Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII, has emphasized that the privatization of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is long overdue.
Amidst frequent power outages, there have been increasing calls for the privatization of ECG.
In an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Nana Amoasi VII revealed that a previous attempt to privatize ECG was unsuccessful.
He highlighted that ECG loses more than 30% of the power it receives from the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), with these losses ultimately borne by consumers.
Nana Amoasi VII also pointed out other issues in the power sector that need to be addressed.
Nana Amoasi VII suggested that the private sector, with its access to the capital market and its competency and efficiency, could provide a solution.
He stressed the importance of the country deciding on the type of privatization it seeks and strategizing accordingly to achieve its goals.
“It is long overdue. Long overdue, and I think that we attempted one form, and we frustrated our own initiative. Today, ECG through technical and commercial reading, is losing more than 30% of the power they inherit from GRIDCo the transmitter and that is a loss.
“Some of these losses will be factored into the tariffs that we pay and that means that we will be paying for somebody’s inefficiency, you and I to some extent. The next is that we don’t have a robust distribution grid, we don’t have a strong distribution grid. It must be invested into. The next is that we are struggling to collect the bills, raise the needed revenue at the end of the value chain and pay the other players within the chain.”
“These are issues that must be addressed. We are struggling today as a power sector because of our 1.5 billion debts impacting negatively on fuel supply and also on unplanned maintenance. Where are we going to get this investment into ECG when we know that already the sector is debt-ridden?
“The private sector has access to the capital market, the private sector comes in with some form of competence and efficiency because they are more profit-oriented and driven and therefore, they will produce or put forward all the technology and innovation necessary to run efficiently and effectively the ECG.