President John Dramani Mahama has cut the sod for construction work to begin on the 209 km North-Eastern Corridor asphalt-paved road in the Northern Region to enhance transportation of goods and services as well as foster and facilitate integration within the West Africa sub-region.

The dual-carriage road project is estimated to cost US$290.64million and will be financed by the Brazilian Development Bank, which will take 83.33 percent of the entire cost with the rest being Government of Ghana counterpart funding.

It is expected that the project, to be executed by Brazilian firms Andrade Gutierrez and Odebrecht, will be completed by October 2016 -- two months ahead of the country’s general presidential and parliamentary elections.

Andrade Gutierrez will construct 86km of the road covering the Oti-Damanko-Bimbila-Yendi road while Odebrecht will undertake the Yendi-Gushiegu-Nakpanduri stretch, which covers a distance of 123.2km.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony at Yendi in the Northern Region, President Mahama noted that the project has commenced at an opportune time to enable farmers and businesses enhance their trading activities.

He said the endemic poverty situation along the North-Eastern Corridor is the result of bad road networks, which has discouraged investors from venturing into the area to do business and boost economic activities in the area.

He further revealed that government is sourcing for funds from the Chinese government to complete the final portion of the Eastern Corridor road, which ends at Kuluugugu in the Upper East Region and shares a boundary with Burkina Faso on the North-Eastern side.

This, he said, will help to deepen transit trade through Ghana, as about four countries within the west-Africa region use the country’s ports to cart imported goods.

President Mahama indicated that government has also secured funds for expansion of the Tema Habour to the tune of US$1.5billion, which will make it the biggest port in the West Africa sub-region.

He said government will ensure construction of the Western Corridor Road, which will link Enchi in the Western Region to Hamile in the Upper West Region.

He therefore urged the sector, the Ghana Highway Authority, and other stakeholders to ensure that the road works are executed to expectations.