Ghana is set to renegotiate with the United States for the possible reinstatement of $190 million initially allocated under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to support the country’s electricity sector.
President John Dramani Mahama made the announcement during a courtesy call from Mr Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Vice President for West and Central Africa, in Accra. Diagana was in the country to attend Mahama’s inauguration on January 7.
During the meeting, Mahama emphasized the need for reforms in the energy sector to address outstanding debts and improve efficiency. He recalled that, while serving as Vice President under the late President John Evans Atta Mills, he signed the original MCC agreement, which aimed to enhance Ghana’s power generation and position the country as a regional electricity hub.
However, Mahama noted that following a change in government, the Millennium Challenge Compact was taken over by the new administration, and efforts to improve electricity distribution, metering, and billing under the programme were stalled.
“We must address the inefficiencies within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to prevent further challenges across the power value chain,” Mahama said. He also pointed to the need to revisit plans for privatizing the distribution sector to introduce greater efficiency.
President Mahama revealed that discussions had already been held with US officials and the MCC, who indicated that the door remained open for the $190 million to be reinstated. If that is not possible, Mahama suggested that the World Bank might help fund the completion of the programme’s objectives, particularly in reducing losses from independent power producers (IPPs).
In the interim, Mahama pledged to restore transparency in the system and reintroduce the cash waterfall mechanism to stabilise the sector until further reforms can be implemented.
Mr Diagana affirmed the World Bank’s commitment to supporting Ghana’s development agenda, particularly in the energy sector.
Source:TheDotNews