South Africa to establish sister city relations with Tamale

Tamale, Jan. 31, GNA- Mr. Rapu Molekane, South African High Commissioner in Ghana has promised to link a city in his country to the Tamale Metropolis to establish sister-city relationship.

He said he was highly impressed with the Tamale Venue, which hosted the Bafana Bafana for the Ghana 2008 tournament and therefore wanted to show his gratitude by ensuring the establishment of city-sister relations between the Tamale Metropolis and a city in South Africa.

Mr. Molekane said this when he donated a quantity of footballs and other sporting items to 20 selected primary and Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Tamale Metropolis on Thursday.

The High Commissioner noted that, although he was left with barely six months as his country's representative in Ghana, he was going to take the city-sister relationship as "a personal project", to boost the social and economic ties between Ghana and South Africa. He said, already some of the South Africans who were in Tamale for the games had seen the tourist and business potentials in the Metropolis and were ready to take advantage of them.

He said feasibility studies on the cultivation of sugar cane in Tamale had been completed and there were plans by South Africa in the near future to establish sugar plantations in the Metropolis. Mr. Mohammed Baba, the Metropolitan Coordinating Director said the establishment of sister-city relations between any South African city and the Tamale Metropolis would bring mutual benefits to them. He said the Metropolis was the nerve centre of business not only for the Northern Region but the Upper East and Upper West Regions as well. He said the Metropolis had opportunities for investment in ICT development, the banking sector and mango plantation and in the promotion of business and trade in general.