Ghana's infrastructure: a continental perspective

Vivien Foster and Nataliya Pushak

No 5600, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Infrastructure contributed just over one percentage point to Ghana's annual per capital GDP growth during the 2000s. Raising the country’s infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost the annual growth rate by more than 2.7 percentage points. Ghana has an advanced infrastructure platform when compared with other low-income countries in Africa. The country’s coverage levels for rural water, electricity, and GSM signals are impressive. A large share of the road network is in good or fair condition. Institutional reforms have been adopted in the ICT, ports, roads, and water supply sectors. Ghana’s most pressing challenges lie in the power sector, where outmoded transmission and distribution assets, rapid demand growth, and periodic hydrological shocks leave the country reliant on high-cost oil-based generation. Exceptionally high losses in water distribution leave little to reach end customers, who are thus exposed to intermittent supplies. Addressing Ghana's infrastructure challenges will require raising annual expenditures to $2.3 billion. The country already spends about $1.2 billion per year on infrastructure, equivalent to about 7.5 percent of GDP. A further $1.1 billion is lost each year to inefficiencies, notably underpricing of power.Ghana's annual infrastructure funding gap is about $0.4 billion per year, chiefly related to power and water. Following its recent oil discoveries, Ghana can raise additional public funding from increased tax receipts. The country has several strong areas on which to build and a solid economic base from which to fund incremental efforts.

Keywords: Transport Economics Policy&Planning; Infrastructure Economics; Town Water Supply and Sanitation; Energy Production and Transportation; Water Supply and Systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-dev
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