The State Enterprise Commission (SEC) has adopted the Balanced Scorecard Institute’s (BSI) Nine Steps to Success as a management framework to transform State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) into profitable and self-sufficient organizations.

The development of a performance evaluation framework, using the balanced scorecard to monitor the performance of SOEs, will lead to reduction in government’s debts and increase economic growth throughout the country.

Consistent with the SEC’s mandate to provide support for the SOEs in having sound management practices, the evaluation framework will use the BSI’s Nine Steps to Success to establish meaningful performance measures linked to strategic objectives for each of the SOEs.

Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, the Minister of State in charge of Public-Private Partnerships, performing the launch in Accra, on Wednesday said, SOEs were meant to create wealth and jobs for the people.

He observed that SOEs are very key to the nation’s socio-economic development, and that, it was not in government’s interest to sell them.

Ghana thus becomes the third African country - Botswana and Ethiopia to implement the balanced scorecard system in the strategic performance management of public institutions.

Out of 41 SOEs, the programme will roll out with nine of them, namely; the Volta River Authority, GRIDCO, Electricity Company of Ghana, Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Ghana Water Company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Tema Development Corporation and the Graphic Group of Communications.

Dr Camynta Baezie, SECs Executive Chairman described it as a ground breaking event in Ghana. “It is the first time in the history of our SOEs that they will implement a consistent framework to assess performance”.

Dr Baezie said many of the 41 wholly-state-owned SOEs underperformed compared to their own targets, while others are incurring losses.

“The balanced scorecard will establish a consistent management system and clear accountability, that enables each SOEs to align its processes and focus entire organisation on implementing short –to medium-term strategy for improved service delivery, more efficient use of scarce public resources, debt elimination and creating more jobs,” said Dr Baezie.

High financial costs are resulting in inefficient service delivery, wasted resources, and accumulation of debts.

The SOEs are concentrated largely in critical sectors of the economy, such as petroleum, power, water, housing, transport, agriculture, logistics, procurement, finance and infrastructure.

Once the balanced scorecard systems have been developed for each SOE, unique Key Performance Indicators for each SOE will be used to monitor and track performance and improvement.

Specialized training in the use of meaningful performance measures will also be used to ensure sustainable, good performance management practices and improve reporting of actual performance against SOEs performance contract elements, to enable them to meet their corporate goals.

Among the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the 41 SOEs, which took part in the SOE’s performance evaluation development project, were Mr Bernard Otabil, CEO, Ghana News Agency and Ms Carol Annang, the Managing Director of New Times Corporation.

“The Balanced Scorecard Institute’s Nine Steps to Success is a disciplined, practical and tested approach to developing corporate and employee strategic planning and management systems based on the balanced scorecard,” said Charles Odoch Langoya, BSI’s Regional Coordinator for Africa.

“The Nine Steps to Success framework has helped more than 200 organizations in 39 countries to build their strategic planning and performance management system,” he added.

Joe DeCarlo, BSI’s Director of International Operations, who gave a brief of the balanced scorecard, said, its implementation would boost organizational performance at meeting strategic goals.

The Balanced Scorecard Institute, a Strategic Management Group Company, provides strategic planning, balanced scorecard and performance measurement and management training, certification, and consulting services to government, non-profit and commercial organizations.