Home Blog Page 1317

More South Korean Firms To Set Up In Ghana

By
Editor
-
0

The Government of South Korea has pledged to encourage its private investors and businesses to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to trade in Ghana.

Ghana recently won the bid to host the Secretariat of the AfCFTA.

Visiting South Korean Foreign Minister to Ghana, Kang Kyung-Wha speaking at a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, explained that the presence of the Secretariat would boost trade in Ghana, bringing about economic developments.

The press conference was held today Saturday, July 13, 2019, after the two foreign Ministers had a meeting with Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, Deputy Ministers of Food and Agriculture, Communications, and Health.

Discussions during the meeting centered on deepening Ghana and South Korea bilateral relationship which started in 1977, with the Ghanaian officials highlighting possible areas for future development partnership between both nations.

The Government of South Korea during the discussions, pledged to support government’s Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda and the West African Nation’s 10-point Industrial Transformation Agenda.

Both nations pledged to further deepen their relationship, and to partner in addressing global issues, including terrorism threats, maritime situation in West Africa, hunger, the Korean crisis, and economic transformation and trade.

The South Korean Foreign Minister addressing the press at the Foreign Ministry in Accra, said the Korean Government would encourage its citizens to invest more in Ghana.

Madam Kyung-Wha noted with satisfaction that the partnership between Ghana and Korea has steady growth.

She said South Korea was willing to also support Ghana’s rural development agenda as well as agriculture.

On her part, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey seized the opportunity to thank the South Korean Government for the support it had rendered to Ghana over the years.

According to her, within the context of the two nations’ bilateral relationship, South Korea has been very supportive of Ghana’s socioeconomic development, especially in the area of human resource capacity-building and e-administration for ministries, departments and agencies.

The Korean EximBank, she said, has also provided funding for important projects such as the Wa Water Supply, Rehabilitation and Expansion Project and the Prestea-Kumasi Power Project.

Additionally, she recounted, the Dawhenya Integrated Rural Development Project, the Maternal Healthcare, Water and Sanitation projects in the Volta and Eastern regions, are projects funded under the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) grant aid.

Going forward, she said both nations have agreed to invite the business community in South Korea to actively invest in Ghana in particular, and Africa in general, on a win-win basis as a way of taking advantage of this newly created Africa-wide market.

She explained that private investment capital has a legitimate part to play in the overall economic development of Ghana the continent.

BY Melvin Tarlue

Build Tema Hospital Road – Transport Minister To MPS

By
Editor
-
0

The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has asked shareholders of the Meridian Port Services (MPS) to fast-track the construction of the Tema Hospital Road.

That, he said, is to ensure that residents within and around the area would have the full or maximum benefits of the newly developed Terminal 3 port.

He made the call on Thursday, July 11, 2019, when he, together with the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, embarked upon an unannounced visit to the newly constructed Terminal 3 at the port on.

“We cannot start the full operation of this port without the hospital road being constructed”, he noted.

Mr. Asiamah expressed the belief that for the new Terminal 3 operated by MPS to achieve the best, all its associated infrastructure, especially, the Tema Hospital road which is part of the agreement, has to be constructed to enable the residents reap the best of that establishment.

According to him, “we have said it many times that we cannot put up this edifice [Terminal 3] without the associated infrastructure facility, especially, the roads, to make turnaround time easier and cheaper.”

He added that “because if your port becomes effective, it is not only the activities at the port but associated infrastructure and since we set up ourselves from 2017 to today, we have not been able to move forward with it.”

Construction of the Tema Hospital road has been part of the plans of the management of MPS.

However, disagreements over the structure of the facility have delayed the commencement of that project.

But the Minister has made it clear that the country would not sit down and watch the operations at the port be hampered by disagreements over the structure of the Tema Hospital road project, insisting that in any difficult situation, there was a solution.

On his part, Mr. Ofori-Atta recounted how revenue leakages at the Tema port were affecting the country’s Gross Domestic Product and expressed the hope that with 80 percent of Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority’s activities contracted to MPS, revenue leakages at the port would be a thing of the past.

“We have had perennial problems of our revenues from Customs and it is quite disgraceful giving what is happening in our neighbouring countries and where we should be,” he said.

