ACCRA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank Group has approved a 500 million U.S. dollar financing package to support improvements to at least 1,000 km of rural agricultural and market access roads in Ghana.
According to a release issued Thursday, the Ghana Market Access and Connectivity Project (GMACP) is a major initiative to improve rural road connectivity, strengthen agricultural value chains, expand economic opportunities, and create short-term direct jobs for rural communities across Ghana.
The World Bank noted that poor road conditions and inadequate maintenance have long constrained rural livelihoods in Ghana, limiting market access, driving up transport expenses, and contributing to significant post-harvest losses.
The project aims to fix and maintain important feeder roads to help farmers reach markets more easily, which will lower transport expenses, reduce travel times, and make supplies more reliable, the release said.
"This project will improve access to markets and opportunities for rural communities while strengthening Ghana's agricultural competitiveness and resilience and directly benefit more than 550,000 people," said Robert Taliercio, World Bank division director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
"It is also expected to generate more than 5,000 direct jobs and over 25,000 indirect jobs through civil works and road maintenance activities," Taliercio added.
The GMACP project, which includes designs that can handle climate challenges to keep roads and drainage systems safe for a long time, will be carried out by Ghana's Ministry of Roads and Highways. ■