Ghana's dreaded "dumsor"—the Twi word for power outages that became synonymous with the country's energy crisis—has returned with a vengeance, plunging homes and businesses into darkness for up to 80 percent of the day in some neighborhoods.
"Is dumsor that bad in all vicinities, or is it only my neighbourhood?" wrote a frustrated resident on social media. "80% of the day, my light is off, and I am about 150m away from the transformer in my neighbourhood... it is affecting my productivity."
The resurgence of widespread blackouts threatens Ghana's fragile economic recovery and raises uncomfortable questions about why a problem supposedly solved years ago has returned with such force.
Ghana experienced crippling power shortages from 2012 to 2016, with rotating blackouts paralyzing industry, shuttering small businesses, and costing the economy an estimated $2.1 billion. The crisis became a defining political issue, helping elect President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016 on promises to end dumsor permanently.
For several years, those promises seemed fulfilled. But now, the lights are going out again.
Dr. Ishmael Ackah, an energy economist at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy in Accra, points to a combination of factors: aging infrastructure, maintenance neglected during COVID-19, fuel supply disruptions, and the debt crisis facing the Electricity Company of Ghana.
"We didn't build the generation capacity we promised. We didn't maintain the transmission infrastructure we have. And we didn't collect enough revenue to keep the system running," Ackah said. "This isn't a surprise. It's a predictable outcome of years of underinvestment and political short-termism."
The timing is particularly damaging as Ghana negotiates a $3 billion IMF bailout and attempts to restructure $30 billion in debt. Investors and lenders want stability. Rolling blackouts send the opposite message.
