Atuabo Free Port (AFP) and the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) have signed a construction agreement establishing China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) as the main contractor of the free port project.
[contextly_sidebar id=”vJDsGE7W2mVQbymPPtuKHcWUmfK4xeJm”]AFP is to develop and operate a free port in Atuabo in the Elembelle district of the Western region of Ghana.
The deep water hydrocarbon logistics centre will serve the oil and gas industry in the West African sub region.
The director of AFP Steven Gray and Vice President of CHEC Tang Qiaoling initialed for their respective companies.
Ghana’s Minister of Finance Seth Terkper , Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Murtalla Mohammed , the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Sun Baohong and other officials from China and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre witnessed the signing ceremony.
Also present at the ceremony were Ghana’s ambassador to China and officials of the embassy.
The signing of the agreement marks the completion of an exhaustive bidding process and is another milestone in the realization of a dedicated deep water hydrocarbon logistics and service centre that will serve the oil and gas industry not only in Ghana but also be a competitive infrastructure platform for companies to support their offshore activities in the West African sub region.
Speaking at the ceremony in Beijing, Minister of finance Seth Terkper commended both parties and applauded AFP for its unique joint venture model with government.
The joint venture agreement includes a 10percent free carry shareholding for the government of Ghana and a 35% shares to be owned by state owned enterprises without the government having to guarantee the financing of the 600million dollar free port project.
Mr. Terkper encouraged other potential investors to take a cue from the AFP model which places zero financial burden on government’s budget.
Cabinet and parliament approved the atuabo free port project in February and July 2014 respectively.
Construction commences by the end of the fourth quarter of 2015and more than 1000jobs will be created directly by the project.
Source: Atuabo Free Port