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  • “Live responsibly” – Pres Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians as he lift all COVID-19 restrictions

    “Live responsibly” – Pres Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians as he lift all COVID-19 restrictions

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressed Ghanaians on Sunday, March 27, 2022, giving updates on the country’s fight against COVID-19.

    In his address, he announced the drastic easing of various restrictions including reopening the country’s land and sea borders as well as the no more negative PCR test for fully vaccinated travelers.

    Below is the President’s full address:

    1. I first came to your homes on Wednesday, 11th March 2020, five (5) days after our nation’s 63rd Independence Day celebration, a day before we recorded our first two (2) cases, with news of the measures Government was taking to limit the importation of the COVID-19 virus into the country. Even at that time, it was obvious to me, watching what was happening in Asia, Europe and Latin America, that, if it was not well-managed, it would disrupt our lives and livelihoods.

    2. Since then, we have experienced four (4) waves of the outbreak. One hundred and sixty-thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two (160,932) people have tested positive from the 2.4 million tests conducted, and one thousand, four hundred and forty-five (1,445) people have, sadly, died.

    3. Our comprehensive strategy has entailed living with restrictions that altered our daily routine; we have been restrained from shaking hands and hugging one another; we have had to keep a distance from each other; we have had to put up with the discomfort of wearing face masks every time we left our homes; we have had to endure distress caused by the poking of our nostrils and throats with swab-sticks, each time we underwent a PCR or antigen test; we had to endure, for three weeks, the painful lockdown in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and Kasoa and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and contiguous districts; and we have all borne the brunt of the ravages of the pandemic.

    4. As your President, I saw it as my duty to provide you with regular updates on the situation, the measures government is taking, and to seek your support and co-operation. That is why I have been a constant feature on your screens these past two years, in the addresses that have now become popularly referred to as “Fellow Ghanaians”, and I thank you for welcoming me so warmly into your homes.

    5. You have listened to me, you have co-operated with Government and with the health experts, you have adhered to the enhanced hygiene and mask wearing protocols, and a considerable number of you have taken the vaccine.

    6. I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to be your President in these difficult times. I do not take it lightly. The relative successes we have chalked in winning the fight against COVID-19 have been collective ones, which reinforce my belief that, if we are united, there is no obstacle or hurdle too high to surmount in our quest to build a progressive and prosperous Ghana.

    7. Fellow Ghanaians, undoubtedly, like in every country in the world, the effects of the pandemic have been devastating for us, in Ghana. We have felt the brunt of COVID-19, with every aspect of national life affected.

    8. I did say at the height of the pandemic that “we know what to do to bring the economy back to life; but what we do not know is how to bring people back to life”. We, thus, had to take drastic steps to protect lives and livelihoods by suspending, for the years 2020 and 2021, our pursuit of fiscal responsibility, which had made the Ghanaian economy the poster boy of rapid economic growth in the world in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

    9. You would recall that, in response to the pandemic, I mandated the creation of the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme to support households and micro, small, and medium-size businesses (MSMEs). Its intent was to help minimise job losses, and stimulate economic revitalisation, by mobilising private and public sector finances to expand industrial output for domestic consumption and exports.

    10. To this end, I instituted a GH¢1.1 billion health response package, which was used to procure supplies and equipment, and a relief package for health workers, which included tax waivers, allowances, transportation and COVID-insurance. Government also found the money to recruit, on a permanent basis, twenty-four thousand, two hundred and eighty-five (24,285) more health professionals.

    11. GH¢1.6 billion was made available to support vulnerable households across the country, which went into food packages and hot meals, and the provision of free water for all, free electricity for lifeline consumers, and 50% rebate for all others. Some seven hundred and fifty million cedis (GH¢750 million) in soft loans and grants were also disbursed to micro, small and medium sized businesses to help maintain their economic activity. The Government Statistician tells us that this expenditure has achieved its purpose.

    12. At the height of the pandemic, despite strong opposition in some quarters and the legitimate concern of some parents, we stood firm and were successful in ensuring that the education of our children was not truncated.

    13. We spent some GH¢1.9 billion providing PPEs and hot meals for students, teaching and non-teaching staff, hand washing facilities, training of teachers on COVID, development of content for online classes, and disinfection and fumigation of schools. This made it possible for students to return in conditions of safety, sit for their respective examinations, and achieve successful results. Indeed, the spectacular results of the first and second batches of the Free SHS graduates, whom I proudly call the Akufo-Addo graduates, are testament to this.

