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Explore international markets for
opportunity for commodity exports from North - Dr. Al-hassan
Wa, Jan 4, GNA - Dr. Seidu Al-hassan, a lecturer at the Wa
Campus of the University for Development Studies, on
Thursday said the only way the government could bridge the
yawning development gap between the north and the south was
through the exploration of international markets for
commodities originating from northern Ghana.
He named some of the commodities and produce as sheanuts,
groundnuts, beans and cotton, cloth weaving and Basketry,
rearing of small ruminants and guinea fowls.
Dr. Al-hassan said this during a day's seminar on World
Bank/International Monetary Fund and Development in Northern
Ghana, organized by Network for Environment and Development-
Africa (NEDA) at Wa.
He appealed to individuals, groups and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to develop special interest in the
monitoring of development projects as their contributions
towards the avoidance of waste.
"The bridging of that development gap between the north and
south would never be achieved if the government continues to
share the national cake equally, rather, the north needs a
special development concession to catch up with the south."
Speaking on "The lending programmes of international
financial institutions- prospects for Northern Ghana", Mr.
Abudulai Dramani, an official of Third World Network-Africa,
suggested to prominent northerners to strengthen their
bargaining capacity and to negotiate with the government for
a development concession that would help accelerate
development in northern Ghana.
He said government should also consider the development of
northern Ghana as a priority and a national issue devoid of
ethnicity and sectional affiliations.
Mr. Dramani said although northern Ghana had all the
prospects to develop, lack of political will and enthusiasm
from northerners remained a stumbling block.
Mr. Fauster Agbenyo, lecturer at the Wa Campus of the
University for Development Studies, appealed to the
government to consider developing cloth weaving and basketry
industries and to develop bee-keeping, guinea fowls and
small ruminant farming to engage people from the north
throughout the year, since they depended so much on rain-fed
agriculture.
GNA
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