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Ghana is considered one of the bright lights of Africa - Mahama

President John Mahama says Ghana can boasts a strong stable democracy, with an economy that has been growing positively for more than two decades.

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President John Mahama has reiterated that Ghana has benefited greatly in achieving the Millennium Development Goal targets and is considered one of the bright lights of Africa, a place that was once derisively referred to as the dark continent.

President Mahama speaking at this year's session at the United Nations General Assembly which is on theme, 'The United Nations at 70: the road ahead for peace, security and human rights' opened on Wednesday said the nation boasts a strong stable democracy, with an economy that has been growing positively for more than two decades.

He said "While we are exposed to the current uncertainty of the international markets, strong cooperation with our multilateral and bilateral partners is seeing positive movement towards fiscal consolidation. Moreover, our current agenda for transformation is aimed at diversifying the economy and accelerating growth. My Government is committed to maintaining strict fiscal discipline in order to stabilize the macro-economy and stimulate growth and business activity."

He added that "All of that notwithstanding, one of the major binding constraints that all of Africa faces is a shortage of power. And Ghana is no exception. In many African nations power outages as a result of a shortfall in generation are even considered normal. In Ghana, two decades of consistent positive growth has resulted in demand for power outstripping supply.

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President Mahama speaking on the energy crisis stated that "The resulting load shedding program has, unfortunately, slowed growth and is taking a steep toll on economic and social life."

He noted that small and medium enterprises, which can least afford the high cost of purchasing and operating generators to substitute their power supply, are being severely affected.

"We are pursuing a program to put in emergency generation to balance demand and supply. Looking forward, we plan to put an addition 3500 MW of power into our transmission grid utilizing the significant gas reserves we have discovered in offshore concessions."

Mr Mahama said "This will be supplemented by renewable power mainly from solar, biomass and wind sources. The road ahead, not only for so-called developing nations like Ghana but, indeed, for all nations, demands that we achieve energy sufficiency in a manner that is sustainable and does not further worsen the fragile environment of our planet."

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