The report that Ghana has settled the $42 million debt it owed the Nigeria Gas Company, making it possible for the two countries to start on a fresh page is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that Ghana has settled the $42 million debt it owed Nigeria Gas Company (N-Gas), making it possible for the two countries to start on a fresh page.
The settlement of the debt, among other things, enhances the country’s quest to use clean fuel for its power generation and gives the two countries an opportunity for further discussions going forward.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of N-Gas, Mr Aliyu Aminu, said settling the debt was a testament of the Ghanaian government’s commitment to deepen its long-standing relationship with the company and Nigeria.
At a meeting with Ghana’s Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Mr Aminu commended the leadership of the minister, saying, “Since he took office in March, the Nigerian petroleum company has experienced a deeper collaboration with the Ministry of Energy.”
He said it was a great relief that N-Gas’ debt of $42 million had finally been settled, adding that “We are confident the relationship between Nigeria Gas and Ghana would continue to thrive under your tenure as minister.”
For his part, Dr Opoku Prempeh expressed the government’s commitment to key partnerships with all stakeholders and that the Ministry of Energy was resolved to work assiduously in that direction.
“The payment of this legacy debt was crucial because it provides the basis for a clean state for fresh negotiations, which are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks,” Dr Opoku Prempeh said.
The Daily Guide says that First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has announced she will refund all the monies paid her since 2017 which amounts to GH¢899,097.84 to the state.
The First Lady said she could not accept the emoluments approved for her by Parliament.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Office of the First Lady, Korkor Bleboo.
“The First Lady in consultation with the President of the Republic has decided to refund all the monies paid to her as allowances from the date of the President’s assumption of office, i.e., from January 2017 to date, amounting to GH¢899,097.84,” the statement said.
Mrs Akufo-Addo, the statement noted, has decided not to accept any monies that have been allocated to be paid to her under the recommendations of the Ntiamoa-Baidu committee, as approved by Parliament.
“She is doing this as a purely personal decision, without prejudice to the rights of others, and not to undermine the propriety of the process undertaken by Parliament,” the statement said.
Mrs Akufo Addo’s action comes on the back of the backlash government had received after it came to the fore that, a recommendation for the First and Second Ladies to receive monthly salaries had already been approved by Parliament.
Ghanaians were further agitated because it was disclosed that, the First and Second Ladies will be receiving salaries equivalent to Cabinet Ministers.
The newspaper reports that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) says most international travelers arriving in Ghana with the Delta variant of coronavirus are from Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Director General of GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, made this known to the press in Accra on Sunday, July 4th, 2021.
He stated that therefore that “additional measures being implemented against arrivals from hot spot countries (Liberia and Sierra Leone.)
He stated that the delta variant has a higher transmission rate.
According to him, genomic sequencing for coronavirus in Ghana was being done by NMIMR, WACBIP and UHAS.
He noted that a total of 1,212 covid19 samples have been sequenced.
He reiterated that community detection of the delta strain was confirmed in July, 2021.
The Daily Guide also says that the CEO of Wear Ghana, Awura Abena Agyeman has stated that young Ghanaian entrepreneurs are not only interested in financial investments but are interested in what she calls smart capital investments.
Responding to why Ghanaian businesses prefer debts to equity in their quest for funding, Awura Abena Agyeman said: “It is not just the money we are looking for, we are looking for smart capital as well, money that will come with some expertise, which is what typically you will get in such arrangements but we also want some fairness.”
She made the comments during the second edition of the development finance series at the research and consultancy Centre of the University of Professional Studies, held in partnership with Citi TV.
Awura Abena Agyeman also urged the Finance Ministry to ensure that the yet-to-be established Development Bank Ghana provides credit to young entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses.
Meanwhile, Dr Emmanuel Debrah, a Finance Lecturer at UPSA in his contribution said all development banks have collapsed due to poor corporate governance and wondered what different the government will do to ensure the success of the new bank.
“When I heard of the Development Bank, what came to mind was all the development banks Nkrumah built. All of them are no more. The question is what have we learnt from there to guide the sustainability of the yet to be operational Development Bank, Ghana…Research has shown that all development banks in the past collapsed due to poor corporate governance,” Dr. Debrah noted.
But in a response on the same platform, Director of the financial sector division of the Ministry of Finance, Sampson Akligoh, assured that the Government is plugging all loopholes to ensure the Development Bank Ghana becomes a success.
He added that the diversity of the partners working with the government to establish the bank is a testament to its sustainability
GIK/APA