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Ghana Cyber City Overview
Ghana Cyber City Overview
The $40 Million Ghana Cyber City is an innovation venture designed to provide high tech office space
and a Tier IV data center targeted at the emerging West and Central African market with a booming
telecommunications, ICT and financial services industry. The project will also facilitate incubation of
innovative firms and create 5,000 jobs in 5 years. The Ghana Cyber City will bolster West Africa’s
market share in the $550 billion offshore outsourcing market.
Partners
Equity and development partners of the Ghana Cyber City include Gateway Innovations (Ghana),
Xalles Limited (Washington), Ernst & Young (New York) and Technolopolis (Finland).
Gateway Innovations was established for the primary purpose of planning, developing and managing
the first technology park in West Africa. Gateway has already secured 40 acres of commercial land at
strategic location within the 3,000-acre University of Ghana campus.
Xalles Limited (Herndon, Virginia) provides business strategy and systems implementation services to
firms in the financial services and information technology industries in primarily the United States,
Canada, Ireland, Africa, Latin America, Brazil, and Singapore.
Ernst & Young provides financial advisory and strategic planning services.
Technolopolis (Finland) is one of the largest technology parks in Europe and is mandated by the
United Nations to facilitate the technical and financial implementation of the Ghana Cyber City.
Ghana
The world’s 15th most competitive outsourcing destination.
• Official Language: English
• Population: 23 million
• GDP: $34.52 billion (PPP) 2008
• GDP Per Capita: $1,500 (PPP)
• Stable currency
1US Dollar = 1.45 Ghana Cedi
• Labor Force: 11 Million
• Standard & Poor’s Rating:
B+ (2008)
• GDP Growth Rate Per Year: 6%
• Energy: New Oil Economy
• Literacy Rate: 72.6%
• Skilled labor market
• Fastest growing industries:
Technology, Real Estate,
Financial Services, Tourism.
• Fiber Optic Access:
SAT-3/WASC
GLO-1, MAIN One
Location of Ghana Cyber City
Land Value and Location
The project is located only 5 miles from the Accra International Airport, in the heart of one of the
best-performing property markets in Africa.
Business Competitiveness
Ghana is ranked top 20 in the world in implementing business reforms (World Bank: Doing
Business Report, 2010) and is the world’s 15th most competitive outsourcing destination (Source:
A T Kearney's Global Services Location Index, 2009).
Data Center
Incubation
Established in 1997.
Number of Graduated firms: 481
Case Study: Affiliated Computer Services
Business Process Outsourcing
SAT-3/WASC
South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable.
First links to Europe for West and Southern African broadband consumers.
Operational Date: 2001.
Capacity: 120 Gbit/s. May be upgraded to 340 Gbit/s.
WACS
West Africa Cable System.
Participants: Vodacom, MTN, Telkom South Africa, Broadband Infrasco.
Operational Date: 2011
Capacity: 3.84 Tbit/s
MAIN ONE
Landed in Ghana in 2009.
Span: 14,000 km, between Portugal and South Africa. Dual Fiber pair.
Operational Date: May 2010
Capacity: 1.28-Tbit/s.
GLO-1
Globacom-1
Landed in Ghana in 2009. Span: 9,500 km.
Minimum capacity: 640 Gbit/s
Financial Projections
Revenue Analysis: Management projects a net loss of $2.6M in Year I, and profits of $2.3M and $8.6M
in Year II and Year III respectively.
Investment Requirements: The total cost of a fully-developed Ghana Cyber City is estimated at $40M in
5 years. The project initially requires $10M in equity investment and additional $10M in debt financing.
$28,000
Gross Revenue vs. Net Earnings
($ in thousands)
23,000
18,000
13,000
8,000
3,000