PDS finally takes over ECG

• Posted on February 28, 2019February 28, 2019
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Electricity Company of Ghana will be handing over operations of the company to Power Distribution Services (PDS) on Wednesday, 27th Februray, 2019.

By this, PDS will be the new owners and directors of the company.

The scheduled takeover which was to have occurred on 1st February 2019 was postponed by the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) due to certain lapses that needed to be clarified to ascertain a smooth handing over of the company.

PDS is expected to turnaround the operations of ECG to make it profitable.

In addition, the new management will improve access to electricity while cutting down on waste in the system to block all leakages that drain the financials of ECG.

One major huddle that PDS will have to overcome is how to clear all debts owed ECG by the government through its state agencies and departments, as well as Ministries.

Background

The journey to get a private sector player to manage the affairs of the ECG started after Ghana won the power compact two which is expected to inject some 900 million dollars into the ECG.

Ghana signed the Power Compact with the United States of America acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC on August 5, 2014

Under the Power Compact, six projects are being implemented to address the root causes of the unavailability and unreliability of power in Ghana.

The project includes ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project, and Access Project.

The rest are Power Generation Sector Improvement Project and Energy Efficiency, and Demand Side Management Project.

By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee