The light that flickers in a Ghanaian home is more than a mere convenience; it is the pulse of a nation’s dignity and the silent engine of its economic survival.
For too long, that pulse was thready, weakened by a mountain of debt that threatened to plunge the Black Star into a permanent eclipse. We were a nation living on borrowed time and depleted guarantees, standing on the precipice of a total energy collapse.
When President John Dramani Mahama assumed office in January 2025, he did not inherit a functioning power sector; he inherited a crime scene of fiscal negligence. The Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) field, the very bedrock of our energy independence, had been pushed to the brink by years of persistent non-payment. More damagingly, the US$500 million World Bank Partial Risk Guarantee, a sovereign shield forged in 2015 to protect our credibility, had been completely exhausted.
To exhaust a World Bank guarantee is to tell the world that Ghana’s word is no longer its bond. It was a governance failure of the highest order, an abandonment of the constitutional duty to protect the state’s international standing. It was against this backdrop of shattered trust that the Mahama administration began its relentless “Energy Sector Reset.”
In a single fiscal year, the narrative of despair has been replaced by a masterclass in fiscal discipline. By 31 December 2025, the government had successfully repaid US$597.15 million to fully restore the World Bank Guarantee. This was not merely a bank transfer; it was a formal apology to the global investor community and a restoration of our national honour.
The administration understood that you cannot power a 24-hour economy with 12-hour excuses. Leadership requires the courage to settle the bills of the past to secure the light of the future. Consequently, the Ministry of Finance cleared approximately US$480 million in outstanding gas invoices owed to ENI and Vitol. By doing so, the government ensured that the Sankofa partners remain partners, not litigants.
This rescue mission extended deep into the heart of our domestic power generation. The administration did not just throw money at a leaking bucket; it renegotiated Independent Power Producer (IPP) agreements to ensure that the Ghanaian taxpayer finally receives value for money. This is the hallmark of a government that balances legal obligations with moral imperatives.
In 2025 alone, the government settled US393 million in legacy IPP debts. From the US120 million paid to Karpowership to the critical settlements for Sunon Asogli and Cenpower, the treasury has acted as a bulwark against darkness. These are not just figures on a ledger; they are the reasons why factories stay open, and hospitals keep running.
Altogether, the Ministry of Finance has deployed a staggering US$1.470 billion in a single year to rescue the sector. This is an unprecedented feat of financial engineering, achieved through prudent management and a refusal to pass the buck. The era of “uncontrolled debt accumulation” has been declared dead, buried under a new culture of accountability.
Central to this success has been the disciplined implementation of the Cash Waterfall Mechanism. By ensuring that revenues flow transparently from the consumer to the generator, the Ministry of Energy has stopped the bleeding. We have moved from the chaos of ad-hoc payments to the stability of a predictable, functioning market.
The metaphor is clear: the Mahama administration has rebuilt the foundations of a house that was sliding into an abyss. Through the juxtaposition of the previous era’s depletion and the current era’s restoration, we see the true value of experienced leadership. It is the difference between a state that consumes its future and a state that invests in its survival.
As we look toward an industrialised future, the restoration of the World Bank Guarantee stands as a beacon. It signals to every investor from London to New York that Ghana is once again a credible, reliable, and bankable partner. The darkness of inherited arrears is fading, replaced by the steady glow of a sector that finally pays its way.
The task was monumental, but the result is undeniable. By clearing the US$1.470 billion debt, President Mahama has not just saved the energy sector; he has saved the soul of the Ghanaian economy. The era of darkness is over; the dawn of accountability has arrived.
By Raymond Ablorh
