Press spotlights selection of Ghana by the US to host clean energy training centre, others
APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that the Department of Energy of the United States of America has selected Ghana as the host country for the clean energy training centre for infrastructural development in Africa is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the United States of America’s Department of Energy has selected Ghana as the host country for the clean energy training centre for infrastructural development in Africa.
The facility, when completed, would help build the country’s capacity in clean energy, augment the fight against climate change by reducing the country’s carbon emissions as well as boost other climate efforts on the continent.
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation at the Office of Nuclear Energy, US Department of Energy, Aleshia Duncan, announced this when she paid a four-day official visit to Ghana.
While in the country, she paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and the leadership of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).
The purpose of the visit was to familiarise herself with the activities of Ghana’s nuclear power programme and the progress made so far.
Ms Duncan said some virtual training programmes had already started as part of the plan to establish the training centre and that plans were afoot to establish the facility, which would serve not only Ghana.
The newspaper says that Prudential Bank Limited (PBL), an indigenous financial institution, has successfully completed its first live Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) transaction to Nigeria.
The transaction was initiated in Ghana Cedis on behalf of an individual customer of the bank, which was instantly received by the beneficiary in Nigeria in Naira.
The PAPSS platform serves as an enabler of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by providing African businesses and individuals with the opportunity to initiate payments in their respective local currencies, with recipients also receiving funds in their local currencies.
This innovative solution will enable businesses to effect cross-border payments in a more efficient, affordable, and transparent manner in line with the operational objective of AfCFTA, which is expected to create the largest free trade area in the world.
PAPSS eliminates the over-reliance on foreign currencies with its attendant economic woes.
The Managing Director of Prudential Bank, Mr Bernard Appiah Gyebi, commenting on the significant milestone achieved by the bank, said, “It is a moment of pride for the bank and its employees to have completed our inaugural transaction on the PAPSS platform, making us one of the early adopters in Ghana.
This achievement highlights our unwavering commitment to innovation in our operations to deepen pan-African trade, and our dedication to always provide our esteemed customers with value-added services”.
The Graphic reports that Ghana has declared intentions to maximise gains from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) through strengthening of commercial ties with Kenya.
As a result, it is planning to establish an Export Trade House (ETH) next month in Kenya as part of measures to promote trade relations between the two countries.
When established, the ETH would serve as a special vehicle that specialises in facilitating transactions between a home country and foreign countries.
It will be positioned at a central location where Made-in-Ghana products can be shipped, displayed and distributed in Kenya and other countries in East Africa.
The trade house is being established because exports have become a tool the government must embrace to improve and promote the country’s products to the global market.
To this end, Ghana will organise a three-day business expedition before the trade fair to highlight the goods it plans to export into Kenya.
Stakeholders including the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the National AfCFTA Coordination Office (NCO) and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), are working together to organise the exhibition.
Trade barriers between the nations of East and West Africa have historically been low because of regulatory restrictions.
Nonetheless, many African countries are now trading more independently thanks to the AfCFTA, the largest free trade area in the world.
According to the World Bank, the African Continental Free Trade Area could deliver far greater benefits in terms of jobs, growth and poverty reduction than previously estimated – making it a potential game changer for Africa’s economic development if its ambitious goals are fully realised.
The deal creates a continent-wide market embracing 54 countries with 1.3 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3.4 trillion.
The newspaper says that the Catholic Bishop of Konongo-Mampong in the Ashanti Region, the Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to state, unequivocally, what his position is on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) issue.
“I would also be most grateful if you could state unequivocally what your position on LCBTQ+ is. I request this because many Ghanaians are not sure of your position on this matter, while they are clear about the position of some of your predecessors who have made their positions clear and unambiguous,” he said.
The Most Rev. Osei-Bonsu made the call in an open letter to the President, dated April 3, 2023.
“I am writing to you today as a citizen of Ghana in connection with three statements that you have made as President of the Republic of Ghana concerning the issue of LGBTQI+. I find inconsistencies in them and I would be most grateful if you could clarify them for me,” it said.
The letter said on December 6, 2017, Jane Dutton of Aljazeera interviewed President Akufo-Addo on the subject of homosexuality, and that in response to the question as to why homosexuality remained a criminal offence in Ghana, “you were reported to have said the following: ‘l don’t believe that in Ghana, so far a sufficiently strong coalition has emerged which is having that impact on public opinion that would say change it and let’s now have a new paradigm in Ghana.
“‘I grew up in England and I grew up in a time when homosexuality was banned there, and then suddenly the activities of individuals and groups, a certain awareness, a certain development grew stronger and it forced in changing [the] law.
“‘I believe that those are the same processes that will bring about changes in our situation. At the moment, I don’t feel, I don’t see that in Ghana there is that strong current of opinion that is saying this is something that we need you to deal with’.”
In the Most Rev. Osei-Bonsu’s view, the President did not answer the question posed by the journalist, and that he should have admitted that homosexuality, indeed, remained a criminal offence in Ghana, making reference to Section 104 of the Criminal Code of 1960 which criminalises consensual same-sex sexual acts between persons of the same gender.
GIK/APA
Press spotlights selection of Ghana by the US to host clean energy training centre, others
