In November 2018, most of those who matter in Africa were gathered in the South African capital of Johannesburg for the first edition of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), an annual event organised to facilitate investment in Africa.
Described as an investment platform, the organisers say the AIF is aimed at facilitating global investment into Africa by convening project sponsors, financiers, governments and other key stakeholders with the objective to close deals.
The Forum’s organisation is led by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), and seven other founding partners – the Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Africa50, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank and Trade & Development Bank.
At the tis first edition of the AIF, Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a $2.6 billion Accra Skytrain.
“Today, we have signed an MoU, which will last nine months, where they (Ai SkyTrain Consortium) can do their feasibility into detail. After which we have given ourselves 45 days to take our concessionary agreements for approval by Cabinet and also by Parliament. By January 2020, we should start the construction of the project,” Mr Joe Ghartey, former Minister of Railways Development said.
Mr Ghartey said though the agreement had been signed, there was work to do to bring the project into fruition, through the transformation of urban areas.
He assured the Consortium that the government would work hard to ensure that the deal went through legislative approval and expressed the hope that financial closure would be reached by the following year for work to start.
Mr Hubert Danso, the Director of AI SkyTrain Consortium Holdings on his part, indicated that the consortium would undertake detailed feasibility studies with a view of bringing financial closure within a year for the project to start.
He further stated that the project would create some 5,000 direct jobs during the construction phase and could rise to over 10,000 when other ancillary jobs were added.
The former CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, Solomon Asamoah said: “This is a major contribution to infrastructure development in Ghana, and in Africa as a whole. We need mass transport. This project will help overcome traffic gridlock,” he explained. He also said the project was achievable and believed that it will profoundly transform Ghana’s economic capital.
Mr Yoofi Grant, the former CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre expressed confidence that the project would reach financial closure by the time of the signing the following year.
By February 2019, Ghanaian officials have made a payment of $2 million to the bank account of the Africa Investor Holdings Limited in Mauritius. The amount was for the feasibility studies for the development of the Skytrain system in Accra.
Then on the opening day of the second edition of the Forum on November 11, 2019 in Johannesburg, at the sidelines of the Forum, another signing ceremony took place in a room filled with journalists, state officials, bankers, technocrats and other financiers and businesses, the former President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo sat on a large conference table, with the President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina by his side, with some of his lieutenants. On the table were also some Ghanaian officials including, Joe Ghartey and Solomon Asamoah.
The signing was for the concession agreement.
On the high table was also Hubert Danso, the Director of AI SkyTrain Consortium Holdings and Yoofi Grant, the former CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
Everyone seemed upbeat and excited about the deal. This Skytrain was to change Ghana’s railway sector and ease the increasing traffic congestions in Accra, they imagined. It was projected to transport 380,000 passengers yearly when completed.
Some Ghanaians were sceptical. But the deal had been signed.
The Ghana government sealed the $2.6 billion Concession Agreement with South African firm African Investment (AI) SkyTrain Consortium to construct the Accra Inner city SkyTrain project.
Joe Ghartey signed for Ghana and Mr Hubert Danso, signed for his company in the presence of Akufo-Addo, and Dr Adesina.
The former Deputy Minister for Transport for South Africa, Sindisiwe Lydia Chikunga, who was also present at the signing ceremony, had these to say: “we are very excited, and we hope that, in due time, we will witness the construction in 2020. We wish you all the best in the feasibility period.”
“This is a happy day for Ghana and its people,” Akufo-Addo said after the signing, and added that the deal was also a vivid demonstration of the value of the Africa Investment Forum in attracting the needed investment into Africa for valuable development.
He however, emphasized that the project was purely commercial and had no government guarantee backing it.
“This is a purely private arrangement; the government of Ghana would not give any guarantees,” he said.
“This is what Africa wants: finalized agreements,” Dr Adesina said, and commended Akufo-Addo for his leadership role that has led to the success of the concession agreement.
He said the signing was significant because it is, “Africa to Africa investment”, and this should make Accra a modern city when the project was delivered.
“We in the African Development Bank are excited about the project…we are delighted, it’s a great day for Ghana, it is a great day for the AfDB, and it will bring happy moments to Ghana,” he said.
But seven years after the MoU and six years after the concession agreement were signed there is no sign of a Skytrain being built anywhere, even though the country has paid $2 million for a feasibility studies.
On May 13, 2025, the Attorney-General’s Office has formally charged two former officials for their roles in the payment of the $2 million.
The former GIIF CEO, Solomon Asamoah and former board chairman, who also once served as Minister of Railways, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi have been put before court for their roles in the Skytrain project, which allegedly cost the state $2 million without authorization.
“We in the African Development Bank are excited about the project…we are delighted, it’s a great day for Ghana, it is a great day for the AfDB, and it will bring happy moments to Ghana,” he said.
The charges, filed at the High Court (Criminal Division), include wilfully causing financial loss to the state under the Criminal Offences Act, conspiracy to commit crime through intentional dissipation of public funds, and intentional dissipation of public funds under the Public Property Protection Decree.
The charges were filed under Section 23(1) and Section 179A(3)(a) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), relating to the $2-million-dollar payment made in 2019 to the Bank Account of the Africa Investor Holdings Limited in Mauritius.
Ghana’s railway sector has a chequered history – but largely depressing.
The British colonial government constructed the first railway lines in Ghana more than 100 years ago in 1898. The lines linked the coastal town of Sekondi to Obuasi and Tarkwa, two of the country’s major gold producing towns.
By the mid-1920s rail lines covered large areas of the country and some 80 per cent of cocoa exports were transported by rail during the period, as Ghana became the leading exporter of cocoa in the world.
But over the years, while rail transport became one of the main means of transport in Britain and other developed countries, the railways system in Ghana suffered neglect and became dysfunctional.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
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The post All those who were present at signing of infamous Accra Skytrain deal appeared first on Ghana Business News.
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