{
  "id": 18015916,
  "title": "GACL’s GH¢30m dividend Is manufactured and misleading – Africa Policy Lens",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/gacls-gh-30m-dividend-is-manufactured-and-misleading-africa-policy",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-03T20:22:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/gacls-gh%c2%a230m-dividend-is-manufactured-and-misleading-africa-policy-lens/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) recently announced a GH¢30 million dividend to the government, but the Africa Policy Lens (APL) has declared the payout to be manufactured and misleading. APL's research team has scrutinized GACL's 2025 Audited Accounts, presented at the 11th Annual General Meeting, and found serious underlying issues that do not warrant the dividend as proof of a turnaround.\n\nFirstly, APL's report highlights that GACL's core business is shrinking. The company's core operating revenue decreased by 9.15% from GH¢2.02 billion in 2024 to GH¢1.83 billion in 2025. Secondly, the dividend is largely based on non-cash revaluation. The declared profit of GH¢354.6 million was heavily supported by GH¢578 million in Other Operating Gains, predominantly revaluation gains, which are accounting entries rather than actual cash inflows from passenger traffic.\n\nThirdly, APL emphasizes that loss-making regional airports, including Kotoka International Airport, do not yet generate profits. Managing Director Mrs. Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare confirmed that domestic business operations and all regional airports are not yet profitable, with Kotoka International Airport continuing to subsidize the other operations. Finally, APL attributes the ability to pay the dividend to a debt holiday, which included an eight-year extension and a one-year moratorium on principal repayment. This temporary liquidity relief allowed for the dividend payment, but APL deems it insufficient to claim the dividend as evidence of efficiency or profitability.\n\nAPL calls on GACL and the Ministry of Transport to release the full audited statements, disclose the cash-backed portion of the profit, and explain why the domestic operations remain loss-making despite years of investment. Moreover, the think tank urges Parliament to investigate the situation. According to APL, Ghanaians deserve functionally viable airports with reduced levies, rather than dividends that are artificially created through accounting practices and debt restructuring.",
  "summary": "The Africa Policy Lens (APL) says the much-publicised GH¢30 million dividend by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) to Government is manufactured and does not reflect operational performance. In a statement issued by its Research Directorate, APL said it had examined GACL's 2025 Audited Accounts as presented at its 11th Annual General Meeting and concluded that the dividend is being…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}