APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) is accelerating the acquisition of its competencies to oversee the country’s plans to install its first nuclear power plant in 2030 is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) is accelerating the acquisition of its competencies to oversee the country’s plans to install its first nuclear power plant in 2030.
The authority is currently training its staff overseas with support from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The enriched competencies will feed into the authority’s work in developing regulations, guidelines and standard review plans to conduct the authorisation process for the full life cycle of the nuclear power plant.
The NRA will also educate the public on nuclear power technologies, allay misconceptions and fear, while working with the media to achieve that.
The Director-General of the NRA, Dr Nii Kwashie Allotey, made this known in an interview after a media training workshop in Accra aimed at educating and exposing journalists to NRA law and its general operations.
He reiterated that the authority was poised to provide the needed oversight to ensure the Plant met all the required technical specifications.
“We are now developing our competencies because the area is technically deep, so we are training our staff overseas.
“We are also developing regulations and guidelines on how the plant should be designed, constructed and operated and to support the NRA Act 2015, Act 895, to work,” he said.
He reiterated that the authority was poised to provide the needed oversight to ensure the Plant met all the required technical specifications.
On the mandate of the Authority, Dr Allotey said the NRA was in charge of authorising licences to companies that deal in, operate or transport ionise radiation equipment.
The newspaper says that Ghana will host a conference for people of African descent in October this year to reflect and push forward the demand for reparations for Africa for the slave trade.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who announced this last Tuesday at a solemn durbar at Assin Manso in the Central Region to mark the Emancipation Day celebration, said the African Union had given its blessings to the conference.
“If people can be compensated for the holocaust, Africans can be compensated for slavery,” he stated.
He said it was important to resolve that the atrocities caused during the period of the slave trade would not be allowed to happen again.
The President said the Emancipation Day celebration allowed society to discuss reparation for Africa and added that it was time to unite as Africans to forge ahead to achieve progress.
The durbar, which was spiced with cultural displays, was attended by local chiefs and people from the Diaspora.
This year’s Emancipation Day celebration, which marked the 25th year since the day was instituted, was dubbed: “Empowering the Africa family to confront the challenges of the 21st century”.
President Akufo-Addo said the Emancipation Day celebration did not only allow Ghanaians and Africans to remember the many lives lost in the slave trade, but to recommit to resolve that never again would the Africans allow such an evil to be perpetrated against them.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has said the loss it in¬curred in 2022, is largely due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and not mismanagement.
The Director of Research of BoG, Dr Phillip Abradu-Otoo, told journalists at a press confer¬ence in Accra yesterday said the BoG had to suffer haircut to keep the economy running.
The press conference was to explain the loss BoG incurred in 2022 which is captured in the 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the BoG.
The 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the BoG stated that the bank incurred about GH¢55.12 billion partly due to the DDEP.
The report also said the BoG spent about GH¢131 million on vehicle maintenance.
He said the BoG took 50 per cent haircut to help the country seal the IMF deal quickly and send signals to Ghana’s bilateral creditors to support the country’s move to overcome its debt challenges.
“The BoG has been the shock absorber of the DDEP and suffered the biggest hit,” he said.
In spite of the loss, Dr Abradu-Otoo said the BoG was still solvent.
The Director of Research explained that the BoG would continue to pursue policies to restore equity of the bank to the positive territories by 2027, and tame inflation to ensure strong macroeconomic stability.
He said it would take about four years to restore equity to normal levels.
Touching on the amount spent on vehicle maintenance in 2022, Dr Abradu-Otoo said the cost was influenced by fuel.
According to him, fuel cost constituted about 94 per cent (GH¢123.14 million) out of the GH¢131 million spent on vehicle maintenance.
An Advisor at the Bank of Ghana, Stephen Opata, said the bank was building strong reserves.
He said between January and July this year the BoG built additional reserves of GH¢1 Billion.
The newspaper says that the Gambian Minister of High Education, Research, Science and Technology, Professor Pierre Gomez has called for collabo¬ration between academia and industry to ensure that the conti¬nent benefits sufficiently from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative.
Prof. Gomez said the success of AfCFTA, arguable the largest free trade area, presented a gold¬en opportunity for collaboration between academia and industry.
“I invite universities and indus¬tries to work more effectively in establishing systematic develop¬ment links with each other to ensure that academic research is geared towards responding to industries visible and pressing needs,” he stated.
He made those remarks as a Special Guest of Honour at the 17th congregation of the Regional Maritime University in Accra on Saturday which also marked the 65th anniversary celebrations of the university.
According to Prof. Gomez, it was also important to utilise modern technologies and innova¬tions to advance trade within the continent.
“We can only achieve the ob¬jective with the use of new and emerging technologies, otherwise African businesses will remain uncompetitive,” he stressed.
He commended the RMU on their anniversary celebrations, adding that they must be sup¬ported to train skilled individuals that would contribute to the growth of economies across Africa and beyond.
He also urged graduates to look out for the several opportu¬nities within the maritime sector, while utilising available research tools to improve upon knowl¬edge.
The event saw a total of 444 graduates passing out and awarded diplomas, bachelors and masters degrees in various courses including ports and shipping administration, marine engineering, computer engineer¬ing, accounting and logistics management.
GIK/APA