2010年-世界发展银行全球_Ghanas_Infrastructure___A_Continental_Perspective_51页_2mb

Ghana's Infrastructure: A Continental Perspective Summary

Core Content

This report, part of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), provides an in-depth analysis of Ghana's infrastructure development, its performance relative to other African countries, and the challenges it faces in sustaining and improving its infrastructure systems. The report highlights the importance of infrastructure in driving economic growth and outlines the financial and efficiency gaps that need to be addressed.

Main Points

Infrastructure's Role in Economic Growth

• Infrastructure contributed 1 percentage point to Ghana's improved per capita growth during the 2000s, though unreliable power supplies held growth back by 0.5 percentage points.
• Raising infrastructure to the level of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by more than 2.7 percentage points.
• The impact of infrastructure on growth is more pronounced in neighboring countries like Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal, where the ICT revolution significantly boosted growth.

Ghana's Infrastructure Performance

• Ghana has a very advanced infrastructure platform compared to other low-income African countries.
• The country has made significant progress in service coverage, including telephone, power, and water access, both in urban and rural areas.
• Road infrastructure is among the strongest in the region, with a good proportion of roads in good or fair condition.
• The power sector is a major challenge, with hidden costs due to underpricing and reliance on expensive oil-based generation.
• Water supply and sanitation have achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), but service reliability remains an issue due to high water losses.

Regional Integration

• Ghana maintains international road corridors but lacks power and ICT connectivity with its neighbors.
• The Port of Tema is becoming a key transit gateway, but its success depends on addressing capacity constraints.
• Ghana is connected to Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria through power and gas pipelines, but further energy interconnections are planned as part of the West Africa Power Pool.

Key Sectors and Their Performance

Roads

• Achievements:
  • Strong road transport indicators, surpassing those of low-income countries.
  • 75% of paved roads and 74% of unpaved roads are in good or fair condition.
  • A relatively high fuel levy of $0.06 per liter is aligned with maintenance needs.
• Challenges:
  • Rural road coverage is insufficient, with only 24% of rural population within 2 km of an all-season road.
  • Rural road extension is needed to support agricultural production.
  • Under- and over-engineering of roads may lead to inefficiencies in resource allocation.

Rail

• Challenges:
  • Funding for railway rehabilitation is a major issue.
  • The Ghana Rail Corporation (GRC) needs to improve performance to recapture mining traffic.

Ports

• Achievements:
  • Advanced institutional reforms and private sector participation.
• Challenges:
  • Capacity constraints are holding back performance.

Air Transport

• Achievements:
  • Accra is playing an emerging role in serving the sub-region.
  • Aircraft fleet renewal is underway.
• Challenges:
  • Improving air safety and security is a priority.

ICT

• Achievements:
  • A very competitive market with high mobile penetration at low cost.
• Challenges:
  • Improving service quality and harnessing the market to achieve universal access (Internet and mobile).

Power

• Achievements:
  • Good electrification rate and generation capacity.
• Challenges:
  • High hidden costs due to underpricing.
  • Reliability issues caused by aging transmission and distribution networks.
  • Reliance on oil-based generation is costly and unsustainable; gas-fired plants are a viable alternative.

Water and Sanitation

• Achievements:
  • Reached the MDG for water supply.
  • Significant improvements in utility finances.
• Challenges:
  • Service reliability and non-revenue water.
  • Sanitation MDG still to be achieved.

Water Resources

• Achievements:
  • Substantial water storage capacity by African standards.
• Challenges:
  • Strengthening the capacity of the new River Basin Organization.
  • Developing irrigation potential.

Financing Infrastructure

• Ghana's annual infrastructure funding gap is about $400 million, with power and water being the main contributors.
• The Volta River Authority (VRA) faces annual financial losses of $400 million due to the underpricing of power.
• Ghana's current infrastructure spending is $1.2 billion per year, equivalent to 7.5% of GDP.
• To address the $2.3 billion annual funding need, Ghana must increase investment and operations spending.
• The country has a solid economic base and can potentially increase public funding through increased fiscal receipts and private finance.

Conclusion

Ghana has made significant progress in infrastructure development, particularly in ICT, power, and water services. However, the quality of services remains a concern, especially in power and water supply. The funding gap is substantial, and the transition to middle-income status will require sustained investment and policy reforms. With strong institutional frameworks and strategic investments, Ghana has the potential to transform its infrastructure and further boost economic growth.