Download our African Dams Briefing and corresponding map. These documents give a listing and summary of the planned dams in Africa for which we have come across information.
Read an overview of Chinese Dam Building in Africa
Learn more about a few key projects:
Adjarala Dam, Togo and Benin
The 96–MW Adjarala Dam would be the second largest hydropower dam on the
Mono River between the countries of Benin and Togo. Partial financing
for construction of Adjarala has been offered by the Export–Import Bank
of China (€24 million) in exchange for supply contracts. An undated
summary of the Environmental Impact Assessment notes negative impacts
would include displacement of over 8,000 people (75% in Togo, 25% in
Benin), increased coastal erosion, and reservoirj pollution from
upstream factories. Greenhouse gas emissions will likely be high due to
little planned removal of vegetation in the area of the reservoir. The
Benin Electricity Corporation (CEB) is responsible for the project. The
project has been considered for nearly ten years, and follows the
Nangbeto Dam, which was commissioned upstream in 1987. Nangbeto Dam
created disastrous impacts for resettled communities after World Bank
financing was approved without a resettlement plan.
Bui Dam, Ghana
Bui Dam proposed for the Black Volta River would flood nearly a quarter
of the Bui National Park, destroying habitat for rare hippos, forcibly
resettling 2,600 people and affecting thousands more. In 2007, a financing deal worth over $560 million was struck with China Exim Bank and the project is to be built by China's Sinohydro. Plans to build Bui Dam were shelved in 2001 after a public statement by the
government announced that it was not the least–cost option and
could not meet immediate energy needs. "One can no longer assume that
hydropower generation is cheaper anymore," said Charles Wereko–Brobby,
Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority (VRA). "If you are running
thermal with gas, you can run it half the cost of hydropower from Bui."
In recent years, Ghana has been plagued by power rationing because of
its dependence on large hydro projects. Meanwhile, the country's electricity grid has been plagued with outages due to low reservoir levels at Ghana's largest hydrodam, Akosombo.
Lower Kihansi Dam, Tanzania
The 180MW hydroelectric facility in the Lower Kihansi Gorge, south
central Tanzania, has been on stream since December 1999. The project
cost $275 million in total, financed by TANESCO/Tanzania Government,
World Bank/IDA, NORAD, SIDA, KfW and the EIB. Evidence of environmental
damage during the dam's construction led to NORAD (one of the
financers) making its own technical review. It found the original World
Bank environmental assessment to be of such poor quality that it
financed its own Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The dam has
affected 20,000 villagers and destroyed an 800m–high waterfall,
the only habitat in which a newly discovered species of toad resides. In 2007, the World Bank approved financing to help save the Kihansi Spray Toad, which was brought to near extinction by the dam.
Manantali Dam, Senegal River Valley
Manantali Dam is a prime example of how a large dam can cause impoverishment in the name of development. Constructed in 1987, it was designed as a multi–purpose dam to generate 200MW of electricity for the capitals of Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal; irrigate nearly 4,000 km2; and allow over 400 km navigation between major cities along the Senegal River. After building the dam at a cost of almost $500 million, funding was used up before the power station, the project’s primary revenue source, was built. A team of new funders, including the World Bank, was coordinated in 1998 to build the power station, which came online in 2001. The project directly displaced 12,000 people without full compensation needed to sustain their lifestyle and affected up to 100,000 along the river by destroying successful flood recession farming techniques and downstream fishing. There have also been significant health impacts across the valley related to the project. In 2001, South Africa’s Eskom won a 15 year contract to operate Manantali Dam.
Sondu–Miriu River, Kenya
Sondu–Miriu is a 60 MW dam on the Sondu River that is expected to be completed in 2005, after years of delay. Affected communities have complained about the poor compensation, corruption and lack of transparency in the project. The Japan Bank For International Cooperation (JBIC) suspended its funding of the project in mid 2001 after significant resistance by affected communities and NGOs, but re–committed to completing the dam in November 2004. In January 2005, Kenya’s Environmental Minister declared that Sondu–Miriu will be a "white elephant" if heavy deforestation continues in the watershed, as increased siltation from the eroded landscape would wash into the river, shortening the life of the dam.
LATEST ADDITIONS:
Ghana Reservoir Would Be Major Greenhouse Gas Emitter
Urgent Action on the proposed Bui Dam
African Dams Briefing & Map
Restoring the Zambezi: Can Dams Play a Role?
Can This River Be Saved? Rethinking Cahora Bassa Could Make a Difference for Dam–Battered Zambezi
CONTACT US:
Lori Pottinger
lori [at] internationalrivers [dot] org
+1 510 848 1155
