District economy

The Nkwanta North District is agrarian with minimal activities of secondary and tertiary sectors. Agriculture is rain fed in the district and characterised by the use of outmoded farm implements and cultural practices.

However, the district has high potential for agro-processing, which is yet to be tapped. The district economy is discussed in terms of Structure, Major Economic Activities, Services, Revenue-Expenditure Status and Trade.

Structure of Local Economy

As stated earlier, the structure of the local economy is skewed towards agriculture, which employs about 70% of the district’s working population. Next to agriculture is the service sector that accounts for almost 26% of the working population.

The industrial sector, which is dominated by small-scale industries, forms approximately 4% of the working class. Although the district has great potential in agro-processing, the weak nature of its industrial sector remains a constraint to the balanced development of the district.

Revenue and Expenditure Status

The Nkwanta North District is among the newly created districts established in the first quarter of 2008. Hence the analysis of revenue-expenditure patterns is restricted to 2008 as a base year.

Revenue

A critical look at the revenue base of the Nkwanta North District Assembly reveals that the Assembly relies heavily on government grants comprising Local Government Grants, Central Government Grants, Ceded Revenue and District Assemblies Common Fund. The District Assembly’s internally generated revenue is not very much appreciable as compared with inflows from external sources (Grants).

Grants to the Assembly far exceeded the internally generated revenue due to the following factors:

• Poorly developed market infrastructure in the district.
• Inadequate regular revenue staff.
• Low calibre of Revenue Collectors.
• Inadequate logistics for the Revenue Mobilisation Unit.
• Unwillingness of the people to pay taxes.

Poor database on revenue mobilisation

Financial institutions

Banking

There are no commercial banks operating in the district.
The Kpassa Rural Bank Limited is the only bank operating in the district with its headquarters at Kpassa.

This situation of limited financial institutions in the district poses a great challenge to economic development in the sense that the people would not be able to have adequate access to banking services in order to enhance their businesses..