Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund and Africa Investment SkyTrain Consortium Holdings on Monday signed a concession agreement with the government of Ghana towards the development of a world-class mass transport system in the city of Accra.
The Accra SkyTrain system, valued at about $2.3-billion, will be the first of its kind in Africa.
The SkyTrain is an elevated air-propelled light rail system, using steel wheels and rails on an elevated runway for low drag and energy optimisation.
South Africa-based Africa Investment SkyTrain Consortium Holdings and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund are sponsors of the project, for which a feasibility study was recently completed.
The concession agreement marked the next step towards completing a bankable feasibility study.
The African Investment SkyTrain Consortium comprises construction engineering company Wilson Bayly Holmes Ovcon; project development company Bunengi Group; and Ai Capital, the investment and financing arm of the Ai Group, an influential international investment banking advisory group.
During a concession signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum, in Sandton, on Monday, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre CEO Yofi Grant said he was confident that the project would reach financial close by this time next year to allow for the start of construction soon after.
He said various parties had indicated their interest in funding the project through a combination of debt and equity and that the sponsors were seeking additional expressions of interest from potential funders for debt and equity.
The project will create 5 000 jobs during the construction phase, but will create double as many jobs considering the system’s multiplier effects and property growth around the transport system, explained Solomon Asamoah, of Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund.
He noted that the SkyTrain would bypass existing infrastructure on the ground, making it cheaper and easier to deploy, while operating in an environment-friendly manner. Mr. Asamoah added that the modular SkyTrain model could be replicated in other Ghanaian cities and other African cities.
African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina said that this was Africa-to-Africa investment. “We want our cities to be modern, our transport to be green and this is what this project will do.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo said it was a “happy day” for the country and for the continent. He believed Africa should reduce its dependence on “outside” bodies for the management of Africa’s economies.
Ghana Railways Development Minister Joe Ghartey highlighted that a project of this nature would transform Ghana’s nation, its urban areas and cost of living.
Source: Dailyviewgh.com | Dan Kwasi Prince
