The Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A-Plus, has outlined an ambitious vision to transform his constituency into the commercial nerve centre of West Africa within the next decade.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the independent lawmaker said that land had already been acquired and feasibility studies completed for a major industrial development.

He argued that government support alone was not enough and called for more direct funding to help his communities break the cycle of poverty.

“This whole MP thing was to find ways to help my people. Before we used to go round looking for money, but today I get the MP's share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), you give me direct funds,” he said.

He said, although the allocation from the DACF was a good step towards his mobilisation for resources to develop his area, “if you ask me, I think that is not enough. I want more because the financial system must help my communities and many in need”. 

“This is basically just the opportunity to serve, to leverage for a lot of people who need this,” he added.

Trade with the world

A-Plus, who has previously stated that he viewed himself as an industrialist rather than a traditional politician, said the Central Region was strategically positioned for take-off.

“If you look at people who had this idea of industrialising places, we find ourselves on the second busiest corridor on the continent – the Central Region, which is on the main Lagos- Abidjan highway.

We believe that we can use our location to trade with the world.

I don’t know why we cannot develop this area. I see the potential,” he said.

He disclosed that within the next 10 years, his goal was to build a beautiful city and one of the biggest man-made waterfalls in the constituency.

“We don’t want to have slums next to our industries.

That is why we are keeping industry away from residential areas,” he explained.

 “We have the raw materials in our area.

We have the ocean, we have everything that we need.

That is why we think that in 10 years, the Central Region must become the centre of West Africa,” he added. 

‘Gomoa Festival’ to drive tourism, investment

The MP also revealed plans for a major annual event to showcase the area’s potential, riding on the back of the Gomoa Easter Festival that drew hundreds of people to his constituency.

“That was something supposed to attract attention to the area – which we now call the Gomoa Festival,” he said.

He added that,  “It is exactly what Las Vegas did for the United States — entertainment that draws a lot of people, makes them want to build houses, invest in hospitality, and bring their businesses.”

He recalled that during the last event, “the first night, almost all hotels were full,” and said the aim was to attract businesses to build hotels and other facilities.

Asked how the project would address the need for skilled labour, A-Plus said investment in education and training was non-negotiable.

“We will need skilled people to drive all these industries we are bringing.

The plan is to invest in education.

We have technical and vocational institutions, and we are working closely with them to ensure that the people coming out of these institutions get jobs immediately,” he said.

“We are also bringing in businesses.

If we don’t have skilled workers, we are just wasting our time.

That is part of our proposal — we will have workers ready in that regard, so that by the time businesses come, they will not have to go elsewhere,” he added.

He concluded on a confident note: “The reason we have been given this land is for us to take control.

We have what others don’t have.

This is how we are going to start.”