Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi
The Board of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) has expressed satisfaction with the progress of work on the new Terminal 3 at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
The Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) is taking major steps for the new terminal to be fully operational in September, this year.
Two aircraft, Delta Air and South Africa Airways, docked at the new terminal last month, with passengers from the United States undergoing operational tests of the new aerobridges.
The new terminal is expected to handle up to five million passengers a year, with an expansion potential of up to 6.5 million passengers.
At peak hour, the terminal will have the capacity to process up to about 1,250 passengers while a fully automated baggage handling system will also handle 3,500 bags an hour.
The facility will also have a large retail and commercial area, three business lounges, six fixed links and seven air bridges expandable to eight, and parking space with capacity to handle more than 700 cars.
The airport expansion project supports the government’s ambition to make Ghana a regional aviation hub.
Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, chairman of the board, said the project forms part of GACL’s capital investment programme.
“GIIF provided a loan facility to support the project as part of a development finance institutions’ tranche, along with AfDB and DBSA.”
The visit to the facility was to enable the GIIF board to apprise itself of the progress of work at the new terminal.
Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi noted that the loan facility would pave the way for GIIF “to become a driver for infrastructure and economic development in Ghana.”
He expressed delight that the GACL had been able to upgrade the airport as part of the country’s quest to become an aviation hub in the West African sub-region.
Managing Director of GACL, John Dekyem Attafuah, on his part, noted that GIIF’s participation in the project helped to secure long-term debt financing that would otherwise not be available in Ghana.
Chief Executive Officer of GIIF, Solomon Asamoah, also indicated that the value addition GIIF brought to the transaction helped to close the DFI financing tranche, thereby completing the financing package for GACL.
A business desk report