The ESLA Plc and Daakye Trust, the two Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) established by the government to issue long-term bonds for the energy and educational sectors respectively are yet to file their unaudited financial statements with the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) for the period ended December 31, last year.
It is not immediately clear what might have necessitated the delay although experts believe the development was due largely to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) which was carried out by the government.
The DDEP implementation has generated a lot of controversies in the last couple of months as the government kept changing the dates for the closure of the exercise until last week when it finally drew the curtains on the process, having received more than 85 per cent participation.
Under normal circumstances, the GSE by law would have sanctioned the two bodies but have had to reconsider that decision.
Consequently, the GSE, in a release, said the two companies have been given further extension to submit their financial statements.
“The Ghana Stock Exchange announces for the information of the general investing public that the under listed companies have been granted further extension for the submission of their unaudited financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2022”, it said.
It said ESLA Plc and Daaakye Trust Plc have between now and March 3, 2023 to abide.
ESLA
The government established the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) 2015, Act 899, as amended to consolidate levies collected under the sector, provide funding for power generation and the clearance of legacy debts accumulated within the sector, support road maintenance, provide funding for the regulation, management, development and utilisation of sustainable energy resources under the Energy Commission, provide funding for investments in public lighting and the National Electrification Programme, and subsidise Premix and Residual Fuel Oil.
As part of the reforms, ESLA PLC was established as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to issue long-term bonds backed by ESLA receivables to resolve energy sector debts of almost GH¢10.0 billion owed to banks and trade creditors.
Over the last four years, ESLA PLC successfully refinanced debts in excess of GH¢8 billion under the programme.
A cumulative amount of GH¢5.03 billion transferred to ESLA PLC, from the levies realised was utilised partly to meet the required coupon payments to bondholders.
The performance of the Energy Sector Levies, like other sectors of the economy, was adversely impacted by developments in 2020 occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The expected receipts from the electricity levies were not realised due to a slowdown in business activity at the onset of the pandemic coupled with lower recovery of electricity bills from households and businesses severely hit by the pandemic.
Daakye
The Daakye Trust PLC is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) incorporated as a public limited liability company to, among other things, issue debt securities for the purpose of financing the construction of educational infrastructure and refinancing the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) debt.
Under the management of the corporate manager and in accordance with the bond documents, the issuer (through the account banks) will collect and manage the proceeds from the bonds and the GETFund receivables for the contractor payments and the bond repayments, respectively.