Ghana’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has launched a permanent air quality monitoring network in Tema to combat pollution in one of the country’s most industrialized zones.
Seven low-cost sensors now track real-time data across high-risk locations Kpone, Tulaku, Communities 3, 7, and 25, Tema Manhean, and Tema Port with a reference-grade monitor to follow by end-2025.
Selina Okaebea Amoah, EPA’s Environmental Quality Unit Head, called air pollution a “major health threat” driving respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The network will map pollution patterns from industrial emissions, traffic, and open burning while evaluating the effectiveness of Greater Accra’s Air Quality Management Plan. “Actions must be data-driven,” she stressed, noting current levels exceed national standards.
Public data via OpenAQ.org will empower communities as EPA collaborates with local assemblies on awareness. The expansion responds to WHO findings attributing 28,000 annual premature deaths in Ghana to polluted air—now the nation’s second-largest health risk after malnutrition.
