion cedis on streetlights in 3 years.
According to reports, the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition between 2023 and 2025 awarded 88 separate contracts to 25 companies to supply streetlights through single-source tendering.
A news article filed by The Fourth Estate detailed, “Data from the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, made available to The Fourth Estate through a right to information request, shows the government awarded nine contracts for the supply of streetlights in 2023 at a total cost of GHS400 million.
In 2024, the number of contracts increased to 78 at a cost of GHS7.5 billion. As of December 2025, the current government had awarded one contract at GHS 49 million”.
However, despite massive spending, there is persistent darkness on the streets of Ghana at night due to non-functional lights, poor project delivery, substandard materials, limited supervision, and procurement infractions flagged by the Auditor-General.
Energy-sector analysts Dr Charles Gyamfi Ofori, Policy Lead for Climate Change and Energy Transition at the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), have questioned why many roads remain dark despite the billions of cedis committed to streetlight projects.
Dr Charles Gyamfi Ofori argued that the poor project deliveries and contract variations are the reason why the country is spending so much on streetlights but has little to show for it.
The articles also disclosed that the Auditor-General cited multiple infractions of streetlight procurement: “The A-G’s reports have over the years cited ministries, district assemblies, and government agencies for multiple infractions.
In the report on the public accounts of Ghana as at December 31, 2025, the Auditor-General cited the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for procuring 300,000 units of 120W LED streetlights and 9,620km aluminium conductors at a total cost of $127 million – an expenditure which was not included in the approved procurement plan of the company.
A separate audit of the government’s outstanding claims and commitments as of 31 December 2024 found that the Energy Ministry had duplicated GHS399 million in claims for electrical materials, including LED streetlights, arms, and bulbs
The duplication created the risk that the ministry could have paid twice for the same items but for the intervention of the Audit Service.
In the same report, the Auditor-General observed that the Ministry had added to its arrears and commitments as of December 31, 2024, an amount of GHS3.2 billion for the supply and installation of electrical materials under the National Electrification Project. But the audit found that 85% of that amount had already been paid between 2020 and 2024.
Experts believe that the recurrence of these infractions and poor supervision of procurement and installation of streetlights will continue to keep Ghana’s streets dark, even though billions of cedis have been and continue to be spent annually”.
See the streetlight procurement contracts cited from The Fourth Estate from 2023 to 2025:
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