New national airline long overdue

The years immediately after independence were great moments for the people of Ghana. Having gone through a struggle for independence, the first Ghanaian leaders established local industries and businesses that were expected to transform the country.

This led to the setting up of the Ghana Industrial Holding Company (GIHOC), the State Fishing Corporation, the Black Star Line and the Ghana Airways Corporation, among many others. Today, it is only the alcohol-producing wing of GIHOC, the GIHOC Distilleries, that has somehow managed to survive.

The socio-economic effect of the collapse of these indigenous entities on the lives of Ghanaians cannot be enumerated here, but, above all, the country has been deprived of institutions that were clearly a great pride to the citizens.

That is why the Daily Graphic is excited to learn that the government, through the Ministry of Transport, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Word Bank and PWC Ghana to begin technical advisory services as a prelude to the setting up a new national airline. 

In 1958, when Ghana’s own airline, the Ghana Airways, took to the skies, many were those who were optimistic that we were on our way to growing an African airline that would compete favourably with the established international ones and make Ghanaians proud wherever they went.

But this was not to be. By the end of the century, there was virtually nothing left of the once buoyant airline that was the pride of Ghana and Africa.   

We recall that after the demise of the airline, attempts were made to set up another one, leading to the birth of the Ghana International Airlines in 2004 in which the government had 70 per cent shares. But a protracted legal dispute led to the stoppage of that airline’s operations.

With the failure of the second attempt at running a national airline, many have asked whether we did our preparatory work before setting up these entities. It is heartwarming to learn that the renowned PWC group in Ghana has been given the task of undertaking studies, developing plans for financial and economic models and generally managing the procurement process for the birth of the new national airline.  

The decision by the government to go into this venture under a public-private partnership (PPP) is commendable, for in business, the private sector is generally seen as a better manager and many examples abound to support this.  

One of the things that many believe led to the failure of Ghana Airways was the use of the airlines by staff, government officials and their cronies for their personal gain. We therefore hope the involvement of the private sector in the running of any future national airline will curtail this practice.

At 57, Ghana has a record of many failed attempts at doing things but the Daily Graphic is optimistic that the lessons learnt from the failure of previous attempts at running the national airline will guide the establishment of this new one. We trust that PWC Ghana will live up to the task.

As a nation, we cannot afford to fail this time. Ghanaians are expectant.