Ghana: Press spotlights resumption of Korea Eximbank funded projects soon, others
APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that all Korea Exim Bank financing projects which have temporarily been halted as a result of Ghana’s ongoing Debt Exchange Programme will resume immediately negotiation processes with the Paris Club are completed is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that all Korea Exim Bank financing projects which have temporarily been halted as a result of Ghana’s ongoing Debt Exchange Programme will resume immediately negotiation processes with the Paris Club are completed, Chairman and President of the Korea Exim Bank, Hee-Sung Yoon, has assured.
Negotiations with the Paris Club is expected to be completed by the end of November after which Ghana will receive the second tranche of $600 million of the International Monetary Fund programme.
He said work on projects such as the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, the ports development and others in the highways sector which had temporarily been suspended would resume immediately after the neglect.
“Once the debt restructuring process are completed EDCF projects which were temporarily halted such as the establishment of the University of Environment and Sustainable project will resume immediately,” he said.
Mr Yoon gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday.
The chairman and his delegation are on a working visit to the country to explore ways of corporation.
He explained that Ghana and Korea had been key partners of the Economic Development Corporation Fund (EDCF).
Mr Yoon noted that both Ghana and South Korea would continue to explore cooperative projects in emerging development sectors with high demand such as green and digital initiatives on top of the infrastructures.
“Ghana has been a key partner of the Economic Development Corporation Fund which is interested to us Korea Exim Bank on behalf to the Korean Govern¬ment,” he emphasised.
President Akufo-Addo who welcomed Mr Yoon and his delegation expressed his appreciation for the visit and assured that the negotiations would be concluded with the Paris Club by the close of the year.
The newspaper says that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) will from January next year commence regulation of the importation, storage, processing and marketing of bitumen in the country.
The new regulatory framework, which will have inputs from the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA), and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), seeks to streamline the bitumen supply chain and to ensure compliance with national quality standards.
The new framework spells out who qualifies to obtain a licence, the national standards for Bitumen and guidelines to follow for the supply of the product among other things.
Director of Economic Regulation and Planning at NPA, Mrs Alpha Welbeck, who made the disclosure at a media briefing in Accra, urged industry players to use the remaining period of 2023 to regularise their operations with the Authority.
“Existing bitumen facilities and new entrants will have to acquire a license before they will be allowed to operate in the industry beginning 2024,” she stated.
Mrs Welbeck said that currently, bitumen which was a by-product of crude oil was sourced from both local oil producers and imported by private companies.
Despite its importance, she said, little had been done in terms of monitoring and regulation of the product as compared to the other petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, LPG etc.
The Graphic reports that the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama says he will reset the Ghanaian economy from a “sloppy decline” under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He said “unrealistic policies” borne out of slogans by the President Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has led Ghana into an economic ditch, which needed realistic policies to turn it around and stabilise the economy.
“There must be an end to this decline…. so that Ghana’s citizens and working people can breathe a sigh of relief,” he said.
The former President was speaking at an engagement forum with the leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Accra on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, under his Building Ghana Tour.
Mr Mahama said the “bad Ghanaian economy” has led to many Ghanaians, particularly, Ghanaian workers losing their purchasing power due to inflationary pressures.
He said a lot of people “have their inadequate income eroded by inflationary pressures.”
The NDC leader said in the last few years, he had been outlining policies that a future NDC government would implement to help restore the economy and stabilise it, adding that, the aim of such policies was to stop the steep decline of Ghana’s economy, turn it around and stabilise it.
The newspaper says that between September 15 and October, the Volta River Authority (VRA) conducted a “controlled spillage” of water from the Akosombo and Kpong dams.
This is the eleventh since the inauguration of the Akosombo Dam in 1965.
The spillage submerged communities downstream.
Media reports suggest that about 50,000 people were displaced while homes, farms and livelihoods were washed away.
This created environmental and economic crises, disrupted education and increased hardships for vulnerable individuals.
Also, experts warned of a public health epidemic that could follow the flood disaster.
Generally, the situation is described as a humanitarian crisis.
While the VRA and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) argue that the spillage was a necessary measure to avert a catastrophic dam rupture, valid questions arise about the process, given its consequences.
It is worth noting that the VRA successfully managed higher water volumes (277 ft in 2010), compared to 276 ft this year.
Furthermore, there are financial and engineering concerns about the cost associated with evacuating and resettling affected communities in modern Ghana, as opposed to employing advanced engineering techniques to divert excess water to the sea.
GIK/APA
Ghana: Press spotlights resumption of Korea Eximbank funded projects soon, others
