Day: February 1, 2023

Accra– Professor William Akpalu, Director of the Environment and Natural Resource Research Initiative (ENRRI-EfD Ghana), has advocated proactive measures to enhance the prospects of Ghana’s fishing industry.

The outlook of the industry, he said, was not encouraging, saying an analysis of the catch per vessel over the years, that is, from the 1990s to 2018, indicated a sharp reduction in the catch made by the fishers.

“Each vessel is catching less and less and less fish, and potentially we are losing a lot,” he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Accra, on the sidelines of a workshop on ‘Emerging Issues on Capture Fisheries Management in Ghana.’

According to him, fishery like any other renewable resource, was such that, “if the rate at which you are extracting the resource exceeds the rate at which the resource is replenishing itself, eventually the stock will collapse.”

The workshop, which was organised under the auspices of the ENRRI-EfD Ghana, and funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, brought together scientists and researchers from the academia, members from the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Fisheries Commission, and other stakeholders.

Prof. Akpalu, who is also the Dean, School of Research and Graduate Studies, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), stressed the need for the country to establish marine parks.

This, he said, was necessary to check overexploitation of the fish resources while improving the stock for the benefit of the nation.

Additionally, the country ought to build a good database for the fishing industry, he advised, saying this was critical to inform policies required to making life comfortable for those whose livelihood depended on fishing.

The workshop discussed topics relating to improving the fishing value chain, revenue lost due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, premix fuel subsidy, among others.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ho, Feb 1, GNA – The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has handed over a human performance laboratory and a fitness clinic to its School of Sports and Exercise Medicine.

The facility, developed in collaboration with Chances Hotel, a hospitality company in Ho, would serve as a practical arena for studies for the School, which was established three years ago.

Prof. Lydia Aziato, Vice-Chancellor of the University, led stakeholders after a brief ceremony to commission and inspect an overstocked modern gym, lecture all and fitness rooms at the hotel, refurbished and repurposed for the School through a Memorandum of Understanding.

Streamlining training and holistic fitness, the facility by the health dedicated training and research institution is expected to support the development of the country sports and performance sectors.

The Vice Chancellor celebrated the collaboration, and reiterated the premium on the sports and exercise medicine school, saying that its regularisation was expected to “hold the university together.”

“It is my personal vision to see it as the highest IGF earner for the University. The era of sports is good,” she remarked.

Prof. Aziato said the fledgling University “would need a state of the art sports facility to attract people to the Region and the University,” and that its students were taking off in some local and national competitions.

She charged the School to build upon the support to establish more collaboration with sporting establishments, including teams and franchises to enhance experience.

The VC said client service at the facility should be digitised to attract and better serve the present elitist environment, and also called for the incorporation of technology to provide telemedicine services.

Prof Harry Tagbor, Pro Vice Chancellor, said the facilities would receive the needed management attention to sustain efforts to enhance the hospitality experience in the Region and the nation as a whole.

The fitness clinic facility would provide weight stations, swimming pools, and suana baths in addition to a wide variety of workout equipment.

It would also have a dietary prescriptions and counselling unit, and has been prepared to take in referrals from health facilities for muscular and skeletal related conditions, among others that require fitness care.

Services would include exercise stress test, executive stress tests, management and nutritional education, and dietary planning.

There would also be hydro exercises, home-based geriatric management exercises, and insomnia management with exercise, all available to the public and sports men and women, while also targeting corporate groups and event participants.

Prof Eric Ofori, Dean of the School of Sports and Exercise Medicine, said the facility would help train graduate sports and exercise scientists who should be able to provide treatment for people with health issues, and also train sports men and women to enhance their performance.

He said graduates should be able to manage pitch-side injuries and accidents, and also sporting facilities, and undertake sports marketing, among other related practices.

Mr Emmanuel Chance, owner of the hotel, said the collaboration was sure to affect tourism development in the Region, and also the outlook of his establishment.

Divine Bosson, Municipal Chief Executive for Ho, said the development had great support within the innovative oxygen city project the Region was being built upon, and therefore the Assembly would add to efforts to provide a befitting sports complex for the University.

He said such support was in line with the Government’s policy to promote fitness as a barrier against ill-health, and would be prioritised.

The MCE commended the hotel owner and said his support showed quality statesmanship.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Wa, Feb. 01, GNA – NoNi Hub, an Information Technology (IT)][ firm in Wa, has dedicated the MTN AYOBA Accelerator programme prize to the people of the Upper West Region for their diverse contribution to making the hub win the ultimate prize.

The NoNi Hub was adjudged the overall winner of the Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) AYOBA Accelerator programme prize among seven IT Hubs in the country that participated in the programme.

