Adnan Adams Mohammed
The Ghana Airport Company Limited has disclosed that, it is saving 3.5 percent on loan interest on the financing facility of the Terminal 3, at Kotoka International Airport after renegotiating the interest from 8.5% to 5%.
“We have renegotiated the interest on the loan from 8.5 percent to 5 percent,” says, Minister of Aviation, Hon. Joseph Kofi Adda, adding such loan facilities should ideally attract a 1.5 or 2. 5 percent liable loan but not to exceed 3.5 percent.
The GACL in 2015 secured an amount of US$250million from a consortium of banks led by Ecobank Capital under the erstwhile Mahama administration for the construction of the ‘all standard’ Terminal 3 at KIA in a bid to making Ghana an aviation hub for the sub region. However, according to the current government, the financing agreement was poorly negotiated putting financial constraints on the Company.
The current situation puts the Ghana Airports Company in “a tight corner as it has to escrow all revenue in honoring its loan obligation” hindering them from having funds to attend to other sectors, the Aviation Minister noted.
However, Mr Adda has called on the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to strive to protect the public purse.
He made the call on March 5 when he performed a sod-cutting ceremony at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) for the commencement of expansion works on an apron at the northern side of the airport and an office complex for the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
The minister touched on the well praised terminal 3 at the Kotoka Airport noting he had to renegotiate the credit facility terms the previous regime entered into for the erection of the terminal noting the terms were unfavorable to the state.
The apron; an area of the airport where aircraft will park, unload and load, refuel or for boarding as well as the office building is expected to be completed in two years.
The eight-storey building to be put up on a 9,300 metre square land would have underground parking, a data centre, a cafeteria, a gym and an executive lounge. The project is being constructed by Amandi Investments Limited.
The acting Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, said the northern apron project would have space for 14 aircraft.
