President Mahama Introduces Cashless Road Tolls Linked to Ghana Card for Seamless Mobile Money and Bank Payments

President John Dramani Mahama has said the plans to re-introduce road tolls in Ghana through a fully digital system will do away with physical tollbooths and manual collection.

Rather, vehicle owners and drivers would be billed automatically via their mobile money wallets or bank accounts, using data linked to their Ghana Cards.

President Mahama said this while addressing participants at the 9th Ghana CEO Summit in Accra on Monday (on May 26, 2025).

“We’ve already linked every car to its owner’s Ghana Card,” he said. “If you cross, for example, the East Legon Bridge, a camera captures your car and a bill is sent straight to your MoMo or bank account. No tollbooths, no delays, just straightforward billing.”

President Mahama explained that the proposal builds on recent developments in Ghana’s identity management system.

He referred to a recent request from officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who sought a reference on the local contractor behind Ghana’s ID card system.

“I told them Margins did a good job. This same infrastructure is what we are now using to modernise toll collection,” he said.

The earlier toll system, based on manual collection at roadside booths, was suspended by the New Patriotic Party government in 2021.

While the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration had supported tolling, President Mahama said the re-introduction would be fully digital to avoid the congestion and inefficiencies associated with the old model.

He noted that the new system would help reduce leakages in revenue and improve compliance.

He said it was designed to avoid inconveniencing commuters while making use of existing national identification and financial platforms.

President Mahama added that the digital toll initiative is part of a broader programme to reset Ghana’s economy by using technology and efficiency to improve public services and expand infrastructure.

He made it clear that the initiative is one of several measures his government intends to pursue to restore confidence in economic management and improve the financing of roads and other critical infrastructure.