The Managing Director of Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BEST), Dr. Edwin Alfred Provencal, has revealed that the company could have made a staggering profit of GHS 1 billion in 2023, if not for external pressures.
These pressures, rooted in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, heavily disrupted the fuel supply chain. BOST, formerly BOST, eventually posted a profit of GHS 208 million, a stark reduction from its initial projections.
Dr. Provencal lamented the situation, explaining that the company’s margins were deliberately suppressed to address national challenges. “Inadvertently, if you look at the amount of business we did in 2023, we should have made a profit of over GHS 1 billion,” he stated. He emphasized that governmental interventions were necessary due to the crisis, even though it meant sacrificing potential profits.
Despite these setbacks, BOST has remained one of the few state-owned enterprises consistently generating profits.
From GHS 160 million in 2021, the company more than doubled its earnings to GHS 342 million in 2022. Although the challenges of 2023 led to a decline, BOST continues to chart a profitable course in the face of adversity.