Biography
Hon. Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor is Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition and the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu in the Savannah Region. Appointed by President John Dramani Mahama in January 2025, he leads the ministry responsible for Ghana’s power and petroleum sectors and its green transition agenda. His stated priorities include attracting new investment, expanding exploration and production, deepening natural gas development and improving the reliability of electricity supply.
Jinapor has represented Yapei-Kusawgu since January 2017 and was re-elected in 2020 and 2024. In Parliament he has served as Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee and as a member of the Finance Committee. From 2013 to 2017, during President Mahama’s first administration, he was a Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum and later Deputy Minister of Power. He previously worked as spokesperson to the Vice-President and has served on the board of the Electricity Company of Ghana.
Jinapor holds a BSc from the University for Development Studies, an MBA in Marketing, an MSc in Development Finance and an MA in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana, and an MSc in Energy Economics from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Finance and Financial Law from the University of London. In December 2025 Stellenbosch University awarded him a PhD in Development Finance for research on foreign direct investment, energy consumption and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa.
As Minister, Jinapor has argued that financing remains the biggest barrier to unlocking Africa’s energy potential. He has called for sustained investment in transmission, distribution and energy storage alongside renewable energy, and for stronger cross-border electricity trade to improve regional energy security. He has promoted investment across Ghana’s energy mix, from petroleum and power generation to renewable energy and emerging technologies, and in August 2026 urged the Petroleum Commission to lead the next phase of growth in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector.
Career Highlights
- Minister for Energy and Green Transition of Ghana since January 2025
- Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu since January 2017, re-elected in 2020 and 2024
- Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum, and later of Power, from 2013 to 2017
- Awarded a PhD in Development Finance by Stellenbosch University in December 2025
- Former Ranking Member of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee
On the AETC Stage
“Africa must no longer remain merely a source of raw material for global industrialisation whilst others capture the manufacturing, technology, and economic value chain. No country in this world has industrialised without cheap base load power. The model of borrowing back our own capital at high interest rates is simply not fit for purpose.”
“The time has come for a bold, Afrocentric energy strategy, based on local ownership, innovation, and local benefit, with emphasis on local content, local participants. Africa's greatest resource, not just what is buried beneath or underground, but what walks amongst us. It is the youth, and I mean the youth of Africa, bold, brilliant, and boundless in potential. It is also our women, strong, strategic, and severely underutilized in the energy sector. The global energy chessboard is shifting, and Africa is being played.”