    14. I want to state, without any equivocation, that should our nation, God forbid, be confronted by such a pandemic again, and I, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, am, by the grace of God, your President, I will not shy away from taking such essential steps to protect you and your businesses again.

    15. Whilst we count the costs, COVID-19 also inspired our domestic manufacturing capabilities, and deepened our self-reliance. The pharmaceutical industry, at my instigation, responded positively to the need for domestic production of sanitizers, disinfectants, and liquid soaps. Furthermore, Government was able to procure some eighty-one million cedis (GH¢81 million) worth of personal protective equipment, such as face masks, headcovers, medical scrubs and hospital gowns from domestic garment and textiles manufacturing companies for health workers, and for students going back to school to prepare and sit for their final examinations.

    16. COVID-19 also highlighted the unequal distribution of healthcare facilities in the country, as we have tended to focus our healthcare infrastructure in Accra, Kumasi and one or two of our other big cities. As we have seen, epidemics and pandemics, when they emerge, can spread to any part of the country.

    17. Whilst appreciating COVAX and other donors in COVID-19 vaccine supply initiatives, and Government also procuring further vaccine consignments through AU and AVATT initiatives, Ghana, Rwanda and Senegal, in partnership with the German biotechnology company, BioNTech SE, are venturing into vaccine development and manufacturing, with the three countries determined to become vaccine manufacturing hubs in sub-Saharan Africa.

    18. We want to achieve self-sufficiency in vaccine production to meet future national, regional and continental needs for health security. We shall not then, in the future, be at the mercy of foreign vaccine nationalism and geopolitics.

    19. Last year, I set up a Vaccine Manufacturing Committee, under the chairmanship of the world-renowned Ghanaian scientist, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, which will, soon, be transformed by Act of Parliament into the National Vaccine Institute.

    20. We have committed twenty-five million dollars ($25 million) to develop our domestic vaccine production capability, and facilitate the capacity of domestic pharmaceutical companies to fill, finish and package mRNA COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis and other vaccines, as a first step towards vaccine production.

    21. Fellow Ghanaians, we have reached a critical point in our fight against COVID-19. Government has undertaken a comprehensive review of the raft of measures put in place to help win the fight against the virus.

    22. This review is premised on the background of rapidly declining infections, the relative success of the vaccination campaign being supervised by the Ghana Health Service, and the increased capacity developed in the public and private health sectors over the last two (2) years.

    23. Indeed, as at Friday, 25th March 2022, the total number of active cases stood at seventy-two (72). There are no severely or critically ill persons. Our COVID-19 treatment centres are empty, and the 4th wave appears to be over. In addition to these very low reported cases is the considerable improvement in the availability and uptake of vaccines by the population.

    24. Whilst we have not achieved our national vaccination coverage target, it is significant to note that reasonable vaccination coverages have been achieved in the hotspots of infections, particularly in the urban areas of Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi. Government is determined to use all means to increase the deployment of vaccination across the country to achieve our target of vaccinating some twenty million (20 million) Ghanaians by June.

    25. To my Fellow Ghanaians who have not received the jab, I urge you to take it. To those listening to the propaganda by the conspiracy theorists and those who are still sceptical about the efficacy of the vaccine, it has been a year since my wife and I got vaccinated; it has not disrupted our physical wellbeing, neither has it caused us to be sick. We are, touch wood, hale and hearty, like the other 13.1 million Ghanaians who have been vaccinated.

    26. With countries in the ECOWAS Community, especially in our neighbouring countries, presently, like us, recording very low levels of infections, and having significant numbers of our people vaccinated, and on the advice of the national COVID-19 Taskforce and the health experts, I have taken the decision to revise the COVID-19 Restrictions, enacted under E.I. 64.

    27. At this point, I want to express the great gratitude of the nation to the leadership and membership of the Ghana Health Service, to all other health workers, and to members of the COVID-19 taskforce for the outstanding work they have done in bringing us this far.

    28. So, from tomorrow, Monday, 28th March, the wearing of facemasks is no longer mandatory. I encourage all of you, though, to continue to maintain enhanced hand hygiene practices, and avoid overcrowded gatherings.

    29. All in-person activities, such as those that take place in churches, mosques, conferences, workshops, private parties and events, cinemas and theatres may resume at full capacity, as long as the audience and/or participants are fully vaccinated. Hand washing and hand sanitising points should be made available at these venues.

    30. Outdoor functions at sporting events, entertainment spots, political rallies and funerals may resume at full capacity, again, as long as all persons at these events are fully vaccinated.

