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In the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, only a fraction of the potential of what exists has been developed. Prospective investors can therefore help to develop the beaches and water bodies, nature reserves and habitats, museums and in-house tourism areas, handicrafts and services promotions. Whin River Estuary is an island feature which could be developed with construction of chalets, and with canoe crossover. Ferry trips and speed-boating from this sanctuary to other coastal areas of the Metropolis could also be a feature. There can also be water sports and yachting on the Sekondi Essei Lagoon. Its location in the heart of Sekondi makes it strategic and accessible and could be a major tourist attraction and a holiday centre. The Lagoon makes it attractive and could be complemented and with canoeing. So is the case with the Pra River. The coastal ferry trips presently negligible in activity could be developed as that of Dodi princess at Akosombo, a major tourist destination where people go for a cruise from one island to another. Ferry trips / cruise along the coast to cape Coast, Busua or Discove would be and interesting attraction to tourists and school children. Conferences and other ceremonies could also be hosted on the coast.
Monkey Hill Grove
The Monkey Hill Grove in the Metropolis is also ideal for bird viewing and monkey watching. It can also be developed with guest houses and chalets. There is no zoo in the Metropolis and the entire region and part of the mature reserve and monkey sanctuary could be developed into a zoo for booth domestic and international tourism. Attached to the Monkey Hill Grove could be the establishment of a Botanical Garden. The serene atmosphere and the virgin forest would make establishment of the Garden possible.
Museums
Sekondi-Takoradi has neither museums nor art galleries. Edifices such as the old Sekondi High Court and Fort Orange could effective be transformed into a museum. A railway museum could also be developed at Ketan to drum home the fact that the Metropolis is the heart of railway in the country. An art gallery can help harness the talents that exist in artworks.
Handicrafts
Handicrafts production is one area which is yet to be fully developed. The production of leather bags, kente sash, tie-and-dye fabrics, basketry and sculptural pieces is an area which most local investors could also lead to the establishment of a Crafts-village where tourists could witness the activities of production of handicrafts from raw materials to the finished stage.
An emporium could also be set up to sell the finished products and also act as exhibits of some of the rich culture in the area. At the moment, there are only six travel agencies operating in the Metropolis and therefore the establishment of other could help the tourism industry. These agencies could run tourism coaches and car rental services which are lacking in the metropolis. The Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEME) is one of the hubs of industrial activities in Ghana. To be précis, the Metropolis is the third most industrialize city in the country.
It is one city the Government is counting on because of its seaport, to lead the industrial revolution in the country. The city is expected to carry on its broad shoulders many of the policies in the manufacturing sector to achieve envisaged goals.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector is therefore expected to lead the way to accelerated growth in Ghana. Some of the p0licy guidelines formulated to ensure that the range of manufactured goods will be expanded to meet domestic demand and to diversify exports, maximize the contribution of small and medium-scale enterprises towards social and economic development of the economy in respect of production, income distribution and employment generation. The private sector is to be engine of growth and industries are to be largely based on local resources.
In the Metropolis, the manufacturing sector is rated as the major moving factor in its growth and development of wood items.
Food Processing
This embraces the processing of palm fruit and copra for edible oil for both domestic consumption and export; and this largely done by small scale operators.
Distillery
Distillery activities are yet to be fully active in production. Industries engaged in this sector include Animes Limited and Rush Distilleries that produce lemon and other fruit juices.
Textiles
Textiles, garment, and leather works enterprises operate in the informal sector. In the entries Western Region, the textile sub-sector accounts for 18.2 percent of the total labour force.
Metal Fabrication
However, the metal fabrication and capital goods industry is relatively more developed. The Western Castings Limited at Takoradi is the single largest iron and steel foundry in the country engaged in the fabrication of machine parts and metal slabs for mining, timber, and heavy, as well as light, industries. Raw materials for these firms are iron and steel scraps obtained locally, and imported steel and chemicals.
Small scale operators
About 300 small-scale operator is the informal sector are engaged in vehicle body building and the manufacturing of farm implements like hoes, cutlases, and axes, as well as buckets, water tanks and metal gates.
Clay
Clay deposits exist in large quantities at Inchaban, Shama, Ohiamadwen, Beposo-Dunkwa, Diebenekrom and Daboasi Junction. The deposits are largely untapped and in commercial quantities for sustainable production of brick and tiles, insulators, clay pots (cooler) and flower pots.
Forest Resources
The western region is the richest in forest resources and therefore timber logging and processing and wood related products constitute an important economic activity. Primewood, Stanwood, and Pas Timbers are the timber processing companies in the Metropolis, producing lumber, veneer, plywood and knockdown furniture mainly for the export market.
Currently, only 5 percent of the wood waste generated annually is used for firing boilers. Of sawdust and off-cuts to be re-cycled for further use. The new timber species Offram, Avodari, Ohaa, Esia, Effia, Wawa Bima and Potrodum can all be used to produce furniture and for the construction industry.
Industrial Estate
There exists a large number of small-scale business operators in the manufacturing of garments and leather products, among others, scattered over the Metropolis which are largely corridors and open spaces of residential sites, and are therefore not suitable for such light industrial activities.
