Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Marfo has stated that government intends to establish a single entity to oversee the activities of State Owned Enterprise (SOEs) by the end of this year
Speaking on behalf of President Nana Akufo-Addo at the signing of the 2018 Performance Contracts between SOE’s and the Government of Ghana, he said the entity is expected to absorb all functions currently exercised by the Ministry of Finance, State Enterprise Commission, SEC, and other government institutions as far as SOEs are concerned.
Currently, multiple institutions including the ministry, SEC and sector ministries perform oversight functions in the SOE sector.
Osafo-Maafo said, “This fragmentation in the government’s ownership structure coupled with the absence of a clearly defined ownership framework has limited government’s ability to effectively oversee the SOEs.”
The insufficient harmonization in the way government manages SOEs has had adverse implications on their performance, he added.
The single entity will also undertake corporate governance reforms in all the SOEs, reforms that are being piloted in five key SOEs such as Electricity Company Of Ghana, ECG; Volta River Authority, VRA; Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GNPC; Ghana Water Company Limited, GWC; and TDC Company.
The single entity would be equipped with the requisite powers and capacity to coordinate the implementation of individual corporate governance action plans for the SOEs.
The Ministry of Finance has already started work on the corporate governance agenda, including securing cabinet approval for the implementation of selected governance improvements.
Osafo-Marfo said, “the current state of our SOEs calls for actions, bold and swift, to create jobs and lay a new foundation for growth.”
By Joshua W. Amlanu
