Accra–Tema Motorway Expansion Reaches 53% Completion

Construction on Section One of the Accra–Tema Motorway and Extensions Project has reached 53% completion, project managers have announced.

The update was given at a media engagement and the official launch of the project company’s website on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. The Chief Resident Engineer, Ing. Kwabena Bempong, said work was slightly behind schedule after 805 days, but expressed confidence the contractor would accelerate to meet the August 2027 completion date.

The US$339 million project is intended to ease traffic congestion, improve urban mobility and strengthen trade along one of Ghana’s busiest transport corridors. It is being implemented with the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ghana Highway Authority as public-sector partners, while Accra-Tema Expressway Limited (ATEL) is the concessionaire and Maripoma Enterprise Limited the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

The motorway opened in 1965 and now carries about 60,000 vehicles a day, far more than it was built for, according to ATEL Chief Executive Officer Louis Harrison. It serves commuters, businesses and freight transport linking Accra to Tema, Ghana’s principal industrial city and port.

The project is Ghana’s first public-private partnership toll-road concession, running for 30 years. Under it, ATEL will finance, rebuild, expand, operate and maintain the motorway and its extensions, with the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) as sponsor. Mr Harrison said the overall financing requirement is about US$380 million, with the final structure partly dependent on the toll level to be approved by Parliament. The concession agreement has parliamentary approval, but the specific toll amount is yet to be determined.

The first section covers about 19.5 kilometres now under construction, within a total programme of about 27.7 kilometres including a 5.7-kilometre stretch between Tetteh Quarshie and Apenkwa and a 2.5-kilometre section of the N6 near Tesano towards Achimota. It will feature a two-lane, access-controlled expressway alongside an urban highway with three lanes in each direction, widening to five lanes in places to help traffic merge.

The works include 20 box culverts, three bridges and improvements to the Tetteh Quarshie, Teshie, Community 18 and Lashibi interchanges, plus pedestrian crossings to improve access between communities and reduce unsafe crossings.

Project Manager Benjamin Sackey said during a site inspection that concrete works are about 70% complete, about four kilometres of road base have been prepared for asphalt, two bridges on the urban highway are complete, seven footbridges are at various stages and two interchanges are substantially complete.

ATEL has also launched a project website to share updates on progress, traffic diversions, milestones and safety notices, which the company says will improve transparency and help the public understand why the work is taking time.

Sources: Graphic Online, MyJoyOnline and Citi Newsroom reporting on the October 28 project update.

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