The Role of Communication in Achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 - The Case of Ghana's Energy Sector

ABSTRACT

For emergent economies such as Ghana and much of Africa, development has become not just a central foundation but also the realpolitik of democratic governance; to the extent that scholars have described the development as a ‘civil religion’ and a ‘battle cry’ of nations. In the context of the global development trajectory, energy plays a pivotal role because of its ability to affect other sectors of human and economic progress; as illustrated by its acknowledgement in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7. Communication has been demonstrated to play an integral part in the process and pursuit of development generally. What is empirically unclear is the extent to which actors within the energy sector appreciate and apply communication towards achieving the vision of energy for sustainable development. Using a combination of qualitative methods ‒document analysis, interviews and observations‒, this research sought to explore the ways in which communication is used by major institutional actors in Ghana’s energy sector to achieve the SDG on energy. The findings suggest that Communication departments in Ghana’s energy sector agencies play both managerial and technician roles although there is more concentration on the technician role. Some managerial roles identified were advising and reputation management. Some technician roles identified were public information and education, issuing strategic press releases, organizing summits and conferences, research, monitoring and evaluation. Nature of communicating SDG 7 initiatives was mainly instrumental although agencies in the sector were making strides to incorporate participatory forms by engaging in door- to-door campaigns where direct feedback and support of the public can be obtained and sustained. The Ministry of Energy was taking steps to address coordination challenges by having inter-sectorial and inter-ministerial deliberations on various SDG 7 related initiatives.