The Tamale International Airport phase two when completed and handed over to the government will create about 1000 employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth in the northern region.
This will also transform the area and boost socioeconomic activities in the five regions of the north and the Sahel.
Madam Deborah Agbemako, Human Relations Officer of Quaternary Geology Map of Illinois (QGMI), the construction firm working on the airport phase two, noted the project will make the northern region more attractive to foreign investors and the nation as a whole.
She said traveling time to Tamale will also reduce and the risk of commuters driving 12 hours from the south to the north minimized.
“It makes it more convenient for people who want to access Tamale without going through Accra. It makes it easy for everybody and life is a little more easier” she emphasized.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister for Transport, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Gushegu, Hon Alhassan Tampuli, on behalf of the sector Minister inspected the edifice last Friday, (May 13, 2022) to ascertain the progress of work.
According to him, the project is about 93 percent completed and it is the expectation of the Minister that, the contractor will complete and hand over to the government for commissioning by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on or before 31st August, 2022.
The project includes a new terminal building befitting the status of an international airport with the capacity of about 5000 meters square.
It also includes a first class 5km road linking road connecting the Tamale-Bolgatanga highway, a new car park and commercial vehicles parking space.
The airport, Mr. Tampuli stated can also boast of an ultra-modern Hajj Terminal to be dedicated for Hajj operations, thus making Tamale, the hub of Hajj operations in Ghana.
Project cost
The Akufo-Addo government secured funding from the UK Export Finance and Kfw IPEX-Bank of Germany at a total amount of $70 million to construct the phase two project which started in 2020.