CDB pledges loan for Phase 1 of the Takoradi Port Expansion Project

The Takoradi Port Expansion Project (TPEP) involves the construction of a dry bulk terminal (jetty), an oil jetty, and a multipurpose terminal on a reclaimed land area of 53,000 hectares in the city of Takoradi. The project is being implemented in two phases. Phase 1 involves the dredging of the access channel, the extension of the breakwater northward by 1.75 kilometers (to reduce the intensity of wave action inshore), the construction of bulk oil service terminal, the construction of quay walls, the reclamation of a land area of 53,000 hectares, the installation of new security and fire service posts, the installation of new entry and exit gates, and the construction of an access road to the port and a new bridge over the existing railway line and reclamation works. Phase 2 involves involves the development of physical infrastructure within the port, including the construction of good road network in and out of the port and the construction of a container terminal in Sekondi. Upon completion, it is expected that the TPEP will position Takoradi Port as a petroleum hub providing services for offshore operations in Ghana and the West African sub-region. On August 31, 2012, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) signed a $150 million commercial (EPC) contract with Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) for the implementation of the first phase of the project. At the time, GPHA and CHEC announced that Phase 1 would be supported by a commercial loan from China Development Bank. However, when Phase 1 commenced in September 2013, GPHA had apparently replaced CHEC with a Belgium company called Jan De Nul. While China Development Bank reportedly agreed in principle to finance this project with a loan, there is no evidence that this pledge resulted in official loan commitment. Also, while it was originally envisaged that the second phase of the project would financed through the $3 billion master facility agreement that the Government of Ghana signed with CDB in 2011, this plan did not come to fruition (see #2034).

Additional details

This project is also known as the Takoradi Habour Infrastructure Development Project. The Chinese project title is 了扩建塔克拉底港口项目 or 塔克拉底港一期修复工程 or 塔科拉迪港 or 塔克拉底港改扩建工程. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it identifies this project as being supported by an official loan commitment from China Development Bank. AidData categorizes this project as one that received a loan pledge, but not an official loan commitment, from China Development Bank

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

10