Siemens has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Ghana to address the country's energy and technical infrastructure challenges. The company has also committed to support local skills development and job creation.

According to a media statement released by Siemens, the MoU was signed by Siemens and the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) in a ceremony attended by the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and the president and global chief executive officer of Siemens AG, Joe Kaeser.

Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate to upgrade and extend Ghana's transmission infrastructure, improve the country's grid capacity and stability, enable and expand a stable power export to neighbouring countries in the West African Power Pool.

Kaeser said: "Access to electricity is an imperative need for the people and business and, thus, for economic success of any economy. As Ghana has significantly invested into generation capacity, there is now an urgent need to build a reliable, affordable and sustainable electrical network for the country and its people. With our proven and unique end-to-end electrification solutions, our expertise and reliability, Siemens can be a technology partner and help the country achieve its objectives."

In its statement Siemens explains that Akufo-Addo has set out to achieve an ambitious strategy to transform the country, socially and economically.

Authorities have prioritised national ID cards, reduction of electricity prices, revival of the country's railways and addressing declining economic growth, according to Siemens.

The company has promised to support efforts to reform Ghana's national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system and committed to train the youth in various engineering disciplines and provide training on Siemens equipment.

In mid-June 2019 Siemens Digital Industries Software announced it had established a direct presence in the South African market having acquired assets of Pretoria-based ESTEQ, a distributor of product lifecycle management, product design and simulation, and manufacturing operations software and services.