Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye
Parliament on Wednesday ratified a Framework Agreement between the government of Ghana and the Republic of Mauritius for the development of technology and business parks in the country.
As part of the agreement, Mauritius has made a commitment of $75 million towards the development of the technology parks, which would begin at Dawa in the Greater Accra Region, along the Tema-Aflao highway.
There would be an establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to develop, implement and manage the technology and business parks.
The SPV, which is to be known as the Ghana Smart City, shall be incorporated as a limited liability company under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) of Ghana
Presenting the Committee of Communications’ report to the plenary before the agreement was ratified, the chairman of the committee, Kennedy Agyapong, said the Ghana Smart City would comprise a 3-star hotel, a cyber tower, an innovation to tower, an apartment block, a multi-purpose facility and a conference centre.
According to the chairman of the committee, the project would be established as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of Mauritius; and would facilitate the transfer of technology from the latter to the former through research and development activities.
He said those activities would foster greater interactions among industry, academia, educational and training institutions, the business and the finance sectors.
Mr Kennedy Agyapong further explained that the project would assist in building the capacity of export-oriented small and medium scale ICT businesses and position them to maximize their potential for growth, job creation and revenue generation.
“Finally, the project will nurture the development of highly skilled ICT manpower and drive innovation in the economy through scientific research and commercialization of technology,” the chairman said.
He said under the agreement, the Government of Ghana would provide among other things, land for the project and all such infrastructure required by the SPV during the operation phase.
Mr Kennedy Agyapong said Mauritius would design and prepare the master plan for the implementation of the project.
It was also agreed that people living in the project locality would be offered the opportunity to acquire the relevant employable skills in businesses and companies to be set up.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr