The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), Zianabu Issah, has described the Upper East Region and other parts of northern Ghana as largely untapped investment destinations with significant opportunities in agriculture, mining and tourism.
According to her, the regions in northern Ghana should not be viewed primarily as deprived areas but as places with economic potential that has yet to receive adequate attention from investors.
Madam Issah made the remarks in Bolgatanga during GIPA’s Regional Investment Roadshow, which seeks to identify and promote investment opportunities across the country’s 16 regions.
“In fact, before we hit Bolgatanga, we made a stop at Tamanaa and we engaged the CEO. I don’t think the northern regions are deprived. It is one of the undiscovered regions that people are yet to understand the potentials,” she said.
She cited the operations of Tamanaa Company Limited, a rice processing business in the North East Region, as an example of the agricultural investment opportunities available in northern Ghana.
The company, which produces Nasia Star Rice, has substantial rice production and processing operations but, according to Madam Issah, requires greater support to expand distribution and improve market access.
“We got to know that there’s enormous opportunities when it comes to even rice production in the regions. They have a lot of rice harvested and the market they need now is to distribute this rice to consumers. This is something we at GIPA are looking to help with,” she noted.
Madam Issah said the experience demonstrated the need for investment promotion efforts to go beyond identifying production opportunities to connecting existing businesses with markets and potential investors.
Turning to the Upper East Region, she identified gold deposits and tourism attractions as other areas with investment potential.
“There’s a lot of vast potentials the region has to offer. The Upper East region has also discovered gold deposits and there are also very interesting tourism potentials. GIPA has been able to put together a very nice documentary highlighting these opportunities,” she stated.
She explained that the documentary was intended to showcase the region’s investment prospects and draw attention to opportunities that may be unfamiliar to potential investors.
Madam Issah further indicated that GIPA was prepared to collaborate with the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council to identify, package and promote the region’s investment opportunities.
The engagement forms part of the Authority’s nationwide investment opportunity mapping exercise, which seeks to document viable projects and promote them to potential investors, including at the upcoming Invest Ghana Summit in Accra.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Bolgatanga
