The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has disclosed that State-Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) in the country have been reduced from from 300 in the mid 1980’s to 86 as at the end of August 2017.
The SOE’s according to the minister, consist of 46 wholly government owned and 40 joint ventures, 37 of the wholly government owned are commercial companies, with 26 operating as limited liability companies under the Companies Act and 11 being statutory corporations.
Statistics from the State Enterprises Commission indicate that 28 of the SOE’s employed a total of 32,500 workers and generated a total revenue of GH¢16.2 billion.
Mr Ken Ofori Atta explained that the development is as a result of privatization, liquidation and dwindling of these state-owned enterprises.
The finance Minister revealed this in a welcome address at the opening of a two-day State Owned Enterprise Policy and Governance Forum in Accra to discuss challenges bedeviling SOE’s.
He disclosed that the meeting was government’s broader efforts to improve the governance environment and engender high levels of transparency and accountability for State-owned Enterprises.
He said the forum was intended to sensitize key stakeholders on government’s strategy and initiatives for the SOE’s as well as provide a platform for them to discuss critical developments and other issues of concern.
The Minister expressed the belief that feedback from the forum would not only be persuasive, but would also contribute significantly to the further refinement and effective implementation of the SOE reforms and strategies.
Source: otecfmghana.com