” So, this year for example, whilst domestic revenue is gone up for about 34%, Customs is sort of lagging behind but by your intervention, you are going to take about 80% of the container business which is therefore going to be a key aspect of the revenue. And we are looking to ensure that the revenue leakages we experience in GPHA will be completely eliminated”, he added.

The Finance Minister noted that “but you came into this investment thinking Ghana, thinking West Africa. As you know last week Ghana was selected to host the Headquarters of Africa Free Trade Continental Agreement (AFTCA).”

“So, indeed, as partners we are transforming our 30 million people and 50 billion GDP into potentially 1.3billion people and 3 trillion GDP. So, that now becomes the level of potential profitability if we do this work well. So, even as you think of your phase 2 and 3, there should be the beginning of the thinking that this thing is bigger that we have envisioned and therefore what should we do?”

He is confident that once this vision is achieved, it will open the country up to “incredible potential foreign resources and for customers’ duties”.

BY Melvin Tarlue

Ghana seeks Burkina Faso support to fight PFJs fertilizer smuggling

By
Editor
-
0

The Upper West Regional Minister Dr Hafiz Bin Salih has visited Leo in the Province of Sissili in Burkina Faso to seek collaboration to combat fertilizer smuggling from Ghana to Burkina Faso.

He requested that the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs) fertilizer that would be seized by Burkinabe authorities should be shared among their local farmers free of charge.

The call for collaboration to deal with fertiliser smuggling in neighbouring countries was on the back of recent reports of wanton smuggling, misappropriation and infractions regarding distribution of fertiliser to Ghanaian farmers.

The growing menace has forced Ghanaian authorities to suspend the distribution and haulage of fertilizers to local farmers in nine districts in northern Ghana including Sissala East Municipality and Sissala West District.

Despite several concerns raised over the temporal ban, the government has justified that it was to protect farmers and ensure the success of the PFJs programme.

Dr Bin-Salih said, “We are here to interact with you but we have a number of concerns, one is the fact that a lot of fertilizers from Ghana are being smuggled into Burkina Faso and this is a worrying situation to the government and the people of Ghana”.

“Our presence is to inform you so that we will collaborate with your security to help us fight and stop it”. “We have pictures and reports of the presence of the products being sold on the markets here [in Burkina Faso] but these are not supposed to be sold”.

 “Our Minister of Agriculture in Ghana has gotten in touch and has made correspondence with his colleague Minister in Burkina Faso and signalled that we are here to ensure that they are fully put into the picture so, wherever, they find PFJ fertilizer in Burkina Faso, they should seize and share them freely to their farmers as they are smuggled products”.

“We do in Ghana, when we seize smuggled products, we share them and appeal to you to do so”.
A description of the branded fertilizer was shown to the Burkinabe authorities.

The fertilizer has been branded in 25-kilogramme weight with unique yellow colours and inscription of PFJ meaning ‘Planting for food and jobs’

“This is my official visit to Leo and requested with their kind permission to go round and visit some of the shops in the market and see things for ourselves, but the request to visit the shops was turned down by the Burkinabe officials citing the need to inform stakeholders before such observation could be permitted,” Dr Bin-Salih said.

He added that the insurgence of terrorist activities in parts of Burkina Faso required the two countries collaborated in the area of security.

Welcoming the Ghanaian delegation, the Secretary attached to the High Commissioner of Leo Mr Kone Yaya said the Commissioner was away but pledged to support and help the call for collaboration.

He said farmers in Burkina Faso equally enjoyed some subsidy but smuggling was also a problem and appealed to the Ghanaian delegation to allow the two trade and agriculture ministries to collaborate and have a joint control programmes.

The Custom Officer in Charge of Douane, Mr Traore T. Cyprian, told the delegation that sometimes, the officers find the fertilizers being brought into their country from Ghana.

“Sometimes they do see some of them but it is not on a regular basis and when they see them, they seize them, they are then fined to pay high taxes on them and we let them enter once they pay the fines,” he added: “But, henceforth, we shall collaborate but it needs the attention of all stakeholders”.

On the request by the Ghanaian delegation to visit the market, he said, “All the directors including Director of Agriculture and customs were not aware”.

He added that they would need to inform their top hierarchy otherwise the traders might see their visit as “coming to control them,” and requested that they reschedule the visit to another time.

