Afienya: President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday unveiled the Government’s flagship programme, the ‘Big Push Agenda,’ for heavy infrastructure development with a sod-cutting ceremony at Afienya for the construction of the Dawhyenya-Afienya-Dodowa road in the Greater Accra Region. The project, which is being executed by OSWAL Investment Limited, is expected to be completed within 24 months.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Big Push Agenda is a massive, focused, and accelerated public investment programme, designed by the Mahama Administration to jumpstart Ghana’s economic transformation by tackling critical infrastructure deficits in key sectors of the economy. The core idea is that the government must make a ‘Big Push’ of coordinated investments in several areas at once to break the cycle of underdevelopment and create a virtuous cycle of growth, jobs, and private sector investment.
The reconstruction works on the 24.8km Dawhyenya-Afienya-Dodowa road would help ease mobility, link the N2, N4, and R40 corridors, and boost trade and development along Accra’s eastern growth belt. The project, which would be extended to Somanya, would also cover 3.0km of selected town roads.
President Mahama, in his address, highlighted that the sod cutting at Afienya was the first under the Big Push Programme and that they were going to cut sod in five different areas to mark the start of the entire Big Push Programme. He emphasized that the people of Afienya, Dawhyenya, and Dodowa were part of a gesture by being the first to kick off the whole Big Push programme.
The President mentioned that the World Bank had estimated that Ghana experiences a deficit of $1.5 billion every year in infrastructure investment, particularly in the road sector. He reiterated that the Big Push Agenda aims to set aside and prioritize investment into the infrastructure sector, especially in roads, touching all 16 regions of the country.
Addressing the criteria for choosing projects under the Big Push Programme, President Mahama stated that the first priority is to take roads that connect one regional capital to another. He announced that the government had allocated almost GHC 14 billion for the execution of the Big Push Programme, with plans to add GHS30 billion next year for its implementation.
The President assured contractors operating under the programme that payments would not be an issue and promised that roads not captured under the Big Push Agenda would be addressed under the Ghana Roads Fund. Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minister for Roads and Highways, commended President Mahama, stating that he would be remembered as the President who provided the biggest intervention on Ghana’s roads at a single time. He affirmed that the Big Push is not a campaign promise, but a bold intervention by the government, and its results will be evident for everyone to see.