State Secretary Mr Azbej corroborated in an interview with MTI that the plants inaugurated in the cities of Takoradi and Tamale were designed and built by Hungary’s Pureco-Unit Consortium together with its Ghanaian partners. 

Pureco has already built a wastewater treatment plant in the Kumasi municipality. The three plants will secure the sewage treatment of Ghana’s three largest cities, manage the wastewater of nearly two million people and improve the drinking water quality of the entire region. Ghana had major issues in the past, as wastewater in these cities had been left untreated, contaminating drinking water, causing epidemics and serious public health problems.

Mr Azbej called the investment of 3.8 billion forints (10 million EUR) per plant the Hungarian water industry’s biggest success story in Africa. The plants were not built as part of an aid programme, but as a market-based project, with Hungary’s Eximbank financing a 10 million euro loan per plant. The Hungarian government wants the Ghanaian people to maintain the country’s stability so that they can make a living in their homeland rather than choosing migration to Europe. The investment will also improve the region’s chances of sustaining its population, with numerous new jobs being created. 

Mr Azbej highlighted that the diplomatic framework for the investments was created by the Hungarian-Ghanaian Water Agreement signed in 2019. The Hungary Helps Programme has a major part in strengthening Ghanaian communities, by supporting underdeveloped communities and those threatened by terrorist organizations spilling over from neighbouring Burkina Faso through education, development and other humanitarian projects. The Hungarian government also aims to help the Ghanaian people to maintain stability in their country and build a future in their homeland.

Madam Florence Larbi, the Chief Operating Officer, Environmental and Sanitation Cluster of Jospong Group, who spoke during the opening of the facility at Gbalahi in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, said it was in line with the Government’s environmental policies to ensure a clean country. The plants will help in treating faecal sludge in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner to decrease the level of contamination in the ground and surface waters. 

Source: https://vasarnap.hu/