Ghana: Press focuses on launching of $14.3m USAID project on education, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The launching of the $14.39 million United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project by the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, to improve access to quality education in some low-cost private schools in some selected regions in the country is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, has launched a $14.39 million United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project to improve access to quality education in some low-cost private schools in some selected regions in the country.
The project is to benefit more than 52, 000 students in 213 schools.
According to the Education Minister, through the government’s effort in enhancing education, the sector had seen a very tremendous performance of students in the region, saying it was the best in the country.
He disclosed that over 2,100 teachers would receive professional development training, coaching and 1,278 would be supported to earn Diploma in Basic Education to improve their teaching.
The Deputy Mission Director of USAID, Ms Grace Lang, speaking at the launch said the activity was USAID’s first project into Ghana’s private school sector and was designed to expand access to quality education to the beneficiaries.
She said, the project was to “see every child in rural and disadvantaged communities have access to quality education.”
“The Ghana Advancing Partnership for improved Learning Activity will support those schools to improve education access, quality, and learning outcomes for students, and increase private sector investments in northern Ghana,” she added.
She said the activity would increase teacher certification and retention, strengthening school leadership capacity and quality, and use a comprehensive investment strategy to support school improvement.
The newspaper says that Access Bank has recorded a profit-before-tax of GH¢514.2 million in the first half of 2023, representing a growth of 65.4 per cent compared to the GH¢310.8 million posted for the same period in 2022.
The bank’s performance for the first six months of the year highlights the remarkable recovery from the debt exchange programme witnessed in 2022.
The bank has also demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting the immediate recovery and long-term growth of the real sector of the economy, evidenced by the substantial growth in loans and advances to the private sector.
Advances grew by 28.2 per cent to GH¢2,007 million as of June 2023, from the GH¢1,566 million recorded in the same period in 2022.
Additionally, the bank’s total assets saw substantial growth, from GH¢ 8,602 million to GH¢10,369 million over the same period.
Speaking on the bank’s impressive performance, Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana Plc, Olumide Olatunji, said the bank’s stellar performance was as a result of sound financial discipline, astute management, and strategic decision-making.
“Our bank’s robust growth amid industry challenges indicates our resilience, and ability to efficiently allocate resources to maximise performance,” Mr Olumide said.
He commended the Board, Management, and Staff of Access Bank Ghana for their leadership and unwavering commitment to the success of the bank.
The Chief Financial Officer of Access Bank Ghana, Michael Gyabaah, said, “As the economy rebounds from the challenges of 2022, it is imperative that the banking sector remains positioned to provide the requisite support to drive and consolidate the gains seen so far in 2023.”
The Ghanaian Times also says that Gold Fields Ghana Limited last Friday presented a multipurpose tractor valued at $28,000 to the Takoradi Airforce Base to promote aviation safety and flights operations in the Western Region.
With a mower attached, the equipment is to assist in keeping the edges, shoulders of the runway of overgrown bushes and other potential impediments that hinder flight operations.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony on Friday, the Relieving General Manager, Tarkwa Mine, Elliot Twum, expressed Gold Fields commitment to safety which was the number one value saying “if we cannot mine, we will not mine.”
He said, this value was extended to communities in which the company operated to ensure that all stakeholders understood and benefitted from the commitment they made to safety.
Mr Twum added “that’s why we believe providing this important equipment to Takoradi Airport, and indeed, the Airforce Base, will go a long way to ensure flight safety for everyone who uses this facility.
Almost every day our employees, visitors and other stakeholders use this airport as they travel to our mine sites at Tarkwa and Damang.”
Since 2004, he said Gold Fields Foundation had invested over $96 mil¬lion in health, water and sanitation and infrastructure.
“Our purpose is to create an enduring value beyond mining. We are keen on ensuring sustainable growth and development, keen on delivering on targets we set for environmental, social and governance commitments,” Mr Twum said.
Receiving the tractor, the Takoradi Base Commander, Air Commodore Godfried Sackey Parker, recalled that on assumption of office, he realised that maintenance of safety, particularly along the runway was a huge challenge.
He indicated that he was desirous to ensure safety of both military and civilian operations at the Airforce Base, especially controlling weeds along the runway, but, manual work with cutlasses and sometimes the hiring of a tractor were not sustainable, today, as it came with additional cost.
The Graphic says that a few hours after the ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff concluded plans for a military alternative, the Niger coup leaders have now opened doors to negotiate.
General Abdusalami Salami was back in Niger on Saturday morning, August 19, under the auspices of ECOWAS in the diplomatic move.
ECOWAS on Friday stated that troops across the region are ready to enter Niger and restore democratic rule.
After a two-day meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, the West African sub-regional bloc said there was political will among member states who were also ready to contribute their own troops and equipment for the mission to restore democratic rule in Niger, where the presidential guard a detachment of the military, toppled the President, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26, this year.
“We are not going to Niger to wage war,rather to restore constitutional order,” the Commissioner in charge of Political Affairs,Peace and Security at the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, said at a press conference at Burma Camp on Friday.
He stressed that member states across the region had committed resources and equipment needed to undertake the mission and “we are ready to go anytime the Heads of State give the order”.
Dr Musah further said the Heads of State of the member states were satisfied with the reports presented by the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff and the troops across the region were ready to respond to the call to duty.
GIK/APA