‘Ghana, gateway to Africa’?
The other day, a close friend told me she was tired of Cantonments and was giving up her flat there to move elsewhere.
I was astounded because this is one of the most desirable parts of Accra ‒ a place that many who spend close to two hours every day to commute to central Accra for work would literally kill to live ‒ if they could afford to, that is.
What was her problem? “Aircraft noise”, she said, referring to the constant stream of low-flying aircraft arriving or departing the Accra International Airport, formerly known simply as ‘Kotoka’ to many.
“Ah, rich people’s problem”, I thought to myself. Whilst my locality of Kwabenya has its own issues, low-flying thundering jets do not feature anywhere on the list, for the simple reason that we are nowhere near their flight paths.
Airport paradox
As our conversation wore on, we agreed that Ghana has quite a peculiar situation. It appears that proximity to our major airport almost automatically drives property prices up to near-insane levels.
Not too long ago, there was talk of an airport near Prampram and all of a sudden, land owners were selling land for an arm and a leg.
Sometime in February 2006, news emerged of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority acquiring large tracts of land in the Kwabre District of Ashanti Region (where hometown Ankaase is situated) for an airport, and land prices in the area apparently started going through the roof.
I suspect this is peculiar to Africa. Elsewhere, big airports are really a nuisance and so don’t have much value.
In the UK, for instance, properties located directly under main flight paths or in highly noisy zones often sell at a discount compared to similar properties outside the noise zone. Apparently, it is called the ‘airport penalty’.
So what accounts for us allocating these high values here?
I think that somewhere in the national psyche is the association of airports with glamour and an upmarket lifestyle featuring international travel, especially as it was and still is out of reach for the vast majority of our citizens.
What better way to express this than to desire to live as close as possible to this glamourous hub?
This essentially drove up property prices in a classic way similar to what pertains with luxury high-end goods.
My good friend Kwabena Peprah has another theory ‒ that when air travel came to the then Gold Coast, the European colonialists grabbed land as close to the airport as possible, just in case things got out of hand with the natives and they had to make a beeline for the nearest exit out of town.
He surmises that the residential areas they developed were simply taken over by the educated elite who stepped into their shoes when independence came and the Europeans gradually phased out.
Over time, he says, living close to the airport became synonymous with wealth and got seared in our collective minds.
I believe the truth is somewhere between these two educated guesses or a blend of both.
Location, location, location!
Our premier airport is in some reasonable company as far as airports close to town are concerned.
London City Airport (UK), Billy Bishop (Toronto, Canada), Ronald Reagan (Washington DC) and Santos Dumont (Rio de Janeiro) are all significant airports located quite centrally and come with important advantages such as easy, quick access to the central districts.
However, none of these other airports are the main aviation hubs of their countries, which, as with many major airports worldwide, are located far out of town, with modern, efficient means of transport into the central parts of their respective cities.
Having a premier airport in the middle of town essentially is another way of admitting that major expansion is literally a pipe dream, as it is usually hemmed in.
In 2017, Senegal operationalised a new airport, the Blaise Diagne International Airport, 43 kms east of downtown Senegal, replacing the Leopold Senghor International Airport, which had become smaller. Ethiopia, Rwanda and Angola are all building new major airports quite out of town.
Locating a new airport far from town and creating access with expressways and rail lines will decongest parts of Accra and also open up those communities where it is sited, as allied workers and businesses move in.
‘Kotoka’ can be kept for domestic or regional fights, or aircraft of a certain size and specification and it can operate within specific hours like London’s City Airport does, to give some respite to the local dwellers. ‘Gateway’ must go beyond words
We are a nation that loves its catchy phrases and slogans, and over many years, Ghana has been touted as the ‘gateway to Africa’.
A quick Google query revealed that ‘Ghana is widely recognised as the "Gateway to Africa" due to its strategic West African location, political stability, and role as a hub of regional trade and investment.
As the first sub-Saharan nation to gain independence, it serves as a key, stable entry point for business, tourism, and Pan-African culture’
Whilst this is impressive, I believe a lot more work needs to be done in the aviation sector, for instance, to give this phrase much fuller meaning by making Ghana a true hub not just in the West African sub-region but across the continent.
According to aviationghana.com, Africa’s passenger demand is expected to expand faster, with traffic rising to 149 million passengers in 2026 from 142 million a year earlier, representing about 6 per cent growth.
This positions Africa, including West Africa, as one of the fastest-growing aviation regions globally, albeit from a low base.
Currently, our premier airport handles about three million passengers per year, whilst Ethiopia’s Bole Airport handles about 12 million passengers per year, with expanded infrastructure allowing for up to 22 million passengers per year. Gateway?
Of course, it will all cost money ‒ loads of it. It may even be built in the imagination and touted by dreamy politicians in their ‘Eureka moments’, as has been the case in the past. But then, with the right investment and strategies, our aviation industry could be a goose that lays golden eggs for the exchequer.
In the meantime, as I relax in quiet Kwabenya, my East Legon, Airport Residential Area and Cantonments friends will have to chin up, double down and find earplugs as the planes thunder overhead and literally invade their households.
That said, I would not be surprised if they move directly unto the flight paths leading in and out of a new international airport out of town and gentrify the area ‒ if it is ever built ‒ and then start to complain.
By the way, can we have a good old quintessentially Ghanaian argument over what to call this new airport, even before the idea moves beyond the status of a fantastic castle in the air? Any ideas?
RODNEY NKRUMAH-BOATENG.
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