The Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII, has welcomed the call by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to diversify the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Volta River Authority (VRA).
The Asantehene, while justifying his call said that privatizing these institutions will make these institutions function as expected of them.
Speaking during the commissioning of a 430-kilometre natural gas pipeline by Genser Energy, in Kumasi on Wednesday, April 17, he said “It’s about time that the government realizes that it’s not going to work for the government to be involved in setting up companies without involving the private sector, it doesn’t work. The government should confront policies and involve the private sector and you can attract more investors into the country which will create more employment.
“VRA and others are all government establishments, let’s give it out and diversify them into the private sector and get more money there and get the right people to do it. GRIDCo and others let’s give them the money and get the qualified people, diverse government from it and let them work. Electricity Company is in a situation where we don’t know, but that also must be diversified and given to the private sector.
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“Why are we still holding on when we don’t have the money? We’re not able to collect all the taxes we want, we’re going to IMF and all those for money. We’re hanging onto industries we cannot maintain and run.”
He added “It’s about time we face reality and decide on what government should be doing and what the private sector should be doing. This is a testimony of the private sector, and they were able to attract investors.”
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Wednesday, April 17, Nana Amoasi VII, said “The eminent King has spoken and I think he has spoken wisdom where we find ourselves today we are struggling in the energy sector as a whole, what we need to do is investments.
“Yes we have that challenge at our hands, we have also proven that we are quite inefficient when it comes to managing our own assets and utilities. It is for that reason that the PDS was introduced as as to bring to the fore some private funding as well as competence, unfortunately, we mismanaged the process but it doesn’t bar us from starting again.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with putting ECG in the hands of a private entity., we support.”
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