GHANA – After more than a year of negotiations, the Government of Ghana has been able to secure a loan of US$35.5 from the UK Export Finance (UKEF) for the implementation of a drinking water project in rural areas.
UKEF is the operating name of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), the United Kingdom’s export credit agency and a ministerial department of the UK government.
Launched in 1920, UKEF is the longest running export credit agency in the world. Today, the export credit agency’s maximum commitment stands at £50bn.
According to a report by Afrik21 the projects to be implemented using UKEF funds are expected to benefit at least 225,000 people living in the Greater Accra, Oti, Volta, Ashanti and Eastern regions.
Thr water projects will be implemented by Aqua Africa which according to Afrik21 is the originator of the water projects.
The British-based company will supply the local population with its solar-powered Nano filtration system.
Aqua Africa says it will provide five litres of water per day to each inhabitant for one cent of dollars.
Initially scheduled for January 2020, implementation of the drinking water project will finally begin in September 2020, with a field implementation plan and community engagement exercises.
Aqua Africa plans to install the first filtration units in 75 communities in Ghana to supply drinking water to 22,500 people in January upon successful completion of field implementation plans.
The drinking water company plans to serve the remaining 200,000 people in several phases over an 18-month period.
Ghana now joins other African countries that already benefit from Aqua Africa’s Nano filtration systems.
In the village of Nzara, Western Equatoria State, in south-western South Sudan, for example, the company is pumping water from groundwater using electricity supplied by a solar photovoltaic system.
This water rises up in a water tower and flows back down to supply five distribution points that can provide drinking water to 2,500 people every day.
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