APA – Accra (Ghana)
The commendation by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Janet L. Yellen, on Ghana’s economic progress during a meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana on the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that on the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Janet L. Yellen, held a meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana.
The meeting on June 22, 2023, centred around important discussions concerning the evolution of multilateral development banks to effectively address the global challenges of the 21st century
Secretary Yellen emphasized the critical need to mobilize climate and infrastructure financing for Ghana and other African nations.
Recognizing the importance of sustainable development, she lauded Ghana’s commitment to economic reforms under its International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, which is aimed at enhancing economic growth and resilience.
During the meeting, Secretary Yellen commended Ghana’s significant progress in debt restructuring, which has contributed to the country’s economic stability and growth.
The efforts undertaken by President Akufo-Addo and his administration were recognized as vital steps in positioning Ghana for a prosperous future.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his gratitude for the support and partnership extended by the United States.
He highlighted Ghana’s determination to continue implementing the necessary reforms to foster economic development and attract investment.
The discussions between Secretary Yellen and President Akufo-Addo underscored the importance of international cooperation in addressing global economic challenges. Both leaders emphasized the significance of leveraging financial resources to support sustainable development and climate action.
The newspaper says that Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has broken ground for work to begin on a 2,000 acre, 9,000-home Integrated Community and Empowerment Centre for Persons Living With Disabilities (PWDs) at Agortor-Kope in the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region.
Known as the CEM Ability Village, it is the brainchild of the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry (CEM) through the Church’s Ability Village Charity, to support and empower persons with disabilities skills training and specialist healthcare to promote their full participation in all facets of society.
Work on Phase One of the project, to be situated on 500 acres, begins immediately while the charity continues to solicit funds and equipment to undertake the entire project in record time.
Vice President Bawumia, a passionate supporter of the cause of PWDs lauded the leadership of the church for conceiving and undertaking such a major project, saying it is a reflection of the Church’s response to the call to help humanity.
“For many years, I have followed with keen interest your efforts in providing assistive devices, medical care, and other essential items for this vulnerable group across the country by organizing the “Day of Help” for persons with disabilities, which is commendable,” Dr Bawumia hailed Rev Steve Mensah and the leadership of the Church and the Charity.
People with disabilities face a variety of social, attitudinal, physical, educational, transportation, and communication barriers in their everyday lives, which affects their full inclusion in our communities. These barriers result in negative consequences such as social exclusion, physical and mental health challenges, discrimination, stigmatization, low self-esteem, and financial difficulties, Dr Bawumia noted.
“Consequently, persons with disabilities are more likely to live in abject poverty than persons without disabilities. Unfortunately, our society’s actions and inactions continue to create barriers to their integration into our communities.
“It has become expedient to tackle these issues head-on with concrete actions that will deal with all these prejudices and barriers impeding the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in our communities. Therefore, CEM Ability Village shows that we do not have to wait for the Government to do everything. We are all responsible for our fellow brothers and sisters living with a disability.
The Ghanaian Times reports that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) yesterday launched the (ATG) in Accra.
The ATG is a suite of five digital platforms that have been designed as a single window to enable the bank to better deliver on its mandate by providing critical services to support and promote African trade and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Launched by Ms Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank of Afreximbank, on the sidelines of the ongoing 30th Afreximbank Annual Meeting (AAM2023) in the presence of Dr Ernest Addison, Governor-Bank of Ghana and Mrs Emily Mburu-Ndoria, Director-Directorate of Trade in Services, Investment, IPR and Digital Trade, AfCFTA, who represented Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA, the gateway digital ecosystem comprises the MANSA (due diligence platform), the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the TRADAR Club, the Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX) and ATG Connect.
Ms Awani said that Afreximbank’s digital evolution was part of its deliberate strategic response to address Africa’s key challenges to accelerate the pace of development and foster economic prosperity for Africans using and applying digital technologies and business models.
“Each one of our digital interventions is designed to address clearly identified challenges and barriers for those seeking to engage in African trade and investment. I am pleased that each intervention has been successfully transformed from concept to reality, and commend the hard work of our colleagues and partners in achieving these milestones. But to consolidate results, maximise net effects, achieve greater efficiencies, drive higher synergistic values, quicken regional integration, extend and create new access markets and accelerate digital economy in Africa, the bank is introducing customer-centric Africa Trade Gateway,” she said.
She described ATG as the gateway to a definitive digital ecosystem made for Africa’s trade, supported by Afreximbank and the AfCFTA in collaboration with their partners to answer the needs of businesses, governments and stakeholders by enabling trade, commerce and investment.
“With the ATG, customers could complete all their transactions within one window,” she explained.
The newspaper says that Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation have begun an initiative aimed at significantly enhancing sustainable production and supply of high-quality white sorghum for processing purposes in Ghana.
Both Diageo, the parent company of Guinness Ghana, and SNV have operations in various countries across Africa, but this partnership is the first of its kind.
The joint initiative, known as Partnership for Sustainable Sorghum Sourcing in Ghana (P3SG), will empower over 12,500 smallholder and commercial farmers, including women and youth, to produce 72,375 metric tonnes of sorghum within the project period, spanning from 2023 to 2028.
The goal is to create a thriving and sustainable white sorghum supply chain that enables farmers to view sorghum as a profitable business crop within sustainable farming systems.
Managing Director of Guinness Ghana, Helene Weesie, noted that “currently, the inability of farmers to meet the demands of Guinness Ghana stems from poor yields resulting from inadequate access to production resources, including improved seeds, agro-inputs, such as fertilisers, financial services for investment in production, and climate variabilities”.
“As a business committed to doing business the right way and ensuring its operations are sustainable by design, the P3SG Project proposes the implementation of improved farmer organisation to effectively engage with a large number of farmers, mutual understanding of quality and supply standards across the supply chain, equitable pricing and contracting terms for a profitable business for all, improved production techniques to enhance yield and quality while meeting environmental and quality standards, and active involvement of women and youth in production and trading to create new dynamics in the sub-sector,” she said.
On his part, the Country Director of SNV Ghana, Pieter Spaarman, said, “Agriculture is a sector SNV has vast expertise and knowledge in, with our work revolving around this sector since we began working in Ghana over three decades ago. Currently, our aim is agri-foods promotion, and in this respect our collaboration with Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC and other value chain actors to deliver and support outputs through effective backward integration of the local sorghum supply chain could not have come at a better time.”
GIK/APA