The government has secured the support of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) for the new energy sector levy, but concerns remain.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GNCCI, Mark Badu Aboagye, insists that while the purpose of the levy is critical and long overdue, strict adherence to its intended use and consistent public accountability must guide its implementation.
He says businesses need a reliable and efficient supply of power to be sustainable, hence the reason the chamber finds the levy, although very high, welcoming.
He explains that businesses across the country are still reeling from the devastating effects of years of erratic power supply, commonly referred to as dumsor. Mark Badu Aboagye believes that if the new levy leads to an end to the erratic power supply, the chamber is all for it.
“This is specific, so they should use it for the intended purpose to support the energy sector. We need an efficient, reliable and sustainable supply of electricity for our business. That is the main reason why we are supporting it. It’s the main reason why we are also calling on other people to support it so that we don’t have the dumsor that we have experienced over the years. Because it’s definitely killing businesses. A lot of businesses that collapsed due to dumsor were not able to come back, and we don’t want that,” he noted.
But to sustain the interest of the public in the levy, GNCCI warns against the misuse, misapplication, and diversion of the proceeds of the levy for other businesses, leaving its core objective.
The fears of Mark Badu Aboagye could emanate from the earlier experience in the use of ESLA when the former administration securitized the proceeds, diverted the funds, leading to misapplication. This led to the accumulation of more legacy debt, which is currently threatening the sustainability of the energy sector.
GNCCI is demanding that the government regularly and vigorously account for the collection the usage of the levy to carry the people along.
“Once it is intended for that, we don’t have to use it for any other thing. We also expect regular accountability, that they should regularly be informing us that this is how much we have generated from this levy, this is what we have used it for, so that all of us will be comfortable with the levy we are paying,” he added.
The GNCCI’s stance underscores the wider sentiment among the business community that they support solutions to Ghana’s energy crisis, but only with full transparency and proof that every cedi collected is solving the problem.
