Day: July 4, 2023

The African Centre for Economic transformation has advised the Government to utilize proceeds from traditional exports to diversify the economy.

The traditional exports of Ghana since independence had been predominantly cocoa, gold, crude oil, and timber which formed part of significant revenue generation source for the Government.

According to the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Report, in the first quarter of 2023, the average price of the three major traditional exports by Ghana (cocoa, gold, and crude oil) had a marginal decline of 0.9 per cent in February 2023.

The decline according to the Central Bank was led by a reduction in crude oil (0.03%) and gold (2.2%) sub-sectors, although the cocoa price rose by 2.5 percent.

It is in this regard that the think tank group advised the Government to redirect the proceeds generated from the traditional exports to reinvest them in struggling sectors to offset their losses.

Miss Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, Executive Vice President, ACET, said the country was currently struggling in terms of manufacturing, value addition and technology thus it was prudent that government addressed those challenges.

“If you use the resources to diversify, to improve agriculture, manufacturing and strengthen technology; what happens is that if prices of one sector goes down, you have other sectors you could rely on,” she said.

She said other countries equally exported the same products and advised the Government to ensure that the country’s traditional exports were competitive to become the preferred products on global fronts.

The group observed that the exports are at the ‘’ mercy’’ of the world market, saying price volatility was one of the major challenges of the traditional export sector.

The group recommended that government must provide the necessary infrastructure to support the private sector to add value to the traditional exports.

Dr. Ebo Turkson, a senior lecturer at the Economics Department of University of Ghana, said the group was advocating for export diversification which was key to Ghana’s economic transformation.

He said the private sector had the capacity to meet the export needs of the country thus the government must engage them to promote a value addition agenda.

Source: Ghana Web

The Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has assured all trainees in colleges of education of the government’s commitment to retaining their allowances under the IMF deal.

Speaking at the 175th-anniversary celebration of Akropong College of Education, the presidential advisor said that despite the concerns raised about the IMF conditionalities.

He further added that any delay in payment of the allowances will be the fault of the government and not because of the IMF.

“I know that the difficulty in the economic landscape, which has resulted in the government signing up for a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), may cause you some concerns.

“But none of the allowances introduced in the teaching profession will be affected by our programme with the IMF. If there are any difficulties in prompt payments, it is coming from our own mobilization of resources and not from the IMF,” Osafo-Maafo said.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unanimously approved the $3 billion bailout for Ghana at a meeting held on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Washington, United States of America.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and other parties who negotiated on behalf of the government of Ghana for the bailout have been described as wicked because of the agreement they settled on.

Some of the conditions supposedly enshrined in the $3 billion bailout agreement include; the removal of Value Added Tax (Vat) exemptions, reducing Customs exemptions, automatically adjusting fuel levies by the exchange rate, movement and inflation, and a limit to the rate at which the government can increase the salaries of public sector workers among others.

Source: Ghana Web

The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal has said the country could rake in between six and seven billion dollars if the government remains focused on developing and maintaining tourist sites.

Delivering a speech during the commissioning of the redeveloped Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the government appointee remarked that the Akufo-Addo government has been keen to make Ghana the most preferred tourism destination on the continent.

Acknowledging that “The big boys of Africa in terms of tourism; Morrocco, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal all have their own tourist attractions. They have the wildlife; they have the beaches. Ghana has heritage and political tourism”, the minister said the country is leveraging its unique attractions to position itself as the go-to country for tourists.

Among others, he mentioned that the “Osu Castle will be modernized” next year. “And we are going to link all these; Kwame Nkrumah Park, Osu Castle and National Museum, Forts and Castles” to make the agenda a reality.

“If we continue as we’re going, over the next two years, tourism will generate between six to seven billion dollars per annum,” he said. “We’re going to contribute 150,000 jobs every year.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 4th July 2023, commissioned the renovated and modernised Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, a year after he cut the sod for the commencement of work on the project.

The Park, which was built in 1991 and opened to the public in 1992, in the time of the 1st President of the 4th Republic, His Excellency the late Jerry John Rawlings, had not seen any renovation since then, resulting in significant deterioration of the edifice.

It is for this reason that President Akufo-Addo instructed the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture to close it down temporarily for renovation to be undertaken.

Addressing the gathering at the ceremony, the President noted that the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park has not only been renovated, but it has also been completely modernised to befit the status of the final resting place of the man who led us to independence in 1957, and became Ghana’s first President, the justly-celebrated Kwame Nkrumah.

“The Park now has facilities including a presidential library, receptive facility, mini-amphitheater, restaurant, freedom wall, and a digitalised payment and access system. The mausoleum has also been fully refurbished, with the tombstone upgraded, and the museum expanded with an audiovisual tunnel. There is also an upgraded VVIP lounge, expanded recreational area, a modernized gift shop, and a fountain area with synchronised audiovisuals, the first of its kind in West Africa,” he said.

The President continued, “The thirty million cedi (GH¢30million) modernised Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park is in line with plans by Government to make the Park one of the best tourism and heritage attractions in West Africa. As the outstanding pan-Africanist of his generation, the burial site of Dr. Nkrumah must be appropriate to his status and exceptional contribution to the liberation of Africa from colonialism and imperialism.”

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, which attracted some ninety thousand visitors annually before the renovation, is now expected to attract over one million tourists annually.

Source: Ghana Web