President Nana Akufo-Addo has charged the newly sworn-in Board of the Millennium Development Authority to advise government appropriately on the way forward in the issue of the intended concession of the Electricity Company Ghana under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Power Compact II.
The advice of the Board would determine government’s next line of action, he said, adding that the board should ensure that the Power Compact II was completed within schedule.
The President on Monday swore in the 11 member board headed by Professor Yaa Ntiamoah Badu at the Flagstaff House.
At the ceremony, he said “there is a major task before you which is to help resolve the future of the critical part of this compact; which is the private sector solution to the development of the electricity corporation of Ghana which is on the table.”
“We believe it is necessary for us to have a look at what is on the table and make sure the very challenges that there are to the progress of the compact involve in the Electricity Corporation’s role and the manner of its law are resolved.”
“Government has already started doing so. Some of the key people who are involved in that are also members of your board and hopefully, the government’s take on how we go forward will be out and our interest is making sure that this compact is implemented successfully so that the people of Ghana would benefit from it,” President Akufo-Addo added.
Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation of the US government signed the second Compact worth $498 million in October 2016.
The agreement brought to total $1.4 billion received by the government to be injected into the country’s energy sector geared towards making the ECG more efficient.
Some staff of ECG expressed fears they would be laid off amidst rumours of the privatisation of the company, but the MCC has insisted that the company will not be privatised but be strengthened to work more efficiently.
Under the Power Compact, six projects will be implemented to address the unavailability and unreliability of power in Ghana
The project includes ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project, and Access Project.
The rest are Power Generation Sector Improvement Project and Energy Efficiency, and Demand Side Management Project,.
The Government of Ghana signed the Ghana Power Compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington on August 5, 2014.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
