The Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) in collaboration with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) has held its annual Engineering Week Celebration.

The week-long Engineering celebration also saw the launch of the SADA Business And Investment Forum (SABIF 2015) slated for March 24 to 28, 2015 at the Tamale Sports Stadium. 

The theme for the engineering conference was: "Engineering, Opportunities and Shared Prosperity in the Savanna Region of Ghana".

Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, was the Special Guest of Honour at the event chaired by the 45th President of GhIE, Ing. Magnus Lincoln Quarshie.

Deputy Chief Executive of ABP Consult Limited, Ing. Kwaku Boampong, was sworn-in as the 46th President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers at a colourful ceremony as part of activities of the Engineering week celebration.

Explaining the collaboration with SADA, Ing. Lincoln Quarshie said, “The Conference was the first collaboration of its kind between GhIE (who were celebrating their Engineering Week Tamale 2015), and SADA (who were using this opportunity to launch the SADA Business and Investment Forum – SABIF 2015).

“The celebration was designed to be transactional in nature, combining exhibitions with technical dialogue session, and was expected to help broker technological knowhow as well as business and investment deals, particularly in the areas of Agriculture, Agro-business and Infrastructure development”, the outgone President of GhIE said.

Some of the activities that took place included Business & Investment Fair & Exhibition, 5th WINE Forum, Youth Forum and Exhibitions and Engineering Students Calabash.

Others were 13th  Induction Ceremony, Plenary and Technical Session, Ministerial Round Table, Development Partners round Table, Private Sector Round Table, Match-Making and Business Deals and Technical Visit and Tours.

Some global high profile speakers including Victor Koh from Singapore, Dr. Ken Kwaku, formally of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group and former senior advisor to President Mkapa of Tanzania as well as Charles Abugre CEO of SADA and Dr. George Donkor, Vice President of ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development made presentations to the admirations of the participants.

The Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ) covers five regions (Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo and Volta) representing the Northern Half of Ghana (40% of Ghana). 

With a population of 11 million people, this enclave is endowed with vast natural resources of flat reach arable lands, water bodies and mineral resources including gold, clinker and iron ore.

The area is blessed with a healthy tropical climate and a highly productive and hardworking labor force.  It is the bridge between the southern half of Ghana and the growing markets of the Sahalian neighbors to the north.