The outstanding debt owed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to the Bui Power Authority (BPA) has experienced a significant surge, escalating from $612 million to $658 million, as revealed by the Chief Executive Officer of the power generation company, Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi.
He emphasized that this mounting debt is a consequence of BPA continuously supplying electricity to ECG without receiving timely payments.
Mr. Dzamesi, during an appearance on GhanaWeb TV’s BizTech program hosted by Ernestina Serwaa Asante, acknowledged that the primary challenges faced by BPA include the lack of consistent cash flow and delays in receiving payments for the power supplied to clients.
“The greatest problem of this company is that we generate and yet, we’re not paid for what we generate. Yeah, it’s an issue and I need to talk about it. It’s like you generate 100 units and you are paid 20 units. So what happens to the 80 units? So, if the efficiency of receivables is there, I think that we can do so much. So many times our job, though is suppose to generate more power, our job is also supposed to go and chase money, and if the money doesn’t come, that’s a very serious issue.
…So we pray that the more money we get, the more projects we undertake, and Ghana will be better for all of this,” the Bui Power Authority CEO told host of BizTech, Ernestina Serwaa Asante.
When asked about the $612 million debt owed BPA by ECG, Mr Dzamesi said, “It has gone up. Now, it is $658 million because we always generating and the more we generate, they’re supposed to pay us but if, as I said, if you generate 100 units, you are paid 20 units. So the man who’s supposed to pay you 100 units is paying only 20 units, of course every month, you’ll still be having more debts to pay. So as I speak is now around $658 million.”
However, he pointed out that a committee called the Cash Waterfall Committee had been established to investigate the amount due to BPA and to create “a financial plan” for ECG to pay off its debt.
Mr. Dzamesi pointed out that in order to help BPA pay off its growing debt, the committee has mandated that the ECG make a sizeable payment to BPA at least once every week.
The decision, according to the CEO of Bui, was commendable since it would enable the company to invest and pay employee salaries.
“Recently there was a meeting. There is this Cash Waterfall Committee. Recently there was a meeting and at that meeting, it was resolved that ECG must be able to pay as some amount of money at least every week or every two weeks, and then the Ministry of Finance is supposed to top up so that at least every month we will be able to pay salaries and have enough to pay for our investments and this new arrangement started just to the first of August, so we’re praying that it will continue like that,” Mr Dzamesi said on BizTech.
He added that, “I’m beginning to see some positive signs and I know our minister is working very hard to ensure get more funds.”
In April of this year, there were reports indicating that ECG had accrued a debt of over $612 million to the managers of the Bui Generating Station.
Expressing his frustration with ECG’s inability to settle the outstanding amount, Mr. Dzamesi highlighted that nearly 99 percent of the power generated by the 404 Megawatts (MW) dam, located in the Banda District of the Bono Region, is sold to ECG.
This ongoing issue poses a significant challenge to the operations of the power station.