Ghana’s Bui Hydropower Dam and Linkage Creation Challenges

Abstract This study examines the issues of linkage development pertaining to the Bui Hydropower Dam. 1 Completed in 2013, the 400-megawatt hydropower facility was touted by the government to catalyse Ghana’s socio-economic transformation. However, while the Chinese contractor delivered the physical edifice to the Ghanaian government, the dam’s material benefits have yet to materialize. The inability to instigate economic linkages from the project has sparked debate in research and policy circles in Ghana. While some scholars reference local factors, others cite external elements, including the demands of Chinese actors and financiers as the cause of the limited economic linkages the dam created in the Ghanaian economy. This paper explores these counterpropositions. Drawing from exploratory mixed-method research, the paper asserts that although linkage creation is mediated by internal and external factors, the former is more salient when it comes to engagement with China.