SADA launches master plan to facilitate growth

The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) has launched a master plan to facilitate the transformation of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone into a commercial hub.

It is expected to position the SADA zone into an attractive environment that will woo investors into the area.

Launched in partnership with Surbana Jurong, a town development firm from Singapore, and two local institutions — the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) and the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD), the master plan seeks to transform some of the cities in the zone into investment destinations.

The SADA zone comprises 64 districts in six regions and occupies 54 per cent of the land mass. It is home to a third of the country‘s population but lags behind in development, mainly as a result of natural, social and economic disadvantages.

Planning process

The Chief Executive Officer of SADA, Dr Charles Abugre, said the master plan contained game-changer initiatives that would transform the economy of the zone in the next 20 years.

He said the immediate output would include a comprehensive concept plan that set an inspiring vision, cluster the zone around specific growth poles and propose specific sectoral transformation plans for Tamale and Buipe with an integrated property and land management system.

Selected institutions

He said the process would also be used to build the technical know-how within selected institutions in the SADA zone to replicate the development of future plans.

It would further provide a web and geographical information system (GIS)-based land management and property tax system for the beneficiary cities.

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“The master plan will, therefore, provide an integrated data management system, including high resolution maps, develop the SADA Regional Concept Plan and deliver the Tamale and Buipe City Master Plans,” he added.

For his part, Naa Professor John Nabila, Wulugunaba and President of the National House of Chiefs, who chaired the function, said the area was blessed with immense natural resources, resilient and hardworking people, a vibrant culture rooted in thousands of years of history but scored lowest in most human development indicators and also have a fragile environment.