THE poor infrastructural development, non existence of business partnerships and low entrepreneurial skills have been identified as some of the contributory factors to the low investment flow in the Northern Region.
According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the region had so far benefited from only 34 out of a total of 2,955 investment projects nationwide.
The situation has been described by stakeholders as unacceptable. The Upper East has two of the projects while the Upper West has eight.
The Director, Global and Regional Operations of the GIPC, Mr Augustine Otoo briefed media practitioners on the issue at a regional investment seminar in Tamale to sensitise stakeholders to the situation and to formulate strategies to address them.
He explained that the perceived lack of peace in the Northern Region and the distance of the region from ports regarding exports, were other challenges to investment promotion in the area.
Mr Otoo, therefore, stressed on the need for district assemblies to support the GIPC in its bid to identify investment potentials in the districts and package them for development.
He expressed regret that last year, appeals were made to the Regional Houses of Chiefs to release land for investment purposes but to date, nothing had been heard about that from the region.
According to him, the GIPC had so far attracted over $13 billion of both foreign and local investments.
The Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Sumani Nayina urged the GIPC to work closely with the Regional House of Chiefs, land owners and all relevant institutions to harmonise the utilisation of lands for investment purposes.
“I believe that we the players in this region have the capacity to identify local opportunities dotted all over the place, which in concert with the GIPC, will be packaged for development and promoted both within and outside to attract win-win partnerships”, he stated.
Mr Nayina said the prominent area of investment in the region remained largely in the agricultural sector.
The Manager, Enclave and Estate Development of the Ghana Free Zones Board, Nana Kodwo Adentwi stated that as of last year, 201 companies were licensed to operate under the board.
He said five of the companies were located in the region, adding that 27,736 employment avenues had so far been created nationwide.
The Member of Parliament for Salaga, Alhaji Ibrahim Dey called on citizens of the region to help develop the area since “nobody will develop this place for us”.
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