    31. From tomorrow, Monday, 28th March, fully vaccinated travellers into Ghana will not take PCR tests from the country of embarkation to allow them entry into the country through the KIA, and will not be tested on arrival.

    32. Citizens and foreign residents in Ghana, who are not fully vaccinated, would, however, need to provide a negative PCR test result of not more than 48-hours, will undergo an antigen test upon arrival at KIA, and will be offered vaccination there.

    33. It is worth noting that the establishment of the COVID-19 testing infrastructure at the Kotoka International Airport by Frontier Healthcare Services Ltd, at its own cost, has been key to our ability to limit successfully the importation of the virus into Ghana through the airport. The efficacy of the testing regime at KIA has won global admiration, and has been applauded by all those who have undergone its testing. It has been one of the reasons why Ghana was not at the receiving end of several of the travel bans imposed by the West at the height of the pandemic, for which many African countries were affected.

    34. As from tomorrow, Monday, 28th March, all land and sea borders will be opened. Fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed entry through the land and sea borders without a negative PCR test result from the country of origin. Citizens and foreign residents in Ghana, who are not fully vaccinated, will have to produce a negative 48-hour PCR test result, and will be offered vaccination on arrival.

    35. Fellow Ghanaians, it has been a difficult two (2) years for all of us, and we are seeing light at the end of a very long tunnel. I appeal to all of us to live responsibly, protect ourselves at all times, and do everything…

  • Gov’t to increase domestic revenue with new approach

    Gov’t to increase domestic revenue with new approach

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In the effort to increase domestic revenue collection, the government has announced some seven new measures to help address fiscal challenges.

    The government is of the believed that expenditure cut alone will not be enough to revive the ailing economy and that the government’s focus is two-fold: to control expenditure and to raise more revenues domestically.

    Addressing a press briefing in Accra, last week, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta expressed optimism that the measures will go a long way to cushion the citizenry amid the economic downturn.

    “The government will begin the implementation and collection of the revised property rate by the end of April 2022”, the Minister noted. “This will improve the government’s revenue and help increase the country’s tax-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio.”

    Find below the new revenue measures announced by government:

    The government plans to begin the implementation and collection of the revised Property Rate by end of April 2022.

    Government also intends to implement the E-VAT/E-Commerce/E-Gaming initiatives by end of April 2022.

    In addition to that, government will also roll out the simplified tax filing mobile application for all eligible taxpayers by July 2022.

    Government will keep impressing upon Parliament to fast track the passage of the E-Levy Bill, Tax Exemptions Bill, and Fees and Charges Bill.

    Government will prioritise the Revenue Assurance, Compliance, and Enforcement (RACE) Programme to plug revenue leakages especially at the ports and the infamous fuel bunkering and small scale mining exporters cabal.

    The government also intends to partner the private sector to introduce digital systems to monitor quarrying, sand winning and salt winning to get more revenues from natural resources; and immediately enforce the “No Duty – No Exit” policy at the MPS Terminal at the Tema Port to improve revenue collection.

    With immediate effect, government will enforce the “No Duty – No Exit” policy at the MPS Terminal at the Tema Port to improve revenue collection.

  • Rating agencies downgrades put ‘badly affected’ the cedi – BoG

    Rating agencies downgrades put ‘badly affected’ the cedi – BoG

    The Sovereign credit rating downgrades of Ghana by Fitch and Moody’s led to “widened yield spreads on both cedi-denominated government of Ghana bonds and the country’s Eurobonds”, the Bank of Ghana has said.

    “These downgrades reflect market and investor concerns about fiscal and debt sustainability”, Governor Ernest Addison told journalists last week at the Monetary Policy Committee’s 105th meeting.

    Consequently, Dr Addison said, “the Ghana cedi has come under severe pressure, as offshore investors exited positions in domestic securities at a time when domestic demand for forex has increased, reflecting both real and speculative demand”.

    This, he noted, has caused the exchange rate “to overshoot its long-term trend”.

    Dr Addison noted: “The strengthening of the US dollar, liquidity pressures, uncertainties regarding budget implementation, portfolio reversals by nonresidents and some speculative pressures are key contributory factors”.

    Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Ghana’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3 and changed the outlook to stable from negative.

    Moody’s said on Friday, 4 February 2022: “The downgrade to Caa1 reflects the increasingly difficult task the government faces addressing its intertwined liquidity and debt challenges”.

    “Weak revenue generation constrains government’s budget flexibility, and tight funding conditions on international markets have forced the government to rely on costly debt with shorter maturity”, Moody’s noted.

