Revival Of Ghana's Rail Sector To Boost GDP Growth

A team of Ghanaian infrastructural development experts based in the United Kingdom (UK) has announced plans to partner government to help revamp the country's rail sector.

The GhiGL Infrastructure Consultants, which was formed by experts in the UK who have delivered diverse and challenging infrastructure projects in many countries globally, believe that rail has enormous potential to double Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the coming years if well developed.

At a meeting held between officials of the Ministry of Railways Development (MRD) and GhiGL Infrastructure Consultants on Friday in Accra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GhiGL Infrastructure Consultants, Adamu Mohammed, explained that the railway sector could be a major game changer for the Ghanaian economy if properly revamped by the Akufo-Addo administration.

According to him, the sector would help open up the country and bring the major cities such as Takoradi, Koforidua, Tamale and Accra, among others, closer to boost trading activities.

“It's going to grow businesses. Businesses are going to spread across. Railway can transform a country without any doubt,” he said, adding that it will bring additional tax revenue.

Explaining further, he indicated that the sector could help reduce, if not eliminate, the time wasted by millions of people in the country on roads due to traffic congestion, especially within Accra, as well as create additional employment opportunities to increase commercial activities.

“Accra is congested so if we have the rail, businesses can move to maybe Koforidua and people would still travel there within half an hour. They will move and make Accra a bit less congested. All the people within Koforidua wouldn't have to move to Accra to look for employment,” he told BUSINESS GUIDE on the sidelines of the meeting.

In line with this, he said the right policies and governance structures must be put in place to ensure that the rail sector delivers optimally to national development.

Touching on the working relationship between GhiGL Consultants and the Ministry of Railways Development, he said “we want to form a strategic partnership with the ministry so that we will come on board with our expertise from abroad and advise the ministry on what everybody is bringing, including investors, designers and constructors, among others.

Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, explained that major initiatives were currently ongoing in the sector.

He indicated that developing the rail network is paramount, saying that in the next five years, the countries that took rail seriously would be set apart from those that did not.

According to him, a total of 300 foreign investors from countries like China, Russia, USA, among others, have expressed interest in the rail sector in Ghana, and that the country was in the process of partnering Burkina Faso to develop a rail line between Accra and Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.