Ghana’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) recorded a significant financial turnaround in 2025, moving from an aggregate GH¢2.5 billion loss in 2024 to a GH¢19.8 billion surplus, according to the latest State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) ownership report.
Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu and member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Hon. Atta Issah, has defended the figures against criticism that the improvement was largely the result of government bailouts or favourable accounting treatment rather than stronger underlying performance.
Speaking in a radio interview, Mr Issah attributed the turnaround partly to increased revenue, tighter expenditure controls and compliance mechanisms introduced by the government to keep state entities within approved budgets.
“An entity can declare a loss primarily because they spend more than their revenue. For us to be declaring surpluses, it means that government, through its compliance mechanisms, is ensuring that under the new commitment authorisation mechanism, you stay within budget,” he said.
According to Mr Issah, aggregate revenue of state enterprises increased from GH¢133.6 billion to GH¢176.43 billion, while capital efficiency improved from 1.3% to 6.3%. He also cited an improvement in the sector’s overall equity position from negative 1.6% to positive 15.7%, a 42.5% reduction in borrowing costs and approximately GH¢11.72 billion in net foreign exchange gains.
Responding to questions raised by policy analysts, including IMANI Africa’s Bright Simons, over how financially distressed entities such as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) contributed to positive sector-wide results, Mr Issah argued that public-sector accounting requires a distinction between a surplus and commercial profit.
He explained that many state entities are established primarily to provide public services rather than maximise commercial returns and said government financial support must be accounted for in their financial statements.
“When a bailout is given, that bailout at that time is an inflow. So it is treated under an inflow. You need to understand the mechanisms under IPSAS that says that you recognise all inflows as revenue and then you recognise all outflows as expenditure. So whether it’s a bailout or not, once it is coming as a cash grant or support, it is recognised as revenue,” Mr Issah explained.
He also addressed concerns about ECG’s accumulated debt, arguing that legacy liabilities are reflected on the company’s balance sheet and should not automatically be treated as expenditure in determining the entity’s annual operating result.
“Liabilities are not a trading item. You don’t bring it in your P&L to determine a surplus or a deficit. It is a balance sheet item,” he said.
Mr Issah further rejected suggestions that the report should have converted the figures into US dollars to account for movements in the value of the Ghana cedi. He maintained that the appropriate presentation currency for Ghanaian entities is the Ghana cedi.
“The presentation currency for Ghana is the Ghana cedi. Why are we always quick to convert into the foreign currency when we are dehumanising our own currency?” he asked.
Addressing questions about SIGA’s methodology, Mr Issah said the Authority does not independently generate the financial results but consolidates financial statements submitted by state entities in accordance with its statutory mandate.
He maintained that external auditors, including the Auditor-General, had not issued qualified opinions indicating that the reported revenues had been deliberately overstated or falsified.
Despite defending the aggregate improvement, Mr Issah acknowledged that serious operational challenges persist within some state entities, particularly ECG and other institutions within the power sector.
He therefore called for a review of the financing structures of public utilities to improve their long-term sustainability, warning that continuous government refinancing of operational shortfalls could expose the state to significant fiscal risks.
