Upper East minister pitches tourism at home and farm-industry investment in China

Pinned summary · as of 16:36

Upper East Regional Minister Akamugri Donatus Atanga has spent recent days promoting the region's economic prospects on two fronts. At the regional tourism awards in Bolgatanga on Friday, 18 September, a speech carried in his name urged more spending on tourism, while reports from a separate investment mission to China describe his pitch to companies there.

What we know

• Mr Atanga has been arguing in public that Upper East should build on its local assets, whether cultural and tourism attractions or farming and industry, to create jobs and strengthen businesses in the region.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Kumasi Mail reported that a speech by the minister was read out for him by Bless Kwame Darkey, the regional council's Chief Director, when the Bolgatanga tourism awards were held on the evening of 18 September; it said the text called for more investment in tourism and hospitality and for better development and marketing of the region's festivals, crafts, music, cuisine and historic sites. No other report covers the event.
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  Kumasi Mail also reported that the speech urged operators to use technology, tighten safety measures with security and emergency agencies, and make tourism inclusive so that communities share the gains. Darkey, it added, praised the Ghana Tourism Authority for keeping the awards running.
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  The Vaultz News reported that Mr Atanga is heading a trade and investment trip to China under the PEARL Framework, described as a 10-year blueprint for 2026 to 2035 launched by the regional council in July 2026, with a goal of raising roughly GH₵8.6 billion from public and private backers. The Vaultz News said the trip seeks partners for a planned corridor combining farming, irrigation and processing in the north of the country.
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  The Vaultz News said the delegation held talks with Dongfang Electronics on a possible solar facility, with Jinghua Company Limited on water meters, with Ruihe Trade Company Limited on poultry feed and processing, and with Linyi Trade Company Limited on an industrial park and China Mall; it also said Mr Atanga briefed Ghana's ambassador to China, Kojo Bonsu, in Beijing. These accounts have not been confirmed elsewhere.
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  According to The Vaultz News, the minister said gold has been found in commercial quantities in 10 districts, that livestock output rose by 8 per cent over the past year, that cultivated land grew by 5 per cent and staple output by 4 per cent under Feed Ghana, and that farmer registrations climbed from 8,221 to 10,314. These figures come from him and are not independently confirmed.
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  The Vaultz News also reported the minister's statement that he expects several agreements with Chinese partners to be signed ahead of the delegation's 20 September return, and that investors are due to visit Bolgatanga in the final three months of 2026; this is an expectation, not a confirmed outcome.

Why it matters for Ghana

Tourism and agro-processing are both ways of creating work outside mining in the Upper East Region, where flagship irrigation and factory projects named in the PEARL plan would matter to farmers, traders and young job seekers around Bolgatanga. Whether investors commit will decide if the talks in China turn into projects. For tourism operators, the minister's call for better safety and marketing points to what the regional council says it wants from the sector.