VRA, GRIDCo to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange

Europa

February 21, 2017 12:57 PM

The president, Nana Akufo-Addo made this known when he delivered his maiden State of the Nations Address on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, February 21, 2017.

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The government has announced that it is considering listing state power producer Volta River Authority (VRA) and power transmitter Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to enable it to fix the energy sector and clear its “heavy indebtedness”.

He said his government has begun to develop a national electricity master plan, which will also explore the benefits of listing VRA and GRIDCO on the Stock Exchange.

The president added that “The attempts by the previous government to resolve the dumsor crisis have led to a gargantuan debt overhang in the sector.”

“We have inherited a heavily indebted energy sector, with the net debt reaching $2.4 billion as of December 2016,” the president said, adding: “I have to point out the alarming fact that $800 million of this debt is owed to local banks, which threatens their stability.”

“Huge indebtedness of the energy sector constitutes the single major hurdle to Ghanaians enjoying reliable and affordable electricity supply

“The cost of energy destroys businesses large and small. It destroys jobs. It compounds poverty. The current state of the energy situation in our country is unsatisfactory,” he said.

“My government will enforce the procurement law. We will insist on open and competitive bidding for power capacity procurement,” he said.

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