Energy think tank Institute for Energy Security (IES) says though they expect a reduction of fuel prices in December, the 3.09percent depreciation of the local currency (cedi) may a ect the gains from the reduction in international fuel prices in the country.
The energy analysts believe that prices of various nished prod ucts will be a ected by the 13.45% fall in the price of gaso line, and the 11.63% fall in the price of Gasoil, as well as the 1.88% fall in the price of LPG, they were, however, quick to say that the 3.09% depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar is expected to erode portions of the gains from the reductions in international fuel prices.
“The price of LPG is however expected to remain stable on account of the cedi’s deprecia tion,” the institute said.
As a result, the IES said it fore sees a fall of between 10% and 8% in the prices of Gasoline and Gasoil in the next pricing window.
November 2022 second pric ing-window witnessed reduc
tions in price of key nished prod ucts on the domestic fuel market at all Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) outlets monitored by the IES.
The reduction, according to the institute, was in response to the fall in international prices.
The price reductions over the last pricing window pegs the national average price per litre of Gasoline at Gh¢16.31 from Gh¢17.62, repre senting a 7.43% reduction over the period. Gasoil’s national average price per litre also fell by roughly 13.91% to move from Gh¢23.07 to Gh¢19.86.
In the pricing window under review, the IES MarketScan picked TotalEnergies, Goil, Engen, Petro sol, Engen, Sel, and Shell-Vivo as OMCs with the highest-priced fuel on the market. Benab Oil, Zen Petroleum, Star Oil, and Goodness Oil were spotted as some of the OMCs with the least-priced fuel on the market, at the end of the November second Pricing-win dow.
International Crude oil bench mark Brent saw a 6.31% decrease
in price over the previous window’s average price of $95.11 per barrel to the present average price of $89.11 per barrel.
As fresh worries surrounding China roiled global markets on Monday, oil prices fell to their lowest levels in 11 months.
The international benchmark Brent Crude price fell 41% from the $139 per barrel price peak attained in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, falling to $82 on November 28, 2022, its lowest level since Janu ary 6, 2022.
The strict zero-Covid policy that China, the largest oil importer in the world, is still enforcing has sparked new worries about the demand for oil. As a result, Brent fell by almost 15% in November, and despite the sporadic appear ance of protests across the coun try, the Chinese government maintains its rm stance on its stringent pandemic policies.
UBA Ghana has successfully orga nized the 2022 edition of the SME capacity building programme for customers aimed at equipping and enabling SMEs in the country with the requisite knowledge to grow into global brands and overcome business challenges.
The theme for this year, “Maxi mizing SME Business growth opportunities in Ghana” was aimed at exploring areas of collab oration and measures SMEs can put in place to sustain their busi nesses.
Speaking at the workshop, Chris
O kulu, Managing Director & CEO of UBA Ghana said, “the capacity building is in line with the bank’s focus on helping SMEs to increase their knowl edge and run more e cient busi nesses to expand into new mar kets.”
He added, “UBA wants to see SMEs grow, one of our promises to our SME customers, among other things, is Capacity Build ing and Advisory Services. It is for this reason that we use various initiatives to engage them in ways we can support their businesses to grow.”
“The importance of SME in every economy cannot be over-emphasized and Ghana is no exception. You contribute immensely to the Real Sector growth of the economy and employment of Citizenry. UBA remains focused on delivering unique services to give your
business great support.
The main speaker at the work shop, Owusu Achiaw Kwaakye, Chief Executive O cer of Naton Olives Consult did a great job taking the participants on the topic “scaling up your business growth through access to the new market.”
The areas covered in his presen tation were: What it means to scale a business, Identifying and assessing market opportunities, leveraging social media to grow your business, and Smart credit hacks.
Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of the Ghana Union of Trade Asso
ciations was also at the event and urged SMEs to capitalize on busi ness growth by e ectively collabo rating to increase resources, ideas, and knowledge.
Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, George Owusu Ansah who represented the President of the Association of Ghana Industries addressed the participants on the impact of the current economic issues on SMEs and the way forward for business sustainability.
Participants were grateful to UBA and lauded the bank for showing interest in their growth and sustainability by championing the workshop.
ing all the quality benchmarks in the facilities to achieve level 5 accreditation under the Safe Care program.
She explained that the business has plans to extend its services to rural and deprived communi ties in the country.
Two branches of Rabito Clinic, have attained SafeCare level 4 accreditation making the two facilities internationally accred ited to provide standardized quality healthcare to Ghana ians.
The two, namely the Dansoman and Lapaz branches were recognized after a rigorous assessment by international assessors who used ISQua-ac credited SafeCare Standards.
Speaking to journalists in Accra, the Chief Executive
level 4, on our way to level 5; with two of our branches."
Madam Karen Hendrickson also stressed the need for all stake holders to contribute to the quality of healthcare delivery across the country.
The Rabito clinics are part of the network of hospitals operated by Africa Health Holdings (AHH), which signed up for the SafeCare quality improvement program last year. The AHH is a health service delivery industry leader with outlets in Ghana,
''At this point in time, we have 24 Rabito clinics across the country [and] we're in 10 regions. We don't take that kind of expansion lightly. But we recognize that for Ghana to grow and thrive, quali ty healthcare has to be as avail able as fresh air," she added.
A doctor at the facility, Dr Frank Appiah-Agyei, highlighted the hospital's concern for patients and its commitment to ensuring their well-being and recovery. He said the hospital's operations have been largely in uenced by the quality guidelines prescribed by the SafeCare
He further indicated that he and his colleagues are determined to observe the SafeCare standards to better the lives of patients and elevate the status of the hospital.
Adelaide Duako Agyapong, an administrator at the Lapaz branch of the Rabito also expressed happiness about how the hospital has fared.
"We've put in systems, practices, processes and protocols and we prepared towards them. So we should put them into practice so that the quality healthcare that we aspire to give our customers, our clients, will be achieved. So that that they'll not just leave with better conditions, but with a worthwhile experience," Duako Agyapong added.
