Energy Minister-designate John Jinapor has revealed that Ghana's energy sector debt has surged to $3 billion, citing ineffective management and increasing interest on existing liabilities.

During his vetting before Parliament's Appointments Committee on Monday, January 13, Mr. Jinapor provided a detailed account of the sector's financial challenges. He noted that as of August 31, 2017, the total energy sector liability was GH₵9.4 billion, which, based on an exchange rate of 4.4, amounted to $2.1 billion.

“When we were 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. I refer to page 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,” he stated.

He dismissed claims that the debt had reached $5 billion, emphasizing that official public records validated by Parliament confirmed the debt stood at $2.1 billion at the time.

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

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

He also referenced the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), which had generated approximately GH₵45 billion over the years. He noted that while these funds had been used to service parts of both the principal and interest on the debt, they remained insufficient to curb the sector's rising liabilities.