Nabilah Safira
TechInAfrica – A new interchange, called Pokuase Interchange has been deployed in Accra to increase capacity of daily traffic in the Accra-Kumasi Highway, which observe 50,000 loads of vehicles per day.
The project application was accepted in September 2016, and officiated by Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday (09/07). Many high government ranking officials, transportation operators attended the event.
“The Bank, under the outstanding leadership of a great pan-Africanist, Akinwumi Adesina, continues to be a strong vehicle for the realization of the aspirations of the African peoples,” the president commented on African Development Bank involvement in the project with its $83.9m funding.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the Bank’s Director General for the West Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office, said, “This approach amplifies the benefits through the ancillary facilities and the road which contribute to the improvement of livelihoods.
“The Bank has stood side-by-side with Ghana to set up the country in implementing its growth and transformation agenda.”
The Ghanaian government injected $11m into the project, making the total fund $94.9m. It is the first kind of interchange in the continent, with the addition of a 10 kilometer road network that connected to the arterial roads, which is regarded as part of the Accra Urban Transport Project.
The project hopes to cut down operating cost to 37% and the traveled distant from 2 hours to just 30 minutes, with decreased risk of road accidents by 40%.
Source: APO Group
