Ghana plunged into darkness as national power grid fails
An early‑morning fault on Ghana’s national power grid caused a sweeping outage that has left Accra, Kumasi and many northern regions without electricity.
State‑run GRIDCo confirmed that several power plants were forced to shut down in the early hours of Wednesday. GRIDCo’s statement reads, “Our engineers and system operators are working continuously to restore power in the shortest time possible without compromising safety.”
Ghana has long battled intermittent power, the phenomenon called “dumsor” (meaning “on and off” in Akan), although supply conditions have improved with the addition of gas‑powered generation. Nevertheless, the fault capitalised on weaknesses in the ageing hydropower network and the transmission system.
The blackout has already disrupted daily life: commuters struggled to charge phones, taxi‐app usage dropped, small businesses have halted operations, and bursts of generator use across the country have surged. Larger institutions, such as hospitals, largely depend on backup generators and are operating on limited power supplies, according to reports.
GRIDCo is conducting a comprehensive technical investigation, though it has not yet announced when normal power will resume. The country remains one of Africa’s biggest producers of gold and cocoa, and is rapidly urbanising, which heightens the demand for reliable electricity.
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