COMMENT: Ghana has added its name to the growing list of ports along the West African coast which have firm plans to add new deepwater capacity.
The Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) has formulated a five phase expansion plan for the port of Tema, the premier port for container handling in Ghana. In the first phase this will see the creation of basic port infrastructure comprising a new breakwater, dredging to specified depths, the creation of quay wall foundation trenches and reclamation to provide new terminal areas. Five new berths will be built, two of these being container berths, with a draught alongside of at least 16m and a length sufficient to accommodate high capacity container vessels. New ro-ro and cruise terminal facilities will be established at the remaining three berths.
GPHA has already called for and received international bids for the works and a decision in this respect is imminent. There is known to be plenty of interest in the new container terminal concession which will be offered for a minimum period of 20 years depending on the level of investment undertaken. Ghana has a booming economy, a large population of over 25m with a growing middle class, plus it is a gateway to the landlocked countries around it which include Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali as well as being able to serve parts of the neighbouring Ivory Coast and Benin.
Maritime trade is also not just import focused but also has growing export potential. The country is, for example, the second largest exporter of cocoa worldwide.
These realities are reflected in recent container traffic growth through the port of Tema. Over the last three years traffic has increased more than 50% every year up to a level of 841,989 teu in 2013.
Infrastructure focus
There is also recognition that the expansion of port facilities requires complementary action in terms of increasing road capacity to and from Tema port. There are elements of this in the new port infrastructure package and in January 2014 the GPHA awarded a $400,000 contract to Louis Berger and Transtech Consult Ghana Limited for the design of a four-lane dual carriageway connecting with Tema Harbour.
When completed in 2018 the Tema harbour expansion will create a platform that is capable of raising annual container throughput in Tema to the 2m teu level putting it fairly and squarely in the race to achieve container hub status on the west coast of Africa.
At Ghana’s second port, Takoradi, GPHA already has major expansion works underway with financing for this coming from the China Development Bank to the tune of $450m and from Belgium’s KBC Groep for $267m.
Work in this western region port is focused on establishing it as major port for the handling of bulk commodities and meeting the needs of energy exploration and production companies following the discovery of commercially exploitable energy resources offshore in 2007.
China Harbour Engineering Company recently completed the first phase expansion involving breakwater construction, channel dredging and provision of sites for bulk terminal and other facilities and now Jan de Nul of Belgium is working on the second phase consolidating and expanding on these works. The bulk commodities to be handled will include manganese, bauxite, clinker and limestone.