    Moody’s said its projection shows that more than half of the country’s revenue will go into the payment of interests for the next few years, and proposals by the government to fix the challenge does not seem to be feasible, especially given the fragile post-pandemic environment.

    “While Ghana’s external buffers and moderate external debt amortisation schedule in the next few years afford the government a window of opportunity to deliver on its strategy, balance of payments pressures will build up the longer government’s large financing requirements have to rely on domestic sources,” it noted.

    Apart from the long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt downgrade, Moody’s also downgraded Ghana’s bond enhanced by a partial guarantee from the International Development Association (IDA, Aaa stable) to B3 from B1, “reflecting a blended expected loss now consistent with a one-notch uplift on the issuer rating.”

    It also lowered Ghana’s local currency (LC) and foreign currency (FC) country ceiling to respectively B1 and B2 from Ba3 and B1.

    “Non-diversifiable risks are appropriately captured in an LC ceiling three notches above the sovereign rating, taking into account relatively predictable institutions and government actions, low domestic political, and geopolitical risk; balanced against a large government footprint in the economy and the financial system and current account deficits,” Moody’s said in its report.

    About a month ago, Fitch also downgraded Ghana’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B-’ from ‘B’ with a negative outlook.

  • MoMo transactions in value decrease by 8% within two months space of e-levy standoffs

    MoMo transactions in value decrease by 8% within two months space of e-levy standoffs

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Bank of Ghana’s latest figures indicate that the value of mobile money (MOMO) transactions in January this year saw an eight percent decrease, from the GHS82.9 billion recorded in December 2021 to record GHS76.2 billion.

    Also, the number of MoMo transactions also saw a drop from 401 million in December to 372 in January this year. This comes at the time of heated controversy surrounding the introduction of Electronic Transactions Levy which will have every MOMO transactions exceeding GHC300 to be taxed 1.75%.

    Mobile Money Interoperability also saw a 15 percent drop in volume from 12.2 million in December to 10.3 million in January. But, on ear-on-year basis, the Central Bank’s Summary of Macroeconomic and Financial Data report the total number of MoMo transactions increased from 301 million in January last year to 372 million in January this year. MOMO transactions for the first month of this year have risen by 13.6 percent year-on-year to GHS76.2 billion.

    “These reductions seem to be a result of reactions to the proposed electronic transfer levy, as government communications had earlier confirmed a reduction in the volumes if the tax policy is approved”, the Central bank indicated.

    Meanwhile, the value of Mobile Money Interoperability transactions also saw a whooping jump of over 130 percent from GHS906 million to over GHS2.1 billion between January 2021 and January 2022. Although it is observed that on a year-on-year basis, most of these transactions recorded an increase in value and volume between January last year and January this year, the figures decreased on a monthly basis.

    Even Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPPS) Instant Pay, which has constantly seen a rise in volume over the past months saw a 14 percent decrease from 5,375 to 4,620.

    Players in the industry have hence predicted more decreases in the volumes and value of electronic transactions should the government go ahead to implement the electronic transfer levy.

  • SSNIT to pursue aggressive membership drive from the informal sector

    SSNIT to pursue aggressive membership drive from the informal sector

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has indicated plans to rollout an aggressive membership drive to rope in about one million contributors from the informal sector by next year.

    This, will be about two-quarters or more of the existing membership of SSNIT mostly from the formal sectors of the economy. SSNIT, is however, confident of achieving the target while changing the existing narrative.

    Currently, out of the over 11 million workers in the country, less than 2 million of them are active SSNIT contributors, leaving about nine million workers not registered on any pension scheme. Indicating that, the informal sector dominates the yet to be registered fraction.

    “From our own data you find out that out of all the people that are in the informal sector who could have enrolled on our pension scheme, there’s only about some 14,000 who have signed up, which is very, very minimal. So, the terrain is wide open and this program that we are embarking on, my hope is that maybe a year after we have rolled out this campaign, we can get as much as about a million people”, Director-General of SSNIT, Dr Ofori Tenkorang said when he spoke to the media on the sidelines of a stakeholder engagement on the national pension scheme provider’s planned campaign to extend coverage to the informal sector.

    He added that “I know it’s a very aggressive target because people need to buy into the idea that they too can join this scheme. People need to disabuse themselves of the notion that giving your money to SSNIT is a waste, especially people in the informal sector who feel that they need the money now, not for some time later, which for them sometimes they think will never come.”

