JICA’s Greater Kumasi Project to promote development

Madam Rosamund Edusei, Ashanti Regional Director of the Department of Town and Country Planning has said that the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) Greater Kumasi Project would promote effective and efficient development of the nation.

She said the JICA Greater Kumasi Project is a 20-year development plan aimed at transforming the current economy of the nation to a vibrant, modernized and diversified one since Kumasi plays a major role in Ghana’s economy.

Madam Edusei was speaking at the fourth international seminar on urban development in Asia and Africa on Wednesday in Accra; delegates from Japan, Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire are attending the JICA seminar.

She said the Greater Kumasi Project covers the whole of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, its adjourning two municipalities and 5 district assemblies; adding that, the goal of the master plan for Greater Kumasi Project was to contribute to the promotion of efficient and effective development of Greater Kumasi sub-region by formulating a comprehensive urban development master plan for the area.

Madam Edusei noted that the Greater Kumasi Project would become a pioneer to transform the economy in the areas of commerce, logistics, manufacturing and knowledge-based industries; hence creating a livable, sustainable and efficient urban space, while maintaining the historical and cultural aspiration of the Ashanti Region.

She said sub-urban agriculture, including agriculture business, would be promoted in the rural areas; declaring that tourism and recreational activities would become much more important economic sectors in the rural areas.

She said within the first 10 years of the project; promotion of private investment in economic sectors, revitalization of the Kaase Industrial Areas, mobilization of private investments in knowledge city on and outside the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology within the Ejisu-Kumasi urban corridor, develop the Boankra Industrial-Logistics Centre, among others.

The Regional Director said urban functions should not be too much concentrated only in Kumasi’s central area but should be multi-nucleus by the utilisation of space widely within the Greater Kumasi sub-region.

Mr Fuyuki Sagara, Senior Representative of JICA - Ghana Office said JICA would keep focusing on support for the master plans for urban development towards the future.