Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, has sounded a stark warning about the deteriorating financial condition of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), describing the scale of its losses as far more severe than previously recognized.
In a yet-to-be-aired episode of The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV, Ambassador Palmer disclosed that ECG’s escalating financial troubles pose a serious threat to Ghana’s economic stability and demand urgent reform.
“The ECG is bleeding the public purse, and it’s bleeding more than we thought,” she said, referencing Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson’s recent remarks at the Economic Dialogue. Forson had revealed that ECG is losing approximately $2.2 million annually—a figure comparable to the budgetary size of Ghana’s ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
Ambassador Palmer cited both technical inefficiencies and commercial mismanagement—including poor infrastructure and weak revenue collection—as root causes of ECG’s deepening crisis. She warned that these persistent losses are not only derailing progress in the power sector but also straining the nation’s broader fiscal outlook.
Her comments reinforce growing calls for major reforms in Ghana’s energy sector. As she prepares to exit her post, Palmer urged for greater transparency, accountability, and performance-driven leadership to restore ECG’s financial health and safeguard the country’s energy future.
Source; mynewsgh
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