Ghana to host 8th Ministerial conference of Volta Basin Authority

Ghana would host the 8th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) from May 6 to May 10, 2019, in Accra.

A statement signed by Mr Nelson Kofi Akatey and copied to the Ghana News Agency the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources said the conference would bring together participants from Ghana, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

The participants would discuss issues that would ensure the rationale and sustainable management of the water resources of the Volta Basin for their common good.

The Basin, which is shared by the participating countries, covers a distance of 1,850 kilometres from North to South and an area of approximately 400,000 kilometres.

The Basin comprises the White Volta, Black Volta, and the Oti Rivers which converge into the Lower Volta and flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Ada in Ghana.

The Volta Basin Authority according to the statement is mandated to among others promote permanent consultation tools among parties for the development of the Volta Basin.

It also has the mandate to authorise the development of infrastructure and projects planned by the stakeholders, which could have substantial impact on the water resources of the Basin.

It further seeks to contribute to poverty alleviation and substantial development of the parties in the Volta Basin for better socio-economic integration in the sub-region per Article 6 of the VBA constitution, the statement said.

The statement disclosed that the conference would come out with a communique by member states for the implementation of its objectives and the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah would address the conference.

The Volta Basin Authority was formally established in August 2009 to ensure international cooperation for the rational and sustainable management of the Volta Basin by the participating countries.