Ghana’s impressive ranking in investment-attractiveness on the continent and the departure of 13 Ghanaian Agricultural students to begin 11-month paid intensive internship practical agricultural training in Israel are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Ghana outperforms other West African countries to rank sixth in investment-attractiveness on the continent
Ghana, in RMB’s ‘Where to Invest in Africa’ 2021 report outperformed its West African peers to rank sixth place in investment attractiveness on the continent.
Ghana, per its new ranking, emerged as the top destination in the sub-region followed by Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Nigeria.
Assigning reasons for the country’s ranking, RMB, the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand Bank Ltd, said Ghana entered the current Covid crisis on a relatively stronger footing than its African peers with its economy managing to avoid a recession in 2020 and registering growth of 0.4 percent, outperforming Sub-Saharan Africa economies which contracted by 3.2 percent on average.
RMB, also added that Ghana’s economy had seen major shifts over the past few years with the major shifts supported not only by primary-sector industries like oil and gold but also accelerated development in the tertiary sector thereby positioning the economy for significant growth going forward.
“We see the construction, agriculture, and services sector as the main catalysts for strong 4.2 percent average growth between 2022 and 2023,” RMB noted in its report.
“This year, the economy has shown a steady recovery, with the Gross Domestic Product print in 2Q21 at 3.9 percent, supported by performance in both the secondary and tertiary industries. Over the next few years, oil production output will pick up in the near term, supported by higher oil prices that should encourage further oil exploration in Ghana. There are similar expectations for gold production, which is further supported by government efforts to curb illegal mining activity, thereby promoting the formal sector,” it added.
RMB Africa Economist Daniel Kavishe, commenting on the report noted that this year’s report assessed the extent of the pandemic’s impact by sketching the landscape of the continent pre-COVID-19, and then painting a picture of both its actual and potential outcomes through and post-pandemic.
“We created a new set of rankings that incorporated some of the unavoidable COVID-19-induced challenges, of which the operating environment score was one,” he said.
The newspaper says that 13 Ghanaian Agricultural students yesterday left Ghana to begin an 11-month paid intensive internship practical agricultural training in Israel.
The group being the fourth batch brings to 500 the number of students trained under the Ghana-Israel Green House Technology programme.
While in Israel, the students would be attached to co-cooperative farms called “Kibbutz,” where they would work for five days and be in the classroom for one day.
The programme is to help build capacity of the beneficiaries who are expected to save part of their allowances towards establishing their own agri-business when they return.
The Team Co-ordinator, Prince Kwame Boakye told the media at the departure lounge that the group would be attached to various farms where they will be supervised by technical experts to ensure that they acquire the right skills in practical agriculture.
The Chief Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr Patrick Robert Ankobiah on behalf of the sector Minister Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto advised the students to see themselves as ambassadors of the country and conduct themselves properly.
According to him “many have gone before them, they are therefore expected to consider themselves among the many that would also be there and be a shining example to mother Ghana and the many friendly and peace loving Israelis.
The Ghanaian Times also reports that Ghana has received more than $1.2 billion from the Global Fund to assist in the fight against Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV and AIDS.
With the assistance over the past two decades, a total of 226,000 Ghanaians living with the humane immono virus (HIV) were currently put on free anti-retroviral (ARVs) treatment across the country.
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu disclosed these in Accra on Friday in a speech read on his behalf at a ceremony, in which Ghana received a Symbolic Torch from Nigeria to mark the 20th anniversary of the Global Fund.
The Global Fund, founded in 2002, is an independent, multilateral financing entity designed to raise significant resources and accelerate efforts to end AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria epidemics.
Mr Agyeman-Manu, who is also the chair of the Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund, said over the years, the fund had assisted Ghana to build a resilient health system through technical assistance such as capacity building, procurement of equipment, TB, HIV and malaria prevention and treatment thus averting millions of deaths.
According to the Minister of Health, with the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the government had been able to apply some of the Global Fund’s allocation to the treatment and care of patients and oxygen supply to the various COVID-19 health facilities.
Mr Agyeman-Manu expressed gratitude to Global Fund for the support saying Ghana was committed to its counterpart funding to the fund to enable its continuous assistance to Ghana.
The newspaper also says that Ghana Link Network Services has hinted of plans to extend its business beyond the borders of Ghana in the coming years as it take steps to make the clearing system at the Ports of Ghana stress free.
As part of efforts to make the port business more effective and efficient, management of the Integrated Customs Management System, ICUMS said they were continually improving upon their systems to ensure they give users the best.
The Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Link Network Services, Clyde Adjei while interacting with journalists from the Port Journalists Network in Accra, noted that “We are continually developing modules that will improve the system and bring efficiency into our operational space as a company.”
The Port Journalists Network, PJN, is a group of seasoned journalists who have been reporting on ports and maritime issues over the past years and have come together to form an association to champion issues that concerns port and maritime in the country.
The Deputy MD, noted that “so far with the introduction of ICUMS, management is quite satisfied with the work it has done at the Port over the past one year of its operation and we are hopeful of doing more to ensure that our clients are satisfied with our services.”
Mr Adjei added that, with the positive feedback Ghana Link had gotten so far, it was ready to go beyond the borders of Ghana and Africa as a whole.
“We are looking globally to make our system a very current system at all times that will serve the needs and purpose of our time. We are also growing up modules to be introduced to bring efficiency into the system and also look at ways of creating more jobs for others.”
GIK/APA