Black Volta bridge linking Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire takes shape

A bridge that is being built on the Black Volta River at the Chache border near Bole by the government of Côte d’Ivoire is progressing steadily.

Speaking on Bole-based Nkilgi FM on October 31, 2023, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bole-Bamboi Constituency, Alhaji Yusif Sulemana said former President, John Dramani Mahama discussed with the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alhassan Ouattara the need to bridge the Black Volta at Chache in Bole District to enable the free movement of people and goods.

He mentioned that during the government of the erstwhile NDC led by John Dramani Mahama, there was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries to build a bridge at Chache.

Alhaji Yusif Sulemana expressed his profound joy and gratitude to the government of Côte d’Ivoire for fulfilling their side of the MOU by building the bridge.

He said it is regrettable that Ghana was not able to fulfill its part of the agreement to construct the road from the Chache border to Bole to provide a smooth entry into Ghana.

The MP disclosed that a lot of development will come to Bole District if the bridge on the Black Volta at Chache is completed.

He furthered that the route is shorter for commuters who ply the Mali and Western Burkina Faso road through to Bouna in Cote d’Ivoire.

The MP said John Dramani Mahama awarded the Bole to Chache border road to a contractor in 2015 who began work but to date, the work is at a standstill because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said he has been in talks with John Dramani Mahama who has assured him that the project is dear to him and will do everything possible to see the project completed when he comes back to power.

He hinted that the Chache road will have a new phase of direction because it will be diverted from inside the Bole town to pass through the Bole Cocoa Research Institute area to Lamporga in Bole to Techiman road, to expand the scope of urbanizing the constituency.

The MP added that more infrastructural development will soon take place to address the challenges faced by the Bole-Bamboi constituency.