ACEP Demands ECG Management's Dismissal Amid Rising Debt and Financial Mismanagement
Samuel Dubik Mahama
he Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has called for the immediate dismissal of the management team of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) due to alleged financial mismanagement. The policy think tank highlighted that ECG's revenue losses have ballooned from GH¢295 million in 2017 to a staggering GH¢9.7 billion by 2022, creating a significant financial burden on the economy.
Read full article Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, September 19, 2024, Kodzo Yaotse, ACEP's policy lead on petroleum and conventional energy, criticized ECG’s poor performance in revenue mobilization. He stressed that the increasing fiscal pressure caused by ECG's mismanagement threatens to undermine Ghana’s financial stability, particularly after the country’s recent domestic and international debt restructuring efforts.
“The growing fiscal burden imposed on the economy by ECG’s poor performance has become a ticking time bomb that can undermine the progress made after the debt restructuring to keep Ghana solvent,” Yaotse stated. He warned that the accumulation of debt in the energy sector, particularly from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and gas suppliers, is pushing Ghana towards another debt crisis. The demands from energy sector creditors are placing additional pressure on the government to divert resources away from essential social investments.
Yaotse also called for an end to what he termed the "wasteful use of state resources" within the ECG. According to him, the political inaction enabling the company’s underperformance is harming Ghana’s national budget and stifling broader development efforts.
Citing the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP), Yaotse revealed that the power sector’s financial shortfalls between 2019 and 2023 amounted to an estimated US$8.25 billion. He described this as an unacceptable waste of public resources and called for urgent reforms.
In light of the mounting challenges, ACEP is urging the government to take decisive action to restructure the ECG and hold its leadership accountable for their role in the organization’s financial difficulties.
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