A tour of the hospital's headquar ters at Osu also revealed some remarkable improvements in its laboratory and screening equip ment. This according to the man agement of the hospital, forms part of e orts to strengthen the logisti cal framework of the hospital. The improvements, according to the hospital, are also aimed at enhancing quality healthcare deliv ery to the hundreds of patients who throng the premises daily.
Rabito branches can be located at Osu, East Legon, Abeka Lapaz, Tema Com 11, Tema Com 25, Dan soman, Kumasi Adiebeba, Kumasi Bantama, Ho, A ao, Dome, Kasoa, Tamale, Wa, Sunyani, Winneba, Takoradi, Bolgatanga, My CareMo bile, Koforidua, Pharmacy – Linda D'or, Rabito Cosmetic Centre and Makola.
Vodafone Business has advised rural banks in Ghana to take advantage of technology to drive business growth.
Speaking at this year’s Association of Rural Banks Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Excellence Awards, Alfred Neizer, Vodafone Ghana’s Head of SME and SoHo said, "Lockdowns forced banks to take the customer experience almost entirely online. Many banks saw rst-hand the power of technology to help them connect with customers in meaningful ways, and many have maintained this digital customer journey even as businesses recover from the e ects of the pandemic."
He said that technology has proven to be a powerful force in helping the banking sector in challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. He also added that the e ective use of
technology is the best way to stay agile and resilient in this econom ic climate.
"The current economy is di cult, especially for rural banks. Howev er, success is assured for banks that decide to use technology to innovate their o ers," he said.
He further assured rural banks of Vodafone’s continued commit ment to supporting them with custom-made, technology-driven solutions. Mr Neizer says that these solutions have led to better operations, more exible busi nesses, and stronger businesses.
Mr Neizer also urged rural and commercial banks to take advan tage of Vodafone Ghana’s dedicat ed, cost-e ective internet connec tivity, Your Business Online (YBOL) service, and other solu tions, to become more resilient banks and improve their custom er experience.
The Executive Secretary of the National Film Authority (NFA), Ms. Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante has reiterated the authority’s desire to welcome foreign productions in Ghana but insist producers would have to adhere to the laws of the land.
Her comments come in the wake of misinformation making rounds in Nigeria that, their Ghanaian counterparts are against foreign productions.
In an interview in Nigeria on how to open more doors for collaboration, Ms. Asante clari ed her country’s lm policy, she explained “Ghana and Nige ria would have to do more together. One of the focus of my o ce is to make sure that collaborations or co-produc tions happen, we would love Nigerian lmmakers to come and shoot their movies in Ghana, because [Ghana] is posi tioning itself as a shooting desti nation and also a lm and content hub.”
According to her Ghana o ers nice sceneries and o ers struc tures that can bene t both parties, “for me one of my
focus is to enhance more collab orations.”
In a press statement, signed by Ms. Asante, she assured all lm makers that NFA is committed to developing Ghana as a lm and content hub in the sub-re gion. This involves positioning the country as a friendly shoot ing destination for lmmakers across the globe, including other African countries.
The statement further indicates that Section 2 of the Develop ment and Classi cation of Film Act 935 promotes foreign productions in Ghana as a key object of the NFA. The NFA therefore welcomes foreign productions in Ghana and encourages co-production between local and foreign producers.
Foreign producers/ lmmakers are required to acquire lming permits for their productions as issued prior to the lm shoot. This lming permit is issued by the National Film Authority. To apply for lming permits or make enquiries, kindly email info@nfa.gov.gh.
“It is really important for every country and the bene t of the
industry to have structures in place, we have just said, when you come to Ghana, contact us
The NFA has the ultimate inter est in positioning the lm indus try to attract foreign invest ments, promote skills transfer, create jobs, promote lm tour ism and help promote a collabo rative spirit in the sub-region and globally.
The NFA noti es all lmmak ers,Ghanaians and foreigners of their right to shoot in Ghana, provided that the lmmaker has acquired the required license or
permit.
Accordingly, all foreign lmmakers are requested to be mindful of the existing laws of Ghana and ensure not to act contrary to the Develop ment and Classi cation of Film Act 935 or any other law for that matter.
Ghana is estimate to produce 600 lms annually as opposed to Nige ria produces close to 2,500 lms annually, according to UNESCO report.
ment to expand,” Dr. Victor Antwi, Chief of Party, Feed the Future Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture Activity said in a press release.
that supply them with maize and soybeans - major raw materials for poultry feed production.”
The USAID-supported Feed the Future Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture (MFA) Activity has organized a busi ness management training for over 120 members of Women in Poultry Value Chain (WIPVaC) in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. The workshop was designed to address constrains hindering women-led businesses in the poultry value chain access to nance and help them to secure nancing needed to sustain their agribusinesses and contribute to food security through the production and marketing of maize, soybeans, animal feed, poultry meat and eggs.
The key training topic was on
records keeping for nancial decision-making, and for busi ness health determination including pro t and loss; long-term business forecasting; and data evidence for accessing nancing. In attendance were MFA-supported transaction advisors and partner nancial institutions. The nancial insti tutions used the platform to promote their nancial prod ucts to the female-led poultry value chain actors.
“The training is one of several interventions designed by MFA in collaboration with WIPVaC to help members’ businesses with transaction advisory services to improve the management of their operations and make them nance-ready to attract invest
“The training will enhance their nancial literacy and help them to keep good nancial records and make them attractive to nancial institutions and inves tors. MFA will, through its network of transaction advisors, support WIPVaC member busi nesses to become ready to secure nancing. Access to nance by the agribusinesses will provide a ready market to over 8,400 smallholder farmers
As of October 2022, MFA has facili tated $178.8 million to approxi mately 18,634 agribusinesses including 54% female-led enterpris es in the MFA target value chains of maize, soy, groundnut, cowpea, cashew, mango, and shea. The US Government, also through the MFA, released $2.77 million under the COVID-19 Relief and Resilience Challenge Fund to support farmers and agribusinesses to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic and become more resilient against possible future shocks.
