The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified inefficiencies within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as the primary hurdle facing Ghana’s energy sector, warning that the situation threatens broader economic stability.

IMF Mission Chief for Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, underscored the Fund’s concern about the sector’s persistent financial weaknesses, particularly the revenue gap between ECG’s collections and the actual cost of electricity production.

He emphasized that addressing these issues remains central to the IMF-supported economic reform program currently underway.

“We knew from the beginning of the program that there were challenges related to the energy sector. The main challenge is that you have a large difference between what ECG can collect in terms of bills and the costs that are generated in the sector—that’s what we refer to as the energy sector shortfall,” Roudet told Ghanaian journalists at the just-ended IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

The IMF’s comments echo Ghana’s Finance Minister’s own assessment of the energy sector as the most significant threat to the country’s economic progress. Roudet welcomed the government’s ongoing commitment to reforms, expressing confidence in its resolve to meet key program targets.

More than a month prior, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson held discussions with the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor. The meeting, which took place on Wednesday, March 12, sought to strengthen cooperation between the two ministries in tackling long-standing energy sector problems.