Former Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has defended reforms implemented during his tenure at the state power distributor.He insists that major progress was made in revenue generation, digitalisation and metering before his departure from office.His comments come amid renewed pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Ghana to accelerate private sector participation in ECG’s operations as part of broader efforts to address persistent financial and operational challenges within the country’s energy sector.The IMF’s position emerged during discussions between an IMF staff team led by Ruben Atoyan and Ghanaian authorities during a mission to Accra from April 29 to May 15 for the sixth and final review of Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility programme.In a statement issued at the conclusion of the mission, the IMF warned that deep-rooted inefficiencies in the energy sector continued to threaten public finances and economic stability, stressing the need for stronger reforms in both the energy and cocoa sectors.Appearing on Newsfile on Saturday, May 16, he outlined the measures introduced during his leadership at ECG, arguing that the company had begun reversing longstanding revenue and operational challenges.According to Mr Mahama, ECG’s monthly revenue performance when he assumed office was significantly lower than what the company later achieved.“When I took over ECG, ECG’s revenue was nowhere near GH¢900 million,” he stated.“I used to see on a monthly basis 500, 600 or 700 million.”He explained that the company’s improved financial performance eventually created heightened public expectations regarding ECG’s cash flow and operational capacity.“Typical Ghanaian life — when your monies start going up, expectations are on you,” he remarked.Mr Mahama said one of his key management challenges was balancing operational sustainability with demands for increased financial performance.“I needed to control expectations to be able to run the company,” he said.According to him, many people assumed that once ECG’s revenue figures improved, the entire amount generated should immediately be available for operational expenditure.“But everybody believes that so far as you are getting that whole GH¢1.5 billion, you should bring the whole GH¢1.5 billion into the cash flow,” he explained.Mr Mahama attributed much of the improvement in ECG’s revenue performance to a loss reduction programme introduced during his administration, particularly through digitalisation reforms aimed at improving collection efficiency.“We had the loss reduction programme, under which we had the digitalisation process which made collections very efficient,” he stated.He maintained that the company’s collection systems became more transparent and easier to monitor during the reform process.“The picture on collection is clear, there is no corner about it,” he added.A central feature of the reforms highlighted by Mr Mahama involved the introduction of a new metering model based on private sector participation.The approach appears closely aligned with the IMF’s current recommendation for increased private sector involvement in ECG’s operations.Mr Mahama explained that under the previous procurement arrangement, ECG relied heavily on government budget allocations to purchase electricity meters directly.“Initially, on your budget they will tell you, you are buying 30,000 meters or 40,000 meters this month,” he explained.Under the revised model introduced during his tenure, metering companies were required to establish local operations in Ghana and install meters before ECG made payments.“What we changed it into was that every metering supplier or every metering company should have a company in Ghana,” he said.“The moment your factory is done, we give you an area, you meter the area, the meter is installed, and when it is installed and captured in our system and it starts making money, that is when we pay you.”According to him, the arrangement shifted ECG away from the traditional procurement model towards a performance-based system that rewarded actual delivery and efficiency.“So we moved away totally from the basic procurement,” he stated.Mr Mahama further disclosed that by the time he left office, ECG had significantly reduced the nationwide shortage of electricity meters.“It is supposed to still be in place. Before I was leaving, at that point there was no meter shortage at ECG,” he revealed.He explained that ECG had been carrying out approximately 100,000 meter installations every month in an effort to close the country’s longstanding metering gap.“We were doing about 100,000 meter installations a month,” he said.“So we were very ambitious in trying to close the gap because the metering gap was huge.”The lack of adequate metering infrastructure has for years contributed to estimated billing complaints, revenue leakages and customer dissatisfaction within Ghana’s electricity sector.Despite the gains outlined during his tenure, Mr Mahama acknowledged that sustaining revenue growth and operational efficiency required continuous investment in materials and infrastructure.“One of the things that we saw in doing that was that to be able to close that gap, if you don’t have the requisite materials in place, it will not drive or the revenue will plateau,” he explained.