Accra lost major conferences to Dakar over inadequate facilities

President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that Accra has missed out on hosting major international conferences on at least two occasions due to inadequate conferencing facilities in the capital.

According to him, one of the events was eventually relocated to Dakar, Senegal, because Accra did not have enough space to accommodate participants.

President Mahama described the situation as a setback for Ghana and called for increased investment in hospitality and conference infrastructure to position the country to attract major international events.

He made the remarks on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at the sod-cutting ceremony for the Sentuo Airport Garden City project.

The President said the project would significantly strengthen Accra’s capacity to host large-scale international gatherings.

“I know of two occasions on which Accra was bypassed because we did not have enough conference rooms to host major international conferences. At least one of them was bypassed for Dakar, Senegal, and I felt very ashamed that Accra would be bypassed for Dakar in terms of a major international conference,” he said.

The Sentuo Airport Garden City project includes a 2,500-capacity conference centre and a 600-room hotel, facilities President Mahama said would help bridge the existing infrastructure gap.

“This development will end that. We’ll have enough hotel rooms. We’ll have enough conference facilities to be able to host even a UN conference here in Accra,” he said.

President Mahama added that expanding conference facilities should be part of a wider strategy to attract more tourists to Ghana and encourage visitors to explore destinations outside Accra.

He noted that increased tourism would generate economic opportunities for transport operators, hospitality businesses, artisans, farmers, workers and communities across the country.