Dr. Agnes Adu (right), Sunder Kithram (seated left). With them are President Nana Akufo-Addo and other government officials
The Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited under, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Stellar Holding Pte. Ltd, of Singapore, for the re-development of the Trade Fair site in Accra.
The project, expected to commence in the second quarter of this year, will cost over $1 billion
Under the agreement, Stellar Holding Pte. Ltd has the mandate to redevelop the Trade Fair site into a mixed-use, modern facility with a first-class convention centre, exhibition facilities and supporting facilities.
Phases/focus
Phase 1, under the MoU, will focus on developing the convention centre and exhibition halls to hold the World Economic Forum, Africa, whilst Phase 2 will look at facilities such as luxury hotels, high-end malls and other residential and commercial development.
According to the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited, management will in the next few weeks put out a timeline of scheduled works and activities within the next month.
In 2019, the two parties contracted a third-party company to undertake horizontal development of the entire Trade Fair site with works including servicing of the land and the construction of infrastructure including roads, drains, relocation and extension of utilities as well as partitioning of the site into varying lots.
Additionally, the agreement will allow the establishment of a joint venture company to accelerate the developing, and financing the development of world class luxury hotels, high-end malls and other residential and commercial developments, as agreed in Phase 2 of the MoU on land spanning some Sixty-five acreage.
It would involve the redevelopment of the approximately 150-acre land into a modern mixed-use commercial estate with a convention centre with a seating capacity of 24,000 people and exhibition facilities.
Other key components of this development will be shopping malls, offices, leisure centres, hotels and related amenities, which would keep the centre alive to serve the leisure, commercial and tourism needs of its users.
A director of the Group, Sunder Kithran, and the Chief Executive Officer of GTFCL, Dr. Agnes Adu, signed the agreement on the sidelines of the ongoing Expo 2020 in Dubai. Present at the signing was President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Trade Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen and the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor.
The Ghana Trade Fair
GTFCL was established by an Executive Instrument (EI) in 1960 as a project to facilitate Ghana’s post-independence trade and industrialisation drive. EI10 acquired a 239.92-acre land for this purpose and to showcase Ghana’s exports with the view to attracting investors into its fledgling economy.
Since 1960, GTFCL has metamorphosed into a limited liability company strategically positioned to promote and facilitate trade in Ghana.
Long periods of neglect by successive governments and a lack of focus had rendered the institution ineffective and incapable of delivering what it was created to do.
In the last two decades, iconic trade pavilions and related infrastructure constructed at its current location had deteriorated and been taken over by third parties under various arrangements that had allowed the company to stay afloat.
During the period, attempts had been made to revive the company through various public-private partnership initiatives by redeveloping the centre under various themes.
The current redevelopment project is considered as a core part of President Nana Akufo Addo’s vision to position Ghana as a trade hub for West Africa.
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