President John Dramani Mahama has emphasised that the Power Distribution Services (PDS) concession agreement itself was not fundamentally flawed but ultimately failed due to mismanagement and conflicting personal interests.
Addressing attendees at the sod-cutting ceremony for the Multi-purpose Solar Energy Project at the Dawa Industrial Park in Agotor on Thursday, November 6, 2025, the President explained that the PDS initiative was designed to bring private-sector efficiency into Ghana’s electricity distribution system but faltered because of how it was executed.
“I know that there was an attempt to involve the private sector in power utility and distribution. We all remember the example with PDS. PDS was not a bad thing; it was just handled wrongly, and many people had personal interests in it. That’s why it failed. But there is something to be said for injecting private-sector efficiency into public utilities,” Mahama said.
In 2019, PDS took over the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) under a 20-year concession agreement, established as part of the Millennium Challenge Compact between the Government of Ghana and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The arrangement was designed to enhance efficiency in power distribution through private-sector participation and improve service delivery across the country.
However, just months into implementation, the government suspended and subsequently terminated the contract after uncovering that the payment guarantees submitted by PDS—allegedly issued by Al Koot Insurance and Reinsurance Company of Qatar—were fraudulent.
Investigations and subsequent rulings by Qatari courts later confirmed that the guarantees had indeed been forged.
The controversy sparked a lengthy legal battle in London, where PDS sought over US$390 million in compensation for what it claimed was wrongful termination.
The ECG, represented by Cherie Blair KC of Omnia Strategy LLP, argued that the termination was lawful and justified, citing the fraudulent guarantees as clear grounds for ending the agreement.
However, after years of the contract, ECG secured a decisive legal victory in London after an international arbitration tribunal dismissed all claims brought against it by PDS.
The ruling, issued after nearly three years of proceedings, closes a prolonged dispute over the controversial termination of the PDS concession agreement, which had once been promoted as a key step toward reforming Ghana’s power distribution sector.
Following extensive legal arguments and hearings, the London-seated tribunal rejected every claim advanced by PDS.
The panel upheld ECG’s position that the fraudulent guarantees struck at the core of the concession and justified ending the agreement.
