MPs back Eastern Corridor new contract

Members of Parliament (MPs) have given their backing to a new government contract agreement that will ensure the completion of the lots 5 and 6 of the Eastern Corridor road project.

The road project, which is located in the Northern Region, connects Damango to Gbintiri, and the stretch plays an important role for the exchange of goods among residents of Yendi, Gushiegu and Bimbilla.

The government said, “Approximately 200km of future paved road will serve the cities and the small communities between them and improve the economic and social indices of the region and contribute to the mobility of people and goods between the Tema port and the land-locked neighbouring countries.”

Last Friday, the House unanimously voted in unison in favour of the new contract which has come about as a result of the cancellation of an undisbursed sum of US$62,229,202.34 that was to be provided by Nacional De Desenvolvimentoeconomici social (BNDES).

On April 17, 2013, the government signed two facility agreements with BNDES and Banco do’ Brazil for USD$ 202,190,692.00 and USD$ 40,000,000.00 respectively, totalling US$242,190,692.00 for the construction of the Eastern Corridor road project.

The government was required to provide a counterpart funding of US$48, 451,508.00 towards the execution of the project to bring the sum total cost of the entire project to US$ 290,642,200.

The Banco do’ Brazil portion of US$40,000,000 was fully disbursed, but since 2017 BNDES has been unable to disburse the remaining amount of US$62,229,202.34 being the proceeds of the loan, thereby stalling the progress of the work.

Government said several assurances by BNDES to resume disbursements did not materialize, and that the bank was unable to disburse the unutilized portion of the loan due to an audit and criminal investigations that were carried out by the Brazilian authorities on most of the state institutions in the wake of the impeachment of the former President of Brazil, Dilma Roussef.



Parliament’s Committee on Roads and Transport stated in its report that the Ministry of Finance upon further deliberations on the issue and in cognisance of the importance of the project, cancelled the undisbursed amount US$62,229,202.34 to avoid accumulation of commitment of fees.

It is for this reason the ministry entered in discussions with Ecobank to finance the remaining part of the project cost which the MPs have backed to ensure completion of the project.

Project Scope

The project involves the design and construction of the road pavement and drainage facilities of the lots 5 and 6 of the Eastern Corridor road.

The proposed intervention will have a length of 168m, cross section of 1×2 carriageway – typical section of ECR 2×2 carriageway in Bimbilla and Yendi towns.

There will be 3No. Bridges (15×12.3m) on lot 5 and the 5No. Bridges (10mx12.3m) on lot 6. Read Full Story