Source: Africa Publicity
A comprehensive 2024 audit of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has uncovered a staggering GH¢5.3 billion revenue discrepancy. The audit revealed that ECG continued to under-declare revenues to the regulator, with its accounts showing a collection of GH¢15.8 billion, while it declared only GH¢10.4 billion.
The report noted that despite the significant under-declaration of revenues, ECG still failed to pay value chain players properly, based on its declared revenues and the cash waterfall mechanism. Out of the GH¢10.4 billion declared, ECG paid only GH¢6.5 billion, leaving a variance of GH¢3.9 billion.
Furthermore, the report revealed that a vendor contracted by ECG to collect revenues on its behalf received a staggering GH¢402 million in commissions. This amount is nearly as much as the Volta River Authority (VRA) received, which was GH¢412 million, and significantly more than Bui Power, which received GH¢323 million. Notably, this vendor was paid before the entities responsible for power generation.
The audit also raised concerns over ECG’s financial management, as it maintained 99 bank accounts across 19 banks in 2024, despite the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions mandating a single collection account. However, the report noted that 78% of ECG’s revenue collections were funnelled into a single account.
The revelations in the PwC report are likely to raise questions over ECG’s financial management and transparency, and may prompt calls for further investigation and reform.
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