The fourth edition of the Northern Ghana Investment Conference will be held in the Upper East Regional capital, Bolgatanga.
As a revolving event, it is scheduled for June 15th, 2015 at the forecourt of the Ghana Health Service Training Centre, Bolgatanga.
2014 Northern Ghana Investment Conference set
Third Northern Ghana Business Investment Conference successful
The three-day event seeks to bring together major stakeholders and the region’s most dominant corporate players in banking, insurance, ICT and other businesses under the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
At a stakeholder meeting in Tamale, Chief Executive Officer of Ridmut Consults, Riyadh Mutawakil said the fourth edition will be an improved version of the previous events.
He hinted that there will be industrial and field visits to some key investment sites in the Upper East and Northern Regions.
These will include the Integrated Water Management and Agricultural Development (IWAD) Ghana Limited project at Sisili, the Kulpawn Basin Project Site at Yagaba, the SADA Millennium Village Project (MVP) site near Wulugu in the Northern Region and the Volta River Authority (VRA) Solar power plant at Navrongo.
Northern Ghana Investment Conference
Riyadh Mutawakil said the usual Northern Business Executive Roundtable and the Northern Business Excellence Awards and Dinner Night are part of the programme line up.
According to him, the Northern Business Executives Roundtable will serve as a platform for business executive briefings, networking and business matching platform for CEOs, senior management professionals, entrepreneurs’ and government officials to meet and discuss current business trends and opportunities in Northern Ghana.
High profile personalities expected to grace the occasion include Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Hon. John Tiga Ziga, Upper East Regional Minister, Dr. Barfuor Osei, Chief Executive Officer of Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Fund (EDAIF), Mr. Henri Wientjes, Executive Chairman Wienco Ghana Limited, Hon. Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Hakeem Wemah, Chairman of the Northern Development Forum (NDF) Dr. Kenneth Kwami Kwaku, former Chief MIGA Africa Representative of the World Bank Group.
Northern Ghana Investment Conference (3)
Other important and relevant institutions associated with event are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Trade Centre, Wienco Ghana Limited, IWAD Ghana Limited, EDAIF, SNV, Embrapa Africa, CSIR, International Water Management Institute, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Association of Church Based Development Projects, Masara N’ Arziki Farmers Association, World Bank, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Ghana Shippers Authority, National Board for Small Scale Industries, Rural Enterprise Programme, Northern Rural Growth Programme, KOICA, KOTRA, International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNIDO, UNDP, European Union Delegation to Ghana, the Diplomatic Missions and other International Organization in Ghana.
Some deserving industry players and institutions were honored at the previous events for their meritorious contribution to the expansion of the business climate in Northern Ghana.
At the climax of the third edition in Tamale, a communiqué which was issued recommended that chiefs in the northern sector should facilitate easy access to land for development projects.
The communiqué further highlighted that wavers and other tax incentives should be given with access facilitated to promote business establishments in the northern sector.
It noted that the immense potentials of non timber forest products such as Sheanut, Baobab and dawadawa should be developed and that more attention be paid to that sector in developing alternative cash crops in addition to the traditional cocoa and oil palm.
The Communiqué insisted that private sector and responsible government agencies should collaborate effectively in development, production, value addition, financing and marketing of all agricultural products.
It recommended that institutions like (EDAIF), Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Venture Capital, National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) among others should provide easy access to their financing and technical assistance to farmers and industrialists to help catalyst development in the northern sector.
The Communiqué implied that current policies on subsidies relating to agriculture inputs should be reviewed to benefit farmers directly instead of doing so through middle men.
Giving the current high energy cost in commercial agriculture production, irrigation and mechanized farming, the Communiqué said the option of affordable solar energy should be exploited vigorously to provide alternative source of energy.
That the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and related agencies should facilitate the smooth importation of agriculture equipment and machinery to support the development of agriculture as well as the export of farm produce.
The Northern Ghana Business Investment Conference was initiated in 2012 by Ridmut Consults in collaboration with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC and the Northern Development Forum (NDF) and other industry partners to serve as a major activity that will promote business and investment in the Northern Ghana.
According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, less than 0.1 percent of foreign investments attracted to the country go to Northern Ghana.
This does not only show the lack of attention on wealth creation in the area, but also a failure of the country’s development and investment policies.
By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/Citifmonline.com/Ghana
Source: http://citifmonline.comconference/#sthash.ErMLpgu5.dpuf