Appolo(W/R),- Mobilspazio, an Italian-based Manufacturing company, has expressed its readiness to partner the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) to market and franchise products in their Carpentry and Wood Department to create employment opportunities for the youth as they graduate.

 

The move, forms part of measures by the international wood processing and general home appliances company, to equip the youth with the relevant skills to design finished products of international standards in a competitive globalized economy.

 

Country Director for Mobilspazio Production and Manufacturing company, Mr. Patrick Ekye- Kwesie, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Appolo in Takoradi, hinted that the company planned to establish a branch of the company in the Jomoro Municipality to fit into government’s flagship programme of One District, One Factory.

 

Mr Ekye- Kwesie who contested the Jomoro Parliamentary seat on the ticket of the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP) in December 2020, was full of praise for company whose bid was to introduce affordable products onto the Ghanaian market.

 

Mr Ekye- Kwesie who is also the Country Director for PANWAYS Company, said with an Italian experience and Ghanaian operativity, the items produced will be of higher quality standards.

 

Mr. Ekye- Kwesie said the company had competitive prices coupled with 30 per cent discount on all manufactured products, which belong to a medium-end range as a standard, with the possibility of enriching materials and design for the high-end as well as reducing costs, while maintaining a good level of quality and durability for the lower end.

 

Touching on real estate development projects, drawings and plant that required customized solutions, Mr. Ekye- Kwesie said the Mobilspazio team could quickly provide a rough proposal on design and costs, once they have the information on quantities needed.

 

Mobilspazio Manufacturing and Production company is based in Ancona-Italy which started operations in Ghana at Appolo in the Western Region in September 2021, to transact business with Real Estate Development companies, Residential clients, Hotels, Offices, Mining, Industries, Oil and Gas rigs and vessels, among others.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

Accra, Sept 12, GNA – Mr Razak Kojo Opoku, a member of the News Patriotic Party has stated that every modern economy and society is developed through the concept of digitalization/Digitization.

 

“Digitalization is transforming the ways in which industries, businesses, agricultural products, general goods and services are marketed, distributed, traded, delivered and consumed in an increasingly digitized economy and marketplace globally and Ghana is not an exception.”

 

In a statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Sunday, Mr Opoku said online marketing, trading, shopping, banking and e-commerce had become the mainstream channels for consumers. Products, goods and services are moving from tangible mediums to digital ones”.

 

He said in Ghana, the sustainability of government flagship programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs, and One-District-One-Factory would largely depend on digitalization, how the ministries and companies involved in the programme to be able to effectively and efficiently adopt digital technologies to promote and market their products and services to the local, African and Global markets for profits.

 

He said the accessibility and availability of the products and goods from the 1D1F and Planting for Food and Jobs on the marketplaces through digitalization, the greater the profits and sustainability of the programmes would be the norm.

 

He said it was however important to state that in an increasingly digitized economic environment, companies/industries which were established around the concept of digitalization created trillions and billions of dollars to support the national economy in terms of jobs and wealth creation.

 

“Digital, internet and technology-driven companies such as Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tencent, Visa, Mastercard, Facebook, Alibaba, Twitter etc. are economic giants in their own capacity, having economic growth and financial impact greater than the entire economy of African Countries.

 

“This is one of the main reasons why Akufo-Addo’s government through Dr. Bawumia is doing everything possible to, first of all, formalize and change the Ghanaian economic architecture through Digitalization/Digitization.”

 

Mr Opoku said through the efforts and commitment of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP government was capable of rolling out a comprehensive Programme on Digital, Internet and Technology Entrepreneurship leading to the creation of world-class digital and technology entrepreneurs who would be able to provide the needed platforms to market, distribute, trade and attract the needed investments aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the government’s flagship programmes, especially 1D1F and Planting for Food and Jobs envisioned, initiated and implemented by president Nana Akufo-Addo.

 

He said the Digital and Technology Entrepreneurs would assist the government to transform the socio-economic architecture of Ghana, compete fairly with other global digital and technology entrepreneurship platforms such as Amazon, Tencent, Alibaba, Microsoft, Apple etc.

 

“Digital and Technology Entrepreneurs are very key pillars for economic growth, jobs/wealth creation and innovation.

 

“Through Dr. Bawumia’s digitalization initiative, Ghana would soon boast of digital and technology entrepreneurs who would help the government to drastically reduce the rate of youth unemployment.

