The report that Forbes Africa Magazine, the organiser of the African of the Year award, has stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was given the coveted recognition for this year for his visionary leadership and policies that are developing the country is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that Forbes Africa Magazine, the organiser of the African of the Year award, has said that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was given the coveted recognition for this year for his visionary leadership and policies that are developing the country
It mentioned the Ghana Beyond Aid vision, the leadership exhibited in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, policies such as the Year of Return and Beyond the Return, the hosting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in Accra, Ghana being made Africa’s trade hub for Twitter Africa, among others, for the conferment of the award on the President.
It added policies such as Agenda 111, the free senior high school (free SHS) and other policies that were stimulating entrepreneurship among the youth.
The Executive Director of Forbes Africa Magazine, owners of CNBC Africa and ABN Productions, Mr Frederic Van de Vyver, announced this when he presented the award to President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House yesterday.
The memento depicting the award has the inscription: ‘All African Business Leader Award-2021 African of the Year’. It is glass-shaped in the form of the Africa map that sits on a piece of wooden pane.
Mr de Vyver said President Akufo-Addo’s weekly broadcast on the COVID-19 provided clarity for Ghanaians on the difficult decisions taken to deal with the pandemic during those trying times.
He recounted the statement by the Nigerian industrialist, Mr Aliko Dangote, that Africa needed visionary leaders like President Akufo-Addo as one of the vindications of the sterling qualities of Ghana’s President.
Forbes Africa, which has already profiled the President for its cover for the December 2021/January 2022 edition of the magazine, unveiled the President a week ago as winner of the award.
The newspaper says that the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) has disbursed some GH¢8.85 million to 120 small businesses that applied for a share of the GH¢145 million Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP) grant.
The beneficiaries, under the second tranche of the grant, were selected out of 21,000 applicants after meeting the rigorous criteria designed by the GEA, World Bank and other partners.
The second disbursement brings to GH¢22.65 million the total amount distributed to 332 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the GETP grant.
They are owners of small businesses into agro-processing, food and beverage, health care, and manufacturing industries across the country and are receiving between GHȼ10,000 and GHȼ20,000 grant to support their operational costs, including purchase of raw materials and equipment.
The disbursement is the new round of the stimulus package introduced by the government to cushion micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GEA, Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, at an orientation and signing agreement ceremony for the beneficiaries in Accra on December 1, stated that the grant awarded were to support the operational cost of the SMEs and may include salary payments, purchase of raw materials, equipment purchases, maintenance, installation and repair costs, fees and subscription, marketing expenses and payment for business development services.
“For today’s signing, a total of 120 beneficiaries were selected as the second batch of recipients of the grant. Total amount for these 120 successful businesses is GH¢8.85 million. I will take this opportunity to say congratulations to you all,” she said.
She said the GEA was optimistic that given the rigorous nature of the selection process, the beneficiaries were the most credit worthy and they would utilise the funds for the intended purposes to enable the country achieve the desired developmental objectives of the project.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and Gavi, a Ghanaian institution, on Tuesday received 648,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the French government for onward delivery to Ghana to help her fight the COVID-19 pandemic which is still wreaking havoc across the globe.
This forms part of 10 million French doses donated to member states of the African Union.
The French government is making these donations as its contribution to combat the virus which is manifesting in different variants.
With the recent detection of Omicron variant in South Africa, months after the Delta variant was discovered in United States of America, Asia and Europe, France is ramping efforts together with the COVAX and AVATT to reach a donation of 120 million doses up from the 67 million doses already distributed.
A statement issued and copied to the Ghanaian Times by Alynda Armoo, Press Attaché at the French Embassy in Accra said “These vaccine donations are particularly crucial as a fourth wave which could be more violent than previous ones is currently feared on the continent. The vaccines are being allocated and distributed through a partnership with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVATT) and the Gavi-led COVID-19 Vaccine Access Facility (COVAX).
To date, 67 million doses of vaccine have already been donated by France. France wanted this action to benefit African countries first and foremost, and it was in a country on this continent, Mauritania, that France made its first donation via COVAX last April.”
The statement said France was providing its full support to the organisations in charge of deployment, Gavi and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to ensure that the last doses reach the field as quickly as possible.
The newspaper says that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stressed the need for people of African descent around the world to constantly interact to address contemporary issues affecting black people.
He urged the “global African family” to dialogue to find ways to change the narrative about black people and enhance the dignity of the black race.
President Akufo-Addo said this when the President of the US National Bar Association, Carlos Moore, called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
The US National Bar Association President is in the country with a delegation to be part of the Beyond the Return festival and to explore investment opportunities on the continent.
President Akufo-Addo, who extended an invitation to people of African descent to visit the country this month to be part of the Beyond the Return Festival, stressed the need for black people to work together to address contemporary challenges facing them.
“We need to build a bridge across the Atlantic to allow us to address the problem affecting black people in the 21st century,” he said.
Mr Moore, on his part, said he and his delegation heard President Akufo-Addo’s message inviting them to return home for the Beyond the Return.
“I believe that not only our past is intertwined but also our future is intertwined,” he said, adding that “we are very committed to the continent of Africa and Ghana in particular.”
The Beyond the Return campaign, is a follow-up to the Year of Return in 2019, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Virgina in 1619.
The festival attracted people from African descent from across the world to enjoy Ghanaian life and explore investment opportunities in the country.
GIK/APA