APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that Ghana and Zambia have signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to reinforce and promote cooperation between the two countries is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that Ghana and Zambia have signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to reinforce and promote cooperation between the two countries.
The agreements — Political Consultation, Defence Cooperation and Agreed Minutes of the Permanent Joint Commission between Ghana and Zambia — were signed at Zambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lusaka, the capital, last Tuesday.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, signed for Ghana, while the Minister of Justice of Zambia, who is also the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mulambo Haimbi, initialled on behalf of his country.
The MoUs are geared towards fostering, governing and monitoring bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
They also aim to provide a structure for the exchange of views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, covering areas such as politics, diplomacy, trade infrastructure, eco-tourism and wildlife conservation, education and spatial planning.
Exchanging the memoranda of understanding, Mr Haimbi traced the history of the friendship between the two countries which dates back to “our freedom struggle” era, saying “our forefathers trod the path for us which we need to continue”.
“With the signing of the agreement, Zambia and Ghana are in a very good position in terms of our cooperation,” the Zambian acting Foreign Minister stressed.
The newspaper says that Ghana’s Black Stars have dropped six places, from 61st to 67th, in the latest FIFA-Coca Cola Men’s World rankings released on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
Ghana now occupies the 14th position on the CAF rankings (Africa) with Cape Verde, South Africa and DR Congo moving above the four-time AFCON champions.
Ghana has been affected by this slip based on their following their dramatic and early exit from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in Cote D’Ivoire.
The Black Stars performed abysmally at the AFCON, with the team failing to record a win in their three group stage matches played against Cape Verde, Egypt, and Mozambique.
Ghana exited the group stage after picking up just two points from the three games.
On the other hand, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have moved up 14 places in the latest FIFA men’s ranking released on Thursday.
The three-time African champions are now ranked 28th in the world and the third best team in Africa while Ghana occupy the 14th position in Africa.
Morocco are the highest ranked country on the continent, with Senegal in second position. Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire complete the top five teams on the continent.
After a wonderful display in the 2023 AFCON, Côte d’Ivoire pushed themselves up to 39th position in the world and 5th on the CAF rankings.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana has been com¬mended for its effort at training Cer¬tified Trading Standard Inspectors towards the promotion of standards in the country.
According to the United Kingdom Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ghana, Baron¬ess Cathrine Hoey, the move was not only in the right direc¬tion, but also very important in guaranteeing confidence of people that they would receive value for their money when they traded with or in Ghana.
She was speaking yesterday at the ceremony in Accra to mark progress made so far by Ghana in using international standards to enhance trade opportunities as part of the global Standards Partnership (SP) programme.
It was organised by the Gha¬na Standards Authority (GSA) in collaboration with the British Standards Institution (BSI), the ceremony also recognised about 120 trading standards inspectors for successfully completing training through the programme.
The inspectors constituted the first cohort in the country to undertake the BSI training which aligned to the GSA’s evolved mandate of ensuring safe, fair and legally compliant marketplaces, while helping local businesses and protecting consumers.
Baroness Catherine Hoey expressed optimism that the initiative would impact Ghana’s global efforts to ensure stan¬dardisation, adding that “This will guarantee the confidence of people of getting value for their money wherever they pa¬tronise products and services.”
She acknowledged the efforts that had been made to en¬sure standardisation, and also recognised the support from various agencies and institutions involved in the project.
On his part, the BSI Team Leader of the Standards Part¬nership, Graham Holloway, expressed his happiness towards the milestone achieved with the introduction of TSIs in the country.
“This project wouldn’t have taken place without the finan¬cial and other support from the UK government, particularly the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) which administers the develop¬ment budget,” he stated.
The newspaper says that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kings¬ford Bagbin, on Thursday implored members of Parliament to let their passion to promote Ghanaian language and culture reflect in their dressing.
This was his response to a spirited conversation on the floor about dying indigenous languages led by Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, the Member of Parliament for Ellembele Constituency in the Western Region.
Mr Bagbin said the call by the MPs touches the heart of every¬body, not just Ghanaians.
The Speaker, thus, directed the education, culture and tourism and finance committees to provide a comprehensive report on the way forward.
Mr Bagbin, an avid promoter of Ghanaian culture, said the Stand¬ing Orders makes provision for Parliament to conduct proceedings in different Ghanaian languages, adding that the next Parliament would ensure contemporaneous interpretation of proceedings.
Mr Buah, who initiated the con¬versation, expressed concerns about the exclusion of Nzema language in the curricula of colleges in the Western Region.
Contributing to the conversation, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, said the challenge was not exclusive to the Western Region.
He said the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had already report¬ed that nearly 3,000 of the 7,000 languages spoken across the globe were on the verge of total extinc¬tion.
The legislator said that it was a matter that required urgent national attention.
He said the issue at hand was important because lan¬guage was what represented “our culture and heritage.”
Mr Ablakwa, who is a Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, be¬moaned how students were pun¬ished for speaking local languages which was referred to as vernacular.
GIK/APA