Day: February 7, 2022

Ghana’s leading digital micro-savings platform, Naa Sika has been selected among 40 winners for the 2021 World Summit Awards (WSA21) designed to reward tech startups whose solutions address the UN Strategic Development Goals (SDGs).

Naa Sika was the only Ghanaian startup selected as one of the winners, out of over 8,000 entries for 2021, in a rigorous process, including a presentation to the WSA21 Grand Jury in a virtual forum.

A letter of nomination from the Chairperson of WSA to Naa Sika stated in part that the jurors evaluated all shortlisted projects in an open, transparent, and fair process, resulting in a most impressive list of 40 WSA winners for 2021 being selected.

It noted that each of the 2021 winners demonstrated how content-driven digital solutions decisively support societal challenges and assist to achieve the UN SDGs.

“I am delighted to let you know that you were successful in your presentation and that your solution was selected as one of the 40 WSA winners 2021!,” the letter said to Naa Sika.

There are nine categories of awards, with five winners each. Naa Sika is a winner under the Inclusion and Empowerment category, together with four others.

Other categories under the award scheme are the Government and Citizen Engagement, Health and Wellbeing, Learning and Education, Environment and Green Energy, Culture and Tourism, Smart Settle and Urbanization, Business and Commerce as well as WSA Young Innovator.

The WSA noted that the global pandemic has revealed the importance of digital solutions and this year´s winners are an excellent example of how digital solutions and applications can help protect the environment, support healthcare, provide inclusive and high-quality education, connect people, and share relevant information.

“The winning projects demonstrate the diversity and richness of digital content solutions globally,” it said.

The awards were announced today, Monday, February 7, 2022, and each of the winners will be given the rare opportunity to showcase their winning solutions to a global audience, including investors at this year’s WSA Global Congress, slated for March 22 – 24, 2022, which a completely virtual forum under the theme HACK THE GAP.

But this is not the first time Naa Sika is making Ghana proud on the international scene.

In the year 2020 alone, Naa Sika won three awards – Best Social Protection Solution – World Bank; Innovation Award – Fontomfrom Amandze Awards, and Digital Innovation Accelerator – GIZ.

Then in 2021 they the Startup Superstar Of The Year – Western Business Awards, before this new one this year.

Team Lead at Naa Sika, Ralph Menz told Techgh24 that “Naa Sika is genuinely a cross-platform for all things money as we give the customers the freedom of choice of the channel to manage their Naa Sika account, namely WhatsApp, Telegram, USSD, iOS & Android apps.”

According to him, currently, the platform is mainly driving the culture of savings to the only feature now is the Savings product, which comes in three categories – Aku Sika (traditional susu), Barima Sika (timebound savings towards a specific project), and Aya Sika, which is a fixed deposit product locked for at least 90 days.

He said Payments, Insurance, Pensions, Loans, and Investments products will be added to the platform soon.

Ralph Menz said for the past 2 years, the company has been prototyping the solution only in the Western Region, by piloted with savings with a bot on Telegram, but now “we have Telegram, WhatsApp and USSD. We have also made savings plans easy to understand and more comfortable for users. iOS and Android will be ready in 60 days.”

He said the awards give the team more encouragement to continue to innovate to make their dream of creating a solution to impact Africa a reality.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra,– Stakeholders advocating gender equality, equity and a stop to gender-based violence have called on government, civil society organisations and development partners to invest in the complete eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

While making the call on Monday at the commemoration of the “International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM” in Accra, Madam Cindy Ofori-Appiah, a Reproductive and Child Health Advocate, Ghana Health Service, noted that 28 countries in Africa and other parts of Middle East and Asia still practised FGM calling for greater commitment from stakeholders.

She said the practice was prevalent in Somalia, Mali, and Sierra Leone and common among the Kusasis, Frafras, Kassenas, Nankanas, Busangas, Wallas, Dagaabas, Builsas, and Sisalas, especially in the Upper West and Upper East Regions of Ghana.

