Government has opened the Expression of Interest for the prequalification of contractors bidding to construct the Accra-Kumasi Expressway. The notice was published on Friday, September 11, 2026, and the Ministry of Roads and Highways followed with an invitation for prequalification the next day, formally launching procurement on Ghana’s largest single road investment.
Interested firms have four weeks to register their interest, after which government will run a prequalification exercise and select a contractor. President John Dramani Mahama said at Kwaso near Ejisu on Monday that the process will move quickly enough for the contract to be awarded before the end of the year, with construction beginning before Christmas.
Four Weeks to Express Interest in the Accra-Kumasi Expressway
Speaking at the handover of the cleared right-of-way, the President set out the sequence government intends to follow. “We have currently issued the Expression of Interest. It’s been advertised. And we’ve given four weeks for companies interested in the construction to express their interest,” he said.
He then described what happens once that window closes. “After they express their interest, we will do the pre-qualification and then in an express manner, we will select the contractor.”
Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu confirmed the timeline in a statement on Monday, saying the selection phase will run for no more than four weeks and clear the way for the contract to be awarded before the close of 2026.
International Competitive Prequalification for the Expressway
Roads and Highways Minister Governs Kwame Agbodza said the exercise is being run as an international competitive prequalification designed to attract firms with both the technical depth and the balance sheet to deliver a project of this scale.
He warned that government will hold successful bidders to strict standards on quality, value for money and delivery timelines. “The process must be competitive, transparent and rigorous,” the minister said, describing those principles as non-negotiable.
Procurement sits with Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited, the special purpose vehicle registered under the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund and granted a 50-year concession by Parliament to build, operate and maintain the road.
The company is responsible for feasibility work, contractor selection and supervision of construction in collaboration with the Ghana Highways Authority, and it will hand the asset to the authority when the concession expires.
Hon Kwame Agbodza has previously indicated that no single contractor will be allowed to take more than 10 kilometres of the route, an approach intended to spread the work across multiple firms and compress the construction period.
President Mahama has also directed that the 48 Engineer Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces be incorporated as the major sub-contractor to whichever company wins the main contract.
Right-of-Way Cleared Ahead of Schedule
The procurement launch follows the completion of the early works. The Ghana Armed Forces cleared 175.6 kilometres of right-of-way from Ablekuma in Greater Accra to Sewua in the Ashanti Region, finishing in 19 weeks against a 20-week target set when the task was assigned on April 22, 2026.
That corridor now sits ready for a contractor. The expressway itself will run 198.7 kilometres as a six-lane, access-controlled toll road with a recommended speed of 120 kilometres per hour, shaving roughly 70 kilometres off the 270-kilometre journey on the existing highway and cutting travel time between Accra and Kumasi from five or six hours to about two.
The design includes two toll interchanges, eight interchanges linking towns along the route, four rest stops with fuel, food and retail facilities, tow trucks stationed to clear breakdowns, and CCTV coverage across the corridor. Space has been reserved within the right-of-way for a future Accra to Kumasi rail line.
Money Is Not the Constraint
Financing has been settled ahead of the award. Two billion dollars sits in a dedicated account at the Bank of Ghana, and Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has told the country that the entire amount required, on a project estimated at about four billion dollars, will be available by December 2026 without any borrowing.
President Mahama told the ceremony that contractor certificates will be paid instantly once work begins. Attention now shifts to the strength of the field.
The four-week window closes in early October, and the credibility of the December sod-cutting at Kwaso will rest on whether prequalification produces firms capable of absorbing a corridor this long within the timelines government has set for itself.
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