President Akufo-Addo to sign £40m agreement with UK to upgrade Kumasi Airport

Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, UK's High Commissioner to Ghana Iain Walker said the agreement when signed will make Kumasi a trade destination in Africa.

"We have invested in two things particularly the airport extension which means a lot of planes could land there and also we will be announcing at this summit the building of the new terminal at Kumasi.”

The facility which forms part of a pre-financing agreement between the two countries will be disbursed after the UK-Africa summit in London.

Meanwhile many have wondered why President Akufo-Addo is signing an agreement with the UK especially considering his ‘Ghana beyond aid’ agenda.

Iain Walker said that this “is not about aid but helping to get more investment."

President Akufo-Addo, left Ghana on Friday (January 17, 2020), to attend the UK-Africa Investment Summit being held in London, in the United Kingdom.

The summit which is hosted by British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to bring together “businesses, governments, and international institutions to showcase and promote the breadth and quality of investment opportunities across Africa.”

The president is expected to deliver the keynote address at the Ghana Investment Opportunities Summit on Tuesday (January 21, 2020). The summit will bring delegates, especially from the United Kingdom, to explore investment opportunities in Ghana.

Nana Akufo-Addo will then travel to Davos, Switzerland, at the invitation of the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Prof. Klaus Schwab, to participate in the 50th-anniversary celebration of the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings being held from Tuesday, 21st January, to Friday, 24th January.

The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant; and officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Presidency.

He will return to Ghana on Sunday (January 26, 2020).