SIGA must split reporting of profit-making firms from public service institutions – Deloitte partner

A senior lawyer and partner at Deloitte has called on the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) to fundamentally restructure how it reports on Ghana's state-owned enterprises, arguing that lumping commercial entities together with public service institutions distorts the true picture of their performance.

Yaw Appiah Lartey made the case on JoyNews' Newsfile programme, highlighting that the current consolidated approach to reporting masks important distinctions in how different types of state bodies operate and should be evaluated.

The core problem: mixing apples with oranges

Appiah Lartey explained that approximately 90% of entities under SIGA's supervision are engaged in commercial activities, whilst roughly 10% operate primarily as public service institutions or special-purpose vehicles. Combining these two categories, he argued, creates misleading financial narratives.

To illustrate the point, he referenced the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), which receives about 99% of its revenue from parliamentary allocations rather than commercial operations. When GETFund's financial position is aggregated with profit-driven entities in consolidated reports, the resulting data reflects government funding patterns rather than genuine commercial performance—creating a distorted overall assessment.

"We should not engage in consolidating entities that are engaged in pure public service with entities that are engaged in commercial activities," Appiah Lartey stated. "That is misreported."

Why it matters for Ghana

This debate strikes at the heart of how Ghana's government assets are managed and evaluated. State-owned enterprises represent significant public investments across sectors including energy, water, transportation, and education. Citizens, policymakers, and donors rely on accurate financial reporting to understand whether these entities are delivering value.

If commercial entities are judged by the same standards as public service institutions—or vice versa—decision-makers cannot properly identify which entities are genuinely underperforming and which are simply fulfilling non-commercial mandates effectively. This can lead to misguided policy interventions, inappropriate pressure on public service agencies to behave like profit-centres, or failure to address genuine inefficiencies in commercial operations.

For Ghana's accountability framework, the distinction matters deeply. A water utility serving poor communities should not be held to the same profitability benchmark as a telecommunications company. Yet aggregated reporting could create that false equivalence.

Proposed solution and governance improvements

Appiah Lartey recommended that SIGA establish two distinct reporting categories: one for profit-making organisations assessed on commercial performance metrics, and another for public service entities evaluated on service delivery outcomes. Consolidation, he suggested, should only occur when entities operate in comparable sectors and environments.

He also acknowledged progress: the number of state entities submitting audited financial statements rose from 53 to 108 in the latest reporting period—a significant improvement in corporate governance discipline.

However, he cautioned that submitting audited accounts is not enough. Full compliance requires that financial statements pass through proper governance processes, including annual general meetings (AGMs). "If you just submit your financial statement without having a general meeting, that does not meet the overall corporate governance requirements," he warned.

Appiah Lartey's intervention reflects broader international best practice in state enterprise reporting, where transparent categorisation and tailored performance metrics are standard. As Ghana continues to strengthen its public finance management systems, the distinction between commercial and public service entities will likely become increasingly important to stakeholders monitoring state asset performance.