Ghana’s Volta region and USA’s Delta region will partner to roll out a number of development projects to support farmers in both places
The two regions aim to create a financial hub to help support farmers and other small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
Under the partnership, farmers from both regions will engage in exchange programmes and sharing of ideas for mutual benefit. Other areas of partnership also being explored in the areas of communication, tourism, health and education.
US non-profit organisation Sister Cities International will be acting as facilitator in the partnership. The agreement is expected to be signed between the two regions by June this year and the implementation is expected to soon afterwards.
Prince Kofi Kludjeson, president chair, African regional representative of Sister Cities International, said that the focus will be on crop production and marketing to ensure value for money and that the financial hub will empower young people in the region to establish themselves and expand the local economy.
Kludjeson has asked municipal and district assemblies to leverage the partnership to create commercial enterprises that will engage youth rather than relying on governmental programmes. Hoping that the partnership will help transform the region, he added that the Ghanaian region needs a pool of brain power and establish a business caucus.
Volta, which is the fifth-largest region in Ghana, would also see the establishment of a petrochemical industry as the government has renewed plans to explore oil deposits in the Keta Basin. However, one of the major challenges to trade and investment is the lack of marketing avenues for products manufactured in the region. Another concern is the prevalence of land litigation in the region, which can be a disincentive to investment.
— By Emmanuel Yartey