They are the China Railway Construction Engineering Limited, Frontline Consortium, China Railway Number 10 Consortium and African Global Development.

The remaining 12  were not successful  because they were unable to submit their qualification documents as requested by a Joint Evaluation Committee and a Transaction Advisor.
 
Expression of Interest advertisements

The expression of interest by the firms followed advertisements simultaneously published in Ghana and Burkina Faso to invite interested private sector investors to partner the governments of the two countries for the project on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

The objective of the railway interconnectivity project is to facilitate trade and development between both countries through an efficient transport service for both freight and passengers.
 
Ceremony

Mr Godwin Gadikor (hands raised), Senior Planning Officer of the Ministry of Railways Development, displaying the tender documents at the meeting. Looking on are  Mr Joe Ghartey (2nd right), Minister of Railways Development, Mr Pingrenoma Zagre (right), the Burkina Faso Ambassador to Ghana, and other officials. Picture: GABRIEL AHIABOR

At a brief ceremony to officially open the bid session for the request for qualification stage in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Railways Development, Mr Joe Ghartey, said an independent Joint Evaluation Committee with membership from both Ghana and Burkina Faso would immediately commence an evaluation process of the documents presented for the qualification stage from today.

He expressed the hope that the procurement processes would be completed on time to allow them to meet the deadline for the start of construction of the project within the first quarter of 2020.
 
Procurement process

Mr Ghartey explained that the terms of reference for the Joint Evaluation Committee were “to conduct a detailed evaluation of the Request for Qualification (RfQ) documents received from the four firms, make appropriate recommendations for the pre-qualification of firms based on the minimum qualification requirements specified in the RfQ and submit an evaluation report within two days ending May 8.”

 “Upon submission of the Evaluation Report by the Joint Evaluation Committee, the necessary approvals will be sought and the next stage of the procurement process, that is the Request for Proposals (RfP), will be launched,” he added.

 At that stage, the minister said detailed Technical and Financial Proposals would be requested from the pre-qualified bidders for further evaluation and the most technically and financially competitive bidder would be selected as the preferred bidder going for pre-contract negotiations.

 “We are, therefore, still within our target to complete the procurement phase of the project to enable the commencement of the actual construction works in 2019,” he stated.

 Mr Ghartey expressed the commitment of both countries to ensure the realisation of the vision to link the two countries by an efficient and effective railway network to facilitate the socio-economic growth of the neighbouring countries.

The Burkina Faso Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Pingrenoma Zagre, in a brief remark, thanked all partners involved in the project and also expressed their commitment to see to the success of the project.
 
Background

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso agreed in May 2017 to construct a rail interconnectivity to accelerate economic growth and development of both countries.

The proposed rail network is expected to pass through the eastern corridor of Ghana starting from the Tema Port, through Akosombo, Ho, Hohoe, Yendi, Tamale and to Paga.

The line will continue in Burkina Faso from Dakola going through Po along the national highway number 5, integrating the pole of growth of Bagre and end at Ouagadougou.

The project is expected to be undertaken through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with the intention to reduce the time and resources people spend transacting business between Ghana and Burkina Faso.