The energy sector debt has surged to $3 billion, according to Energy Minister-designate, John Jinapor.

Speaking during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, January 13, he highlighted the alarming rise in the sector’s liabilities, which he attributed to ineffective management and the ballooning interest on existing debt.

“When we're leaving office, the debt stock consolidated was close to 2 billion. Fortunately, I have a document summary of energy sector debts and lenders through August 31, 2017, the ESLA PLC got a full audit of the entire energy sector debts.

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"I refer to the 17 of the document. The total energy sector liability at the time was GH₵9.4 billion, they themselves use an exchange rate of 4.4, if you use this exchange rate of 4.4, the debt had then moved to $2.1 billion. So let me put on record that as at this time when the debt was validated, the debt was $ 2.1 billion,” Mr Jinapor stated.

He dismissed claims that the debt was as high as $5 billion, noting that the official public record, validated by Parliament, pegged the debt at $2.1 billion as of that time.

Mr Jinapor, who chaired the energy subcommittee of the transition team, revealed that as of September 30, 2024, the debt had risen to $2.5 billion, adding that a subsequent reconciliation meeting with the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Commission, and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) confirmed that the debt had further escalated to $3 billion.

“As we speak today, the reconciled figure from official sources is $3 billion,” he stated.

He also referenced the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), which had raised approximately GH₵ 45 billion over the years.

He noted that while these funds had been used to service part of the principal and interest of the sector’s debt, they were insufficient to address the growing liabilities.