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Ghana’s Bui Dam and the Contestation over Hydro Power in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

Roger Gocking Open the ORCID record for Roger Gocking [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

The negative environmental and social consequences of the major era of hydroelectric dam building in the 1950s and 60s generated social and political opposition to similar projects by the 1990s. In Ghana, hydroelectricity’s dependence on unpredictable rainfall also undermined the attractiveness of this source of electricity. The Bui Dam, Ghana’s third hydroelectric dam, faced considerable opposition until 2006, when the Chinese government loaned money for its construction. Gocking details how Chinese companies with similar funding, and constructing infrastructure projects in general in Africa, have contributed to a second era of major dam building in that continent, although there still remains considerable contestation.

Résumé

Résumé

Les conséquences environnementales et sociales négatives de la grande époque de la construction de barrages hydroélectriques dans les années 1950 et 60 ont suscité une opposition sociale et politique à des projets similaires dans les années 90. Au Ghana, la dépendance hydroélectrique en fonction des précipitations imprévisibles a également érodé l’attrait de cette source d’électricité. Le barrage de Bui, troisième barrage hydroélectrique du Ghana, a fait face à une opposition considérable jusqu’en 2006, lorsque le gouvernement chinois a prêté de l’argent pour sa construction. Gocking explique comment des entreprises chinoises bénéficiant de financements similaires et construisant des projets d’infrastructure en général en Afrique, ont contribué à une deuxième ère de construction de grands barrages sur ce continent, bien qu’il subsiste encore une contestation considérable.

Resumo

Resumo

As consequências negativas da grande era de construção de barragens hidroelétricas, nas décadas de 1950 e 1960, deu origem à emergência de uma oposição social e política a projetos deste tipo na década de 1990. No Gana, o facto de a hidroeletricidade depender da pluviosidade, sempre imprevisível, contribuiu igualmente para que esta fonte de eletricidade perdesse atratividade. O projeto da barragem de Bui, a terceira maior do Gana, enfrentou forte contestação até 2006, altura em que o governo chinês concedeu um empréstimo para a sua construção. Gocking analisa em pormenor o modo como as empresas chinesas e respetivo sistema de financiamento – bem como, mais genericamente, os projetos de construção de infraestruturas em África –, têm contribuído para encetar uma segunda grande era de construção de barragens no continente, apesar de ainda se verificar contestação significativa.

Keywords

hydroelectric damsenvironmental oppositionpopulation displacementChinese construction companiessustainability
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 339 - 362
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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