IES Executive Director Urges Investigation into PDS-ECG Deal to Uncover Reasons for Failure
Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director of the Institute of Energy Studies (IES), has called for a comprehensive investigation into the botched Power Distribution Services (PDS) concession deal, emphasizing its impact on Ghana’s electricity distribution challenges.
Speaking on TV3’s NewDay program on November 19, 2024, Nana Amoasi VII noted that the PDS-ECG arrangement, though flawed, represented a missed opportunity to address key inefficiencies in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
“We need to bring PDS back, but then we have to interrogate the processes leading up to the PDS-ECG concessionary agreements and why the deal was botched,” he remarked.
Highlighting the lack of transparency and interference during the agreement’s execution, he described the deal’s collapse as a significant setback, particularly in tackling ECG’s technical losses, which currently stand at 17%.
Nana Amoasi VII called for the investigation to extend beyond uncovering flaws to identify ways of re-engaging donors and private sector partners to support distribution system improvements.
“If we don’t fix the distribution bits of our energy sector, we will continue experiencing financial and operational losses,” he cautioned.
The Executive Director also underscored the importance of long-term investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, competitive procurement processes, and addressing inefficiencies in the “cash water system.”
He emphasized the need for transparent contracting mechanisms and tackling both technical and commercial leakages to stabilize the power sector.
The PDS deal, signed in March 2019 as a 25-year concession to manage ECG operations, was terminated in October 2019 following allegations of fraud and procedural violations.
Nana Amoasi VII noted that addressing the underlying issues that led to the deal’s failure would restore confidence in the sector and pave the way for reliable energy distribution in Ghana.
