Ghana's state-owned electricity producer, the Volta River Authority, said the power failure at the Essipong Stadium in Sekondi, before the start of Monday's Group B match between Mali and Benin, was due to "a slip in the operational procedure due to a communication lapse".
A statement from the Local Organising Committee in Accra on Tuesday said the technical team at the stadium attempted to effect essential change in an oil filter after the first match of the day.
This, it said, required "a switch from the two parallel generators to the National Electricity grid but it rather led to the power outage.
"In the process of making the switch to the national grid, both generators tripped and went off causing the power cut," it said.
Minutes before the start of the game in Monday's Africa Nations Cup Group B match between Benin and Mali, the floodlights went off due to power failure.
Ghana's Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, together with other dignitaries, were greeting the players ahead of the second match, when the floodlights went off.
The two teams completed their pre-match formalities in the dark and the match finally got underway 12 minutes late after the power was restored.