Hon. Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister has appealed to business communities within and outside the country to consider extending their investments to the northern part of Ghana, especially the Upper East Region.
He said the development gap between the north and south still existed, and must be bridged to reduce the migration of young talented youth from the north to the south in search for greener pastures.
Hon. Yakubu, also a former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, made the appeal when the Swiss Ambassador to the Republics of Ghana, Togo and Benin, Mr. Philipp Stalder called on him in his office today.
The Minister noted that successive governments had over the years tried to bridge the development gap to no avail, but expressed confidence that the Akufo-Addo-led-government was working through the Northern Development Authority (NDA) to ensure the gap was bridged.
The Upper East Region, he said was blessed with vast lands, human resource capacity and water in excess capacity of between 30 to 40 percent suitable for investors to establish factories.
Mr. Stalder noted that greater percentage of businesses were concentrated in Accra and Tema, which partly accounted for the unbearable traffic congestion in the nation’s capital.
He urged the Regional Minister to work out some incentive packages to attract the private sector to invest in the Upper East Region.
Prior to the call on the Minister, the Ambassador commissioned Wash Facilities at a Health Facility at Mayoro in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality.
Giving a historical background which led to formation of the Red Cross Society (RCS) through out the world, Mr. Samuel Kofi Addo, Secretary General of the RCS who was part of the Ambassador’s entourage, said the RCS was a humanitarian organisation founded by a Swiss businessman.
He said the Founder, who was on a business trip to Algeria, witnessed a war, and quickly organized community members to provide support to the victims of the war.
Upon sober reflection, Mr. Addo said the businessman formed the society with the inscription the Swiss Red Cross to provide relief to victims in both natural and man-made disasters.
He, however, said the RCS in Ghana, channelled its resources and energy into development projects as there were no such intense disasters as compared to other countries.