2. HISTORY
The people of Ghana wanted hydroelectricity for
aluminum industry. They decided to build a
dam on the River Volta, which is the world's
largest man-made lake, covering 8,502 square
kilometers (3,283 sq mi). As the dam cost a
fortune Ghana had to take loans from the
World Bank and UK, and a large loan from the
USA. As a part of this deal, an American
Company called Valco got the right to produce
almunium in Ghana.
3. Challenges faced while building
the dam
•Over 80,000 people were moved from their
farms and villages to make way for the Akosombo
dam.
•Increased human migration within the area has
been driven by poverty and unfavorable
resettlement conditions.
•The Akosombo Dam increased substantially the
conditions for the spread of schistosomiasis.
4. Effects of the Dam
The dam has helped Ghana in many ways but things
did not turn out the way they expected:
• Valco was still importing alumina from Jamaica
and using none of Ghana’s bauxite.
• It did not has to pay a tax on the alumina it
imported.
• Lake volta was not being used for irrigation, or
transport, or tourism.
• Most of the rural areas in Ghana did not had any
electricity!