Minister for Aviation Kofi Adda says Ghanaians will maintain majority shares in the setup of the home-based carrier.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed On Tuesday at the ET’s headquarters to signify government’s undertaking to work with ET in establishing a new home-based flag carrier.

Aviation Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda, signed on behalf of the Government of Ghana while Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopia’s Chief Executive Officer signed the MoU on behalf of the airline.

Speaking to JoyBusiness Mr Adda says although Ethiopian airlines will manage the home-based carrier, Ghanaians will maintain a majority stake. 

He said the government would not take up more than 10 per cent in the yet-to-be-established new national air carrier – emphasising that government is being careful not to repeat mistakes of the past.

The government and Ghanaian investors will have a majority shareholding of 51%, Out of this, the government intends to have only 10% shares and Ghanaian investors will hold 41%.

Ethiopian Airlines and other foreign investors will hold the remaining 49%.

This means if there are no additional foreign partners, Ethiopian Airlines shares could go up to 49%. 

Ethiopian Airlines is coming in as a minority shareholder and will be contributing in terms of aircraft and management services.’’Mr Adda further clarified that although they are yet to confirm the exact shares to be held, Ethiopian airlines will have less than fifty per cent shares and this will be finalized in the shareholder’s agreement. 

Mr Adda said, “The state will only have ten per cent shares and the rest of the majority shares will go to Ghanaian investors. Ethiopian Airlines is coming in as a minority shareholder and will be contributing in terms of aircraft and management services.’’

Other investors are however still in the line to contribute to the set up of the airline. “Quite a few Ghanaians have expressed interest and we will be calling them back for a meeting next week to look at what proportion they will be contributing,” he added.

Some of the other investors include Air Mauritius, Africa World Airlines, Colt aviation, Goil, Teachers Fund among others.

The home-based carrier is expected to commence operations by first quarter of next year with a minimum of four aircraft and will be doing regional as well as international flights.