Dr Bawumia said this when he launched the ECG Mobile App on Tuesday, February 18, 2020.
ECG currently has a collection rate of 66%. This is part of the reason for the recurring debt in the energy sector.
But Dr Bawumia said a boost in revenue collection will help address the challenges confronting other actors in the power generation and supply chain.
“If you don’t really handle this sector well, it can really create a lot of problems for your economy because, in this sector, we are talking of hundreds of millions of dollars in bills. And one of the biggest problems, why this has become an Achilles hill in the whole sector, is the area of collection of revenue,” he asserted.
“So if we produce power and we are only able to collect say 60 percent of the revenue, then it means we have lost forty percent of the revenue so you are going to have companies like the VRA, GRIDCo and the rest in trouble. So the issue of solving the collection problem at ECG is a major part of solving the energy issue in Ghana,” he added.
ECG mobile app launched
The Vice President launched the ECG mobile app known as ‘ECG Power’.
This is a new system that will allow about 2.8 million out of the 3.8 million customers of the power distributor to buy power at their own convenience.
Customers can make purchases via the various payment platforms provided by telcos such as MTN’s mobile money, Vodafone cash, and AirtelTigo cash.
Smartphone users can access the app by downloading it from the google playstore or app store, other phone users could resort to dialing a shortcode which helps them to access the services.
Presently, while all postpaid customers can buy power with the app, only customers with smart prepaid meters can access the service.
But the ECG says there are plans to eventually ensure that all of its customers are enrolled unto the platform within the shortest possible time.