Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has unveiled a ten-year plan to transform the city of Kumasi.

The plan also includes an initiative to industrialise the local economy to scale up employment and create wealth in the city.

The projects lined up under the plan are estimated to cost about $400 million to be sourced mainly from the private sector. 

Chief of Amoaman, Nana Agyenim Boateng, disclosed that the Asanteman Traditional Council will use some stool lands as leverage for the realisation of the projects.

He made this know when he spoke to Luv News on the sidelines of a meeting with businesses executives in Kumasi.  

About five of such projects have been earmarked as key components of the development agenda.

They include rejuvenation of the Kumasi Jute Factory and establishment of a mango processing factory to be sited at Sabin Akrofuom on the Kumasi-Obuasi main road. 

Already, farmers in Offinso are being encouraged to take up kenaf cultivation as raw material base for the jute factory.

Mango farms owned by the Asantehene will initially feed the proposed processing plant. 

Other potential areas to explore include a Kente Development Project at Bonwire, Metal Fabrication Support at Suame Magazine, and waste recycling into energy.

Nana Agyenim Boateng said the Ghana Exim Bank is a key partner in the proposed projects.

In a bid to reduce challenges with accommodation, especially, for students, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also wants private investors to help explore hostel services at the campuses of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

A children’s park, modern storey-structure car park and a terminal are also being considered as part of efforts to decongest the central business district of Kumasi.

Nana Agyenim Boateng is optimistic the program, after implementation, will help improve the region.