The Ghanaian delegation was made up of the National Director of Crops at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Seth Osei Akoto, Mr Francis Ennor, and Regional Director of Agriculture for Upper East, Mr Emmanuel Sasu Yeboah Upper West Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr Iddi Musah Representative of The Upper East Regional Minister. 

The rest were COP Peter Ndekugri, the Deputy Upper West Regional Police Commander; Mr Karim Nanyua, Sissala East Municipal Chief Executive; Mr Mohammed Zakaria Bakor, District Chief Executive for Sissala West District.
 
The Burkinabe side included Mr Napon Akimou, Mr Voda Alphonse, Mr Ibouldo Moctar, Mr Ziba Asseni Mr Oudragou Issif, Mr Traore T Cyprian and Mr kone Yaya.

By Mohammed Balu, GNA

Ghana urged to take advantage of drop in fertility rate

By
Editor
-
0

The Acting Eastern Regional Population Officer, Mr Kwasi Owusu Obeng has called on the country to strategically take advantage of the drop in the fertility rate of the country.

    He argued that, with the drop of the fertility rate of the country from 6.2 in 1988 to 4.2 in 2014 and improvement in health has led to a large youthful population.

    Mr Obeng said if such a population is continuously trained to acquire the requisite skills and vocation and right environment to invest created, such large population could take advantage of the huge resource of the country to create wealth and jobs.

     Mr Obeng was speaking at the observation of the World Population Day in Eastern Region at Koforidua.
    He observed that the free Senior High School (SHS) policy was in the right direction but conscious efforts needed to be made to direct the training to the right areas to ensure that the youth acquired the right skills and vocations.

    Mrs Helen Asare, a Director of Nursing Service said due to rumours and myths, family planning practices has been low in the Region.

     Mrs Asare said because of the high attrition rate of midwives in the country, some health facilities in the rural areas have no midwives.

     Mrs Asare said the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has intensified public education to help improve upon family planning to help control population growth in the region.

        She said the GHS was also encouraging the promotion of pregnant women school where health official would have more time to educate the pregnant women about their pregnancy including family planning.

      She said now, as a policy, spousal concern is not required for a woman to adopt any family planning method.

 

By Edmund Quaynor, GNA

DAG HEWARD-MILLS IN DAYS OF MIRACLE POWER

By
Editor
-
0

Katima Mulilo, Namibia is experiencing days of miracle power with Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills.

Evangelist Dag is in Namibia holding evangelistic campaign with the Healing Jesus Campaign team.


Large crowds gathered from all across the city of Katima to hear the message of the evangelist preached in his usual power filled yet simply delivered style.


Countless miracles were recorded.

By: Naa Ode

 

South Africa Now Visa Free For Ghanaians

By
Editor
-
0

South Africa is now a visa-free travel destination for Ghanaians.

Ghana was added to the list of seven countries whose citizens would be allowed to enter South Africa visa-free.

The decision to add Ghana to the list was taken by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, following an announcement in September 2018 that South Africa was finalizing a number of visa waiver arrangements with other nations.

South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, said in a statement that citizens of the seven countries are able to enter South Africa without a visa.

The Minister believed tourism in South Africa would soar as the country relaxes it visa requirements.

He added that out of the 193 countries who are member states of the United Nations, the Department has granted visa-free status to 75 nations.

Of these, he says, 16 were in on the African continent and were SADC members and 59 were from around the world.

Meanwhile, Ghana has accordingly executed agreements on mutual visa exemption with additional 20 countries across the world.

Out of the 21 countries, the mutual exemptions are to cover holders of diplomatic and service passports traveling to eight countries.

The rest of the 13 countries are expected to cover holders of all passports.

Official correspondent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration dated June 26, 2019, and sighted by DGN Online, mentioned the 21 nations as Barbados, Brazil, China, Cuba, Germany, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan, Turkey, Kenya.

The rest included Lesotho, Namibia, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Jamaica and Rwanda.

BY Melvin  / DGN

St. Augustine’s College Wins 2019 NSMQ

By
Editor
-
0

St. Augustine’s College from Cape Coast has won the 2019 National Science and Mathematics Quiz (NSMQ) competition after a 12-year drought.