According to the 2021 National Housing and Population Census, the overall FGM prevalent in Ghana is 11.7 per cent and done before a child attains 15 years.

Madam Ofori-Appiah said the Upper West Region was the most prevalent with 50.5 per cent, while the Central and Eastern Regions had the least with 0.9 per cent.

FGM, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female organs for cultural or other non-medical reasons.

The stakeholders include the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Council of Zongo Chiefs, and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The commemoration was on the theme: “Accelerating Investment to End Female Genital Mutilation”.

Madam Ofori-Appiah said cutting off the labia majora (outer lips) and labia minora (inner lips) of the vulva through the process of FGM in girls and women, meant taking all bodyguards off to easily subject victims to infections, which could affect the fallopian tubes and subsequently lead to infertility.

She mentioned severe pain, bleeding, shock, genital tissue swelling, HIV infection after using same knife for mutilation, impaired wound healing, which made delivery difficult among victims, and psychological consequences as some of the short term health risks among victims.

The long term risks include infractions such as chronic general reproductive tract, and urinary tract infections, difficulty/painful urination, menstrual blood loss and increased perinatal mortality.

Mrs Eunice Maasodong, President of the Association of Ghanaian Women and Children’s Welfare, who demonstrated how varied forms of FGM were conducted with a dummy, said some cut the labia majora, others the labia minora, while some cut the two and sewed a longer part of the opening, leaving a tiny hole for urination and menstruation.

“In some countries, when the woman is about to get married after the FGM, they will then measure the man’s penis to cut a bit more of the opening to allow penetration.

“When we visited the North, we saw that after some women had been mutilated, they were being forced to dance and show excitement with blood all over them, because to them, they were now clean and real women,” she said.

Mrs Maasodong said the labia majora and minora played key roles in many ways and opened to allow free movement of babies during delivery, therefore, when cut, victims who underwent delivery struggled to let babies out and sometimes bled to death.

“Yet, they blame the woman and force her to confess of having slept with another man aside the husband to enable her to easily give birth,” she said.

In partnership with the Ministry of Gender and the Ghana Police Service, she said about seven circumcisers regarding FGM were arrested few years ago and jailed while on an assessment mission at victimised communities.

However, execution of the project had been slow due to lack or inadequate funding and investment; she said and called for support to totally eradicate the canker in the country.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has rubbished claims that there was a mallam hired by the outfit to help the Black Stars succeed at the 2021 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

After a disastrous campaign in Cameroon that saw the national team being eliminated at the group stage, there were allegations that players involved themselves in juju.

Speaking to Starr FM in an interview on Monday morning, Henry Asante Twum who speaks for the Ghana FA has rubbished those claims.

According to him, juju does not exist in the Black Stars although players invited to camp have their own beliefs.

“We all have beliefs as individuals. There was no day that I slept before 3 am. And I didn’t hear any Mallam chanting. No Mallam was hired for the Black Stars. There is no chance that juju exists in the Black Stars. The players have their individual beliefs and we can’t stop them,” Henry Asante Twum shared.

Meanwhile, despite fears that Ghana would fall to Nigeria next month, the GFA Communications Director is confident that the Black Stars would excel to secure qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

“We will fight to qualify for the World Cup. We believe that not qualifying for the World Cup will do our industry more harm,” he said.

Source: Modern Ghana

The spokesperson for the Ayew family, Fiifi Tackie has taken a swipe at a journalist for criticizing a footballer.

In a tweet, the renowned football Public Relations expert questioned the credibility of a journalist for criticizing a player.

It is unknown if the unnamed player is a member of the Ayew family.

“Check that Sports journalist credibility who is criticizing a footballer. SMH,” he tweeted.

Following Black Stars early elimination from the just-ended 2021 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] in Cameroon, the Ayew brothers were taken the cleaners.

Multiple emerged that Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew have decided to retire from the national team.

