The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has expressed openness to potentially working in Ghana again, although it currently has no immediate plans for investment, especially in the country’s energy sector, which is currently grappling with challenges.
During a virtual press briefing following the 16th US-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas, Alice Albright, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, made these remarks in response to inquiries about the discontinued 2019 US$190 million funding agreement between the government and Power Distribution Services (PDS) aimed at investing in Ghana’s energy sector.
“We did have a compact with Ghana, and the compact is closed, and we were able to complete a fair amount of that work. Right now, we don’t have any immediate plans to work again in Ghana.
“But we can always look again to see if Ghana may become a country that we can work with again,” she said.
Albright also emphasized the Corporation’s focus on several energy compacts across the continent, given the critical role of the sector in overall economic development.
These developments coincide with calls from some industry stakeholders for the privatization of Ghana’s Electricity Company (ECG) amid the country’s power outages primarily due to financial constraints.
The Energy Commission, in its December 2023 Energy Outlook for Ghana, warned of irregular power outages in 2024, stressing the need for government investments to ensure consistent gas supply.
“To obtain adequate funding for ECG’s operations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested that the country implement robust reforms to encourage utility service providers to recover their costs,” said Ms. Catherine Pattillo, an IMF Deputy Director.
Luc Eyraud, Division Chief of the African Department at the IMF, also advocated for a rebalancing of tariff structures to enhance cost recovery and increase the contribution of renewable energy through private sector involvement.
These statements were made at a press briefing earlier this month, where it was suggested that such measures would facilitate the provision of reliable and sustainable power for both industrial and residential use.
Furthermore, during the recently concluded IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Washington, US, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam announced a deal with the World Bank to procure one million modern meters aimed at enhancing revenue collection.
“Security and adequacy of fuel supply to thermal plants remain the single most important risk to power supply reliability in the country,” the energy sector regulator noted.
“Sometimes the setup of the energy sector does not provide the utilities the ability to have cost recovery from the charges that they make in order to operate profitably and efficiently and supply energy as needed,” said, Ms Catherine Pattillo, an IMF Deputy Director.