The presentation of letters of credence of seven new envoys who have been accredited by their respective countries to represent their interests in Ghana to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday received the letters of credence of seven new envoys who have been accredited by their respective countries to represent their interests in Ghana
They are the Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Shlomit Sufa; Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Anette Chao Garcia; and the Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana, Aldesouky Mahmoud Youssef.
The rest are the Ambassador of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to Ghana, Mauricio Mauro Epkua Obama Bindang; the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mochizuki Hisanobu; Ambassador of Greece to Nigeria accredited to Ghana, Loannis Plotas; and the Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana, Yanko Vasilev.
They held separate meetings with President Akufo-Addo after inspecting a Guard of Honour mounted by a detachment of the Ghana Army at the Forecourt of the Jubilee House.
The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Shlomit Sufa, who was first to present his credentials, said he arrived in Ghana in August and expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for the warm reception.
He pledged to build a fruitful partnership with the Ghanaian government and strengthen relationship between his country and Ghana.
His focus, according to him, is to improve the government-to-government, business-to-business and people-to-people relations between Ghana and Israel.
The Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Anette Chao Garcia, expressed the commitment to enhance the already ties of friendship and cooperation between Ghana and Cuba.
She pledged to work for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.
The new Egyptian Ambassador, Aldesouky Mahmoud Youssef, praised President Akufo-Addo for his farsighted policies and transcendent leadership.
On the Ghana Egypt relationship, he said the two nations had enjoyed a cordial relations since the days of Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
The newspaper says that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Hungary, István Jakab, has underscored the need for Hungary and Ghana to work closely to ensure that more compost and recycling plants are built to help in achieving the government’s vision of a clean Ghana.
According to him, Hungary’s relationship with Ghana dates back to some 60 years ago, adding that when the two countries form more partnerships, they would bring about transfer of technology, knowledge and expertise in the waste management sector.
The Deputy Speaker of Hungary’s Parliament made the observation when he visited the Kumasi waste water treatment plant in the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region on Monday.
He was conducted around the facility by the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, and some of his top management members.
The Kumasi waste water treatment plant is a collaboration between the JGC and its Hungarian partners and the government of Ghana.
Mr Jakab, who is on an official visit to Ghana for the first time, gave the assurance that the Hungarian government would not only support the government of Ghana, but private businesses as well.
According to him, the Hungarian government would continue to support Ghana’s education sector, stating that already about 100 Ghanaian students had been offered scholarships by Hungary.
The Hungarian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Tamás Endre Fehér, who was also part of the Hungary delegation to Kumasi, commended JGC for the project, and wished JGC more successes in all its business endeavours.
For his part, the Executive Chairman of JGC, Mr Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, was happy about the long relationship between Ghana and Hungary.
Furthermore, he praised the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) for its collaboration with his group.
According to Dr Siaw Agyepong, the waste water treatment facility in Kumasi was in operation and had engaged about 60 workers with 95% of them from the Bosomtwe District.
The Graphic reports that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has called on Ghanaians to accept the tax measures in the 2022 budget as a rallying call to contribute their quota to nation-building.
He said while Ghana’s developmental needs were enormous, its resources were meagre, making it difficult for the government to provide adequate and sustainable development.
He mentioned entrepreneurship, job creation and the provision of critical infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, schools and utilities as some of the areas of development that had suffered due to the inadequacy of government financing.
The minister said at the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Budget Digest yesterday that the situation had been worsened by the limited number of people and institutions that were currently paying direct taxes to the state.
An initiative of the PwC, in partnership with the Graphic Business, the business and financial publication of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, the event brought together government officials and private sector actors to dialogue on key policies in the budget.
It was aimed at shedding more light on the budget to aid public understanding and implementation.
The Senior Country Partner of PwC Ghana, Mr Vish Ashiagbor, opened the dialogue, after which a Tax Partner at the firm, Mr Abeiku Gyan Quansah, gave a presentation on tax measures, followed by a panel discussion.
The newspaper says that the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has called on the government to reconsider the decision to impose 1.75 per cent levy on mobile money and other electronic transactions in the country.
The chamber maintained that the proposed levy would further worsen the plight of businesses particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which were mainly growth-driven and susceptible to economic and market cycles.
It said to increase revenue, the government should rather focus on finding innovative ways of widening the tax net, ensuring tax compliance, as well as address the rising levels of tax exemptions which did not commensurate business growth.
The President of the GNCCI, Mr Clement Osei-Amoako, who stated this at the GNCCI Seminar on the 2020 National Budget in Accra last Monday, observed that to enhance tax compliance, the government should widen the tax base through a reduction in the tax rate to a level affordable to the average taxpayer to avoid seeing tax payment as a disincentive.
He said that could be done through the indirect tax system, example sales tax and value added tax (VAT).
“Despite recent declines, interest rates in Ghana remain among the highest in the world. Although the energy situation has improved considerably over the last few years, energy cost to businesses remains too high.
“Struggling businesses pay much higher for energy in order to subsidise households. In Europe and China, households pay higher energy cost to subsidise industry,” he said.
GIK/APA