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The Millennium Challenge Corporation has projected that Ghana would need about four billion dollars over the next ten years to permanently solve the crippling power crisis.

The over three-year crisis has eroded Ghana’s economic gains and has left many business owners in dilemma.

At a workshop in Accra, Thursday to find lasting solutions to the crisis, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) says government must devote most of the country’s oil revenues to dealing with the current power crisis.

Per the Petroleum Revenue Management Act of 2011, nine percent of the country’s annual petroleum revenues is lodged into the Heritage Fund to support the development for future generations when Ghana’s petroleum reserves have been depleted.

There is also 21 percent of the annual oil revenues which goes into a Stabilisation Fund to support the economy in dire times whilst 70 per cent of the oil proceeds is used to support the budget.

Head of policy at ACEP, Ishmael Ackah, told Joy News’ Kwetey Nartey government must devote a chunk of the oil proceeds to fix the dumsor challenge.

Despite projecting an estimated $4 billion to fix the power crisis within the next ten years, the Millennium Challenge Corporation budgeted an amount of 498 million dollars to help fix Ghana’s power crisis, but that amount, ACEP believes, is woefully inadequate.

Ackah said given the important role energy plays in the country’s economic sector there, is the need for government to find urgent solutions to the crisis and a reliance on the oil proceeds will not be a bad option.

The ACEP boss also chided the government and the Power Minister for the many failed promises in respect of the power crisis.

He wondered why government will give an April deadline for the arrival of power barges when it had not firmed up funding arrangements for the barges.

He said promises to make Ghana a net exporter of power were unrealistic, at least for now, and challenged the government to focus on solving the crisis the country has on its hands.