The other IT Hubs that participated were Hapaspace, Wan-Hive, HopIN Academy, iCode, Ispace, and Wizeey Academy.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa on the success chalked, Mr Sumaila Chakurah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Noni Hub, expressed gratitude to the people in the region for their diverse support to the Hub in training start-ups, which enabled them to win the award.

“We are so happy about it and we dedicate the award to the people of Upper West because they all contributed in one way or the other to ensure that we got this award.

We are all proud that we have been able to put the region in the spotlight and we have been able to sign a lifetime partnership with MTN and AYOBA and we only look forward to seeing what good thing can come out of it,” he explained.

Mr Chakurah explained that the Hub would soon roll out a programme to educate people on the importance of the AYOBA platform and how they could get their mobile applications enlisted on the AYOBA platform to enable them increase sales and profitability.

As part of the award, Noni Hub was given GH?50,000.00 to support its operations, which Mr Chakurah said would be invested into training more start-ups and creating more business opportunities for the young people in the region and beyond.

“We are going to work assiduously to ensure that more start-ups within the region are also given the opportunity to get listed on the AYOBA platform and for us that’s the key thing, it’s not about the money,” Mr Chakurah added.

He encouraged businesses and start-ups that had mobile applications to visit the Hub to get them uploaded onto the AYOBA platform to increase their sales and profitability.

Mr Awal Mohammed, Programmes and Business Development Officer at Noni Hub, explained that the programme was to enable the hubs showcase their contributions to the development of the tech space in the country.

He indicated that as part of the competition, the hubs were expected to, among other things, assist as many startups as possible, be enlisted on the AYOBA platform, and provide the start-ups with technical and business development support.

He said Noni Hub nurtured six start-ups in the transport, food delivery, and E-Commerce industries among others to participate in the AYIBA Accelerator programme, which gave the hub the advantage to emerge as the winner.

AYOBA is a mobile application platform that allows mobile application developers and businesses to upload their web and mobile-based applications onto the platform to make them accessible to users at no cost to the users.

The users could access resources including books, communications, and music among others for free and had millions of users across countries where MTN operated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Feb. 01, GNA – Dr Antwi Boasiako Amoah, Acting Director, Climate Vulnerabilities and Adaptation, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says Ghana needs to institutionalise dedicated funding to solve challenges associated with climate change.

He said the threats of climate change were cross-sectoral and to make it financing dependent on international support was inimical to the country’s growth and development.

“Climate financing in this country has largely been on international donations and such mobilization of funds is not sustainable. Can we continue this as a country, it is obviously no.”

Dr Amoah said this during a workshop organised in Accra by the Youth Climate Council, Ghana, on the theme: Post COP 27 Debriefing Session to discuss how the COP 27 outcomes could be leveraged to support the ambitions and aspirations of Ghanaian youth.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he said funds from the international community had gradually dwindled particularly in the current global economic crisis, resulting in some climate funded projects not upscaled or replicated in other parts of the world.

“We need to understand these financing mechanisms at the international level, so that domestically, we can mobilize funds and package ourselves to address the problems because there’s a thin line between development and climate change,” Dr. Amoah said.

He said: “I do not know of a dedicated finance earmarked for adaptation or mitigation. We cannot say that we ‘re waiting for international funds to be able to address a community that has been flooded along the coast in Ghana. We need to take our development seriously.”

Dr Amoah said stakeholders, including the Ministry of Finance had developed the Ghana Green Fund which had been at Cabinet for approval.

He called for a law to bring all climate initiatives together with a legislative instrument, prescribing specific allocations.

Madam Priscilla Efua Nyamekye Appiah, Research and Policy Officer, Youth Climate Council (YCC), said the workshop presented opportunities to know the interventions that Ghana was rolling out, and the opportunities that were available for the youth.

“We need to do ambitious things to mitigate climate impacts, we need to contribute our quota as youth to help save and safeguard our communities here,” she said.

Miss Nyamekye Appiah said the government must commit resources in building the capacity of the youth and support them in purchasing green cookstoves, using plastics to create beads and other items.

Miss Margareth Impraim, Capacity Building and Education Officer, YCC, called on the youth to embrace climate change issues and take active steps in bringing the needed changes.

“At the global level the youth are making changes for their countries, and we need to do the same. We intend to have some programs this year to help break down climate change issues into local languages,” she said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Feb. 01, GNA – Black Stars winger, Kamaldeen Sulemana has signed a record-breaking four-and-a-half-year deal with English Premier League side, Southampton for a fee of €25 million.

The 20-year-old attracted interest from Everton, PSV, and Southampton who were keen on getting him on board.

