The report that the government has spent GH¢ 8.1 million to preserve livelihoods under the Stabilisation phase of the GH¢ 100 billion GhanaCares programme and the announcement by Ghana Statistical Service that the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) is 99 percent complete, with only one percent of households to be covered are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Times reports that the Ghanaian Government has spent GH¢ 8.1 million to preserve livelihoods under the Stabilisation phase of the GH¢ 100 billion GhanaCares (Obaatan pa) programme.
Under this phase, Ghanaians were provided with foodstuffs, free water and electricity to more than 200 vulnerable families and households.
The programme is an unprecedented, bold and audacious GH¢ 100 billion post-COVID programme to stabilise, revitalise and transform Ghana’s economy to create jobs and prosperity for Ghanaians over a three-year period.
Mr Charles Adu-Boahen, Minister of State, Finance, said this at the Advantage Knowledge Forum on the theme: “Building Business Agility and Growth for AfCFTA and the Post COVID-19 Era.”
The forum was organised by Enterprise Insurance in partnership with the Greater Accra Region Chapter of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).
He said government also provided GH¢ 750 million business support scheme to enterprises to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on MSMEs.
The newspaper says that a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Economics Department has advised the government to be strategic in its job creation to solve the country’s unemployment situation.
Dr Priscilla Twumasi-Baffuor, in her contribution on JoyNews’ Newsfile Saturday, stated that multiple agencies were overseeing the issue; however, the rate of unemployment keeps increasing.
According to the economist, it would be much prudent should the government harmonise its effort to tackle the unemployment issue, which many have described as a ‘ticking bomb’.
“In the employment generation area, one thing that it is lacking is for us to harmonise all the activities that are going on in there because you tend to find that a lot of agencies are doing a number of things. We need to have a harmonious programme that is looking at youth employment. And for every activity that government is engaged in, I think that we should be intentional about the number of jobs that are created within that activity,” she explained.
As part of efforts to revitalise the economy and create more job opportunities, the government announced a strategy to create job and business opportunities for one million Ghanaian youth by 2024 through programmes including the establishment of “YouBanC”.
The Times also reports that the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced that the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) is 99 percent complete, with only one percent of households to be covered.
It said all the regions of the country had crossed 99 percent coverage, except the Greater Accra Region, which was 93 percent complete.
Giving an update on the 2021 PHC, Government Statistician, Professor Samuel K. Annim, said enumeration had been completed in the 264 of the 272 Statistical Districts, remaining eight, which were yet to reach 95 percent completion rate.
The districts, he mentioned, were the Ga West, Kpone Katamanso, Ga North, Adentan Municipal, La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal, Ga East, Tema West and Ledzokuku.
Prof. Annim said refusal of some households and individuals to participate in the exercise, inaccessibility to residence with restricted access, foreign communities and coverage in rapidly growing urban areas, accounted for the relative low coverage in the aforementioned areas.
He said between now and August 8, all persons who had not been counted would be counted.
Prof. Annim further indicated that between now and August 8, 2021 would be used for the correction and quality assurance spot checks nationwide.
The Graphic says that the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Mohammed Awal, says illegal activities along the borders of countries in the sub-region are hampering efforts to develop tourism.
At a durbar of chiefs and people, including Africans in the diaspora, to mark the Pan African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) in Cape Coast last Friday, Dr Awal called on the public to collaborate with security agencies to protect the nation’s borders.
He said security along the coast and borders of the sub-region in recent times had left much to be desired, stressing that the situation did not bode well for tourism development.
The relatively smaller but colourful durbar was restricted to the Emintsimadze Palace in Cape Coast with adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols instead of the usually huge durbar held for the event at the Victoria Park.
At the peak of the celebrations, the “Effirim” ceremony — the smearing of white clay — was held to welcome Africans in the Diaspora back home.
Dr Awal appealed to the chiefs to support the security agencies to halt activities that could discourage tourists from visiting the country.
“We cannot achieve development without peace. These days, especially in the sub-region, there are a lot of illegal activities; from Burkina Faso to Nigeria, it’s not good,” he said.
He said there was the need for Africans on the continent to collaborate to ensure economic renaissance.
GIK/APA