ACCRA, May 7 (NNN-GNA) — Ghana and Burkina Faso have officially opened bidding for the Accra-Ouagadougou Railway Inter-connectivity Project.
Burkina Faso’s Ambassador to Ghana, Pingrenoma Zagre and Ghana’s Railway Development Minister, Joe Ghartey, witnessed the opening of the process on Monday in Accra.
It would be recalled that following the publication of the Expression of Interest advertisements in the two countries, 16 firms expressed interest to undertake the project on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.
The expression of interest proposals were jointly opened in Accra on May 28, 2018 in the presence of representatives of the firms who attended the Tender Opening Ceremony held at the Alisa Hotel.
After the evaluation, it was agreed that 12 out of the 16 firms/consortia met the minimum evaluation criteria.
The Committee in the interest of stronger competition, recommended that the 12 firms be shortlisted to the next stage of the procurement process, that is the request for qualification stage.
At the end of deadline by 3:pm on Monday, May 6, Railways Development Minister, Joe Ghartey reported that four out of the 12 shortlisted firms responded to the request for qualification and submitted their qualification documents as requested.
The four companies are China Railway, African Global Development, Frontline Capital Advisors Consortium and China Railway No. 10.
According to the Minister, “an independent Joint Evaluation Committee with membership from both Ghana and Burkina Faso would immediately commence an evaluation process from Tuesday, 7th May, 2019.”
It would be recalled that in December 2018, Ghana and Burkina Faso signed an agreement to implement the Railway Inter-connectivity Project.
October 2020 was set by both countries as the completion date for the construction of the 1,100 kilometre Accra-Ouagadougu railway project.
When completed, the line is expected to promote the free movement of goods and persons between both countries.
Specifically, it is expected to impact positively on the transportation of goods from the Tema Port in Ghana to landlocked Burkina Faso.
Ghartey in a speech said the project would begin at the Tema Port through, Ho, Hohoe, Yendi, Tamale, Paga and continue through Dakola to Ouagadougou.
He recounted that the project is a vision of President Akufo-Addo and his Burkinabe counterpart, Roch Marc Christian Kabore. — NNN-GNA
