Ghana: Press zooms in on conferment of Leadership Award on President Akufo-Addo, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The conferment of the Medal of Merit in Leadership Award on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo by the African Bar Association is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the African Bar Association has conferred a Medal of Merit in Leadership Award on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
A citation accompanying the award described President Akufo-Addo as “a pan Africanist, anti-corruption crusader, a rare democratic leader in the field of good governance, a true African Statesman whose legacies present African leaders must emulate, and we are minded to say will stand the test of time”.
The President of the association, Hannibal Egbe Uwaifo, conferred the honour on President Akufo-Addo at the 2023 Annual Conference of the African Bar Association in Pretoria, South Africa.
Receiving the award, President Akufo-Addo commended the association for the award, stating that the legal profession had a rarefied position in African societies, and lawyers were assured of a special status.
He said as lawyers, it was a source of pride that they were in the forefront of the fight for liberation from colonialism, and that since independence, lawyers had moved seamlessly between politics and the legal profession.
“We must be defined by what we see in ourselves, and not what others choose to say about us.
However, this cannot happen if we do not trade amongst ourselves.
Africa accounts for only three per cent of global trade, and intra-African trade is one of the lowest of any region globally,” he said.
The newspaper says that Persons with disabilities (PWDs) have no representation in Parliament.
Also, only 40 out of the 275 Members of Parliament (MPs) presently are women, a situation which is a source of concern to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who has thus suggested the creation of quotas to represent strategic groups and minorities in Parliament.
He explained that apart from the geographic constituencies, there could be quotas for minority groups to allow them to be part of decision making.
Mr Bagbin made the remarks during a courtesy call on the Oguaa Traditional Council led by Osabarima Kwesi Atta at the Emintsimadze palace last Sunday.
The visit forms part of the activities of the Speaker to whip up support for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Parliament in the Fourth Republic and Ghana’s return to democracy.
Mr Bagbin said the celebration and engagements were to educate Ghanaian on their heritage and ignite a sense of commitment for the country’s democracy.
Providing further insight into the situation, Mr Bagbin said it was only during the sixth Parliament that PWDs had a 5.5 per cent representation, saying it was not right.
He said religious organisations, civil society organisations, traditional authorities, PWDs, the youth and women should be adequately represented for accelerated development.
“Yet you keep on saying you are a model democracy,” he added.
The Ghanaian Times reports that MTN Ghana has sustained its growth momentum as its 2023 half-year revenue rose by 32.3 per cent to GH₵6.2 billion from GH₵4.6 billion in the same period last year.
The growth of the company, which was listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 2018, was driven by data services, which rose by 41.0 per cent to hit GH₵2.6 billion in the first half of the year.
Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Ghana, disclosed this at the company’s Ghana Investor Connect programme in Accra last Wednesday, saying Mobile Money played a leading role in the growth achieved in the first half of the year.
Mobile Money, he said, saw a revenue growth of 48.8 per cent to reach GH₵1.3 billion, while voice revenue increased by 14.4 per cent to GH₵1.7 billion.
However, Mr Adadevoh said digital revenue fell by 22.1 per cent to GH¢0.1p.
In view of the performance of the first half of the year, he said the company posted a profit-after-tax of GH¢1.7 billion, which is 27.9 more than the profit-after-tax of GH₵1.3 billion recorded in the same period last year.
He said Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), which measures a company’s financial health and ability to generate cash, saw a growth of 29.4 per cent to GH₵3.5 billion, and earnings per share improved by 27.7 per cent to GH¢0.129p.
Consequently, Mr Adadevoh disclosed that the company has declared an interim dividend of five pesewas per share.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana said in the period under review, the company invested GH₵1.5 billion in core capital expenditure, which was an increase of 54.2 per cent of the amount spent in the same period last year.
Mr Adadevoh said the first half of the year had been difficult due to the challenging macroeconomic environment.
In spite of that, he said MTN Ghana was well-positioned to capture a compelling and unique growth opportunity in Ghana.
The newspaper says that about 150 Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the country are to benefit from a US$50 million funding scheme aimed at boosting their growth and expansion.
The scheme is an initiative of Growth Investment Partners (GIP) Ghana, the newly launched investment arm of British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom’s (UK) development finance institution.
Beneficiary SMEs in various sectors including energy, agriculture, forestry and manufacturing, will receive capital ranging between US$500,000 and US$5 million through flexible financing options that meet their needs of local businesses and are not available in the market.
Additionally, GIP with the support of the Ghana Investment Support Programme, will provide business support services and capacity building in areas of financial management, corporate governance and environmental and social practice to enable productive, sustainable and inclusive growth of SMEs.
Speaking at the launch of the SMEs support programme in Accra over the weekend, the Managing Director and Head of Africa, BII, Chris Chijiutomi, said SMEs occupy a critical role in the Ghanaian economy, accounting for over 90 per cent of business enterprises, 60 per cent of the country’s GDP and 80 per cent of all employment.
Despite its importance to the economy, SMEs in Ghana were faced with a financing gap estimated at US$4.8 billion, one of the largest in Africa.
“SMEs face many challenges with accessing growth capital through traditional funding sources including high interest rates, short-term loans, high collateral requirements and currency mismatches.
Compounded by a challenging macroeconomic environment, influenced by the global pandemic and geopolitical conflicts, SMEs in Ghana need access to long-term growth capital and business support designed to boost their growth, create jobs and deepen their contributions to the Ghanaian economy,” he stated.
GIK/APA