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We examine the causative relationship amongst electricity consumption and industrial growth in Ghana for the period of 1971 to 2014. The results of the ARDL bounds test showed that long-run relationship exists among the variables. The error correction term was also significant and negatively signed providing further evidence of long-run relationship. Contrary to the widespread belief that electricity consumption spurs productivity, the study reveals that electricity consumption has a negative impact on manufacturing sector output in Ghana. This occurrence could be explained by the fact that whiles the average growth in electricity consumption in Ghana is positive, the share of industrial sector’s electricity consumption continues to decline on the average. The Toda-Yamamoto test shows a unidirectional causality running from electricity consumption to industrial growth in Ghana, supporting the growth hypothesis in the extant literature.

Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal 7 and other related goals hinges on increased access to clean energy alternatives for all people irrespective of where they live. However, most developing countries including Ghana still rely largely on traditional biomass as the main source of household energy as a result of a myriad of challenges. From the foregoing, the present study uses the Ghana Living Standard Survey 7 (GLSS 7) household data and the multinomial logit regression model to analyse the factors that determine the transition to cleaner cooking energy in Ghana. The analysis shows that the main determinants of household energy choice in Ghana are education, household dwelling type, household size, employment and income group. Whereas education, modern housing, paid employment and higher income increase the adoption of cleaner energy, a higher dependency ratio and employment in the informal sector increase the likelihood of using unclean energy. Increased access to education and the adoption of policies to improve housing conditions, employment and incomes are recommended to encourage the adoption of cleaner energy alternatives.