President John Dramani Mahama has announced the Volta Economic Corridor as the flagship intervention under his government’s ambitious 24-Hour Economy policy, promising a transformative effort to unlock the vast agricultural, industrial, and environmental potential of the Volta Lake and its surrounding regions.

Speaking at the official launch of the 24-Hour Economy programme in Accra on July 2, President Mahama said the corridor would reignite the original vision of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, who saw the Volta project not just as a source of hydroelectric power, but as the foundation for a broader agro-industrial revolution.

President John Mahama

“Our flagship intervention is the Volta Economic Corridor. A transformation effort that will unlock the economic and environmental potential of the Volta Lake and its surrounding lands,” President Mahama said.

He lamented that the agricultural and agribusiness components of Nkrumah’s original Akosombo vision were abandoned over the years, but stressed that his government is now determined to bring that dream back to life.

“Today, we will recreate Kwame Nkrumah’s dream. Today, his dream comes alive again,” he declared.

As part of the corridor initiative, Mahama outlined several major projects under key sub-programmes of the 24-Hour Economy agenda:

• Under Grow 24, over 2 million hectares of land will be irrigated for intensive agriculture.
• Under Make 24, the government will establish agro-industrial parks focusing on textiles, pharmaceuticals, and food processing.
• Under Show 24, tourism clusters will be developed along the Volta Lake to boost hospitality and heritage-based economic activity.
• Under Connect 24, the lake will be transformed into a central transport corridor, linking the North to the South and East to the West.Source:William Narh