Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund and Africa Investment SkyTrain Consortium Holdings have on Monday, November 11, 2019, signed a US$ 3 billion deal to develop a world-class light rail system for Accra.
The SkyTrain is an elevated air-propelled light rail system, using steel wheels and rails on an elevated runway for low drag and energy optimisation.
South Africa-based Africa Investment SkyTrain Consortium Holdings and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund are the main sponsors of the project.
The agreement was signed in a ceremony held on the sidelines of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum, in Sandton-South Africa by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Yofi Grant
The project is expected to start next year after necessary financial arrangements have been finalised.
The project is expected to create 5 000 jobs during the construction phase, but is expected to create more when the project fully kick-starts.
The African Investment SkyTrain Consortium comprises construction engineering company Wilson Bayly Holmes Ovcon; project development company Bunengi Group; and Ai Capital, the investment and financing arm of the Ai Group, an influential international investment banking advisory group.
The SkyTrain is designed to bypass existing infrastructure on the ground, making it cheaper and easier to deploy, while operating in an environment-friendly manner. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said it was a “happy day” for the country and for the continent. He believed Africa should reduce its dependence on “outside” bodies for the management of Africa’s economies.