Ghana’s Energy and Green Transition Minister, Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor, has revealed that sweeping reforms in the country’s energy sector have led to the clearance of about $1.47 billion in legacy debt, alongside substantial cost savings for the nation.
The announcement came during a press briefing on Thursday, August 20, where Dr. Jinapor detailed recent achievements and ongoing efforts to stabilize the sector.
According to the Minister, one of the most impactful measures has been the government’s shift from expensive liquid fuels to natural gas, a move that has saved Ghana approximately $500 million. Dr. Jinapor also highlighted improvements to the cash waterfall mechanism, which have resulted in significantly better payment flows to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
“Before we came to office, just about 6 billion was declared monthly into the Cash Waterfall. IPPs were receiving just about 42%. Because of the work we did together and the policy reforms that we implemented, today we declare close to about 15 billion every month into the Cash Waterfall mechanism and almost all the IPPs receive about 100% of the invoice bills,” he explained.
Further renegotiations with IPPs have delivered an additional $250 million in savings, Dr. Jinapor noted. He added that when the current administration took office, the outstanding bill for the energy sector was about GH¢80 billion, but significant progress has since been made in reducing arrears and enhancing financial sustainability.
“These reforms are part of our broader efforts to stabilize Ghana’s energy sector, improve financial sustainability, and reduce the cost of power generation,” Dr. Jinapor concluded, underscoring the government’s commitment to long-term sectoral health and economic growth.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com