Chairman of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Mr. Alahasan Andani says the board will be meeting on Wednesday to operationalize the strategic documents of SADA. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr. Alahasan Andani explained that the SADA was formed against the background that the three northern regions were underdeveloped compared to other regions in Ghana and that there was the need to initiate a policy intervention which will ensure a more focused mobilization of resources within the Northern sector for developments to bridge the gap. He said after the establishment of the SADA and the preparation of strategic papers, a board was put in place to examine all the technical work that had been done and operationalize the SADA initiative, adding that the board will be having an off-site meeting this Wednesday to begin work. On the scope of SADA activities, Mr. Andani said it was to mobilize the human potential, natural resources and leveraging the Sahelian dependence on Ghana and our coastline to ensure that the development indices in the Savannah Ecological area is up to scratch with the rest of the country. He said the SADA plan will have a multi-sectorial approach, coordinated to ensure that there will be an end game to determine what the development indices of the savannah ecological area will be in the next ten or fifteen years through several projects and programmes by SADA. According to Mr. Alahasan Andani the traditional development authorities will still perform their core mandates in the areas of interest, whiles SADA mobilizes additional resources to accelerate their performance. The success of SADA, according to him, will rest with private sector people taking the initiative to invest in the area and take full advantage of the opportunities it will present. He added that SADA will be looking at the plethora of investment initiatives that will be required to attract the right kind of investors into the area. Reacting to suggestions that the Ghc25 million committed to the project as seed money was woefully inadequate for an entire development plan of an area which covers about 40% of Ghana’s landmass, Mr. Andani explained that if one looks at SADA’s implementation plan the seed money will be enough. He said because the projects will be private sector driven, they will generate their own resources to support the plan. He said although SADA has only recently set up its board, he has in the past been part of meetings with a number of potential investors. Among them are the UN, through its Millennium Village Project, headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs and UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa, who are exploring substantial support for the start-up of the SADA initiative, and a large farmers' group from South Africa who have expressed interest in doing some work in the areas ear-marked as flood-prone. Story by Sedem Ofori/Joy SMS