The Volta River Authority (VRA) has disclosed that it will early next year issue a bond to raise about $500million.
This will be the first time in the history of the country that a utility provider will be issuing a bond.
Key players in the financial sector and other stakeholders have on several occasions descended on the utility providers to reduce their dependency on government by raising their own funds through the capital markets.
The latest was the recommendation by the national bond market committee for VRA, Ghana Water Company and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to issue bonds to fund their operations and infrastructural projects.
In line with this, Chief Executive Officer of the VRA, Kweku Awotwi in an interview with Citi Business News said the board of the Authority has given approval for the issue of the bond to raise funds on the international market.
�We�ve already gotten VRA board approval to go out and raise $500 million for our immediate generation project so this is something that the VRA board has already considered and authorized management to proceed.�
He added that the VRA might possibly �go out to the international capital market. We haven�t set a firm timetable yet but we are planning early next year.�
Mr. Awotwi also mentioned that the proceeds from the issue will be used to fund three key projects of the authority to increase the supply of power to the national grid.
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