The Board Chairman of Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Prince Alhassan Andani has urged radio commentators to criticize specific SADA initiatives and not the organization or the resource pull that government has mobilized to help the people in the savannah ecological zone.
According to him, the continued bashing of SADA will not inure to anyone's benefit and that only constructive criticism will help develop the Northern Region.
He said the northern Ghana has a lot of resources with best agricultural land and that what is missing is enterprise formation and urged the people in the area to be entrepreneur oriented.
Speaking at the launch of Entrepreneur and Investment month organized by Zaa Radio in Tamale, the board chairman encouraged business-oriented people in the north not to be discouraged about their literacy level especially, using English language in transacting their businesses.
Land
He said, the northern savannah comprises of about 100,000 square kilometers, which is more than 40 percent of national land area and 65 percent of savannah vegetation.
The total agricultural land, he added, is 6.1 million hectares of which cultivated area between 2001 and 2007 was 1.54 million hectares. Mr Andani Said northern savannah has a wealth of under-utilized well-endowed land to support an intensified agriculture modernization program.
The Stanbic MD who was the guest speaker mentioned a network of river basins with highly fertile valleys from Oncho-free basins in the Volta and Sissili rivers, the Fumbisi valley,Nasia,Tamne,Katanga and Nabogu which farmers can make good use of during dry season. These areas Mr Andani said have basins that can become major agricultural production zones for different crops.
Tourism
On the tourism potentials in the north, Mr Andani said northern Ghana contains what could be Ghana’s single biggest tourist attraction, the Mole Game reserve which has been seen rising visitor numbers. He however expressed worry that to date this substantial park has remained largely underdeveloped.
The SADA board chairman who is also the Managing Director (MD) of Stanbic Bank Ghana said successful business men both in Ghana and Europe though do not speak fluent English language yet they are business tycoons and employ thousands of people who are contributing to all sectors of Ghana’s economy.
The Chief Executive Officer of Zaa Radio, Alhaji Mohammad Ibn Umar expressed shock in the manner in which people venture into business without putting proper structures in place.
Explaining reasons behind the initiative, Alhaji Ibn Umar told participants that business is not about putting a container at a corner with small items is not a business. ’’Walking around Tamale,Bolga and Wa many areas are congested with containers; they called themselves business people I want everybody to know that that is not how they run business,’’ he lamented .
He explained that business is not just about buying a container but having a business plan which includes target market, capital, cash flow plan, budget, bankers, labor and your sources of products. ''If you look at Tamale or in northern region as compared to the south or to the whole world, northern region is yet to start an entrepreneurship,'' he explained.
The month-long entrepreneurship and investment the C.E.O said will continue bringing major stakeholders in the business sector to educate the people on proper way of doing business.
The symposium brought together all financial institutions, small and medium scale enterprises, formal and informal sector business operators as well as officials of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and some prominent opinion leaders such as Lawyer Ibrahim Mahama. The chief of Sagnarigu, Ambassador Abdulai Yakubu were among the dignitaries who graced the launch.
The over one thousand five hundred who participated at the launch were taken through pertinent issues relating to taxation, the need for both fomal and informal sector workers to know about SSNIT, how to be become a successful business person and also how to make good use of business opportunities in northern Ghana.
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