The European Union has provided a grant of €35million to government for the rehabilitation and maintenance of 670km of feeder and farm access roads in the Upper West Region.
This support aims at improving inter-connectivity between areas of production and market centres.
To mark the start work, a ground-breaking ceremony has been held at Kpongu in the presence of the Minister of Roads and Highways and EU Ambassador to Ghana.
The €35million grant from the European Union (EU) supports the rehabilitation, upgrade and maintenance of 670km of feeder and farm access roads and road safety activities in the Upper West Region.
This support comes under the larger €160million European Union Ghana Agricultural Programme (EU-GAP) to develop sustainable agriculture in the Upper West Region.
The roads are organised in three packages, as follows:
- Wa Municipal, Wa West, Nadowli-Kaleo (235km)
- Jirapa, Lawra, Daffiama-Bussie (210km)
- Nandom and Lambussie-Karni (225km)
This intervention aims at improving inter-connectivity between areas of production and market centres in the Upper West Region. The objective being to reduce the travel time on these sections of roads, promote road safety, and at the same time strengthen institutional management of the transport sector.
The feeder roads were commissioned under Output and Performance Based Road Contracts (OPBRC) managed by the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
To maximise the support’s intervention, the EU funding is administered under a Trust Fund administered by the World Bank as part of Transport Sector Improvement Project’ (TSIP), which finances a larger national transport programme.
This important event was attended by several dignitaries: including the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako-Atta; Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto; Upper West Region Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salis; Country Director of the World Bank, Mr. Pierre Laporte; and Deputy Head of Mission and Head of the Political Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Ghana, Mr. Pieter Smidt Van Gelder, who represented the EU Ambassador.
EU Ambassador Diana Acconcia said: “The European Union is committed to support the socio-economic transformation of Ghana, in particular the northern regions. The EU looks forward to the completion of these roads to connect remote and disadvantaged districts. This intervention will unlock new economic opportunities in the Upper West Region by increasing access to markets and the trade of commodities, and impact positively on household incomes”.
Mr. Amoako-Atta said: “Today, we are celebrating together the start of work on three packages of feeder and farm access roads in the Upper West Region. The latter are commissioned under Output and Performance Based Road Contracts (OPBRC) that are designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of road asset management and maintenance. This intervention supports concretely the ministry’s vision to provide a sustainable transportation system responsive to the needs of society, supporting growth and poverty reduction”.
Mr. Laporte said: “This intervention is a great example of partnership between the Dialogue Partners of Ghana coming together to support meaningfully and efficiently the transport sector. The added funding from the EU enhances considerably the World Bank-led ‘Transport Sector Improvement Project’ (TSIP) with earmarked support for the Upper West Region”.
