The inauguration of the 900-metre Afienya road over bridge on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line project by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo dominates the headlines of Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday inaugurated the 900-metre Afienya road over bridge on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line project.
The project, which spans the bridge on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line at Afienya, was constructed by AFCONS Infrastructure Limited.
The President also inspected ongoing construction works at the New Afienya Railway Station and the 300-metre railway bridge over the Volta River Lake near Senchi in the Eastern Region which are almost completed.
The 97-kilometre Tema-Mpakadan railway line is about 99.6 per cent complete and expected to be handed over for use by March 2023.
Work on the $447-million project commenced in 2018, after a contract had been signed with AFCONS Infrastructure Limited, with funding from the EXIM Bank of India.
The scope and design was amended to approximately 97 kilometres single standard gauge line.
Other details of the project are formations, embankments, 137 culverts, 35 bridges, roads over bridges and other ancillary facilities.
There are eight passenger stations, as well as two rail heads, in Tema and Mpakadan.
Inaugurating the project, President Akufo-Addo noted that the rail line had become necessary due to the over-reliance on the road network, resulting in congestion, rapid deterioration of roads and increased accidents.
He noted that it was to address some of those challenges that, in June 2007, the then Ministry of Ports, Harbours and Railways commissioned a feasibility study for multi-modal transport links between Tema and Buipe through the Volta Lake.
He said the study was successfully completed in 2009, and in October 2016, Parliament approved a credit facility and commercial agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the EXIM Bank of India, with AFCONS infrastructure Limited of India as the contractor on the project.
The newspaper says that the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has committed to invest about €82 million in grants into critical sectors of the Ghanaian economy next year.
The German government made the commitment in Berlin last week after the end of bilateral negotiations on development cooperation between the two countries.
The grants are to be channeled into renewable energy development, financial sector strengthening, education and skills development, including technical, vocational education and training (TVET), digital transformation, governance, food security, female empowerment, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) support.
A statement from the negotiations were hosted by the Ministry of Finance said the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with the support of allied agencies such as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and KFW Development Bank.
The statement said Ghana’s delegation for the two-day negotiations that opened on November 28, was led by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
It added that the next inter-governmental negotiations would take place in Accra in June 2023.
“At the negotiations, the Government of Germany made new and additional grant commitments of €82 million towards critical sectors of Ghana’s economy including renewable energy development, financial sector strengthening, education and skills development (TVET), digital transformation, governance, food security, female empowerment, and MSME support.
It said Mr Ofori-Atta commended the Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr Bärbel Kofler, for the smooth discussions.
He also described the grants as timely, given Ghana’s ongoing negotiations with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF).
He also commended the German government for supporting the establishment of the Development Bank Ghana (DBG).
“The support given us to set up what will be a real game changer in Ghana’s financial architecture, the DBG, is very commendable,” the minister said, adding that the DBG has been positioned to play a countercyclical role in ensuring access to long term and affordable capital in challenging economic times, similar to what Germany’s KFW’s role was during the post war reconstruction of Germany.
He also assured that the DBG would adhere to the highest corporate governance principles in order to ensure optimum shareholder value.
The Graphic also reports that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has upgraded the GH¢1 coin with enhanced security features.
The upgraded GH¢1 coin will be issued into circulation from Monday, December 12, 2022, a statement from the Bank of Ghana, dated December 6, 2022 has said.
The coin is similar to the existing GH¢1 coin in shape, form and images; the Coat of Arms in front and the Scale of Justice at the back, the BoG stated.
The upgraded GH¢1 coin is bi-metallic with an outer gold and inner silver.
The coin has a pronounced rough edge and incorporates a latent image, which appears in a rectangular form below the Scale of Justice at the back.
The latent image changes from a radiating star to a One Ghana cedi symbol sandwiched between two stars when tilted.
The Ghanaian Times says that the Parliament has approved the principles underpinning the budget statement and economic policy of government for the year ending December 31, 2023.
The House would from this point proceed to approve sectorial allocations before the passage of the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill to give the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, the power to withdraw funds from the consolidated fund and other public funds.
The approval of the budget statement, presented by Mr Ofori-Atta to Parliament on November 24, was preceded by the concluding debates by the Majority and Minority leaders, OseiKyei-Mensah-Bonsu and HarunaIddrisu, respectively.
The House has been debating the principles of the budget since Tuesday, November 29, amidst low turnout and interest especially among members of the Majority Caucus.
However, the story was different yesterday as a near-full House converged and approved the budget statement with the Finance Minister in attendance.
In his argument, the minority leader described the current state of the economy as the result of reckless irresponsible borrowing which has gone into consumption and that they would not support some policies when it comes to the passage of the Appropriation Bill.
They include the 2.5 per cent increment in Value Added Tax, the revised electronic transfer levy, aspects of the proposed debt exchange programme, allocation to the National Cathedral amongst others.
“We in the NDC Minority will fiercely resist and fight the imposition of this additional tax on Ghanaians and Ghanaian businesses because, Mr Speaker, it will only exacerbate the hardship they are already going through,” he hinted.
To Mr Iddrisu, MP, Tamale South, the Nana AddoDankwaAkufo-Addo-led government has no moral justification to seek to increase VAT having been opposed to its introduction in 1995.
“In 1995, President Akufo-Addo led Ghanaians to oppose VAT. Has he any moral right to ask this august House to help him increase VAT by 2.5 per cent. You have a difficulty in convincing us to support you.
GIK/APA