By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, Nov. 2, GNA – Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, has advised traditional authorities to make lands available for local investors to push economic growth and development in the region.
She said land litigation draws back investments, saying both local and foreign investors required litigation-free lands to tap into and invest in the viable poultry and cashew industry in the region.
The Regional Minister gave the advice when addressing the opening session of the Bono Regional sensitisation tour of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in Sunyani on the theme “grow in Ghana, grow with Ghana”.
It was attended by processors, entrepreneurs, farmers, chiefs and queens as well as representatives from the various Districts and Municipal Assemblies and sought to sensitise the activities and inspire local businesses to register and benefit from the Center.
Mad. Owusu-Banahene said, “Land is critical to development” and asked the chiefs and queens in the region to reserve some lands for commercial business activities in their respective localities.
She said the region had huge economic prospects, saying with the availability of litigation-free lands, the region could lead the nation’s economic revolution and turn into an economic hub.
Mad. Owusu-Banahene indicated that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) had been strategically positioned to offer free marketing opportunities for local producers and investors, and therefore urged the local businesses to capitalize on it.
She also called on the various Municipal and District Assemblies in the region to identify businesses and innovations that could be marketed by the GIPC, and local businesses who had not registered with the Center to do so and exposed them to other economic opportunities.
Mr Edmond Ofoli Onyame, the Senior Investment Promotion Officer (Research Division) of the GIPC said the tour was to educate and sensitize the Regional Coordinating Councils about activities, functions and mandates of the GIPC.
The GIPC, he explained, promoted investment in all the sectors of the economy by identifying and helping to market local businesses and attract investments.
It also profiles non-traditional projects and products to attract investors, he added and urged local businesses in the region to register with the Center.
GNA