Ghana is set to receive a whopping US $649m as the first tranche of the US $2bn Sinohydro Infrastructure for Bauxite Transaction from China.
In the Bauxite Barter Arrangement, Ghana has to settle their side of the deal in 15 years and in turn get US $2bn that would be used to build roads, bridges and other infrastructures. Mr. Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information said that the US $2bn can be accessed between now and 2020.
Sinohydro Infrastructure
The US $649m would fund projects such as 100-km Kumasi Inner City roads, Takoradi PTC Roundabout Dual Carriageway, 84-kilometre Accra Inner City roads, Tamale-Interchange and the Sunyani Inner City roads.
The deal between Ghana and Sinohydro of China was signed in 2017. It included an exchange between refined bauxite for infrastructures. Mr. Nkrumah added that 30% of the local content was reserved for Ghanaians.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Ghana’s Vice President earlier said that in the US $2bn deal, half of the money would build roads and bridges while the other half of the money would construct schools, hospitals and facilities country wide. The Information Minister hoped that by the end of the year, the infrastructure construction would have begun.
Bauxite exploitation
Ghana Integrated Bauxite and Aluminum Development Corporation (GIBADC) was established to deal with any challenges such as ecological issues brought by bauxite exploitation. Mr. Nkrumah added that they were in the process of appointing GIBADC board members and officials.
At the end of the year, GIBADC will ensure that the processing and refining of the bauxite would be signed at the joint venture agreements between the company and the other mining developers. The Environmental Protection Agency would also be presently observing if environmental standards were met.
After processing the raw bauxite into raw products with a higher value, the government of Ghana will use the money to pay off the Chinese company.
Extract from constructionreviewonline.com