Govt receives $1.16m from airport COVID-19 tests

The government has received $1.16 million in royalties from Frontier Healthcare Services (FHS) from COVID-19 testing procedures at the Kotoka International Airport.

The amount, which was received by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) on behalf of the government, accrued between September and December last year.

The Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, disclosed this on the floor of Parliament yesterday, and said the total amount raised by FHS over the period under review was $17.36 million.

"Mr Speaker, I want to inform this august House that from September to December 2020, the total amount realised from the COVID-19 testing at the Kotoka International Airport was $17,359,500," the minister noted.

Mr Asiamah was responding to an urgent question asked on behalf of the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Idrissu, by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ketu North, Mr Jame Klutse Avedzi.

He explained that the amount was raised before a directive from ECOWAS to member countries to reduce fees for the testing protocols from $150 to $50.

Govt’s share

Mr Asiamah said the government — through the GACL — received $10 for each payment made by a passenger at the airport, while the remaining $140 went to FHS.

Some 117,187 persons came through the KIA over the period under review.

The remaining sum of about $16.32 million would go to FHS, from which it would meet other statutory obligations such as corporate taxes and overheads.

“Per the contractual agreement, Ghana Airports Company was supposed to receive $10 of royalty per test done, and Frontier Health Services was to keep the rest as their service charge," he said.

The minister said the private healthcare company, apart from paying royalties to the government of Ghana, was also paying rent for space to the GACL.

Mr Asiamah also noted that FHS and the GACL were the only parties involved in the concession agreement for the COVID-19 testing procedure at the KIA.

“Mr Speaker, it is worthy of mention that the only parties of the concession were the FHS and the GACL,” he said.

Background

In September 2020, the GACL and FHS signed a contract to allow FHS undertake COVID-19 antigen tests at the Kotoka International Airport.

The company started operations with the reopening of the KIA to regular passenger travels after months of shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two-year contract grants FHS the exclusive right to provide mandatory Covid-19 testing on passengers on arrival.