The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is set to exhibit Accra as an investment destination at a New York Forum to be held in October this year. This forms part of efforts by the Metropolitan authorities to give the city a facelift after its Chief Executive declared Accra as a Millennium city last year. As a prelude to the October forum however, the Assembly says it will host a local version of the New York forum in September where specific projects earmarked for the October forum will be showcased. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly since 2009 has been working towards building a beautiful Accra devoid of congestion, street hawking, and particularly filth. The AMA since declaring Accra a Millennium city in 2010, has so far abolished the shift system in almost all basic schools within the metropolis, commenced the construction of an 18 unit classroom block with libraries, computers and science laboratories and introduced sanitation and motor courts. The Assembly has also introduced a polluter pay principle for solid waste collection, automation of revenue collection, construction of modern toilets and storm drains to reduce perennial flooding as well as decongestion of the city. But in spite of these initiatives, the gross indiscipline in Accra continues unabated. It is in recognition of the potential of Accra to become a modern city that the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, convened a meeting with investors, both local and foreign to market Accra. The AMA will use this partnership with local and foreign businesses to promote a wide range of services, create employment opportunities, and in the long term reduce poverty by showcasing Accra as the most dynamic investment city. “At the forum, we would present to the investor community of North America and the world, the various investment opportunities in the Millennium City. We shall assure the investor community that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly is prepared to create the enabling environment and facilities to bring together local and foreign investors to invest in those growth areas of our economy” the AMA boss said at the launch of the investment forum in Accra on Monday. The Assembly will thus solicit for investments in areas such as solid and liquid waste management, financial services, real estate development, health and medical infrastructure market development opportunities, lorry park development, house numbering and street naming and the construction of fishing harbours, landing beaches and storage facilities. The AMA Boss said he hopes to see the day when the shift system will not only be a thing of the past but that Ghanaians can also boast of millennium city schools, vocational and training schools where the youth were equipped with skills and opportunities to contribute to development. “I also dream of the day when in the implementation of the BRT, our buses will arrive at their destinations on time, providing comfortable rides for our citizens and therefore more of our private car owners will park their vehicles and join the BRT operations. By so doing, we will certainly decrease the Co2 emissions that affect our climate and reduce traffic congestion within the city” Mr. Vanderpuije noted. Chairman of the Council of State, Professor Kofi Awonoor, was incensed at the gross indiscipline that has bedeviled Accra for years and attributed it to the fact that people do not identify with Accra because they believe it is not their hometown though they were born and bred there. “No one will invest in a filthy city” thus tasking the populace to observe cleanliness. Japhet Aryiku, Special Advisor to Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University explained that there are two phases of the Millennium cities project. These phases he identified as taking care of social intervention and economic development. The social intervention phase which will focus on improving healthcare, education, nutrition, infrastructure and service delivery. The economic development phase on the other hand which is in partnership with the Earth Institute will work to attract investment for the city to create jobs, improve the standard of living and gradually eliminate poverty. “Accra is different, Accra is unique, Accra is special and even Jeffrey Sachs acknowledged that. In our meeting with Professor Sachs in 2009, he indicated that in his opinion there are three triangular cities that are most critical to the economic development of the African continent; Accra in the West, Cairo in the North and Johannesburg in the South! He felt that development in these cities can merge into the central parts of the African continent,” Mr. Aryiku reiterated. He told potential investors present at the launch that the New York event will afford them a unique opportunity to present their ideas and specific projects to a room full of some of the world’s largest and most powerful investment houses as well as private investors who have a great deal of interest in Africa and in Ghana in particular. “The Financial sector will get the chance to seek infusion of new capital to increase your lending capacity and other investment activities; the Real Estate sector can find investors and partners who are interested in variety of real estate projects (low, mixed used and luxury properties, etc); the Health sector can find investors and partners interested in financing and building first class regional medical facilities in Accra to cater to the middle and upper income groups from all over Africa and to compete with the likes of South Africa in Communication, Transportation and Energy, we believe there will be investors there at the forum who will be interested in the opportunities in Accra”, he added.