Gov't must profit from ECG privatisation - Analyst

Energy analyst Kojo Poku has advised authorities to institute profit-sharing measures between government and any firm, which will be given the contract to manage the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Through the second Millennium Challenge Compact under the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), government has reached an agreement with the U.S. Government for a $500-million facility to revamp ECG. This will require that a private company manages the power provider.

The private firm will operate and manage ECG under a concession arrangement for a period of 25 years and hand it back to the government of Ghana.

Forty-five companies are already bidding for the management of the state power company as the government of Ghana intends privatising it.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3fm Wednesday April 20, Mr Poku explained that apart from the good service delivery, the country must benefit financially from profits that will be accumulated by the private firm.

“During the concessionary period, government will still have to get monies from ECG when it starts doing well. There should be a profit-sharing agreement between the company and government,” he added.

The privatisation is aimed at rescuing ECG, which needs $1billion to revamp its operations for effective power distribution.

Meanwhile, there are fears that privatisation could lead to dismissal of some employees already working with the state firm.

Mr Poku believes it will be in the interest of the nation if some inefficient and non-productive staff of the state power company are made to go.

“If employee size of ECG is bloated, they need to downsize. It is you and me that finance this bloated list. If they were there and doing the right thing, we will not be here [in the current crisis]”.

“You go to ECG [to make complaints] and they [employees] think they are doing you a favour. We can all attest to the customer service,” he lamented.