President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the government has secured US$2 billion to finance the construction of the much-anticipated Accra–Kumasi Expressway.
According to the President, the funds have already been set aside in a special account at the Bank of Ghana, assuring that funding will not be a major constraint once construction begins.
President Mahama made the announcement at Kwaso in Kumasi during the handover of the Right-of-Way clearance for the Accra–Kumasi Expressway Project.
He said the availability of the funds would enable government to make prompt payments to the contractor for certified works completed on the project.
“Let me announce that the Minister of Finance has put aside two billion dollars for financing this Accra-Kumasi Expressway. The money is ready; it is sitting in a special account at the Bank of Ghana,” President Mahama said.
He explained that once the project commences, certificates presented by the contractor for completed works would be paid promptly, removing one of the major challenges that often delay large infrastructure projects.
“And so when this project starts, money is not going to be the problem. All certificates presented by the contractor will be paid instantly. And so there will be no problem with that,” he added.
President Mahama stressed that the US$2 billion allocation was not sourced through new borrowing but represented government resources generated from Ghanaian taxpayers.
He said the government is committed to securing the entire financing required to complete the project, adding that the Finance Minister had assured him that the full amount would be available by the end of the year.
“And let me also announce that this is our own money. We have not gone to borrow money from anywhere. This money is the money of the taxpayers of Ghana,” he stated.
The President added that while US$2 billion was already available, government expected to have the full financing package in place by the end of the year to ensure the project could be completed without funding interruptions.
President Mahama described the project as a critical national infrastructure undertaking, noting that the new expressway would significantly reduce both the travelling distance and time between Ghana’s two major cities.
He explained that the Accra–Kumasi Expressway would measure approximately 198.7 kilometres, compared with the existing Accra–Kumasi highway, which stretches for about 270 kilometres.
The new route would therefore reduce the distance between Accra and Kumasi by nearly 70 kilometres.
“This work is critical to the preparatory works for the construction of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway,” President Mahama said.
He stressed that the proposed expressway should not be confused with the existing Accra–Kumasi highway, which follows the old alignment and is considerably longer.
The project is expected to provide a modern, high-capacity road corridor capable of supporting faster movement of people and goods between southern Ghana and the Ashanti Region and beyond.
The President said the new expressway would be a six-lane highway, with three lanes in each direction, and would be designed to accommodate speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour.
He explained that the lanes would facilitate better traffic management by allowing vehicles travelling at different speeds to use appropriate lanes.
According to him, slower-moving vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks, would use the outer lane, while faster vehicles would use the inner lanes.
He said the road’s design and speed capacity would contribute significantly to reducing the amount of time motorists currently spend travelling between Accra and Kumasi.
President Mahama said the most significant benefit of the expressway would be the dramatic reduction in travel time.
He explained that even if a motorist travelled at an average speed of 100 kilometres per hour, the journey between Accra and Kumasi could take approximately two hours.
This, he said, would represent a major improvement over the current situation, where motorists can spend between five and six hours travelling along the existing Accra–Kumasi Highway, depending on traffic and road conditions.
“Even if he is travelling at 100 kilometres an hour, it means that the journey will take him two hours, instead of the five to six hours that we currently use on the old Accra-Kumasi Highway,” he said.
President Mahama illustrated the potential impact of the project by saying a traveller could leave Kumasi at 6:00 a.m. and arrive in Accra by about 8:00 a.m. once the expressway is completed.
“Nana, when this expressway is finished, you can leave Kumasi at 6 a.m. and you’ll be in Accra by 8 a.m.,” he stated.
The handover of the Right-of-Way clearance represents an important preparatory stage for the project, clearing the way for subsequent construction activities along the designated corridor.
The development is expected to pave the way for the physical execution of the expressway project, which has long been regarded as a strategic intervention to improve connectivity between Accra and Kumasi.
Beyond reducing travel times, the expressway is expected to facilitate the movement of commercial vehicles, passengers and freight, while strengthening economic links between communities along the corridor.
President Mahama’s assurance on funding is therefore expected to be closely watched as government moves from preparatory activities to full-scale construction.
The President maintained that with the financing already secured and additional funds expected to be available by the end of the year, the government intends to ensure that lack of funds does not derail the Accra–Kumasi Expressway project.
By 1960news.com