Your Wealth’ at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Kwa mina Asomaning the Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank Ghana, emphasized the bank’s commitment to supporting their clients even in these di cult nancial times.
Stanbic as a bank, is committed to staying true to this partner ship with you, the lifeline of our business; we are here for you, and will always be with you, no matter what happens.”
Stanbic Bank Ghana has held a tax seminar for their high-net-worth clients under the theme, ‘Tax E ciency and
He said, “It is always a pleasure to spend time with loyal clients such as yourselves. We are going through a di cult nan cial climate as a nation. It is very easy for us to think that we should wait for the storm to pass but the time to act is now.
Mr. Asomaning advised clients to be alert during this economic climate and put their houses in order to avoid being taken by surprise.
He stated, “In a time like this when our wealth is under ‘attack’, I think it is a good time to take stock and see how we are going to put our house in order and of all the services we
o er as investment advisors, we believe it is necessary to look at your taxes too. As a bank, we are interested in your total nancial wellbeing and that is why we are here tonight with our resource person from PWC. We are here to give you all the information you need to make the best nancial decisions in terms of your taxes and investments. Our clients remain our priority and we are committed to supporting you.”
Abeku Gyan-Quansah, a Tax Part ner in PwC Ghana Indirect Tax leader in PwC West Africa, the guest speaker at the event advised
the clients present to plan ahead in order to pay their taxes as e ciently as possible. He noted, “We all know the times that we are in as a coun try. As a businessman or woman, it is necessary to take time to plan your taxes yearly so that you know how much to expect for the year. When it
comes to taxes, high net worth businesses are treated di erent ly and it is important to seek professional advice from tax consultants, especially those at the Ghana Revenue Authority to guide you. Make it a priority to pay up on time to avoid penalties and issues with GRA.” The wealth client engagement
session was an opportunity for the bank to provide their high-net-worth clients with rele vant information on tax planning to equip them make better nan cial decisions. The clients also bene ted from a presentation by Will Groat, the Regional Head for West Africa for Standard Bank International. Will shared
insights on international invest ments and diversi cation options the bank had made available for clients.
At the end of the session, custom ers at the event had their ques tions/reservations/misgivings relating to taxes addressed by the experts.
The Development Bank Ghana (DBG) has partnered Access Bank to provide support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
The partnership will see DBG led money to Access Bank for on-lending to SMEs as long-term loans.
The Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana PLC, Olumide Olatunji, commenting on the partnership said the bank was committed to adding value to the economy and one of the ways it measures its contribution was through the amount of credit it deploys into the market, particularly to SMEs.
He said this was because Access Bank considered SMEs as a very strategic pillar to the growth of the economy as they contributed over 70 per cent to GDP as well as create over 80 per cent of employment oppor tunities.
He noted that over the years, the bank had been actively
engaged in the SME space, creating relevant products to support their growth.
In the last two years, he said the bank had impacted over 6500 SMEs with over GH 50 million in loan support and through technical backstopping in the form of hands-on training on digitalisation from its capacity building workshops and SME Clinics held across the regions.
“Our holistic interventions are also evident in the products we o er SMEs and such products have been made available digitally.
“Additionally, the Bank has partnered various stakeholders to ensure that funds are readily available to SMEs, all in a bid to support the growth of the sector,” he stated.
He said the long-term nancing being provided by DBG would be made available to customers who qualify under the criteria that had been set by DBG.
He also added that through this partnership, Access Bank
would be able to scale-up signi cantly in terms of credit creation to support DBG’s aspiration to make credit available to Ghana ians and to Ghanaian businesses operating in our environment. Access Bank plans to leverage the partnership with DBG to continu ously support the Bank’s aspira tion for SMEs. Through its network of branches and o ces across the country, as well as its digital platforms, the bank’s clients and potential clients are encouraged to start the process to seek funding for their busi nesses.
Commenting on the relevance of DBG, Mr Olatunji said DBG was extremely relevant to the mac ro-economic stability of Ghana, with $1 billion seed fund to banks.
“This makes collaboration with commercial banks very timely and very relevant to the market within which we operate.
“The SME sector has seen an appreciable level of support from
commercial banks, especially with Access Bank,” he stated.
He said DBG’s reinforcement sought to make nancing available for longer tenors and, of course, provide cheaper forms of nancing to the relevant sectors that could continue to add value to the econo my of Ghana.
Why did Elon Musk purchase Twitter? His o cial answer – to defend free speech and democ racy – is so unconvincing that the question won’t go away. Musk’s repeated appeals to these ideals to justify important decisions he has made since taking over are so confounding that they raise deep suspicions about his motives.
For example, Musk castigated the decision to remove former President Donald Trump’s account, arguing that “freedom of speech is the bedrock of a strong democracy.” But Trump’s account was removed because he was using it to spread conspiracy theories about the election to a wide audience with increasingly violent language. It’s di cult to imagine a more e ective way to undermine democracy than to give the president of the United States a platform to claim that a free and fair election that he lost was “stolen.” How would allowing Trump, still the leader of the Republican Party and the former leader of a democratic country, to use Twitter to attack democracy make democracy stronger?
A democratic system relies on widespread acceptance of the legitimacy of its rules. This legitimacy is expressed, most
obviously, in voting. So, it is no accident that those seeking to destroy the legitimacy of democracy spread disinforma tion that undermines trust in the electoral system. But there are other ways to undermine democratic legiti macy. Democracy is based on political equality. The most obvious expression of this is the principle of “one person, one vote.” But political equality has a broader signi cance – it means that each of our voices can be heard. As the philoso pher Stephen Darwall has argued, in a democracy, it must be possible to speak truth to power.
Preserving democratic legitima cy thus means protecting a democratic information space –a domain of mutual trust in which citizens feel con dent that they can debate and criti cize freely on the basis of a shared consensus about reality.
