The History of Electricity Supply in Colonial Ghana
Abstract
Title: The History of Electricity Supply in Colonial Ghana (1900-1960) Author's Name: Naphtali Abladey Tetteh Faculty: Dr. Brian Jeffrey Maxson (Professor of History) Department of History College of Arts and Sciences East Tennessee State University This study highlights electricity supply in colonial Ghana, and how the electricity supply at the period dominated colonial areas at the expense of the indigenous people. Drawing from archival and secondary sources, this study shows the mechanism and structures that were employed by the colonial government to produce electricity for colonial Ghana. According to existing scholarships, there are three (3) main periods of electricity supply in Ghana. The first, “Before Akosombo”, this was a period of isolated generation facilities with low rates of electrification. The second period, “the Hydro Years”, covers the period from 1966 to the mid-1980s (Volta Development era). The Volta Development includes the Akosombo and Kpong Hydroelectric Plants which were commissioned and completed in 1966 and 1982 respectively. By the 1980s, demand for electricity had exceeded the firm capability of the Akosombo and the Kpong Hydro Power Plants. The third period, “Thermal Complementation”, from the mid-1980s, to date is characterized by efforts to expand power generation through the implementation of the Takoradi Thermal Power Plant as well as the development of the West African Gas Pipeline to provide a secure and economic fuel source for power generation. The study also uses a qualitative and exploratory research approach to trace the activities that helped, in many other ways to the creation of a relatively sustainable electric power provision to some households and some industries in colonial Ghana, particularly in two of Ghana’s cities; Accra and Kumasi, within the period 1900 to the1960s. The study helps to bring to the fore that colonialism was not only about political domination but also technological and infrastructural inequality. Additionally, the study also supports broader arguments about colonial underdevelopment and the intentional creation of uneven development pattens in colonial Ghana and Africa at large.
Start Time
15-4-2026 2:30 PM
End Time
15-4-2026 3:30 PM
Room Number
303
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Presentation Subtype
Grad/Comp Orals
Presentation Category
Arts and Humanities
Student Type
Graduate
Faculty Mentor
Brian Jeffrey Maxson
The History of Electricity Supply in Colonial Ghana
303
Title: The History of Electricity Supply in Colonial Ghana (1900-1960) Author's Name: Naphtali Abladey Tetteh Faculty: Dr. Brian Jeffrey Maxson (Professor of History) Department of History College of Arts and Sciences East Tennessee State University This study highlights electricity supply in colonial Ghana, and how the electricity supply at the period dominated colonial areas at the expense of the indigenous people. Drawing from archival and secondary sources, this study shows the mechanism and structures that were employed by the colonial government to produce electricity for colonial Ghana. According to existing scholarships, there are three (3) main periods of electricity supply in Ghana. The first, “Before Akosombo”, this was a period of isolated generation facilities with low rates of electrification. The second period, “the Hydro Years”, covers the period from 1966 to the mid-1980s (Volta Development era). The Volta Development includes the Akosombo and Kpong Hydroelectric Plants which were commissioned and completed in 1966 and 1982 respectively. By the 1980s, demand for electricity had exceeded the firm capability of the Akosombo and the Kpong Hydro Power Plants. The third period, “Thermal Complementation”, from the mid-1980s, to date is characterized by efforts to expand power generation through the implementation of the Takoradi Thermal Power Plant as well as the development of the West African Gas Pipeline to provide a secure and economic fuel source for power generation. The study also uses a qualitative and exploratory research approach to trace the activities that helped, in many other ways to the creation of a relatively sustainable electric power provision to some households and some industries in colonial Ghana, particularly in two of Ghana’s cities; Accra and Kumasi, within the period 1900 to the1960s. The study helps to bring to the fore that colonialism was not only about political domination but also technological and infrastructural inequality. Additionally, the study also supports broader arguments about colonial underdevelopment and the intentional creation of uneven development pattens in colonial Ghana and Africa at large.