  • Cedi to gain strength this week… as MPC decisions take full effect – Analyst

    Cedi to gain strength this week… as MPC decisions take full effect – Analyst

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The recent monetary measures announced by the Bank of Ghana is expected to impact on the exchange rate this week, thus, giving the local currency a feet stand against the U.S dollar, an economist has said.  

    The senior economist with databank indicated that, checks from some forex bureaus and commercial banks show that the cedi is gaining marginal strength against the dollar as at the time of interview, last week, as the local currency was trading averagely at GH¢7.84 to the dollar on the retail market, compared to about ¢8.06 couple of days before the Central bank’s announcement last week. However, the Bank of Ghana pegs the cedi to the dollar at ¢7.112 (mid-rate).

    The Central bank, last week, announced a significant increase in the policy rate by 2.5 percent to 17% from a previous 14.5%. This is expected to entice investors to acquire cedi denominated instruments because of the attractive yields. Though cost of borrowing will go up, increasing cost of living and doing business, the Bank will in the interim mop up excess liquidity in order to control inflation and reduce interest in the dollar denominated assets. But, the economist said, its early days to predict the fortunes of the cedi, the market will definitely react to the policy decisions by the Central Bank.

     “In the interim, we’ll say its early days yet. In addition to that, the cedi also has a history about its performance so from the weeks ahead, we’ll start to analyse the foreign exchange market to see how the cedi will respond to some of these announcements”, Senior Economic and Currency Analyst at Databank Research, Courage Martey said.  

    “But on the face of it, this appeared to be good measures; aggressive and decisive measures from the Central Bank which we expect to be backed by the fiscal measures, so that going forward, the market – at least sentiments – should start to improve. Once it’s starts to improve, we should start to see it reflecting in the pricing behavior of participants on the market”, he added.

    The MPC’s decision in the interim is expected to mop up excess liquidity in order to control inflation and reduce interest in the dollar denominated assets.

    “When Cedi liquidity finally tightens, what you might see is that, those hoarding dollars in their accounts will not want to go and borrow expensive cedi. They will rather have to sell their dollar holdings to buy cedis and that could increase the supply of dollars on the market and slow down the pace of depreciation”, Mr. Martey stated.

    Beyond the policy rate, the Bank of Ghana announced measures which will take effective from April 1st, 2022,

    The measures in relation to universal banks include an increase in the Cash Reserve Ratio to 12%; the Capital Conservation Buffer reset to the pre-pandemic level of 3%, making the Capital Adequacy Ratio a total of 13% and the provisioning rate for loans in the Other Loans Exceptionally Mentioned (OLEM) category reset to the pre-pandemic level of 10%.

  • TVET major pillar for development – Akufo-Addo

    TVET major pillar for development – Akufo-Addo

    The government has placed emphasis on technical and vocational education as a major pillar of national development.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who made the declaration, said empowering vocational and technical educational institutions would help produce market-ready graduates.

    He said if key stakeholders paid greater attention to technical and vocational training, where the skills essential for the contemporary economy might be developed, the economy would be radically transformed.

    Speaking at the 92nd Speech and Prize-giving Day of the St Augustine’s College in Cape Coast last Saturday, the President insisted that the government was on course with the necessary investments in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions to provide students with holistic education in their respective fields, well cut for the job market.

    “The strategy is to expand technical and vocational opportunities at both secondary and tertiary levels and thereby strengthen the linkages between education and industry, as well as empower young people to deploy their skills and employ themselves and others,” he stated.

    The event, which was on the theme: “Redefining education delivery in a technological age: The role of St Augustine’s College”, was sponsored by the 1997 Year Group of old students.

    Present was the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and the Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan.

    Coordinating TVET activities

    President Akufo-Addo stated that as part of the government’s objective to make TVET a basic pillar of the educational sector, second-cycle technical institutions were being overhauled.

    He emphasised that the government was retooling the whole educational sector, including TVET as a component, and that most second-cycle technical institutes were undergoing renovations.

    “The government, in view of the challenge facing the TVET sector, has initiated a number of policy measures in improving the coordination of the TVET sector and enhancing the effectiveness of the operations of training institutions,” the President said.

    “We have taken concrete steps towards redeeming the misconception that technical and vocational education is inferior and patronised by intellectually and financially less endowed students,” he added.

    He explained that the Ministry of Education was undertaking cutting-edge policies to achieve its objective of the 60-40 science-humanities ratio enrolment in senior high schools (SHSs) for its transformation agenda.