There are well-established methods to undermine a shared sense of reality, and hence destroy the possibility of a dem ocratic information space. Giving a platform to powerful people who spread outrageous conspiracy theories is one of them.
There are plenty of others. In their book Merchants of Doubt,
historians Naomi
showed how both the tobacco industry and the fossil-fuel industry funded research intended to spread doubt about the scienti c consensus surrounding smoking and climate change. The result was policy paralysis. Undermin ing public trust by sowing illegiti mate doubt destroyed the possi bility of a democratic informa tion space to deliberate about these issues. Even if you are concerned about climate change, you may oppose e orts to miti gate it if you believe that the real agenda behind those e orts is a plot to subjugate humanity under an eco-totalitarian regime. All that is needed to destroy the possibility of a democratic infor mation space for particular polit ical issues, such as climate change, is to provide a platform for, and give legitimacy to, would-be propagandists. But it is possible to generalize this strate gy – to target the possibility of democratic legitimacy tout court, by destroying the possibility of consensus on any issue. To do so, one would need a platform that gave equal weight to all voices spreading conspiracy theories about every imaginable issue of public political concern. Kremlin operatives attempted this with
their RT television channel. Musk is now attempting this strategy with Twitter.
It is clear why the fossil-fuel indus try would want to undermine the possibility of democratically sanc tioned action on climate change. But why would the world’s richest man want to undermine the legiti macy of democracy itself?
The answer, by now, should be clear. In a healthy democracy, a shared democratic information space allows everyone to speak truth to anyone. This is the essence of political equality. In a healthy democracy, a middle-class journal ist can publish well-researched exposés of multinational corpora tions or spectacularly wealthy indi viduals that contribute to a popular consensus in favor of constraining their actions, increasing their taxes, or otherwise holding them to account. If one destroys that information space by nurturing the spread of mass suspicion, it will no longer be possible to marshal citizens against the powerful in this way.
For powerful individuals, demo cratic legitimacy is a threat, because it is a check on their power. Why wouldn’t one of the world’s most powerful individuals want to eliminate it?
…100% of donations will go towards Horn of Africa life saving humanitarian response where millions of children are at risk of hunger and malnutri tion
Today, Binance Charity, the philanthropic arm of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocur rency and blockchain infra structure provider has announced its rst Giving Tues day campaign for the Horn of Africa, in support of UNICEF, the world's leading organiza tion for children.
Giving Tuesday is a growing global movement to give back during the festive period. The crypto community will be able to donate to the campaign via Binance Charity, which will match funding up to US$100,000. The fundraising campaign will launch on the 29th November and run until Tuesday 6th December.
All proceeds will go towards easing the su ering of children and their families living in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, which are all facing crippling drought and starvation, worsened by the impact of the war in Ukraine. Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity, “The devastating impact of the war on Ukraine
has spread much further than the borders of Europe, result ing in a domino e ect of devas tation. Many of us are feeling the strain of increased fuel and food prices, but for those in the most vulnerable regions of the world, the implications are catastrophic.
Somalia is on the brink of a nationwide famine, as well as other countries across the Horn of Africa being pushed to desperation with crops failing, livestock dying and lives and livelihoods hanging in the balance. That’s why we’re rally ing the crypto community this Giving Tuesday.”
By early October 2022, it is estimated that some 8.5 million
people in the region – 4.2 million of them children – were facing severe water shortages, while 20 million required immediate food assistance.
As a result of the crisis, children are also at risk of dropping out of school to help support their fami lies – and in doing so, face greater risks of exploitation, abuse or violence. Many families are also leaving their homes in a desper ate search for food, water, pasture and livelihoods, exacer bating the levels of internal displacement due to con ict and political instability.
The funds for this Giving Tuesday campaign will support UNICEF’s emergency response, including
the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, repairing strategic water systems and constructing emergency infrastructure such as latrines. Funds will also help provide education and protection services to children, including psychosocial support and psycho logical rst aid.
The donation will be made in stablecoin (BUSD) on Binance Charity’s 100percent transparent blockchain enabled donation platform. Stablecoins bridge the world of cryptocurrency and at currency together as their prices are tied to a reserve asset, in this case the US dollar.
Binance Charity is a non-pro t organization dedicated to unlock ing Web3 as a powerful tool for social change. Its mission is to enable Web3 as a driver of social transformation by making its education and research accessible to all, and advancing global solu tions for local humanitarian impact. Binance Charity uses its 100% transparent donation platform to build a future where technology is used as a force for good. To date, Binance Charity has supported over 2 million end bene ciaries through various projects. For more information, visit https://www.binance.charity/.
One of the key areas of Action Aid’s work is to advocate for increased civic participation and state accountability for the redistribution of resources, and the delivery of quality, gender-responsive public services including access to quality basic education.
ActionAid Ghana’s advocacy on access to quality girl-friend ly public basic education has received another boost as a two-unit kindergarten block as well as a Junior High School block with ancillary facilities have recently been completed. The facilities were commis sioned and handed over to the
By: Esther Ohenewaa BrownDistrict Education Directorate of the Ghana Education Service and Traditional Authorities at Amanfrom and Ata-Ne-Ata, in the Ahafo region.
The two-unit kindergarten and Junior High School facilities which are fully furnished with book storage cubicles, chairs, a mechanised borehole, a water tank, play equipment, places of convenience and a changing room, were constructed at a total cost of three hundred and eighty - ve thousand, eight hundred and seventy- ve and ninety pesewas (385,875.90) and four hundred and
thirty- ve thousand, four hun dred and fty-four and forty-eight pesewas (435,454.48) respectively.
The model facilities are provided to draw stakeholders’ attention to the urgent need to prioritise the provision of kindergarten infrastructure in our educational development. It also seeks to improve learning outcomes in public education, especially at the basic level and present a model to inform how kindergar ten education facilities should be conceived and implemented.
