Mr Louis Taylor (3rd right) with the contractors. On his right in suit, is Mr Iain Walker, British High Commissioner to Ghana

UK finance company boss visits projects in Kumasi

Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor Mar - 04 - 2019 , 15:07

Work on the old Maternity and Children’s Block of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is expected to start this year.

The loan agreement for the project is far advanced and currently awaiting regulatory approval for works to start.

Contracta Construction UK, the company working on the Kumasi Airport expansion project, has been selected to complete the about 40-year old project.

Visit to project sites

This came to light when the Chief Executive Officer of United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF), Mr Louis Taylor, together with the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Iain Walker, visited the project site.

UKEF is providing guarantee for the Deutsche Bank, London, financiers of the project.

The bank and the UKEF have so far committed over €350 million to the Kumasi Metropolis alone.

It has already committed the first tranche of € 82 million out of the €248 million project cost for the construction of phase two of the Redevelopment of the Kejetia Market and €66 million for phase two of the Kumasi International Airport Expansion project.

Mr Taylor was in Ghana to visit some of the projects the company is supporting.

Maternity block

The maternity block project was started more than four decades ago.

The project is financed through a buyer credit agreement by Deutsche Bank, London with an Export Credit Guarantee from UK Export Finance and a tied commercial loan also by Deutsche Bank, London.

The CEO of Contracta Construction UK Ltd, Mr Fabio Camara, told the delegation that due to the age of the structure, there had been some modifications to the original plan with the approval of the management of the hospital.

He said the contractors and the hospital had already agreed on the new plan and were awaiting regulatory approval for work to start.

According to Mr Camara, per the agreement reached, the loan would include the purchasing and installation of equipment and six month medical consumables.

The team also visited the Redeveloped Kejetia Market where Mr Taylor expressed satisfaction with the work done by the company on the first phase of the project.