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Ghana Air Force

The Ghana Air Force is responsible of aerial warfare in the Ghana Armed Forces. The Ghana Air Force along with the Ghanaian Army and Ghanaian Navy, come together to form the Ghana Armed Forces which are controlled by the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence.

The role of the Ghana Air Force, as defined in the National Defence Policy, is to provide “Air Transport and Offensive Air Support to the Ghana Armed Forces and to protect the territorial air space of Ghana”. The National Defence Policy further states certain specific tasks, which the Ghana Air Force is expected to perform. These tasks are as follows:  

• To maintain Fighter Ground Attack capability and provide Close Air Support during operation.
• To provide transport support to the Ghana Armed Forces.
• To provide surveillance over the air space of Ghana and over the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• To provide liaison and recce flight capability.
• To provide VIP flight capability.
• To provide transport support for civilians as government directs.
• To provide medical evacuation and air rescue assistance.
• The Ghana Air Force is also responsible for the co-ordination and direction of Search and Rescue (SAR) within the Accra Flight Information Region.

As the "youngest" of the Services, the Ghana Air Force was established under the provisions of Act 105 of parliament of Ghana entitled; The Armed Forces Act, 1962. Prior to the Act, the Ghana Air Force had existed since its inception in 1959. The Air Force was established in 1959 under the supervision of Indian and Israeli officers with an Indian Air Commodore as the 1st Commander. Later in 1960 the training agreement with Israel was terminated and the task was assumed by the British, supplemented by a small group from the Royal Canadian Force. The first 10 Ghanaian pilots qualified under Israeli Instructors in 1960. in September of the same year a Ghanaian Army Brigadier was appointed as Chief of Air Staff. The Ghana Air Force now has stations in Takoradi, Accra and Tamale.

The 1,000-member Ghanaian air force consists of one counterinsurgency squadron equipped with MB-326K and MB-339 aircraft; three transport squadrons equipped with F-27 and F-28 Fokkers, a C-212 Aviocar, and Skyvan aircraft; and one training squadron equipped with MB-326F, Bulldog, and L-29 Delfin aircraft. The air force also has Bell, Mi-2 Hoplite, and SA-319 helicopters. It operates from bases in Accra (headquarters and main transport base), Tamale (combat and training base), Takoradi (training base), and Kumasi (support base).

The air force's mission is to perform counterinsurgency operations and to provide logistical support to the army. Since independence, performance has been hindered by a lack of spare parts and by poor maintenance capabilities. On September 18, 1987, Air Force Commander J. E.A. Kotei announced plans to begin internal passenger service to supplement the efforts of Ghana Airways. Under this program, the government authorized the transformation of Tamale airport into a civil-military airport.

Ghana has one international airport and four domestic airports. Air transport in Sub-Saharan Africa is still expensive by international standards. Landing charges are high, partly caused by the absence of the support from concessions revenue enjoyed by many airports in the world. Because of relatively low volumes of traffic on many routes in Africa, airfares are also high, despite the efforts of some governments to subsidize domestic fares from protected intercontinental routes. Ghana‘s air transport infrastructure is rated as average for quality, as indicated by the results of the 2010–2011 Global Competitiveness Report Opinion Survey.

While the air transportation system in Ghana appears to be below average compared to some of its peers, it does not appear to be a binding economic constraint for the Ghanaian economy overall. However, these deficiencies may be constraining the emergence of products with higher value per unit of weight, or those which are time-sensitive (e.g. perishable goods), which do feature strongly in Ghana‘s export basket. More importantly, air transport is likely to be constraining the mobility of entrepreneurs, which is essential to the development of private activities in virtually any sector. Even if most goods are traded by other means of transportation, discovering potential markets, distribution channels, and know-how necessitates the frequent movement of business people across borders.