The launch of the 12-month project, sponsored by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, is expected to enhance migrant workers’ protection and right-based regular pathways for labour migrants in the three countries is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the lunch of the 12-month project, sponsored by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, is expected to enhance migrant workers’ protection and right-based regular pathways for labour migrants in the three countries.
Dubbed: ‘Improving labour migration governance and ethical recruitment practices in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria,’ it would also address exploitative employment of migrant workers, while building capacity of various stakeholders, including state and recruitment agencies to protect migrants.
In Ghana for instance, a code of conduct would be developed for private recruitment agencies operating in the country to help sanitise the labour migration space.
At the launch of the project in Accra on Wednesday, the IOM Chief of Mission to Ghana, Fatou Ndiaye Diallo, and the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Simone Giger, signed the contract for the project.
Ms Diallo said the multi-country approach was because working in silos would not help protect migrant workers’ rights.
She said Africa’s growing youth population and the increasing number entering the job market had necessitated safe and orderly migration pathways for decent work, especially the recruitment stage.
Ms Diallo said vulnerabilities and exploitation of migrant workers often started at the recruitment stage through unethical practices like passport withholding, contract substitution, and charging fees.
She said the successful implementation would not only further IOM’s efforts in ensuring safe and orderly migration, but also help governments manage labour migration efficiently.
Ms Giger said the project would help harness the full development potential of labour migration for countries of origin and destination
The newspaper says that Fidelity Bank, Ghana’s largest privately-owned indigenous bank, held its Virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra, showcasing a year of remarkable recovery and record profits.
Mr James Reynolds Baiden, Board Chairman of Fidelity Bank, addressing the shareholders, highlighted the bank’s resilience in a challenging economic climate.
“Notwithstanding the macro-economic challenges, 2023 was a year of strong performance and significant recovery for Fidelity Bank, evident in our record revenues and profits,” Mr Baiden stated.
He announced a significant turnaround, with operating income rising 40 per cent year-on-year, from GH¢1.43 billion in 2022 to GH¢2.03 billion in 2023
Profitability also saw a dramatic shift, reversing a recorded loss of GH¢518 million in 2022 to a profit of GH¢1.17 billion in 2023.
Mr Baiden attributed this growth to the bank’s strong performance across all business segments, including Retail Banking, Corporate and Institutional Banking, and Financial and Capital Markets.
The bank’s total assets, he said, grew by 25 per cent to reach GH¢ 17.22 billion at the end of 2023, driven by a 28 per cent increase in customer deposits, which closed the year at GH¢ 12.65 billion.
The incremental funding, he said, enabled the bank to grow its Loans and Advances Portfolio by 17 per cent to GH¢ 3.21 billion, and its investment securities book by 28 per cent to GH¢ 7.70 billion in 2023.
The bank witnessed a notable 119 per cent increase in Shareholder Funds, reaching GH¢ 1.44 billion at the end of the year.
The Graphic reports that Ghana is fast losing out on the export of its dominant foreign exchange earner, cocoa.
For instance, the export value of cocoa products in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, witnessed a significant decrease to US$592.2 million representing a whopping decline of 32.8% compared to the same period in 2023.
It also indicates a US$233.6 million loss in export revenue compared to the average for the past three years.
The figure is also relative to the average of US$825.8 million for the first quarters of the last year years (2021, 2022 and 2023).
The worrying development is in spite of the fact that exports of cocoa products usually peak in the first quarter of the year.
Exports of cocoa are dominated by beans. On average beans which accounted for 56.2% of cocoa exports in 2021, decreased to 51.4% in 2022, and declined further to 46.5% in 2023.
The decline is driven by a collapse in exports of cocoa beans in Q3 of the past two years. In 2021, exports of cocoa beans didn’t fall below US$225 million in a single quarter, but in 2022 and 2023 they reached lows of US$44.7 million and US$13.5 million, respectively.
According to the Q1 2024 newsletter trade report authored by the Ghana Statistical Service, the focus was on cocoa exports because of the current cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD) with figures presented in United States (US) Dollars because cocoa is usually traded in the American greeback. \
Meanwhile, analysts have also pointed to the devastating impact of illegal mining, galamsey, which is claiming large tracks of land used for the cultivation of the country’s lead export earner, cocoa.
The newspaper says that the Leader and Founder of the Movement for Change and the 2024 Independent Presidential candidate for the Alliance for Revolutionary Change (ARC), Alan Kyerematen, has unveiled a transformative plan to harness the vast food production potential of the five northern regions, positioning them as the food basket of West Africa.
“The kind of food production potential we have in the five regions is immense,” Mr. Kyerematen stated, adding that “By harnessing this potential, the north cannot only achieve self-sufficiency but also become a major supplier of food across West Africa.”
Mr. Kyerematen was speaking to supporters of his movement and other stakeholders during his tour in Tamale in the Northern region on Tuesday, June 11, 2024.
He also stressed the need to empower youth with skills and resources to enable them become drivers of the country’s economy in different sectors, saying, “The youth of the northern part of our great nation need jobs and skills empowerment within their respective regions, not training centers elsewhere. Empowering local youth will help build and develop their local economy. The North deserves better.”
His development plan emphasizes building robust agricultural infrastructure and supporting farmers with modern techniques and resources, saying “The north deserves better.”
For Mr Kyerematen, “by investing in local talents and resources, we aim to create a sustainable and thriving agricultural sector that benefits everyone in the regions.”
He believes that his transformative plan will have a ripple effect, enhancing the overall quality of life and reducing socioeconomic disparities between the north and other parts of the country.
GIK/APA