Refrigerator Efficiency in Ghana: Tailoring an Appliance Market Transformation Program Design for Africa

A simple replication of developed country appliance efficiency labels and standards is unlikely to be feasible in Ghana and many other countries in Africa. Yet by creatively modifying the developed country appliance efficiency market transformation model, it should be possible to achieve dramatic energy use reductions. As was true in developed countries in the previous two decades, refrigeration efficiency improvements provide the greatest energy savings potential in the residential electricity sector in Ghana. Although Ghana, like many African countries may impose standards on imports since Ghana does not have manufacturing facilities for appliances in country. This approach may hurt some consumers who patronize a very diverse market of used appliances imported from Europe. We discuss how meeting the challenges of the Ghanaian market will require modification of the usual energy efficiency labeling and standards paradigm. But once a refrigerator market transformation is accomplished in Ghana, we estimate an average energy savings potential of 550 kWh/refrigerator/year, and a monetary savings of more than $35/refrigerator/year. We discuss how this modified refrigerator efficiency market transformation may occur in the Ghanaian context. If successful, this market transformation is likely to be an example for many other African countries.