By Tilda Acorlor
A sports marketing and management consultant, Mr. Neil Armstrong Mortagbe, says the Volta Region must pay critical attention and take advantage of the resources surrounding them to excel in different sporting disciplines.
He said the region has products, resources, and talents that must be refined to produce quality sportsmen for the nation.
The sponsorship sourcing expert said this when he was speaking during the panel discussion session of the maiden Sports Investment Summit and Awards organised by Volta Trade and Investment Fair.
In his presentation, Mr. Mortagbe disclosed that many water bodies and high mountains, like the Amedzofe Mountain, which is the highest habitat of human settlement in Ghana, and the Volta Lakes, are in the region, but the region has not produced hikers and swimmers for Ghana.
“The Volta region has a lot of water bodies and lakes but has not produced the best swimmers for Ghana yet. How are we using our water bodies?”
“I come from Amedzofe; we have the highest mountain in Ghana, yet the region does not have the best hikers.”
“We must redefine and position the product for a good plan and use what we have to get what we want,” he said.
The Sports Summit was on the theme “Sports as an Economic Driver: Nurturing Talents and Investments for a Thriving AfCFTA Era.”
The Summit, which is one of the activities of the ongoing sixth Volta Trade and Investment Fair, is the first of its kind since the inception of the fair.
The panel sessions were aimed at exposing the untapped areas of sports in the Volta Region to marketers and potential investors interested in a thriving sports industry.
Mr. Mortagbe was on the panel together with Edem Ansah, the founder of Soccertime Africa and CEO of Hohoe United FC, and Frank Appiah Kusi, a lecturer at the University of Health and Allied Science (UHAS), School of Medical Sciences.
The trio engaged participants in an insightful and educative conversation on how the Volta Region can tap and attract sports investors through product identification, a well-spelled-out strategic plan, and positioning the region’s strong areas of sporting disciplines for a thriving economy.
About 120 participants were at the summit, including sportsmen, veteran sportsmen, sports administrators and managers, technical brains in sports, journalists, financial institutions, and students, among others.
Seventeen veteran sportsmen and women from various sporting disciplines were awarded for their immense contribution towards the development of sports in the region.
