Accra-Kumasi Expressway could support up to 70,000 job-years - Economist

Technical Adviser at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Theo Acheampong, has said the proposed Accra-Kumasi Expressway could create far more employment than the 30,000 jobs projected by the government.

According to him, the government’s figure should be treated as a conservative estimate because the employment impact of the project will go beyond workers engaged directly on construction sites.

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Dr Acheampong explained that large infrastructure projects create jobs across several parts of the economy, including quarrying, cement production, haulage, catering and other support services.

“The short answer is yes, and if anything, the figure is conservative,” he said, defending the government’s projection of about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

He said employment from infrastructure projects is better measured using job-years, which capture the amount of employment generated over the lifespan of a project rather than simply counting the number of people working on the site at a particular time.

According to his estimates, direct employment during the construction phase alone could generate between 38,000 and 48,000 job-years, depending on the share of project spending that goes into labour.

He added that significant employment could also come from local businesses supplying materials and services to the project.

“Every truckload of aggregate from a quarry, every bag of cement, every haulage contract and every caterer is a job created by project spending,” Dr Acheampong said.

He estimated that domestic purchases worth between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion could support an additional 12,000 to 14,000 job-years across the supply chain.

This, he said, could push the total employment impact to around 50,000 job-years, with the actual figure potentially ranging between 38,000 and 70,000, depending on labour costs, wage levels and the extent to which materials and equipment are sourced locally.

Dr Acheampong further explained that the 30-month construction period could mean about 20,000 people are employed at any given time, while the total number of individuals who earn income from the project could exceed 50,000 as workers are replaced or move on during construction.

“So 30,000 is not an exaggeration: it is the floor,” he said.

He therefore urged the government to ensure that the project delivers maximum benefits to Ghanaian businesses and workers by prioritising local labour and suppliers.

“By my estimate, every ten percentage points of project spending shifted from imports to Ghanaian suppliers adds roughly 4,000 job-years,” he said.

The economist also recommended that the project be linked to apprenticeship programmes through technical and vocational institutions, while calling for payroll-based reporting systems to independently verify the number of jobs created.

Beyond construction, Dr Acheampong said the expressway could support longer-term economic activity by improving transport links, expanding logistics services, supporting industrial development and making it easier for businesses along the corridor to access markets.

The proposed Accra-Kumasi Expressway is expected to link two of Ghana’s major economic centres and improve the movement of people, goods and services between the two cities.



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