Akosombo Dam

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Reservoir information
Akosombo Dam
Akosombo Dam as seen from the Volta Hotel
Official name	Akosombo Dam
Impounds	Volta river
Creates	Volta Lake
Locale	Akosombo,Ghana
Maintained by	Volta River Authority
Length	2165.33ft (660m)
Height	374 ft (114m)
Width (at base)	1200.77ft (366m)
Construction began	1961
Opening date	1965
Construction Cost	£130 million
Capacity	148 x 10¹² litres
Catchment area	8502 sq.km
Geographical Data
Coordinates	6°17′59″N, 0°03′34″E

The Akosombo Dam is a hydroelectric dam in southeastern Ghana. The dam created the largest man-made lake n the world, known as Lake Volta. The dam provides electricity to Ghana and surrounding West African countries including Togo and Benin.

The dam is 660 metres wide and 114 metres high. It cost £130 million to build. It was built between 1961^[1] and 1965. Its development was undertaken by the Ghanaian government and funded in part by the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development World Bank, the United States and the United Kingdom.^[2] The idea for the dam originated in 1915 with the Geologist Albert Ernest Kitson but it was only in the 1940s that plans for the dam began to be drawn up.

In periods of drought, the water in Lake Volta is rationed and less electricity is generated. During these times, cities in Ghana are subjected to rolling blackouts to lessen their consumption of electricity. Ghana's Volta River Authority has contracts with neighbouring countries for electricity. These contracts are given higher priority than the customers in Ghana's own cities. Though Kaiser Aluminum is a major user, and the dam was constructed in part for the smelting of local bauxite, the economics have turned out such that raw materials have to be imported to keep the industry running. The Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) is another major user. Valco had said previously that they would use the local bauxite. When the dam was built, they instead imported the necessary material (alumina, what bauxite is made into) from Jamaica.

As a result of the larger companies taking the electricity for themselves and their industry, the people of Ghana have not actually benefited from the dam, which was its original purpose. Many of the locals believe that the dam is a waste of money, especially as the country has to import the raw materials for use in the consumption of the electricity.

It is estimated that if the money spent on the dam had been spent on infrastructure, every 50 people in the country would have been able to have their own well.