The report that Germany has expressed its commitment to support Ghana’s effort to become a pan-African vaccine manufacturing hub is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that Germany has expressed its commitment to support Ghana’s effort to become a pan-African vaccine manufacturing hub.
Already, the German Development Cooperation and the European Union (EU) – Team Europe have initiated measures to ensure that Ghana’s domestic vaccine production is realised
The partnership forms part of a 10-year Ghana vaccine manufacturing road map to make the country a vaccine manufacturing centre in the sub-region.
“The initiative will help create an enabling environment for local vaccine manufacturing in Africa and tackle barriers and demand siders. It is being backed by €1 billion from the EU budget and European development finance institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB),” the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Daniel Krull, said.
He said the project was for a period of 27 months — from April 2022 to June 2024 — with total funding support of over €2.8 million.
“This is co-funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). “The government of Ghana has already committed US$25 million seed money to the overall vaccine manufacture initiative and this project forms an integral part of the overall road map,” he added.
Mr Krull, who was speaking at a press briefing at his residence in Accra yesterday, further said the collaboration would also facilitate the upgrading and strengthening of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
The newspaper says that an integrated online learning (e-learning) programme to deliver 3,000 courses for the youth and professionals in the country at no cost has been launched in Accra.
The courses cover artisanal, entrepreneurship and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
The government has partnered the Layden Educational Foundation, a social enterprise and brainchild of the programme, to deliver the courses free of charge to the youth and professionals.
To be based at the University of Ghana, the Leydon-Alison Integrated Online Programme Centre targets secondary school leavers, graduates, undergraduates, workers, corporate and business people, as well as other individuals.
Unveiling the programme last Monday, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, said the government supported the integrated e-learning programme because it fell in line with its skills development and entrepreneurship programme.
He said skills development through integrated online learning provided a tool for tackling youth unemployment, while connecting with the ideals of the free senior high school (SHS) policy.
Online learning, the Vice-President indicated, provided consistent and standardised training every time.
The Ghanaian Times reports that more than 100 business owners from Ghana and Nigeria would today converge on Lagos, Nigeria to deliberate on how to deepen the longstanding economic relations between the two countries.
The maiden ‘2022 CEO Forum’ would create a two-day platform to inform businesses of opportunities available in Ghana and also provide insight on business operation laws to ensure compliance.
Under the theme “Ghana and Nigeria Stronger Together”, the event to be held in Lagosand Abuja is being organised by the Ghana Nigeria Business Council (GNBC) and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).
A statement issued by the GNBC and GIPC yesterday said it was being supported by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Ghana Free Zones Authority, Ghana High Commission to Nigeria and Nigeria Ghana Business Council.
“As a council, we have progressively been making steps to further deepen ties, promote opportunities and drive engagement between businesses in Ghana and Nigeria.
“It is a great milestone that we have reached by organising the CEO Forum with key government partners and stakeholders which shows our seriousness as a country in ensuring we continue to build our age old relationship with Nigeria” it quoted Mr Reginald Laryea, Chairman of the GNBC.
The statement said Ghana and Nigeria, being the two largest economies in West Africa, had many opportunities to be explored within each country and beyond investment opportunities it was equally important for representatives of both countries to understand operating laws and compliance requirements, as each country has its own sets of rules of engagement.
The newspaper says that after 36 days of strike, the Labour Division of the Accra High Court yesterday put an injunction on the strike by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).
By the order, UTAG must call off the strike and go back to the lecture halls, Justice Frank Aboadwe Rockson, gave the order following an application for interlocutory injunction filed by the National Labour Commission (NLC).
Lecturers of the various public universities had embarked on a strike over conditions of service and payment of allowances.
All efforts by the NLC to get the lecturers back into the lecture halls had been unsuccessful.
All the two applications filed by the NLC for an order of the court to compel the UTAG to call off the strike had not been granted as the court urged the parties to settle the case out of court.
Currently, academic activities in all public universities across the country had been put on hold.
The various students unions have called for cool heads to prevail between UTAG and NLC.
The students said they were the worst victims of the impasse between the two institutions as they had spent their monies.
The Ghanaian Times also reports that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has given the assurance that it would work with the police to check illegal trade in petroleum products.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NPA, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, “the tampering of seals on Bulk Roads Vehicles (Tankers) and the siphoning of fuel leading to fuel adulteration are worrying and should be a thing of the past.”
He said, “the NPA is going to ban tanker drivers who will be caught involved in fuel adulteration.”
Dr Abdul-Hamid asked table-top dealers in petroleum products to stop operating because theiractivities were illegal.
“The NPA is an office responsible for observing the downstream petrol industry, and that combatting illicit fuel exercises is key to what the Authority stands for,” he said when interacting with journalists, in Kumasi, on Friday.
It was part of a working visit to some parts of the Ashanti Region to find out more about the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
GIK/APA