The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) has said it is exploring the possibility of setting up a legally autonomous Land Bank that will help make land easily accessible to investors.

Currently, SADA acquires land from land-owners, have them properly registered and uses them as share equity. In addition to that, the Authority also helps investors to acquire land in a bid to reduce transaction costs and other challenges.

To scale up its efforts, SADA’s CEO, Charles Abugri, told the B&FT that: “We are seeking to develop two institutional models to aide land acquisition. The first is a straightforward SADA Land Bank. This will be a legal and autonomous entity in which lands acquired by SADA can be registered and made available to investors whether for a fee or in exchange for equity.”

He added that: “We hope to set up the land bank in such a way that it is transparently and independently managed and the lands are properly registered with an on-line land management system.

Once properly set up, the entity is expected to raise capital from private capital markets, such as bonds, to help boost its activities, Charles Abugre said.

Working hand-in-hand with traditional authorities and local authorities, and the GIPC which is also developing a similar land bank, SADA is hoping to eliminate the land acquisition bottlenecks that put off investors.

Explaining the modalities of the Land Bank concept, Mr. Abugre stated that the entity will have its own defined governance structures, operational modalities, with the power to acquire lands and ability to raise capital.

It will have a well-developed on-line land management system in which lands belonging to the bank are registered and coordinates can be identified online by google map or similar means.

Also, there will be clear guidelines for disposing of the lands in support of investments, which will factor in financial, social and environmental sustainability issues.

“By financial sustainability, I mean the disposal of the lands should be guided by commercial but not exorbitant returns. By social responsibility, I mean, the use of the land should be guided by factors that enhance positive impacts to communities and workers. By environmental sustainability, I mean that rules should be developed governing the proper use of the lands to encourage greening strategies, soil fertility protection, health issues related to pesticides. Our hope is that the design of the land bank will take these factors into consideration.”

Apart from the Land Bank concept, the Authority has also explored other opportunities in the area of soil suitability for various purposes. For instance, it has undertaken a study on such factors as the characteristics of the soils, the topography, and evapotranspiration, weather (minimum and maximum temperatures), and these factors have been modelled against the needs of crops to thrive in a bid to get commercial agriculture off the ground.

“We have done this for 23 crops, for various agro-forestry species and for pond aqua culture. We have generated maps based on these results and calculated the sizes of land suitable for these products. This enables us to provide guidance to our farmers as well as local and foreign investors looking to invest in agriculture, agro-forestry and aquaculture,” he said.

Despite the progress made by the authority over the past two years, the SADA zone is still largely affected by stereotypes and negative perceptions and many other challenges, which Charles Abugri believes must be tackled head-on.

“The first challenge is to overcome exaggerated negative perceptions of the area simply as hot, dry, unproductive, inhospitable, and remote and some cases, violent.

To do so, SADA’s efforts are in the direction of presenting a competing narrative: lush, unexplored, diverse, enigmatic cultures; resourceful, peaceful, hardworking and welcoming people; economic opportunities awaiting to be tapped etc. It takes an extra effort to inform and convince people that a good life and money can be made in the Savannah Zone.”