The Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, has reiterated its commitment to support Ghana to provide clean energy, quality and affordable electricity supply to its citizens.
The Agency hopes to achieve these through four main approaches, which are strengthening the electricity transmission and distribution network, promoting the introduction of renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency and developing human resources and strengthening human networks in the energy sector.
The Chief Representative at the JICA Ghana Office, Ms. Suzuki Momoko, made this known in an address at the opening ceremony of a seven-week electrical training workshop for African countries at the ECG Training Center in Tema.
Ms. Momoko mentioned some projects JICA has undertaken in West Africa, as part of their commitment to the Region’s energy sector.
“We supported the reinforcement of substations in Accra and the improvement of power distribution systems in Tamale and Sunyani. In Sierra Leone, JICA has been supporting stable power supply for Freetown and its peninsula”, and “in Liberia, the Technical Cooperation Project for Diesel Generator Maintenance is currently ongoing,” she said.
In his welcome address, the ECG Director for the Training School, Ing Godfred Mensah, indicated that the Training Center was set up with the objectives of offering training to build capacity for local and international trainees, and to offer up-skilling, special programmes and on-demand courses.
To this end, he added that “the Center has been accredited by the National Board for Professional and Technician Examination (NAPTEX) of Ghana.”
He added that “the Centre is recognised by the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and JICA as one of their Centres of Excellence used for capacity building of engineers within the West African Sub-Region.”
Ing. Mensah mentioned that the Training Center and JICA have had a close partnership since 2010.
The training programme was duly launched by the Deputy Managing Director in charge of Engineering and Operations for ECG, Ing. Kwadwo Ayensu Obeng who is, himself, a product of the Training School.
Ing. Obeng encouraged the participants, who were drawn from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia to take the training seriously, adding that “for choosing ECG, you stand to gain from examples and case studies similar to challenges in your home countries.”
He tasked the trainees to ensure they would become good ambassadors of the ECG Training Centre.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com