The Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, has assured of government’s commitment to revitalise State-owned enterprises.
His comments come on the heels of a recent SIGA report on the 2020 performance of State-Owned Enterprises.
State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) recorded GH¢2.61 billion losses in 2020, according to the 2020 State Ownership report.
In an interview on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News, Mr. Cudjoe said mismanagement of state-owned enterprises is what has crippled productivity in these institutions.
He said President Akufo-Addo has begun implementing different prgrammes to deal with managerial issues in the various public agencies.
“Management has always been a problem. This is why President Akufo-Addo is keeping an eye on the investment portfolio of the state.”
“We have taken several steps to check them. One of such is the establishment of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), to oversee these entities. But the most important step is what we have taken, to get them to report their finances up to date, and then we can control the situation. President Akufo-Addo is committed to revitalizing State-owned enterprises,” he added.
Commenting on the 2020 performance of State-Owned Enterprises, the Member of Parliament for the Effia constituency found the figure satisfactory.
He said the losses incurred in 2020 are better than what had been recorded in the past, considering that only a few companies had been captured then.
“I am very happy about this development. I say so because this figure when compared to what was recorded in the past is better. In 2016 for example, when companies were not reporting their accounts, you wouldn’t even find audited accounts. Some companies for up to 8 years had no such thing. In 2018 however, when the State Enterprises Commisison prepared the equivalent of a State-owned report, only 18 companies were reported on and recorded GH¢791 million in losses.”
“In 2017, 49 companies got on board and reported just about the same figure. In 2018, we got more companies on board, about 77 of them, and in 2019, we had 106 of them reporting GH¢5.16 billion losses,” he added.
The GH¢2.61 billion loss recorded in 2020 represents a 50% improvement over the 2019 aggregate loss of GH¢5.16 billion.
According to the 2020 State Ownership Report, SOEs’ combined revenue increased by 19.30%, from GH¢37.912 billion in 2019 to GH¢45.23 billion in 2020.
With the exception of communications and transportation, all other sectors recorded improved revenue in 2020 relative to 2019.
On the other hand, direct costs incurred by SOEs collectively in 2020 was however GH¢32.9 billion, representing a 12.65% increase from GH¢ 29.213 billion in 2019.