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Ghana’s power producers suspend planned electricity shutdown

Published

1 year ago

July 1, 2023

The planned power shutdown by Ghana’s independent power producers has been suspended.

The body made the announcement in a statement released late Friday and revealed that it had reached an agreement with state-run Electricity Company of Ghana over discrepancies on arrears.

According to the statement, interim payments have been made to power producers with the understanding that the government and Ghana’s Electricity Company will use the grace period to try to find a long-term solution to the debt problem.

In May, the producers turned down a government proposal to restructure $1.58 billion in arrears owed to them by the state as part of the West African country’s efforts to put into effect a $3 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Ghana is currently going through financial stress and has defaulted on both its local and international debt with its creditors, mainly China, the World Bank, and the IMF, and has in recent years been occupied with restructuring its debt.

Elsewhere in the continent, there has also been discord between government and electricity workers. Recently in South Africa, staff of state utility company, Eskom rejected revised salary of 4.5% from the original offer of 3.75% and demanded increase between 12% and 15%.

In Nigeria, Ghana’s sub-regional neighbours, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has continuously threatened to shut down the national grid over demands relating to power generation and remuneration.

Related Topics:electricity Featured Ghana

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

5 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.