Ambassador Boateng’s dream to revamp SOEs on the right footing

"We control a substantial portion of the Ghanaian economy... It is not about the big things; it is the little things that we are not doing that have put us all in this position. "It is our problem, and we all have to work hard to jumpstart the economy."

These were the words of Ambassador Edward Boateng, Director General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), as he rallied the leadership of the various speci ed entities to "put their best foot forward" and support e orts by the government to put the economy back on track.

The Chief Executive O cers and Board Chairs of the State-owned Enterprise (SOEs) gathered at Kwahu Nkwatia in the Eastern Region for SIGA’s annual stakeholder meeting, which was in accordance with Section 30 of the SIGA Act 2019 (Act 990).

The Stakeholder Meeting, which was on the theme: "A Time to Re ect and Rebuild," discussed challenges a ecting the SOEs and ways the entities could improve their performance and achieve the president’s vision of contributing 30 percent to Ghana's gross domestic product.

It was a perfect atmosphere to echo the important role that SOEs play in the development of the nation and emphasized the need for the entities to comply with the directives of SIGA and strive to meet certain performance targets.

Since assuming the position of Director General, Ambassador Boateng has implemented wide-ranging policies with the aim of restoring hope in the SEOs and pushing them to be more accountable to achieve pro tability.

Key among them was the consistent engagement with the leadership of the speci ed entities, the signing of performance contracts with the entities, and the implementation of the Public Enterprises League Table to engender competition among the SOEs.

Ambassador Boateng told journalists at the conference that there had been an improvement in the performance of SOEs, especially with the rate of compliance with the submission of management accounts mandated by law.

"Just two years ago, if you look at the national accounts, only 5 SOEs were presenting their accounts, and that contributed very minimal." "Last year, in 2022, we were able to push it to 47, bringing their contribution to 21 percent," he explained.

Ambassador Boateng led by example when he arranged for the CEOs and Board Chairs to be conveyed by STC buses to the conference to cut cost. He told the participants that the move saved the authority about GHS 100, 000 on fuel.

Ambassador Boateng charged the speci ed entities to publicize their success stories to enable the public to sustainable pro tability. He extolled SIGA for doing a "yeoman’s job" by pushing for compliance on the submission of management accounts on the part of the SOEs to consolidate the national accounts.

President Akufo-Addo charged the SOEs to submit all their management accounts to the Controller and Accountant General's Department by February 28, 2022. He also directed the SOEs to submit to process," he said.

The number of nancial statements submitted by SOEs in the consolidated national accounts rose from 19 in 2020 to 47 in 2021.

In 2020, the 19 SOEs included in the national accounts contributed 30 percent to the national assets. It further increased to 49 percent when 47 SOEs were included in the 2021 national accounts.