Ghana-Burkina Faso railway link will protect roads, boost economic activity – Kennedy Nyarko Osei

Ranking Member of Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, has called for renewed efforts to develop the proposed railway connection between Ghana and Burkina Faso.

He said moving a significant portion of Burkina Faso’s transit cargo from Ghana’s ports onto rail would reduce pressure on the country’s roads and help preserve investments in road infrastructure.

The proposed railway is designed to link the Port of Tema to Ouagadougou, with the broader Ghana-Burkina Faso interconnectivity project expected to support freight and passenger movement and deepen trade between the two countries.

In a social media post on Thursday, September 10, Mr Nyarko Osei said the project, estimated at about $2.2 billion before compensation costs, could provide a more sustainable alternative for transporting Burkina Faso-bound cargo.

“Ghana connecting its railway line from Accra through to Tema Port – Burkina Faso capital, which is about 1,200km. This is estimated to cost about $2.2 billion without compensations included," his post read in part.

He said Burkina Faso’s imports through Ghanaian ports amount to about 1.16 million tonnes, with the cargo currently placing additional pressure on the road network.

Mr Nyarko Osei argued that shifting such cargo to rail would help reduce road deterioration while creating opportunities for increased economic activity along the corridor.

“All these loads pass through our roads and further deteriorate our road investments, so building the rail lines to connect the two countries will save the country a lot of money and also increase the economic activities of the country," said the Akim Swedru MP.

The proposed project has been under consideration for several years.

The feasibility study for the approximately 1,200km Tema-Ouagadougou railway was completed in June 2020, with the project originally structured around four phases: feasibility studies, procurement of a private-sector partner, analysis of technical studies and construction and supervision.

The route forms part of Ghana’s broader strategy to shift heavy freight from roads to rail.

The Tema-Mpakadan line, which forms part of the wider interconnectivity project, was commissioned in November 2024 and provides an initial section of the multimodal corridor towards northern Ghana and the landlocked countries of the Sahel.