Ghana: Press zooms in on aviation service deal between Ghana, South China Airlines, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana is collaborating with the Southern China Airlines to provide aviation services for the country and the West African Region.
When the discussions are finalised, the Southern China Airlines will provide direct flight from Accra to Guangzhou to facilitate mobility and commerce between Ghana and the broader West Afri­can region and China.
This forms part of the discussions, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta had with his Chinese counterpart when he recently travelled to China.
The Finance Ministry made this known in statement made available to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday.
Mr Ofori-Atta led an official government delegation to the People’s Republic of China from January 25, 2024 to February 3, 2024 and held a series of important meetings with his Chinese counterparts, which will set the stage for a more enduring partnership between Ghana and China.
The Finance Minister said the discussions with the Southern China Airlines for aviation services in Ghana for the West African market, served as a follow-up to the maiden working sessions of the Ghana Mutual Prosperity Partnership, where the Government, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance, Ghana Revenue Authority and Ghana Investment Promotion Centres, met with Chinese businesses operating in Ghana, to get a fair sense of the challenges they are encountering and how Government could work to enhance the business environment.
The newspaper says that the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Men¬sah-Bonsu, has assert¬ed that the structure of internal elections in the various political parties encourage corruption.
The Suame lawmaker said the phenom¬enon where candidates dole out mon¬ey to delegates who have “constituted themselves into a cabal” in the name of transport fares is dangerous and threatens the country’s democracy.
“We all know we are sowing the seed of corruption at the base level of our parties. You reap what you sow,” Mr Kyei-Men¬sah-Bonsu stated.
Speaking at a parliamentary leadership meeting with journalists in Accra yester¬day, the outgoing seven-term MP said the parties must find a way to conduct their primaries to reduce the level of monetisa¬tion of the process.
His observation comes on the back of allegation of vote buying which has characterised parliamentary primaries; the latest being the NPP’s January 27 prima¬ries where 28 sitting MPs lost their bids to return to Parliament in 2025.
Per Ghanaian culture, the Majority Leader said it was okay for candidates to reach out to delegates by way of transport fare to appreciate their coming when in¬vited but if that appreciation goes beyond GH¢500, that should raise eyebrows.
“I am not too sure there is any place in this country where from the (delegates) place of residence to the constituency centre where elections would be held, the amount will be GH¢500. I am not too sure of that but with what we are hearing, there is something wrong and we must all attend to that,” he stated.
According to him, nobody will spend such huge money and not expect to recoup what he may have spent during campaign when voted into office.
The newspaper says that the government has officially announced the suspension of the VAT on electricity.
Reference is made to the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) letter to the Electricity Company of Ghana, Ltd (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) on the above subject dated 12th December 2023; as well as MoF’s Press Statement on the subject issued on 30th January 2024.
On behalf of the Government, MoF would like to inform ECG and NEDCO to suspend the implementation of the VAT directive pending further engagements with key stakeholders including Organised Labour.
The Ministry expects that these engagements will birth innovative, robust, and inclusive approaches to bridging the existing fiscal gap, while bolstering economic resilience.
The newspaper says that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has stated that he intends to eliminate the tax on electronic financial transactions, known as e-levy, if elected President of Ghana.
In his first major address to the nation following his election as New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, where he outlined the broad policy outlines of a Bawumia Presidency, Dr. Bawumia was forthright in his stance against taxes on electronic financial transactions, affirming his commitment to abolishing e-levy as President.
Dr. Bawumia emphasized that his vision for a Digital and Cashless Ghana would receive a significant boost with the abolition of e-levy.
“To transition to a cashless economy, we need to encourage the use of electronic payment channels. To facilitate this, there will be no taxes on digital payments under my administration. Therefore, the e-levy will be abolished,” he declared.
Dr. Bawumia also revealed plans for a new tax regime under his government, which would include the abolition of the emission tax, tax on betting, and the proposed 15% VAT on electricity tariffs, if implemented by January 2025.
Furthermore, he announced the introduction of a simplified, citizen- and business-friendly flat tax regime for Ghana, aimed at supporting individuals and businesses, particularly small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
“My administration will implement a straightforward, citizen- and business-friendly flat tax regime. This will involve a flat tax percentage of income for individuals and SMEs, which represent 98% of all businesses in Ghana, with appropriate exemption thresholds to safeguard the poor,” Dr. Bawumia affirmed.
GIK/APA