Standard Bank funds desalination plant project in Ghana

Standard Bank Group has decided to provide a financial package for the construction of a $126m seawater desalination plant in Accra, Ghana.

Befesa Ghana is developing the desalination facility, which will have a capacity to produce 60,000m³ per day of potable water.

The plant is expected to provide potable water to about 400,000 residents in Accra, who currently have limited access to safe drinkable water.

Spain-based infrastructure company Abengoa and Japan’s Sojitz will jointly bear 30% of the project cost, while the remaining 70% of the cost will be provided by the bank in the form of a senior debt.

Abengoa will construct and operate the desalination plant, based on a build-operate-transfer model, while the entire project will be based on international public-private partnership standards.

Standard Bank Group Power and Infrastructure Finance head George Kotsovos said, "The deal looks at the entire project’s sustainability, from the pipeline carrying water to the residents and long-term agreements between the project, water authority and the relevant local authorities for the sale of water, thereby ensuring the project is bankable."

Stanbic Bank Ghana, a Standard Bank Group subsidiary, will take care of the project’s local financing and banking needs.

Stanbic Bank Ghana Corporate and Investment Banking director Kwamina Asomaning said the project will improve the social, economical, and health standards of the region.

"This in turn further raises a community’s ability to pay for services," Asomaning added.

The World Bank will also support the project, by performing feasibility studies and providing credit enhancement to emphasise the 12 year funding term.

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Image: Standard Bank is financing the construction of a desalination plant in Accra, Ghana. Photo: Courtesy of Alex Anlicker.