The report that Ghana’s economy for third quarter of 2021 year on year provisionally grew at 6.6 per cent, compared with contraction of 3.2 per cent in the same period last year is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana’s economy for third quarter of 2021 year on year provisionally grew at 6.6 per cent, compared with contraction of 3.2 per cent in the same period last year.
The country’s growth rate without oil and gas (Non-Oil GDP) for third quarter 2021 stood at 8.6 per cent, compared with the -3.0 in the same period last year.
The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel K. Annim, who disclosed this here said when seasonally adjusted the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 1.6 in quarter three (July to September) of 2021, 0.5 percentage point higher than what was recorded in quarter one.
He said the revised GDP growth for quarter one and two stood at 4.2 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.
Prof. Annim said the services and agriculture sectors drove the growth in the economy in the third quarter this year.
The crops, education, trade, repair of vehicles, household goods, manufacturing and information and communication sub-sectors were the main drivers of Gross Domestic Growth growth for the third quarter of 2021,” Prof. Annim said.
The newspaper says that Ghana has identified 17 sites for future nomination into the World Network of Biosphere Reserves under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Biosphere Reserves are specially protected areas where diverse plants and animals exist with some level of human activity to conserve biodiversity and sustainable development and also serve as referral systems for monitoring and evaluating changes in natural ecosystems.
Out of the network of 727 reserves in 131countries, Ghana is currently hosting three, comprising Bia Biosphere Reserve, the largest, located in the Western Region (since 1983); Songor Ramsar Site in Greater Accra (2011) and Lake Bosomtwe Biosphere Reserve in Ashanti (2016). The potential sites include Nzulezu Wetland; Jachie Sacred Grove; Mpirisi Sacred Groove; Boateng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary; Atiwa Forest Reserve; Shai Hills Reserve; the Kakum, Mole, Digya and Bui national parks; Gbele Resources Reserve; Tano-Ofei Range; Apedwa Hills; Kwahu Scarp; Kyaboo Transboundary Reserve, and Mount Afadzato and Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary.
This came to light at the launch of a handbook for the mainstreaming of the Biosphere Reserve concept into development planning, held on Tuesday at Sege in the Ada West District.
The 47-page manual is to make biosphere issues a normal component in the national development planning and budgeting process at all levels as the basis for sustainable financing of its activities.
It was designed by the National Committee of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with support from the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC); Forestry Commission, academia, and some district assemblies.
The Graphic reports that the State of Israel has announced a planned donation of one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to Africa through the COVAX programme.
Out of the one million doses, Ghana will receive 100,000 doses to support the government’s determination to vaccinate about 20 million of the population by end of 2021.
The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Shlomit Sufa revealed this.
According to Shlomit Sufa, “this vaccine donation to Africa is the first example we are setting to show the potential of Israel’s cooperation with the African continent which has been strengthened by Israel’s Observer Status at the African Union.”
“This donation is also an example of Israel’s good bilateral relations with Ghana,” she added.
In 2020, the State of Israel through its embassy in Accra supported the Ministry of Health in many ways to fight the COVID 19 pandemic.
The beginning of the pandemic was characterized with an emergency support where about 2000 personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face shields were donated to health facilities.
The newspaper says that Pope Francis on Thursday accepted the resignation of prominent African Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Cardinal Turkson, seen by many as a candidate to become the first African pope in about 1,500 years, offered his resignation again last week, following an automatic procedural offer at the end of his term in August.
He is a key adviser to Pope Francis on climate change and social justice and the acceptance of his resignation as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is part of a rare shake-up of an entire Vatican office.
The Vatican said [statement attached below] on Thursday (December 23, 2021) that Cardinal Peter Turkson, was leaving the large department, officially known as the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. All other superiors also had offered their resignations.
The department was formed in 2016 to merge four offices that dealt with issues such as peace, justice, migration, and charities. It was plagued by management problems and turf wars from the start, Vatican sources said.
The Vatican has not commented on the timing of Turkson’s departure or the claims of dysfunction in his department.
However, the 75-year-old Canadian Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny has been named as the interim head of the dicastery pending the appointment of “new leadership.”
Last week Reuters reported that one source had told the news agency that Cardinal Turkson had told some staff he was “fed up”.
GIK/APA