Parliament has approved a concession agreement for the construction of the Accra–Kumasi Expressway, with the Ministry of Roads and Highways designated as the Contracting Authority and Accra–Kumasi Expressway Limited named as the concessionaire.
The decision comes amid growing concerns over the deteriorating state of the existing Accra–Kumasi highway, which has been plagued by potholes, uneven surfaces, and poor lighting.
Addressing lawmakers, Minister for Roads and Highways, Governs Agbodza, assured Parliament that the project would move forward as planned. He emphasised that the new expressway is intended to serve as an alternative route rather than a replacement for the current highway.
“The ECOWAS and the AU protocol say that when you build an expressway, you are allowed to charge a certain level of toll to recover the cost. But you must have an alternative that if somebody wants to go to Kumasi in six hours, he will also have the alternative.
…There’s no road in Ghana that is more important than the road between Accra and Kumasi. And indeed we are doing something that we’ll be proud of maybe in five years,” he said.
The project will deliver a six-lane dual carriageway, expected to improve road safety, cut travel time significantly, and provide commuters with a more efficient option.
During deliberations on the Road and Transport Committee’s report, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, urged government not to neglect the existing highway while work on the new expressway progresses.
“This project is GoG funded through GIIF and I think it’s a beautiful framework so that the money is made available to GIIF subcontracts and GIIF can take the money back as a commercial project. But it is GoG still and the old Accra Kumasi highway, if I’m correct is also GoG,” he said.
Nkrumah stressed the need to complete outstanding works on the current road, including lighting, even as the expressway project advances.
“If they are both going to draw from the same source, especially now that the revenues haven’t hit the projections, let’s be careful so that we don’t have both projects,” he cautioned.
Government officials maintain that the new expressway will modernise one of Ghana’s most critical transport corridors, offering a safer, faster, and more reliable alternative for travellers between Accra and Kumasi.
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