SADA Gets New Office Accommodation

Alhaji Seidu Iddi, CEO, SADA

A multifaceted office has been officially commissioned in Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana for the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), in an attempt to pre-empt further speculations and criticisms by some section of the Ghanaian public that the body lacked office accommodation to do its work.

The Authority over the last few years since its establishment in 2010, had come under serious criticisms by the public particularly residents of the North, who felt that the ruling government’s promise to bring economic emancipation to the area was just a political rhetoric, because they [residents] could not see or locate any designated office for SADA in any part of the project area including the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions as well as the Northern parts of Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions of Ghana.

Although a provisional office was allocated for SADA at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC), it appeared many more people could not locate the office or they were not aware of the existence of the Authority’s office in the NRCC.

 

Thus, at a ceremony to open the new office, a refurbished facility previously owned by the defunct Ghana Cotton Company Limited, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SADA Alhaji Dr. Gilbert Seidu Iddi sought to explain that, the Authority had an office right from the time he was appointed, but a lot of people could not distinguish between the office and the NRCC because both were housed in the same edifice.

Alhaji Iddi also re-emphasised that, government was fully committed to the SADA project despite some challenges confronting it and appealed to residents to rally their support behind SADA so that it could become successful.

He cited for instance, the launch of several programmes including dry season farming and mango plantations in selected areas in the SADA region as well as partnering with many private individuals to go into edible oil production, rice production and generation of solar energy.

Alhassan Andani, Board Chairman, SADA

On the other hand, Board Chairman of SADA and Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana Alhassan Andani, explained that the decision to locate the SADA office in Tamale was due to the fact that, Tamale was more central to the rest of the regions in the project area.

He disclosed that between 2011 and 2012, government allocated GH¢60million to the Authority to roll out its projects. This, he noted, was in addition to GH¢200million seed money made available by government, all of which had reached SADA’s bank account and being used judiciously.

Mr. Andani stressed that, the legacy that should be bequeathed the people of the North was to see the development gap between the area and Southern Ghana bridged, and urged residents of the area to criticise the Authority as well as own it in order to let it succeed.

He stated that SADA was not an extension of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as perceived by some people, adding that, it was a long term project that was intended to address development challenges confronting the area and its people.

Commissioning the SADA office, Alhaji Dr. Mustapha Ahmed, Minister of State in charge of Development Authorities at the office of the president, charged the CEO and management of the Authority to work hard to deliver the mandate given them saying, he would not entertain any excuses from them considering the amount of resources currently at their disposal and also for the fact that residents were eager to see improvements in their lives.

Undoubtedly, Northern Ghana has the greatest percentage of people living in extreme poverty with more than 60 percent of the population living on less than US$1 a day. The region’s environmental, epidemiological and geographical challenges including low agricultural productivity, a high disease burden rate and high transportation cost makes villagers who are the most vulnerable to live in extreme poverty. This means that to collect safe drinking water and firewood for domestic use, people must walk several miles every day.

With these rural communities trapped in a poverty web, they are unable to make the investments in human capital and infrastructure required to achieve self-sustaining economic growth.

Based on these facts, SADA, a government policy initiative established by an Act of Parliament (Act 805, 2010) is aimed at addressing the development gap that exists between Northern and Southern Ghana. SADA’s mandate is to accelerate the socio-economic development of the Savannah belt through strategic investment in resource development. It envisions a “Forested North” by 2030, where agricultural production is modernised and oriented towards a larger market. 

The SADA initiative has six unique pillars which include the development of a comprehensive regional and ecological strategy; a model for the modernisation of agriculture; development of strategic infrastructure; strong linkage between Northern Savannah and the Sahelian countries; a vigorous private sector initiative that strengthens existing private operators and active support for Civil Society Organizations and NGOs.