The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has secured a decisive legal victory in London after an international arbitration tribunal dismissed all claims brought against it by Power Distribution Services Ghana Limited (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.
This outcome represents a significant win for ECG and the Government of Ghana, protecting the state from potential financial liability running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
It also marks the end of one of the most contentious episodes in Ghana’s recent energy sector landscape.
With the case settled, ECG can focus fully on strengthening power distribution for Ghanaians without the lingering uncertainty of the PDS dispute. The decision also reinforces the state’s commitment to safeguarding public resources and maintaining accountability in major national agreements.
Earlier judgment
In July 2021, an Accra High Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by PDS challenging the termination of its concession agreement with ECG, which led to the cancellation of its electricity distribution operating licenses.
The concession, signed in July 2018, covered the management of ECG’s assets and electricity distribution across the southern zone.
The agreement was terminated in 2019 after PDS failed to provide a valid payment guarantee. In 2020, PDS took the government to court seeking reinstatement of its distribution licenses.
Among other reliefs, PDS requested “a declaration that the exercise of administrative power by the respondent in cancelling electricity distribution and retail sale licences results from the respondent’s acceptance of the ECG’s rendition of the provisions of the transaction agreements regarding the post-termination transitional period and rights of the applicant under the transaction agreements abridged the applicant’s rights.”
