RACA Journal I October 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 17
REFRIGERANT TRANSITION
in Africa. Local assembly should reduce unit costs, improve supply security, and position Ghana as a regional hub for green cooling equipment rather than a passive recipient of whatever the global market happens to offer.
End‐of‐life management is the other side of the coin. Swapping out inefficient, high‐GWP systems for modern, efficient R290 units can only deliver its full benefit if the old units are kept from re‐entering the market and their refrigerants handled responsibly. Ghana has built into its projects a requirement that replaced units are collected, dismantled and treated rather than simply dumped or resold. Partnerships with specialist firms aim to ensure that recovered refrigerant is destroyed and that appliance components are dealt with appropriately.
To shift consumer mindset, Ghana’ s policymakers are introducing a dedicated label for green ACs. The front of the label highlights the key benefits of the high‐efficiency R290 units in clear, consumer‐friendly language, while the back spells out the estimated annual energy savings and associated cost reductions.
Linking all of these elements together is Ghana’ s climate policy framework. The cooling sector features explicitly in the country’ s Nationally Determined Contributions, with quantified emissions‐reduction targets attached. By 2030, the transition measures in cooling are expected to cut around 1.3 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, rising to roughly 3.78 million tonnes by 2050 compared with a business‐as‐usual pathway. These contributions are conditional, reflecting the reality that a lower‐income country cannot finance the entire transition from domestic resources alone. Ghana is actively exploring carbon market approaches and other forms of international support to bridge the funding gap.
High‐efficiency R290 units still cost more upfront than the cheapest conventional split system. Even with labels and campaigns, public awareness remains patchy, and buyers are still swayed towards lower‐cost, higher‐consumption units.
For the global RAC community, there are two key lessons here. First, that natural refrigerants like R290 can form the spine of a national cooling strategy even in hot, fast‐growing markets, provided they are supported by serious investments in skills, standards, labelling and end‐of‐life management. Second, that such a strategy can be framed not only as a climate imperative, but as a way to protect grids, reduce long‐term costs for consumers and build local industrial capacity. RACA business
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Ghana has a fast-growing population and consumer power, says Joseph Baffoe of Ghana ' s Environmental Protection Authority.
RACA Journal I October 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 17