Allow private players to manage power sector – ACEP to govt

The Executive Director of Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, has asked government to step aside for private individuals to manage the country’s power sector.

He believes the sector has been hit by a lot of challenges because of how government runs it.

“It comes down to the reality that we can’t continue to have government managing the power sector,” ACEP indicated.

ACEP has said government’s involvement in the value chain does not help matters as the debt being accumulated on their part could cripple the sector’s finances because “they owe the biggest.”

The latest Auditor-General’s Report revealed that the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), was owed over ¢230 million, a chunk of which came from state agencies.

This comes at a time when the country is dealing with intermittent power cuts, widely referred to as ‘dumsor.’

GRIDCo has announced that it will soon roll-out a load shedding timetable to allow for the maintenance works from April to July 2021.

Speaking on JoyNews‘ PM Express, ACEP boss Benjamin Boakye feared that the consumers may eventually pay more tariffs.

“We are going to be called upon to pay…We need private capital injection… It [PDS] failed because politicians made it fail. It didn’t fail on its own. It was a structure that was set up to independently run and it was hijacked into the failure that we saw,” he said Monday.

The Auditor-General’s Report on GRIDCo debts

The report lists Enclave Power Company Limited as owing GRIDCo a little over ¢3 million, Electricity Company of Ghana’s debt is over ¢1 million, Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), ¢63 million.

Bui Power Authority owes GRIDCo more than ¢4 million and Volta Aluminium Company Limited also owing over ¢15 million.

Others include Great Consolidated Diamonds and Free Zones Board bringing the total to more than ¢230 million.