Energy Minister-designate John Jinapor reveals Ghana’s energy sector debt has soared to $3 billion, urging effective debt management strategies.
The debt in Ghana’s energy sector has soared to US$3 billion, according to Energy Minister-designate John Jinapor.
The minister hinted at the alarming growth in the sector’s liabilities, attributing the rise to ineffective management and mounting interest in the existing debt during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, January 13.
“When we’re leaving office, the debt stock consolidated was close to US$2 billion. Fortunately, I have a document summary of energy sector debts and lenders through August 31, 2017. The ESLA PLC got a full audit of the entire energy sector debts,” he stated.
Citing specifics, Mr. Jinapor said the total energy sector liability at the time was GH₵9.4 billion. They themselves use an exchange rate of 4.4. If you use this exchange rate of 4.4, the debt had then moved to US$2.1 billion. So, let me put on record that as at this time when the debt was validated, the debt was US$2.1 billion.”
He dismissed assertions that the debt had reached US$5 billion, clarifying that official public records, validated by Parliament, pegged the figure at US$2.1 billion during that period.
Mr. Jinapor, who chaired the energy subcommittee of the transition team, disclosed that as of September 30, 2024, the debt had risen to US$2.5 billion. A subsequent reconciliation meeting with the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Commission, and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) confirmed a further escalation to US$3 billion.
“As we speak today, the reconciled figure from official sources is US$3 billion,” he affirmed.
The Minister-designate also referenced the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), which has generated approximately GH₵45 billion over the years.
While acknowledging that these funds have been used to service parts of the principal and interest on the sector’s debt, he noted that they remain insufficient to tackle the growing liabilities.
Last Updated on March 16, 2025 by samboad
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