The Achimota Retail Centre, the latest modern retail shopping facility in the country, opened on Thursday at Dome near the St. John’s Grammar School amidst funfair.

The US$60 million investment project is owned by Delico Achimota Limited, the same group with majority shareholding in West Hills Mall.

Construction works on the Achimota project began in April 2014 and took 18 months to complete.

The new shopping centre sits on a total land area of 35,790m² of which 14, 622m² constitutes the trading space, with a total of over 45 shops and two anchor tenants – Shoprite and Palace.

It offers customers and patrons a well-balanced tenant mix with nearly 50 per cent of the brands and tenants originating from Ghana.

The shops are offering a wide variety of products and services ranging from grocery and foodstuffs, lifestyle, beauty and wellness, electronics and telecommunication, budget & designer fashion and clothing, gifts and high value jewellery, pharmacy, banking and financial services and children’s recreation.

One unique feature of the Achimota Retail Centre is its varied chain of eateries, numbering nine in all, including the Chop Bar, a uniquely Ghanaian gourmet outlet. Other food houses are KFC, Basillisa, Food Inn, Piza Hut, Steak Escape, Roaj Restaurant and Second Cup.

A spacious parking area with capacity for 585 cars - of which 250 constitute an undercover basement parking - is part of a string of modern architectural principles and special amenities incorporated in the mall’s design by the owners to ensure optimum convenience and enrich the overall shopping experience of customers and visitors to the centre.

Mr. Kofi Sekyere, Chairman of the Board of Delico Achimota Limited, told newsmen, “Locating a modern shopping centre at the north-eastern part of Accra not only eases the pressure of congestion on the capital’s central business district, it also provides residents of that vast area with a convenient place for business, social interaction, entertainment and other basic amenities that are clearly absent in that part of Accra.”

Mr. Sekyere said residents in neighbouring communities like Achimota, Dome, Tantra Hills, Taifa, Ofankor and the estates of Ashongman, Parakou, Kwabenya and beyond, will now be able to access both basic necessities and luxuries from one location at the Achimota Retail Centre, a convenience factor, which has been absent in that locality for a long while.

He said it is worthy of note that Delico is gradually building a formidable track record for delivering on its promise – with respect to quality and timeliness, adding that, “from the day the sod was cut for this project, it was the pledge of the Board that this facility – the Achimota Retail Centre - should, and will be delivered by the end of 18 months ......and here we are, on schedule with a first-class shopping centre for the communities in this area!”

Mr. Roux Gerber, a member of Atterbury Property Development Limited, the developer of the project, and West Africa Head of Developments for Atterbury, described the Achimota facility as his ‘personal favourite mall’ in Ghana, pointing at the quality of materials, the level of workmanship and the unique design concepts that were skillfully brought together in the project execution.

“Unlike all the malls that are springing up in Ghana, this one is most unique in the way it opens up and blends with nature. Its architecture is elegantly infused with the demands of safety, accessibility, visibility and lots of creative ideas that make the Centre special in its own way,” said Mr. Gerber.

During the construction phase, the project created employment for some 1,000 local workers and engaged a large number of Ghanaian subcontractors who used local artisans, builders, steel workers and wood workers.

With the Centre now open, it is expected that no less than 500 people, mostly from surrounding communities will be employed by the tenants, while the Centre itself will hire at least 50 employees permanently for ongoing property and facilities management.

The Centre is marking the commencement of business today, Thursday October 29, in a high-pitched celebratory fashion with non-stop entertainment, spot prizes and give-aways and lots of funfair for families, children and shoppers over the next four days, culminating in a big 'zumba' party on Sunday.