{
  "id": 7073514,
  "title": "The more gov’t invests in ECG, the greater its losses become – Ben Boakye laments",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/the-more-govt-invests-in-ecg-the-greater-its-losses-become-ben-boakye",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-13T06:05:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/the-more-govt-invests-in-ecg-the-greater-its-losses-become-ben-boakye-laments/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ben Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, lamented on JoyNews’ Newsfile that increasing government investment in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has not reduced the company's losses, which have worsened instead. In a September 12 interview, Mr Boakye stated that ECG's losses had risen from around 21% to nearly 30% despite over $700 million invested in projects during the period. He argued that ECG's financial situation represented a significant drain on the national budget and required urgent reforms. The executive director highlighted that ECG incurred losses of over GH¢20 billion annually, a burden ultimately absorbed by the State. He noted that the government's annual spending on education was far less than the financial losses associated with ECG. Boakye recalled that a proposed concession arrangement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) aimed to bring private-sector expertise to ECG to improve revenue collection, reduce losses, and restore profitability. The arrangement was supposed to attract about $500 million in private investment over two years. However, ECG's own accounts showed that more than $700 million had been invested in ongoing projects, yet losses increased to nearly 30%. This outcome underscored the need to focus on efficiency and effective management rather than solely on ownership. Boakye emphasized that the debate over ECG's ownership structure should focus on finding a solution to the company's operational and financial challenges. He also raised concerns about ECG's revenue reporting, pointing out that the company's monthly revenue in 2024 was about $1.5 billion, but lower figures were used in some official discussions. Recent measures to ensure ECG's revenue flowed into a proper cash-flow mechanism had improved transparency and addressed payments to independent power producers (IPPs). Despite these improvements, Boakye maintained that major challenges remained. The Ministry of Finance currently absorbs about $80 million monthly in gas costs, along with other financial commitments in the power sector. Boakye stressed the need for fundamental reforms to prevent the energy sector from continuing to burden the national budget. He maintained that the PDS model, despite its controversies, was the quickest approach to addressing ECG's issues. Boakye attributed the failure of the arrangement not to private-sector participation but to problems surrounding its implementation, including political interference. He recalled that improvements in revenue collection and staff attitude occurred even before significant private investment was made. Boakye concluded that the country could no longer afford to invest billions of cedis in ECG without corresponding improvements in efficiency and losses, advocating for a sustainable structure to reduce losses, improve revenue collection, and protect the national budget.",
  "summary": "Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, says increasing government investment in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has not yielded the desired results, with the company’s losses continuing to worsen.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}