John Dramani Mahama is the President of the Republic of Ghana
President John Dramani Mahama has shed light on his administration’s efforts to ease the financial burden on Ghana’s energy sector, revealing progress in restructuring and settling a $1.7 billion debt owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Speaking on the second day of the Kwahu Business Forum on Saturday, April 4, 2026, the president acknowledged that the massive, dollar-denominated debt was one of the biggest challenges his government inherited.
“When we came into office, we had a debt overhang of about $1.7 billion owed to the Independent Power Producers,” he said.
He explained that rather than allowing the situation to worsen, the government opened negotiations with the power producer stakeholders that required compromise on all sides.
According to him, the IPPs agreed to absorb part of the burden as Ghana undertook broader debt restructuring measures.
“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 per cent of what was owed,” he said.
Following the agreement, the government moved quickly to implement a repayment plan, beginning with upfront payments and setting clear timelines for settling the remaining balance.
“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.
But beyond clearing past debts, President Mahama pointed to what he described as a more meaningful shift in this administration’s ability to stay current on new bills from power producers.
“The best announcement is that 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 further noted that this renewed commitment to timely payments is helping rebuild confidence in the sector, strengthening ties with power producers, and ensuring a more reliable electricity supply for Ghanaians.
NA/AE