Paris Club to decide fate of Kumasi Airport – Ashanti Regional Minister

Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah has disclosed that the planned completion and commissioning of some headline infrastructural projects in the Ashanti Region might be hampered by the ongoing debt restructuring talks between the government of Ghana and its external bilateral creditors.

Giving updates about the Komfo Anokye Maternity Block project, he mentioned delays due to negotiations with the Paris Club and assured ongoing efforts to secure funding for its completion.

“I can’t promise that the project will be completed and commissioned this year. We have a challenge due to the DDEP. The government is negotiating with the Paris Club. My last check revealed that they haven’t signed the MoU, so disbursement has been halted," he said.

He told Kojo Marfo in an interview on Abusua FM that the debt restructuring negotiations have affected two other projects comprising the second phase of the Kejetia Market Project and the Kumasi Airport expansion.

“Regarding the airport, we were assured that by April planes can land there, but that does not mean we would have certification to operate as an international airport,” he explained.

Kumasi Airport expansion works

Work on Phase Two (2) of the Kumasi Airport Project began in 2018. It included the construction of a new Terminal Building to handle one million passengers per annum, two boarding bridges, a road network, a perimeter fence, a substation, parking lot among others. The cost of the expansion work was estimated at £66,350,000.

Phase three of the Kumasi Airport Expansion Project involves the extension of the existing runway pavement from 1,981 meters to 2,320 meters, construction of new taxi link and two Apron Parking Stands, an Air Traffic Control Building, and a Fire Station among others. The cost for this phase is estimated at £58,900,000.

The Kumasi Airport is currently served by two domestic carriers namely: Africa World Airlines (AWA) and Passion Air. The project contractor is Messrs Contracta Construction UK Ltd.