Shady Frontiers Health Services Made US$59million From COVID Testing In 2021 …Analysis

An analysis by the Business Desk of Accra-based GHOne Television shows that Frontiers Healthcare Services, (FHS) the company owned by the fugitive Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters made over US$59million profit (after tax) from dubious COVID-19 test tests at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

The GHOne breakdown shows that the company, within the space of just one year (between 2020 and 2021) made over US$70million from the shady contract which smacked of the blatant cronyism and nepotism of the Akufo Addo administration.

Per the breakdown, in 2021, 632,163 visitors arrived in the country and mandatorily undertook the antigen test at US$150 per visitor. This pooled a whopping US$94,824,450.

As the Ghana Airports company is entitled to a royalty of US$10 per antigen test out of the US$150 charged by Frontiers, the Airports Company was paid US$9,482,445 while Frontiers pocketed US$85,342,005, despite using the resources of the Airport as well as other public resources.

Per the arrangement, Frontiers is supposed to pay a 25% corporate tax and so likely paid $23, 706, 112.5 in tax.

To deduct likely cost of business out of the profit made, GHOne says it multiplied the highest possible price per antigen test kit (US$4) by some 600,000 travelers that came into the country in 2021, pointing out that Frontiers may have spent a mere US$2,528,652 as expenditure to buy the test kits.

The station says it also asked the Airports Company for a quotation in respect of the rental of space to Frontier but the Airports Company refused to reply, and so GHOne guesstimated a rent of US$3Million.

Consequently, it said Frontiers likely spent US$26,234,764 in total on test kits, royalties, taxes and rent, leaving them some US$59,107,236 in profit after tax.

Earlier in 2020, the first year of their operation, 115,730 tourists visited Ghana in the first four months of Frontiers operation and were required to take the mandatory test at US$150 per test after they had taken PCR tests in their countries of origin.

Consequently, in the first four months of 2020, Frontiers made a total of US$17,359,500.

The shady Frontiers contract was given on the blindside of the Minister of health, the Ghanaians Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and even the Attorney General.

The company owned by the Nigerian billionaire fugitive and a close friend of President Akufo Addo is tied in a labyrinthine arrangement traced to tax havens.

The arrangement has baffled many who questioned why the government of Ghana with a functional health service infrastructure dumped that and contracted such a sensitive project to Frontier which completely lacked a track record in the area.