Ghana wants to reduce the $2.5 billion in debt it owes to power producers within a year

John Dramani Mahama, the president of Ghana, said that the country should be able reduce its $2.5 billion debt to independent gas and power producers by the end the year.

As part of its efforts to reduce its debt, the West African nation reached an agreement last year with independent power producers for a restructure of a legacy debt of approximately $1 billion.

Since Mahama's second term as President in January, Ghana has continued to face challenges due to arrears owed to service providers.

Mahama said at a forum held in Ivory Coast: "I am sure that by next year our partners will be satisfied because we have taken the necessary steps to reduce the debt burden."

He claimed that the state-owned utility ECG, which is inefficient at collecting revenue, was suffering losses of around 40%. Mahama announced that he would bring the private sector to the billing process in order to be able pay for electricity.

"People are waiting in line, I told them to wait." Mahama replied, "We're going do expressions-of-interest." When asked about private investor interest.

He said that the cabinet would decide whether Ghana will have multiple or one partner working on billing. Local participation was also required.

Mahama said that companies should also take advantage of the oil and gas extraction, before the world switches to renewable energy.

"Oil in transition, so everyone who has assets should pump like there is no tomorrow." He said he would give a red carpet welcome to anyone who wanted to drill or pump oil. Maxwell Adombila, Anait Miridzhanian and Robbie Corey Boulet edited the article.

(source: Reuters)