Japan has given Ghana an amount of $33.6 million as grant for the construction of the Tema Motorway Roundabout Phase Two and rehabilitation of the AssinFoso to AssinPraso trunk road.
An amount of $33.20 million of the grant is meant for the Tema Motorway Roundabout Phase Two and the $3.3 million for the rehabilitation of the 31.2-kilometre National Trunk Road Number 8 (AssinFoso to Assin-Praso road)
The Motorway Roundabout Phase Two entailed the construction of a flyover on the North-South (Akosombo-Harbour) direction and that of the AssinFoso to AssinPraso involved the completion of the road.
The phase two of the Tema Motorway Roundabout would be completed in September 2024 and the Assin-Foso-Assin-Prason trunk road would be completed by October, 2023.
An agreement for the grant was signed in Accra yesterday between the Ministry of Finance and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).
While the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta signed on behalf of the Government of Ghana, the Chief Representative of JICA, Araki Yasumichi initialed on behalf of the Japanese government.
MrYasumichi in his remarks indicated that the grant was to support the implementation of the West Africa Corridor Development Growth Rign (WAGRIC) Master Plan, which had been approved by the Ghanaian government.
“Through the WAGRIC project, these two projects are being funded by the Government of Japan which we believe can support the government’s initiative towards Ghana becoming the transport hub in the West African sub-region,” he said.
He said the efforts of government to make the country the transport hub in West Africa was commendable.
MrYasumichisaid the completion of the Phase Two of the Tema Motorway Roundabout would positively contribute to the operations of the TemaHarbour and facilitate trade between Ghana and her neighbours such as Togo, Burkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoire.
He said the completion of the first phase of the Tema Motorway Roundabout project had helped to ease traffic on the stretch and reduce travel time on the road.
The JICA Representative in Ghana said the additional funding to the Assin-Foso-AssinPraso brings to a total of $60,376,800 which had been provided by the Japanese government for the rehabilitation work on the road.
MrYasumichisaid the Japanese co-operation with Ghana had contributed to the funding of over 760 kilometres of national trunk roads and a number of bridges.
The JICA Representative commended the government for the successful completion of the first phase of the TemaMotorway Roundabout project.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the objective of government was to make Ghana the logistics and transport hub in West Africa in line with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area initiative.
Consequently, he said government was investing hugely in infrastructure to promote the industrialisation of the country and to help facilitate the movement of goods of people, stressing that improvement in infrastructure could contribute to two to three per cent growth in the country Gross Domestic Product.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the country’s infrastructure funding gap stood at $2 billion annually and there was the need for the country to create strategic partnership with the country’s development organisations to raise resources to finance infrastructure in the country.
The Finance Minister expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for the financial support to complete those two important infrastructural projects.
The Minister of Roads and Highways in a speech read on his behalf said the signing of the grant agreement was a further step to the Exchange of Notes between Ghana and Japan which was signed on September 10, 2021.
The first phase of the Tema Motorway project started in 2018 and was opened on June 1, 2020.
The objective of the project is to link the Tema Motorway to the ongoing port expansion being undertaken and the TettehQuarsshie interchange in Accra.
It is also to link Ghana to other Sahelian regions such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
KINGSLEY ASARE