�180m For Sanitation, Water

Ghana has won a �180 million facility from The Netherlands to tackle water and sanitation problems spanning a nine-year period (2012 � 2020). A trade mission from Ghana, led by Julius Debrah, Minister of Local Government & Rural Development, was recently in the Netherlands to participate in the match-making mission at The Hague as part of the Ghana Netherlands WASH Programme. The match-making mission was to facilitate partnerships and strengthen business relations between Dutch and Ghanaian parties in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector and also explore other business opportunities in the Netherlands. The 26-member Ghanaian delegation comprised officials from the Ministry, Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies and the private sector providers. Members of the delegation had the opportunity to visit seven municipalities and interacted with waste management and business establishments and forged business co-operations with Municipalities. The Ghanaian firms had a very successful match making mission, as each firm had two or three partnerships with Dutch companies. The team had 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, at a ceremony, signed a letter of intent with the World WaterNet to enter into partnership to share knowledge and experience in water and waste water management. World WaterNet 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 GNWP is a collaborative programme between the Governments of Ghana and the Netherlands, which focuses 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 to ensure sustainable operation and maintenance of the facilities. To also motivate and leverage private sector involvement and inclusion, an amount of �30 million has been allocated for a Public Private Partnership facility called the Ghana WASH Window (GWW). The trade mission concluded with an impressive closing ceremony, which was attended by a large number of government officials and sector players made up of the private sector and NGOs in the WASH sector in the Netherlands and beyond.