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Gold Coast City Project Takes Off Next Month

23.02.2010 LISTEN
By Daily Graphic

A US$1.55-billion modernisation project stretching from the Osu Castle along the sea front to the Arts Centre in Accra is to commence next month.

The 160-acre Gold Coast City Project will consist of residential villas and apartments, a shopping mall, a school complex, a recreational centre, a hotel and an office complex, including a World Trade Centre.

The residential apartments, estimated to house about 600 families, are made up of a 124-unit villa, 216 three-unit flats and a 10-unit apartment block of 260 flats.


The project will also see the construction of a six-floor 500-room five-star hotel, a three-floor shopping mall with ice hockey and ice skating facilities, a 21-floor World Trade Centre (WTC), a four-floor modern school complex, a 15-floor office complex for the Ministry of Tourism and a mini golf course.

The commercial development project, which is aimed at changing the face of Accra, is being promoted by Strategic Initiatives Limited with funding from Shuguang Group Company Limited, Guoqiang Construction Group Company Limited and Gemfy Group, all of China.

As part of the component of the project, a US$55-million fund has been earmarked for the relocation of ministries along the coast which will be affected by the project.

The initiator of the four-year project, Togbe Afede XIV, who briefed the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, and his Deputy, Mr Kobby Acheampong, the Osu Mantse, some elders of the Osu Traditional Council and some members of Nai We, said the project, originally intended for either Dubai, Thailand or Angola, was diverted to Accra through his influence, and that it would make the city a tourist centre, which will generate both local and foreign revenues.


According to Togbe Afede, the overall objective of the project is to develop and sustain the entire stretch of the marine drive along the coast in the area.

He said the purpose of the project was to support the sea front development in Accra, as well as improve on sanitation in the area.

He said the project was expected to create social, physical and commercial infrastructure that would attract investment and tourists into the country.

Togbe Afede said the WTC Association, based in New York, had awarded Strategic Initiatives Limited the exclusive licence to build a WTC in the country and according to him, this would encourage most businesses across the country to locate their headquarters in the building.


The Minister for Tourism, in an address, said the siting of the project in Accra was going to help lift the image of Accra and Ghana as a whole.

She said the government had lent its full support to the project and expressed the hope that final arrangements needed would be sorted out for the project to start in March, 2010 as scheduled.

She said her ministry would ensure that the people of Accra were not left out of the proceeds and advantages the project was likely to bring to the capital, saying that it would help create jobs locally, as well as generate revenue for the development of other areas of the city.

The Osu Mantse, Nii Nortey Owuo III, commended the initiation of the project in the area and expressed the hope that it would first consider the youth of Osu so as to help limit the rate of unemployment in the area.


The Osu Stool Secretary, Nii Okwei Nortey, in a remark, called on the initiators of the project to consider other coastal areas in the city for a uniform development of the Accra coastal plain.

The Spokesperson for the Nai We, Henry Nii Yartey Yartey, also gave the family’s consent for the commencement of the project and expressed the hope that it would boost local tourism.

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