Accra, Ghana, April 10, 2020//-Ghana spends between $300 and $350 million dollars a month on power generation to enable it meet the electricity needs of the citizens, firms and industries operating in the country.
Mathematically, the West African country which has challenges in 24/7 supply of power spends about one billion dollars every quarter (3 months) on electricity generation.
Let’s assume, all consumers will pay 50 per cent for the next three months. This means government will have to cough about $500 million for this intervention.
Already the government is seeking 9.5 billion cedis ($1.7bn) to weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy. Which fund to dip hands into, to raise the amount has become an emotional and a partisan affair.
The energy sector is already on its knees over debts owed Independent Power Producers ($1bn plus), $420 million (excess capacity charges + $100m Eurobond interest), and $1.3 billion dollars owed Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The revenue streams created such as ESLA to service the nearly three billion-dollar debt have yielded little because monies are diverted to address ‘other’ concerns. It’s a whole crap.
Then the government, out of disingenuous partisan pressure, subsidizes electricity, knowing very well what subsidization has caused the energy sector. Governance is not easy, admittedly, but state managers MUST BE FIRM.
The 500 million dollars could have been used to service the sector’s debt, or at least improve ECG’s operations to ensure reliable power supply. Ghanaians will CHERISH reliable power even if it’s expensive than to return to ‘dumsor’ (prolong power outage).
But who am I, a young journalist to advice an elite administration.
Don’t forget, we handed over ECG – a strategic national security asset – to PDS over the same $500 million we are ready to spend for just three months, in the name of private sector participation.
How that deal ended is too broad and dramatic for today’s discussion.
God save mother Ghana!
By Sani Abdul-Rahman, Ghanaian Journalist
