As part of efforts to improve road maintenance financing, the Cabinet has approved the reintroduction of road and bridge tolls, with a focus on modernising toll collection infrastructure.
Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minister of Roads and Highways, announced this at the Government Accountability Series press conference at the Presidency in Accra.
He said key features of the reform included transition to electronic and automated tolling systems, enhanced transparency, auditability of revenue flows, improved user experience and reduced congestion at toll points.
Others are the launch of a concessionaire prequalification process by the Ministry, issuance of public advertisements, a prequalification conference held on July 3, 2025, and 12 firms having submitted applications currently under evaluation.
The Minister said proposed new toll rates had been submitted to Parliament via the Ministry of Finance, explaining that the rates had been structured to be fair, transparent and reflective of road usage intensity.
He said this modernisation supported their commitment to digital transformation and fiscal discipline.
Touching on rationalisation of sector project portfolio, Mr Agbodza said an assessment of the status of contractual commitments indicated a very large portfolio of existing road projects (active and inactive) estimated to cost about GH¢105 billion as of December 31, 2024.
It was obvious that the estimated contractual commitments could not be adequately funded with the available sources of funds, Mr Agbodza said.
He said the Ministry, together with the Road Agencies, therefore, undertook a comprehensive assessment of the existing contracts with a view to make recommendations for the effective rationalisation of the projects, to make them financially manageable and still meet the Medium-Term plan of the Ministry.
The key outcomes of the rationalisation exercise were the identification of non-performing and stalled contracts, suspension or restructuring of low-impact projects and prioritisation of high-impact economically justified roads.
The Minister said the restructuring would ensure that existing and new projects were aligned with available funding sources, while achieving the Ministry’s Medium Term Development Plan goals.
Again, the rationalisation exercise was consistent with the pillar of financial prudence and responded directly to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2024 Manifesto’s pledge to streamline infrastructure investment for maximum socio-economic return.
He said the existing project portfolio of the road sector was rationalised to reduce current commitments and reduce non-performing contracts.
Source: GNA
The post Ghana government to reintroduce road tolls – Minister appeared first on Ghana Business News.
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