This adds to the trophy they won in 2007, putting them at par with the likes of Achimota School, Mfantsipim School and Opoku Ware Senior High School (OWASS) on two trophies each.

The Augusco boys, as they are popularly called, scored a total of 39 points to beat two other strong contenders – both serial winners – after five rounds moderated by Dr. Esi Kauffman, the Quiz Mistress.

Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (Presec) in Accra was second with 36 points, while St. Peter’s Senior High School (Persco) from Nkwatia-Kwahu had 25 points.

St. Augustine’s College, in addition to having the bragging right and a trophy for a year, was awarded with GH¢40,000, while the contestants and teachers got GH¢20,000 each.

Augusco team coordinator Isaac Adomako said they were in for the finals, “knowing that we have to beat any opponent that comes our way.”

“We have not won many trophies because we haven’t been doing some things right, but we have learnt our lessons coming into the finals. Hard work has been our secret weapon and we knew that we will be the victors by God’s grace,” he said.

First runner-up, Presec, that has won the contest five times, received GH¢30,000, while the teachers and contestants got GH¢17,000 each.

Reigning champions, St. Peters Senior High School, was awarded GH¢20,000 for its effort, while the students and teachers got GH¢15,000 each as well.

The Journey

After months of preparation, weeks of nail-biting contests and renewal of academic rivalries, it all came down to the big event yesterday at the National Theatre in Accra.

All the three schools displayed a variety of skills and formidability in their journey to the final.

Only St Augustine’s came from the qualifiers to reach this stage. Presec-Legon and St Peter’s were seeded from the 2018 competition because they reached the quarter-final.

They approached questions bordering on any sphere of life with the same dexterity and brilliance with which they answered the complex science and maths questions during the quiz.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

20 Port Officers Transferred

By
Editor
-
0

Twenty customs officers serving at the Tema Port have reportedly been transferred.

That was after it was discovered upon an ‘unannounced’ visit by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, to the Meridian Ports Services, the company handling containers at the Tema Port, that the 20 officers had continue to perform poorly.

During the visit, the Finance Minister interacted with port officers.

Recent report by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) revealed that the Tema Port battled in the first quarter of this year to meet its revenue target.

That, according to GRA, was due to challenges in implementing new tax reforms and “high rate of smuggling.”

Newspaper Headlines Friday 12th July 2019

By
Editor
-
0

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”87″ display=”basic_thumbnail”]

West Gonja Assembly presents ruminants to PWDs

By
Editor
-
0

The West Gonja District Assembly in the Savannah Region has presented small ruminants to 50 members of the Federation of People Living with Disabilities in the District as part of efforts to economically empower them.

     A total of 200 small ruminants comprising 150 ewes and 50 rams were presented to the beneficiaries comprising 32 males and 18 females from selected communities including Larabanga, Damongo, Dapalakura, Broto, Murugu, Sor and Busunu. 

     Mr Saeed Muhazu Jibril, District Chief Executive for West Gonja, who presented the animals to the beneficiaries at Damongo, assured them of government’s commitment to improve their living standards to enable them to contribute to national development. 

     Mr Muhazu Jibril said last year, the Disability Fund Management Committee of the Assembly approved 51 persons living with disabilities (PWDs) in the area, who received various items including deep freezers, sewing machines, popcorn machines, poly tanks,  beekeeping tools, shoe making tools, hair dryer machines and computer repair tools. 

     He said this year Committee recommended the procurement of small ruminants for the PWDs hence the presentation of the animals to them advising them to take good care of them to ensure good returns such that they would not be dependent on their relatives. 

     Mr Dramani Katribi, Presiding Member of the West Gonja District Assembly and Chairman of the Disability Fund Management Committee was convinced that the support offered the PWDs would increase their capability to generate personal incomes and also to improve financial sustainability.

     Mr Katribi cautioned beneficiaries to desist from selling the ruminants immediately advising them to rather take good care of them to multiply.

     Mr Dramani Takora Joshua, President of the Federation of PWDs in the district lauded government for the initiative expressing much satisfaction and pleasure at the manner the district assembly had handled PWDs.

By Regina Atule, GNA 

1...1,3161,3171,318...1,457Page 1,317 of 1,457