The report that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says that the development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is key to building a prosperous future and the launch of the GhanaPay mobile money service, an electronic payment platform by the Vice President are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is key to building a prosperous future.
Citing countries such as Japan and Germany, which had developed through technical and vocational skills, the President was optimistic that the investments his administration was making in TVET education would pay off
“I think we all have been speaking about the importance of TVET education for the country. I am a great believer of taking examples and inspiration from people who have succeeded and done things before.
“You look around in the world and you see the countries and societies that have succeeded and been able to build good standards of living for their people. Countries like Germany, like Japan – look into how they did it and you will see the importance [of TVET] to them…Science and technology, and being able to change the workforce where people can do things with their hands,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said this when some young Ghanaians who represented the nation in a skills competition in Namibia and returned with four medals called on him at the Jubilee House on Tuesday
The team presented the two gold and two silver medals they won from the competition to the President.
Commending the students on the feat, President Akufo-Addo said the future of the country was dependent on such people.
The President expressed concerns over the country’s educational system which focused mainly on white collar jobs, “where you have a lot of people doing big talk, and have ignored creating things with their hands”.
He assured that the government would do its best to provide the necessary resources to develop the TVET sector.
The newspaper says that the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched the GhanaPay mobile money service, an electronic payment platform to enhance financial services and promote financial inclusion.
The GhanaPay is a mobile money service, the first bank-wide solution in Ghana, providing an opportunity for users to have access to unlimited banking services in addition to existing mobile money services.
The novelty platform was developed through collaborative efforts by the Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement System (GhIPSS) and the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) under the supervision of the Bank of Ghana.
GhanaPay is like any mobile money service, but with additional banking services designed for financial freedom and a bank-wide mobile money service provided by universal banks, rural banks and savings and loans companies to individuals and businesses.
Dr Bawumia said the service formed part of the financial inclusion agenda of government.
He said every individual with access to a mobile phone could register for the service, with or without a bank account, stressing that transactions on the platform were free, except e-levy charges.
Dr Bawumia, said the new digital age required collaboration from all stakeholders, including the financial services providers in ensuring a secured payment eco system.
He pledged that the government would continue to create the enabling environment for such innovative products to be rolled out.
Dr Bawumia expressed the optimism that the platform would provide healthy competition to the mobile money space, leading to enhanced services and lower the cost of financial transactions.
The Governor of BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, on his part said the banking sector demonstrated resilience and its ability to offer crucial support to businesses and households during the pandemic and necessitated the creation of the GhanaPay.
According to the governor, GhanaPay was a mobile wallet and the cost of testing any new technology for each bank would be reduced and allow for new ways of doing business.
“This is an exciting development for Ghana’s payment systems landscape and demonstrates how collaboration with the banking sector can proffer solutions for the transformation and deepening of the payments ecosystem,” he added.
The Graphic reports that a former Minister of Finance, Professor Kwesi Botchwey, has suggested the need for concrete steps to be taken to save the country’s current economic situation, which is “perilously heading towards the early 1980s when the economy was relatively in crisis”.
Among some of the steps he has suggested to be taken is freeing the economy from increasing public debts to enable the government to pay for and meet the nation’s social obligations.
He also reiterated the need for a thorough review of all sources of pressure in the budget, including flagship programmes and their sustainability and impact, as well as resist the lure of solutions that would further mortgage the future of young generations to come, such as collateralising public revenue streams.
Prof. Botchwey made the suggestion when he delivered the keynote address at the launch of a book titled: “The Children of House No. D13 South Suntresu, Kumasi” at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra last Tuesday.
The 471-page book, published by Digibooks Ghana Limited, is the collective biography of the Ahwoi and the Adu-Gyamfi siblings.
It was co-authored by Ato, Kwesi and Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, Mrs Ama Twum, Mrs Ama Adoma Bartels-Kodwo, Mrs Efua Bram-Larbi and Mrs Agnes Appiagyei-Dankah, all siblings.
The former Finance Minister, who is also the Juantuahene of Agona Asafo in the Central Region, pointed out that the Provisional National Defence Council had (PNDC) inherited an economy which was already in bad shape.
The newspaper says that Sorghum farmers have been advised to organise themselves into cooperative groups to enable them to benefit from the micro-credit scheme of the Guinness Ghana Breweries (GGB).
The Managing Director of the GGB, Helene Weesie, gave the advice at a durbar of the chiefs and the people of the Sabule Traditional Area in the Jirapa municipality in the Upper West Region during the inauguration of a water project for the people of Sabule.
Ms Weesie said the micro-credit scheme was an initiative introduced by the company to attract the youth into farming to boost sorghum production and economic growth in the country.
The two solar-powered mechanised boreholes, which have been piped to stands in the farming community, is expected to benefit more than 10,000 people.
The GH¢1.3m project was carried out in collaboration with WaterAid Ghana, an international NGO.
According to Ms Weesie, the project, which is the first in the municipality, was to give back to the people, who are the main suppliers of sorghum for the production of beverages.
She explained that in its relationship with the people, the management of the company realised that the people had difficulty accessing potable water, while issues of sanitation and hygiene were also a challenge, hence the intervention.
“We believe that sustainable access to clean drinking water and sanitation is the bedrock on which to build strong and thriving communities across our operational areas. We pledge our commitment to invest in more communities in our local sourcing areas,” she added.
GIK/APA