Ghanaian waste mogul Joseph Siaw Agyepong partners with U.S. firm to build hi-tech waste-to-energy plants

Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) has signed a $70-million agreement with the U.S. McDavid Green Solutions (MDGS/MDPower LLC) to build waste-to-energy plants in Ghana.

JGC Chairman and Founder Joseph Siaw Agyepong and MDGs/MDP President Mark Boswell signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect in Accra on May 15.

The companies plan to build the first plant in Dawa, a new industrial enclave in the Ningo Pramoran District in the Greater Accra Region, News Ghana reported.

Agyepong said the waste-to-energy technology, if implemented, will help Ghana sustainably manage 100 percent of its various waste streams.

He noted that many countries with nearly zero waste have incorporated waste-to-energy technologies into their waste management system.

“We can talk of the USA, Germany and Austria, to mention but a few. Developing countries like India, Malaysia and China have also introduced such technologies in their waste management systems,” Agyepong said.

Last year, Ghana Web reported that JGP represented 16 Chinese, eight Indian and five European companies in Ghana, generating a trade volume of $4.36 billion as of 2013. It has also executed $100 million in contracts with its international partners.

Agyepong recently unveiled his new GH¢ 5-million ($864, 324) Environmental Sanitation Research Fund, which will provide grants to public universities for environmental sanitation research in Ghana. The initiative was launched through JGC.

The fund will support public universities in developing “’home-grown’ research-driven solutions to address the myriad of challenges impeding the effective management of waste,” Agyepong said.