 

“Through Dr. Bawumia, Ghana shall become the Hub of Digital and Technology Entrepreneurship in Africa.”

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

Bunso (E/R), Sept 12, GNA – Professor Paul Bosu, Deputy Director-General of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Ghana (CSIR), has called for substantial investment in snail farming to position Ghana as the chief snail producer and supplier.

 

He said redirecting significant resources to develop and promote snail production would help Ghana penetrate the global market of snails, to derive the needed benefits, as snail farming required less capital as against other forms of animal rearing.

 

Prof Bosu made the call in an interview with journalists at the close of a day’s training in snail farming technology at Bunso in the Eastern Region, under the auspicious of CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana.

 

He encouraged Ghanaians to venture into high level, medium-to-large scale production of snails, because there was an already market, both locally and internationally, due to its delicacy and medicinal benefits.

 

“Snail meat is not only enjoyed locally, there is a global market for it as well, though there are European snails and other types, but we also have our people in the diaspora who patronise the locally breed snails, the Achatina,” he stated.

 

He asked people to consider snail rearing in their backyard gardens where it could later be integrated, and others with small spaces in their homes could learn from it.

 

The training was aimed at equipping young people with the skills and knowledge of snail farming to help improve their livelihoods and boost snail production.

 

The staff of the National Youth Authority (NYA) in Koforidua, Agricultural Extension Agents and farmers from Bunso, attended the snail rearing session.

 

Prof Bosu noted that the time had come for much awareness to be created so that a lot of people could be trained to gain basic knowledge on how to rear snails.

 

He indicated that a combination of the awareness and the training would build the interest of people who would want to venture to see the need to invest it.

 

“Sometimes when you tell people to attend training on snail farming they will ask, [with] snails too, do we farm them, I thought we collect them from the bush or forest,” he said.

 

He also said, for some time now, his outfit had realised that many people were missing out on the taste of snails and especially the health benefits of being rich in protein, iron, calcium and low in fats.

 

The decline in snail numbers, he said, had caused it to be expensive, and that the snail population was decreasing due to human activities such as bushfires, deforestation and use of pesticides.

 

He said the good way to increase snail production to supplement what was harvested from the natural systems was by training people to venture into its production.

 

“I encourage the youth, even if you have a job and you are not making enough income, you can add snail farming, explore opportunities by acquiring knowledge to supplement your work or venture full time and probably this may end up being what will lead you to your dream,” he said.

 

Mr Kennedy Datuah, a Veterinary Officer and a participant, urged the youth to venture into snail farming because it required less finance to start and indicated that, everything in the agriculture chain had value in the market.

 

Another participant, Millicent Amevor from the National Youth Authority office in Koforidua, said before attending the training, she thought snail farming required no teaching, however after the training she had realised that if someone wanted to venture into snail production that person needed to go through the tutorial process to understand its production.

 

She explained that she never knew snail farming was such a lucrative business and expressed the desire to venture into snail rearing.

 

The participants were trained on snail biology and types, getting started with snail farming, breeding and management calendar, diseases and pests’ management, marketing and business development and finally visited the snail demonstration centre.

 

Snail rearing is considered a high profit-yielding farming venture when properly and professionally managed, and provides a cheap source of high-quality animal protein for human consumption.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

 

Accra,- Government, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, supported over 75,000 people along the coastal communities with food items during the closed fishing season.

 

The intervention was to reduce the effects of the closed season on livelihoods of fisherfolks and promote compliance.

 

Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Sector Minister, who announced this during the Minister’s briefing in Accra on Sunday, said 15,000 bags of rice and 6,250 cartons of cooking oil were distributed to over 75,000 people along the coastal communities.

 

The Ministry also distributed approved fishing nets to some fishermen in the Volta and Central regions.

 

The closed season occurred from July 1 to August 312021 which covered Artisanal and Inshore fleets and Industrial fleets to ensure the fishes rejuvenated and grew into maturity.

 

Mrs Koomson also announced that the government was acquiring four patrol boats to help the security agencies guard the marine life and ward off fisherfolks who over exploited the country’s sea waters.

 

The four patrol boats would be deployed in each of the four coastal regions namely; Central, Greater Accra, Volta and Western regions.