Speaking at the handing over
ceremony at Amanfrom on Thurs day, the Country Director of ActionAid Ghana, John Nkaw bemoaned the frequent and increasing cuts in budgetary alloca tion to the education sector. He said, “budget for kindergarten activities set out in the Ministry of Education’s Medium- Term Expen diture Framework for 2021-2025, reduced from 817.8 million cedis in 2020 to 43.6 million cedis in 2021.”
He added, “if these budget cuts are not reversed, it will signi cantly reduce early school readiness, and exacerbate existing inequities within the education system.”
In his remarks, the Board Chair of ActionAid Ghana, Nana Yaw Okyere-Aduachie noted that discrimination is already taking place in di erent forms within Ghana’s education system as good quality private schools charge exorbitant fees thereby making them accessible to the wards of the relatively few middle-to-high income earning populace.
He further asserted , “to promote equity and fairness across all sectors of society, the education system must ensure that it leads to the reduction of inequality. We cannot continue to fail these young ones who look up to all of us for a better and just society.”
The District Chief Executive, Robert Dwomor Mensah, reiterated that development is a collective responsibility of all, therefore ActionAid deserves commendation for its continu ous support to communities in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions.
“Our district is fortunate to receive two additional school facilities from ActionAid at the same time. They have exhibit ed their commitment to devel opment in this area and we must support this initiative by ensuring the proper mainte nance of the facility”, he added.
Existing Structures in the com munities
Ata-Ne-Ata and Amanfrom communities are about 30 kilometers apart. People in these communities are predominantly farmers. For many years, pupils and
students of Amanfrom and Ata-Ne-Ata have struggled with dilapidated school structures. This has negatively impacted teaching and learning. Accord ing to students and teachers who were engaged, they are compelled to end teaching and learning anytime it starts rain ing as the existing structure in Amanfrom had some parts of the roof ripped o by a storm.
At Ata-Ne Ata Junior High School, teaching and learning was previously taking place in a wooden shed. Students and teachers sometimes ght with snakes for space.
Pointing to a shed, the Head Teacher of Ata-Ne-Ata Junior High School, Mr. Obed Amoah-Awuah noted that despite the harsh conditions under which teaching, and learning take place, the eight teachers in the school have proven to be committed to their profession.
According to him, the changing room which has been added to the new facility will go a long way to improve education in the community, stressing that many girls stay away from school due to lack of privacy during their menstrual cycle.
The school currently has a pop ulation of fty-two with twen ty-eight females and twen ty-four males.
Since 2001, ActionAid has worked closely with communi ties in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions to roll-out
impactful interventions. Key among these are the provision of ten Kindergarten facilities with recreational amenities in Asuti North and Asuti South districts as a way of promoting safe and e ective teaching and learning environments, and sustaining children’s interest in school. Other school structures that have been put up include teachers’ accommodation bugalows as well as six (6) di erent three-unit classroom blocks in communities such as Amomaso, Kojokrom, Kenyasi 3 and many others.
ActionAid has also been working with Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) in the communities to promote e ective community participation in school gover nance through trainings and review meetings. Currently, these PTAs are playing their roles as rights holders seeking and demanding quality education for their children.
In a related intervention, 20 teenage mothers have also been supported in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service to return to school after childbirth through the “re-entry policy".
In 2020, ActionAid collaborated with Yamfo Vocational Training Institute, an NVTI accredited Institution and certi ed master crafts women and men to train 131 young people comprising 98 females and 33 males in various livelihood skills development modules including auto-mechan ic, baking, bead and soap making and tiling.
Following the award of certi ca
tion by the National Vocational Technical Institute, bene ciaries were supported with basic tools and start-up materials. Beside these skills training, bene ciaries received capacity building in advo cacy and campaigning, nancial literacy, Business Plan Develop ment process, social media mar keting and operationalisation of Village Savings and Loans Associa tions.
ActionAid’s Presence in Amanfrom and Ata-ne- Ata
ActionAid’s work in Amanfrom and Ata-ne-Ata communities began in 2003 among the 25 partner com munities in the Local Rights Programme seven (7) in Asuti . Amanfrom is part of ActionAid’s Child Sponsorship Scheme which is one of the key fundraising strate gies for funding various Human Right Based interventions. Over the years, the community has been part of projects and key interven tions including, sustainable liveli hood interventions such as livestock rearing for women, capacity trainings on advocacy and campaigns, leadership skills, climate resilient agriculture activi ties, career fairs for school children, girls’ camps and many others.
About ActionAid ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 15 million people living in more than 40 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustain able world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.
The 7th International Trade Show on Agriculture, Food and Beverage Technology, Food Ingredients, Food and Hospi tality, Plastics, Printing and Packaging has opened in Accra, Ghana with more than 90 exhibitors from 20 countries are participating with the idea to establish partnerships, create linkages, establish self-su ciency and improve supply.
Speaking at the opening of the three-day event, the Managing Director of fairtrade, Paul Marz said the main aim of the event is to help increase West Africa’s self-su ciency and improve supply.
According to him, the West African market for agricultural technology becomes ever more important, with the German
Engineering Association VDMA, West African imports of agricul tural machinery reaching around 200m euros.
He added that West Africa’s food and beverage technology imports increased by 5.8per cent annually from 496m euros in 2015 to 694m euros in 2021.
Mr. Marz announced that six country pavilions is expected to be present this year, namely Germany, Iran, Italy, the Neth erlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka. “In total, more than 90 exhibitors from 20 countries present products, technologies, and solutions speci cally tailored for the West African market.
The exhibitors come from Belgium, Egypt, France,Ger many,Ghana,Hungary,Iran,It
aly,Ivory Coast, Morocco,the Netherlands,Nigeria,Poland, South Africa,Spain,Sri Lanka,Turkey,United Arab Emir ates and USA.
The Italian Ambassador to Ghana, Daniela d’Orlandi said the exhibition will a ord Ghana ian companies the opportunity Italy can a ord in the plastic packaging, agric food sector.
