Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama has urged TAQA, the country’s largest UAE investor to develop additional power and water infrastructure in his country.
President Mahama lauded the role of TAQA in supporting economic growth in the West African nation through its power plant in Takoradi.
“The Takoradi power plant is one of our vital resources. It has a key role in our economic vision, and its potential is key to our growth. And yes, we are looking to upgrade that potential, significantly,” he said.
The Takaoradi 2 Thermal Power Project represents approximately 15 percent of Ghana’s installed capacity.
TAQA, which holds a 90 per cent share in and operates the Takoradi 2 plant, raised $330 million in project finance for the expansion of the Takoradi plant last year. It recently pledged to build an additional power plant that will help generate 300 megawatts of power at the Takoradi Thermal plant.
Speaking on their partnership, His Excellency Khalid Al Ghaith, the UAE Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs; said: “Co-operation with West Africa and Ghana in particular is a major part of the UAE’s foreign policy agenda, and we are very interested in increasing that co-operation by sharing our expertise in various fields, especially in energy.”
Both sides are in talk on how to improve their trade and economic ties.
Khaled Al Sayari, TAQA’s Group Vice-President of Strategic Relationships and Public Affairs, Mr Al Sayari confirmed in a statement that they “discussed TAQA looking at the water market in Ghana.”
“Ghana has been asking for the UAE to share our expertise in this field, and so this is another area in which further co-operation could be established,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state owned utility company plan to set up its water business separately and it has expressed its interest in growing its water business in the East and North Africa (MENA) via new projects and acquisitions.
“We are looking at doing some projects in the UAE and some across the MENA region and India where the market is huge,” Ahmed bin Abbod al Adawi, head of TAQA’s global water operations, told Reuters.
TAQA is an international energy and water company operating in11 countries across four continents.