    To that end, he said: “The construction of eight module STEM high schools and 20 STEM centres across the country, all at various stages of completion, together with the construction of the Accra STEM Academy, is one of the pragmatic steps the government is taking to promote the advancement of science and technology education in Ghana.”

    President Akufo-Addo addressing a parade mounted by the Cadet Corps of the St Augustine’s College in Cape Coast last Saturday

    President Akufo-Addo emphasised that practical steps must be taken to guarantee that graduates were not just market ready but also capable of contributing their fair share to Ghana’s progress, as other countries had done.

    “Countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, with whom we began the independence journey, have stripped us today by far in terms of development and they did so because they made the fundamental decision to transform their economies from raw material, low productivity agrarian economies to value-added, high productivity industrial economies, and it is the same transformation we must engineer,” he said.

    He stressed that those countries’ strong investment in TVET education had propelled them to their current status as industrial greats.

    Effective supervision

    The President urged heads of schools to do a better job of supervising teaching and learning and developing new strategies to track the success of academic activities, “while the government does its part to provide the necessary tools and atmosphere for modern science learning.”

    Economic challenges

    On the economic challenges, President Akufo-Addo said every country on the face of the planet was going through challenges brought forth largely by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Ghana is not the only country faced with extraordinary increases in global freight rates, strong inflationary pressures, dramatically rising fuel prices, unprecedented volatility of stock markets and tighter global financing conditions. These are global phenomena,” he said.

    He said the GH¢100 billion Ghana Coronavirus Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (CARES) programme was sure to turn the fortunes of the country around and enhance prosperity for all.

    “Nonetheless, the government continues to work hard to address these issues, and I am certain that sooner, rather than later, our economy, through the implementation of the government’s GH¢100 billion Ghana CARES Obaatanpa Programme, will rebound from the ravages of the pandemic, bringing in its wake stability, development, progress and prosperity for all Ghanaians,” the President stated.

    ICT learning

    The Chairperson of the Anniversary Celebrations, Kofi Adomako, called on the Ministry of Education and other relevant stakeholders to place greater focus on the teaching and learning of information and communications technology (ICT), which he described as a critical basic skill needed for self actualisation and economic development.

    He emphasised that in order to prepare Ghana’s youth for the global digital shift, schools must provide more practical teaching and learning in computer skills for students in order to train them to become problem solvers.

    “Make the learning and teaching of ICT a priority to ensure that we produce graduates who can become problem solvers to ensure exponential growth in all sectors of our economy,” Mr Adomako stated.

    The Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast and Patron of the college, the Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, advised students to use the Internet to advance their studies, instead of for unrelated pursuits that had little influence on their academic progress.

  • Vice-President inaugurates first Islamic nursing school

    The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, last Saturday inaugurated the first Islamic Nursing Training College in the country, with a call on the school authorities to stick to their core values.

    Dr Bawumia said strict adherence to that mission by all stakeholders of the school would make it one of the best in the country.

    “Always remember your stated mission of being a plainly socially sensitive, community-oriented and patient-centred health professionals through excellence in teaching, clinical leadership and serving,” he added.

    The Vice-President said the college would not only open enrolment opportunities for young people in the Zongos and inner cities but also add to the about 90 public health training institutions across the country.

    He said in spite of the number of nursing training institutions in the country, they did not seem to meet the admission needs of the ever-increasing population who graduated from senior high schools and sought to be trained as nurses.

    The school

    The Islamic Nursing Training College was conceived by a Nigerian scholar, Sheik Hassam Hamza Musa, and initiated with the support of the Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamaa Muslim sect from Ghana and Nigeria.

    It is affiliated to the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and offers diploma in health nursing, general nursing and other certification courses.

    Private sector

    Dr Bawumia commended the private sector for contributing immensely to complement the efforts of the government towards the development of education.

    He said the government had prioritised education because it enhanced productivity, creativity and technological advancement and also secured economic and social progress.

    “The only sustainable way we can transform Zongos or deprived communities and the nation is through the education of our children,” he stated.

    Transforming health sector

    Vice-President Bawumia said the government had an unwavering commitment to continue to invest in the health sector, especially towards the training of healthcare workers, as well as the provision of healthcare infrastructure.

    He pointed out that the government would continue to partner and support private training institutions, such as the Islamic Nursing Training College, to produce the required health personnel for the nation.

    Inclusiveness

    Talking about inclusiveness, he said the Zongos, which had been excluded from the national development process for many years since independence by successive governments, was now actively included through the Zongo Development Fund, which he indicated had so far executed 134 projects in Zongos throughout the country.

    The projects, he said, included classrooms, health facilities, roads, water systems and ICT centres.