Ghana and Italy’s bilateral trade in 2021 reached over 520m euros and in 2022 she expects a further increase. She disclosed that in August this year, bilateral trade had approached 600m euros.
“The most important part of Italy’s export to Ghana are the capital goods; over 60m euros of machinery and equipment has been traded in 2021, re ecting the fact that many companies in
Ghana have chosen Italy as a tech nology partner, still our mission is to reinforce bilateral cooperation with the Ghanaian market even more.”she added.
Sivile Jansen from the German embassy stated that German busi nesses are seeking to explore new markets and reckons this exhibi tion signi es a platform to show case German businesses in the agri food and plastic pack sectors.
George Abboah-O ei of Georvision [local partners of fairtrade] stated that the event is expected to boost trade, establish synergies and draw more investors into the country.
He urged all patrons to the exhibi tion to take advantage of the busi ness opportunities that will be presented.
As the nation prepares for this year’s edition of the annual National Farmers’ Day celebra tion, a day set aside to recog nise and reward hard-working farmers across the nation, the Management of Ghana Exim Bank (GEXIM) has announced Thursday 1st December, 2022, as the date for the next edition of its popular Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Fair dubbed: “Tuesday Market”.
A special edition dubbed: “Tuesday Market on Thurs day”, the Fair is scheduled to take place at the premises of the World Trade Centre in Accra between the hours of 10:00am to 6:00pm and will witness an exhibition of a ord able, authentic and quality Made-In-Ghana products.
Ms. Rosemary Beryl Archer, the Deputy Chief Executive O cer responsible for Banking indicated that “Tuesday Market” has become very
necessary in the light of our current economic challenges when Ghanaians are encour aged to consume locally manu factured products and services.
“Tuesday Market provides a platform for the promotion of indigenous Ghanaian products to the general public. In addi tion to displaying the various Made-In-Ghana products, we are using the platform to drive the campaign for Ghanaians to patronise Ghanaian made prod ucts, this will help to sustain Ghanaian businesses as well as create jobs for Ghanaians. This will eventually aid in solving our economic challenges and development of our economy”, she added.
On her part, Mrs. Nana Akyaa Obeng-Adiyiah. Deputy CEO, Finance and Administration, highlighted that the Fair does not only create awareness and promotes Ghanaian products
but serves as an avenue for the businesses to generate revenue from sales of their products to the general public.
She added that “as a Develop ment and Policy Bank, it is important for us to explore inno vative approaches to create avenues for revenue generation for the Bank’s clients as well as other producers of Made-In-Gha na products. Tuesday Market provides the platform for producers of Made-In-Ghana products to sell their products to members of the general public in addition to creating awareness about their products”.
During the “Tuesday Market” on 1st December 2022, patrons of the Fair can also visit the GEXIM MIG Town, located on the Ground Floor of the Africa Trade House, Ridge, Accra opened from Mondays to Fridays between the hours of 9:00am
Sika Mpε Dede, the maxim by the President has quickly meta morphosed into many things. From t-shirts to music and now, a book. The masterpiece authored by Certi ed Financial Fitness Coach; Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko & Certi ed Professional Trainer (CPT); Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh is an eye-opener on many salient money conversations.
Launched at the WestLionCo premises on the 25th of Novem ber 2022, it was well attended by patrons who thronged the place. Preceding the book launch was the Start-up Dialogue which saw experts in their various elds such as Ethel Anne Komlaga of Enter prise Bureau, Peter Kwadwo Asare of Center for Financial Literacy Education (CFLE Africa), Paul Frimpong of WestLionCo and Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh of Role Model Africa headlining the event.
Ethel Anne Komlaga who spoke on Entrepreneurship and Funding expounded the need for entrepreneurship in these uncertain economic
crises. She explained the need for each entrepreneur to discover their makeup and use that to their advantage. She gave wonderful insights on how to position oneself for funding. In her words, “there is a lot of money for funding”. All one needs to do is to identify the many sources of funds avail able.
Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko, Executive Director for the Center for Financial Literacy Education (CFLE Africa) and co-author of Sika Mp engaged participants with priceless nuggets on nancial planning. He broke down the complexities of money and the need for everyone to be nan cially independent. He said, “everyone must know the 5Ms of money. The Meaning of money, The Making of money, How to Manage it, How to Multiply and Move it”. He believes these pillars shape one’s nancial trajectory.
Paul Frimpong of WestLionCo spoke on investments. Explain ing the intricate details of investments especially in these times, he gave a detailed break
down of the everyday nancial jargons hurled at us by the experts. He explained that, “risk is closely tied to investment”. He asked all potential investors to read more before making any investment decisions.
The climax of the session enchanted participants with a delivery by co-author of the mas terpiece, Samuel
to become much more than some thing we do for survival. “We need to run our businesses so well that they function with e ective systems and process, he highlight ed. Mr. Agyeman-Prempeh empha sized the need for entrepreneurs to disintegrate themselves under stand all aspects of the business but very importantly trust and work with team mates and part ners as that serves as a catalyst for the growth of the business.
The event rounded up with the launch of what is potentially a best ε Dede’. The book speaks on the many silent topics regarding money and its usage in our society and the world at large. A great companion to the student confused about money to the trader who seeks to make the most of his money to the investor who is in a dilemma on what to do in
subject of juggling between a day job and a side hustle. Broaching the topic which has become a favorite of many, both in the formal and informal sector, the IAPPD Certi ed Professional Trainer (CPT) engaged partici pants on the need for side hustles
Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko and Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh’s ‘Sika Dede’ is a light for all in these challenging nancial times.
Published by Lumière Creatif, the book is available on Amazon, Sayda, Booknook and Selar.
Perhaps the most important task confronting the interna tional order is enforcement of national limits on green house-gas emissions, such as those that were negotiated in the 2015 Paris agreement. Carbon border adjustments could give these limits teeth, but fair application requires a revived World Trade Organiza tion.
