GHANA is benefiting from a 180 million Euros support by the Netherlands to finance the water and sanitation sector.
It is under the Ghana-Netherlands Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme which spans nine years.
To speed up the process, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Julius Debrah, has led a 26-member delegation to the Netherlands to participate in a match-making mission.
The match-making mission was to facilitate partnerships and strengthen business relations between Dutch and Ghanaian parties in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector, and also explore other business opportunities in the Netherlands.
The team, made up of officials from the ministry, metropolitan and municipal assemblies and the private sector service providers, had the opportunity to visit seven municipalities and interacted with waste management and business establishments and forged cooperations with them.
The GNWP is a collaborative programme between the Governments of Ghana and the Netherlands, aimed at improving and increasing access to drinking water and sanitation services in urban areas of Ghana, including schools.
The GNWP is focusing on providing sustainable and innovative solutions to the challenging water and sanitation problems in Ghana by using the private sector as a catalyst for the development of infrastructure for sanitation and water and to ensure sustainable operation and maintenance of the facilities.
In motivating and leveraging private sector involvement and inclusion, an amount of 30 million Euros has been allocated for a Public-Private Partnership facility called the Ghana WASH Window (GWW).
The GWW serves as a catalyst for private sector/non-governmental organisations in Ghana to forge partnerships with the private sector in the Netherlands through match making to come up with innovative and sustainable proposals to be considered for funding.
The trade mission was concluded with an impressive closing ceremony attended by large numbers of government officials and sector players made up of the private sector and NGOs in the WASH sector in the Netherlands and beyond.
The Ghanaian companies concluded two or three partnerships with Dutch companies.
The team also had the privilege of having discussions with some business and financial institutions in The Hague on trade and other areas of mutual interest. These included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Amsterdam Port.
The mission was concluded with the signing ceremony of a letter of intent with the World WaterNet, to enter into partnership in the areas of sharing knowledge and experiences in water and waste water management.
World Watemet has tremendous experience in the management of water and waste water and currently manages all water issues in the municipality of Amsterdam and 25 others.
The Ghana WASH Window mission which is part of the trade mission, has brought a lot of benefits not only to the WASH sector, but the generality of the economic development of the country.
Ghanaian Times