 

This would facilitate frequent inspection at sea, offshore and for prompt response to detecting infringements at the VMS centres, the Minister stated.

 

She also explained that the acquisition of the boats would also accelerate the fight against piracy on the West African coast.

 

The Minister said a research vessel would be procured soon to aid a scientific analysis of marine life.

 

“Research vessels are important means through which the condition and change in marine ecosystems and marine fish stock can be assessed to define allowable catch quantities,” she added.

 

She believed the procurement of a research vessel would help bridge the current gap within the “fisheries sector’s ability to obtain marine data to support effective management of marine.

 

On washing of dead fishes ashore in April this year, Mrs Koomson said the Water Assessment Examination conducted by the Fisheries Commission revealed that the fishes in Osu died because of low oxygen concentration in their tissues.

 

That condition in the sea water caused a stress to the fishes leading to their death.

 

Additionally, the dolphins that were washed ashore in Accra, and Brewire-Akyenim in the Nzema East of the Western Region died because of drastic temperature change and sonar disturbance leading to trauma, dehydration and suffocation under the collapse of their weight.

 

She said those factors were natural and could therefore not be prevented.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

 

Cocoa is the chief agricultural export and the main cash crop of Ghana – the second largest exporter of the commodity in the world after Ivory Coast.

Apart from exporting the crop, a number of companies in Ghana also process it into various products including: chocolate bars, bread spread, couverture, beverages, confectionaries, coco liquor among others.

 

After extracting the finished and semi-finished products from the cocoa crop, the by-product which is the cocoa waste mass also serves as raw material for production of soap and creams.

 

A-four-decade undertaking

 

Madam Mary Dogbe, a 74-year-old mother of five in Tema Community Four near the TDC Park is one of the few persons who has been turning the cocoa mass into useful end products for over 40 years now.

 

She told the Ghana News Agency that as a young girl growing up in the Volta Region, she watched her aunty process pomade until she moved to Tema in 1964 and started working at the Cocoa Processing Company (CPU) to fend for her children.

 

The idea to process the cocoa mass into Cocoa Butter popularly known in Ghana “Cocoa Nku” was conceived after delivering and staying at home for some time, she indicated with a broad grin, while getting set to produce some Cocoa Nku.

 

She decided to collect some of the mass and the burnt cocoa seed shells which was used as soda for the preparation of soap; she sent to her aunty in the Volta Region to use for her pomade business as a trial product, and when it was successful, she dedicated some time learning the process leading her to start her own production in Tema eventually.

 

Cocoa butter business

 

Madam Dogbe who currently works with the support of a walking stick, took the GNA through the process of extracting the butter from the mass.

 

The process starts with the purchase of the mass from known cocoa processing companies especially CPC; and according to her, authorities of CPC after learning that they used the mass and soda they disposed of for other products, asked her to officially apply and buy at a fee.

 

The mass, she indicated, is put into a bowl and hot water is poured it, followed by kneading for the oil in residue to appear at the surface. This oil is then collected and set aside while the remaining mass is then poured into a barrel and cold water poured on it and stirred for more oil to be collected thereon.

 

The second oil collected is put on fire and boiled for hours and , the first oil collected is then poured in and left to boil for a while until it is well-cooked. A yellow oil appearance indicates that it is not well-cooked.

 

Madam Dogbe added that the cooked cocoa butter is then left to cool down for about two days during which the product hardens up; kneaded again to further soften to thick porridge, and subsequently poured into Popsicle molds to shape it.

 

Business then and now

 

Reminiscing the good old days, she said people came from far and near including Togo, Volta Region, Ashanti Region, then northern part of the country, and even Europe to purchase the product at whole sale price for retailing at their various places.

 

Those times, she said processing about 100 kilogrammes of cocoa butter at a go was profitable, saying it was a “hot cake” but business had nosedived due to many factors including the COVID-19 Pandemic which led to the closure of borders and the fear for people to travel generally.

She said it was even difficult and expensive to get the cocoa waste mass, which is their raw material, to buy as the Chinese were also now buying the product from the cocoa processing companies they buy from leading to higher adjustment of the prices.

 

Appeals to government

 

She appealed to the government to help small scale business operators like her with the needed machinery such as machine to knead the mass and other incentives to expand their business and impart the knowledge and skills to the younger generation.

