Ghana: Privatization — A Work in Progress

Abstract

Privatization has dominated reform policies in Ghana’s water and electricity sectors since the early 1990s when substantial restructuring was planned with a view to paving the way for private sector investment. More than a decade later, although results have been disappointing, there remain hopes that the private sector will intervene both to bring in investment and to make utilities operate efficiently. In the water sector, during the 1990s, restructuring took the form of separating the potentially lucrative urban water sector from the ‘social’ water service to rural areas and small towns so that the urban segment could be privatized. After several years the aspirations for Private Sector Participation (PSP) had to be scaled down due in part to massive domestic and international protests against the privatization of water as well as changes in the international climate regarding private sector investment in infrastructure.