After engagements with the player, the former Rennes man agreed to join the Saints on the transfer day deadline yesterday from the French side.

Kamaldeen’s move to the St Mary’s was due to the limited playing time in his current club, Stade Rennes after his return from injury late last year.

According to the manager of Southampton, Nathan Jones, he believed this was a positive step taken by the club, to bring such an experienced winger like Kamaldeen Sulemana to help boost the attack of the Saints.?

“He is at a stage in his career where we feel he can help us in the immediate term, but also continue to grow and develop further into the future,” he added.

The winger made 47 appearances for his former club, scoring six goals and providing four assists with a goal to his credit this season.

The Black Stars forward was named October player of the month in the 2021/22 Ligue 1 season ahead of Kylian Mbappe, Leonel Messi, and Neymar Junior following an impressive performance that season.

Kamaldeen is a promising emerging talent who is noted for his technical ability, dribbling, speed, and his perfect finishing.?

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the winger emerged as the fastest player in the tournament, with an acceleration of 35.7 kilometers per hour.

The forward would join teammate Mohammed Salisu in Southampton, hoping for a wonderful season together.

He becomes the new record signing of Southampton eclipsing the initial £ 20 million fee paid to Liverpool to sign Danny Ings in 2019.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kumasi, Feb. 01, GNA – INUTET Sports, a Ghanaian registered sports marketing company that works with different football clubs and players across the globe, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Brazilian sports management firm and a Portuguese club to identify football talents in Ghana.?

The two other partners, Grupo Worlinger, an international business intermediate with extensive experience in sports management, and GuardaDesportiva Futebol Clube, a Portuguese football club would facilitate the progress of the talents once they are identified by INUTET.?

Whereas Worlinger is responsible for connecting the parties to the agreement, Guarda would receive players for technical evaluation with the additional responsibility of sending observers to identify players with good technical capacity.?

Under the agreement, Guarda would determine specific dates to evaluate players identified by Inutet who will inform Guarda of the availability of such players.?

Players on trials would be accommodated and fed by Guarda which shall also provide services such as laundry and internet.

The MoU stipulates that the Agency and Club would perform their duties and obligations as independent contractors and that nothing contained in the agreement will be construed as creating an employment, agency, partnership, joint owner, or joint venture relationship between the parties.

The agreement shall also be construed and enforced by international laws and may not be altered or amended except in writing and signed by all parties involved.?

“At INUTET Sports, we are proud and excited about this partnership. Our primary focus is to see young athletes reaching their potential and future dreams, Mr. Inuwa Musah, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of INUTET told the Ghana News Agency (GNA).?

Source: Ghana News Agency

Lawoshime (VR), Feb 1, GNA – The Keta Chapter of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in the Volta Region has donated two wooden Canoes to Lawoshime and Wenyagor M/A basic schools to facilitate access.

This, they said, would aid in accessing the school located along the lagoon in the event of flooding and transportation.

Mr Mattah Ferguson, the Keta and Anloga chapter Chairman of GNAT, disclosed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) the schools requested for the canoes after a tour by the Association to the schools.

He disclosed that some teachers and pupils were finding it difficult to access the school, especially during the raining season due to flooding.

The situation, Mr Mattah disclosed, needed attention “since there is no electricity and other good social amenities, most of the teachers come from far and may need to cross the river everyday for teaching and learning.”

Mr Alex Midedzi, Headteacher at Lawoshime basic school, who received the items expressed much appreciation over the offer.

He told the GNA the offer would mitigate the expenses incurred by the teachers and others in boarding a canoe to school.

Mr Alex Ahia, Assembly member for the area, thanked the donors for the support.

He called on government and other well meaning Ghanaians to help rescue residents in the area from other problems such as potable drinking water, good roads, and others.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Feb. 01, GNA – Premier League giants, Accra Hearts of Oak have announced the signing of 24-year-old Cameroonian international, Eonde Albert Dieudonne until 2026.?

The forward joined the Rainbow boys for three years and is expected to contribute to the club’s league title ambitions.?

After terminating the contract of Cameroonian striker Junior Kaaba after four months, and the exit of Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Hearts of Oak engaged the services of Albert Dieudonne to beef up the squad.?

Albert Dieudonne would have a huge task to accomplish this season by rocking shoulders with some top strikers in the betPawa Premier League who would want to give him a good test.

The former Dynamos man scored 12 goals in the 2021/22 season of the Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League but could not continue after the world football body, FIFA suspended the league due to some acts of violence and hooliganism.

Accra Hearts of Oak are currently placed third on the betPawa Premier League table with 24 points inching close to their title ambitions.

Source: Ghana News Agency