On the determinants of electricity power losses: empirics from Ghana

This paper empirically examines the determinants of electricity power losses (EPL) for the Ghanaian economy. Since 2001, EPL for the economy has been more than 20% of the total electricity generated which already is inadequate to meet growing electricity demand. The Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square was used to estimate the drivers of Ghana's EPL, using annual time series data from 1971 to 2013. The results showed that education, price of electricity, capital investment, income, manufacturing and population have significantly influenced the trend of Ghana's electricity losses over the years. The paper recommends the need to intensify capital investment in the power sector as well as public education to deal with EPL.