Resident Country Director for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Mr. Kenneth Miller has said Ghana stands the risk losing over US$100 million if it fails to meet the deadline for undertaking various projects required under the Power Compact Two program.
Miller, in an interview with Goldstreet Business explained that Ghana currently has about three years between now and September 6, 2021 to make use of the funds under the program as negotiated between the governments of the United States and Ghana.
“At the end of the full five years of the Compact, anything that has not been billed for at the point in time will not be paid for by our funding.
“The expenditure that we have today has mostly been around feasibility studies, design work and lots of preparatory work. We have not yet broken any grounds on sites and that will happen over the next 12 months,” he added.
He maintained that he does not wish for the country to lose the funds, because they are expected to enhance and build local infrastructure and create jobs to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
Miller however said the implementation of the programs under the Compact Two program have been behind schedule and called on stakeholders to quickly expedite action.
Currently, Ghana has a 20-year concession of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), as ratified by Parliament and under the agreement, ECG’s assets have been handed over to a private operator to handle its power distribution services.
The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), earlier this year selected Meralco Consortium of the Philippines, to manage the ECG under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) of the Power Compact Two agreement.
The MCC, through a US$498 million fund is helping Ghana transform the power sector through private sector participation, key policy and institutional reforms that will provide more reliable and affordable power to Ghanaian businesses and households.
MCC has so far, granted access to the first allocation of the compact funds to the tune of US$308.2 million.
Ghana is to receive the second allocation of US$190 million from the U.S through the MCC after government met all the required conditions to access the funds.
This follows a letter submitted, September 6, 2018 by Christopher Lamora, the Acting U.S Ambassador to Ghana, acknowledging achievement of the first Compact milestone.