Road Map For Ghana's Development: Prof. Kwame Addo Shows The Way

Professor Kwame Addo, a Development Consultant has unveiled a comprehensive visualised map, which details all the natural resources Ghana has and the specific areas in the country where they are located.

For example, the map provides details of all water, mineral and forest resources in the country.

It also details about communication, road and rail infrastructure and possible areas where development infrastructure could be sited.

Professor Stephen Adei the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), said, the map would help in the sustainable exploitation of the country’s natural resources.

“If you do not know what you have, you are miserable and you cannot even negotiate for something good for your resources. If Ghana knows how much oil, iron, steel and other resources we have, our negotiation will be different and we will get good value for the resources we have,” he said.

Prof. Adei added that road-map would also facilitate the implementation of government policies and programmes for accelerated development.

He urged Ghana and other African countries to be diligent in determining the value of their natural resources and harness them to improve on the livelihood of the people.

In an interview with the Majority Leader in Parliament and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, detailed that, over 1.7 billion tonnes of iron ore has been discovered in an ongoing exploration exercise at Sheini in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region.

"Growing up, we all knew about the Oppong Manso iron mine in the Western Region, which is about 360 million tonnes, and also some 60-million tonnes deposit in the Upper West Region, but the iron ore that has been discovered at Sheini is the biggest in the country,” he said.

According to Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the discovery of the iron ore in commercial volumes was a major boost to the iron and steel industry.

He said the Ghana Iron and Steel Development Corporation Bill that was passed by Parliament recently was awaiting Presidential Assent for work on the corporation to start.

He noted that the map would help in the country’s development planning, adding that the Ministry of Planning, would collaborate with Prof. Addo for further development of the visualised maps.