The 4th Northern Business and Investment Fair, has been opened in Tamale to give businesses and other corporate institutions the opportunity to market and sell their products and services to the public.

Alhaji Alhassan Issahaku, Northern Regional Coordinating Director, who opened the fair called for collaboration between government agencies, the private sector and other development partners to ensure holistic development that would create jobs through investments.

He said: “We need an integrated approach in seeking investments, and it is in this direction that I will like us to involve our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies more, so that we can reap the full benefits that we all desire.”

The three-day fair is on the theme: “Harnessing opportunities for development.” Mr Raymond Ahiadorme, Business Development Manager of the Business and Financial Times newspaper said the fair is an initiative of the paper, which started in 2009 to serve as a major activity to promote business and investment in the northern sector.

He said since its inception, many stakeholders in trade, manufacturing, agriculture and the services sector had gained positively through opportunities to form strategic partnerships that would help in expanding their businesses.

Mr Ahiadorme observed that the northern sector faces enormous challenges yet it presents Ghana with immense opportunities, which must be fully harnessed to the benefit of the country.

He called for massive investments to transform the standard of living of the people.

He suggested the need for public-private partnerships to accelerate the rate of development of the area.

Some of the institutions exhibiting their products and services at the fair include the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, Volta River Authority, Access Bank, Starbow and Public Utility Regulatory Commission.