Utilities

With the economy growing at record rates, the authorities are working to keep pace with rising demand for water, power and sanitation. Compared to many neighbouring countries, Ghana’s utilities are in healthy standing, though the sector has not been without problems. The country’s water and sanitation systems are in need of improvement; only 64% of the population had access to clean water and 15% to adequate sanitation as of 2010. While Ghana has excess installed electric capacity, the Volta River Authority plants have not been operating at full capacity due to natural gas shortages and underperformance. To better supply growing electricity demand, the government plans to increase installed capacity to 3160 MW by 2015. Moreover, the government recently completed a master plan allowing the Ghana Grid Company to begin refurbishing and replacing outdated infrastructure. With new projects either on schedule for completion or about to be launched, Ghana’s water and power sector is likely to improve in the short term. This chapter contains interviews with Kweku A Awotwi, Chief Executive, Volta River Authority; and Charles Darku, Former CEO, GRID.