The Government of Ghana has secured a 10.4 billion dollar concessionary loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to develop the country’s road, rail, and other sectors of the economy including energy, education and health.

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Joe Gidisu, Deputy Minister of Finance, Fifii Kwetey and the Board Chairman of the Ghana Railway Development Authority, Dan Markin initialled the agreement while the President of Exim bank of China Li Ruogu signed for the bank in the Chinese capital.

The agreement forms part of the benefit that Ghana is deriving from the President Mills State visit to China.

Out of the 10.4 billion dollars, four hundred million dollars will go into the construction of the eastern corridor roads, four billion dollars will be used to develop the rail sector from Kumasi to Paga to facilitate the movement of food stuffs from those Regions to other Regions.

Other projects to be developed comprise health posts, markets and other amenities.

The third component is a comprehensive framework agreement of six billion dollars. Deputy Minister of Finance, Fifii Kwetey said the break through is in line with efforts to improving the country’s infrastructural base.

“Basically it is an integrated financing cooperation framework that we have signed with China EXIM, it does cover a broad range of areas some of them infrastructure, infrastructure in energy, road, rail, educational institutions, hospitals some of it will also go into sanitation, some of it in agriculture as well. So broadly it is very all encompassing...this is a broad financing framework that enables us to as it were work on a project by project base to develop these very critical infrastructures in order to provide the kind of foundation that we need as a country”.  

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Joe Gidisu who signed the agreement for the road sector said repayment of the loan will be spread for a period of 20 years.

“I want to say that it is very important for us to see it as a beginning towards changing the road network. As we continue to realise that when you have very good road network you have money for that matter, the economic and social advantages that we are going to accrue to us as a country from that road network will be very tremendous”

The Board Chairman of the Ghana Railway Authority Dan Markin stated that the agreement in the railway sector is very significant because it marks a new chapter in the railway industry.

Works on the various projects are to begin early next year after all the necessary documentation for the loan agreement has being completed.