The government has decided to reinstate road tolls, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The restored tolls, according to the minister, will be gathered on a select number of roads whose finance will be provided by a strategic Public Private Partnership Agreement under the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund.
The minister mentioned the 22.7-kilometer Accra-Tema Motorway and Extension Project as one of the highways that will be tolled to cover its development costs when he gave the 2022 mid-year budget review address in parliament on Monday.
“Mr. Speaker, the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Maintain (DBFOM) Accra – Tema Motorway and Extension PPP Project (27.7km) is in the procurement stage under the Ministry of Roads and Highways’ (MoRH) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program for road development. Site preparations are anticipated to start in September 2022.
“The Government of Ghana has made a strategic decision, in accordance with the Public Private Partnership Act, 2020 (Act 1039), to procure the Accra-Tema Motorway and Extensions Project through GIIF with a mandate to deliver a GIIF-led PPP financing solution, where the project’s majority ownership is retained by GIIF on behalf of the Ghanaian Government, but the project’s maximum funds are raised from the market,” he told parliament on Monday.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, the new approach will assist the government in recouping the cost of finished roads as well as paying lenders and investors.
“The Office of the Attorney General, Ministry of Finance, GIIF, and MoRH are now reviewing the draft Concession Agreement (CA) between GIIF and MoRH. The PPP Committee, Cabinet, and Parliament are anticipated to ratify the CA once it is finished. Tolls will be imposed on the finished road to cover the full cost of the finished infrastructure, pay lenders, and reward equity investors. The Ghanaian government will fund the project through GIIF in exchange for equity in the Special Purpose Vehicle that organization will establish.
