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| The Bui Dam |
Some Ambitious projects
on the African continent which were conceived before and after 1960’s did not
immediately come to fruition because some of such projects were halted and are
now being constructed after many years. But how can we bridge the gap between
us and the developed countries if we are now constructing some projects
conceived and planned same decades ago?
In middle last year, the Government of the Central African
conflict prone country of the Democratic Republic of Congo of Congo announced
in the French capital, Paris, the construction of the first phase of what would
be the world’s biggest hydroelectric project on the Congo River’s Inga Falls
dubbed the “Grand Inga”.
The overall project which is in five phases will commence on
October 2015 and is estimated to cost $80 billion. When completed, the 40,000
megawatts (MW) hydroelectric project can light up half of the continent and
provide more than 500 million people with renewable energy.
However, the
project was conceived over 40 years ago in the early 1970’s during the era of
Africa’s most corrupt leader Mobutu Sese Seko. Even though this is good news, why is such
project conceived many years ago now being streamlined?
Here in Ghana, the 400 megawatts Bui hydroelectric dam was
conceived by our first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah over 50 years is of no
exception; together with some other projects pending which could have benefited
the nation.
On the other hand, the Akosombo took only four years to be
constructed after some preparatory works have been done. Why did the
construction of the Bui hydroelectric project take us over 50 years? One negative aspect of such projects is the
cost involved. If the Bui hydroelectric project had been constructed
immediately it was conceived, the state would not have spent US $622 million
for the project.
It is sad that in our part of the world, projects which would
have benefited the continent were halted due to change in government or military
coup. We are now spending huge sums of money which could have been used to develop
other sectors of the economy to construct the old initiated projects.
In Ghana, we never had a stable era after independence until
1992. The periods before then were truncated by three military coups in 1966,
1972 and 1981 and these periods never took us anywhere.
As to why D.R. Congo
was unable then to construct such a remarkable project in the 1970’s has to do
with leadership qualities and sectarian conflicts in the region even though,
the country has two smaller dams. They are “Inga 1” constructed in 1972 and
“Inga 2” which was operational 10 years later. The then President, Mobutu Sese
Seko is reported to have amassed a vast of the country’s resources into his
personal wealth and the nation is still suffering up to date.
All these developments tell us that the military eras have
seriously derailed the fortunes of the continent. But all is not lost as
countries such as South Africa and few others are doing well in the
developmental processes; although they also have their setbacks.
There is the need for us as a people, especially those in the
decision making positions to collaborate firmly and effectively towards the
development of the continent. Those caught mismanaging and embezzling public
funds must be dealt with to deter others from doing same.
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