The Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Joseph Cudjoe, has said his outfit was collaboration with the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), to improve performance of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the country.

SOEs, characterised by underperformance, have become a drain on government’s budget, hence the need to change the narrative around them.

“They were always asking for capital when the state had invested a lot of asset in them and instead of using them to create results, they were just running down these enterprises.
“The net effect being lack of growth of the SOEs to create jobs and opportunities for the teeming youth. They were just running down these SOEs,” he said during a media engagement in Accra on Wednesday, June 2, 2021.

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Corporate governance

Consequently, he said the two seek to block the gaps in good corporate governance which bothered on accountability, transparency and responsibility.

“When it comes to managing SOEs, it is about taking decisions in the interest of the organisation and the country. Board of directors give direction to management team to perform to expectation.

“When we get boards’ interest aligned with the state interest, and management teams’ interest aligned with the board interest, then we are sure that we are going to see the kind of results good we expect. That is now the gap SIGA is doing everything in its power and mandate to address,” he said.

Read: SIGA accounts for one year stewardship

Mr Cudjoe said the State Register of Certified Entities had about 175 SOEs, joint venture companies and other stated entities, out of which 52 are corporate and has 55 per cent of government shares, 46 joint venture companies and 77 other state entities.

“This is a big chunk of investment by government and you can imagine if these entities are operating profitably and efficiently what it would mean for Ghana.  

“Before current government took over, they were all making huge loses but following the kind appointment of MDs and measures put in place over the few years, we have seen will of us have seen results emanating from them,” he said.

Read: Plans to get SOEs listed on stock exchange underway

Engagement

SIGA, which has a core mandate to promote within the framework of government policy, the efficient and profitable operations of Statutory Corporations engaged in trade and industry, organised the maiden weekly media engagements aimed at sharing the successes of entities with various stakeholders and the citizenry at large.

The Director-General (DG) of SIGA, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, said the media engagement was to update the public and to kick start a relationship of working together.

He said the new initiative would invite CEOs and DGs weekly to re-emphasise the work they have been doing, pitch their successes and do follow up for feedback to correct what needs to be corrected.

“Technology has been part of the central element we work with such that while we engage the media, we will also open ourselves to the public through social media for feedback.

“In the midst of Covid-19 we have success stories around and we are doing far better and that is the success story we want to send out,” he said.

 
Entities

The first two SOEs that participated in the maiden edition of the series included the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) and the Ghana Gas Company Limited (Ghana Gas).

The CEO of Ghana Gas, Dr Ben Asante, outlined plans to expand infrastructure to support the country’s gas production.

These include another gas processing plant to increase capacity from the current 150 to about 240, 278km onshore pipeline from Takoradi to Tema to use onshore pipeline to transport natural gas eastwards, Prestea-Kumasi gas pipeline project to supply lean gas to Nyinahin and Kumasi for mineral processing and power generation (60 per cent complete) and Mainline Compressor Station at Atuabo to maximise pipeline capacity from 135 to 405 (million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd).

The rest are a 52 kilometre pipeline from Atuabo to Ivory Coast to transport natural gas to the Osagyefo Barge and Domunli Enclave and Cote D’Ivoire (through “Swapping”), as well as gas supply to fertiliser plant project located at Domunli to produce 400,000 tonnes of Urea & NPK fertiliser

For his part, the Managing Director of BOST, Mr Edwin Provencal, said the key achievements by BOST so far included the payment of about 96 per cent ($573 million) of its legacy debt of $623 million to suppliers and related parties.

“In terms of our Ghana Commercial Bank loan of GH¢58.4 million through our internally generated fund we have been able to pay all, our UBA loan we have paid it off completely, our StanChart loan we have negotiated from GH¢137million to GH¢100 million and we have cleared as well.

“Our audited accounts for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 audits completed, 2019 audit is 90 per cent complete and 2020 audit would be completed by June 2021,” he said.