Ghana gets $649m first tranche of $2bn Sinohydro infrastructure facility – Minister
…Silence engulfs 3,050MW Mambilla power scheme linked to Sinhydro, others
Whereas quietness and apprehension can best describe state of affairs at the multibillion dollar 3,050 Mega Watt Mambilla power scheme in Taraba State in the last couple of months, Ghanaian Minister of Information, Mr Oppong Mkrumah has told parliamentarians that government can now access $649 million as the first tranche of the two billion dollar Sinohydro Infrastructure for Bauxite Transaction from China.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, who announced this, said Ghana had between now and 2020 to access the two billion dollar facility to propel the nation’s infrastructure drive and the development of Bauxite and Aluminum sub sector. The government had earlier established the Ghana Integrated Bauxite and Aluminum Development Corporation (GIBADC), to serve as lead firm to drive the solid minerals development in partnership with the Chinese investor, Sinohydro Corporation.
The Federal Government had on Friday, November 10, 2017, signed an agreement with three Joint Venture (JV) partners to begin the processes of executing 3,050 MegaWatts (MW) Mambilla hydro electric power plant in Taraba.
The JV companies which include China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC), Sinohydro Corporation Ltd and CGOC Group Ltd, are by the deal, expected to source fund for the development of the project.
This followed the August 30, 2017 approval given by the Federal Executive Council on the award of the turnkey EPC contract of the Mambilla hydro power project to the three companies in the sum of 5.792 billion dollars about N1.140 trillion.
The Minster of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, who signed on behalf of the Federal Government, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for reviving the 40- year old power project.
Though he said the agreement was a further step at increasing the energy mix and as well as provide energy security in the country, recent checks at the project communities showed total silence as to construction activities.
Locals who spoke to our correspondent in Taraba State denied any knowledge of resumption of relocation compensation payments or construction activities.
A source at the Ministry confided in our reporter that since the deal was sealed last year, the consortium appeared to be looking for funds for takeoff.
However, the scenario when compared to developments in Ghana, casts doubt on the possibility of the Nigeria’s Mambilla power scheme after all.
Whereas the scope of works of the Mambilla project includes four large dams, two underground power houses of 12 units of 250MW each, other components of the project include the construction of two 330kv of 700 km transmission lines to Markudi and Jalingo, 120km of access roads connecting the projects sites and nearby communities and resettlement of an estimated 100,000 persons.
The project is expected to be completed within six years from whenever it kicks off.
Just as followers of the Mambilla power scheme remain in the dark as to the true state of things, the Ghanaian Information Minister told Parliamentarians that the Sinohydro deal had 30 per cent local content reserved for Ghanaian contractors.
Business Hilights Ghana Bureau chief recalls that Ghana and Sinohydro of China signed the Master Project Support Agreement, last year, when Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia visited the giant Asian country with the world’s second largest economy.
Details show that Ghana has 15 years to settle her side of the deal through a Bauxite Barter Arrangement. This includes a three-year moratorium.
Ghana News Agency had earlier disclosed that some of the projects to be funded with the $649 million are the 84-kilometre Accra Inner City roads, 100-km Kumasi Inner City roads, Tamale-Interchange, Takoradi PTC Roundabout Dual Carriageway and the Sunyani Inner City roads
The rest are the Adenta-Dodowa-Dual-Carriageway, Western Region and Cape Coast Inner City Roads, the upgrading of selected feeder roads in the Ashanti and Western regions, the rehabilitation of the 38-km Oda-Ofoase Abirem Road and the construction of 66.4-km Hohoe-Jasikan-Dodo Pepesu Road.
