Director, FIG office visits Ghana Institution of Surveyors
February 10-15, 2005

FIG Regional Conference to be held in Accra, Ghana, March 9-12, 2006

The FIG Council decided in Jakarta last October that the 5th FIG Regional Conference will be organised in Accra, Ghana in March 2006. It will be the first FIG Regional Conference to be held in Western Africa and the first FIG event in the region since the PC-meeting was held in Abuja in 1973. The Director, FIG office visited Ghana February 10-16, 2005 to plan the conference and its programme. The visit was linked to the 36th Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) and the Forum on Land Administration Project (LAP). The Annual General Assembly was the highlight of the surveying week held February 11-17, 2005. The programme of the week included the administrative meetings as well as a symposium round the land administration project that has been started in Ghana. The LAP is one of the biggest land administration projects in Africa and will take several years. The first five-year project has now been under way for more than one year. The focus that this preliminary stage has been on capacity building and pilot projects. The LAP is financed by the World Bank and several European development programmes.

The preparations of the Regional Conference are already well under way. During the visit the main theme of the conference was discussed as well as the sub-themes. The proposed theme is “Modern Technologies in Promoting Land Administration and Good Governance”. The conference will be held at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra which offers excellent facilities for the conference. It is expected that the conference will attract almost 500 participants from this African sub-region, the host country and overseas. GhIS has also start work to get its members more involved in international co-operation and for the conference. It has established network system based on the FIG Commission structure (see the invitation for GhIS here).

Ghana can offer interesting professional and sightseeing options during the conference or as pre- or post-conference tours. The technical tour will bring you to the Gold Coast where you are able to visit the Gold Coast Castle and its history in the slave trade as well as to Kakum National Park where you can admire the rain forests during a canopy walk. Ghana is considered to be the safest and most quickly developing country in the Western Africa.

The 36th Annual General Meeting attracted almost 300 participants from the 950 members of GhIS. The theme of the AGM was “Land information systems – an effective tool for land administration in Ghana”. Mr Charles K. Sagoe, President of the GhIS gave an interesting overview in this topic in Ghana as the presidential speech. You can read his speech also on this web site.

At the General Assembly Dr. B. E. Kwesi Prah was elected as the new President of GhIS for 2005-2006. The official handover of the Presidency took place at the Annual GhIS Awards Night at the Avion Club on the last evening of the week. More than 650 members with their spouses attended this traditional and memorable event. The keynote speech was given by Prof. Kwesi Audam, Vice Chancellor of KNUST. He told in his presentation about the new structure of education at this university that is becoming the leading university in Sub-Saharan Africa on information technology. Surveying and GIS have a special status in this development.

GhIS also launched its web site at the conference. To learn more about the host of the next year’s FIG Regional Conference, please click in to www.ghanasurveyors.org 

Picture Gallery

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The Annual Lecture of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors. Mrs Matilda Esi Fiadzigbey represented the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mine - she is also a Past President of GhIS. At the podium the Council members and on the back Past Presidents of GhIS.

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The Annual Lecture was attended by 350 members of GhIS and the lecture was given by President Charles K. Sagoe.


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Greeting from the FIG Council was brought by Director Markku Villikka.
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President Sagoe making his speech at the Annual General Meeting of GhIS.





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New Council members were elected at the AGM and they swore the oath at the Annual Awards Dinner.
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Also the new President Dr. B. E. K. Prah was awarded the President's Chain at the dinner. It was given to him by President Sagoe and Hon. Secretary Emmanuel Martey.
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Seminar  on Land Administration Project (LAP) was part of the programme of the Surveyors' Week - President Prah speaks to the participants.
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LAP is also of great interest to the chiefs of Ghana who attended actively on the discussion at the seminar.




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The Executive Committee of GhIS is well prepared to welcome international surveyors to Ghana in March 2006.
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Surveyor General of Ghana promised support  to the first FIG Regional Conference in Western Africa during a courtesy visit by Dr. Prah and the FIG Director.
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Stephen Djaba, Geo-Tech is an active member in FIG and also member of the LOC in 2006.




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The Conference is planned to take place at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra.
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Independence monument to celebrate the independency of Ghana that it got in 1957.
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Kwame Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and has now a Memorial Park and mausoleum in Accra.
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At the African market you can find art craft from Ghana and the region.
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The technical tour in 2006 will include a visit to Gold Coast where you can visit the castle that was a starting point for many slaves that were taken to America.


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Ghana has also big rainforest areas that can be viewed also during an a canopy walk - part of the conference programme as well.
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Dam at  the Volta River is one of the biggest technical constructions in Africa.