Privatisation of ECG long overdue – IES

Nana Amoasi VII, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), has stated that the privatisation of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is long overdue.

There have been numerous calls for the ECG to be privatised. This comes in the wake of the recent frequent power outages.

In an Eyewitness News interview on Citi FM on Monday, the IES’s Executive Director revealed that a similar process initiated earlier was thwarted.

He pointed out that the ECG is losing more than 30% of the power it receives from Ghana Grid Company (GRDCo). He noted that these losses are also borne by consumers.

He also highlighted other issues in the power sector that need to be addressed.

However, Nana Amoasi VII stated that the private sector, with its access to the capital market and its competency and efficiency, could be a solution.

He emphasised the need for the country to decide on the type of privatisation it seeks to strategise accordingly and achieve its goals.

“It is long overdue. Long overdue and I think that we attempted one form, and we frustrated our own initiative. Today ECG through technical and commercial reading is losing more than 30% of the power they inherit from GRDCo the transmitter and that is a loss.

“Some of these losses will be factored into the tariffs that we pay and that means that we will be paying for somebody’s inefficiency, you and I to some extent. The next is that we don’t have a robust distribution grid, we don’t have a strong distribution grid. It must be invested into. The next is that we are struggling to collect the bills, raise the needed revenue at the end of the value chain and pay the other players within the chain.”

“These are issues that must be addressed. We are struggling today as a power sector because of our 1.5 billion debts impacting negatively on fuel supply and also on unplanned maintenance. Where are we going to get this investment into ECG when we know that already the sector is debt-ridden?

“The private sector has access to the capital market, the private sector comes in with some form of competence and efficiency because they are more profit-oriented and driven and therefore, they will produce or put forward all the technology and innovation necessary to run efficiently and effectively the ECG.

Source: Citi Business News