The Finance Minister has singled out the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) as the two most struggling state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
In his remarks, he said some of the SOEs are posing significant fiscal risk to the economy, and the two most threatening and most worrisome are the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
He was speaking at a meeting held to review the performance of SOEs on Thursday, March 13, 2025.
To reverse this trend, he said, We must implement a bold turnaround strategy that transforms lost SOEs into financially viable self-sustained institutions. The strategy will include capacity-building initiatives to strengthen leadership and operational efficiency. The second would be the enhancement of corporate governance training to ensure strict regulatory compliance in all SOEs. The third is financial discipline and strategic decision-making to restore profitability.
‘’Mr. President, the Public Financial Management Act, Act 2016, (Act 921) outlines a clear financial management and reporting requirement for all SOEs. Section 95 of the Act mandates that SOEs must prepare annual accounts not later than two months at the end of each financial year. SOEs must submit audited financial statements to the Minister within four months after the end of their financial year. Moving forward, the Ministry of Finance will be working closely with SIGA to ensure strict compliance with this regulatory requirement.’’
He concluded by admonishing the leaders of the SOEs to buy into the vision of President John Dramani Mahama, the vision to restore hope, a vision to work in transparency, and the determination to do good to the people of the Republic of Ghana.
2025 Budget
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, on March 11, 2025, told Parliament during the 2025 budget presentation that the cocoa sector is collapsing.He informed the House that “COCOBOD’s outstanding debt stands at 32 billion cedis.”
“The cocoa sector is sadly on its knees, with unsustainable debts. Cocoa production had dropped nearly by 50 percent over the past three years.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
