The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) held its third 'Regulatory Conversation Series' on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, engaging stakeholders and soliciting professional input on Ghana's water supply sector challenges.

The 2024 edition of the series focused on the sustainable development and management of Ghana’s water resources and supply. Hence, the theme was 'Confronting the Status Quo of Ghana's Drinking Water Supply: Best Practices in Resilience, Sustainability, and Investment.'

The insightful discourse, held at the Kempinski Hotel, highlighted the main challenge of the water utility service: inadequate water supply and significant water losses (non-revenue water), particularly in rural areas where the PURC's mandate is limited.

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

The significant discrepancy in water service exposed the need for a discussion on how to eliminate bottlenecks between the urban water sector, regulated by the PURC, and the rural sector, overseen by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.

Mr. Ebo Quagrainie, the board chairman of PURC, during his opening remarks, suggested that the current water regulatory structure, reformed in the 90s, would need to be reassessed to enhance Ghana's drinking water supply sector.

"It is worth noting that despite significant progress in the water sector in Ghana, obstacles persist that impede universal access to safe drinking water. These circumstances have prompted us to question whether, after several years of implementing the aforementioned reforms, it is not time to reassess the situation," he said.

He also indicated that despite the commission's mandate being limited to urban areas, it has developed measures to link and bridge the gap between urban and rural water service operations.

"Even though the PURC’s water mandate is limited to urban areas, the Commission, from its vantage position as the sole regulator of energy and water utility services, has acquired deep insights into cross-cutting structural and operational bottlenecks that exist between urban and rural structures," he noted.

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

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

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