Past attempts at curtailing carbon dioxide emissions have yielded limited results. China and other emerging and devel oping economies resist curbing their rapidly rising emissions, understandably arguing that the industrialized countries should go rst because they created the problem. To be sure, the European Union has had some success, raising the price of CO2 on that continent to around €75 ($78) per ton through its Emissions Trading System. And the United States recently passed the In ation Reduction Act, which heavily subsidizes electric vehicles and other green technologies, though the country still balks at a carbon tax.
Despite good intentions, these global e orts have not put much of a dent in climate change. Negotiators continue to waste time haggling over whether to set a global target of 1.5º or 2º Celsius for the magni tude of global warming. But existing national emission policies are too lax to achieve either outcome. Most countries have failed to meet even their own standards.
Enforcement is nonexistent.
When countries miss their targets, they are not called out, let alone penalized by the inter national community. Carbon leakage and global competition greatly exacerbate the problem. If a country imposes regulatory costs on its own carbon-inten sive domestic rms, production tends to move to lower-cost countries.
Carbon border adjustment mea sures o er a potential way around this collective action problem, because they raise the cost of cheaper, carbon-inten sive imports that threaten to undercut rule-abiding domestic rms. Tari s level the playing eld by making it harder for industries to o shore their emissions to countries with lower regulatory standards and compliance costs. They also encourage governments to join the club of countries making serious commitments and then to abide by them.
The EU is expected to nalize plans for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in December. Beginning in 2026, the EU will impose tari s on imports to equalize CO2 prices between domestic producers and their foreign competitors. The mechanism is designed to protect the most carbon-intensive EU industries, beginning with ve: aluminum, iron and steel, cement, fertiliz er, and electric power genera tion. The European Parliament wants to expand the list to encompass other industries, including those with indirect emissions.
The EU’s border mechanism
could be a major step toward a more e ective global market. But it comes with dangers. American rms will likely feel threatened and cry foul.
EU o cials say the mechanism will comply with WTO rules, and they may turn out to be right. WTO members are already permitted to enact trade barri ers for environmental ends, so long as the measures do not unfairly discriminate against foreign rms.
There are precedents for the WTO’s environmental excep tions. Article XX (b) and (g), which dates back to the WTO’s predecessor, the General Agree ment on Tari s and Trade, allows exceptions to protect health and natural resources. The preamble to the 1994 Mar rakesh Agreement, which estab lished the WTO, makes clear that this includes environmental objectives, as do subsequent rulings, beginning with a 1996 decision on US gasoline imports. Most notably, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism upheld non-discriminatory environ mental exceptions in the famous 1998 shrimp-turtle case. A 2007 WTO Appellate Body decision on some Brazilian import restrictions also con rmed the applicability of Article XX, nd ing that the rules accord consid erable exibility to WTO member governments when they take trade-restrictive mea sures to protect life or health, and that problems like global warming are included. Adjudicating CO2 border taxa tion would be a natural job for a revived WTO, if its members
were to give it the mandate. Even the US, which has sti ed the Appel late Body by leaving it inquorate since 2019, might rediscover the usefulness of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. It could take a case to the WTO if the EU CBAM were to become protection ist, whether by including too many industries with indirect and hard-to-quantify CO2 use, or by over-estimating the gap in the e ective prices of carbon in the US and EU.
An environmentally-driven rein vigoration of the WTO would bene t developing countries, too. Viet nam and other Asian countries could bring cases targeting US and EU trade barriers against imports of solar panels and other renew able energy equipment. Similarly, the “buy American” aspects of the In ation Reduction Act might give US trading partners reason to litigate, rather than simply retali ate. Producers in plainti coun tries would bene t, but so would US buyers, who would gain from cheaper solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and electric cars.
Instead of an environmental trade war, a revived WTO could foster new norms for bene cial CO2 border taxes and generate a wave of trade in green goods and services. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala wants to revive lapsed negotiations to liber alize trade in environmental equip ment. The resulting green global ization would bene t every coun try – and above all the planet.
Npontu Technologies Limited has been adjudged the “Best Company, Business Promotion & Consultancy” award at the 11th Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Awards 2022.
The company was awarded for its role in providing arti cial intelligence (AI), software and value added services.
A release issued by the company said the award was re ective of the hard work the team had put in not just this year, but for previous years as well.
The release noted that in the six years of operating, Npontu had partnered with and provided services for both national and local brands including GIZ, Total, Danone, Unilever, Stan dard Bank (Stanbic Bank), GCB Bank, MTN, Ecobank, among others.
“In keeping with our mission to help our customers freely achieve through the provision of relevant technological tools, we have, on the market, our agship product “Kedebah ERP”
with essential modules like “ nance, inventory and sales, procurement, Human Resource and many more.”
“Additionally, our Arti cial Intelli gence (AI) services is deployed to help our clients with relevant predictions like customer churn, fraud detection and many more,” the release stated.
The release further highlighted that every organisation, whether small, medium or enterprise, could build business-power from the data generated in its opera tions.
It said that investing to reap rele vant answers from this data would be the beginning of the company’s business transformation or at the very minimum to start a journey of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) or Business Process Automation (BPA).
“While businesses are sometimes hesitant to initiate such invest ments for the fear of having to make huge expenditures, Npontu is able to assist clients do this with minimum capital expenditure,” it noted.
Climate Change has brought disruption in our temperature and weather conditions. Hith erto, our temperature and weather conditions were predictable but it is not so.
Human activities are a contrib uting factor which have caused more harm than good regard ing climate change. Burning of oil, coal, gas and poor manage ment of waste have been some of the causes of our climate change.
Managing waste is a key factor so far as sanitation is concerned. In fact, it is of criti cal importance to public health, human dignity, climate resil ience and environmental pres ervation.
Indeed, cleanliness being next to Godliness is tied to making sure that there is e ective waste management. Of course, it cannot be denied that waste is an inevitable bi-product of human life. The e ective and
e cient management of waste is a challenge in Ghana especial ly in the cities. To be blunt, the way waste is managed is a chief factor which a ects climate change.
