By: Godfred Amoaful
Ghana Water Company (GWL), has been identified as one state-owned entity that incurred massive losses between 2019 and 2023.
According to the State Interest and Governance Authority’s 2023 State Ownership Report, GWL made an average loss of 845.6 million cedis within the four-year period.
During an Editors Forum in Accra, Director General of SIGA, John Boadu, attributed the losses to the company’s provision of potable water services to Ghanaians without recouping the benefits, highlighting the challenges of balancing social responsibility with financial sustainability.
Mr. Boadu stressed that this was discovered through SIGA’s efforts to ensure that State-Owned enterprises (SOEs) submit their operations for audit assistance, promoting transparency and accountability.
The State Interests and Governance Authority established through an Act of Parliament in 2019, ACT 990, oversees and administers the operations of state-owned enterprises, SOEs. Its mandate also includes monitoring and evaluation, promoting proper governance, risk management, and compliance.
At the media briefing in Accra, SIGA highlighted its significant contributions to the country’s GDP, emphasising an increase in its contribution to the GDP from 10 billion cedis in 2020 to 58 point 27 billion cedis in 2022.
SIGA has also expanded its performance contracts from nine entities before 2016 to 73 entities in 2023, aiming to reach 79 by year-end.
The 2023 State Ownership Report, SOR, the eighth in the sequence and third since SIGA took responsibility, covers 147 out of 175 State Entities on SIGA’s Entity Register, representing 84 percent.
The report includes 53 State-Owned Enterprises, 31 Joint Venture Companies, and 63 Other State Entities.
Notably, Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company, GNPA Limited, Tema Oil Refinery, and Ghana Water Company all incurred consistent losses, while Bui Power Authority, ESLA Plc, Ghana National Gas Company, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, State Housing Company, and TDC made consistent profits between 2019 and 2023.
The Director General of SIGA, John Boadu, attributed the losses partly to the 30 percent depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar and the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme implementation in 2022.
He, however, assured that SIGA will continue working with these entities to minimise losses.
SIGA also announced plans to commemorate its fifth anniversary, outlining activities to mark the occasion.
