Economy
The Akosombo Dam provides electricity for much of the country, and possibly for export, perhaps to Togo, Benin, and nearby countries, to earn foreign exchange value. Lake Volta is also important for transportation providing a waterway for both ferries and cargo watercraft. Naturally, since the huge lake lies in a tropical area, the water remains warm year-round, and given good management, it is the location of a vast population of fish and large fisheries.
Recent developments include a large-scale enterprise to harvest submerged timber from the flooded forests under Lake Volta. This project harvests high-value tropical hardwood without requiring additional logging or destruction of existing forest and could generate the largest source of environmentally sustainable natural tropical hardwood in the world, - Wayne Dunn (2007). The Ghanaian owned company, Underwater Forest Resources has committed itself to making said lumber available in the Global Market. Flooring Solutions Ghana have also become the suppliers of Hardwood Floors, using the rare wood from the Lake.
In addition to improve navigation on the lake and increasing safety, this project is generating foreign currency for the region and reduces the dependence of locals on fishing as a primary economic activity.
The Digya National Park of Ghana lies on part of the lake's west shore.
The main islands within the lake are Dodi, Dwarf and Kporve. Tourist cruises visit the first of these.
Read more about this topic: Lake Volta
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.... for really new ideas of any kind—no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be—there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)