Road construction projects under the government’s Big Push programme are responsible for nearly half of all fibre cuts recorded in Ghana this year, Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Sam Nartey George has disclosed.
According to the minister, road projects accounted for about 49 per cent of the 8,578 fibre-cut incidents recorded across the country so far in 2026.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, September 7, 2026, Sam George said the repeated damage to telecommunications infrastructure had disrupted services while placing a heavy financial burden on network operators.
He disclosed that more than US$20 million had already been spent repairing damaged fibre infrastructure this year.
The minister said the money could have been used to expand telecommunications infrastructure and improve network coverage instead of being diverted into repairs.
“That’s money that without the fibre cut we could have used to build new sites,” he said.
Sam George identified the government’s aggressive road construction programme as the biggest source of fibre damage, explaining that extensive road works across the country had increased the risk of underground telecommunications cables being cut.
The scale of the problem has grown significantly over the past few years.
Ghana recorded about 3,900 fibre cuts in 2021, more than 10,000 in 2022, over 6,000 in 2023 and more than 5,600 in 2024.
The number rose to approximately 8,000 in 2025, while 8,578 incidents had already been recorded by September 2026.
Sam George warned that if the current trend continued, Ghana could approach 9,000 fibre-cut incidents by the end of the year.
He said the persistent damage was particularly concerning because telecommunications operators were being forced to spend money on restoring existing infrastructure rather than investing those resources in expanding their networks.
Despite the challenge, the minister said the government remained committed to improving connectivity and expanding telecommunications infrastructure nationwide.
He disclosed that the government had increased its target for new telecommunications sites from 50 in 2025 to 800 in 2026.
Sam George stressed that protecting existing fibre infrastructure would therefore be essential to achieving the expansion target.
He called for stronger coordination between road contractors, the Ministry of Roads and network operators before and during construction works to reduce the risk of damaging critical telecommunications infrastructure.
According to him, preventing fibre cuts would not only minimise service disruptions but also ensure that funds earmarked for expanding Ghana’s digital infrastructure are not continually redirected towards expensive repair works.
