APA – Accra (Ghana)
The projection by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta that Ghana’s economy under President Akufo-Addo’s final year in office is valued over GH¢1 trillion in 2024 from the GH¢219.5 billion in 2016 is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that Ghana’s economy under President Akufo-Addo’s final year in office is projected to be valued over GH¢1 trillion in 2024 from the GH¢219.5 billion in 2016, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta has said.
That would be the first time in the country’s economic history to cross the GH¢1 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) mark.
Mr Ofori Atta who announced this when he presented the 2024 Budget statement to parliament today (Wednesday), said that achievement was possible.
“A key lesson from this leap since 2017 is for us to eschew unfounded pessimism.
“We have shown that it is possible. We should be collectively proud of ourselves and the can-do-spirit of our people. We have proven that a lot more is possible, if we stay the course and believe in a future of immense possibilities,” he said.
The 2024 Budget, nicknamed “nkunim” (victory) spelt out the government’s interventions for social protection, job creation and tax reduction measures.
Mr Ofori Atta said despite a tough economic situation since 2021, the economy was now showing signs of recovery and improvement.
“I want to stress at this juncture that Ghana is back on track,” he said.
The newspaper says that the first ever Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) has indicated that bauxite deposits in the Nyinahin Block-B hills in the Ashanti Region are twice more than historically estimated.
While previous studies showed 250 million tonnes of bauxite deposits in the three hills – hills 4, 5 and 6 – the latest and first ever scientific appraisal of the deposits using modern technology indicated that the locations actually held a minimum of 375 MMT of bauxite in those three hills, about 50 per cent appreciation on the historical figures.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) in collaboration with Mr Kwasi Osei Ofori, the CEO of Rocksure International, the strategic partner for GIADEC’s Project 2, made this known to President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
In September, 2021, GIADEC announced the selection of Rocksure International, a wholly Ghanaian owned Company, as its strategic partner for Project 2, one of four projects that define the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI), being executed by GIADEC.
Rocksure International, following the its selection by GIADEC commenced a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in Nyinahin Block-B, specifically Hills 4, 5 & 6 to validate and define the bauxite resources.
Ghana’s bauxite resources are estimated to be around 900MMT. Bauxite in Ghana is mainly concentrated in three (3) areas i.e Awaso in the Western-North region with 60MMT, Kyebi in the Eastern region with 160 MMT and Nyinahin in the Ashanti Region with the highest bauxite resources of 700MMT.
The Ghanaian Times reports that an agricultural machinery centre has been opened at Dahwenya in the Ningo Prampram District to help scale up rice production in the country.
The centre is equipped with modern equipment including a 100 horsepower Daedong tractor, rice dryer, laser leveler, multi seeder, disinfectant, fertiliser applier, tray, power tiller and sorter, mechanical thresher and sprayer.
The Agricultural Machinery Centre forms part of a five-year project, dubbed “Water-Energy-Food Nexus Programme (WEFP) for Better Lives for Rural Development in Ghana” being undertaken by the Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA) in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Opening the centre, a representative of the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Jeong Hyeju, said the agriculture machinery centre was developed to support efforts to pro¬mote rice production in the country.
She noted that, the machinery would not only increase rice production but also would help farmers save time, energy and resources that could be re-invested in another production activity.
She urged the farmers to make use of the machinery by making efforts to learn how to use them efficiently while maintaining the machinery in the long term.
The Deputy Director of CSIR at the Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Dr Maxwell Darko Asante, expressed gratitude to KOPIA for the support to Ghanaian agriculture and for developing a modern agricultural machinery centre and warehouse to support the operations of the farmers.
He stated that inadequate mechanisation was responsible for the country’s rice production inefficiencies and insufficiencies.
Dr Asante noted that, Ghanaian farmers, still depended on weather conditions and seasons for their agricultural production activities which was not efficient and also slowed down production.
The newspaper says that a total of 6,468 Ghanaian students studied in the United States in the 2022-2023 academic year, representing 31 per cent jump over the last academic year, according to the Open Doors Report.
This report is usually published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in order to analyse the number of international students in the United States.
A total of 4,140 Ghanaians are in graduate degree programmes representing a 38 per cent increase over last year, making Ghana the 14th largest sender of graduate students to the United States.
According to the report, Ghanaian students earned nearly nine million in scholarships last year to more than 700 higher educational institutions in all 50 states.
U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, said that the U.S. Colleges and Universities offer world-class educational opportunities, and Ghanaian students in the United States were deepening the ties of friendship, family, and business between the two countries.
‘’We are so happy to see Ghanaians seeking to learn, develop their skills, and return to Ghana to benefit their communities,” she said.
To help meet the growing demand, the U.S Ambassador said the Embassy processed a record number of 6, 468 student visa cases in the last financial year.
She said the Embassy guided qualified individuals to be successful applicants to U.S. Colleges and Universities through Education USA and the U.S. Department of State’s network of education advisers, adding that Ghana currently had two of the advising centres at the U.S. Embassy in Accra and at ACE Consult in Asokwa, Kumasi.
She said the majority of international students in the United States study in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields; math and computer science continued to grow as the leading field of study for international stu¬dents in 2022-2023.
“This year, U.S. Embassy Ghana hosted the two largest Education USA College fairs ever held in Ghana in Accra and Kumasi, which attracted more than 13,000 students, parents, and academic professionals,” she said.
GIK/APA