The recent intermittent power outages in parts of Accra have led to significant losses for pubs, clubs, and eateries in the city. Business operators cite the inability to freeze perishable food and keep patrons entertained as the primary reasons behind these losses.
Osu, known as Accra’s recreational hub, is usually bustling with life at night, offering a variety of pubs, clubs, and eateries.
However, the erratic power supply has affected these businesses severely. One such establishment, Philipos Tilapia Joint, is counting significant losses due to the recent power disruptions.
Mary Avenue, the Chef for Philipos Tilapia Joint shares similar concerns with Citi News. She mentioned that they have had to reduce their fish purchases due to the uncertainty of power supply, which in turn affects their business operations.
Moreover, the inability to play music and maintain the proper temperature for drinks has led to customer dissatisfaction and a decline in business.
“It’s really affecting us because, for some time now, we used to buy our fish in bulk, but because of the light off, we now buy it half because we don’t know what might happen. Secondly, we can’t play music and the drinks become very hot. When the customers come around and you talk to them, they say it’s too hot, meaning the customer has to leave. It makes the work too hard for us, so that’s the challenge we are facing here.”
The supervisor of the Shades Lounge, John Asare, stated that as unemployment rates continue to surge in the country, John Asare fears that the situation could worsen if the power outages are not resolved promptly.
He explained that if businesses cannot attract customers due to power outages, they will struggle to generate revenue, which may ultimately lead to job losses.
“This could lead to unemployment because definitely when we are not getting customers due to the power outage and then the business is not running, we won’t get money to pay our workers so definitely we will only ask them to leave.”
To address this issue, pub and eatery operators in Accra are calling for a load-shedding timetable, which would provide them with some predictability in managing their operations and mitigating the negative impacts of the power outages.
