Two companies, Messrs Frontline Consortium and African Global Development Sarl, have submitted their technical and financial proposals for the development of the Ghana-Burkina railway project.

The bilateral agreement, which will see the construction of a railway line connecting major cities and towns on the Tema corridor from the Tema Port to Ouagadougou in Burkina, is almost at its final stages of procurement, which will pave the way for work to start next year.

A bid opening event organised at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra on Thursday, 7 October 2021, brought together some members of the joint community of experts from Ghana and Burkina Faso and the leadership of the two ministers responsible for railway development in both countries, to receive proposals from the interested parties.

So far, only two of the three pre-qualified bidders, Messrs Frontline Consortium and African Global Development Sarl, met the deadline on putting up a comprehensive document on the Build Operate and Transfer arrangement for the 1,200-km stretch of the railway project.

Speaking at the bid opening session, Ghana’s Minister of Railway Development, Mr John-Peter Amewu noted that the two countries have agreed to complete the preparatory face phase of the project by the end of 2021 to pave way for the commencement of the physical construction works in the first quarter of 2022.

He further assured the bidders of a transparent procurement process, adding that the technical and financial evaluation, as well as the negotiation with the most preferred bidder who meets the technical joints evaluation technical evaluation committee’s expectations, will be concluded before the year ends.

For his part, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Transport, Urban Mobility and Road Safety, Mr Vincent Timbindi Dabilgou, reiterated his country’s commitment to ensuring that the project comes to fruition for the benefit of the citizenry of both countries.

The two ministers further assured the people of Ghana and Burkina Faso that the procurement process will continue in an open, competitive and transparent manner in line with the applicable laws of their countries to ensure that the most technically and financially competitive bidder is selected as the preferred partner for the development of the strategic project to facilitate the associated economic advancement of the two countries.

The official opening of the financial proposals has been scheduled to take place in Burkina Faso after the completion of the evaluation process for the technical proposals.