Ghana - Building a stronger transport system

91723 Ghana: Building a Stronger Transport System July 1, 2002 After years of political instability and neglect, Ghana’s economy laid in shambles in the mid-1980s. The transport sector had deteriorated badly, and the road network was in such poor condition that it hindered the government’s 1983 economy recovery program. Since 1987, the World Bank has aided the country’s transport sector with three projects [1], [2], [3] designed to raise the sector’s efficiency, and expand exports and farm production. The Bank programs also sought to promote low-cost technology to ease rural transport, and trim transportation costs for both goods and passengers. The projects helped build and repair thousands of kilometers of roads, and succeeded in removing transport bottlenecks, promoting market-oriented reforms, and improving public sector management and resource allocation. Ghana now has a vibrant and well-organized domestic construction and consultancy industry. Because the rural population gained better access, agricultural production and marketing increased and became more diversified. When villagers were asked how the projects had affected their lives, they said that the arrival of more vehicles in their villages had made for better movement of their produce and cheaper passenger services. They noted that they could now get better prices for their products because they could sell them directly rather than through intermediaries. Shopkeepers, too, said that the costs of bringing in goods had dropped, while sales had risen. And it was now easier and cheaper to use emergency vehicles when people became ill. Updated: July 2002