Energy Expert and Chief Executive Officer for Center for Environmental Management and Sustainable Energy, Benjamin Nsiah has welcomed the proposed decision by government to introduce private sector participation into the energy value chain.
According to him, the energy sector has greater potentials for foreign direct investment hence his endorsement.
It follows an announcement by the Majority Leader and leader of government business that government intends to introduce a bill to see revitalization of the energy sector.
In an interview with myxyzonline.com, Benjamin Nsiah while welcoming the move also cautioned against transactional diligence which resulted in the Power Distribution Services (PDS) scandal under the erstwhile NPP administration.
“We need to look at how to de-risk the whole procedure and process, especially with respect to private sector participants. PDS didn’t go through because of the risk factor of participants in terms of providing certain guarantees. Those guarantees fell short of the requirements of the promoters of the private sector participation needed’’ he stated
He cautioned that in future agreement, due diligence must be followed to avert any loss to the state.
If government want to relook at private sector participation, it has to ensure the that the transaction advisor lays down the necessary requirements with respect to the capacity of the private sector and also the experience of the private sector in terms of providing the needed liquidity and all the guarantees, especially bank guarantee or insurance guarantee which will cover the whole deal” he cautioned.
Benjamin Nsiah is particularly worried about the capacity of such transaction advisors and the overall roll out of the participation.
“I think it is very important to focus on the capacity of such advisors. capacity in terms of technology, liquidity or financial, human resource as well as the experience to be able to do the activity and also the function of our supply value chain” he stressed.
Benjamin Nsiah who also commented on plans to merge the energy commission and the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) retorted that government must be circumspect so as not to leave workers retrenched.
It follows concerns by the Public Services Workers’ Union (PSWU) of TUC (Ghana) that discussions on the restructuring may be progressing without adequate consultation with affected workers, and the move can lead to redundancies.
“I believe that the best option for government in this merger is that some of the workers will go to other institutions where capacities or maybe their knowledge or experience are needed. Unlike private sector participation where the private sector will undertake a total retrenchment because of cost measures, I think government is a social enterprise and that’s where we draw the lines’’ Mr. Nsiah emphasized.
Source: myxyzonline.com
