The State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) recorded a loss after tax of GH¢9.68 billion last year, depicting a 35.44 per cent deterioration of the GH¢7.14 billion losses recorded in the 2023 financial year.
Thirty-five of the 54 SOEs, however, delivered profitability during the period under review, while the net margin saw a further decline from -6.90 per cent in the 2023 financial year to -7.20 per cent in the 2024 financial year.
This came to light when the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) released the 2024 State Ownership Report in Accra yesterday.
The report covered the financial operations of SOEs, Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) and other state entities under the last administration.
Gratitude
Describing the report as the culmination of relentless scrutiny, rigorous analysis and unwavering dedication by SIGA, the Director-General of SIGA, Professor Michael Kpessa-Whyte, expressed gratitude to all who contributed to the report and said it represented a covenant fulfilled to the people of Ghana to shed an honest light on how their collective assets and hard-earned contributions were being managed.
He, therefore, called for closer collaboration between the media and SIGA so that together, their reports would be used as powerful tools of accountability and a springboard for reforms that were much needed in many SOEs.
“You are the interpreters and the amplifiers, the trusted voices who translate complex, cognisant frameworks and networks and financial metrics into narratives that the public will understand.
“With that, the public understands, connects with and asks for more,” the SIGA director-general said.
Transport, logistics
Touching on the transport and logistics sub-sector, the report indicated that it recorded undisrupted profitability in the five years under review, but said the energy sub-sector witnessed 12.36 per cent improvement in its net loss position to GH¢8.34 billion in the 2024 financial year from GH¢9.51 billion in the 2023 financial year.
On the petroleum service and related entities, it mentioned that the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) recorded profitability, except the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
The SIGA report said power generation and distribution entities such as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO), the Northern Electricity Development Company (NEDCO) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) reported net losses, except the Bui Power Authority (BPA).
While highlighting the losses made by the SOE sector, the 2024 SIGA State Ownership Report said the SOEs recorded an aggregate finance cost of GH¢9.40 billion in the 2024 financial year, which was almost six times (600 per cent) the reported profit before interests and tax of GH¢1.57 billion in 2024 financial year.
In effect, the report further indicated that for every GH¢1 operating profit generated, GH¢4.97 extra is required to cover finance cost.
It said the sector’s finance costs were heavily influenced by those recorded by the Ghana Water Company (GH¢3.64 billion) and COCOBOD (GH¢1.88 billion), representing a combined 58.65 per cent share of the total finance cost.
The GWCL's finance costs, according to the SIGA State Ownership report, were mainly driven by exchange rate risk associated with US dollar-denominated loans of the company.
JVCs
On the operations of JVCs, the report indicated that they recorded a total revenue of GH¢31.89 billion, down from the GH¢32.80 billion posted in the 2023 financial year, a 5.07 per cent decline.
The report said the core revenue constituted 98.58 per cent of the total revenue, although it went down by 1.73 per cent from the 2023 to the 2024 financial year.
On the minority JVCs – entities in which the government holds equity stake threshold of 10 per cent, the report said 14 of such entities were covered in the 2024 financial year.
The SIGA report said these were spread across three sub-sectors: nine in mining, one in manufacturing and three in financial and allied services.
