Utility Project in Ghana with Skilled Partners

Forsyningsprojekt i Ghana med dygtige partnere

Ghana is a pioneer that serves as a role model for many of the region’s less developed countries. Nevertheless, Ghana also has its challenges. The country’s existing drainage system is falling apart, and most of the nation’s waste water is discharged directly into the sea. Efforts are currently under way to create a more efficient waste water system for the benefit of public health.

The mobile phone is essential for development – and for utilities

In Ghana they spend days looking for a blocked sewage pipe, whereas in Denmark we can find such blockages quickly using GIS technology. We have everything registered and can access data digitally. Despite widespread poverty, mobile phones are widely used in Africa, and therefore the system is easy to get up and running in Tema, followed by the rest of Ghana and potentially the rest of the continent, says Anne Laustsen, chief engineer for climate adaptation at Aarhus Vand.

The mixture of rainwater and waste water flowing in the streets after a cloudburst is one of the reasons there are still deadly outbreaks of cholera about every two years in Ghana. Another consequence of poor waste water handling is diarrhoea, which is a frequent cause of child mortality.

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GeoNote^™
Training in the use of GeoNote^™
Advice on managing utility data
Ongoing support

GeoNote^™ is a flexible tool developed by our digital twin IT34, giving you a free hand to put the task at the centre. With GeoNote^™ you automate the workflows around daily tasks in a digital map solution, making it easy to get an overview.

Tom Nørring, Danish Ambassador to Ghana

“In Ghana, water waste and the need for clean water are enormous. During the COVID-19 pandemic, access to clean drinking water has deteriorated even more, impacting society’s most marginalised. Denmark has developed many good solutions that we can offer, and with public-private cooperation like the partnership we see between Aarhus and Tema, both Ghana and Danish exports stand to benefit.”

Export of Danish solutions

Aarhus Vand is tied to the project in Ghana through Aarhus Municipality, which is the formal partner of Tema Municipality. In addition to sharing its own experience in the area, Aarhus Municipality is also focused on the export perspective in the cooperation.

“When professionals cooperate and exchange knowledge across borders and cultures, we can contribute innovative solutions and sustainable growth in Ghana. At the same time, our focus is on promoting Danish solutions and technologies, and here we pair Danish companies with foreign players – in this case the public utility company in Tema. Water technology is one of our most important export areas, and we look forward to developing the cooperation between the parties and activating the Danish water industry’s solutions,” says Niels Cajus Pedersen, Project Manager for the partnership at Aarhus Municipality.

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Torbjørn Mandahl Pedersen, Director, LE34 Utilities

“In Denmark, digitalisation and GIS systems are a fundamental part of water supply. LE34’s own GeoNote is used in the Tema project. It is an app that uses GPS to locate where you are when you register a well or water line.”

Wells to be registered using the GeoNote app

“For instance, if you are standing at a well, drain or public toilet that is not registered, it is easy to register it using an ordinary mobile phone. The idea is that municipal employees should be able to register wells and supply lines. And since it is an app, it is easy to equip as many people as necessary,” says Torbjørn Mandahl Pedersen, Director at LE34, underscoring: “In Ghana, the location of pipeline networks and components such as wells is not recorded. Therefore, their drainage system is almost impossible to maintain, and the result is lots of wastewater discharging directly into open channels, and that has to be avoided. We hope we can expand the project throughout Ghana and then to anywhere in the world where there is a similar need for better utility data.”

Read Aarhus Municipality’s article about the cooperation

le34 Forsyningsprojekt i Ghana med dygtige partnere

Forsyningsprojekt i Ghana med dygtige le34

Exemplary cooperation

Since Ghana became the first independent country in West Africa in 1957, it has had close cooperation with Denmark, and for many years it has also undergone good and stable democratic development. At the end of 2020, the traditional development aid for Ghana ceased, but the Danish presence, particularly in relation to the water sector, is still essential for the country’s positive development, according to the Danish ambassador to Ghana, Tom Nørring.

“In Ghana, water waste and the need for clean water are enormous. During the COVID-19 pandemic, access to clean drinking water has deteriorated even more, impacting society’s most marginalised. Denmark has developed many good solutions that we can offer, and with public-private cooperation like the partnership we see between Aarhus and Tema, both Ghana and Danish exports stand to benefit.”

Danish tradition can free people from poverty and hunger

Facts about the project in Tema, Ghana

In recent years, through the Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) programme, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has financed and initiated cooperation between Danish authorities and authorities in developing countries to create alliances that can strengthen the improvements in everyday life that developing countries need. In the summer of 2019, the mayors of Tema Municipality, Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La, and Aarhus Municipality, Jacob Bundsgaard, signed a letter of intent on government cooperation. The water project currently under way is part of this government cooperation. The strategic cooperation supports the parties’ work towards UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Clean water and sanitation.

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