Meralco upbeat on Ghana project

Manila Electric Co. is unfazed with a court case that halted the contracting process for a power distribution concession in Ghana, for which Meralco was declared the preferred bidder.

Meralco president Oscar S. Reyes said in an interview the utility giant was more focused on preparing for the advancement to actually getting on board.

“We’re not tracking the case,” Reyes said. “Our team has been quite busy in trying to put the negotiations into the final stages.”

He said they were working on a timetable that set the awarding of the contract and the turnover of the Ghanaian business to Meralco hands in several months.

“Basically, the award and transition can potentially happen by the fourth quarter this year,” Reyes said. “I think the actual (awarding) will be next year.”

When asked whether such timetable took into account the delay that the court action would cause, Reyes said “No.”

“But our view is that it’s [the contracting procedure] a very well-run process,” he said. “We’ll leave it to the court to decide.”

In April, the Millennium Development Agency (MiDA) of Ghana—which leads the concession process—named Meralco the preferred bidder for a contract to manage, operate and invest in the Electric Company of Ghana (ECG), which serves that West African country’s capital region.

MiDA also confirmed that the losing bidder led by BXC Company Ghana Ltd. has summoned the agency to court over its loss.

“As the matter is now before the High Court in Accra, MiDA does not wish to prejudice the ongoing court proceedings and will therefore not make any comments on the matter at this time,” the Ghanaian agency said.

Following that, Reyes said Meralco had “a very strong, very compliant proposal, we followed all the rules.”

Meralco is already present in Africa as technical adviser for a project in Nigeria, but the Ghana contract offers the company an opportunity to get involved at a deeper level as a concessionaire.

In Ghana, Meralco has partnered with a local entity and is allowed to have a maximum equity share of 30 percent in the partnership, if the concession moves forward.