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Ghana’s umbrella labour organisation, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has strongly rejected what it describes as the World Bank’s attempt to facilitate the privatisation of Ghana’s electricity distribution sector.
The union has warned that it will use every legal means available to resist any move to hand over the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to private operators.
The TUC’s position follows renewed discussions over the proposed Private Sector Participation (PSP) programme for Ghana’s electricity distribution sector and recent comments by the World Bank Country Director, Dr Adrian Alter, during an interview with Channel One Television on August 24, 2026.
In a statement signed by TUC Secretary-General Joshua Ansah, the union said Dr Alter’s description of the proposed PSP arrangement as involving “only revenue collection” was misleading and did not accurately reflect the model being considered for the sector.
According to the TUC, the Transaction Advisor appointed with the backing of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed a structure under which private operators would take responsibility for electricity distribution from the Bulk Supply Points (BSPs) of the National Interconnected Transmission System through to end-users.
Under the proposed arrangement, the TUC said, ECG and NEDCo would retain ownership of their distribution assets, while private companies would be responsible for operating the networks.
The union said such operators would undertake both technical and commercial functions, including billing, revenue collection, customer management, network maintenance and electricity-loss reduction.
“This is not merely revenue collection,” the TUC argued, insisting that the proposed arrangement would effectively transfer key operational functions currently performed by ECG and NEDCo to private companies.
The union therefore challenged the World Bank’s assertion that ECG would not be privatised, describing the position as “disingenuous.”
TUC Questions World Bank’s Energy Policy
The TUC also criticised what it described as the World Bank and IMF’s continued focus on inefficiencies and losses within Ghana’s electricity distribution sector, while allegedly paying insufficient attention to the high cost of electricity generation.
According to the union, Ghana’s heavy reliance on Independent Power Producers (IPPs) has contributed to high generation costs, particularly because several power purchase agreements contain significant foreign-exchange components and “take-or-pay” obligations.
The TUC argued that these arrangements have placed a substantial financial burden on the country and, ultimately, on electricity consumers.
The union believes the World Bank should therefore consider the challenges associated with Ghana’s existing generation model before pushing further reforms at the distribution end of the electricity value chain.
It also questioned the Bank’s continued emphasis on “cost-reflective” electricity tariffs, arguing that consumers should not be made to bear the full burden of inefficiencies and expensive generation contracts.
Uganda’s UMEME Experience Cited
The TUC cited Uganda’s experience with private electricity distribution as a warning against Ghana following a similar path.
The union referred to UMEME, Uganda’s former private electricity distribution concessionaire, arguing that what began as a private-sector role focused on distribution eventually resulted in broader influence over the country’s electricity system.
The TUC also compared electricity prices in Uganda and Algeria, arguing that Algeria’s predominantly public model has delivered significantly lower electricity costs.
The union maintains that Ghana should carefully examine the experiences of other African countries before committing to private-sector control of electricity distribution.
Rural Electrification Raises Questions
The TUC further challenged the assumption that private-sector participation automatically produces better outcomes in the electricity sector.
It cited rural electricity-access figures which, according to the union, show relatively strong access levels in countries where the state maintains significant ownership, control and management of electricity distribution.
The union referenced countries including Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Rwanda, and contrasted them with Nigeria and Uganda, where private-sector participation in electricity distribution has been more pronounced.
The TUC argues that the evidence demonstrates the need for Ghana to strengthen and reform public-sector capacity rather than treat privatisation as the default solution to challenges in the electricity distribution sector.
TUC Recalls Ghana’s Privatisation Experience
The union also invoked Ghana’s experience under the Structural Adjustment Programme, during which more than 100 state-owned enterprises were privatised.
According to the TUC, organised labour has not forgotten what it describes as the social and economic consequences of those reforms, particularly job losses.
The union argues that the privatisation of state-owned enterprises was based on the expectation that the private sector would replace the role of the state, an outcome it says did not always materialise as expected.
For the TUC, the proposed PSP programme for ECG and NEDCo raises concerns that Ghana could be repeating aspects of its past privatisation experience.
“We Did Not Vote for the World Bank”
The union has framed the debate not only as an economic issue but also as one concerning national sovereignty.
The TUC said Ghanaians elected a Ghanaian government to govern the country and make decisions concerning strategic national assets, including the electricity distribution companies.
“Ghanaians voted for a Ghanaian government to run the country including running the Electricity Company of Ghana,” the union said, arguing that the country’s sovereignty over strategic assets should not be outsourced to international institutions or transaction advisors.
The TUC insists that any decision on the future of ECG and NEDCo must be made in the national interest and through Ghana’s own democratic and institutional processes.
TUC Draws the Line
The TUC said it and its affiliates remain “intensely opposed” to the privatisation of Ghana’s electricity distribution sector.
“We will do whatever it takes legally to stop the privatisation of ECG and NEDCo,” the union warned.
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