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Ghana is set to inaugurate the first desalination plant in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Accra by February, 2015. President John Dramani Mahama has hinted that construction of the $125 million project is already complete awaiting inauguration. Situated at Nungua, a suburb of the capital, Accra, the plant will pump 13.2 million gallons of freshwater daily derived from treated seawater to about 500,000 people in Teshie and Nungua. Sojitz Corporation, Japan�s largest importer of rare earth metals, partnered a leading Spanish freshwater firm, Abengoa Water, to establish the project. Water to be sold to GWCL The investors have entered into a 25-year build, own, operate and transfer contract with the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) , to sell the water to the Ghanaian operator for distribution to customers. During the inauguration of the expanded Kpong Water Supply in the Eastern region last Tuesday, President Mahama said the desalination project fell in line with the government's move to make seawater safer for drinking. Ghana becomes one of the few countries in Africa to operate such a facility. Algeria operates Africa's biggest desalinated plant, the Magtaa plant. Worldwide, there are over 7,500 desalination plants in operation. About 60 per cent of the number is located in the Middle East. The world's biggest desalination plant is located in Saudi Arabia, and it produces 128 million gallons of desalted water. Improving water supply in Accra In an interview, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing Alhaji Collins Dauda said the desalinated plant would add to the efforts of government to improve water supply in Accra. Demand for water in Ghana particularly the capital, keeps rising as a result of economic growth, increasing population and urbanisation. With the coming on board of the Kpong project, which will benefit many communities in the capital, the water situation in the capital looks brighter into the future.