|
Ghana State Enterprises
State-owned enterprises in Ghana date to the colonial period
and especially to the post-World War II era. For example, the
British organized a number of public utilities, such as water,
electricity, postal and telegraph services, rail and road networks,
and bus services. To foster exports of coffee, palm kernels, and
cocoa, the Agricultural Produce Marketing Board was founded in
1949. In addition, the colonial government established the
Industrial Development Corporation and the Agricultural Development
Corporation to promote industries and agriculture. In the mid1970s , the National Redemption Council under I. K. Acheampong also
emphasized state enterprises. The Acheampong government established
a number of new enterprises and partly or wholly nationalized a
number of foreign-owned companies, including the Ashanti Goldfields
Corporation and Consolidated African Selection Trust. Intermittent
efforts to improve performance and efficiency often led to the
transferral of duties and functions to alternative state bodies but
not to the wholesale privatization of ownership rights and assets.
By the 1980s, state enterprises were suffering along with most
businesses in Ghana, but they were also held to blame for the
economy's general condition. In particular, many were heavily
subsidized and were draining much of the country's domestic loan
capital. Under pressure from the World Bank and in accordance with
the principles of the ERP, in 1984 the government began to sell
state enterprises to private investors, and it initiated the StateOwned Enterprise Reform Program in 1988.
In 1984 there were 235 state enterprises in Ghana. The
government announced that twenty-two sensitive enterprises would
not be sold, including major utilities as well as transport, cocoa,
and mining enterprises. In 1988 thirty-two were put up for sale,
followed by a further forty-four in 1990 under what was termed the
Divestiture Implementation Committee. By December 1990, thirty-four
enterprises had been either partially or totally divested. Four
were sold outright, a further eight were partially sold through
share issues, and twenty-two were liquidated. Divestiture of
fifteen additional enterprises was also underway, and by 1992 plans
were afoot to privatize some of the nation's banks.
Joint ventures were set up for four enterprises, including two
state mining companies, Prestea Goldfields and Ghana Consolidated
Diamonds. In 1992 the Divestiture Implementation Committee
considered resource-pooling programs to enable smaller domestic
investors to buy up state enterprises. Such pooling would
accelerate the program, but more importantly, it would enable the
Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) to deflect charges that
it was auctioning off the nation's assets to foreigners.
The government also introduced a performance monitoring and
evaluation system to improve state enterprise productivity and
efficiency as well as to provide incentives for strong performers
and disincentives for weak performers. By 1989 fifteen enterprises
had responded positively, turning a combined pre-tax loss of ¢418
million from the previous year into pre-tax profits of ¢19 billion,
following a 9 percent cut in costs and a 30 percent increase in
sales. In early 1992, the chairman of the State Enterprises
Commission announced that the government would pass legislation
requiring state-owned enterprises to register as limited liability
companies by 1993 to stimulate competition and to improve their
performances.
Data as of November 1994
|
