Financial Institutions

The district is served by Bessfa Rural Bank in Nakpanduri. The East Mamprusi Community Bank also render mobile banking services in the area. The only products of banks are savings and limit credit to customers. The nearest commercial banking facilities are in Tamale.

Agriculture is the Districts main economic activity and it provides employment for about 80% of the working force. Most of the farmers are peasant whose farm holdings vary from one acre to five acres. Some of the crops cultivated are maize, millet, sorghum, beans and groundnut. In almost every house, goats, sheep, and chicken are reared for domestic use and as a source of security. There is also a high potential in agro- business and processing such as pito brewing, processing of groundnuts, sheabutter and tobacco.

Crop farming is perceived as the highest source of income for both males (78%) and female (77%) in all the communities. Trade in non-agricultural produce is perceived as the second most important income earning activity of men while women perceive livestock-rearing as the next major income earning activity.

Other economic activities include woodlot enterprise, cooked food processing, groundnut processing, Soya beans process, portage, tailoring, masonry, carpentry, basket weaving, mat weaving, blacksmithing, roofing material production, bicycle repairing, and watch repairing and auto-mechanic operations. Only few men and no women perceive trade in agricultural produce as an important income earning activity.

Revenue Mobilization

There are two sources of revenue to every District Assembly namely: Internal and external sources. The internal sources are treated as all internally generated funds accruing to the assembly in every financial year. The external sources includes statutory disbursements made to district assemblies on yearly or quarterly basis by central government and funds generated as a result of donor support and Aids to the district assemblies. Some of these statutory funds are the DACF and the HIPC fund.

It can be seen that the district assembly financial position for the year 2004 was Six billion, sixty eight million cedis (¢6,068,000,000) and the 2005 figure increased to Eight Billion, Fifty Million Four Hundred and Forty Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Ninety Three Cedis (¢8,050,447,293) and for the two years all the funds received was spent.

For the Year 2004 and 2005, the Internal Generated Fund realized were 50.68% and 60% of targeted figure respectively, hence, an improvement over the two years. The IGF however is just enough for only administrative expenses. The factors that account for the low revenue mobilization among others are the inadequate sensitization and education on tax payment and collection, lack of up- to- date data on ratable property in the District, inadequate involvement of other stakeholders such as chiefs, unit committees and Area council members and cooperate organizations in tax collection, lack of District Assembly investment plan, lack of accountability, corrupt officials and inadequate logistic (Baseline Survey, 2005).

The District Assembly is therefore lying solely on the District’s share of the Common Fund and donor inflows for her development. The release of the DACF and donor fund has not been timely and this affects the implementation of development projects and programmes. The total receipt from development partners in 2005 was……. And 85% of this was received in 2006.

Revenue and Expenditure