These small-scale business operators possess a stock of business ideas, technical skills and entrepreneurial qualities which could be properly organized and harnessed to enable the m to increase production and make substantial contribution to the economy. Unfortunately, their unorganized character makes it difficult to provide them with both financial and technical assistance to improve on their operations and performance.
Although, there are other entrepreneurs who are eager to implement their project ideas, inaccessibility to finance and factory space have not enabled them to get established. If this group of entrepreneurs and the already existing small-scale operators are to be organized under the umbrella of an industrial estate so that they can be easily identified and provided with the necessary support.
Hence, the establishment of an industrial estate will facilitate the resettlement of the existing small-scale and micro enterprises and allow urban renewal programmes to be carried out to improve the urban centres and afford new entrepreneurs the opportunity to implement the industrial estate project.
The industrial estate seeks to promote industrialization through the agglomeration economies, reduction of production cost, housing and modernization of existing units which settle in the estate and also cut down on infrastructural cost to the entrepreneurs. It also seeks to promote industries by extending financial, management and technical support and improvement in quality and productivity by providing common facilities, demonstrating and introducing modern production technique and disseminating technical know-how.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Ghana is shifting from the reliance on its traditional exports of gold, cocoa and timber to place emphasis on fishery, crops and other for the development of agro-industries and for export.
Thus, to meet the target laid our in the Vision 2020 programme of the Government, agricultural policy is committed to shifting from peasant farming to the application of improved technology. The Vision 2020 programme is also aimed at providing food security for the growing population and supply of raw materials as industrial inputs. It is also to promote diversification in agricultural production, including non-traditional export crops. The programme hopes to promote sustained increase in agricultural production while conserving the natural resources.
In the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, food security for the population is the concern of the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA). As much as 17,000 hectares of the metropolitan land-surface which represents 60 percent of the hinterland has been designated for agricultural activities. The climatic for condition and the soil composition of the coastal savanna ochrosols and alluvium make the SAEMA area conducive to commercial farming. So far, only 34 percent of the cultivable land areas has been cropped. The land tenure system is mainly the family or clan leasehold type, shareholding or cropping, the communal, and outright purchase.
The metropolis has a farming population of 13,320 with male farmers composing 69.1 percent and females, 30.9 percent. There are a total of 54 farming communities, each with an average farm size of 4 - 5 hectares. Agricultural production in the Metropolis is rain-fed and of the small-holder form. Fish production, crop production, animal production and forest resources development are the main agricultural activities.
Fish
Fishing activities in the Metropolis cover fish catch from the sea, rivers, lakes and ponds. The sea is however the major source of fish which accounts for about 85 percent of the total catch. Fish production level is estimated at 16,692 metric tons and constitutes 36 percent of the catch is by small canoe fishermen operating between Shama, Essipon, Sekondi and New Takoradi. The production level of canoes fishermen is very low and meets only half the desire of the ministry of Agriculture.
Government is constructing a fishing harbour in the area and therefore private capital will welcome to expand the fishing industry. When completed the fishing harbour will ensure proper fish landing, facilitate the operation of large fishing vessels and enhance increased fish production. Investors will also be needed to go into the establishment of cold storage facilities the lack of which currently impinges on the performance of the fishing industry in the Metropolis. Such investors can also consider setting up fish processing industries, boat construction, development of aqua culture, and the development of stocking ponds for fingerlings.
Poultry and Livestock
The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis’ requirement for meat is provided by local production and imports. It however ranks fourth in livestock production in the region. Cattle production is only 457. Sheep production is 15,800; goats - 16,500 Sheep and goat rearing, like that of the entire country, is done mostly by families. The Takoradi Flour Mills has helped to boost poultry production in the Metropolis because many poultry operators find it very easy to get the supply of wheat bran from the mills.
Access to day-old chicks and the services of the veterinary staff have helped the industry. The poultry operators are small-scale farmers who produce less than 1,000 birds. Only 5 percent of them have over 2,000 birds while 10 percent have between 1,000 and 2,000 birds. Piggery is not popular with the people due largely to poor marketing of pork. This has made the importation of pig feet very expensive. And here, investors who go into large scale piggery, cattle ranching and poultry will not be disappointed.
Crops
Crops production in the Metropolis is low. The SAEME ranks ninth out of eleven districts in the region. Vegetables such as pepper, tomatoes, and garden egg are all planted under rain-fed conditions. Oil palm cocoyam, plantain, cassava, and rice are also cultivated on a small-scale. Mixed cropping and land preparation by hand are the traditional forms of food production. Agricultural mechanization is not in use due to the woodland type of vegetation.
To boost food-crop production and facilitate investment, the Assembly will develop roads to crop production centres like Mampong, Anto and Obinyinkyena. The farmers are also being organized into groups or associations to facilitate access to credit facilities and technology transfer, and to enable them market their produce. So far, only a few active groups have been identified. These include, Bowohomoden Farmers Association, Naval Base Vegetable Growers Baidukrom Farmers Group. To help these groups stand on their feet, agriculture extension services and education on pest control measures have been intensified, just as well as issues on post-harvest losses are being addressed.
A portion of the District Assembly Common Fund is being used to finance the small land-holder farmers while research is being undertaken on the application of irrigation methods as well as mechanization, particularly in the flat and low-lying areas.
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