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Road to Riches Ghana's road network has been much improved during the Rawlings era, as even opposition politicians admit. The country now has 24,000 miles of roads, 3,600 of which are tarred. In addition there are about 600 miles of railway connecting the main centres of Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, with trains devoted mostly to freight. Improvements to the rail infrastructure are expected because of the need to meet the demands of the mining industry, but the road network is likely to remain the most significant means of transport. The international airport is Kotoka in Accra but there is a small regional airport at Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti region, and air force bases at Tamale and Takoradi are used for commercial flights. Four new airports are planned and the Kumasi airport is to be upgraded. The country's two commercial sea ports are situated at Tema, east of Accra and Takoradi, south west of the capital. Tema acts as the main entrance for goods bound for the landlocked neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Both are in need of modernisation and offer joint-venture opportunities in cargo handling and port operations. There may not be as many roads as in some other countries in the region but the Ghanaians claim that theirs are more effectively maintained. The roadbuilding and maintenance programme is a key factor in the country's effort to become the accepted international gateway for trade to the region and the Government is seeking international funding to extend the network more effectively into the north of Ghana. "We have a good network in the south," says Bashir Sakibu, head of the Ghana Highway Authority, "but the north is virtually an empty space and, in accordance with our constitutional responsibilities, we are trying to achieve balanced development countrywide." Consultants are expected to be invited in a few months' time to draw up the plans, after which funding will be sought. Over the next five years the road between Accra and Ku- masi is to be upgraded and a loan from the German Government has been secured to improve the road from Accra to Tema, east of the capital. This is part of a masterplan for roadbuilding which runs from 1996 to 2010. The first phase has just ended and the second phase was inaugurated last month by John Atta-Mills, the Vice-President. As part of a West African regional network of road links, a highway is being developed that will begin in Cameroon and end in Mauritania, with each country on the route taking responsibility for developing its own section. Ghana is using Japanese aid to improve the road between Accra and Cape Coast, one of three sections for which it has responsibility. Japan, Denmark and France are very active in road construction in Ghana, says Mr Sakibu, and he would like to see greater involvement from Britain. The building of toll-roads would be particularly welcome. |