 

According to her, even though she had trained a number of people over the years and some have established themselves, she feared that the young ones would not want to engage in such viable ventures due to the tiresome nature of the processing, therefore the need for government to invest in the trade by providing she and her ilk some machinery.

 

Usage of Cocoa butter

 

Most people mistake the sweet-scented “Cocoa Nku” on the market to be the equally good Shea Butter predominantly produced in the northern part of the country; but the two are not the same even though they look alike.

 

Having a piece of the cocoa in a home is non-negotiable, she said, and explained that it can be used for massaging of babies, people suffering from measles, joint pains, waste pains, fever, cold, cough among other condition.

 

Other benefits include; reducing hair loss, preventing some visible signs of ageing such as wrinkles, scars on the skin, prevents onset of male pattern baldness, and aids in the reduction of inflammation of the skin and others.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Eric Osei-Assibey, the Associate Professor of Economics, University of Ghana, has asked businesses that would be trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to respect its protocols to ensure it succeeds.

He said member states, as well as businesses, would not reap the full benefit of the Agreement if they circumvented the laid down trade protocols and engaged in illegalities.

 

He gave the caution in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra.

The AfCFTA is the single largest free trade in Africa with an estimated market size of 1.3 billion people.

 

Dr Osei-Assibey described the Agreement as a ‘game-changer’, which could help businesses scale up across the region and produce at much greater scale with more efficiency and productivity.

 

However, he warned that many regional economic blocs in Africa had failed to achieve their objectives due to failure of member states to adhere to the trade legalisation schemes they agreed upon.

 

He noted that, for instance, in the case of the West African sub-regional economic bloc; ECOWAS, many member states continued to impose huge charges on products, which were guaranteed tax-free or tax exemptions under the trade legalisation scheme.

 

“So grossly disrespecting the protocols of ECOWAS that has really been one of the biggest problems for ensuring that members benefit from the trade legalisation scheme, and so if that same kind of attitude is taken to AfCFTA then I’m afraid AfCFTA is not going to work,” he said.

 

Dr Osei-Assibey, also the Dean of International Programmes at the University, urged member states to, as a matter of urgency, dialogue and remove all non-trade barriers across borders to facilitate trade under the Agreement.

 

“It also comes with trust, that is, countries trusting one another to ensuring that they are doing the right thing, the kind of goods that are being sent are goods that are of good quality, goods that are not necessarily going to compete against domestic factories or businesses but rather going to be complementary within the value chain of production,” he said.

 

“Those things are necessary to reassure African governments and countries that AfCFTA is rather going to be a catalyst for their development other than a policy that is going to stifle their development.”

 

“So, we need a conscious effort, there should be a dialogue to look at how to remove the non-trade barriers across borders to make this whole AfCFTA meaningful.”

 

Dr Osei-Assibey charged leaders to fast-track processes of establishing regional infrastructures across all borders of member states to facilitate trading.

 

“Harmonising investment policies across regions are crucial and that harmonisation like building cross-border infrastructure such as roads, airports that connect the African Continent are necessary to facilitate trade among member states, otherwise we may have this fine policy on paper but in defacto-wise it may not work if we do not have the enablers in place,” he said.

 

Trading under the AfCFTA officially commenced on January 1, 2021.

It is projected that if the AfCFTA goes on well Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product would increase from the current 3.5 trillion to about 6.5 trillion by the year 2030.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Osabarimba Kwesi Arthur II, the Paramount Chief of Oguaa Traditional Area, has said it had become prudent for the area to have a strategic plan that would guide the corporate community to achieve excellence.

He said Cape Coast was at a standstill in terms of development and there was the need to put in measures to revive the once vibrant youth and corporate bodies to develop the area.

 

“We are not seeing Cape Coast standing tall as it should, even after years of the town’s engagements with the corporate world and we must rise and find a way out,“ the Paramount Chief said at a meeting with corporate stakeholders at the Ridge Royal Hotel in Cape Coast.

 

The meeting, organised by the Oguaa Traditional Council, dubbed: “My Corporate Responsibility,” was aimed at finding lasting solutions to problems of the corporate bodies in their efforts to raise high the flag of the town.

 

Osabarimba Arthur said a committee would soon be instituted to draw a strategic plan that would include all economic sectors to serve as a guide for development.

