The call by Minister of Finance for increased political commitment from the governments of West African states to combat illicit financial flows is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has called for increased political commitment from the governments of West African states to combat illicit financial flows.
He said such commitment and political will would help eliminate the criminal activities such funds were used to support.
He noted that a reduction in the menace would help reduce the unlawful outflow of financial resources from West Africa and also contain terrorism and political insurgence, which were gaining currency in recent years.
Mr Ofori-Atta expressed concern over the fact that being grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) risked becoming a stranglehold on the region by eroding confidence in the financial system and freezing banking assets worth over $500 billion.
The Finance Minister made the call when he addressed regional experts in anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorism financing CTF) at the 36th Technical Commission/Plenary Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in Accra Thursday.
The meeting, which is also the 24th GIABA Ministerial Committee (GMC) meeting, will end on Saturday.
Ghana last hosted the GIABA’s Technical Commission/Plenary and GMC meetings in 2013.
The newspaper says that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban S.K Bagbin, has called on stakeholders in Africa to confront the challenges that have afflicted the Pan-African Parliament to enable the continental legislative body to resume meetings.
He said the continent’s resolve to strengthen diplomacy at the parliamentary level among its member states could only be meaningful if urgent steps were taken to resume the operations of the Pan-African Parliament.
“We have gone beyond the traditional function of parliament to using it as an effective tool for parliamentary diplomacy,” he noted.
Mr Bagbin made the call in Parliament onThursday during a courtesy call on him by the Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Aldesouky Mahmoud Youssef.
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) suspended its sittings after witnessing scuffles between some lawmakers over the election of new office holders.
The suspension follows disagreements and disruptions that transpired during the procession of the plenary last year.
Mr Youssef had called on Mr Bagbin to announce his country’s readiness to build a Ghana-Egypt Parliamentary Friendships Association and also discuss strategies to deepen relations between both countries.
The Speaker used the occasion to recount the long-standing ties Ghana had built with Egypt, and reiterated his commitment to enhance the bond of friendship and cooperation for mutually beneficial outcomes for all.
The Graphic also reports that the new data from the COVID-19 Business Tracker survey results has revealed that businesses in Ghana are continuing a recovery from the shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third Wave data show varied levels of improvements across sectors in multiple channels such as sales, access to inputs, finance, cash flow among others, compared to the 2020 second round data (Wave II).
The key findings from the third round (Wave III) data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, also show a considerable decline in the rate of reduction in hours worked, wage reduction and leave without pay over the three data collection periods in 2020-2021 (Waves I-III). Across business establishments, 1.0 percent of the workforce were laid off in Wave III compared to 1.3 percent in Wave I.
“The findings from the third Wave of the COVID-19 Business Tracker indicate that the government stimulus impacted positively on firm’s sales with an increase of 11.5 percent. This positive effect was evident among small businesses as their sales increased by 22 percent”, noted Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician.
The Wave III Business Tracker also show rising use of mobile money among firms for sales. Data compared to Waves I and II, reveal almost 7 out of 10 firms are now using mobile money to do business, with mobile money usage increasing from 35.7% and 53.4% (Waves I and II respectively), to 69.6% (Wave III).
Similarly, more businesses are adopting the use of internet for sales.
“We need to reimagine development in the digital age. It is encouraging to see more firms embracing digitalization to improve business. UNDP remains committed to supporting Government’s digital agenda and recovery efforts to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” stated Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana.
Moreover, the Wave III data also show an increase in reopening of previously fully closed firms. Out of the over 30,000 firms that were previously closed in the Wave II results, about half are fully opened (15,179) in Wave 3. But close to half (14,162) are still closed, suggesting more supports to help all businesses fully bounce back.
The top three policies support the firms desired to become resilient are loans with subsidized interest, cash transfer and access to new credit.
The Ghanaian Times says that there is no end in sight of the long queues and frustration being experienced by Ghanaians at the various National Identification Authority (NIA) centres to register or collect their National Identification Cards (Ghana card).
The mad rush for the Ghana cards is to beat the March 31, 2022, deadline set for the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) re-registration exercise being conducted across the country by the mobile telecommunication companies which requires the use of the Ghana Card.
During a follow-up visit by the Ghanaian Times on Tuesday at Amamorley in the Ga North Municipality to find out if the situation had abated, it was observed that the queues had increased with applicants having to stand in the scorching sun to wait for their turn.
The usual canopies and chairs as well as Veronica buckets with running water, liquid soap and hand sanitizer
The young, elderly, some nursing mothers with others carrying children on their backs, were seen at the entrance of the centres waiting for their names to be mentioned according to numbers allocated to them earlier.
A chef, Adama Fuseni, said he had been at the office countless times, but had not received his card.
Madam Dorcas Nortey, a trader, said the authority should reconsider the date and extend it to the end of the year so that many people can get the opportunity to register.
“If we are not able to register for the card and the government closes registration, it will affect us. Not everybody can get the money and pay the GH¢ 100, GH¢ 150 and GH¢ 300 for premium services, I am afraid we cannot meet the deadline and we will lose our SIM cards. This is an opportunity for the poor so the government should extend the time so that we can re-register our SIM cards,” she said.
The newspaper reports that the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has called off its six weeks strike action after a meeting with the Education and Labour Ministers facilitated by the Education Committee of Parliament.
The meeting follows a ruling by the Labour Division of the Accra High Court on Monday directing UTAG to call off their industrial action, return to the lecture halls and continue with negotiation.
Akatsi North MP and Ranking Member on the Education Committee, Peter NortsuKotoe, who disclosed this to the media after the meeting in Accra yesterday, said both parties had agreed to find amicable solution to the strike.
“On our appeal, they have agreed to call off the strike on the condition that government is ready to sit down with them immediately for them to resolve outstanding matters.
“The minister gave us the assurance that they are going to be committed. Once the committee has directed, there is no way he as a leader of the government delegation will fail to meet with them even if its 24hours a day; they will meet,” MrKotoe said.
Hopeful that the lecturers would return to the lecture halls by Monday, February 21, 2022, MrKotoe said the Committee has tasked the Education Ministry to resolve all outstanding issues and report back to the Committee within a week.
“As a Committee, we have given them one week after UTAG have called off the strike to conclude negotiations and report back to the Committee. Some of their concerns have been addressed.”
The UTAG on January 10 declared the industrial action to press home for better conditions of service.
GIK/APA