Press zooms in on $1.3bn fertiliser project sealed between Ghana, Morocco, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The $1.3-billion fertilizer project for the production of fertilisers locally from Ghana’s natural gas is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the government has completed the Front-end Engineering Design (FEED) with the OCP Group of Morocco for a $1.3-billion project for the production of fertilisers locally from the country’s natural gas, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has stated.
The Fertiliser Complex to be sited in Takoradi formed part of measures to diversify the Ghanaian economy and create value chains for the Mining and Oil and Gas Industries.
Dr Adam disclosed this during the launch of the 2020 Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) reports on Ghana’s Oil and Gas Sector Revenues in Accra yesterday.
The Minister explained that the project which would be completed in three years, would help increase fertiliser availability and reduce input costs to farmers to fast-track the industrialisation of the agricultural sector.
He said the government strategy for the medium to long term is to leverage the country’s Oil and Gas resources to establish the linkages and to boost the other sectors of the economy.
“Recent developments in terms of decline of our oil and gas production coupled with the potential negative impact of energy transition leading to low investment in the sector, call for the need to consider other areas with a view to ensuring diversification and reducing the impact on the economy for sustainable development,” he stated.
Dr Adam said a total petroleum receipts for 2020 stood at US$666.39 million, compared with the 2019 receipt of US$937.58 million.
“The upstream oil and gas sector in Ghana contributed 3.7 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ghana in 2020 and recorded a growth rate of -4.6 per cent (at constant 2013 prices),” he stated.
The newspaper says that the World Bank has asked the Ghanaian government to take advantage of recent grants aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability, to make bold decisions on the health sector.
The government has received a first tranche of $600 million of a $3 billion loan facility, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with an additional $250mil¬lion expected at the end of the third quarter of this year.
It is also expecting financing support from the African Devel¬opment Bank (AfBD) and other development partners.
Consequently, the government is seeking to build a more resilient economy able to withstand future shocks under its three-year post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).
The Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Pierre Laporte, said despite Ghana’s exemplary leadership on health within the sub-region, significant gaps exist in areas of service delivery, access to basic services, climate health vulnerabilities and pandemic preparedness.
“I hope that the restoration of the Ghana economy to the pre-crisis level will provide the government with the requisite fiscal space to invest in health,” he said.
Mr Laporte made the call at the opening of this year’s National Health Summit in Accra, yesterday, on the theme; “Sustainable financing for primary healthcare towards attainment of universal health coverage in Ghana; Role of stakeholders.”
The three-day annual meeting, brings together key health stakeholders, to review progress of the health sector, discuss prevailing challenges and how to improve the status quo, to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and other global health targets.
The Graphic reports that a study conducted by three institutions has revealed that seven per cent of the country’s productivity is lost to ordinary Ghanaians due to mental health.
The study by the University of Ghana’s Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), in collaboration with the Yale University and the Department of Psychiatry Department of the University of Ghana, also showed that only three per cent of mental health patients received services from orthodox psychiatric settings.
The low access is due to geographical barriers, economic challenges, stigma, lack of human resources and training opportunities, as well as inadequate infrastructure.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made reference to the statistics when he opened the Mental Health Department building at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra yesterday.
To address the challenges, the President said the government was making significant strides by prioritising mental health and increasing funding by over 200 per cent over the last six years to support comprehensive care.
The Mental Health Department building is named after the first Ghanaian military pilot, Squadron Leader Melody Dankwa, who had a bipolar disorder but managed it so well that she combined the sickness with piloting and trained airforce pilots, including former President J. J. Rawlings.
It will not only serve the University of Ghana Medical School, but also the larger Korle Bu Teaching Hospital community.
It houses a conference room, student lecture halls, faculty research offices, waiting area conducive for teaching and learning, consulting rooms, therapy rooms, treatment room, a pharmacy and an observational room.
He said the Mental Health Act 846 passed in 2012 had led to a more coordinated and efficient approach to mental health care, empowering individuals with mental health conditions to live in their communities with the support of their families and friends.
The newspaper says that asylum seekers who are in the two Upper regions are part of about 8,000 asylum seekers being hosted in the country.
The Executive Secretary of GRB, Tetteh Padi, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said the asylum seekers from Burkina Faso could be more and that the 3,200 were those who had completed the registration process with the board.
He said the rest were putting up with friends, good Samaritans and other family members who had relocated to Ghana.
“Now the focus is on the Burkinabes who are in the Upper regions. We have registered 3,200 but there are more,” he emphasised, adding that registration was still ongoing.
The interview was a follow-up to the notification the GRB received from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, earlier this year after the agency assessed the alarming influx of asylum seekers from Burkina Faso who had fled to Ghana as a result of terrorists attacks.
Their presence created fear among members of some communities in the Upper East, Upper West and Savannah regions.
In February, the UNHCR, the Ministry for the Interior, the GRB and other stakeholders had an engagement on a contingency plan to respond and support the asylum seekers, which has culminated in the registration.
GIK/APA