More companies are now expressing interest to partner Intercity STC to revamp its operations. This includes transport companies as well as financial institutions.

The Managing Director of Intercity STC, Samuel Nuamah Donkor revealed this to Joy Business describing it as a development that defeats the earlier notion that the state transport company couldn’t attract investors due to its operational and financial challenges.

STC has been saddled with operational challenges as well as a debt of about GH¢15 million.  The company’s workers as a result embarked on a series of protests and demonstrations against their poor working-conditions and salaries last year.

The company however began a service partnership with two private transport companies, Focus-Four and Smice Group last month. Whilst Smice Group is providing some 25 shuttle buses, Focus-four Limited is providing 2 big buses currently plying the Lome and Abidjan routes with special services such as food and internet services.

Mr. Nuamah Donkor says the partnerships have so far yielded positive results.                       

“Since we started about one-month ago, the results have been so encouraging. We’re doing about 30 buses to Aflao and back to Accra. And during the first week that we started, we were able to convey about 1500 passengers to Aflao and back to Accra – making about 3,000 in total. And everyday we run about 20 buses with 14 passengers and you can imagine the impact.

“And so as we sit here, even though STC was a “no-go” area in terms of financial risks, we now have people coming to our offices on a daily basis to bring in more buses. We have had companies like Nissan as well as CDH come in to also help”.

According to him, the development is a strong indication that STC is a viable company with the potential to make high profits.                                                                 

“Now we have proven to the whole world that we are a company that is not a moribund company but a viable one and anybody that invests in STC is going to get a high rate of return. Business men would only look at areas that there is profitability and they have seen how profitable the business is. If you look at other jurisdictions, if the business wasn’t profitable people would not be bringing in more buses where you realize that even our competitors started with about 2 or 3 buses but today they can boast of over 100 buses. So the business is not that bad and people are coming in because they have seen that the business is profitable and to associate yourself with STC you won’t go wrong because it is tried and tested company.”

SSNIT has 80 percent shares in STC whilst the remaining 20 percent stake is owned by government.