The announcement by the Head of Epidemiology of the Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr Fenteng Danso, that a total of 701,955-bird mortality has been recorded in the country is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the Head of Epidemiology of the Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr Fenteng Danso, has disclosed that a total of 701,955-bird mortality has been recorded in the country.
Of the said number, 555,227 birds had to be destroyed as part of containment measures by the ministry, while the remaining 143,406 deaths were as a result of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infections.
Sharing the statistics with the Daily Graphic last Friday, Dr Danso said the birds were from 163 farms in the 10 affected regions.
On July 8, 2021, the Accra Veterinary Laboratory confirmed an outbreak of Avian Influenza type A subtype H5 virus in the Greater Accra, Central and Volta regions.
The HPAI was also confirmed in the Ashanti, Western North, Western, Upper West, Upper East, Eastern and Bono regions.
For confirmatory, samples (brain, lungs, spleen and trachea) were sent to the National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases Laboratory of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for molecular pathotyping.
The preliminary result from the Canadians traced the top identity match of the virus to be 99.3 per cent resemblance to that of the Nigerian strain.
The newspaper says that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement has made a major breakthrough, as its Council of Ministers has now agreed on a criteria to determine the origin of 88 per cent of all products on the tariff books across the continent.
Technically known as the Rules of Origin, it is the level of value addition to raw materials and semi-finished products that can be accepted as locally produced.
Pending approval by the Heads of State at the African Union (AU) Assembly, which will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, soon, the agreement will become the basis to commercially start meaningful trade under the AfCFTA.
Addressing the media after the eighth meeting of the Council of Ministers of AfCFTA in Accra, the Chairman of the council, Mr Ebrahim Partel, said: “This is a major breakthrough for AfCFTA and this allows us to now confidently say that we have a package of products that we can start trading on.”
In July 2019, when a Heads of State meeting concluded key modalities of the treaty for AfCFTA to come into effect, one of the issues it came up with was the establishment of the Council of Ministers responsible for trade matters across the continent.
Mr Partel said the council had since been meeting regularly, leading to the agreement.
“Our eighth meeting was very successful and historic. Over the course of the two-day meeting, we took some ground-breaking decisions which will now be conveyed to the Heads of State at the AU Assembly.
“The most significant of them is that we have bid down key rules of origin that allow us to now state confidently that we have a package of products that we can start trading on,” he said.
The Graphic also reports that the leadership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK (CPA UK) has visited and held discussions with former President John Dramani Mahama in Accra.
Members of the CPA UK are in Accra for a Trade and Security Workshop for the UK and African parliamentarians to explore how parliaments can address trade and security issues in the context of unexpected external events such as COVID-19.
Led by the Cardiff South and Penarth Member of Parliament, Stephen Doughty, who represents the Labour Party, the delegation discussed with the former president, issues of sub-regional security, effects of COVID-19 on the economy, affirmative action and the role of women in the growth of the economy, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the worrying issue of abandoning projects started by previous governments.
President Mahama commended the UK Parliament and the CPA UK for its commitment to governmental accountability.
He, however, observed that Ghana had not reached “the height of democracy” that the UK epitomises, where Members of Parliament could look into the face of the head of government, call him out over a wrong action and get him to feel remorseful.
On abandoning of public projects, the former President said the practice was an affront to Ghana’s Constitution.
“We didn’t see it so brazenly in other governments. It is something that is with this particular Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government,” Mr Mahama said.
The Ghanaian Times says that the aviation wing of the McDan Group of Companies, McDan Aviation, has launched Ghana’s first private jet charter services at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
The ultra-modern jet lounge, one of the first of its kind in the sub-region, was inaugurated last Friday at a colorful ceremony at the Terminal One of the KIA following the acquisition of a Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) license from the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL).
The lounge is expected to solidify Ghana’s aviation industry as one of the best in West Africaand position the country as the preferred business and investment destination in the region.
In his brief address, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Chairman of the McDan Group of Companies, Dr Daniel McKorley, said the opening of the lounge was the beginning of greater things to come in the Ghanaian aviation industry.
He said the lounge would be used to drive Ghana’s vision for the industry and potentially boost the country’s tourism sector.
“The goal behind this private jet lounge is to position the country’s aviation industry among the best in the world. The lounge is for the business community and top-class executives, and this is one of the places we can be recognised among the leading countries when it comes to aviation,” he said.
The company will kickstart its commercial private jet services with three airplanes and one helicopter, while arrangements are in place for the acquisition of other aircrafts, including a Challenger 604 Bombardier, a Gulfstream jet, and helicopters to offer air-ambulance medical services, as well as domestic tourism.
GIK/APA