BY Oluseyi Awojulugbe
The Ghanaian-European Railway Consortium (GERC) has agreed to construct a 340km standard gauge railway line in Ghana at $2.2 billion.
By contrast, the 156km railway line between Lagos and Ibadan in south-west Nigeria will cost the country $2 billion.
That comes to $6.5 million per kilometre in Ghana and $13.6 million in Nigeria.
In 2016, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) had signed a $1.5 billion agreement with the Nigerian government to build a 156 km railway line between Lagos and Ibadan.
A ground-breaking ceremony for the construction held in March 2017.
According to information on the website of the ministry of railways development in Ghana, the Eastern Railway line, which links Accra, Tema and Kumasi, is expected to boost economic activities along the corridor, especially at the Boankra Inland Port after completion.
Joe Ghartey, Ghana’s minister of railway development, said the project is based on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement.
GERC is expected to operate 24 passenger trains and six freight trains after completion of the 340-kilometre railway project.
The construction is expected to last for three years. The consortium has pledged to commence works in earnest.
There would be six main stations and 34 sub-stations along the double track corridor. The concession period is 27 years and the consortium hopes to recoup its investment within the period.
Ghartey recently visited Nigeria on the invitation of Rotimi Amaechi, Nigeria’s former minister of transportation, inspect and assess the railway construction projects that the Chinese conglomerate has completed and that are currently being undertaken in Nigeria.
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