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Ghana will soon boast its own airline as the Ministry of Transport has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PWC Ghana and the World Bank for the commencement of the Technical Advisory Services.
The Technical Advisory Services would involve the undertaking of various business studies, development of plans, financial and economic models, advice and management of a procurement process, including the preparation of bidding documents, evaluation and negotiations for the engagement of a private sector partner.
The Technical Advisory Services, which are sponsored by the World Bank, will also involve the preparation of bidding documents, evaluation and negotiations for the engagement of a private sector partner with proven expertise in the airline business to partner the government to establish and run the national airline, a GNA report said.
Speaking at the signing of the MOU last Wednesday, the Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said the establishment of a new airline for Ghana would bring back Ghana’s pride in the aviation sector and also establish a reliable home-based national airline to provide regional, sub-regional and inter-continental air transport services.
“It is also in line with the ministry’s policy of making the Kotoka International Airport an aviation hub within the West African sub-region and also compete with other carriers operating in the country and could force fares down for the benefit of the travelling Ghanaian public,” she said.
She said the transaction advisors were expected to work closely with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the project was brought to a financial closure in an efficient and timely manner to achieve the desired objectives.
Mrs Attivor said the project was in tune with the government’s decision to embrace the public private partnership (PPP) option as an alternative financing arrangement that would ensure adequate investment in the provision and maintenance of various infrastructure and services in the country.
“Following the development of a PPP policy framework by the government, the Ministry of Transport has for the past few months been working closely with the Public Investment Division (PID) of the Ministry of Finance on a number of projects in the transport sector, which have been proposed to be financed through PPPs.”
“Two key projects among these are the Boankra Inland Port and the Eastern Railway Line Project and the Establishment of a National Airline,” she added.
The Lead Specialist for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, World Bank, Mr Djibrilla Issa, noted that although Ghana had been able to reduce its poverty level, it still had issues to address as far as its infrastructure was concerned, adding that PPP would be one of the best options to address it.
He pledged the World Bank’s readiness to help Ghana develop projects which would be beneficial to the socio-economic development of the country.
The Country Senior Partner, PWC Ghana, Mr Felix Addo, said an MOU had been signed with the Ministry of Transport for the Boankra Inland Port and the Eastern Railway Line.
He said (Ghana) would ensure that the lessons learnt in the past concerning the collapse of the previous airline would be brought to bear in establishing the new one.