PURC is organizing its third series of regulatory talks on the challenges of the water supply sector in Ghana

On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) held its third “Regulatory Conversation Series”, engaging stakeholders and seeking professional input on the challenges of the water supply sector in Ghana.

The 2024 edition of the series focused on sustainable development and management of water resources and water supplies in Ghana. Therefore, the main theme was “Confronting the Status Quo of Drinking Water Supply in Ghana: Best Practices in Resilience, Sustainability and Investment.”

The insightful discourse held at the Kempinski Hotel highlighted the main challenge facing water services: inadequate water supply and significant water losses (non-revenue water), especially in rural areas where PURC’s mandate is limited.

PURC’s focus on community water services follows a 2022 joint report by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) which found that approximately 70% of the urban population in Ghana has access to safely managed drinking water services, while only 45% of the rural population had access to the same level of services.

The significant divergence in the provision of water services has highlighted the need to discuss how to eliminate bottlenecks between the urban water sector, regulated by PURC, and the rural sector, regulated by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.

Mr. Ebo Quagrainie, Chairman of the Board of PURC, in his opening remarks suggested that the current water regulatory structure, reformed in the 1990s, would need to be reassessed to improve the drinking water sector in Ghana.

“It is worth noting that despite significant progress in the water sector in Ghana, obstacles to universal access to safe drinking water remain. These circumstances have made us wonder whether, after several years of implementing these reforms, it is time to reassess the situation,” he said.

He also pointed out that although the commission’s mandate is limited to urban areas, it has developed measures to link and bridge the gap between water services in urban and rural areas.

“Even though the PURC’s water powers are limited to urban areas, the Commission, from its privileged position as the sole regulator of municipal energy and water services, has gained deep insight into the cross-cutting structural and operational bottlenecks that exist between urban and rural structures,” he noticed.

Mr Quagrainie engaged stakeholders on the theme of “Best Practices in Resilience, Sustainability and Investment”, asking for proposals in three areas: infrastructure investment, technology investment and piecemeal regulation to help the commission achieve its goal in the water sector.

PURC launched the Regulatory Talk Series as an annual event that engages and provides insight on utility regulatory issues to a high-level audience of policymakers, development partners, other African utility regulators, utility executives public, industry, academia and regulatory professionals.

The first two editions of the series took place in October 2022 and April 2023.