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The outgoing United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, has sounded the alarm on the dire financial condition of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), warning that its massive losses pose a significant threat to the country’s economic stability.
In an upcoming interview on The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV, Ambassador Palmer described the ECG’s financial hemorrhaging as worse than previously estimated, citing a staggering $2.2 billion in annual losses.
“The ECG is bleeding, exchequer, and it’s bleeding more than we thought,” Palmer stated. “When the Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, spoke at the Economic Dialogue, he said $2.2 billion a year, which is essentially at the scale of the IMF programme. There are losses either at the electricity poles or in the counting rooms, and they are enormous.”
Palmer welcomed recent efforts by President John Dramani Mahama to confront the crisis, particularly the formation of a panel to evaluate the ECG and propose reforms aimed at improving its performance and accountability.
“I was pleased to see President John Dramani Mahama announce a panel to evaluate ECG and what reforms are necessary, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results,” she added.
The Ambassador stressed that comprehensive and long-term reforms are essential not only for the ECG’s survival but also to address the recurring power outages, commonly known in Ghana as “dumsor”, and to support the broader energy sector.
