The former Chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) Dr. Ishmael Evans Yamson has said that bad roads were the main factor turning potential investors away from the country.
Speaking at an investment forum organised by the Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM) on Monday in Elmina, Dr Yamson said investors visit the country now and then but what they see in terms of roads deter them from investing in Ghana.
“So many investors express their desire to invest in Ghana but when they come down they first look up for better roads and you need no soothsayer to tell you that our roads are bad” he said, adding that the region cannot attract the needed investment if it continued to wallow in bad roads.
The former Uniliver Companies employee used the occasion to urge government to do everything possible to provide better roads across the country to attract investors.
He again appealed to metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to find a way of providing better roads in their localities as a way of attracting prospective investors.
Dr Yamson further implored Ghanaians to invest in their own country and urged them to not rely on foreign investors to develop their nation.
He also called on chiefs who are the custodians of land to release it for investments.
According to Dr Yamson, Central Region cannot be said to be poor because it has the longest coastline in Ghana where investors can invest in hospitality industry but litigation had driven away potential investors. he added that region has arable lands for cultivation of cash crops and others but the chiefs were not ready to release land for cultivation of large plantations which are capable of employing more people.
Speaking at the same function, the Board Chairman of CEDECOM, Dr Mensah Abrompa said development is a long term process and called on all residents in the region to join hands to develop the region.
Participants were drawn from the business community, academia, state institutions and the private sector.
DAP/as/APA