10 Facts about Akosombo Dam





Facts about Akosombo Dam discuss the dam located in Ghana. The first sub Saharan country which declared the independence was Ghana in 1957. Since 1992, Ghana has been a democratic country. The Akosombo dam is very important to the life of the people in Ghana. There 25 million people in Ghana who used the electricity produced by the dam. Moreover, the Akosombo dam is also the source of the freshwater for the Ghana people. Find out more Akosombo dam facts here:

Facts about Akosombo Dam 1: Gold Coast

Gold Coast was the nickname of Ghana in the past. Sir William Halcrow and Partners was a British consultant company commissioned by the government to generate the hydroelectric power from the Volta River. Get facts about African life here.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 2: the cost

The 1956 report from The Volta River Preparatory Commission liked to have a dam. But the cost of the dam would be 500 million cedis. In the dollar currency, it was around $414 million dollars.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 3: Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana. Finally the president signed the agreement to establish the Volta River project in 1962 even though the plan was actually made years before. In the agreement, it was also stated that the operation of the dam would be under the guidance of Volta River Authority if the dam had been made.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 4: finance

The cost of the dam is not small. The fund that the government had was from alliances of investors from UK, USA, and International Bank of Reconstruction and Development.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 5: the construction

In 1961, the construction of the dam was started. The dam was finished within three years. Lake Volta was established in Akosombo. The surrounding areas in Lake Volta should be filled with water to generate power. Therefore, there were 80,000 people who lived in 700 villages evacuated from the areas.



Facts about Akosombo Dam 6: the largest lake in Ghana

The largest lake in Ghana is Lake Volta. It covers 8,000 square miles area. In 1964, the water started to flow inside the lake.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 7: dimension of the main dam

Let’s find out the dimension of Akosombo dam. The height of the dam is 374 feet. The width is 1,200 feet while the length is 2,200 feet. It was made from gravity rock fill.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 8: the smaller dam

Not many people know that this dam actually has a smaller dam. It is used to maintain the overflow of the water in the first dam.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 9: the dimension of the second dam

The second dam has the width at 500 feet, the length at 1,200 feet and height at 120 feet.

Facts about Akosombo Dam 10: powerhouse

There are six unit powerhouses located in the dam. It can generate the power at 1,020 megawatts.

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