New company takes over ECG February 27

The Board of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has stated that Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will officially take over the running of the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG) on February 27, 2019 under a 20-year concession agreement.

That follows an extension of the date from February 1, 2019 to allow the stakeholders and parties in the private participation in the ECG to conclude their consultations and to finalise work on some critical aspects of the transaction towards a smooth transfer.

The parties are the government, the ECG and Power Distribution Services (PDS).

The concessionaire, according to the agreement, is expected to inject an amount of US$580m into the distribution system during the first five years of the agreement period.

Assurance

In a statement issued yesterday the Board of Directors of MiDA and the ECG said they anticipated a smooth transition.

It also indicated that the parties would count on the support and cooperation of all Ghanaians to ensure the success of the PDS as the new electricity distribution operator in the Southern Distribution Zone of Ghana.

MiDA gave an assurance to the public that it would continue to adhere to and uphold high standards of transparency throughout the process.

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 into the ECG.

On August 5, 2014, Ghana signed the Power Compact with the United States of America through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC.

The compact provides for a grant of up to US$498.2 million to advance economic growth and reduce poverty in Ghana; and commit Ghana and the MCC to a five-year economic development programme that will fund investments in the country’s power sector.