The report that the government has increased the price paid to cocoa farmers at the farm gate to GH¢33,120 per tonne is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the government has increased the price paid to cocoa farmers at the farm gate to GH¢33,120 per tonne.
This marks a 58.26 per cent increase over the GH¢20,928 per tonne paid to the farmers at the farm gate, also known as the producer price. The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) announced this in a statement issued in Accra last Friday and signed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Joseph Boahene Aidoo.
COCOBOD said the new price, which translates into GH¢2,070 per bag of 64 kg gross weight, was up from GH¢1,308. The prices took effect from last Friday and would be used for the rest of the 2023/24 crop year.
This is the second time the price for the 2023/2024 cocoa season is being adjusted. The first was announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on September 9, last year, which moved the price per tonne from GH¢12,800 to GH¢20,928 and that of a bag of 64kg from GH¢800 to GH¢1,308.
The government also approved a review of the buyers’ margin to GH¢2,980 per tonne for the rest of the 2023/24 cocoa season. COCOBOD said the increase, which also took effect last Friday, was expected to cushion the LBCs against the rise in finance cost due to an increase in the producer price of cocoa.
The newspaper says that the visiting Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, has stated that Italy is committed to building on the strong bond of economic cooperation with Ghana.
He expressed delight at the intensified economic growth between Ghana and Italy and said, “we want to ensure that we build a complex form of cooperation in a number of sectors”.
President Mattarella made the statement yesterday after a bilateral meeting between Ghana and Italy at the Jubilee House as part of his three-day state visit to Ghana.
Accompanied by his wife, Laura Mattarella, and some government officials, the Italian President inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Ghana Navy amidst the playing of the national anthems of the two countries.
The two leaders then led their ministers in a bilateral discussion and later addressed the media.
Speaking through an interpreter, the Italian President underscored how Ghana represented a fundamental partner to Italy based on mutual respect and equal cooperation to the benefit of the people of both countries.
He added that Italian businesses looked to Ghana with a great deal of interest and called for the establishment of a direct flight between Accra and Rome, which he said, would make it easier and deepen the relationship.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana ranked best in governance in West Africa – World Economics Governance Index report
Ghana has been ranked best perform¬ing country in governance in West Africa, according to the recent World Economics Governance Index report.
The report, which was released by the World Economics Re¬search, based in London, United Kingdom, also placed Ghana fifth on the overall position in Africa.
The report indicated that Ghana has exhibited remarkable advancements across various governance indicators, including political stability, rule of law, accountability and government effectiveness.
The statement said the coun¬try’s consistent efforts in uphold¬ing democratic values, ensuring transparency, and promoting inclusive policies had contributed significantly to its high ranking.
It said, the ranking reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to demo¬cratic principles and effective gov¬ernance systems, positioning it as a beacon of stability and progress in the region.
The governance evaluation, which considered factors like po¬litical rights, law and order, press freedom and corruption, placed Ghana at a respectable position of grade B and a score of 61.7. The data is ranked on a 0-100 scale where 0 stands for bad and 100 stands for as good as it gets.
The report said Ghana’s dedica¬tion to good governance is under¬scored by its successful democrat¬ic transitions of power, adherence to constitutional principles, and robust institutions that uphold the rule of law.
It also mentioned that the peaceful and orderly conduct of elections, coupled with the smooth transfer of power, ex¬emplified Ghana’s commitment to democratic governance and political stability.
Furthermore, Ghana’s proactive approach to combating corrup¬tion and promoting transparency has earned commendation within the international community.
The newspaper says that the Embassy of Japan on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three institutions in Accra to construct Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) facility in some districts.
The total Grant contract signed for CHPS compound worth $ 210,031 is an initiative of the Japanese Government Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGHSP).
Expected to be completed within a year, the beneficiary districts are Tolon District in the Northern Region Daffiama Bussie Issa in the Upper West Region and Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region.
A total of 15,382 individuals are expected to benefit from the CHPS Compound directly in terms of healthcare delivery.
Signing the MoU in Accra, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Mochizuki Hisanobu, said the Japanese Government established the GGHSP to provide funding support to grassroots humanitarian projects in solving human security challenges.
He noted that, the project had provided funding support to over 350 grassroots projects in Ghana in health, education, agriculture, water, sanitation and many others since its inception.
“Today’s ceremony is to award Grants to the tune of $210,031 to three beneficiary institutions who have successfully gone through series of rigorous GGHSP selection process.
The institutions included Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Health Directorate in the Eastern Region, Grameen Ghana (NGO) from the Northern Region and Daffiama Bussie Issa District Assembly in the Upper West Region,” he noted.
Mr Hisanobu said the construction of the CHPS compound would be constructed at Tsledom, an isolated community located on the mountains of Lower Manya Krobo Municipality surrounded by three settlements that lacked access to basic health care.
Also, he said the other selected two communities in the Northern part of the country which were, Kpalgun and Kenkellen lacked health facilities and the community members suffer from malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia among others.
GIK/APA
Ghana: Press focuses on cocoa producer price increase by govt, others
