How we averted dumsor – Finance Minister reveals $252m rescue deal with IPPs

Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson says Ghana narrowly escaped a return to dumsor after government secured a renegotiated deal with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that saved the country $252 million.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express hours after presenting the 2026 Budget, the Ajumako Enyan Esiam MP said the government inherited a heated crisis with IPPs demanding huge arrears and threatening to shut down their plants.

“You know, you recall that when we took office, there was this big buzz about the cost government of Ghana owes to these IPPs,” he said.

He added that the warnings were so severe that “there will be no power, and there will be dumsor,” with some critics pushing government to “go and pay them.”

Dr Forson explained that government stepped back and allowed an independent Ghanaian expert and a civil society-led team to renegotiate the debt on behalf of the state.

“The government is not getting involved. An expert is a civil society person, together with a team, leads it and renegotiates for us. And I’m telling you, they did a fantastic [job],” he said.

The intervention, he revealed, delivered a major breakthrough.

“They’ve been able to save the state precisely $252 million United States dollars,” he said, adding that the team charged nothing for the work.

The arrears were also restructured to ease pressure on the budget.

“We will pay it over four years, so that it won’t be a one-off payment and its resultant effect on the national budget,” he noted.

Under the new plan, government is paying $301 million this year and $345 million next year, before completing the rest of the schedule. Dr Forson stressed the importance of the outcome.

“You’ve been hearing of IPP that we owe them, and they were threatening to shut down; now you are not hearing it anymore. You see the lights on, and that issue is gone.”

He added that IPPs are now satisfied with the arrangement.

“The IPPs are now happy that we have not only renegotiated and paid their old debt, the legacy debt, but we are staying current, so when they bring invoices, we are able to pay on time.”