Dubik Mahama: ECG Was Sidelined in Ghana’s Revenue Talks for Years

Former Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has opened up about long-standing revenue stagnation and operational inefficiencies that plagued the power distributor for years.

Speaking during the JoyNews National Dialogue on Thursday, April 10, Mahama revealed that ECG was historically sidelined in national revenue planning due to its inability to grow financially. “For years, ECG’s revenue was flatlined — always between GH¢450 million and GH¢500 million,” he said. “No utility company’s revenue should be that stagnant. ECG was never at the revenue table.”

Mahama noted that despite the stagnation, during his tenure as Managing Director beginning in May 2022, ECG’s revenue shot up to GH¢1.5 billion — a significant milestone that reflected efforts to improve operational efficiency.

He explained that ECG’s financial struggles were not entirely new to him, having served on the company’s board.

However, he admitted that managing the day-to-day affairs of the company exposed him to the severity of its challenges.

“When I got into the MD’s chair, the reality hit differently,” Mahama said. “There were over 700 electrical infrastructure projects left hanging, 100 in civil works, and only 12 in customer service. That told me everything — we were focusing on infrastructure without building the systems that bring in the money.”

He criticised the company’s long-standing neglect of customer engagement, saying ECG had failed to adopt the modern tools needed to thrive in the 21st century.

“You cannot run a utility business in today’s world without a functioning customer interface system. I told the board that we needed to rebrand and restructure our engagement strategy,” he said.

Mahama also linked ECG’s troubles to earlier government policy decisions.

He reiterated his earlier assertion that the company received virtually no investment during President Akufo-Addo’s first term due to a focus on privatisation through the failed Power Distribution Services (PDS) deal. That deal collapsed after just eight months, leaving ECG in limbo before returning to full state control in the lead-up to the 2020 elections.

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