A Director in charge of Policy, Planning and Budgeting at the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ing. Rita Ohene Sarfo has confirmed that Ghana’s stretch of the much-touted Abidjan to Lagos Highway project is the most profitable within the corridor.
She said 576km of the earmarked 1028 kilometers of the highway is expected to go through Ghana which is more than half of the road corridor “making Ghana’s role in this project very crucial.”
The country’s stretch of the project, which spans Yamoransa-Aboansa and Aburi-Afineya, emerged with an Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) of 17 per cent which was higher than the average of 15 per cent for the entire project.
This means that investors of the project are likely to get a return of 17 times of their investment over a period of time.
Speaking on Eye on Port, Ing. Ohene Sarfo who is the Country Project Director for the Abidjan-Lagos Highway Corridor revealed that this has attracted a lot of investor interest to develop the project.
“They have come to us expressing interest but we are waiting for the final designs to be completed so the design phase can come to an end. We have a component where we have to restructure the P-P-P aspect. All of these have to be completed before we know what to do,” she said.
Indeed, the highway corridor project is in its design phase with significant construction works expected to be done in 2024.
Covering a total distance of 1,028km, the Abidjan-Lagos Highway Corridor will consist of a three-lane dual carriage highway, and connects some of the largest and economically dynamic cities in Africa namely Lagos, Accra, Cotonou, Lomé and Abidjan.
It also covers a large proportion of the population of West Africa and links very vibrant sea ports, serving all the landlocked countries in the region being Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
The Director in charge of Policy, Planning and Budgeting at the Ministry of Roads and Highways said a lot of design lies on virgin land following the environmental and social impact assessment conducted.
Describing the selected route, she said, “when we get to Buduburam for example, we are bypassing Accra, going through Akwampem Hills where we are hoping that we will construct a 3km tunnel which will lead us to join the existing N1 at Miotso.”
She revealed that, this highway has been designed to prevent interruptions.
“You cannot enter and exit the highway just the way we do now where somebody drives from his or her house and enters the motorway. There will be grid separation where every community will be connected but not directly. Before you join the road you must have to go through an authorized channel.”
Ing. Ohene Sarfo said provision has been made to ensure safe passage of pedestrians and livestock, and adequate amenities such as rest tops, fuel stations and axel load control stations.
She said because developers are resolved to reap the full benefits of the road, a Management Authority for the corridor will be put in charge of the corridor. It will be semi-tolled meaning some portions will be tolled while others will not be.
The Director at the Ministry of Roads and Highway says, the corridor which is one of the pillars of the African Union Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) feeds into other corridors all intended to boost regional integration and present socio-economic benefits to the people of Africa.
She said the corridor project has taken into consideration a trade and transit facilitation component which looks at having joint border posts with harmonized ICT systems to eliminate delays.
“For instance, when you are going to Cote d’Ivoire from Ghana, and you get to Elubo, the data taken automatically transmits to the Cote d’Ivoire and you move on quickly.”