However, Fiifi Tackie dismissed the reports and insisted the pair are committed to play for the Black Stars.

Source: Modern Ghana

A resilient performance from Elmina Sharks on Monday afternoon saw the side cruising past Asante Kotoko with a vital 2-1 victory.

The team from Elmina since the start of the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League season has struggled to compete.

As a result, the club is one of the three teams at the bottom of the league table fighting to avoid relegation at the end of the campaign.

Today at the Paa Kwasi Nduom Stadium, Elmina Sharks welcomed league leader Asante Kotoko to battle for points in a matchday 16 fixture of the campaign.

While many tipped the team to be demolished, players put up a strong performance and managed to cross the finish line with a win with the help of a red card to Asante Kotoko defender Ibrahim Moro.

On the matchday, Dickson Afoakwa opened the scoring for Asante Kotoko in the 38th minute before goals from Ebenezer Adu Kwaw and Alhaji Mustapha propelled the home team to come from behind to secure a huge 2-1 win at the end of the 90 minutes.

Courtesy of today’s victory, Elmina Sharks have made a first step towards climbing out of the relegation zone.

The team must strengthen its squad and prepare to fight for as many points as possible in the second round of the season.

Source: Modern Ghana

The Nigerian-based venture Jiji announced on Monday, Jan 31st its full acquisition of Ghanaian-based classifieds heavyweight Tonaton. The company is the enterprise behind the Jiji app, the #1 application by downloads in the shopping category on the Google Play Store in Nigeria, and currently the highest-rated e-commerce app in the country.

Jiji already holds leadership positions in Ghana and Kenya. Additionally, the marketplace operates in Uganda and Tanzania, with some 12 million users making up a monthly active base among all geographies. The amount of the transaction was undisclosed.

Tonaton, a subsidiary of Saltside, was the main Jiji competitor in Ghana at the time of its purchase by Jiji earlier this month. However, Tonaton has quickly grown in popularity thanks to innovations that make it easier for users to buy and sell online, a strategy aligned with Jiji’s mission. As a result, both Jiji’s and Tonaton’s apps are consistently ranked as the top shopping apps in the Google Play Store in the countries where they operate.

Jiji and Tonaton users will now have access to a larger network of buyers and sellers, which will significantly increase trading opportunity and aggregate user base in what is seen as a major market consolidation in the classifieds sector.

With Jiji’s move to a large-scale presence in the African continent, and following its acquisition of OLX in 2019 and its recent acquisition of Cars45 in 2021, the deal sees the company well-positioned to tap into a larger share of the African market.”

On the current trend drawn by Jiji, CEO and co-founder Anton Volianskyi clarified that “with OLX and Cars45 under Jiji’s umbrella, we are getting close to becoming a regional leader in classifieds. Jiji is the largest e-commerce company in Africa by GMV (more than $10 billion), leading in small to high-involvement key categories such as cars and real estate.

We hold the rank of the best app in e-commerce proudly with a rating of 4.5/5, a gauge of satisfaction from our millions and millions of daily users. The picture is much larger.

Our goal is to build a company that gives every user in Africa the opportunity to buy goods cheaper and reduce environmental impact through what is effectively a developing lateral economy built on a safe and productive recirculation of valuable goods. We are currently creating at full-tilt hundreds of thousands of new jobs throughout Africa, which allows us to effectively address and help remedy gaps in both unemployment and frictional unemployment.”

Yuliy Shenfeld, Jiji’s Director of African Operations, added: “Jiji achieved great success with only a limited presence in Ghana; more than 2 million people visit our website each month. Over the past eight years, Tonatonhas built a strong team of more than 70 people that will hugely contribute to our future growth. The combination of Jiji’s technology and talent with that of Tonaton will help ensure our continued success in the fast-paced e-commerce industry.”

