President-Elect John Dramani Mahama has expressed grave concern over the state of Ghana’s energy sector, warning that it requires “urgent surgery” to prevent a total collapse.
According to Mahama, the sector has been severely mismanaged, with several critical upstream players driven out of the country,
leading to a significant decline in gas production and an increase in the cost of electricity production.
Mahama highlighted the departure of key players such as ExxonMobil and the Hess field (now ACA), which has been left redundant for years.
He also mentioned the difficulties faced by Tullow Oil, which has made new discoveries but still faces challenges due to attacks and unresolved disputes.
These issues have led to reduced gas production, forcing the country to rely more on expensive light crude oil for electricity generation.
“The energy sector needs urgent surgery, otherwise, it can collapse everything,” Mahama said, criticizing the government’s failure to pay Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for their work, which has led to a ballooning debt.
He pointed out that this debt, currently standing at $2.5 billion, threatens to destabilize the economy if not addressed swiftly.
“When the Minister of Finance says the economy is standing around, you have a $2.5 billion debt, your bailout is only $3 billion,” Mahama explained.
“That alone can crash everything that has been done.”
#ElectionHub: The Energy sector needs urgent surgery before it collapses everything… – John Mahama#GHOneTV #EIBNetwork #GHOneNews #NPP #NDC #CAFShouldPaySpiky pic.twitter.com/zjeV0RFpJT
— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) December 19, 2024
