$1.5 billion Tema Port expansion project France’s biggest investment in Ghana – Ambassador Sophie Ave
French Ambassador to Ghana, Anne Sophie Ave, has said France’s biggest investment in Ghana was through the over $1.5 billion Tema Port Expansion project facilitated by French company Bolloré Transport & Logistics and APM Terminals with support from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Making the assertion in an interview on Accra-based Joy News monitored by norvanreports, Ambassador Ave stated Ghana is an attractive investment destination for French countries.
“The $1.5 billion investment in the Tema Port expansion project with Bolloré Transport & Logistics investing over $500 million with support from the World Bank is our [France] biggest investment in Ghana. The country has a good business climate and is an attractive investment destination on the continent for French companies,” she stated.
The Tema Port is operated by the Meridian Port Service (MPS), a joint venture between the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and Meridian Port Holdings, with Bolloré Transport & Logistics and APM Terminals as the two main shareholders.
The Tema Port lies along the Gulf of Guinea and has a water-enclosed area of 1.7 million square metres and covers a total land area of 3.9 million square metres.
The Port has 5 kilometres of breakwaters, 12 deepwater berths, one oil-tanker berth, one dockyard, warehouses, and transit sheds.
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The harbour serves both as a loading and unloading port for goods. It also serves as a major transit point for goods from land-locked countries to the north of Ghana. It also handles trade for industrial and commercial companies that import and export various goods such as petroleum, cement, food, metals, textiles.
Tema handles about 12 million tonnes of cargo a year.
Speaking on the trade ties between France and Ghana, Ambassador Ave noted Ghana is a very strong trade partner to France especially in light of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Adding that Ghana in 2020 earned over 200 million euros in trade surplus from trading with France.
“Ghana earned over 200 million euros as surplus in trade balance last year and this is because imports from France decreased by 6% and exports from Ghana to France increased by 30%,” she noted.
“At the moment France and the EU are in partnership to deepen trade ties with Ghana,” she added.