 

“The committee would report quarterly to update us of how far we have gone in achieving set targets, and we intend to make this very practical,” he said.

 

The Paramount Chief pledged his readiness to lead investors and business gurus to genuine land owners who would offer lands for business purposes to create more jobs and reduce unemployment in the area.

 

The Paramount Chief was optimistic that the strategy would motivate investors and all other businesses to have confidence in doing business in Cape Coast.

 

Mrs Akua Amartey, a representative of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), said there had not been drastic socio-economic change in Cape Coast because it had failed to harness all its potentials.

She said tourism alone could have developed the area with its rippling effect on the entire region and described as “disappointing” the lack of viable industries to drive its growth.

 

Mrs Amartey indicated that Cape Coast was one of the nation’s strategic cities and so, robust measures must be laid to harness every single opportunity there and expressed the hope that the strategic plan would be a game changer.

 

Mr Kwame Gyasi, the Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), urged all to provide their services diligently and provide attractive business packages that would lure investors to the town.

 

“Let’s reform our activities at our work places and endeavour to give off the best, you can also look at what is in Cape Coast that you can invest in. This will indirectly grow your business,” he stated.

 

Mr Samuel Obiri Aduama, the General Manager of Ridge Royal Hotel, said Cape Coast could develop tremendously if it took the tourism industry more seriously, adding that corporate bodies must focus on the growth of their industries.

 

“People come to Cape Coast, they just drive in and out without getting to know the area well after they visit the Castle, but we have to package the town well to attract them to sleep over,” he said.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

GNA – Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, has lauded the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission for producing the Draft ECOWAS Vision 2050, a successor to Vision 2020.

He said ECOWAS Vision 2050 was a very important milestone in the Community’s journey to the realisation of “an integrated, peaceful and prosperous West Africa” by 2050.

 

“It is also important that I congratulate all major actors in the region for the achievements and successes recorded during the implementation of the ECOWAS Vision 2020,” Mr Ofori-Atta said in a speech read on his behalf at the opening experts’ meeting to validate the Draft ECOWAS Vision 2050.

 

The Vision 2020, which had the ambition of transforming the Community from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of Peoples expired last year.

 

The Vision 2050 is, therefore, needed to provide the region with a new and a medium-term strategic plan that takes into account current development dynamics.

 

It would be adopted by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in December, 2021 but its implementation will begin in January 2023.

 

The Vision Statement is to create: “A fully integrated Community of peoples, living in a peaceful and prosperous region, with strong institutions and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, striving for inclusive and sustainable development”.

 

Mr Ofori-Atta said government was proud of the achievements of ECOWAS in Peace and Security; Democracy and Good Governance; Intra Regional Trade and Investments; Free Movements of People, Goods and Capital; and Infrastructure Development (Transport, Energy and ICT) during the implementation of the Vision 2020.

 

He said those achievements had earned the Community a prestigious place amongst the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa, saying: “ECOWAS is no doubt the model REC in Africa”.

 

“Despite these achievements, so much still remain to be done in order to raise the living standards of our people and contribute to the progress and development of the African Continent as enshrined in the Revised ECOWAS Treaty,” he noted.

 

Mr Ofori-Atta urged the participants to consider, in their deliberations, how the Regional Vision would be aligned with the National Development Plans in Member States and how the Vision would address extraordinary shocks such as covid-19, as well as adequate funding for its implementation.

 

Mr Ludwig Kirchner, Representative of GIZ, who reiterated the high value that GIZ places on its cooperation with the ECOWAS Commission, urged the participants to scrutinise the ECOWAS Vision 2050 Document to ensure the outcome formed a good basis for future development.

 

Madam Ngone Diop, Representative of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), said strengthening of development management and steering capacity of ECOWAS to support member states’ development, required the formulation and implementation of a regional prospective vision associated with development plans that responded to the aspirations of the populations.

 

Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, said the Vision 2050 was expected to provide guidance for the development of the region in the next 30 years.

 

“This is with the view of building on the gains made in the implementation of the Vision 2020, and also improving on the challenges and gaps identified during the implementation.”

 

Dr Alhassan Iddrisu of the ECOWAS National Office, Accra, who chaired the meeting, hailed UNECA, GIZ and CAPEC for their generous technical and financial support in drafting the ECOWAS Vision 2050.

 

Source: Ghana News Agency