Ghana: Give BOST $75M To Turn Its Fortunes Instead Of Wasting $150M On New Electoral Roll-IMANI

The founding President and CEO of policy think-tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has urged the Akufo-Addo-led administration to support Ghana’s strategic stock oil company, BOST, financially to be able to achieve its strategic plan.

In his view, the government should be more interested in supporting BOST financially to turn the company’s fortunes around instead of supporting the country’s Electoral Commission (EC) to waste US$140 million on compiling what he described as needless electoral roll.

Mr Cudjoe, in a piece shared on social media and a subsequent interview with energynewsafrica.com, argued that he had seen the strategic documents of BOST which suggest that they could turn the company around if they received US$75 million financial support.

“I have seen their strategic documents that suggest that if they got that money, they could easily turn things around,” he said.

BOST has a legacy debt of about $60 million and this has affected its ability to attract investors.

At a recent media conference in Accra, capital of Ghana, Managing Director of BOST, Edwin A. Provencal called on the government to support the company to clear the debt to pave way for the company to attract investors.

Mr Cudjoe noted that the interventions being put in place by BOST to cut wastage in a bid to ensure efficiency in the past six months have made him to believe that if there are no interferences from the energy sector and the state powers, BOST could be making significant gains.

“One thing that can be done in the interim is to avoid wasteful enterprises such as $150 million on a needless purchase of electoral infrastructure for compilation of the voter register, and give BOST $75M. If BOST fails to out compete the private bulk oil distributors in year 3, I will campaign for it to die,” he stated.

Below Is Franklin Cudjoe’s Full Post

BOST is one state institution whose existence is at the mercy of the more competitive private bulk oil distributors. I have had little faith in state-run entities like BOST.

However, I have seen the BOST strategy to pay its humongous politically accrued legacy debts and return to profitable ways within five years.

Some executive decisions have been taken in the past six months to root out self-serving projects created by old and crooked agents and assigns, discarded previous plans to raise wages astronomically and now needs $70m to have a semblance of an institution that may break even.

I wouldn’t give them my money, assuming I had that much unless I see a signed undertaken by the appointing authority of the BOST leadership that it would not interfere unnecessarily in the affairs of BOST.

One thing that can be done in the interim is to avoid wasteful enterprises such as $150m on a needless purchase of electoral infrastructure for compilation of the voter register, and give BOST $75M. If BOST fails to out compete the private bulk oil distributors in year 3, I will campaign for it to die.

Source: www.energynewsafrica.com