Two Ghanaian companies are making a bid to partner with the government for the establishment of a new national airline, AviationGhana reports.

ch-aviation sources have named Ghana’s Despite Group of Companies (DGC) as one of the potential investors, but the company was not immediately available for comment. The conglomerate is one of the biggest media companies in Ghana and also owns a number of non-media related businesses in the finance and food and beverage sector. It is owned by business mogul, Osei Kwame, also known as Despite.

According to AviationGhana, the two domestic hopefuls collectively have business interests covering real estate, hospitality, media, and manufacturing and collectively employ hundreds of people. One of them has already applied for an Air Carrier License (ACL) and an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), the publication said.

The potential investors have made presentations to a committee chaired by Twumasi Ankrah Selby, which has been mandated by the government to receive and evaluate all investor proposals. It will make recommendations in this regard to Transport Minister Kweku Ofori Asiamah, who for his part, will make final recommendation to the Ghanaian Cabinet.

Presenting the 2022 budget to Parliament on November 17, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced the government was in the final negotiation stages with a potential strategic partner for a new national airline. He expected that the negotiations would be finalised and the airline established in 2022.

In October 2020, Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EgyptAir (MS, Cairo International) for the establishment of a new flag carrier. The government at the time was expected to maintain a 10% shareholding in the new airline, with the majority of shares to be held by private investors.

This followed a similar MoU in 2018 with Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International), but that agreement appeared to have snagged over disagreements on routes, funding, and the management contract.

Ghana has been without a national airline since the collapse of Ghana International Airlines (Accra) in 2010, following the demise of Ghana Airways (Accra) in 2004. In 2019, Ghana’s government signed a provisional order for three B787-9s and six DHC-8-Q400s for the new national airline.