Government is determined to ensure that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) zone attracts the right investors and accelerates the development of the area, Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, has said.

He said the SADA Zone has great resources which if well harnessed and developed would create employment opportunities for many.

Mr Akwesi Oppong-Fosu, Minister in-charge of Development Authorities, said this on behalf of the Vice President, during the launch of a Master Planning Exercise for SADA.

The event was on the theme: “Planning to transform the Savannah zone”.

The meeting was to learn from the experiences of Surbana International Pte, a Singapore’s leading institution on urban planning and design.

The master plan for the SADA zone would articulate a strong and clear vision, identify game-changing investments and actions to attract and channel public and private investments.

The zone occupies 54.4 per cent of the land area of the country, comprising 64 administrative districts in the Northern, Upper West, Upper East regions and the northern parts of the Volta and Brong Ahafo regions.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur commended management of SADA for repositioning the Authority into a viable venture, adding that the plan among others focuses on a unique regional vision.

He said SADA since 2012 has facilitated many interventions to help transform the zone including the SADA millennium Villagers Programme which works in two regions, improving health, education and agriculture.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said Surbana International will work closely with Ghanaian professionals including the Town and Country Planning Department and the National Development Planning Commission to undertake socio-economic analysis of the zone.

Mr Charles Abugre, Chief Executive Officer of SADA, said the Authority is mandated to provide planning guidance to government to ensure accelerated, comprehensive and integrated development of the Northern Savannah Ecological zone.

He said through the partnership with Surbana International, there would be human resource training for the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly and the Buipe District.

Mr Abugre said the Authority has launched a commercial agriculture investment guide with support from the Soil Research Institute, Queiroz Galvao of Brazil to complement the efforts of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.