By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, March 21, GNA – The government is determined to reposition the Upper East Region as the hub of agribusiness, trade and industrialisation to drive the needed socioeconomic transformation of Northern Ghana.
President John Dramani Mahama who announced this in Bolgatanga, disclosed that government would leverage the comparative advantage of the region and invest strategically in irrigation, road infrastructure and extension of electricity to boost agriculture activities, trade and job creation.
Additionally, the government will combine individual poverty alleviation programmes with structural reforms to ensure success in the implementation of the transformational projects and enhance the region’s capacity to contribute fully to the development of Ghana, he said.
“The north has vast arable lands, favourable conditions for agriculture and an emerging agribusiness ecosystem”, President Mahama said in an address to the chiefs and people of Upper East Region as part of his nationwide “Thank You” tour following his electoral victory in December, 2024.
“The North has the potential to become food security and agro-industrial hub for Ghana and the West African sub-region,” he said.
President Mahama recognised the significant role of the Upper East Region to the country’s agriculture, and added that “by prioritising targeted investment in irrigation, agro-processing and rural infrastructure while ensuring accountability in the use of public funds, we will create sustainable economic opportunities that will transform livelihoods and reverse the decades of marginailisation in the Northern part of Ghana”, he said.
President Mahama bemoaned attitudes of successive governments abandoning transformational projects undertaken in Northern Ghana to transform lives due to partisan politics and promised to reverse the trend.
To achieve this, President Mahama said the government would ensure accountability in the implementation of projects implemented by previous administration through its operation recover all loots, priority would be channeled towards completing such projects to achieve the desired results.
He said, for instance, that the government had prioritised the reengineering and construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam in the region to provide sustainable water supply for agriculture activities, hydro and solar hybrid power and serve as flood control.
“I have asked the Finance Minister to commence a rescoping of the project (Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam) and the reevaluation of its various phases for inclusion into our big push infrastructure financing programme. We are also exploring the use of Ghanaian civil engineering expertise to achieve this world class project”, he stated.
The Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam has several components including the provision of irrigation for several hectares of land, hydro and solar hybrid power production, flood control merchanism and aquaculture.
President Mahama also promised to complete the construction of the Tamne Irrigation Dam to support farmers in the Garu and Tempane Districts to engage in all year round agriculture activities for food security and job creation.
Apart from that, he said, the government had also prioritised the completion of Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road, resurfacing of the Tamale-Bolgatanga-Paga road, and the construction of the Bolgatanga-Wa road and Navrongo-Sandema-Fumbisi-Daboya road to boost trade and improve access to markets for farmers and businesses.
“Recognising not only the region’s strategic role in Ghana’s quest for agriculture and industrial transformation but also the need to bridge the developmental gap…I have asked the Finance Minister to fast-track efforts to unlock funds for stalled infrastructure projects in the Upper East Region,” he said.
GNA
FAA/CA