Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, vice president of Ghana, cut the ground-breaking ceremonial sod for the first inland marine port and industrial park at Debre, in the Savannah Region, which would be built in northern Ghana.
The creation of a system to move containers and bulk cargo from the Port of Tema to Burkina Faso and other landlocked nations via Volta Lake is part of the multimodal transportation corridor, also known as the Trans-Volta Logistics Corridor, which is being conducted by LMI Holdings. To make it easier to load and unload cargo from Tema and Debre, a second port will be built near the Tema-Mpakadan railway line’s terminus.
With a favorable snowball impact on transportation, employment growth, rural development, revenue generation, and many other advantages, the Debre Inland Port is anticipated to contribute to Ghana’s infrastructure development. By 2025, the whole project should be fully operating.
On Friday, July 22, 2022, Vice President Bawumia gave a speech at the sod-cutting event in which he emphasized the significance of the project, particularly for the transportation of commodities, cross-border trade, and maintenance of Ghana’s roadways.
The reduction of traffic generated by the clearing of goods from Tema is one of the key objectives of this port and industrial park. To get supplies and containers to and from the Tema Port, ships will use Volta Lake. These containers will be transported by train to Akwamu-Korankye in the Eastern area, where they will then be loaded onto barges and transported to the Debre Inland Port.
Containers will be unloaded and loaded onto trucks in Debre, which is running at maximum efficiency, much like Tema, with all the accompanying amenities, to continue their journey farther into the sub-area. For every international port, all services, including transit clearances and customs clearances, will be offered.
Numerous problems that continue to hinder the transportation of commodities in Ghana and to our neighbors in the subregion will be resolved by this $200 million inland marine port and the $250 million Industrial Park.
The majority of Ghana’s annual over 30,000 trucks that transport commodities to landlocked nations along its northern border would be removed off the highways. According to him, the overall monetized benefit of the intervention includes a decrease in generalized costs, including vehicle running costs, trip times, carbon emissions, transportation costs, and post-harvest losses.
97 percent of passenger traffic and 96 percent of freight are transported by road in Ghana, with lorries making up the majority of inland transportation. Our roads have been punished by the great reliance on them for the transportation of commodities from the Tema port to Ghana’s landlocked neighbors, which has raised worries about safety and resulted in shorter road lifespans.
Superior logistics, the chance to build enormous warehouses, accessibility to rail and highways, plenty of truck parking, reduced traffic congestion, and financial incentives are all benefits of investing in inland ports. Over 300 trucks are expected to be removed from our roadways with each barge journey from the inland port. Significant savings on road maintenance will result from this enormous intervention.
It will lessen the number of tragic traffic accidents, about which we, regrettably, read and hear in the media far too frequently.
A competitive advantage that draws international and foreign investors is the provision of subsidized services and infrastructure, such as roads, electricity, energy, water supply, and telecommunication services. With our economy expanding, industrial parks are essential for our industrialization.
This is demonstrated by the Tema Free Zones Enclave and the Dawa Park by LMI. Dr. According to Bawumia, industrial parks like the one in Debre represents businesses’ readiness for any situation by supplying the production and manufacturing needs of businesses and industries that can profit from one another.
The chance for Debre’s comprehensive economic expansion is poised to take off, as evidenced by the Tema Port and the accompanying explosion of manufacturing and other economic activities. The location of the Inland Port and the Industrial Park is important due to Debre’s geographic location.
Barges can be used year-round to travel to and from Debre thanks to Volta Lake’s year-round deep water. With the construction of auxiliary roads connecting Debre to neighboring towns, it will develop into a hub that attracts other ecosystem stakeholders to establish other complementary services and enterprises.
Dr. Bawumia reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fostering a climate that is welcoming to private sector investment while enjoining other businesses to imitate LMI Holdings’ success. “Let me congratulate LMI Holdings on this outstanding achievement. LMI has a wealth of expertise in infrastructure development as a corporation and brings that to this project.
This Ghanaian conglomerate, which has assets worth over $450 million, is involved in the building industry as well as industrial utilities, real estate, and logistics. Since LMI Holdings created the Special Economic Zones 20 years ago, Ghana’s economy has benefited from FDI totaling over $3.4 billion.
The director general of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Mr. Michael Luguge, and the minister for transport, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the minister for lands and natural resources, Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor and the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger were all in attendance at the ceremony.
