President John Dramani Mahama has called for urgent reforms at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to address the ongoing inefficiencies plaguing the country’s power sector.
During a meeting with a World Bank delegation on January 8, 2025, Mahama emphasized the importance of tackling these challenges to ensure the long-term sustainability of Ghana’s energy distribution network.
In his remarks, Prez Mahama underlined the critical need for operational improvements within ECG, stressing that failure to address the company’s inefficiencies could lead to continued disruptions in the national power supply.
“If we don’t fix the Electricity Company of Ghana, we will continue to have a major problem with our whole power value chain,” he warned.
One of the key proposals put forward by His Excellency Mahama was the potential privatization of ECG’s operations.
He believes that the infusion of private sector efficiency could help overcome issues such as financial mismanagement, operational inefficiencies, and poor service delivery.
Mahama pointed out that privatization, especially in the electricity distribution sector, could modernize the entire energy landscape and improve service quality.
While the idea of privatization has been discussed in the past, President Mahama’s renewed push highlights the ongoing struggle within the sector.
The current president suggested that privatizing ECG’s distribution sector would be a step towards modernizing the power sector, benefiting both the government and consumers alike.
He made it clear that the proposal was not simply about privatization for the sake of it, but a necessary strategy to improve service and operational performance.
“Privatisation can play a pivotal role in restructuring the sector, but it must be done strategically,” Mahama stated.
He also hoped that the World Bank would play a key role in supporting the process, providing the expertise needed to make privatization successful.
This call for reform comes at a time when the energy sector’s challenges have persisted under successive administrations.
Many hope that Mahama’s renewed focus on privatization could pave the way for a more efficient, sustainable power supply system in Ghana.