Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Energy, has confirmed that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was hacked some months ago.
He said ECG fell victim to a hacking incident, contributing to losses incurred in the first nine months of the current year. While the Minister acknowledged the hack during a press briefing on November 9, 2023, he did not specify when the security breach occurred.
The disclosed losses included an increase in ECG’s collection losses, reaching GH¢2,050,373,143.47 as of September 2023. In terms of technical losses, the company reported a decrease from GH¢2,758,872,792.21 in 2022 to GH¢1,279,369,021.42 during the same period this year.
Notably, on October 2, 2022, National Security and National Cybersecurity officials were called in to assist ECG in addressing a technical glitch that had prevented customers from purchasing prepaid credits. Despite the company’s assurances of resolving the issue, which began on September 27, 2022, the recent revelation of a hacking incident adds a concerning dimension to ECG’s challenges.
