A war of words has erupted between former Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, and Finance Minister, Ato Forson, over the financial health of Ghana’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Apexnewsgh reports
Speaking at the National Economic Dialogue, Dr. Forson claimed that most SOEs are struggling financially, with “almost all state-owned enterprises” in the red.
However, Joseph Cudjoe has debunked Dr. Forson’s claims as “lies.” According to Cudjoe, out of 53 SOEs, 39 reported profits in 2023, while five improved their performance by reducing losses. He questioned why Dr. Forson would claim that most SOEs are in the red when, in fact, most of them were not even preparing accounts during the previous administration.
Cudjoe explained that Ghana has 175 public enterprises on its assets register, comprising 53 State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which are commercial entities expected to make a profit; 75 Other States Entities (OSEs), which are regulators like the Food and Drugs Authority and the Petroleum Commission; and 47 Joint Venture Companies (JVCs), which are co-shared commercial investments with private investors.
He urged Dr. Forson to stop peddling lies and instead acknowledge that only a few SOEs are struggling. Cudjoe noted that there is an ongoing program to bring these troublesome SOEs, including TOR, COCOBOD, and ECG, to profitability.
Below is the full statement:
THE FINANCE MINISTER LIED THAT MOST SOEs ARE IN RED:
Joseph Cudjoe Replies
There are 53 SOEs. 39 reported profits in 2023, per their audited accounts. 5 improved in performance from 2022 to 2023 by reducing losses. Why would the Finance Minister have the guts to say MOST of the SOEs were in red? Meanwhile, during their time, most of these SOEs were not even preparing accounts at all.
It is worth noting that Ghana has 175 public enterprises on its assets register. 53 are State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) which are commercial per their mandates), 75 Other States Entities (OSEs). These are regulators like Food and Drugs Authority, Petroleum Commission, National Petroleum Authority, GPHA, DVLA, GRA, etc. These 75 OSEs are distinct from the 53 SOEs which are expected to make profit.
Finally, there are 47 Joint Venture Companies (JVCs), which are co-shared commercial investments by government with private investors. Examples include GOIl, GCB Bank, SIC Insurance, Newmont, Goldfields, etc, etc. This category is largely profitable
States Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), an initiative by Akufo Addo’s government, has been responsible for bringing all these 175 public investments into a sharp focus so that their performances can be constantly monitored. Today, we have data to use to manage these enterprises and their performances are even ranked in a Public Enterprises League Table (PELT).
The Finance Minister should note that there is an ongoing program to bring the troublesome SOEs to profitability. These troublesome ones include TOR, COCOBOD, ECG, Ghana Water, PBC, etc. The current Finance minister should stop peddling lies that “most” are in red because it’s rather few that are in red. Most rather prepared accounts got them audited and they reported profits in 2023.
There has been constant performance improvements in these public enterprises since 2017 as opposed to the period before 2017 when companies like BOST (notorious for contaminated fuels during NDC’s time) and Ghana Publishing Company Limited were not even preparing accounts at all.
Hon Joseph Cudjoe
Fmr Minister, Public Enterprises
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
