The Board of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has said it has approved an extension of time to allow the stakeholders and parties in the private participation of the Electricity of Ghana (ECG) to conclude their consultations and finalise work on some critical aspects of the Transaction towards a smooth transfer.
They are the government, the ECG and Messrs Power Distribution Services (PDS).
In a statement copied to the Goldstreet Business, MiDA said it would, however, announce a new date for the transfer in a few weeks.
MiDA, in early January, announced that the handing-over of ECG to PDS, under the Private Sector Participation of the Power Compact II Agreement, would come off on Friday, February 1.
“MiDA wishes to assure Ghanaians that it will continue to adhere to, and uphold high standards of transparency throughout the process. MiDA will announce a new Transfer Date in early February,” the statement said.
It said, however, that at a Special Meeting, on Thursday 31st January 2019, its Board of Directors acknowledged the significant progress made by all the Stakeholders involved in the Transaction towards meeting the various Conditions Precedent to the transfer of the Assets and Operations of the ECG to PDS Ghana Ltd”.
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 dollars into the ECG. Ghana signed the Power Compact with the United States of America acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC on August 5, 2014.
Under the Power Compact, six projects are being implemented to address the root causes of the unavailability and unreliability of power in Ghana.
The project include 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.
