The Controller and Accountant General’s Department says Ghana’s balance sheet on its national account is “looking good”.  

Dr Mac-Effort Adadey, Director of National Accounts, Controller and Accountant General’s Department, said the good outlook followed the consolidation of the accounts and assets of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Specified Entities (SEs). 

The Director, who said this at the 2^nd State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) Editors’ Forum, on Tuesday, commended SIGA for championing the initiative. 

He said it saw significant growth in the country’s GDP in the last three years, with SOEs and SEs making ‘decent’ contributions. 

Dr Adadey said for instance in 2020, 19 SOEs and SEs contributed three per cent to the country’s GDP. 

In 2021, 48 SOEs and SEs contributed six per cent to the country's GDP, with 62 SOEs and SEs contributing 10 per cent in 2022. 

The Director said with assets, 19 SOEs and SEs contributed 30.74 per cent to Government’s assets in 2020, 48 contributed 49.14 in 2021, with 62 contributing 76.4 in 2022. 

Dr Adadey said a good balance sheet would give the country a sound foundation to relate to the external world for cheaper loans, saying “the true picture is coming out”. 

He encouraged all stakeholders, especially SOEs and SEs to comply with the Public Finance Management Acts and Regulations for accelerated growth. 

Mr Edward Boateng, the Director-General of SIGA, said many SOEs had moved from non-performing to doing better. 

He said the target was to get all 87 SOEs and SEs to become the net contributor to GDP and that SIGA was working towards transforming them into global brands so they could contribute meaningfully to national development. 

The Director-General said that would be achieved by leveraging technology and human resource development to make public service attractive to smart young graduates. 

Mr Boateng said the transformation was work in progress and that more SEs were signing performance contracts, with improvement in financial reporting and compliance. 

He also noted that year-on-year dividend receipt had gone up from GHC103,973,900.00 in 2019 to GHC 475,022,312.91 in 2022. 

Last week, SIGA organised its flagship Public Enterprise League Table (PELT) Awards to celebrate well performing SOEs and SEs. 

The Awards is a technical scheme that ranks Specified Entities based on the evaluation of the Annual Performance Contract they sign with the Government represented by SIGA.  It is to improve efficiency in corporate governance and value addition by fostering healthy competition among the SEs.