President John Dramani Mahama has expressed interest in deepening Ghana’s cooperation with Russia in the energy sector, with particular focus on solar power and nuclear energy, ahead of a planned bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit, where the President is attending in person. According to him, the encounter is expected to open up new areas of cooperation between the two countries and marks an effort to revive a relationship he describes as historically significant.
Speaking ahead of the talks, President Mahama identified energy as a major area of interest. He noted that Ghana already plays a significant role in electricity supply within the West African sub-region, exporting power to Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin while maintaining power exchanges with Côte d’Ivoire. That regional position, he suggested, provides a strong foundation on which to build, even as the country explores ways to diversify its generation capacity.
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It is this search for diversification that underpins his interest in alternative sources, including solar and nuclear power. The President said Ghana was looking at adding nuclear to its energy mix, alongside expanding solar generation, as part of a broader effort to secure a more varied and resilient supply of electricity.
“The solidarity between Ghana and Russia is one that is historic and we believe that the time has come for us to bring it back to that level and that’s why I personally agreed to come myself for the Russia-Africa Summit,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to the bilateral meeting with President Putin because I think that that meeting will open up new areas of cooperation. For instance, in the area of energy, Ghana is one of the leading producers of power. And so we’re looking at alternative energy sources like solar, we’re even looking at nuclear, adding nuclear to our energy mix,” he stated.
The President pointed to Russia’s technological expertise in these fields as a potential asset for Ghana’s energy ambitions. “I know that Russia has advanced technology in some of these things and so we’re looking forward to that meeting and I’m sure that after the meeting it will draw our relationship even closer in terms of investments and in terms of economic relations,” he added.
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The comments reflect a deliberate push to attract investment and technical know-how from Moscow at a time when many African governments are seeking to expand their energy portfolios and reduce dependence on a narrow base of generation. Nuclear power, in particular, represents a long-term undertaking requiring significant capital, regulatory capacity and technical partnerships, which is where Russian expertise could prove relevant. Solar, by contrast, offers a more immediately deployable option capable of supplementing existing supply and supporting rural electrification efforts.
President Mahama’s visit to the Russia-Africa Summit therefore carries both symbolic and practical weight. Symbolically, it signals an intent to restore a relationship with historical roots; practically, it amounts to a search for partnerships that could help Ghana meet growing domestic demand for power while protecting its place as a regional supplier. The bilateral meeting with President Putin is expected to clarify what form that cooperation might take, whether in the shape of investment, technology transfer or joint projects.
For now, the President’s message is one of opportunity. By framing energy as the centrepiece of the engagement, he has set out the terms on which Ghana intends to approach Russia, and has signalled that the country is willing to look beyond traditional partners as it builds the energy base needed to sustain its economy and its regional role.
