Reduced losses show SOE improvement – Cletus Dapilah

By: Hubeyidatu Mumuni

Cletus Seidu Dapilah, Member of Parliament for Jirapa and Board Chairman of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), has argued that a reduction in losses by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) should be recognised as a significant improvement in their performance.

His comments come amid discussions over the latest State Ownership and Governance Authority (SIGA) report, which recorded an overall profit of GH¢19.18 billion for specified state-owned enterprises.

Dapilah said assessing the performance of SOEs required a proper comparison of their financial results over different periods, taking into account operational costs and other relevant factors.

He said comparing the 2024 and 2025 financial figures would provide a clearer picture of whether an entity had improved its performance.

“If you want to compare, take 2024 and look at what profit was recorded, then compare it to 2025, bearing in mind their operational costs and all of that,” he said.

According to him, the extent of improvement should also be measured by comparing the level of losses recorded in previous years with losses recorded subsequently.

He cited NEDCo as an example, explaining that a reduction in losses from more than GH¢650 million to about GH¢300 million represented a substantial improvement.

“Somebody incurred losses of GH¢650 million-plus and going forward, we incurred losses of GH¢300 million. That is a significant improvement,” Dapilah stated.

He argued that such comparisons would provide a more accurate assessment of the performance of state-owned entities than simply focusing on whether total losses exceeded total profits.

“That is how we can get the comparison right. If we do the 2024 figures and 2025, you will get it right, rather than just saying that there are more losses recorded than the profits that have been recorded,” he added.

Dapilah said a year-on-year assessment was necessary to properly determine whether SOEs were making progress, particularly where entities had succeeded in reducing the scale of their losses despite continuing to operate at a deficit.