Ghana needs another Compact III – Akufo-Addo appeals to MiDA/US Government

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the Millennium Development Authority’s (MiDA) intervention in Ghana’s energy sector has helped to strengthen and construct a viable and reliable power supply for development.

President Akufo-Addo said electricity power was key to the country’s pursuit to develop its Bauxite and iron ore resources which required a lot of energy.

President Akufo-Addo said the original Compact (USD547 million), in addition to Compact II (USD316 million), which had been satisfactorily executed and completed epitomised the good relations between Ghana and the United States.

He explained that Ghana - United States relations began to even deepen further when the former US President, George E. Bush initiated the COMPACT under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration.

President Akufo-Addo expressed the government’s appreciation to the US Government when the Board of MiDA called on him at the Presidency on Tuesday to announce the completion and end of its project.

But to the President, the real issue, however, was that Ghana needed a Compact III (3) adding: “I’m due to travel to America soon and I intend to raise it at the highest level.”

Even though Ghana has a temporal glitch in the relations with the Electricity Company of Ghana — the Power Distribution Services, Ghana (PDS) contract annulment — President Akufo-Addo hoped the American Government would understand and put it behind them.

The President was optimistic that there was the possibility of the two governments dealing with those issues and initiating a new Compact.

President Akufo-Addo expressed appreciation for the work MiDA had done “to bring us to this day. It’s a day for mutual satisfaction and mutual congratulations,” he told the MiDA Board.

The MiDA Board was sworn into office in March 2017 and charged to oversee the implementation of Compact.

Chairperson of the MiDA Board, Prof. Yaa Ntiamoah Baidu, said the Board had come to thank the President for the opportunity he gave to the members and present its report.

By the revised Compact, which ended on the 6th June 2022, she said all projects retained and prioritised for implementation had been completed, commissioned and handed over to the beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries, Prof. Yaa Ntiamoah Baidu said included ECG, GRIDCO, Ghana Standards Authority, Energy Commission, Public Utility and Regulations Commission and the Ministry of Education.

The rests were the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Energy and Natural Resources.