When officials from the Ashanti Ports Services Limited toured the project site last weekend, it was clear that the contractor, Justmoh Construction Limited, was working round the clock to complete various schedules.

Currently, the contractor is almost done with the construction of the drainage and other earthworks.

The Project Manager of the Boankra Inland Port, Jarrar Saddique, who briefed the delegation about the progress of work, said the schedule included levelling the ground for the main terminal and commercial areas.

Satisfaction

The Chief Executive Officer of the concessionaire, Ashanti Ports Services Limited, Isaac Afum, who led the delegation, expressed satisfaction with the progress and quality of work done at the site so far.

He said the contractor was within schedule and the concessionaire expected it to be completed and commissioned by next year, November, barring any challenges.

To ensure the timely completion of the project, Mr Afum said plans were far advanced to bring on board two different contractors to augment the work of the existing one.

He further said aside from the $280 million funding from Africa Export-Import Bank (Afeximbank) for the project, another financier from Italy was also supporting it with an additional $100 million.

The contract to kick-start work on the project was awarded in November 2020, after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the project which had stalled for many years.

Mr Afum expressed optimism that the completion of the project would not only boost business opportunities in the region, but also create jobs for the masses, especially the youth, through direct and indirect employment.

The CEO of the Boankra Port concessionaire commended the President for his support and confidence in picking a local concessionaire for the development of the Boankra Inland Port.

He extended the same gratitude to the Minister of Transport, the Ghana Shippers Authority, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for their continuous and unflinching support to the progress of the project.

He added that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority was now a shareholder as it bought shares in the project earlier this year.

The Board Chairman of Ashanti Ports Services Limited, Nana Bugyei, in an interview with the media, pledged their support for the successful completion of the project.

Background

Initiated in the 1990s, the project is to create a dry port as an extension of the Tema Port.

When completed, it is expected to increase the movement of goods and services in the country and also facilitate transit trade between Ghana and the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Ashanti Port Services Limited, owned by Afum Quality Limited of Ghana, won the bid to bring life to the project.

The project, which will be completed in 2023, is expected to increase the movement of goods and services in the country and also facilitate transit trade between Ghana and the landlocked countries.

The facilities will include an ultra-modern integrated logistics terminal consisting of a container service yard, container freight station, reefer yard, warehouses, truck parking area, trucker’s facilities, fuel station, a commercial complex, freight forwarders’ offices and facilities for postal, telecommunication, utility services, among others.