President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry of Finance to fund the Tamale water expansion project from domestic resources after the European Union withdrew a €277 million facility.

He announced this when he cut the sod for the construction of a 24-hour economy market at Kukuo in the Tamale Metropolis on Saturday, April 18, 2026.

President Mahama said the loan, which had been approved by Parliament for Tamale and Damongo water projects, was withdrawn following Ghana’s debt default.

“When we came, we met that Parliament had approved a €277 million facility for Tamale water and Damongo water,” he said. “Unfortunately, because the past government defaulted in debt payments, we declared that we could not pay our debts. The EU withdrew the loan and said they are waiting for the debt restructuring. We do not see any indication that it will happen soon, so I have directed the Minister of Finance that we will raise the €277 million in cedis and undertake the project ourselves.”

The decision changes the financing approach for a long-standing water supply challenge in Tamale. The existing system, built in 1972 for about 50,000 people, was only slightly upgraded in 2008. The city’s population reached 374,744 in the 2021 Population and Housing Census and has continued to grow.

Daily water demand is estimated at about 100,000 cubic metres, while supply from the Ghana Water Company Limited meets only about a third of that volume.

Water rationing has worsened, with some communities going months without supply. Residents have staged protests at the offices of the Ghana Water Company Limited, describing the situation as a public health and economic concern. Plans to build a new treatment plant at Yapei have yet to take off.

President Mahama said the government would address the situation in two phases. He said the first phase would involve replacing ageing pumps at the Dalong treatment facility, while the second phase would draw water from Yape into Tamale South to increase supply by about 30 million gallons a day.

He said he would return to Tamale to cut the sod for the water project when construction is ready to begin.

The sod-cutting at Kukuo also marked the start of construction of what officials describe as the largest 24-hour economy market in the country. The Tamale Metropolitan Assembly project will be built on a three-and-a-half-acre site and is expected to be completed within 24 months.

President Mahama said the facility would include 71 lockable shops, 132 open sheds and space for about 160 pavement traders. It will also have a police station, a fire post, a six-bed clinic, a pharmacy, a women’s bank, a crèche, a cold store, 12 guest rooms, two restaurants, a lorry terminal and an information office. Solar panels and a biodigester will be installed to support operations.

Addressing concerns about unsold farm produce, President Mahama said the government would establish five maize processing factories and a second rice mill in the Fumbisi Valley. He added that GH¢200 million had been allocated to the National Food Buffer Stock Company this year.

He said warehouses under the Buffer Stock Company still held last season’s maize as a new planting season approached, and noted that the planned factories would help absorb surplus produce for local use and export.

President Mahama also said a cardiac catheterisation laboratory would be installed at the Tamale Teaching Hospital on Sunday, April 19, 2026. He said the equipment, procured under the MahamaCare initiative, would reduce referrals from the northern sector to Kumasi and Accra for heart procedures.

On the economy, President Mahama said Ghana’s gross international reserves had risen from $8.3 billion when his administration took office to $13.9 billion.

He added that the country was on track to exit its programme with the International Monetary Fund in May. He also said diesel prices had been maintained at GH¢16.10 per litre, compared with an estimated market rate of GH¢19.

Earlier on Saturday, April 18, 2026, the President performed a similar sod-cutting ceremony for a 24-hour economy market in Bimbilla in the Nanumba North Municipality.