Atuabo Free Port And China Harbour Engineering Company Sign Construction Agreement

Atuabo Free Port (AFP) and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) today signed a construction agreement establishing China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) as the main contractor of the free port project.

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 center will serve the Oil and Gas industry in the West African sub region.

Mr. Steven Gray, Director AFP and Mr. Tang Qiaoliang Vice President of CHEC initialed for their respective companies.

Ghana’s Minister of Finance Seth Tekper, Deputy Minister of Trade Murtala Mohammed, Ms. SUN Baohong, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, and other officials from China and the Ghana Investment Promotion Center 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 center 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 Tekper commended both parties and applauded AFP for its unique joint venture model with government. The joint venture agreement includes a 10 percent free carry shareholding for the Government of Ghana and a 35 per cent shares to be owned by State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) without the government having to guarantee the financing of the 600million dollar free port project.

Mr. Tekper is pleased with such partnership arrangement and encouraged other potential investors to take a cue from the AFP model which places zero financial burden on government’s budget.

As you may recall, 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 2015 and more than 1000 jobs will be created directly by the project.