The major occupation of the people is agriculture. It provides employment for about 70% of the working population in the district.The major crops produced in the district are coconut, oil palm, cocoa, rubber and sugarcane.Coconut is grown extensively in the district, especially, in the southern sector.It is processed into coconut oil and exported to Accra, Kumasi, Tarkwa, Obuasi and other urban centres.

In recent years, some of the plantations in the south have been destroyed by the Cape St. Paul’s Wilt disease. Cocoa is the main economic crop grown in the northern parts of the district. In view of the inaccessibility to the south, most of the cocoa is transported to Wasa Amenfi or Wassa West for sale.There are several food crops cultivated in the district, both for subsistence and for cash.

 
These include cassava, maize, rice, cocoyam and plantain.Fishing is the main occupation along the coast. Over 4,000 people engage in fishing with over 450 canoes. The major fishing season occurs between June and September. During the major fishing season, economic activity in the district booms.Many migrant fishermen and their dependants come to the district during that period.

 
The fish is transported mostly to Kumasi and Takoradi. The most prominent livestock kept in the district are sheep, goats and pigs. Cattle are also kept on a small scale in some of the major towns. Livestock farmers depend on traditional methods and are therefore not able to take advantage of the immense opportunities available to them.

 
Investors are therefore invited to introduce modern livestock breeding methods, which will assure them of hefty profits. There are a few manufacturing concerns in the district, which illuminate the strong potentials for industrial sector profitability. Central Carbon, for instance, was established at Esiama and produces industrial charcoal from coconut shells.

 
Feanza Oil Mills, is also well established at Esiama and produces coconut oil and coconut cake. Also, Aiyinase Oil Mills at Aiyinase produces palm oil and palm kernel oil.Extraction of coconut oil is a household industry. Many households, especially the women, establish their own plants for the extraction of the oil. The by-product from the processed pulp is used in feeding pigs.

 
Investors have the opportunity to combine modern industrial strategies with the pool of semi-skilled labour widely available in the district, in the aforementioned areas of activity. Nzema East Municipality is endowed with a variety of mineral deposits. Most of these are untapped, providing ample opportunities for investors.

 
Gold is found in the Nkroful-Gwira-Anhunyame and Anagye areas while silica deposits exist in the Eikwe-Atuabo area. Also, kaolin is found in the Salma area while manganese is in the Salma-Akango area. Granites occur in large quantities in the Bamiankor area and exploitation of such granite deposits for industrial use has actually started.

Non-Governmental Organizations

CARE INTERNATIONAL and its local partnered FRIENDS OF THE NATION

  Finance

Assembly Finance  

This section analyzes revenue and expenditure of the Assembly from 2000 to 2001.  An examination of the sources of revenue indicates two main sources : 

• Internal Sources (own source)
• External Source

Internal revenues are those collected by the Assembly using its own Revenue Collectors and existing collection machinery.  External sources on the other hand are mostly grants from Central Governments, Royalties, and other External Agencies like NGO’s and Donor Agencies like the World Bank, USAID, JICA, EU, DFID, etc.  Table (24) below show the major sources of revenue for 2004 and 2005. 

Own Source Revenue 

The Internal Revenue Sources consists of rate, lands, fees and fines, licenses, results of Investments and Miscellaneous.  Out of the total Internal Revenue of ¢578,320,027.41 in 2004 fees and fines contributed ¢266,362,880.00 representing 46.1% while the same item contributed ¢270,976,210.00 out of a total of ¢503,764,108.89 (53.8%) in 2005.  The least contribution of ¢2,624,270.48 in 2004 representing 0.5% came from miscellaneous.  A further examination of the composition of fees and fines (Table 25) indicates that the major contributors were market tolls and fees from coconut oil and Lorry Parks. These contributed a total of approximately 81.6% and 78.4% in 2004 and 2005 respectively.  Dependence on fees from coconut oil extraction is unpredictable due to the incidence of the St. Paul’s Wilt Disease, which continue to devastate the coconut farms within the district.  

The implications is that this sub-item will continue to fall as the source of raw material diminishes. The main contributor therefore is market tolls and Lorry Parks which contribute about 68% and 65.4% in 2004 and 2005 respectively.   

Additional analysis of the relative contribution of the rent sub-item indicates that market store/stalls and sheds contributed 59.9% and 54% in 2004 and 2005 respectively.  The build of the internally generated revenue is derived from agriculture, which is to a large extent dependant on natural climatic conditions.  Thus any adverse weather conditions may have serious repercussions on expected revenue.  

