JCAPs Seek Solutions To Energy Constraints

A draft proposal of Joint Country Action Plans (JCAPs) to overcome constraints in energy and access to credit between Ghana and United States, as part of the Partnership for Growth (PFG) initiative, has been presented to government by the US Deputy Secretary of Energy. �This is not a budget item programme but a strategy to overcome constraints that will benefit both countries. We hope to firm conclusions on this draft in the coming weeks,� Daniel Poneman told the Business and Financial Times in an interview after discussions with government officials. �I cannot state the specific things we will do because it�s in a draft stage, but the two sides will agree on something.� For example, Poneman said, �Jubilee Field -- we know that there are major issues associated with natural gas. One thing that is possible and needs work on is how to get the gas to market. As a government, we will be very happy to take appropriate steps that will facilitate overcoming those impediments. �Some US companies have experience in the area of renewable energy such as solar and wind-power generation and could cooperate with Ghana in those areas and help integrate the energy generated intelligently into the national grid.� In a response to the question of whether the US would support Ghana if it decides to build nuclear power plants to generate electricity, he said the US supported the sovereign choice of any country to address its energy shortages through the use of nuclear power. He added: �Whatever degree a country chooses to go will be its own choice, and the US would not interfere. �We believe the partnership is the right way to go. It is a true partnership to create more opportunities for private-sector engagements of both countries. The partnership is not one-sided, it is coherent and frank,� Poneman said. Ghana was selected last year as one of four countries in President Barack Obama's new Partnerships for Growth (PFG) initiative. The PFG is a signature effort of the Obama administration to promote broad-based economic growth through trade and investment, and will help to find more effective ways of working with Ghana and building on the already strong relationship. It is a key component of President Obama's Policy Directive on Global Development which is a "first" for the United States. Signed by President Obama in September 2010, for the first time calls on the US government to make sustainable, broad-based economic growth a primary objective of US development efforts, and recognises that development must be led and driven by the leadership and citizens of developing countries. The directive also commits the US government to be more comprehensive, creative, and cooperative in its development work -- to reach beyond aid to the instruments it can bring to bear in trade, private investment, and technical assistance to unlock the growth-potential of partner-countries.