President John Dramani Mahama has declared that Ghana is no longer experiencing power outages, popularly known as dumsor, attributing the improved electricity supply to efforts by his government to address outstanding debts in the energy sector.
He said the government had settled its outstanding debt to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and was now making payments for electricity supplied as they fall due.
“With regards to energy, there’s no, I can report there’s no dumsor in Ghana. Everybody has adequate power,” President Mahama stated.
He made the remarks during a meeting with members of the Ghanaian diaspora in Russia on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow.
President Mahama explained that his administration inherited approximately US$1.7 billion in debt owed to IPPs when it assumed office, with some power producers threatening to suspend electricity supply over the unpaid obligations.
He said the government also had outstanding payments for gas supplied from the Jubilee Field and by ENI, adding to the financial difficulties confronting the energy sector.
“When we came, we owed all the IPPs, and they were threatening to shut off power. Because the IPP debt was about 1.7 billion dollars and then apart from that, we have consumed gas from Jubilee Field, from ENI and had not paid for it, we owed for gas supplied,” he said.
According to the President, his government made clearing the outstanding obligations a priority to restore confidence among power producers and ensure the continued generation of electricity.
He announced that the IPP debt had been cleared, adding that the government was now current on payments for electricity supplied.
“I’m happy to announce that we have cleared the IPP debt. That is, we are current; any energy they supply today, we are paying them,” he said.
President Mahama further disclosed that the government had introduced a payment arrangement to address the outstanding obligations, involving an initial down payment and subsequent payments as they fall due.
He said the arrangement had helped resolve concerns among the power producers, who were now satisfied with the government’s payment commitments.
“And every payment that is due them on due date we pay them and so the IPP are satisfied,” he added.
The President’s comments come amid longstanding concerns over the financial challenges facing Ghana’s energy sector, particularly the debts owed to power producers and fuel suppliers.
The government has maintained that addressing these obligations is critical to sustaining electricity generation and preventing disruptions in power supply.
