President John Dramani Mahama has outlined a comprehensive plan to turn the Volta Lake into one of the drivers of the 24-hour economy policy.
The President revealed that he had received a complete draft of the 24-hour economy policy from the secretariat and one of the boldest suggestion in that document was the development of the Volta Lake Economic Corridor.
“This corridor, centred on the Volta Lake and the Volta Basin, will become a national production zone and logistics fund. The plan envisions cultivating over two million hectares of arable lakeside land, revitalising the fishery sector on the lake, and creating a chain of industrial parks that produce goods for domestic and regional markets,” the President outlined.
He made this known at the Presidency in Accra yesterday when he held a multi-sectorial engagement on the implementation of the 24-hour economy policy.
The engagement brought to the seat of government participants from state agencies, private sector companies, associations and federations, and development partners.
To support the Volta Lake corridor, President Mahama said the lake would be activated as a transport highway, moving food, people and goods more efficiently than the congested roads could do currently.
New floating assets, lake ports and long-term investment partnerships, he said would be developed in coordination with the Volta River Authority and the private sector.
“We must move beyond just hydropower and unlock the broader economic potential of this beautiful national asset,” he stated.
The President said he had reviewed the 24-hour economy draft policy and was confident “we now have a coherent and actionable framework with which to deliver the results”.
According to President Mahama, an effective catalyst for the 24-hour economy policy would be a stable macroeconomic environment, which is being achieved through close coordination between the monetary and fiscal authorities.
“At its core, it’s an integrated value chain transformation approach. This approach addresses structural bottlenecks not in isolation, but comprehensively through infrastructure, finance, land systems, logistics and skills development,” he said.
The 24-hour economy programme, he explained identifies priority value chains across all regions, including agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, light manufacturing, tourism, digital services and the creative economy.
There were detailed plans, he said, to develop industrial parks, logistics hubs and upgrade transport links, scale up value chain finance for SMEs, cooperatives and agribusiness in priority sectors, develop local land banks, zoned, titled and investment-ready to reduce any delays and uncertainty to investors, train young people for shift-based work, and tax reliefs on machinery and inputs.
Each district, the President said would establish its own 24-hour implementation task force, to allow each region to define and lead its path of industrial transformation based on its natural comparative advantages.
For her part, the Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, encouraged industries to sign onto the policy if it is finally rolled out.
Anchored on two pillars – manufacturing and agribusiness – Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the 24-hour economy policy offers the platform to create sustainable jobs.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
