Former Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, has disclosed that the concession agreement between government and a consortium of investors, led by Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for private sector participation (PSP) in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), would take off in February, 2019.
According to him, all parties are expected to fulfill their obligations by completely transferring their property to Meralco between January and February 2019 for the PSP to take effect.
He said the period of the concession had been reduced from 25 to 20 years, adding that the Ghanaian component would be increased from 20 percent to 51 percent.
He added that all ECG workers transferred to the concessionaire are expected to keep their jobs.
Mr Agyarko, in a speech read on his behalf by his advisor, William Amuna during the 10th anniversary of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) in Tema said, “One of the interventions by government to ensure that there is liquidity in the power sector in particular is the ECG PSP, and I am happy to announce that everything has gone through and by February 2019, the private participant will take over ECG and start its operations,” he noted.
According to him, under the deal, government expects improvement in terms of revenue collection, efficiency in power delivery and general management of the power distribution network.
“As we speak now, we are at the final stage of meeting all the conditions precedent to the PSP coming to forth in February, and a committee has been set up to ensure that the rest of the 45 conditions outstanding are met by January, 2019 for a smooth take off,” Mr. Agyarko stated.
He urged GRIDCo to expand its operations to neighbouring countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Mali and Niger, among others.
Mr Agyarko assured GRIDCo that government would work assiduously to resolve its financial problems.
He further stated that government was also working hard for GRIDCo to get its fair share of the bond and shares, commending GRIDCo for making good use of its funds.
He lauded management and staff for their hard work and appealed to them to strive for more success.
Meanwhile, officials of Meralco are expected to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which would enable the transaction to become effective by August 2, 2018.
Ghana signed the Power Compact with the United States of America (USA) through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent US government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington DC on August 5, 2014.
Under the Power Compact, six projects would be implemented to tackle power unavailability and unreliability in Ghana.
They include ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project and Access Project, Power Generation Sector Improvement Project and Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Project.
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