Ghana has signed a $2.6 billion Concession Agreement with South African firm African Investment SkyTrain Consortium to construct a world-class mass transport system in the city of Accra.
The MOU was signed on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The deal was signed in the presence of Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, and Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Commenting on the deal, President Akufo-Addo said the agreement marked a critical step in Ghana’s efforts of meeting important infrastructural needs.
The SkyTrain is an elevated air-propelled light rail system, using steel wheels and rails on an elevated runway for low drag and energy optimization.
Africa Investment SkyTrain Consortium Holdings and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund are sponsors of the project. The project feasibility study was completed recently.
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said that this was Africa-to-Africa investment. “We want our cities to be modern, our transport to be green and this is what this project will do.”
Ghana has first announced the deal last year during the first edition of the Africa Investment Forum and has since moved on to the concession stage with willing investors ready to finance.
The second edition of the AIF, organized by the AfDB and its partners, brings together over 2000 delegates from 109 countries. The three-day Forum kicked off Monday delivering on the promise to redefine and unpack the continent’s investment opportunities.