Additionally, it is quite evident that markets play a very important role in the generation of internal revenue.  Facilities at most markets are very important role in the generation of internal revenue.  Facilities at most markets are however, very poor, efforts would be made to provide market structures and other facilities at marketing centres.  Existing markets will also be improved.  The contribution of 0.47 from investment in 2001 is quite unsatisfactory and the Assembly needs to further explore innovative strategies for the promotion of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in increase its investment portfolio in order to generate more revenue from this source.  

External Sources 

The main external sources of revenue are the DACF, stool lands revenue, specific grant from Central Government, grants from NGO’S and other donors out of the total of 8,602,702,813  received in 2004, the DACF accounted for 61.5% while that for stool lands accounted for 2.3%.  In 2005, out of a total of 6,269,857,840.32 received, the DACF accounted for 78.1% while that of stool ands accounted for 1.7.  The trend, typical of most Assemblies in the country, depicts the over reliance of the Nzema East Municipal  Assembly on the DACF as the main source of revenue and funding of development projects and other programmes.  Evidence on the ground also indicates, that revenue from external sources, particularly grants from NGO’s and other donor agencies, are either grossly underestimated or not captured at all.  This underscores the lack of co-ordination or collaboration between the Assembly and its development partners.  This trend needs to be reversed to attract more exogenous resources especially grants from NGOs to complement the district’s development efforts.
 
Revenue Mobilization

Collection of Internal Revenue for the Assembly is the responsibility of the District Finance Officer.  Methods of collection include deployment of Revenue Collectors through the area councils in the District.  Of the 36 revenue collectors, 10 are permanent salaried staff  

Problems of Revenue Collection  
 
The major problems confronting revenue collections in the district include:  

• Inadequate skills personnel
• Lack of logistics especially transportation to revenue collection centres 
• Poor supervision and monitoring of revenue collectors
• Inefficient revenue collection systems  Inadequate motivation for revenue staff.

The current dismal revenue performance of the Assembly calls for some stringent measures to help salvage the situation.  Considering the fact that only about 45% of the projected revenue was realized in 2004, it is obvious that the situation might worsen if steps are not taken to address the issue.  This is very important considering the erratic flow of the DACF and its associated guidelines, which does not allow for certain usage.  In order therefore, for the Assembly to meet its recurrent budget to support its development programmes, internal revenue mobilization must be improved.  Advantage must also be taken of the public private partnership policy to explore the possibility of private participation in revenue collection, like property rate and the operation and management of facilities like public toilets, markets, guest’s houses, water systems etc.  

Expenditure Pattern  

The expenditure of the district budget has been divided into recurrent and capital expenditures to conform to the conventional budget structure of the local government of Ghana.  The recurrent expenditure consists of personal emoluments, travel and transport expenditures, general expenditure, maintenance, repairs and renewals as well as miscellaneous.  The capital expenditure consists of all expenditures made on development projects and programmes.

However, it is important to note that this is reduced to 9.2% in 2001.  This was a result of prudent fiscal measures and the elimination of ghost names from the payroll of the Assembly, among others.  However, a further analysis of the details of the various sub-items in 2005 indicated the following: 

Running cost and maintenance of official vehicles constituted 85% of the traveling and transport expenditure (4.5%).  The plausible explanation may be that most of the vehicles are over aged resulting in high maintenance and running cost.  New vehicles should replace the overage ones.  This expenditure should be closely monitored and a more efficient transport management system should be put in place.  

Considering the importance of sports as a tool for development and the youthful structure of the district population, sports should be regarded as a development programme and promoted accordingly.  The capital expenditure decreased from 83.5% in 2004 to 80.5% in 2005 showing a decrease of 3%.  This situation must be checked and reversed by adopting adequate Internal Revenue to support the anticipated increase in the district development expenditure and also to be able to apply part of the Internally Generated funds to development projects. 

Financial institutions

The existing financial institutions in the district, the Ghana Commercial Bank and Ahantaman Rural Bank are located in the district capital.  The Nzema Manle Rural Bank with its headquarters at Awiebo, also have branches at Axim, Asasetre, and Aiyinase.  
The Lower Ankobra Rural Bank is also located in Esiama.  Small-scale agro-processors, small-scale businesses, and farmers have limited access to credit facilities from these institutions.  The District Assembly through its Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) also gives credit to farmers and small business.  However, this is limited and unreliable due to repayment problems.