Governance strategist, industrialization advocate and professional chairperson Professor Douglas Boateng has called for bold, long term reforms to strengthen the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), stressing that predictable and protected funding is essential if the institution is to effectively support the transformation of Ghana’s state owned enterprises (SOEs).
In a recent high level governance conversation at his Accra office, Professor Boateng reflected on SIGA’s evolving mandate and the institution’s critical role in Ghana’s broader economic and industrialization agenda. The engagement covered SOE performance, regional competitiveness and the growing urgency for improved public sector governance systems.
Professor Boateng commended the current administration for making visible attempts to reposition SIGA. “The current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government inherited SIGA and, to their credit, is making significant efforts to realign it. If steps are being taken to address its foundational limitations, then those efforts deserve broad based encouragement and support,” he stated.
He further acknowledged that previous Director Generals also endeavored to advance the SIGA vision, despite longstanding structural and resource constraints. He observed that institutional strengthening is often a cumulative process built over many years and across leadership transitions.
However, he emphasized that SIGA’s ability to drive accountability across more than 175 SOEs has been constrained by systemic structural, operational and funding challenges that must be urgently addressed. “The original idea behind SIGA was sound,” he remarked. “But without operational independence, clarity of mandate, and protected sustainable funding, it cannot realistically catalyze the performance improvements our SOEs urgently require.”
To reinforce this point, Professor Boateng referenced a timely NyansaKasa reflection. “When institutions are starved of resources, they survive but cannot serve. And when they cannot serve, the nation pays for the neglect,” he stated.
Professor Boateng recognized the ongoing efforts of the current Director General, Professor Kpessa Whyte, and the Board, describing their work as an important step toward repositioning the institution. He encouraged leadership to view this reform period as an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s governance legacy.
Professor Michael Kpessa Whyte assumed office as Acting Director General of SIGA in January 2025. He is a distinguished academic and governance expert with specialization in institutional design and public policy. A new nine member Board was inaugurated on August 19, 2025, by Chief of Staff Hon. Julius Debrah on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama.
He outlined five priority areas that could help SIGA evolve into a high impact institution: strengthened legal and operational independence, merit based board appointments after multiple nominations, transparent national performance scorecards, guaranteed sustainable funding free from political cycles, and a cultural shift from compliance to measurable value creation.
He added that SIGA must have a role in board appointments to ensure alignment between governance expectations and performance delivery. “Good governance goes beyond box ticking,” he stated. “It is about safeguarding national value with foresight, discipline, and integrity.”
Turning to Ghana’s position within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Professor Boateng underscored that a strengthened SIGA is essential if SOEs are to compete regionally and support Ghana’s industrial transformation. “If SIGA is empowered, it can help SOEs unlock AfCFTA’s full potential. The mindset shift from short term fixes to long term value creation must begin in our boardrooms,” he said.
President Mahama has emphasized that loss making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and that SIGA will evolve from a passive observer to an empowered enforcer of national interest. The president declared that SOEs must deliver strategic value particularly in energy, transport, manufacturing, agriculture and finance to support Ghana’s industrialization and the 24 hour economy initiative.
SIGA has been repositioned as a command center with executive authority to negotiate and enforce performance contracts with Specified Entities, conduct regular in depth assessments of SOE finances to ensure transparency and expose mismanagement, issue binding directives, implement compliance mechanisms and intervene directly in underperforming entities.
The Authority released its 2024 State Ownership Report on August 29, 2025, revealing mixed performance across Specified Entities and highlighting the need for sustained reforms and enhanced accountability. The ninth edition of the annual report offered a comprehensive analysis of the financial and operational performance of Ghana’s Specified Entities.
From financial year 2016 when only six Specified Entities signed performance contracts, the 2024 performance contract was negotiated with 79 Specified Entities. The increase in coverage has enabled in depth assessment of operations and governance, with feedback provided to enable improvement.
SIGA data analyzed for the 2022 State Ownership Report showed that the assets of only SOEs in financial year 2022 represented 40.46 percent of Ghana’s 2022 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at purchasers’ value, demonstrating the significant economic weight of these entities.
The Authority has also called on the Bui Power Authority to strengthen efficiency, enhance profitability and commence dividend payments to the Government of Ghana by the close of the 2025 financial year. SIGA has been engaging Chief Executives of Specified Entities on compliance with performance contracts, emphasizing that compliance is not optional but a legal obligation under the SIGA Act, 2019.
Professor Boateng concluded with a diplomatic call to government, emphasizing that SIGA’s long term success will depend on continued national commitment. He encouraged authorities across the political spectrum to support the need for sustained and adequate funding to enable the institution to fully deliver on its mandate.
“If SIGA is steadily empowered and appropriately resourced, the Director General and the Board have a genuine opportunity to contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s governance legacy, not as custodians of the status quo but as responsible architects of reforms that future generations can build upon,” he observed.
Professor Douglas Boateng is a Chartered Industrial Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors Ghana and a Chartered Director and Fellow of the United Kingdom’s Institute of Directors. He serves as Director and Chairman of organizations including the Ghana Minerals Income Investment Fund and Labadi Beach Hotel.
He convened the inaugural Boardroom Governance Summit in October 2024, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, SIGA and the Institute of Directors Ghana. The summit attracted over 700 executives both in person and online. He was honored as Director of the Year by the Institute of Directors Ghana at the 6th Corporate Governance Excellence Awards in December 2024.
Professor Boateng is a prolific author of over 90 publications and creator of NyansaKasa, a thought provoking platform with over one million daily readers. Through his visionary leadership, he continues to inspire ethical governance, innovation and youth empowerment, driving Africa toward a sustainable and inclusive future.
The call for SIGA reforms reflects broader concerns about institutional capacity to deliver on mandates despite legal frameworks. While SIGA was established in 2019 through Act 990 with clear responsibilities, resource constraints and structural limitations have hampered its effectiveness in driving SOE transformation.
Experts argue that without sustained funding mechanisms insulated from political cycles, even well designed institutions struggle to maintain consistent oversight and enforcement. The challenge lies in balancing government fiscal constraints with the need for adequately resourced governance institutions that can prevent the far larger losses that result from weak oversight.
