Ghana continues to face challenges in paying its debt to electricity producers in the country.
According to Ghana’s Minister of Finance Mohammed Amin AdamGhana currently owes its energy producers estimated at $1 billionmost of which have agreed to restructure.
But the head of an energy lobby group says the debt was about $2.2 billion.
What they say
“We don’t just tally up our monthly bills and deduct the payments that have been made,” he said Elikplim Apetorgbor, Managing Director of Independent Power Generators, Ghana.
He said any debt deal should include interest on late payments, exchange rate losses and dormancy charges, among other things.
Zoom in
The government said it has struck deals with five of the seven independent power producers, leaving pending deals with Chinese-owned Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Ltd. and a Karpowership unit based in Istanbul. The bill owed to Sunon-Asogli alone is now over $800 million, Apetorgbor he said.
Pushback
Adam, during a press conference on July 1 to discuss the country’s deal with official creditors and eurobond holders, said Apetorgbor was not talking about the industry.
“The CEO can do his own thing,” he said. “We have seven IPPs and have reached an agreement with five of them. This is very positive for our country. It tells us that the threat of power plant shutdowns will be a thing of the pastt.”
Zoom out
Ghana’s installed power 5,639 megawatts at the end of 2023, but is struggling to create enough to meet peak demand 3,618 megawatts.
More than half of SMEs surveyed in May by the Accra-based Institute of Economic Affairs said the effects of the blackout on their businesses were severe.
Ghana’s debt crisis is making it difficult for the government to pay power suppliers when state-owned electricity distribution company Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd. she can’t pay her monthly bills, she said Kodzo Yaotse at the African Center for Energy Policy.
Source: Bloomberg
Stay up to date with news and other items on our WhatsApp Community Page, Twitter/Xand subscribe to our weekly newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any news.
Related