The Ahafo Region is a newly created

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in Ghana with

Goaso Goaso is a city and the capital of the Asunafo North Municipal and the Ahafo Region of Ghana. It has population of 21,146 according to the 2010 census. The town is run by a traditional council, with Nana Akwasi Bosompra I having the title of ...

as its capital. The region has administrative and governmental legislature like all the ten already existing regions in Ghana. The region was carved out of the south-eastern part of the Brong Ahafo Region and was in fulfillment of a campaign promise made by New Patriotic Party. Prior to the 2016 Ghanaian general election, the then candidate

Nana Akufo-Addo William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the 13th president of Ghana from January 2017 to January 2025. He previously served as Attorney General of Ghana, Attorney General from 2001 to 20 ...

declared that when elected, he would explore the possibility of creating new regions out of some of the existing regions in Ghana in order to bring government closer to citizens. The execution of plans for the creation of the regions was assigned to the newly created Ministry of Regional Reorganization and Development which is under the leadership of Hon. Dan Botwe.

Government of Ghana The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary elect ...

ministry charged with the responsibility of supervising the creation of new regions in Ghana. In March 2017, the ministry sent the blue print for the creation of the region along with others to the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. The council met over 36 times from the time of submission to August 2017. The final stage for the creation of the region was decided through a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

by the people within the catchment of the new region on 27 December 2018.

Major Towns

Administrative divisions

The political administration of the region is through the local government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into six MMDA's (made up of 0 Metropolitan, 3 Municipal and 3 Ordinary Assemblies). Each District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly, is administered by a Chief Executive, representing the central government but deriving authority from an Assembly headed by a presiding member elected from among the members themselves. The current list is as follows:

History

on 27 December 2018 approved the creation of Ahafo Region. Out of a total of 307,108 registered votes, 277.663 took part in the referendum with 276,763 (99.68 per cent) voting in favour of the creation of the new region. 675 (0.24 per cent) rejected the motion and 225 rejected ballots representing 0.08% of total votes cast. The region was created on 13 February 2019 by Constitutional Instrument 114. Goaso was announced as the capital of the new region.

Economy

Residents of Ahafo Region are predominantly Agriculture farmers who produce both

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

and food crops. The predominant cash crop grown in the region is cocoa. Plantain and

Cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

are the major food crops produced in the region and these farm produce are mainly from Sankore, Kwadwo Addaikrom, and Asumura localities. The Region is endowed with rich natural resources such as

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. Gold deposit abounds in large quantities in Mim, Kenyasi and Yamfo zones. Newmont Gold Ghana Limited which is one of the biggest mining companies in the world, currently have their mining operations in Kenyasi and Yamfo zones. Ahafo Region which is one of the forest belts in Ghana has a lot of forest reserves. Timber industry is the second highest employer in the Region. There are large and medium timber companies scattered across the Region. Notable among the timber companies in the region are Ayum Forest Products Co. Ltd, Exbo wood Co. Ltd, Ocean-wood Co. Ltd, Supremo-wood processing Co LTD, all in Mim, Ahafo. Ahafo Region is known to be the bread basket of Ghana. The soil type in the region supports the production of both food and cash crops. The region is known for its large cocoa and

cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...

productions. The major agro-processing company in the region is the Mim Cashew & Agric Products company LTD located at Mim, Ahafo.

Tourism

Tourist Attractions in the Ahafo Region are: * Mim Bour (Mim rock) at Mim, Ahafo * Mim Lake also in Mim, Ahafo * The White-necked Rockfowl conservation at Asumura * Okomfo Anokye tree at Sankore

Geography and climate

Location and size

The Ahafo Region is

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

ed on the north by the

Bono region The Bono region is one of the 16 administrative regions of Ghana. It is as a result of the remainder of Brong-Ahafo region when Bono East region and Ahafo Region, Ahafo region were created. Sunyani, also known as the green city of Ghana, is the r ...

, the east by

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

, the west by the

, the south by the

Western North Region The Western North region is one of the six new regions of Ghana created in 2019. The region is bounded by the Ivory Coast ( Comoé District) on the west, the Central region in the southeast, and the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East and Bono regions ...

and is made up of 6 districts.

Climate and vegetation

The Ahafo Region is part of the forest belt of Ghana and has a vegetation consists predominantly of fertile soil, grassland, especially

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

s. Between December and April is the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

. The

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

is between about July and November with an average annual rainfall of 750 to 1050 mm (30 to 40 inches). The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season, the lowest in December and January. However, the hot

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into th ...

wind from the Sahara blows frequently between December and the beginning of February. The temperatures can vary between 14 °C (59 °F) at night and 40 °C (104 °F) during the day.

References

{{Authority control Regions of Ghana 2019 in Ghana States and territories established in 2019