- Ghana Gets UK Backing for Shipyard, Forests, AI and Healthcare with £215m
President John Dramani Mahama has announced the signing of a landmark UK-Ghana Growth Partnership, securing investment deals worth up to £215 million to support infrastructure development, industrialisation, skills training, environmental sustainability and technology innovation across Ghana.
The agreement, signed in London during the Ghana-UK Investment Summit, will serve as a roadmap for bilateral economic cooperation between 2026 and 2028, with a strong focus on private-sector growth, job creation and long-term economic transformation.
A major component of the partnership is a £101 million UK-backed investment to establish the Gulf of Guinea’s first commercial-scale ship repair and dry-docking facility in Takoradi.
The Takoradi Floating Dock Project is expected to create up to 430 direct jobs, with 30 per cent of the positions reserved for women. It is also expected to strengthen Ghana’s ambition to become a regional maritime services hub.
The project could position Takoradi as a strategic servicing point for vessels operating across the Gulf of Guinea, reducing dependence on external maritime repair facilities and creating new industrial opportunities around Ghana’s port economy.
The partnership also includes significant climate-focused investments, notably an £85 million reforestation fund and a further £9 million commitment to forest restoration projects in the Oti Region.
These initiatives are expected to generate employment in local communities while supporting environmental conservation, sustainable land management and Ghana’s broader climate resilience agenda.
In the technology sector, Ghana is set to benefit from a £6 million partnership to support the implementation of the national Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
The initiative is also expected to expand collaboration in science, technology and innovation between Ghanaian and British universities, helping to deepen skills transfer, research partnerships and digital innovation.
The health sector will receive a further boost through a £4 million partnership dedicated to specialist clinical engineering training.
That intervention is aimed at improving technical capacity for the maintenance and operation of critical healthcare equipment across the country, a persistent challenge in Ghana’s health system.
Announcing the agreement, President Mahama described the UK-Ghana Growth Partnership as a roadmap designed to deliver “tangible benefits” for citizens and businesses while supporting Ghana’s wider economic transformation agenda.
According to the President, the partnership places emphasis on “private-sector growth”, infrastructure development and skills training to equip young Ghanaians with the capabilities required to compete in the global economy.
He noted that the Takoradi Floating Dock Project would help place Ghana at the forefront of regional maritime services, while the environmental investments would create jobs and contribute to the protection of the country’s natural resources.
President Mahama also highlighted the importance of the technology partnership in advancing Ghana’s AI Strategy and deepening collaboration between academic institutions in both countries. The agreement comes as Ghana seeks to convert renewed investor confidence into bankable projects that can support jobs, exports and industrial expansion.
The headline figure of £215 million will matter only if the projects move from summit announcements to procurement, implementation and measurable economic impact. For investors and development partners, the deal signals a renewed attempt to use bilateral cooperation not merely as diplomacy, but as a vehicle for targeted economic transformation.
