The report that a new public-private partnership aimed at delivering affordable 5G mobile broadband services across Ghana within six months is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that a new public-private partnership aimed at delivering affordable 5G mobile broadband services across Ghana within six months, marking a significant advancement in Ghana’s digital infrastructure has commenced.
The government of Ghana, Ascend Digital, K-NET, Radisys (owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani), Nokia, and Tech Mahindra, along with local mobile network operators (MNOs), AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana, have joined forces to create Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC).
Two African telecommunication firms — Ascend Digital Solutions Ltd and K-NET — hold a combined stake of 55 per cent in the new company.
The Ghana government will own just under 10 per cent of NGIC, while local mobile operators and private investors will retain the remaining shares in the firm.
The newspaper says that the Bank of Ghana has stepped in to directly absorb the foreign exchange needs of corporate institutions as part of a series of measures to contain the depreciating cedi.
This is to reduce the pipeline demands for foreign exchange from the commercial banks, and effectively halt the depreciating local currency. The Ghana Cedi has so far depreciated by 14.6 per cent against the US dollar, is trading at GH¢13.9480 and selling at GH¢13.9620 against the dollar at the interbank market. At some forex bureaux in Accra, the dollar was being bought at GH¢14.80 and sold at GH¢15.00 as of yesterday.
The central bank is also working with the Ghana Association of Banks to streamline documentation requirements for foreign payments to minimise the incentives to resort to the informal markets.
The Bank of Ghana has also banned all forex bureaux from advertising their rates outside their premises and on social media platforms. At a news conference in Accra, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, said the central bank was working with the Financial Intelligence Centre to curb the operations of illegal foreign exchange market operators.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) yesterday launched a long-term national development framework, Vision 2057, aim at elevating the country to upper middle-income status by 2057.
Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Chairman of the NDPC, speaking at an event in Accra yesterday to unveil the plan, highlighted its foundational elements and overarching objectives.
According to him, the plan builds on Ghana’s historical development trajectory, reflecting lessons learned from past experiences and aligning with global commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
He emphasised that the framework provided a roadmap for achieving integrated socio-economic development goals, setting a course for a prosperous and self-reliant nation.
He also noted that previous rigid plans often clashed with the political manifestoes of successive governments, leading to discontinuity.
Professor Gyan-Baffour explained that the Vision 2057 Long-Term National Development Perspective Framework, instead of being a rigid prescriptive plan, offers a flexible guiding document.
This approach, he said, allowed future governments the freedom to choose their projects and programmes while adhering to the overarching national vision.
He highlighted that the Vision 2057 framework aimed to improve living standards and achieve macroeconomic stability, peace and security, human capital development, and sustainable infrastructure in the country,
The newspaper says that the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers’ Association (GPMA) has called on the government to immediately suspend the newly imposed 5 per cent exercise tax on all locally manufactured plastic products, as members are currently facing high production costs.
According to them, about 92 per cent of industries and businesses rely heavily on plastic packaging and plastic products, which the tax would inevitably cause a widespread increase in consumer prices.
During a press conference held in Accra yesterday, Mr Ebbo Botwe, the President of the Association, emphasised that the tax would have an impact on various items such as plastic chairs and tables, data pipes, water tanks, ice chests, conduit pipes, electrical fittings, jerrycans and other products.
This, he said, would create obstacles for the local manufacturing industry to effectively compete with imported goods.
“Indeed, for the current total plastic manufacture we do in Ghana, these aforementioned products and so many other products which we call flexible plastic, just make about 21 percent of our total production. About 79 per cent of production goes into rigid plastics.
This is a perception which has gone on for a long time, such that, at the mention of plastic, it’s all about shopping bags and pure water sachet, which is a wrong notion which needs to be corrected henceforth,” hehighlighted.
Mr Botwe said that surprisingly the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) which collects tax on behalf of the government did not inform the Association before its implementation, stressing that such behaviour does not favour the business communities.
GIK/APA