Abstract
Ghana has been experiencing frequent power cuts over the last ten years. The need to expand and diversify its generation capacity in order to improve supply security is key for development. This study explored the effects of electricity load management on the operation of small-scale enterprises, and examined the effectiveness of these enterprises’ coping mechanisms. A cross–sectional survey design was adopted as well as the mixed approach research design. A total of 152 small scale traders were sampled from Madina in La-Nkwantanang Municipality in the Greater Accra Region. The study depicted that the recent load management is having adverse effect on the profitability of many SMEs owing to the coping mechanism measures such as retrenchment of workers, working at night, reduction in workers’ salaries and use of generators they have adopted to lessen the impact of the frequent load management reported less effectiveness in resolving the challenges posed by load management. This paper advocate that, government should invest in solar energy to be a substitute power supply to the country during the dry season where there is constant sunlight which obviously will also reduce pressure on electricity plants. Broken and unbroken but old plants can be fixed or replaced by VRA and ECG to enable them work effectively as well as explore other energy technologies such as the thermal energy and the wind energy to restore constant power supply. Keywords: electricity load management, small and medium enterprises DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-2-08
Highlights
Micro and small-scale industries (MSI) contribute significantly to employment creation, income and revenue generation, and overall poverty reduction in developing countries (Aremu & Adeyemi, 2011). Kayanula and Quartey (2000) opine that, the MSI sector plays kingpin roles in driving developing countries’ engines of growth
Just like any other country, electricity is observed as a major tool for national development, vigorous efforts have been made to ensure that industries have access to reliable and affordable electricity in Ghana (NDPC,2008: p.182)
In terms of quantitative research, the focus is on explanatory studies and its findings will be expressed in numerical form
Summary
Just like any other country, electricity is observed as a major tool for national development, vigorous efforts have been made to ensure that industries have access to reliable and affordable electricity in Ghana (NDPC,2008: p.182). Data Bank Ghana Limited estimated that, Ghana’s economy could lose about1.4 billion dollars due to electric power crisis on manufacturing, services and informal sector of which SMEs play a very pivotal role. To forestall these loses there is urgent need to better structure the production and distribution of electrical power so as to enhance the chances of growing the economy and achieving the goals of any development initiatives. As such, limited supply has the potential to, directly and/or indirectly; affect the economic activities of firms In documenting such a crucial economic role of energy, a common approach in the literature is to measure the output loss associated with electricity outages. Types of SMEs and Their Population Type of Enterprise Printing Press Barbering Shops Supermarkets Milling Cold Stores Hair dressers Food Sellers Source: Authors’ Construct, 2018
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