I felt very ashamed Accra lost major international conferences to Dakar over inadequate facilities – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that Accra has missed out on hosting major international conferences on at least 2 occasions because the capital lacked adequate conference facilities.

He said one of the events was eventually relocated to Dakar, Senegal, a development he described as embarrassing and a missed opportunity for Ghana.

The President made the revelation on Tuesday, September 15, during the sod-cutting ceremony for the Sentuo Airport Garden City project. He stressed that Ghana needed to invest in modern hospitality and conferencing infrastructure to compete for major international events.

“I know of two occasions on which Accra was bypassed because we did not have enough conference rooms to host major international conferences. At least one of them was bypassed for Dakar, Senegal, and I felt very ashamed that Accra would be bypassed for Dakar in terms of a major international conference,” he said.

President Mahama said the Sentuo Airport Garden City project, which is expected to include a 2,500-capacity conference facility and a 600-room hotel, would help bridge the existing infrastructure gap.

“This development will end that. We’ll have enough hotel rooms. We’ll have enough conference facilities to be able to host even a UN conference here in Accra,” he said.

He further noted that improving conference facilities should be part of a wider strategy to attract more visitors to Ghana and encourage tourists to explore destinations beyond Accra.

According to President Mahama, an expansion of tourism activity would generate opportunities for transport operators, hotels, artisans, farmers, workers and communities across the country.