Ghana risks losing regional compact program under MCC – Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said that country is likely to lose the Regional Compact Program, known as the “Compact 3” under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which is expected to allow Ghana to facilitate the effective distribution of excess power to neighboring countries.

“There’s a possibility that the termination of the Power Distribution Services (PDS) concessionaire agreement and annulment of the second trench disbursement will affect the Compact 3 agreement and we are aware of that possibility, but government will continue to engage the United States government along with other matters tied to this concession agreement.”

The Minister made this known during a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, October 23.

The Compact 3 program is expected to strengthen and improve on existing power transmission infrastructures to allow its full implementation.

Ghana was selected as a potential beneficiary of a Regional Compact Program by the MCC on the back of the progress made in the implementation of the Power Compact.

Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia earlier in June this year met a five-member delegation, led by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan, at the Jubilee House in Accra, to announce Ghana’s potential participation in a Regional Compact Program.

The US decision to terminate the second trench of Compact 2 funds

In a statement issued by the US Embassy on Wednesday, October 23 noted that the “United States of America notes this decision [termination of the PDS contract] with regret based on the conclusions of the independent forensic investigation, the U.S. position is that the transfer of operations, maintenance, and management of ECG to the PDS on March 1, 2019, was valid, and therefore the termination was unwarranted”

“As such, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has confirmed that the US$190 million funds granted to Ghana at the March 1 transfer to the 20-year concession from ECG to PDS are no longer available,” the statement added.

ECG take-over from PDS

Government yesterday announced that the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG) has assumed full operational and financial control of the electricity distribution after government made the decision to terminate its concessionaire agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) after a careful review of demand guarantees.