Ghanaian tycoon Joseph Agyepong’s Jospong Group issues grant to support sanitation research

Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), a Ghana-based holding managed by leading businessman Joseph Agyepong, has granted GH5 million ($713,000) to promote sanitation research in Ghana.

The Ghanaian multimillionaire made the grant to a team of 26 academics from 13 universities and research institutions in the country through the Environmental Sanitation Research Fund through his holding.

The grant will be used to fund research initiatives coordinated by researchers to drive the national push to achieve the applicable UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Abena Asomaning Antwi, managing director of Africa Environmental Sanitation Consult Limited, the fund’s administrators, said the projects will contribute to developing and achieving the SDGs on climate action, clean water and sanitation.

Waste management, renewable energy, improvements to solid and liquid waste management systems and compost quality enhancement will be among the topics covered by the research.

JGC is one of Ghana’s most diverse holding businesses, with activities throughout Africa and Asia. Since its inception in 1995, the holding has made significant contributions to Ghana’s waste management industry.

JGC signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with the Hungarian government and Pureco Kft, a Hungarian wastewater technology pioneer, to construct wastewater treatment facilities in 13 Ghanaian regions.

The arrival of these facilities, which will give a significant boost to national infrastructure, will complement the country’s current solid waste treatment facilities.

Since 2017, the company has taken advantage of investment opportunities between Ghana and Hungary to initiate consultations with private-sector companies in Hungary, especially Pureco Kft.

Aside from his interest in JGC, Agyepong has a 0.9-percent equity position in Access Bank Ghana, valued at GH3.2 million ($457,000).