A spectacular display of rich Ghanaian culture and tradition on Saturday climaxed a week-long celebration of this year’s yam festival by the people of Asogli in Ho, the capital of Ghana’s Volta Region.
The annual festival is to honor yam farmers and all other farmers, and encourage young people to take farming as a career. Yam is a staple for Ghanaians and a leading export produce of Ghana. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng)
Ho, the Volta Regional capital, continues experiencing an economic surge driven by the convergence of two major national events, with the just-concluded National Farmers’ Day and the ongoing Volta Trade and Investment Fair creating a financial bonanza for the local economy.
The Farmers’ Day exhibition ran from December 1 to its climax on December 5, while the Volta Fair originally scheduled to end on December 8 has prompted mounting calls for extension. The sustained influx of dignitaries, investors, exhibitors and patrons has created unprecedented demand across the hospitality sector.
The most visible sign of this boom has been the saturation of the accommodation sector. Rooms in Ho, from premier hotels and well established guest houses to lesser known establishments, were fully booked for days, forcing desperate visitors to accept rooms in places they would ordinarily bypass.
Despite the end of Farmers’ Day official ceremonies, the focus has shifted entirely to the Volta Fairgrounds, which continues as the epicenter of bustling night activities. The fair’s promise of a 24-hour economy on designated days has transformed the evenings into a vibrant marketplace of nonstop trading, loud music and a celebratory atmosphere.
Exhibitors and local business owners are now calling for an extension of the Volta Fair. This plea underscores a critical realization that major concentrated events serve as great catalysts for injecting high-velocity capital into the local economy.
The massive boost to revenue in the hospitality industry, covering lodging, restaurants, transport and ancillary services, has been transformative. Fred Avornyo, CEO of the Volta Trade and Investment Fair, said hotels often remain fully booked on weekends, highlighting the need to expand accommodation facilities and maintain high standards.
Organizers estimated the National Farmers’ Day celebration cost approximately GH¢20 million to stage, with the five-day National Agricultural Fair running from December 1 to 5 preceding the grand durbar. The timing of both events was deliberate, creating a two-week commercial festival that hotels, transport operators and retail outlets prepared to capitalize on.
The Volta Trade and Investment Fair introduced Ghana’s first ever 24-hour trade exhibition format, aligning with President John Mahama’s administration’s push for a 24-hour economy. That continuous trading model has boosted attendance, extended business hours and maximized opportunities for business to business engagements.
Regional Minister James Gunu emphasized at the 41st Farmers’ Day celebration that the region is open for business and ready to offer opportunities in large-scale farming, food processing, value addition, irrigation and aquaculture. He said the Volta Region was positioning itself as Ghana’s next agro-industrial power hub.
Avornyo positioned the region as Ghana’s eastern gateway, noting it provides access to a market of more than 400 million people across Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon. That geographic advantage makes the region naturally suited for cross-border trade operations.
This increase in demand should serve as a clear directive for future regional planning. The hospitality industry, as the prime beneficiary, must work closely with the Volta Regional Minister and organizers of similar activities to strategically attract and host more large-scale events in Ho and across the Volta Region on a regular basis.
Making these national events a recurring fixture represents the most reliable way to turn a temporary golden windfall into a sustainable foundation for economic growth and lasting prosperity for the region’s service sector. The successful convergence has demonstrated the transformative power of coordinated event planning and strategic timing.
The two-week period has seen unprecedented visitor numbers, though exact attendance figures have not been disclosed. Previous editions of the Volta Trade Fair have attracted thousands of visitors, and the addition of National Farmers’ Day festivities significantly boosted those numbers.
Organizers have already begun structured stakeholder engagements with financial institutions and the hospitality industry, focusing on how banks can support exhibitors and local small to medium enterprises through tailored products and payment solutions. Separate sessions with hoteliers centered on hospitality readiness, visitor experience standards and accommodation capacity.
The Volta Region aims to develop a transport and logistics network along the Volta Lake while expanding aquaculture, irrigation and water sports as part of the Volta Economic Corridor project. Regional authorities view the hosting of these major events as opportunities to stimulate economic activity, increase visibility for agribusiness and tourism, and create networking opportunities.