Former Minister for Power and Ex-Member of Parliament for Pru East, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has raised critical concerns about the current structure and management of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the country.
Dr Donkor says the time has come for the country to undertake a fundamental reassessment of the structure and architecture of SOEs, maintaining that their current architecture, structure, and operations contradict public sector entities.
The effectiveness, efficiency, and profitability of many of these SOEs, that per their architecture should be making profit, are very appalling recording year-on-year losses.
Dr. Donkor, who was speaking to The High Street Journal on the sidelines of the National Economic Dialogue, used the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as a case study.
He questioned why ECG should still operate as a company but does not live up to the billing of the company as defined by law.
“Do we really want ECG as a company at this time, or should it be an authority? So far the company has not worked. There has not been any shareholder dividend. It’s not making any profit. It’s not being managed like a company. It’s being managed like a public sector entity. Public sector is defined by the constitution. As defined by the constitution, companies are not part of the public sector so we must get it right,” the former Minister for Power argued.
To him, the situation reflects misalignment of ECG’s corporate status and its operational realities.
He further pointed out the inefficiencies of other state-owned entities which are neither fully commercial nor effectively public service-oriented, leaving them in a state that continues to burden the taxpayer without yielding any economy benefits.
“What is it exactly that we want? If we don’t know what we want, we won’t get what we expect. Not just ECG, but state-owned enterprises, ECG is just an example,” he remarked.
Dr. Donkor expects that the outcome of the National Economic Dialogue will set the country’s priorities right with SOEs.
To him, efficiency and effectiveness should be key. The country, he says, must be more business-oriented to change the fortunes of the economy.
“Efficiency and effectiveness must become our matching orders. We should be far more business-focused than we are,” he insisted.
Dr. Donkor’s comments reignite long-standing debates about the viability of state ownership in key sectors of the economy. Should ECG and other struggling SOEs be restructured, privatized, or turned into regulatory authorities? As Ghana grapples with economic challenges, the call for a clearer, more effective framework for managing state assets has never been more urgent.
As the new government has set its reset agenda in motion, the fate of SOEs is expected to feature prominently.
