President John Dramani Mahama has announced significant progress in resolving Ghana’s long-standing power sector debt, revealing that the government has restructured and begun clearing a US$1.7 billion legacy obligation owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
According to him, the debt overhang—denominated in dollars—posed a major challenge to the stability of the energy sector when his administration assumed office.
“When we came into office, we had a debt overhang of about US$1.7 billion owed to the independent power producers,” he said on Day Two of the Kwahu Business Forum on Saturday, April 4, 2026.
He explained that the government engaged the IPPs in negotiations and secured a reduction in the debt burden through agreed concessions.
“Since Ghanaians were all taking haircuts from the debt restructuring, we told them they also must take haircuts… and they agreed… it amounted to about twenty percent of what was owed,” he said.
President Mahama noted that a structured repayment plan was subsequently agreed upon, including upfront payments and scheduled disbursements.
“If they signed on to it, we gave them an immediate down payment, and we gave them the dates for the subsequent payment,” he added.
Beyond addressing legacy debt, the President highlighted what he described as the most critical development—the government’s ability to meet its current financial obligations to power producers.
“The best announcement is, we are keeping up with their present-day bills… any bill they submit every month, we pay them for the electricity they produce,” he emphasised.
He said this marks a turning point in restoring confidence in the power sector and ensuring sustained electricity generation.
The progress in debt restructuring and payment discipline is expected to ease financial pressures on power producers and contribute to greater stability in Ghana’s energy supply chain.