    The Vice-President said part of the government’s Zongo development vision was a special focus on the training and development of healthcare workers, especially doctors, nurses and midwives, to be able to offer services to patients with special needs.

    As part of this vision, he said, the government, in 2020, sponsored 40 brilliant, needy students from various Zongo communities across the country to Cuba on full government scholarship to be trained as medical doctors.

    He added that the government had also cleared the backlog of nurses who were at home when it came into office, saying: “We are on course to posting nurses on time to be able to serve.”

    He later donated GH¢20,000 to support the school.

    Compulsory

    The Leader of the Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamaa in Nigeria, Sheik Abdullahi Bala Lau, in a brief remark, said to seek knowledge was compulsory in Islam.

    He, therefore, expressed the hope that seeking medical knowledge would be an additional incentive to groom Muslim youth to be useful to society.

  • Using net reserves to solve economic crisis will be disasterous – Ato Forson warns gov’t

    Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in Parliament, has cautioned the Bank of Ghana (BoG) against using the country’s net reserves to salvage the current economic crisis.

    According to him, this would be a “disaster staring in the face of the country”.

    Speaking to some decision taking by the government to hault the cedi depreciation yesterday, Dr. Ato Forson explained that any attempt by the central bank to use the net reserves would lead to a cascading drop in the country’s currency.

    “When the investors are to see that the reserves keep going down, then they would be rushing to exit and if they exit and obviously the currency is going to drop and drop and drop until it falls. That is what I’m worried about,” he said.

    The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana after a meeting on Monday increased the policy rate – the rate at which it lends to commercial banks – by 2.5% per cent to 17%.

    This is the first time since November, 2018 that the rate has gone up so high.

    The decision is due to the current pressures on the economy, the uncertainty about the economic outlook and developments in Russia – Ukraine, which has pushed fuel prices up astronomically.

    The move to adjust the base lending rate of the Central Bank is expected to control the rising inflation and check the rapid depreciation of the cedi.

    This comes in the face of the raging economic challenges which compelled government to hold a crunch cabinet meeting to find solutions to the economic crisis.

    Reacting to the recent intervention by the central bank, Dr. Ato Forson said the BoG’s effort is a bit late.

    Referencing a reduction in the international reserves in December last year by approximately $700 million and another $600million loss in January this year, the former Deputy Finance Minister noted that the central bank should have instituted these interventions earlier.

    “They could have given some hope to investors. Today, we are losing reserves at a very alarming rate. My only concern is that the package that the central bank has actually provided will not be enough in the sense that the problem, the concerns of the investors who are actually repatriating and taking their money away, are actually because of the fiscal situation. So I want to see what the fiscal authorities will do and as to whether that information would be enough for the market to respond appropriately or not,” he added.

    Meanwhile, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to address the nation this week to communicate key measures taken by the government amid the current challenges.

    A statement issued by the Information Ministry hinted that the update will include the reopening of land borders, the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, and measures to arrest the depreciating cedi.

    “President Akufo-Addo approved a number of far-reaching measures aimed at mitigating the depreciation of the cedi, ensuring expenditure discipline and providing relief in the face of the global fuel price hikes and inflation as well as ensuring that priority programmes meant to grow the economy are protected.

    “Government appreciates the efforts of all who contributed to a successful retreat and looks forward to the support of all Ghanaians in implementing the agreed measures,” the statement added.

  • A cleaner who is now Neurosurgeon: the inspiring story of Dr Kwadwo Sarpong

    Source: Joseph Ackah-Blay  

    “I didn’t think it was possible”, Dr Sarpong’s answer to my question about whether he saw himself becoming a resident Neurosurgeon at the prestigious Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the United States of America.

    It has been a long journey. Not that he’s a man of little faith. For it takes faith to move, switch courses and pursue dreams that only God can tell how it will end.

    A journey that took off when Kwadwo won the US Visa lottery. He left his studies at the University of Ghana into a land of hope. Science seemed far off, business the more likely option for his young mind.

    “I had no idea about science. My goal was to transfer and just continue my education. But not in the sciences. I realized it’s difficult to start school so I had to prioritise work. So I worked for like a year, as a cashier at Walmart, and then got a job in 2010 as a Housekeeper in a hospital.”

    Kwadwo recalls this definitive milestone in his life with the unavoidable reality that at the time his work as a housekeeper took off, his colleagues at the University of Ghana were following through with the degree program he had left.

