Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, says President John Mahama’s renewed infrastructure agenda seeks to tackle rural-urban migration by improving road access in underserved communities.

Mr Agbodza explained that the creation of motorable roads in rural areas, alongside strategic loops around major cities like Accra and Kumasi, is aimed at decongesting overcrowded urban centres.

"It (poor road infrastructure in Northern Ghana) is leading people to migrate away from that part of the country, and everybody is migrating to Accra, Kumasi, but that is not what we should do. The reason people are not staying where they are is (because of poor roads in their areas)," he said on JoyFM's Super Morning Show on Friday, August 1.

He noted that when rural communities are better connected, residents will be more inclined to remain and pursue their livelihoods locally rather than migrate in search of economic opportunities.

"That is where the farming is, so if we actually want to improve a lot of people who are engaged in very meaningful economic activities like farming and agro processing, we need to improve their condition where they are."

He added that "We have this growing problem of congestion in our main cities, Accra congested, Kumasi congested, Sunyani congested, so as part of President Mahama's vision, we need to decongest Accra not by building more interchanges alone but diverting traffic that is not intended to terminate in Accra. So we want to construct a loop around Accra."

Mr Agbodza added that the ECOWAS road project is one of the key infrastructure undertakings under this agenda.