ECG takeover: MiDA postpones February 1 date

The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has postponed the takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) by Power Distribution Services (PDS).

The takeover was scheduled to have occurred on February 1.

A statement from the authority copied to Oman FM, said the decision was taken at a Special Meeting on Thursday 31st January 2019.

It explained that the Board of Directors of the Millennium Development Authority, (MiDA) acknowledged “the significant progress made by all the Stakeholders involved in the ECG PSP Transaction towards meeting various Conditions Precedent to the transfer of the Assets and Operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd (ECG) to Messrs Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Ltd”.

“MiDA is confident that the transfer will occur in the next few weeks. The Board approved an extension of time to allow the Parties and Stakeholders, namely Government of Ghana (GoG), ECG and PDS, to conclude their Consultations and finalize work on some critical aspects of the Transaction, in order to facilitate a smooth transfer”.

“MiDA wishes to assure Ghanaians that it will continue to adhere to, and uphold high standards of transparency throughout the process. MiDA will announce a new Transfer Date in early February,” it said.

This latest move comes after the CEO of MiDA, Martin Eson-Benjamin announced that PDS will takeover the operations, assets and management of ECG on February 1.

“We have gone through many processes and now I can tell you that everything is almost completed for the new company to take over on February 1. The takeover will bring efficiency and we will all see the improvement in the new company,” Mr. Eson-Benjamin said earlier.

Background

The journey to get a private sector player to manage the affairs of the ECG started after Ghana won the power compact two which is expected to inject some 900 million dollars into the ECG. Ghana signed the Power Compact with the United States of America acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC on August 5, 2014.

Under the Power Compact, six projects are being implemented to address the root causes of the unavailability and unreliability of power in Ghana.

The project include ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project, and Access Project.

The rest are Power Generation Sector Improvement Project and Energy Efficiency, and Demand Side Management Project.