    “If a patient is discharged, you go clean the place, you clean the bathroom. Luckily for me after one year, I was transferred into the operating room Housekeeping. Meaning you go in and clean up when a case ends. I was still cleaning the bathrooms”

    Kwadwo was just 21 and he met a surgeon who changed his life for good. Dr. Robert Fritz a General Thoracic Surgeon at Gwinnet Medical Center (now Northside Gwinnet Hospital). He could not understand why someone at Kwadwo’s age will be doing such work;

    “You look too young to be doing this,” he said to me.

    “In America, when they see a black person doing such a job they basically think you did not take life seriously. Even at the hospital, they saw me as someone who could have done better. Personally, I knew the end goal was to go to school. But not for medicine. He asked me what I want to do in future. I saw his badge and it had ‘General and Thoracic Surgery’ written. I said I want to be a thoracic surgeon”

    Kwadwo was a cashier at Walmart and doing cleaning at the same time. Dr Fritz made him an offer of working with him, shadowing and learning from him. He advised Kwadwo to quit the cashier job so he can have enough time as well as access to the hospital so he learns from him.

    “I was following him around and he started teaching me stuff. It exposed me to medicine and I decided to go to medical school.”

    Dr. Sarpong’s mind raced back at this point to his brother who had a mobility disability he never understood. He thought medicine could provide some answers.

    “Now I was very curious to figure out what went wrong. That started the journey. I started from a community college to be able to do chemistry, physics, biology because I had no such background.”

    Kwadwo after community college, entered Emory University in Atlanta where he studied Bachelor of Science, majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. From there, he continued at Georgetown Experimental Medical studies in Washington D.C where he obtained a Medical Certificate.

    Then to Georgetown University School of Medicine for a Doctor of Medicine Qualification. He has since completed and will in the next 7 years be working to perfect his neurosurgery practice at Vanderbilt.

    It has been a journey of Kwadwo relying on scholarships, financial aid from various individuals and student loans.

    Another person Kwadwo remains indebted to is Edjah Nduom, an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University. Dr. Nduom recently made the news when he was appointed by the US President, Joe Biden to introduce him as he launched the Cancer Moonshot project to curb cancer deaths.

    “I knew I wanted to do neurosurgery (at this stage). When I was at Emory, he was leaving. When I started Medical School, I emailed him randomly. I was like, I am interested in Neurosurgery and would love to work with you. He was working at the National Institutes of Health, the biggest research institute in the whole world.

    “He responded that he did not have a position in his lab but will circle back if there was an opening. I took my mind off it thinking it was one of those things. To be able to get into a neurosurgery residency, you have to be excellent and do so many things to qualify. Last year only 8 of the people that got matched were blackout of 234 spots offered in the United States.

    “So I needed to find out another opportunity. He sent me an email later offering me a position. So I ended up working with him at the NIH. Seeing someone as black as you, knowing he’s been able to achieve all this greatness, I knew I will be able to do this. He offered to support me and has never wavered.”

    Kwadwo has picked many awards including the Clinton Global Initiative Honor Roll recognition in 2017.

    He also won Emory University 40 under 40 recognition and a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteerism.

    In 2014, Kwadwo received a strange invitation from the White House. He got another email later asking him to attend an event hosted by US President Barack Obama for a summit.

    This was to offer him an opportunity to speak about the non-profit work he had started not long ago. He had cofounded the African Research Academies for Women (ARA-W) with his friend Shadrach Osei Frimpong to nurture the interests of aspiring female scientists in Africa by providing hands-on experience in research laboratories. He was to represent his organisation at the programme.

    He followed through with the processes and the reality dawned on him when he got to the programme to find his name among the guest list.

    “We open applications in January. They go through a selection process and we offer acceptance to about 10 to 15. We place them in labs at Noguchi, WACBIP and at KNUST. We place them in housing and give them a stipend and pay for them to do research, community engagement among others. They do a presentation afterward. They are then paired with mentors. One of our students won the Presidential challenge in Ghana”

    How do the next 7 years look for Kwadwo?

    “The next 7 years will be the toughest, I felt very supported when I interviewed with the neurosurgery faculty and residents at Vanderbilt. They are also very big in Global neurosurgery with partnerships in Tanzania and Ghana. Interestingly, the program manager for their global neurosurgery is from Ghana, Dr. Joseline Haizel-Cobbina. Knowing that she’s there, gives me assurance that I will be supported. It’s going to be tough but I have support from Dr. Nduom as well. This is when I need him the most now.”

    Dr. Kwadwo Sarpong is married to Priscilla and they are blessed with a daughter, Madison.