Stakeholders’ view on propose privatization of electricity supply sector of Ghana on customers in the lower income bracket

Abstract

A reliable supply of electricity is fundamental to a well-function economy. However, the increasing national demand for every energy in Ghana is far more than the supply resulting in load shedding of power. There are issues with underpricing, subsidizing, overstaffing, and inadequate maintenance of equipment especially with the distribution function by Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). These problems are attributed to the natural monopoly of the company, hence, the call by the Ghanaian public and stakeholders for government to privatize ECG and solve the crisis “dumsor”. In principle the study examined the current electricity policies and also the needs to be addressed or modernize these policies in order to help accelerate economic growth if there is a need for private ownership, A random sampling method was used to gathering primary data, by administering semi –structured questionnaires to 440 voluntary participants. The key findings was analyzed using 5 point Likert scale model with a bench (BM) of 3.5. The result was used to either accept or reject a test hypothesis for the research questions. The test concluded that, majority of Ghanaians strongly agreed to the privatization of ECG to help improve service delivery, accessibility, pricing subsidies, and high network losses, new technologies and solution which will ensure effective maintenance of their network infrastructural development and service delivery. However, the research recommended that Government must be decisive whether to go for full privatization or Private participation when planning to privatize the electricity sector. ECG privatization requires holistically analysis with stakeholders” Involvement and define whether partial of full privatization is the best appropriate option.