About 55 per cent of work on a new Hajj Village, located near the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in the Greater Accra Region, has been completed.
The facility, which is being developed at no cost to the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) or the state, following a land-swap arrangement, is a transformative mixed-use project to offer an improved experience for Muslim pilgrims in the country.
The project was initially expected to be completed in April 2026. However, due to challenges relating to the master plan and the siting of the facility’s mosque, completion has been extended to the end of this year.
Key amenities in the facility would include a terminal building, a mosque, residential accommodation, conference and commercial areas, a clinic, recreational facilities, Hajj Board offices, as well as supporting infrastructure such as roads, parking spaces, a power station and a water station.
The project is being developed by Mawums Limited, a Ghanaian civil engineering and real estate firm, in partnership with GACL.
The facility is expected to provide pilgrims and the broader community with a world-class experience, offering a dignified, comfortable and inspiring environment for prospective pilgrims and other activities.
Visit
This was disclosed on Monday, when board members of GACL, led by the Chairman, James Agalga, paid a working visit to the site to assess the progress of work and also engage with project managers.
The GACL delegation was received by officials of Mawums Limited, led by the Director of Projects, Engineering and Construction, Rev. Solomon Adjasoo Abijah, who took them round.
Project progress
Rev. Abijah said that although the project commenced on October 30, 2024, the official sod cutting was made on February 28, 2025.
He said that the residential building was about 60 per cent complete, the terminal building 55 per cent, while the mosque and other structures averaged 50 per cent completion each.
“We had progressed steadily, and on the overall scheme of things, we are about 55 per cent complete and working hard to advance,” the director added.
Rev. Abijah expressed optimism that the project would meet the extended completion deadline at the end of the year.
“We had a bit of a challenge just before and after the sod cutting with the master plan because of discussions on where to site the mosque, and that took a lot of time before approval was secured,” he said.
Significance
Mr Agalga, who is also the Member of Parliament for Builsa North in the Upper East Region, said the project was very dear to the President because of his commitment to supporting pilgrims in the country.
He said there was a need to provide pilgrims with a modern and convenient space to facilitate their travel to perform one of the pillars of Islam, the Hajj.
“The most important thing is that Ghana Airports Company Limited is not spending any money on this project; the contractor is undertaking the work at his own cost in exchange for the old Hajj Village land, and that innovation is highly commendable,” Mr Agalga said.
For her part, the Managing Director of GACL, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, explained that the commercial component was deliberately incorporated to ensure the facility remained active throughout the year.
She said that the Hajj period lasted only about one or two months annually, making it necessary to create additional revenue streams.
“We did not want the facility to sit idle the whole year because Hajj is only about a month or two, so we added conference, event and other commercial spaces to ensure it generates revenue for the airport company,” the MD said
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh