Ghana’s rural roads will benefit from a funding package worth $500 million. The World Bank is providing the funding, which is intended to upgrade around 1,000km of rural roads in the country.
The aim of the plan is to boost transport and agriculture in rural areas, which will develop the economy. The programme is called the Ghana Market Access and Connectivity Project (GMACP).
Rural roads in Ghana and much of West Africa as a whole are unsurfaced. This means that they can become flooded and even impassable during the rainy season. Potholes can be large and basic maintenance such as using a grader to level a rural dirt road can provide a substantial benefit for transport, albeit for a comparatively short period. Providing an asphalt surface for rural roads can deliver a substantial boost to local economies.
