VENTURES AFRICA- In line with its expansion drive into emerging markets, Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has signed a deal with its Ghanaian counterpart to provide advisory and technical consultancy services in all airport-related matters in Ghana.
The five-year renewable contract will see Acsa share aviation knowledge around technical, operational, commercial and strategic business development with Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL).
Specific areas to be focused on include airport infrastructure development, property development, commercial and business areas surrounding airports, and security-related services.
GACL is responsible for planning, developing, managing and maintaining Ghana’s airports, including Kotoka International Airport in the capital Accra, three regional airports and other airfields.
Its Managing Director, Charles Asare said the Ghanaian aviation sector had gained more prominence after the recent discovery of oil in the West African nation.
Ghana’s domestic traffic volumes have been growing by over 30 percent per annum and international traffic by around 10 percent.
The country’s Transport minister, Dzifa Attivor, said the country’s burgeoning economy is putting enormous pressure on its airports, especially the Kotoka International Airport which needs to be upgraded with new facilities.
Attivor said the country chose to partner with Acsa for advisory services based on its enormously successful airports expansion and management programme for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Acsa had signed a similar agreement with GVK for the management of Mumbai International Airport in India, and with Invepar at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil over the past few years.
“It is pleasing that Ghana has acknowledged South Africa’s eminence in the development and management of world-class airports by entering into an agreement for us to provide multi-dimensional assistance for their aggressive airport expansion programme,” SA Transport minister Dipuo Peters said in a statement.
The memorandum would be a catalyst for infrastructural development that would boost the continent’s growth, Acsa CEO Bongani Maseko added.