Ghana Needs 10 Billion Dollars To Implement Railway Master Plan - Deputy Minister

Ghana needs 10 billion dollars to implement a modern and robust railway system to move people and goods across regions, Mr Kwaku Asante Boateng, the Deputy Minister of the Railway Development, has said. He is therefore calling on development partners to also fund Ghana's Railway Master Plan to reduce emissions in the

transport sector and meet her climate obligation under the Paris Agreement. In the railway sector not much work has been done due to financial constraints although there is a very good plan. We required some investment to develop the sector in order to realise the intent of the plan, he said. Mr Asante-Boateng made the

appeal at the launch of Ghana's Roadmap for Resilient Infrastructure, saying, the country was looking for partners to fund the implementation of railways master plan. The Ghana's Roadmap for Resilient Infrastructure is the culmination of a 21-month partnership between the Government of Ghana, GCA, the University of the

Oxford, the United Nations Office for Project Services and the United Nations Environment Programme to identify and propose solutions to address priority adaptation needs in Ghana. Using modelling and assessment tools, and through an extensive stakeholder consultation process, it provides an

assessment of risk of climate hazard on national infrastructure systems. Mr Asante-Boateng stated that the study revealed that flooding threatened critical passenger and freight transport services, including major highways and the Western and Eastern rail lines. Infrastructure provision in most countries, especially

Africa, is a necessary factor in achieving sustainable development, but their provision has been delayed due to challenges in financing and calculating funding needs; he said. Mr Asante Boateng said, It takes longer hours for people living in Kasoa, Adenta and Tema to get to the business centres in the Accra due to the congestion in traffic. If we have a highly effective rail

system from Adenta to Accra, Tema to Accra, Kasoa to Accra, carbon emissions in the environment will be reduced and the system will also be more efficient and reliable. He noted that a railway system would take the burden off the road network, and provide efficient and sustainable alternatives to ensure longer lifespan for existing roads and those yet to be constructed.