Southern Volta to hold development forum in Accra

The Southern Volta Development Forum, a non-governmental organization committed
to the improvement of the economic potential of the Southern Volta Basin and
the Volta Region as a whole, is set to organize a day’s forum to discuss at
full length, the need for immediate private sector and governmental
intervention in the area.

To be held on Thursday the 19th of May at the British Council in Accra, the
forum according to the NGO, would seek to among other interests deliberate on
how to maximize and explore to full use, the economic viability of the area, to
improve the local economy, create jobs, reduce poverty and stem the
increasingly rural-urban drift of the youth from Southern Volta to the nation’s
capital, Accra.

It would be held under the theme “Economic and Business Potentials of the
Southern Volta Basin”. Topics to be discussed would hinge on oil and mineral
exploration, tourism, agriculture and the industrial potentials of the region.

A representative of the Minister of Youth and Sports Clement Kofi Humado would
deliver a paper on the concept and plans being put in place for the
establishment of a Southern Volta Basin Development Authority (SVBDA).

It would be preceded by a presentation on “the merit and roadmap for
establishing a special planning area for the development of the Southern Volta”
by Dr. Tay of the National Development Planning Commission.

According to the organizers, the forum became necessary since the area
comprising six administrative districts - the Keta Municipality, Ketu South and
North District, Akatsi District and the Tongu Districts - are ‘gold mines’
waiting to be explored, and believe that the forum would open the investment
opportunities there to the local and international business community.

The Southern Volta Development Authority would also use the forum to bring
together all the pressure groups working for the interest of the area as one
united front to lobby the government and other appropriate quarters for a
better Southern Volta.

The SVDA has hinted that elections to elect officers to lead the group would be
held during its second forum.
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