In Ghana's capital, Accra, the daily commute is a battle against time and traffic. Stella Ampofo, a 25-year-old single mother and seamstress, leaves home at 4am to avoid rush-hour congestion that can turn a 40-minute journey into a three-hour ordeal. 'If I leave at 6am, I won't arrive until 9 or 10am, which causes problems with my manager,' she says.
Accra's roads are clogged with cars, motorbikes, and 'tro tros'—minibuses carrying up to two dozen passengers. The gridlock contributes to severe air pollution, which killed 17,524 Ghanaians in 2013, a 107% increase from 1990, according to a World Bank report. With the city's population set to double within 20 years, the situation is expected to worsen.
The government, in collaboration with South Korea's Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica), has developed a transport master plan (TMP) to overhaul the urban transportation system in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. The plan, due to be presented by the end of the year, aims to integrate all modes of transport and reduce congestion and logistics costs over the next two decades.
However, critics argue that Accra's congestion is manageable given its relatively small population of 4.3 million. Kweku Amoasi, a transport planning expert, says, 'With a small population, Ghana should be able to manage traffic much better. There's been a total lack of foresight.' The city's commuters, like Ampofo, hope for change before the gridlock becomes unbearable.
