Ghana's Airports For Sale

It is incredible but it is true. The divestiture of state owned enterprises is continuing with gusto and this time round all four of Ghana�s airports are up for grabs. The Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning and Transport have given their full blessing to a deal which will see foreign companies buying into the airports. Documents available to The Insight newspaper shows that the main purpose of this divestiture is to raise money for the expansion and rehabilitation of the airports in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale. The deal christened, �Public Private Partnership� project is similar to the one under which Ghana sold 60 percent of her interest in the Tema Shipyard and Drydock to a Malaysian Company. Early this year, the Government of Ghana decided to end the deal with the Malaysian Company because it had led to the running down of the Tema Shipyard and Drydock. A letter from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is more than clear on the intentions of the Government. It states, �The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning wishes to reiterate the position of Government in undertaking this project through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative� The decision to invite private participation into the ownership and management of the country�s airports is shocking in view of the strong opposition of leading members of the current administration to similar privatization of state enterprises in the past. Many leaders in the current administration joined protests by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) against the sale of shares in Ghana Telecom to Vodafone. They also strongly advocated the re-takeover of the Tema Shipyard and Drydock by the Government of Ghana. The privatization of state enterprises started in earnest after the CIA sponsored coup against the Nkrumah Government on February 24, 1986. Since then more than 500 state-owned enterprises have been privatized to the detriment of the national economy. They include the national shipping line, The Blackstar Line, The State Fishing Corporation, Ghana Airways and the Ghana Rubber Estates. Most of the privatization has been done on the marching orders of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The two institutions have pushed a neo-liberal agenda which has involved the free fall of the cedi, the massive retrenchment of labour, the withdrawal of subsidies on social services and the privatization of state enterprises. There are very strong indications that the attempt to privatize Ghana�s airports will be heavily resisted.