Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) will pay the government GH¢30 million in dividends, its first distribution since the state-owned airport operator was established in 2007.
Managing Director Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare announced the payout while presenting GACL’s 2025 results at the company’s 11th annual general meeting. The government is GACL’s sole shareholder.
The dividend represents about 8.5% of the GH¢354.6 million profit reported by Mrs Opare for 2025. However, she acknowledged that the company’s domestic operations and regional airports remain loss-making.
“Domestic business operations and all other regional airports are not yet profitable,” she said.
GACL operates airports across Ghana, including Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani and Ho. The country’s main gateway in Accra legally remains Kotoka International Airport until Parliament approves a bill to rename it.
Passenger numbers increased by 6% to 3.6 million in 2025, compared with 3.4 million the previous year. Aircraft movements rose by 2.2% to 47,270, while cargo volumes grew 4.8% to 44,826 tonnes.
Mrs Opare said profit had risen from about GH¢336 million in 2024 to GH¢354.6 million in 2025.
However, figures from the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) present a different picture. Its 2025 State Ownership Report, published on August 31, put GACL’s net profit at GH¢355.94 million, down 30.6% from GH¢513.17 million in 2024.
SIGA reported that operating revenue fell by 9.15% to GH¢1.83 billion. Aeronautical revenue declined from GH¢1.51 billion to GH¢1.44 billion, while non-aeronautical revenue dropped from GH¢504.52 million to GH¢389.34 million.
Total income nevertheless rose to GH¢2.48 billion, largely because other operating gains increased from GH¢157.70 million to GH¢578.28 million. Those gains mainly came from asset revaluations and other items outside GACL’s core operations.
Finance costs increased by 16.6% to GH¢492.16 million, while net cash generated from operations fell 68% to GH¢715.79 million. SIGA attributed the decline partly to an unusual working-capital inflow that had boosted the 2024 figure.
Mrs Opare said GACL funded much of its infrastructure and public-service obligations itself, placing pressure on its cash position. The company has been authorised to restructure and refinance the syndicated loan used to build Terminal 3 at Accra airport, extending repayment by eight years with a one-year suspension of principal payments.
At the end of 2025, SIGA recorded GACL’s external loans at GH¢2.61 billion, with a further GH¢2.12 billion owed to the government. Its current ratio improved from 0.57 to 0.73, although a figure below one indicates that current assets cannot cover all short-term liabilities.
Think tank Africa Policy Lens said the dividend did not reflect the underlying performance of the business. It argued that non-cash revaluation gains and the loan moratorium had enabled the payout, while Kotoka effectively subsidised airports in Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani, Wa and Takoradi.
“A dividend that represents less than 10% of declared profit, paid after 18 years of no dividend, and enabled by a debt repayment holiday and non-cash revaluation, should not be celebrated as efficiency or profitability,” it said.
APL called for the full audited accounts to be published and for GACL and the Transport Ministry to clarify how much profit was supported by cash. It also urged Parliament to investigate.
Passenger traffic has continued to rise in 2026. Bank of Ghana figures showed arrivals through the international airport and land borders up 23.1% year on year to 137,467 in July, with January-to-July arrivals reaching 772,250, compared with 722,020 a year earlier.
In August, President John Dramani Mahama cut the sod for a multi-tier car park and hotels complex planned at Accra airport.
