Ghana’s road infrastructure rating declined from D3 in 2016 to D1 in 2024, according to the latest infrastructure scorecard by the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE).

A member of the Institute’s Public Accountability Committee, Ing. Dr Charles Kwarteng Asafo-Adjei, said the decline indicated that the country’s road infrastructure was deteriorating and approaching the lowest rating categories.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, August 27, he explained that the scorecard assessed the condition, performance and safety of Ghana’s infrastructure using grades ranging from A to F.

“When the assessment was done in 2016, the road infrastructure was graded D3. By 2024, it had gone down to D1, which is very, very bad,” he said.

According to him, the next grades after D1 are E2 and E3, before infrastructure reaches an F rating, signifying complete failure.

“The next levels are E2 and then E3. After that, you move to F, which means the whole structure or facility has failed,” Dr Asafo-Adjei explained.

He said the latest assessment primarily covered the period from 2017 to 2024, although provisional figures for 2025 were also considered.

The GhIE began producing the infrastructure scorecard in 2016, initially assessing three sectors. The exercise has since been expanded to cover eight sectors.

Dr Asafo-Adjei attributed the decline partly to inadequate and delayed maintenance, explaining that roads naturally deteriorated under adverse weather conditions but worsened when authorities failed to intervene promptly.

“When we do not intervene or provide sufficient funds for maintenance, the deterioration increases and the infrastructure becomes extremely bad,” he said.

He noted that poor road conditions contributed to congestion, travel delays, crashes and increased fuel consumption, affecting both commuters and businesses.

Dr Asafo-Adjei called for adequate and sustained funding for road maintenance, warning that delays in addressing defects would increase rehabilitation costs and push more road infrastructure towards complete failure.