The construction of Ghana’s largest cargo airport is set to take place later this year, according to Mr Leslie Alex Ayeh, a Senior Partner at Ayeh and Ayeh, the Consultant working on the project.
The airport will be located near Komenda in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region and will focus on cargo, tourism, and aviation excellence. The facility aims to become Africa’s leading center for large-scale aircraft repair and training of personnel to provide rapid response in times of disasters.
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The project will also include an aircraft repair center, which will be the only one in West Africa to serve the entire sub-region.
Mr Ayeh indicated that the government and stakeholders were working diligently to ensure the airport’s actualization. Although he could not provide the project’s actual cost, he stated that the government had advanced in its funding arrangements.
The project’s scope was outlined, and stakeholders’ engagements had been conducted, with a scoping report sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for consideration.
The project’s sod-cutting will begin immediately after the transparent international bidding process and award of the contract. The number of hectares envisioned has reduced from 2,400 hectares to 1,700 hectares as the Lands Commission worked to ensure value for money. Compensation was given to the affected people, who had been re-evaluated and reduced from 2,000 to 200, due to financial and other considerations.
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Mr Ayeh allayed the fears of the community about the project’s economic viability and possibility and gave an assurance of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s commitment and desire to ensure a more vibrant project with an expanded scope of a cargo-focused facility.
The facility’s strategic location in global trade would become a vehicle to converge the 54 African countries into a single market of 1.3 billion people through the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).
The airport’s benefits include facilitating tourism, trade, and connectivity to foster economic growth, job creation, poverty alleviation, and improved living standards. It will also promote Ghana’s industrialization and the advancement of its manufacturing sector and provide more employment opportunities for the growing youth population.
The airport’s establishment will also attract global business giants to participate in the ready market due to the prime location of the region.