Madam Sohua Alhassan, the CEO of WEPIS Solar Company Limited, which is based in Tamale, is reported to have appealed to the government to help solar power companies in Ghana.
But in a society that now pays obeisance to market-forces, is it wise, one wonders, for a private-sector company to rely on a cash-strapped government with a long list of projects that need financing - in a country full of tax-evaders, and which is lumbered with a near-empty national treasury?
Perhaps the question we should ask is: Instead of waiting for government help that might never come, why does the WEPIS Solar Company Limited not find a pay-as-you-go solar power business model, which leverages the experience of successful solar power systems financing companies elsewhere in Africa, itself?
To help it do so, and as my widow's mite contribution to the nation-building effort, here is some free consultancy for WEPIS Solar Company Limited.
My humble advice to Madam Sohua Alhassan, is that she would be far better off contacting M-KOPA's Jesse Moore and his partner, Nick Hughes - and invite them to collaborate with her company in Ghana, to exploit the market here.
The two gentlemen have used the M-PESA mobile payments platform of Vodafone's partly-owned Kenyan telecom company, Safaricom, to succcessfully finance the purchase of solar power home systems by ordinary Kenyans.
WEPIS Solar Company Limited and M-KOPA could work together with Vodafone Ghana to replicate their successful Kenyan M-PESA pay-as-you-go solar home systems financing business model in Ghana too.
A word of caution, however: As she seeks to reach out to potential overseas partners, Madam Sohua Alhassan should avoid getting entwined with Ghanaian public-sector bureaucratic red-tape - by dealing directly with the minister of communications, the Hon. Dr. Omane- Boamah, and the trade and industry minister, the Hon. Haruna Iddrisu for recommendation letters from Ghanaian officialdom, instead of the top civil servants who advise them.
One can't help but wish Madam Sohua Alhassan every success. And in an era of never-ending power outages, in the event she takes one's humble advice, may her company thrive - as she, Jesse Moore and Nick Hughes collaborate to replicate the M-KOPA affordable pay-as-you-go solar power systems financing business model in our country: to bring solar power systems to Ghanaian homes nationwide.
And, finally: I'd be happy to point WEPIS Solar Company Limited in other directions too, should the need arise. For free - and with pleasure.
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