Samuel Dubik Mahama, the former Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has rejected the government’s proposal to privatise the power distribution company, arguing that private sector participation is already embedded within the system, particularly at the metering level.
His comments come amidst ongoing discussions on the matter. During his vetting on January 13, Energy Minister-Designate John Jinapor reaffirmed President Mahama’s commitment to privatising power distribution, citing improved efficiency in the energy sector as a key goal.
Mr. Dubik Mahama however, expressed confidence in the sector’s potential to thrive under the right conditions. He cited the need to build on the existing foundation rather than pursue further privatisation.
“I do admit that there are a few inefficiencies in the company, and in the same way, there are a few efficiencies,” he acknowledged. “Now before you do any private sector privatisation, what are the benchmarks? Let’s not forget there is already private sector participation in ECG.”
He highlighted the integration of private sector participation through the loss reduction programme, particularly in metering, which has significantly reduced costs.
“At the metering point under the loss reduction programme, the ECG has moved from its previous position where it used to look for a large sum of money to purchase meters to come and install. That is one thing that I decided to change when I became the Managing Director,” Mr. Dubik Mahama explained.
He elaborated on the approach taken during his tenure, saying, “Why don’t we get all these metering companies and tell everybody to have a factory in the country? Based on that, we now have about seven metering companies that have factories in Ghana. What we then did was to give them a locality to install their meters…And that is private sector participation. If you do the math very well, you realise that it saved us a lot—more than almost 50% in how much you now have to borrow and all those administrative costs.”
Addressing ECG’s broader challenges, Mr. Dubik Mahama pointed to currency-related issues as a significant concern. “The first one is forex… You buy the electricity in dollars and you come to sell it in cedis. And you go and look for requisite dollars to go and pay… If you are going to look for USD to pay the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), will the money be enough to pay the whole value chain?” he asked.