The diversification of its portfolio of services and regions has been a consistent theme for Jiji. With the deep penetration of Tonaton in the Ghanaian classifieds sector as the go-to platform and factoring in its leading position in Ghana’s transactional used auto market, Jiji has carefully secured a reliable base towards streamlining their services to a projected (SSA) market of 400 million-plus users – a market in which it currently sits as the indisputable leader in several key countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, amounting to over $10 billion in gross merchandise value.

Source: Ghana Web

Old Mutual Ghana, a leader in Insurance and a celebrated employer of choice, has once again demonstrated its commitment to celebrating and rewarding employees who have excelled in their various roles as sales representatives of the business. The award ceremony took place at the plush Tang Palace Hotel in Accra.

The annual Sales Gala saw employees from the Life and Pensions business winning various cash prizes for various categories. Deserving financial advisors, sales managers, and client relationship managers were awarded for their efforts in achieving the objectives of the business in 2021.

“At Old Mutual, we strongly believe that a valued and appreciated employee goes a long way to increase employee engagement and productivity. We are passionate about every single individual who works within the business and constantly dedicates time every year to celebrate those who have shown exceptional results in the performance of their task. A big congratulations to all award winners! Let us all be motivated by this and aspire to achieve greater results in 2022”, says Tavona Biza, Group CEO of Old Mutual Ghana.

A total of forty-three (43) employees were awarded cash prizes and some also won an all-expense-paid trip to Durban in South Africa.

Some Top Performing Winners for the Night:

1. Best Performing Sales Manager – Barbara Eshun
2. Best Performing Sales Team – Team Dove
3. Best Performing Financial Advisor – Samuel Ofori Debrah and Samuel Tabiri (Bancassurance)
4. Best Corporate Client Relationship Manager – Sarah Dwommoh
5. Best Bancassurance Client Relationship manager – Helen Lynn Mogyabie
6. Best Relationship Manager (Pensions) – Jojo Akorli

Award winners expressed their profound gratitude to the organization for the support and opportunity gave them to be exceptional in the field of sales.
Speaking at the event, the Head of Distribution of Old Mutual Ghana encouraged her team by saying:

“This celebration should be a source of motivation to achieving greater heights as a business. Let us do better in 2022 because we can. More hard work, effort, and positivity are needed for achieving exceptional results. Let us all get involved in seeing the business rise and flourish.” – Emma Ocansey (Head of Distribution of Old Mutual Ghana).

Old Mutual Ghana is a leader in the Life Insurance and Pensions industries in Ghana. Old Mutual Ghana is part of the Old Mutual Group which has over 176 years of experience in providing Insurance, Banking, and Investment solutions in Africa. Old Mutual Group has a presence in 13 African countries. At Old Mutual, we exist to provide financial advice that delivers positive futures for our customers.

Source: Ghana Web

The 2022 edition of the Africa Safer Internet Day (ASID) is scheduled for Tuesday, February 08, 2022, with African countries rallying and focusing on the theme “Positioning and Partnering for Child Online Protection”, which calls on all stakeholders to come together to discuss and promote the safer use of the internet and to make it a better place for all, especially for children and young people.

In view of the above, the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ministry of Education, UNICEF, Plan International, and all other children online protection partner agencies and stakeholders in Ghana will observe the day to create awareness and build nationwide understanding on the need for children to be guided to stay safe online.

The celebration is expected to promote the safe and positive use of online technology by children and young people in Africa under the global focus, “Together for A Better Internet”, and raise awareness on emerging child online issues and current concerns and the need for all stakeholders including parents, guardians, teachers, civil society, and religious bodies to get interested in the experiences of children and young people online.

For every awareness created, a child can be protected, secured, and saved from online criminal abuses like sextortion, cyberbullying, cyber grooming, sexting, possession, and distribution of child pornography. All stakeholders are therefore encouraged to get involved to raise awareness on online safety issues to promote safer and positive use of digital technology, especially among children and young people.

Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over a hundred and seventy (170) countries worldwide. The event is celebrated globally in February each year to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people, and to inspire a national conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically, and creatively.

Source: Ghana Web