ECG, Ghana - "domsor" My Personal Experience
There is a general saying that if something does not personal happen to you, you do not appreciate the effect of what that thing has had on others. The Electricity Corporation Of Ghana has had to adopt some very strict processes due to various reasons and as a result has been rationing Electricity to homes, factories and companies for some years now. An attempt to find the real cause for this has been futile; there is no one specific reason. When this all kicked off, I was made to believe that it was due to the lack of rainfall and hence the low water levels at the Akosombo Dam. It appears - from Google - that the reasons are uncountable.So this is how Domsor (by the way, the term "Domsor" as I understand it, means the unreliable and frequent power cuts and power restore typically in the city of Accra, Ghana) made my day.
If you recall (if not, check out this link ) I mentioned that I was planning a project to change the face of Nyaniba. Briefly, this involved demolishing the current building on Plot 22 and erecting the two storey building. After careful consideration, I final selected a contractor whom I was going to go with. With several emails and sketches going back and forth, we came to an agreement on a final sketch and I instructed him to proceed with the Architectural, Structural and Design drawings. Being eager to get the drawings done as soon as possible so that I can get a Bill Of Quantities and then subsequently determine if I had enough money to fund the project, I made a trip to the local Post Office in Wellingborough, UK and had what they call a Global Priority delivery of a cheques sent to the Architect, Justice. I paid 59 quid for the service and was told that it would get to the addressee in 9 days from leaving the UK Hub. From the tracking system in place on Parcel Force website, I was able to confirm that the cheque left the UK on the 30th of August. A mental calculation told me that Justice would certainly receive the cheque by, tops, the 10th of September.
Fast forwarding things up, I got messages from Justice informing me that he still had not received the cheque. I called EMS in Accra today and was given a number for their Customer Care/Service. I tried calling the number but was not successful, so I called the first number I was given for EMS again. This time the chap who answered the phone took my tracking number and then asked me for my number so that he could call me back with some information. Unfortunately he stopped me just after I had started with +44... and said he could not call back to an international number. Sweet. Desperate to get to the bottom of where the cheque was, I quickly said I would call back in 15 minutes. I called back in 15, as promised only to be told that he could not check the whereabouts of my registered letter on their computer system because they were currently experiencing a "Domso" moment. I don't know, but for some reason, I suddenly started laughing. The chap on the other end wanted to know why I was laughing. I did not bother to give him an answer, but on a serious note, I fail to see how EMS can let "Domso" affect their business. For a business that other international Postal Services depend on, what happened to purchasing a medium sized generator to run, at least, the computers onsite.
I have some shares in FAN Milk Ghana, and monitor the value of the shares, from a regular newsletter I get from CAL Brokers. One that I received recently was a PDF document - Fan Milk Ghana/HYR 2014 Earnings Review. Of interest was the below snippet (underlined emphasis, mine):
Sluggish revenue growth due to weak consumer confidence: FML has reported weak revenue growth of 6.2% YoY compared to the historical average growth rate of 22.0% during FY 2009-13 periods. The weak revenue performance was driven by the slow-down in Ghanaian economy since FY 2013 due to high fiscal deficit, unreliable power supply and weak foreign exchange position.
The Ghanaian Government cannot expect companies already running a business in Ghana to make substantial profits, or assist in the growth of the economy by employing people if they cannot be assured constant power supply. It is not rocket science. Eventually these companies are going to move their operations/businesses elsewhere.