Mahama challenges SOEs to turn financial gains into lasting operational efficiency

President John Dramani Mahama has challenged boards and chief executives of Ghana’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to turn recent financial gains into lasting operational efficiency, stressing that public assets must generate measurable value for citizens. Speaking at the SIGA Governing Boards and CEOs’ Conference 2026 held at Labadi Beach Hotel, President Mahama said assets including the country’s ports, power infrastructure, factories, water systems, pension funds, land, buildings, equipment and shares held by the Republic belonged ultimately to the Ghanaian people. He said government, boards and chief executives were merely custodians of those assets and had a responsibility to manage them in the public interest. “Public ownership must produce public value,” he said.

The President urged every institution represented at the conference to demonstrate with credible evidence the value it had created for Ghanaians. He recalled his March 2025 meeting with chief executives, when he announced a reset in the relationship between government and its enterprises. He said persistent losses could no longer be quietly transferred to the national budget, while SIGA must become a more effective ownership and performance institution. He also reiterated that leadership positions should be linked to measurable results, value creation and profitability. According to President Mahama, Vice-President Professor Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang reinforced the position during an engagement with specified entities in March this year, emphasising that state-owned enterprises must provide an attractive value proposition to Ghanaians, their ultimate shareholders. President Mahama said the latest State Ownership Report showed a significant improvement in the aggregate performance of SOEs. Combined…