Ghana’s urban water to get a boost

Ghana faces serious constraints to meeting the challenge of providing adequate water and sanitation for its rural and urban inhabitants.

Poor urban communities use different sources of water for different purposes. In most cases, tap water is used for drinking and cooking, whilst hand dug well and river water is used for washing.

The main reason for this is the long distance to reach a tap that provides safe water, where as the alternative sources are nearby and are either free or cost only a small fee compared to the safer sources.

Most people draw their drinking water from communal and household taps, but some use water for this purpose from wells and other unprotected sources.

Water supply to individual houses in the Metropolis is either by connection from the main and secondary lines or from water vendors.

Generally, the availability and distribution of potable water varies from one community to the other, depending on the location and proximity of the community to the main water point, secondary lines or from water vendors.

Ghana’s urban water solutions have been among the most prioritized areas successive governments have been striving to solve for the past decade particularly in the urban areas.

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) which is responsible for providing, distributing, and conserving water for domestic, public, and industrial purposes in approximately one hundred urban systems has registered some level of inefficiency. This has compelled almost all prospective house owners to resort to borehole construction.

It is therefore in this regard that VIA Water Innovation Challenge is putting together pioneers with disruptive ideas that will solve countries’ urban water issues beginning September 21, 2015 to October ending to bring their ideas to the next level with support of experts and funding.

VIA Water is a Dutch programme that aims to support innovative solutions for water problems facing cities in Africa to get to the next stage. The programme supports innovators in seven African countries, Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Sudan.

Ms Patricia Safo, the CEO of JCS Investments Limited who is the country representative of the programme in Ghana tells B&FT that the innovators with most promising concepts will have the opportunity to join an online acceleration program which will consist of workshops and individual coaching sessions and will lead to developing a pilot proposal.

The proposals with the best fit with the objectives of the VIA Water Fund will be offered the opportunity to implement their pilot proposal with VIA Water support including coaching by experts, support from VIA Water’s network and grant funding.

VIA Water Challenge Innovation is aimed at bringing together brilliant inventers, great minds and risk taking entrepreneurs to take part in an intense six week virtual programme that will accelerate one’s promising water idea into the next stage with innovative thinkers who have ideas to solve a water problem in cities.

Applicants for the challenge are expected to provide a two pager with at least a project title, country and location, budget indication, background and context as well as the main idea.

Other relevant requirements will be a plan on how to implement the idea, explanation of why this is ‘new’ (or innovative) and why the opportunity cannot be missed.

The Water Innovation Challenge is cooperation among VIA Water, Africa Funded and Aqua for All.

VIA Water is a Dutch programme that aims to support innovative solutions for water problems facing cities in Africa to get to the next stage. VIA Water supports innovators in Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Sudan.

Africa Funded empowers entrepreneurs in emerging economies by increasing access to knowledge, expertise and funding and Aqua for All is a Dutch NGO focusing on increasing access to water and sanitation for the poor and it is the fund manager of the VIA Water Fund.