The government will hand over selected streets in major cities to private businesses for redevelopment and maintenance, while property rates will be collected entirely through digital payments, Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister Mahama Ayariga has announced.
Speaking at his first Government Accountability Series briefing on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, Mr Ayariga said banks, manufacturers, construction companies, logistics firms and insurers would be invited to participate in the street redevelopment scheme.
The businesses would be responsible for rebuilding, improving and maintaining the roads assigned to them. In return, they could secure naming rights, either by having streets named after their companies or sharing names with existing personalities. They would also receive advertising rights along the roads.
Mr Ayariga said the Chief Executive of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority and the National Urban Roads Director were expected to submit the scheme’s first report on Wednesday. Details of how companies will participate are due to be presented to President John Dramani Mahama for approval by the following week, after which the programme will be launched.
The minister also said President Mahama had instructed him to prepare an Inner City Big Push Initiative in partnership with Roads Minister Kwame Governs Agbodza and Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
The initiative is intended to provide paved roads, walkways, drainage, street lighting and greenery in every city neighbourhood. It would be financed mainly through a restructured property rate system and betterment charges, with additional government support. The President is expected to announce the full details later.
Digital property payments
Mr Ayariga criticised the existing property rate system, describing it as inefficient and vulnerable to corruption. He said some of the money collected currently ended up “in private pockets”.
Under the proposed system, property rates would be collected through a central mechanism with cash payments removed completely. Residents would pay only via MTN MoMo or electronic bank transfers.
On sanitation, the minister said the Finance Minister was waiting for cost estimates for engineered landfill sites in all regional capitals, including three in Greater Accra. The plans also include waste transfer stations in every Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assembly (MMDA).
Households would eventually pay for waste collection through an automated system, helping to fund the investment. The government hopes the waste management and circular economy sectors will create at least 20,000 permanent jobs.
Mr Ayariga said the President was satisfied with the initial results of the trial contraflow arrangement for Ayalolo Bus Rapid Transit buses. A stakeholder meeting will take place at his office on Thursday, 8 October 2026, to assess the trials. He said contraflow “has come to stay” until other transport options are developed.
The government also plans to increase support for the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs, including through the Common Fund Formula, to help resolve chieftaincy disputes more quickly.
District funding and completed projects
Mr Ayariga said GH¢9.1 billion, representing six quarters of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), had been transferred to MMDAs. He said the government remained committed to releasing at least 88 per cent of the fund.
He added that 397 of 566 CHPS compounds and health centres, 502 of 761 classroom blocks, 3,081 of 4,029 boreholes and 97 of 134 small-town water projects had been completed.
