Ghana: Review of Bank Assistance to the Power and Telecommunications Sectors, 1978-2002

Evaluation Team

This report was prepared by Mr. Shashi Desai, Power Engineer and Dr. Anup Wadhawan, Public Utilities Specialist (Consultants), under the overall supervision of Mrs. G. Hall-Yirga, following their mission to Ghana in August-September 2004.

Objective

The objectives of this review are to assess the policies and strategies put in place over the years both by the Government and the Bank in order to guide priority setting for the development of the Power and Telecommunications sectors and the performance of the projects. The standard evaluation benchmarks: Relevance, Efficacy of Bank Assistance, Efficiency of Implementation, Institutional Development Impact, and Sustainability including impact on cross-cutting issues were applied in assessing performance and development effectiveness of the interventions.

Main Lessons

• In the absence of related operational guidelines; the implementation and monitoring and evaluationof projects' policy objectives is difficult. 

• A policy based on independent regulation, entry of private firms and competition can lead to a quick and significant transformation in the service quality and number of persons/areas served.