President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has invited both Ghanaian and foreign businesses to play a major role in the country’s Aviation industry.
He said his government’s vision is to establish Ghana both as an aviation hub within West Africa and as the preferred destination of choice for travellers.
“Government hopes to achieve this by working with the private sector to offer modern, attractive air transport infrastructure and by building capacity and establishing institutional and policy framework to enhance safety and security of air services,” he stressed The President stated these when he addressed participants at the maiden African Airshow at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) yesterday.
In pursuit of this, government, he disclosed had given approval for the establishment of a national carrier with private sector participation.
Government’s overall direction for national development as contained in the coordinated programme of economic and social development policies for the period 2017 to 2024 is to create the conditions for the private sector thrive in the aviation industry in order to propel growth and create employment especially for the youth. Government, he had re-created the aviation ministry to develop the Ghanaian aviation industry and make it highly competitive within the West African region.
Strategic projects to enhance air travel The President pointed out that the various ongoing and up-coming face-lifting projects at the country’s Airports were meant to lead to an enhanced air travel experience.
Terminal 3 The new terminal is designed to accommodate up to five million passengers a year, with an expansion potential of up to 6.5 million passengers to be completed in April 2018.
At peak hour, the terminal will have the capacity to process up to about 1,250 passengers.
A fully automated baggage handling system will also handle 3,500 bags an hour.
The project partly funded by the African Development Bank is to ease pressure on the existing two terminals once completed. Expansion of Modern Air Navigation Services Centre This is to ensure safety and security of aircraft and passengers in Ghana’s airspace.
Construction of phase II of Kumasi & Tamale Airports According to President Akufo-Addo, the need for the investments into such infrastructure and air navigation systems is to respond to anticipated traffic growth and also “to keep up with the dynamism and technology that the aviation industry demands.”
According to him, air transport remains an industry that serves as a catalyst for socio-economic growth as it connects peoples, countries and cultures, provides access to global markets and promotes trade and tourism.
Data from the International Air Travel Association (IATA) indicate that global air transport industry supports some 62.7million jobs worldwide comprising 9.9million direct jobs, 11.9million indirect jobs, 5.2million induced jobs and 36.3million tourism catalytic jobs.
IATA reports that global air travel has been growing at 5 per cent annually and projects it to grow at 5.6 percent over the next 20 years.
In Africa air transport supports 6.8million jobs and contributes in value $72.5billion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) While the world is growing at 5 per cent, Africa is growing at 6 per cent. In Ghana, the growth rate in aviation is on the average of 7.9 per cent per annum.
African Airshow The African Airshow is the first aerospace and aviation exhibition and conference of West Africa and is being organised by Dubai-based 4M Events, organisers of the successful Abu Dhabi Air Expo for the past three years.
The maiden event brings together major investors for both general and commercial aviation in Africa to discover latest developments and innovations.
It is designed to connect professionals across all areas of the industry with the African market, it is directly in line with the government’s vision of making Ghana the aviation hub of West Africa.
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