Would The 25-Year Take-or-Pay Water Purchase Agreement Signed In 2011 Have Passed An EU Benchmark Test?

Hmmm, 3y3asem oooo. Yooooooooooooo...
Ghanafuor, the question to ponder is this: would the 25-year take-or-pay Water Purchase Agreement signed in 2011 have passed an EU benchmark test?

Our hard-of-hearing, oft self-seeking, criticism-averse ruling elites should chew on that and use that as the yardstick for approving public procurement involving all private-sector entities. Full stop. Simple. Cool.

The Teshie-Nungua desalination plant began with an unsolicited proposal from Befesa in 2010. The 25-year take-or-pay Water Purchase Agreement was signed in 2011. Ghana Water had to pay a fixed capacity charge even when it did not take the full 60,000 cubic metres per day. Parliament approved a sovereign guarantee in 2012.

The plant's reported construction cost was about US$125 million. Ghana Water shut it down in October 2025. On 17 September 2026, an ICC tribunal in London issued two final awards totalling about US$235 million, net of taxes, in termination payments. Interest runs from 1 April 2026. Counterclaims, including one for US$144.5 million, were substantially dismissed. The award was disclosed by owner Cox Infrastructure Group — 95% owner of Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana Ltd — in Madrid on 21 September.

Fact-checked: What would the EU benchmark say?

The point is not that EU law applies to Ghana. It does not. The 2014 EU procurement directives did not govern Ghana in 2011, and the ICC award is not void under EU law.

The point is that Ghana should use standards _at least as demanding_ as those now applied in the EU:

1. Competition and Publication:l Under the EU Concession Contracts Directive (2014/23/EU), an equivalent 25-year concession awarded by an EU authority today would require OJEU publication and competitive dialogue — not direct award of an unsolicited proposal.

2. Operating Risk: Under EU law, whether a water-purchase agreement is a concession depends on genuine transfer of operating risk to the private party. A take-or-pay that guarantees fixed capacity payments whether water is taken or not, plus a sovereign guarantee covering termination, transfers demand risk back to the state. In the EU, that would be reclassified as a public contract requiring full procurement.

3. State Aid Discipline: Article 108 TFEU requires EU Member States to notify new state aid to the European Commission before effect. Ghana's guarantee is not EU state aid, but the principle is the yardstick: assess public exposure, publish terms, quantify contingent liability before taxpayers are bound. Ghana's 2012 guarantee was approved without that discipline.

In Spain, Acuamed — the state water company — procured desalination works at Torrevieja and Carboneras via competitive tender. They are not identical to Teshie, but they show the benchmark: competition as a cost-control.

The juxtaposition that shames us:
On 22 July 2026, Accra High Court (Commercial Division 3) ordered Bank of Ghana to release GH¢79,651,132 from GRA's refund account to Servistar Minwax. Director Henry Manly-Spain rejected it, petitioning GRA Commissioner-General on 1 August: his documented claim was GH¢8.95 million — GH¢7m for containers sold plus GH¢940k overpaid duties — with interest not exceeding GH¢10m. "My conscience will not allow it," he said.

If a GH¢8.95m receipt-verifiable claim could lead to a GH¢79.65m judgement, what forensic scrutiny was applied to Teshie's termination formula?

The contradiction:
On 26 September 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced almost €710 million in humanitarian support, including €380 million in migration-related financing for Sub-Saharan Africa, saying "Europe stands with you."

Europe stands with us through aid, while a Spanish company enforces a US$235m award under a contract that would not pass the EU's own benchmark test today.

The lesson? Don't import rentier models that Europe would not tolerate at home. Use EU standards as the minimum yardstick for all Ghanaian public procurement and sovereign guarantees. Full stop.

Eiiiii Anansesemkrom Ghana paaa diy33. Tweaaaaaaaaa...

#Teshie235m #PublicProcurement