Dr Kofi Amoah
Dr. Kofi Amoah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Progeny Ventures, has called for the institution of regional development plans.
The plans, when adopted, will focus on the natural resources unique to each region and be the catalyst for sparking economic development to create job opportunities in each region to diminish the present unhealthy and unhelpful migration to the few city centers, Dr Amoah said.
He made this known when he presented a paper on the theme, ‘Industrialization of Ghana: The Way Forward,’ at the Fourth Public Lecture in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Regent University College of Science and Technology in Accra.
He said there ought to be a regional development fund for each region to engender development in all parts of the country.
“This must be the center piece of any sustainable development programme, starting with areas of natural comparative advantage,” Dr. Amoah said.
Two factories in a region
The mogul called for the establishment of two manufacturing plants in each region.
This, he said, will promote increased output from existing farmers, as well as new farm investors, who can be incentivized through attractive tax and low-interest loans.
“Such factories can also curtail or eliminate the enormous imports or canned tomatoes, fruit juices and flour, among others. These activities will need the services of agronomists, agric engineers, biochemists, sales and marketing experts, lawyers, architect and surveyors, among others,” Dr. Amoah said.
“We cannot keep borrowing to finance consumption of health, education and other services. We must get our people involved in producing the wealth with which we finance infrastructure investments.
“We must invest in rural areas and create sustainable revenue, producing opportunities to empower our rural citizens to earn a living and become taxpaying citizens to government, who in turn will have funds to provide them with the necessary services like health, education, better housing, among others.”
By Cephas Larbi