Senior Ghanaian and Ivorian energy officials met in Accra on June 25 to advance a key West African Power Pool (WAPP) interconnection project.
The meeting brought together the Director Generals/CEOs of the utilities (Ghana GridCo and CI-Energies) and the Permanent Secretaries of the energy ministries of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Chief Director Solomon Adjetey Sowah, speaking on behalf of the Ghana Energy Minister, underscored the need for regional cooperation. He welcomed participants to “take a decisive step forward in our shared vision for regional energy integration”.
Sowah noted that the consultants’ feasibility study – completed after “months of rigorous analysis, collaboration and technical diligence” – would guide the project’s next steps. He also highlighted Ghana’s commitment to implementation, emphasizing the signing of legal agreements to establish “a robust framework for cooperation… grounded in mutual trust, transparency, and shared responsibility”.
In closing, he reaffirmed Ghana’s “full availability and commitment” and pledged the government’s “expertise, resources, and institutional support to ensure the timely and successful execution of this project”.
Energy Sector Challenges in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire
The focus on the interconnection comes amid long-standing power challenges in West Africa. In Ghana, aging transmission lines and frequent outages have repeatedly disrupted supply.
The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) has noted that transmission “challenges include aging infrastructure, frequent power outages, and high technical losses” (around 4–5%) Industries and mines in Ghana have often been hit by load-shedding and unreliable power, slowing economic growth. Côte d’Ivoire’s power sector, while relatively stronger, also faces system stresses as demand grows.
For example, the existing Ghana–Côte d’Ivoire link – a single 225 kV line built in 1983 – is “nearing saturation,” and planners warn a new high-voltage line is needed to meet growing exchanges. Regionally, the World Bank highlights that West African grids are hampered by “weak institutional capacity” and “inefficient electricity markets and power utilities”.
Differing national regulations, tariffs and slow permits further hinder cross-border power trading. In short, experts agree that purely national grids cannot ensure reliable supply: broader integration is needed.
WAPP and Regional Integration Efforts
The West African Power Pool was created to address exactly these issues. WAPP’s mission is to “promote and develop power generation and transmission facilities, as well as the coordination of power trade between ECOWAS Member States”.
Over the past decade WAPP has built thousands of kilometers of high-voltage lines linking countries from Senegal to Nigeria, bringing more reliable electricity to millions. But major projects remain.
In its latest report, the World Bank notes that policy and regulatory harmonization is crucial to unlocking cross-border trade, and that regional power pools can save tens of billions in infrastructure costs. WAPP’s strategic plan calls for a Coastal Transmission Backbone that will firmly link Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire with neighboring networks.
Adjetey Sowah’s meeting is part of renewed political momentum: both governments have endorsed funding for the project and agreed to sign cooperation instruments, underscoring that regional power sharing is a national priority.
The Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana Interconnection Project
The meeting focused on the WAPP 330 kV Double-Circuit Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana Interconnection Reinforcement Project – an upgrade to the existing link. The project will build a second high-voltage line (about 246–300 km in length) parallel to the old one. This new double-circuit 330 kV line will include modern fiber-optic controls and climate-resilient design.
According to project plans, the interconnector will “strengthen the regional power transmission grid and promote regional electricity trade”. It will link the planned Dunkwa II substation in Ghana’s Central Region to a new Akoupé-Zeudji substation north of Abidjan, creating a robust corridor for electricity flows.
Crucially, financing is now in place for phase 1. In early June 2025 Côte d’Ivoire ratified a World Bank (IDA) loan of about €103.3 million ($112M) to fund the first segment of the line. Ivorian officials say the funding will “increase energy exchanges between the two countries, strengthen the reliability of the grid, and support the sub-regional electricity market”.
Once completed, the line will allow Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to import or export cheaper power as needed, smoothing out seasonal shortages. For example, Ghana’s shortfall during dry seasons could be met by Ivorian hydropower, while Ghanaian thermal or renewable generation can flow to Abidjan when needed.
WAPP notes that such interconnections make it possible to access bigger generation projects and capture economies of scale, ultimately reducing costs for consumers. Indeed, studies show that regional grid integration can save African countries billions of dollars by avoiding duplicate plants.
Meeting the region’s energy needs requires both hardware and commitment.
As Sowah emphasized, the interconnection’s feasibility study is a guide for “our collective decision-making”, and the formal agreements signed today cement a framework “grounded in mutual trust, transparency, and shared responsibility”. With both governments now aligned, the Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana 330 kV link promises to significantly improve reliability and unlock cross-border trade.
By bolstering transmission capacity and market integration, the project directly addresses the chronic outages, bottlenecks and trading inefficiencies that have long plagued Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and the wider WAPP region. In the words of the Ghanaian delegation, it is a “common vision” that can only be achieved through regional cooperation, signaling a new chapter for West Africa’s power sector.
