Parliament of Ghana
PARLIAMENT HAS approved three loans totaling €394,999,000 to be allocated for road and bridge constructions in the Kwahu Afram Plains North, South, and Kwahu South Districts of the Eastern Region
The money was secured in agreements signed by Ghana and the Deutsche Bank AG aimed at developing critical road infrastructure to facilitate rapid socio-economic development of the country through the improvement of accesses, reduction in travel times, congestion, vehicle operating costs and accidents.
The amount is made up of UK Export Finance Facility of €113.540 million, Tied Commercial Facility of €51.450 million, and Atradius Credit Facility of €230 million to finance the construction of the Adawso–Ekyi-Amanfrom bridge (approximately 3.0km long) and the road between Adawso and Bunso on the N6 (approximately 128km) linking the Afram Plains with the commercial, administrative, health and educational centres in the region.
Government said the project is meant to boost the agricultural sector in the Afram basin and foster internal and regional integration.
According the government these areas, which are in close proximity the Sekyere Afram Plains in the Ashanti Region, have great potential to contribute significantly to the improvement of the well-being of the inhabitants and to food security of the country through the significant supply of farm produce to consumers in major cities and towns in Ghana.
Deputy Minister for Finance, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, who presented the loan agreements on behalf of the Minister for Finance, said the inhabitants of the districts are often times cut-off from the rest of the country due to limited physical access on three sides of the Afram River and lack of connecting roads to other parts of the country, leaving the ferry as the only means of transport.
To ensure the operational efficiency of road transport in moving persons, goods and services both within the country and with neighbouring countries, the Government has already implemented some major road infrastructure projects and continues to source funding for the implementation of additional critical road projects, in line with Government’s infrastructure development agenda.
Loans Terms
The €113.540 million has a repayment term of 10 years with a tenor of 12.5 years and grace period of 2.5 year, whilst the €51.450 million facility has a repayment term of 6 years, tenor of 7 years and grace period of one year.
Opposition MPs Applause
Some National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs applauded the government for such critical road infrastructure, indicating that the state of the project roads, spanning Obuoho (Begoro) through Kwahu Tafo to Adawso and from Ekyi Amanfrom to Donkorkrom is very deplorable.
NDC MP for Afram Plains North, Joseph Appiah-Boateng, and his counterpart for South Deyi, Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami Dafeamekpor, stated that the project intervention would support the structural transformation that Ghana is undergoing with greater socio-economic impact on lives.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House