PDS takes over ECG on February 27

• Posted on February 22, 2019
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has confirmed to that the handing over ceremony of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to the new management company – Power Distribution Services (PDS) – will take place Wednesday, February 27^th. 

MiDA explained that on the set date, management of ECG would hand over the Assets and Operations to PDS Ltd.

A statement copied to citinewsroom.com said MiDA and the management of “ECG anticipate a smooth transition, to ensure the success of PDS as the new Electricity Distribution Operator in the Southern Distribution Zone of Ghana.”

This latest announcement comes after MiDA initially announced that the takeover was scheduled for February 1, but was postponed.

PDS was announced to take over ECG after its major shareholder – Meralco Consortium from the Philippines – had won the Millennium Challenge Power Compact Two from the U.S.A.

Background

The journey to get a private sector player to manage the affairs of the ECG started after Ghana had won the power compact 2.

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, Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Project.