The chairman of the organization told Reuters on Friday that independent power producers have rejected a government plan to restructure $1.58 billion in arrears due to them by the state and warned that non-payment might result in a suspension of their operations.
In order to implement a $3 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) intended to handle its greatest economic crisis in a generation, Ghana must reduce the interest payments on its foreign debt by $10.5 billion over the course of three years.
The Independent Power Producers (IPP) Chamber's Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor stated that the restructuring proposal had been "corporately and individually rejected."
Apetorgbor said that the producers, who provide more than 65% of the thermal power available, were refusing to make compromises and were practically on the verge of bankruptcy.
“We will continue with the engagement with the individual IPPs in a transparent and pragmatic manner and threats of shutdown when you are in negotiations cannot be accepted at this stage.”
Amin said the government would continue making all efforts to restructure the debt.
The IMF has blamed shortfalls in Ghana’s energy sector on factors including low tariffs and excess capacity amid take-or-pay contracts, which it said had cost the central government some 2% of GDP per year since 2019.
On May 17, the oil, gold and cocoa-producing nation raised the electricity tariff by 18.36% for the second quarter of 2023 after hiking it by almost 30% in the first quarter.