The Kotoka International Airport (KIA) third passenger terminal has been completed.
The project was started under the previous regime but completed but the incumbent political administration of President Akufo-Addo.
The airport has in the past four years been the beneficiary of many infrastructural projects the most important of which is the third passenger terminal regarded by many as a flagship project of the Ghana Airports Company Limited. The project has added invaluable capacity to KIA, positioning it to accommodate and handle the expected strong growth in passenger volumes for years to come with a view to enabling it to serve as the preferred aviation hub in the West African sub region as a whole.
The new terminal is easily the biggest and most modern of the three at the airport and is therefore the most important. It has the capacity to handle five million passengers a year and equipped with six boarding bridges, a large commercial and retail area, three business lounges and purpose built transit facilities.
The idea of a new terminal was conceived as a compelling project in 2013 as alternative to the refurbishment of Terminal 2, which was then on the drawing board. At the time, the facilities in Terminal 2 constantly broke down, and congestion, especially at the arrival hall, had become a national security concern. However, all indications pointed to the disruption of traffic and cost overruns that would be attendant upon the refurbishment of what was clearly a dated product. The then board of the company took the bold decision to cut new ground, and, once it received support of government, started work in earnest to secure funding for it.
Ex-President John Dramani Mahama cut the sod to signal the commencement of work, accompanied by his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is now due to be commissioned by President Akufo-Addo.
But the loudest applause will be reserved for the GACL itself as a state-owned enterprise, but one which has exhibited exemplary corporate conduct with regards to financing commercially viable projects using its own balance sheet and borrowing on commercial terms. Here, Charles Asare, under whose tenure as managing director the project was envisioned and initiated, and John Attafuah, who completed it as his successor, stand out for their leadership and contributions to its successful implementation.
Financing for the project was provided in part from a US$200 project million loan provided by the African Development Bank, Development Bank of South Africa and Ghana Infrastructure Fund with a 15-year tenor and in part from part of a US$200 million syndicated commercial loan provided by a consortium of local and foreign banks led by Ecobank Ghana Limited.
The loans were provided to GACL without any support or Ghana government guarantee and it was for a wider infrastructural agenda of GACL, which includes expansion and upgrade of other parts of the KIA as well as the rehabilitation and upgrade of other airports around the country and the development of new ones, notably Ho Airport. KIA’s Terminal 3 is a monumental feat of engineering with five levels spread across 45,000 square meters and parking space for 700 cars. It has six contact stands for Code E aircraft and two remote stands.