The optimism expressed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that Ghana will have a female as President in the near future and the report that an IMF staff team will visit Accra from September 26 – October 7 to continue discussions on policies and reforms that could be supported by an IMF lending arrangement are som of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed optimism that the country will have a female as President in the near future.
He said he would relentlessly pursue a fight against gender inequality to bring women to the standards they deserved to be.
He added that the government placed emphasis on policies that would make the girl child reach her full potential, for the benefit of not only females but also the country at large.
“Women and girls account for 51 per cent of the population of Ghana, the majority and that is the same everywhere on the continent. So, empowering them is critical to speeding up Africa’s progress,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo said this when he delivered an address at the Global Citizen Festival held at the Black Star Square in Accra last Saturday night.
The festival, which took the form of a musical concert, was timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly to leverage opportunities to get policy and financial commitments from government, corporate and philanthropic leaders.
The 2022 Global Citizen Festival took place simultaneously at the Black Star Square in Accra, and on Great Lawn in Central Park in New York City, USA.
The newspaper says that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team, led by Stéphane Roudet, Mission Chief for Ghana, will visit Accra from September 26 – October 7 to continue discussions with the Ghanaian government on policies and reforms that could be supported by an IMF lending arrangement.
In a statement, the IMF said its staff will also further engage with other stakeholders during the visit.
Ghana is before the IMF for US$3 billion to help the country navigate through the hostile economic crisis in which it finds itself as a result of the adverse effects of the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Already, a delegation from the IMF, led by the Mission Chief for Ghana, Carlo Sdralevich, has visited Ghana and held initial discussions with the Ministry of Finance on a possible IMF-supported programme.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says a deal with Ghana should be reached and finalised before the end of the year.
The Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, gave the assurance in a closed-door meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on September 5, 2022, on the sidelines of the Africa Adaptation Summit, a conference on climate change, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
“We understand the urgency and we will move as quickly as possible,” she told President Akufo-Addo.
The Graphis also reports that the government saved $300 million last year as credit accruing to energy sector utilities.
The credit accrued from arrangements the government put in place to share tariff revenues among players in the electricity value chain weekly to improve liquidity in the sector as part of the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP).
The Natural Gas Clearinghouse (NGC), established under the ESRP, ensures a weekly sharing of tariff revenues among players in the electricity value chain, including natural gas suppliers, transmitters, offtakers and distributors, made up of public and private sector players.
“In 2021 alone, we reconciled over $300 million, which will go back to the government as credit,” the Lead Accountant of the NGC, Leonard Akuffo-Kwapong, said at a workshop on energy sector efficiency in Ada last Friday.
Mr Akuffo-Kwapong said the NGC arrangement also ensured the equitable and smooth distribution of gas sector revenues to all sector players.
The Ghanaian Times says that the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Mr Daniel Botwe, has said the implementation of the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project will complement Ghana’s pro-poor policies.
According to him, it would reduce inequality, foster economic growth and create the needed jobs to empower the youth in the beneficiary districts and municipalities.
He said some interventions, especially the Medium Term National Development Policy Framework (2022-2025) and the Ghana@100 vision, rolled out by the government had been contributing significantly to the progress of the country, and the implementation of the SOCO project was going to add value to it.
The Minister made this known in his keynote address at a three-day orientation and sensitisation programme on the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions SOCO project held in Bolgatanga of the Upper East Region here on Friday.
The project is a multi-country US$450 million credit facility secured by the government of Ghana from the World Bank to be implemented in Ghana and three other West African countries; including Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin.
The SOCO project aims at providing support to the northern parts of the Gulf of Guinea countries considered as the worst hit by fragilities following food insecurity, climate change, conflict, and violence.
Of the total amount of money, MrBotwe disclosed that Ghana through the Ministry of Local Government had received US$150 million, and the project was going to be implemented in six regions of the country;Oti Region, Savannah, Northern, Upper West, Upper East and North East Regions.
“For almost a decade, the living conditions of the over 16 million people living in the northern parts of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo have been threatened by the spread of conflict from the Sahel, which has led to increased vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
“These external pressures of conflict and climate change, as well as the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, have compounded challenges of poverty, exclusion, and weak governance”, MrBotwe indicated as he justified the selection of the beneficiary countries.
In Ghana, he said 48 Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the six regions were selected to benefit from the project, explaining that those MMDAs had been chosen premised on climate vulnerability, exposure to security risk, poverty incidence and unemployment rate.
He, therefore, challenged the various Regional Coordinating Directorates (RCCs) under the care of the respective Regional Ministers to ensure routined monitoring of the MMDAs for effective and efficient implementation of the project.
The newspaper reports that the Global 28 Credentials of Entrepreneur (28COE) summit has been launched in Accra.
The summit, scheduled between November 3rd and 6th, will bring together entrepreneurs and business executives from across the world.
Originally emanating from Malaysia, this is the first time the summit will be held in Africa.
Launching it on Friday, the West African representative of 28 Credentials of Entrepreneurs, Dr Victoria EsinuVitashie said 28COE was a dynamic organisation that is supported through partnership in the global community.
She said the platform is an entrepreneurial one set out for networking, branding and leveraging.
Dr Vitashie said 28COE was the largest community of entrepreneurs and professionals across more than 85 countries.
She said the only objective of the summit was to help aspiring entrepreneurs connect, brand and leverage.
“28COE works to make a healthier start that creates more entrepreneurs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth and create ecosystems that lead to cross- border collaboration and initiatives between investors, policymakers, researchers and entrepreneurial support organisation,” she emphasised.
She explained that 28COE was the world’s most influential community of entrepreneurs which encourages its members to become mentors to young kidpreneurs and teenpreneurs; who aspire to realise their potential in business and professionally.
On his part, the chairman of Kludjeson International Limited, Dr Prince Kofi Kludjeson said the major challenge confronting the development of entrepreneurs in the country was the absence of strong equity laws.
He explained that with a proper equity law in place, Ghanaians could leverage it to develop themselves and take over the commanding height of business.
“We need to have a conversation around what type of equity arrangement that works for us and then we can take advantage of it to develop our country,” he said.
GIK/APA