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The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development has inaugurated two modern markets for the people of Techiman, the Bono East Regional capital, and Nkoranza.
They are the Nana Abena Market in Techiman South Metropolis and the Nkoranza New Market and Community Enhancements in the Nkoranza South Municipality, both in the Bono East Region.
The Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Minister, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, inaugurated the projects at two separate ceremonies in Techiman South Metropolis and Nkoranza South Municipality.
The projects are part of the $245 million World Bank-funded Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP) aimed at boosting local economies and providing essential services to market users.
The newly completed Nana Abena Market in Techiman has 122 lockable stores and 68 market stalls designed to serve both vendors and the broader community, accommodating diverse commercial activities.
Aside from that, it has an administration block, a creche, a restaurant, a dedicated meat shop, new fire, police and health posts.
The modern washrooms and an integrated drainage system, comprising 300 metres of 0.9-metre U-drain, 710 metres of 0.6-metre U-drain, and 900 metres of internal drainage, provide the market with enhanced sanitation.
Additional improvements include a 100-metre road junction upgrade, 1,900 square metres of paved walkways, perimeter fencing for security and 28 streetlights to ensure safety and accessibility throughout the market area.
In Nkoranza, the development has a two-storey block with 50 lockable stores and 100 market stalls, designed to expand local commerce, together with a two-unit creche with an office to support families using the market.
It also comes with police and health posts to ensure a safe trading environment as well as a six-seater water closet, along with two mechanised boreholes for regular water supply.
Speaking at the inauguration of the projects, Mr Korsah emphasised the transformative impact of the facilities.
“These projects are a testament to our commitment to creating vibrant, resilient communities. By modernising our markets and improving infrastructure, we are laying the foundation for sustainable growth and support for local livelihoods,” he stated.
Mr Korsah encouraged municipal authorities to maintain the facilities and ensure they continued to meet the needs of the communities they served.
“Having spent huge sums of money to provide these facilities, one important task I want to give to the Municipal Chief Executives is to ensure that this market is put to good use to benefit their people and put adequate measures in place to maintain these facilities to ensure sustainability,” the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Minister said.
He added that the project also underlined the determination of the government to ensure that the citizens carried out their economic activities that fed their families and the nation in an improved environment, healthy and worthy, signifying human dignity as well as services “we promised the people”.
The Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Minister reiterated that Ghana’s urbanisation rate had increased, and that in 2021 the country reached the important threshold where more than 50 per cent of the population now lived in the urban areas.
He said the rapid urbanisation had imposed enormous challenges on existing infrastructure, and the quality of life of the citizens and also hampered the capacity of the urban assemblies to deliver quality service to the urban population.
“It is in the light of the complexity and the seemingly intractable urban challenges that the government of Ghana with support from the World Bank has been implementing the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP) with a credit facility of $245 million for the past five years. The programme which started in 2019 is expected to be completed in 2025,” Mr Korsah stated.
Mr Korsah said the complex programme would also ensure that the right skilled officers were posted to the beneficiary assemblies, ensure effective coordination of the region and the proper use of the land and its related spatial plans as well as the working of other state agencies at the urban and regional levels.
He explained that the Techiman Municipal Assembly joined the GSCSP from its inception in 2019 and had already benefited from Urban Development Grants (UDGs) One and Two 2, and is scheduled to benefit from UDGs 3, 4 and 5 in addition to financial support for capacity building in urban management under the programme.
The Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly was one of the 10 new assemblies that joined the programme in 2022, following its Mid Term Review, and the assembly has since benefitted from both capacity building initiatives and the provision of basic infrastructure such as roads and the market, Mr Korsah said.
He said other phases of the projects were ongoing and at different levels of completion.
