By Issah Mohammed
Accra, Nov 26, GNA – The Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited (GTFCL) is on track to complete the construction of its new Convention Centre by June 2025.
With a capacity of 20,000, the facility is designed to host world-class events, including concerts, exhibitions, conferences, and trade fairs.
The Convention Centre will feature a 5,000-square-meter pre-event lobby that includes amenities such as a restaurant, a Made in Ghana gift shop, a forex bureau, a lounge, and an information desk.
Dr. Agnes Adu, CEO of GTFCL, shared this update during a visit to the site by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The redevelopment project spans 156 acres, with 100 acres dedicated to the first phase, which includes the convention centre, exhibition halls, a business park, commercial offices, a technology hub, a trade village, hotels, residential apartments, retail mall, and amusement facilities.
The second phase, covering 56 acres, will see the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat and high-end residential developments.
Vice President Bawumia highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships (PPP) in driving infrastructure development and reducing government spending.
He urged Ghanaians to embrace the PPP model and support his presidential bid to help shift about GH₵30 billion of government expenditure annually to the private sector.
“Without the private sector, we wouldn’t be this advanced. So, I need us to understand this new model that we are trying to implement in many things,” he said.
The Vice President observed that the completion of the project would go a long way to improve the economies of scale for the creative arts industry.
“If you have to bring an artist to play and the capacity is 3,000 people.
“They (organisers) have to charge much higher prices to make up for their costs. So, you’re going to see the costs for shows and so on being high.
“That doesn’t bring up the demand because the cost is high and therefore, they don’t make the necessary or the requisite revenues or profits for their businesses,” he said.
Dr. Adu said for years, successive governments had made attempts to complete the master plan of the trade fair site.
“It is only this government, under the leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo that in 2017 begun an ambitious redevelopment of this site,” she said.
Present during the visit was Mr Mark Okraku Mantey, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture; Daniel McKorley, the Board Chairman of the GTFCL; Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, CEO of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and Mr Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority.
GNA