The report that the Western Naval Command has ended its search mission for the eight remaining sailors, who have been missing since Friday, after their fishing vessel, Comforter-2, sunk offshore 46-nautical miles south of Saltpond is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Western Naval Command has ended its search mission for the eight remaining sailors, who have been missing since Friday, after their fishing vessel, Comforter-2, sunk offshore 46-nautical miles south of Saltpond.
The Command says it has so far rescued 16 people and recovered one dead body out of the 25 total persons on the vessel.
It says it had to call off its search due to high tide and visibility challenges.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the 2-Garrison, Enoch Tetteh Opata, “We are done with it, it has ended and as I speak with you, we’ve not heard anything about the eight people whether they’ve been washed ashore or not.
“However, we have our ears on the ground to know wherever they will be washed ashore.
“That is what we are monitoring. Night vision probability is a challenge now and so even in the daytime we are not able to get to the bottom or see through the sea, and it means that even in the evening it’s not worth it.
“You know, the tides are high due to weather conditions and all that, so it has become a challenge, so we need to halt it and monitor wherever they will be washed ashore, but as for the location we can’t tell,” he said.
The newspaper says that the government will pay an interest rate of 22.30 per cent and 21.50 per cent for the 5-year and 2-year bonds issued on Friday, May 6, 2022.
The sale of the debt instruments were extended to Friday, May 6, 2022 to accommodate for the Labour Day and the Eid holidays last week.
The interest rate, which will probably increase the country’s interest payment will be paid semi-annually, until maturity in 2027 and 2024 respectively.
Until recently, government was paying between 19 per cent and 20.50 per cent for medium term financial instruments.
However, the sale of the debt instruments recorded mixed subscriptions, signalling further perceived risks in the economy.
According to the trading results published by the Bank of Ghana, government mobilisedGH¢601.9 million from the 2-year bond at an interest cost of 21.50 per cent, while GH¢575.4 million was secured from the 5-year bond at an interest rate of 22.30 per cent.
This means that about ¢1.4 billion of the maturing amount were redeemed by the investors who held the maturing 2-year bond.
For the 5-year bond, there wasn’t any target set since it was a new issuance.
However, with regard to the 2-year bond, government was seeking to rollover GH¢2 billion.
The Ghanaian Times also reports that the Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, has called for the empowerment of the youth in the country to lead the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AML/TF).
He said the youth should acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to prevent them from falling victims and becoming perpetrators of crimes.
“The role of the young people in the prevention and fight against AML/TF in the country cannot be downplayed,” he added.
Mr Dery stated this in a speech read on his behalf at the 13th edition of a forum on ML/FT for youth in Ghana in Accra yesterday.
It was organised by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), and aimed at mobilising the youth against organised crime, including ML/FT.
It also sought to provide an opportunity for the youth to embark on advocacy by helping to disseminate Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Financing messages to peers and political decision makers.
The programme was on the theme “The role of young people in the prevention of and the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing”.
The Director General of GIABA, Justice Kimelabalou ABA, in a speech read on his behalf, said money laundering and terrorist financing undermined sustainable development by eroding social and human capital, threatening social and political stability, causing artificial rise in cost of business and driving away investment.
He said the menace of transnational organised crime, particularly money laundering and terrorist financing, posed serious threats to peace, security and sustainable development in any nation.
The Graphic says that the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has initiated a project to train about 800 young entrepreneurs in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) space under a special training project.
The MSME Digital Skills Training project seeks to train and build capacity in digital techniques of the young entrepreneurs to improve their performance in their fields of endeavour and be ready for the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) opportunities.
The first phase of the MSME Digital Skills Training project has since last week, trained 92 participants with over half being women with the rest to be done in subsequent phases.
It is being organised in partnership with Expertise France and is expected to support participants to integrate and apply knowledge gained from the training on their businesses.
At the launch of the initiative in Accra on April 29, the President of the GNCCI, Clement Osei-Amoako, said the training was expected to equip young entrepreneurs with the needed skill to take advantage of the AfCFTA.
“Last week, the first phase of the MSME Digital Skills Training project was held in Accra comprising 92 participants with over half being women.
“Generally, participants were excited about the opportunity to develop their digital skills and resolved to follow through the requirements to ensure business growth and resilience post-COVID-19,” he said.
GIK/APA