Ghana Water Company Limited remains under two International Chamber of Commerce awards requiring it to pay $235 million, net of taxes, after the water-purchase contract for the Teshie desalination plant was terminated. The Republic of Ghana is also liable for the recognised amounts under a state guarantee. Neither the award nor a plant-purchase deal has been completed.
Cox Infrastructure Group, parent of the plant company, disclosed the awards to Spain’s markets regulator on 21 September. It said its 95%-controlled subsidiary, Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana Limited, was notified on 18 September of awards issued a day earlier.
The $235 million is a termination payment under the water purchase agreement, not a finding that the money has already been paid. Cox said interest has been running since 1 April 2026 and will continue until payment, and that Ghana Water must also reimburse part of the subsidiary’s legal costs.
The second award holds Ghana responsible under the project’s state guarantee. Cox said the guarantee does not allow Befesa to collect the same sum twice.
The tribunal rejected a larger unpaid-charges claim
The Attorney-General’s Office, in a 23 September statement reported by the Ghana News Agency, said the claimants had asked for about $402 million in alleged unpaid water charges as well as the termination payment. The tribunal held that the two claims could not be recovered together, dismissed the unpaid-charges claim and awarded the $235 million termination payment, including pre-award interest to 31 March 2026.
Cox separately said the awards substantially rejected counterclaims against Befesa, including a $144.5 million claim. That is a different figure from the dismissed unpaid-charges demand.
The Attorney-General said the case against Ghana Water was brought by Befesa and Standard Bank of South Africa Limited on 23 October 2024, and that a parallel case under the state guarantee followed the Ghana Water award.
Cox describes the awards as final and binding, while noting that challenge routes under the laws of the arbitration seats remain available. It also told investors not to treat $235 million as cash already due to the parent group. The amount is a gross sum inside the project’s financing structure; what Cox ultimately records depends on recovery, third-party rights and accounting treatment.
Government says it wants to buy the plant
The Attorney-General said government is negotiating with Befesa to buy the Teshie plant for less than the arbitration claim, so that the state owns the facility and does not pay the $235 million award. The statement said those talks began before the awards were issued and that the plant supplies water to about one million people in eastern Accra.
Cox had already said the parties were continuing talks aimed at an amicable solution.
Neither the Cox disclosure nor the Attorney-General’s statement gives a purchase price, a signed sale contract or a date by which the talks must finish. The $235 million remains an unpaid award unless a later settlement replaces it.