[ 2017-05-23 ]

Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko

We need power to turn economy around – Agyarko
The Minister for Energy, Boakye Agyarko has
underscored the need for the sustainable
management of the state power company to forestall
a total collapse.

He was speaking at the first Bidders’ Conference
on the concession for the Private Sector
Participation (PSP) in the electricity
distribution business of the Electricity Company
of Ghana (ECG).


The Bidders’ Conference is to facilitate
interaction between the shortlisted applicants for
the ECG Concession and potential local and
international investors.

He reminded the power sector remained central to
the development agenda of the government and
“key to unlocking the development potential of
Ghana.”


But the Energy Minister lamented that “years of
inadequate investment, inefficiencies within the
utility, and a large stock of outstanding
receivables, particularly in the distribution
sector, have all conspired to weaken the
organisations in the sector to what they are
today.

As a nation, we should set our sights firmly on
turning around the fortunes of this strategic
sector which so many of us have poured our sweat
into building.”

Highlighting the negative impacts of the power
crisis, Mr. Agyarko noted that the power crisis,
per the 2013 World Bank Energising Economic Growth
in Ghana report, the 2006-07 power crisis cost
Ghana nearly 1 percent in lost GDP.

Also, the Institute of Statistical, Social and
Economic Research (ISSER), in its 2014 study on
the economy indicated that Ghana lost production
worth $2.1 million per day during the crisis.

Mr. Agyarko further noted the impact of the power
crisis on unemployment figures.

“For the government, even more critical is the
resulting loss of jobs that was precipitated by
the unreliable power to business. Recognising this
fact, President Nana Akufo-Addo, during the 2017
State of the Nation Address, warned that if left
unaddressed, the challenges in the energy sector
would collapse the Ghanaian economy.”

About the ECG PSP Transaction

The Government of Ghana signed the Ghana Power
Compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC), an independent United States government
foreign aid agency, on August 5, 2014.

The Ghana Power Compact provides Ghana a grant of
US$498,200,000 to improve the performance of
Ghana’s power sector to unlock the country’s
economic potential, create jobs, and reduce
poverty.

The Government of Ghana is committing at least
US$37.4 million of its own money.


The main project under the Ghana Power Compact is
the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround
Project, which is designed to transform ECG into
an efficient and financially strong institution
through private sector participation (PSP). About
US$351 million of the MCC grant is being invested
in ECG.

The project seeks to bring about private sector
participation in investments into, as well as the
management and operation of, the ECG through a
concession arrangement.

Under the concession, a private partner will
invest in ECG and improve its operations to reduce
commercial and technical losses, reduce the
frequency and duration of outages, introduce new
equipment and technology, and reduce the
vulnerability of the distribution system to theft
and meter manipulation.

The Compact is being implemented by the Government
of Ghana through the Millennium Development
Authority (MiDA).
–

Source - citibsinessnews.com

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