There is a saying that necessity is the mother of all inventions, and Ghanaians struggling with the constant lights-out are certainly putting this into practice, with manpower appliances increasingly taking the place of electrical-powered goods.

The Saturday Statesman visited some places in Accra such as corn mill shops, clothing making shops, vulcaniser shops to find out the state of business in the current energy crisis. Innovation, and a return to the electricity-free methods of our forefathers, is how many Ghanaians are making ends meet. 

Isaac Anoh, a resident of Awoshie and a corn miller, says he has been doing this job for four years now and uses the electrical corn mill machine. It helps him do the work early and quick, but because of the energy crisis he has taken to the use of the man power machine.

"When the light goes off I use the manpower machine and it helps us a lot because it makes us serve our customers. It is difficult using the man power machine because one has to peddle for so long before it starts to operate.
“Gasoline oil is used as the fuel for the machine. When I use the electrical machine I charge ¢4,000 for an “olonka” but when it is man power I charge ¢5,000. My customers do not complain when prices are being charged because they think electricity is not reliable and they need to get their food prepared.

“The kenkey sellers and the “koko” sellers prefer this method to that of the electrical machine since that can make them prepare their food for profit,” he added.
The manpower machine used to be standard for corn millers across Ghana, but with the advent of the electrical machine, it has largely been relegated to back cupboards. Now, it is making a resurgence: “There is a saying that “sankofa” is not bad so if Ghanaians have gone back to their roots there is nothing wrong,” says Anoh.

However, the energy crisis is taking a toll on his business as it is businesses throughout the country, and he is eager to see it come to an end. “We are pleading with authorities to solve this problem because there are other machines we cannot use with man power, like the tomatoes machine,” he said.

“Business is not really good compared to when there was electricity and moreover we are made to pay taxes and other bills to Government.”
Martha Asante, a seamstress, explained that she reverts to using a box iron whenever the  lights go off, but the situation is not ideal: “It is difficult using it compared to the electrical iron because with the box iron you need to fan the charcoal or fire before you can use it to iron the fabrics,” she said.
“But it does help a lot and customers sometimes prefer this because they need their dresses for occasions. Business is not as good as before. The charcoal sometimes stains the fabric which destroys the design of the dress. Also charcoal is very expensive and difficult for making fire,” she added.

Kwabena Obeng, a vulcaniser, also expressed resentment at the lights out. “I have to stop using electricity for my work sometimes because of the load shedding exercise, but I use man power to pump the car tyres for my customers since I do not want to lose them,” he added.