WASHINGTON, November 4, 2014 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved US$25 million in new financing from the International Development Association (IDA)* to support the Government of Ghana’s effort to improve the mobility of goods and passengers on selected roads through reduction in travel time, in vehicle operating costs and enhanced road safety awareness.
“Ghana has done very well to improve its transportation sector in the short and medium term and the government is now focusing its efforts on the quantity and quality of the road infrastructure, said Yusupha Crookes, the World Bank’s Country Director for Ghana. “We are excited to support the Government’s strategy for an efficient and sustainable transport system. The project will also indirectly help to ensure competitiveness, reduce vulnerability, and improve governance in the sector.”
The new financing will support the ongoing Ghana Transport Sector Project which has made significant achievements. It has helped reduce the fatality rate per 10,000 vehicles by 17.9; increased the rural population to 66% who are now within 2 kilometers of an all-season classified; and increased the number of road networks in good and fair condition to 57%.
“Besides constraining economic activity in Ghana and reducing the competitiveness of the country’s tradable sectors, poor infrastructure impedes the mobility of goods and passengers and creates high costs,” said Kavita Sethi the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project. “The project will improve the drainage and pavement structure of the Ayamfuri-Asawinso Road where traffic levels have gone up by more than 300% since 2005. Quality infrastructure is crucial for sustaining economic growth as the road links western Ghana, the timber and mineral rich areas, and neighboring countries to the deep water port of Takoradi.”
The project contributes to the World Bank Group’s (WBG) two broad goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Rehabilitating the Ayamfuri-Asawinso road and constructing selected roads in the Accra East Corridor will improve the transport linkages to main business districts, natural resource trade routes, hospitals, and ports.
The roads in the Accra East Corridor are part of a network that link the suburban areas in the eastern part of Accra to the Central Business District and to critical facilities including the Accra International Airport and 37 Military Hospital. The project will help increase transport capacity in Ghana which will lead to greater mobility of goods and passengers that will facilitate the development of economic activities and competitiveness along the corridor areas.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing zero-interest loans and grants for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 82 poorest countries, 40 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change for 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 108 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about $16 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent of commitments going to Africa.