The rising population growth in the cities have brought about large quantities of waste and the authorities in charge of waste management are overwhelmed in managing the waste in a sani tary manner.
Residents in the cities have an attitude of not disposing o waste in an appropriate manner by littering indiscriminately including burning of rubbish, dumping rubbish into gutters among others. Clearly, the use of tricycles popularly known as “aboboyaa”, wheelbarrows, power tillers, three-wheeled tractors, headloads et cetera are overly depended on to trans port waste and most of these simple equipment owners dispose of the waste through
land ll, open dumping, burning and burying.
The treatment and disposal of waste can produce emissions of several greenhouse gases which contributes to global climate change as we are currently expe riencing. Indeed, the climate impact of waste are becoming di cult to ignore due to its contribution towards the human-driven methane emis sions (which is part of the green house gas emissions apart from carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide).
Land ll opens room for high levels of methane gas and carbon dioxide through the waste decomposition.
STRANEK-Africa has deliberated on this situation and wants to advocate on how city waste can be handled. Recycling waste should be done more than resorting to the land ll method. It goes a long way to reduce emissions as well as greenhouse
gases.
Albeit the fact that Government is doing something about recycling, it should be encouraged so that everyone can get involved. Also, there must be strict compliance with existing environmental legis lations and byelaws in the convey ance, handling and disposal of waste.
No one should be left o the hook when one is found engaging in illegal disposal of waste. Govern ment should nd ways to stop people from shipping waste prod ucts into the country.
Companies like Zoomlion Waste Management Experts, Jekora Ven tures Limited, Waste Land lls Company Limited, Dispose Green, BD Waste et cetera are actually some of the big waste management companies in Ghana hence it is important for them to up their game to improve on city waste management.
their lives.
"Connectivity will be more than just a tool for convenient com munications," he said. "Together with digital technologies like cloud and AI, connectivity will help bring everyone into the digital world, and provide them with access to more information and skills, better services, and wider business opportunities. This will, in turn, drive further social and economic develop
communication networks.
In Africa alone, Huawei has laid more than 250,000 kilometers of optical bers, enabling 30 million households to access high-speed broadband. User experience has seen constant improvement. The average speed of home broadband already exceeds 30 Mbit/s, bring ing smarter, faster, and smoother home network experience.
Huawei has signed a global commitment to join the Inter national Telecommunication Union's Partner2Connect digital alliance, which will bring connectivity to about 120 million people in remote areas in more than 80 countries by 2025.
Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, announced the deci sion at the company's 2022 Sustainability Forum, Connec tivity+: Innovate for Impact. The forum explored how ICT innovation could unleash the business and social value of connectivity and drive sustain ability in the digital economy era.
Speakers at the event included senior leaders from the ITU and United Nations, telecom minis ters and regulators in Cambo dia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and business leaders, partners, experts, and custom ers from China, South Africa, Belgium, and Germany.
"It is clear connectivity alone is not enough. It must be a ord able, the content must be rele vant and in the local language, and users must have the skills to make best use of it," said ITU
Malcolm Johnson. "Thank you to Huawei for their support of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digi tal Coalition, and for their announced P2C pledges in the key areas of rural connectivity and digital skills."
Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, called for "multi-stake holder partnerships" of policy makers, the private sector, academia, and civil society to close "the sobering reality" of a digital divide which excluded a third of the global population.
"Our dynamic world urgently needs improved digital cooper ation to capitalize on the trans formational potential of tech nology to create new jobs, boost nancial inclusion, close the gender gap, spur a green recov ery and redesign our world to be more prosperous and inclu sive," he said. "Now is the time to act".
In his keynote address, Dr Liang stressed that access to a stable network was a basic require ment and right in the digital age. For many who remain uncon nected, access to reliable connectivity would mark the rst step towards transforming
Cao Ming, President of Huawei Wireless Solution, said: "As an enterprise with the most com plete ICT capabilities, Huawei integrates the full-technology innovation potential of equip ment, sites, energy, transmis sion, and antennas to address the di culties faced by tradi tional site deployment, such as high costs, restricted transporta tion, lack of power, and mainte nance challenges. We have continuously upgraded the RuralStar and RuralLink solu tions to extend quality coverage to remote areas, enabling more people, community hospitals, schools, local governments, and small- and medium-sized enter prises to enjoy the same high-speed broadband connec tivity experiences as those in cities".
The RuralStar series solutions have provided connections for more than 60 million people in remote areas in more than 70 countries.
The construction of optical broadband networks o ers another important route to realizing a universal service. Huawei has proposed an innova tive AirPON solution for areas with low population density, including remote areas. This solution continuously reduces the footprint of equipment rooms, optical ber installation costs, and network power consumption, while ensuring the rapid deployment of local
As ICT infrastructure continues to evolve, innovative technologies like cloud and AI are allowing those in rural and remote areas to enjoy the convenience of a digital world. Huawei Cloud has proposed the Everything as a Service strategy and made Hua wei's more than 30 years of techni cal expertise and digital transfor mation experience available through cloud services. This means that access to Huawei's digital infrastructure capabilities on the cloud is now just as easy, a ordable, and sustainable as water and electricity.
Digital transformation, digital talent, and new business models are all essential for balanced devel opment in remote regions. Huawei previously announced that by 2025, with the improved ICT infra structure, the company will work with partners to enable 500 million people to enjoy digital nancial services and 500,000 people to enjoy inclusive educa tion.
In Cambodia, the ITU's rst P2C partner country, Huawei will work with government departments through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and universi ties to provide 10,000 training opportunities for ICT professionals in the next ve years.
Huawei is committed to inclusive development. Through its ongoing technological innovation, Huawei is contributing to a higher level of digitalization in remote regions, enabling everyone to enjoy the convenience of a digital life, and promoting the balanced develop ment of the global digital economy.