Organized labour in Ashanti strategizing on demo against utility price hikes

Labour unions and associations in the Ashanti region have unanimously resolved to heed the call of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to hit the streets in a demonstration against hikes in utility prices.

The organized labour, at an emergency meeting in Kumasi, decided to begin immediate membership mobilization for the planned action.

The meeting had representatives of several labour groups, including the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Polytechnic Administrators, the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF), Health Services Workers Union and the Local government workers union.

They were collective in affirming the TUC’s stance to embark on the nationwide strike.

Now they have resolved to engage in deeper consultations to rope in all labour groups to join in the one-day regional demonstration prior to the November 18 deadline for the utility prices to be slashed.

“The average Ghanaian looks up to organized labour to delivery them out of this mess and since they look up to us, we’ll not let them down”, stated Baba Alootey, Chairman of the organized labour group in the region.

The Kumasi District Council of Labour had earlier being mobilizing workers in Kumasi to join in a nationwide demonstration before the TUC shelved the initial action.

Council Chairman, Kofi Asare Asianowa, is anticipating high turnout for the demonstration because “this is a national fight”.

Similar sentiment has been expressed by the Ashanti Regional GNAT Secretary Charles Adum-Nti Acheamfour, says members of the Association are feeling the pinch of the utility hikes hence will be pouring on the streets.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Rural banks roped into Ghana’s electronic payment platform

The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) is offering switching services to the ARB Apex Bank to afford customers of rural banks access to the convenience enjoyed at universal banks.

Under the platform, the Rural and Community banks will be able to give their customers cards as well as introduce some electronic services and products.

GhIPSS is currently able to provide switching services to individual banks as well as Savings and Loans companies who want to avoid the initial huge capital outlay required to set up their own switches.

The move by GhIPSS is in line with the global trend where financial institutions are cutting back on their cost by sharing infrastructure with others through outsourcing.

Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Archie Hesse, says financial institutions that are held back because of the cost of hosting their own switches can be assisted so that they do not lock up capital unduly.

The e-zwich system has been described as beneficial to the rural economy by the Managing Director of Cocoa Merchants Limited, the first cocoa buying company to use the e-zwich to pay farmers.

Nana Amo Adade Boamah has however advocated an increase in point of sale devices and e-zwich merchants to increase use of the electronic card system.

Head of Business Development at GhIPSS, Mary Dei Sarpong, says there is a window of opportunity for banks to access a financial facility to deploy e-zwich infrastructure.

The 7 million Euro revolving credit fund (RCF) is a loan agreement between KfW and the government of Ghana to provide support in the deployment of e-zwich in rural areas.

The GhIPSS is currently rolling out hybrid point of sale (POS) devices, designed to accept both e-zwich and all the local cards.

The devises are also configured to later accept Master and VISA cards on the gh-link platform.

Mrs. Dei Sarpong says 300 POS would be deployed in key merchant locations before end of year.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Bamboo Centre to empower youth to sustain rural economic growth

Ghana can take advantage of the abundant bamboo raw materials to provide inexpensive transportation and products while creating environmentally sound cottage businesses.

The Yonso Project, a rural community development initiative, is setting the pace with the establishment of the Bamboo Centre at Apaah in the Mampong Municipality of Ashanti to train young people in bamboo development.

The Centre empowers the youth to manufacture high quality multipurpose bamboo products that are suitable for use everywhere in the world, including handcrafted bamboo bike frames, hand bags, purses, sandals and table mats.

The Bamboo Center addresses the quadruple problems of climate change, poverty, rural-urban migration and high unemployment amongst the youth in rural Ghana by creating employment opportunities and sustainable livelihood job skills for the youth.

 

“The intention is that we try to create jobs in the rural areas so that people don’t migrate to the cities where they don’t even get the jobs that they are seeking; so we try to create the village cottage industries where they can make very good business,” stated Kwabena Danso, Executive Director of the Project.

The Yonso Project works to improve educational and economic opportunities to alleviate poverty.

To sustain educational development programmes in the rural community, the Project invests 50 percent of sales from the bamboo products in educational scholarships and library project in the community.

The Project is also rolling out a concept dubbed “the Village Bicycle Woman” under which women in the rural areas will be trained in bicycle repairs and maintenance and then supplied with bamboo bicycles for rentals.

“So students can use these bikes to school, farmers can use the cargo bikes to go to their farms to make the bikes more accessible to the rural folks”, said Mr. Danso.

In addition to its export market, a hire purchase scheme has been instituted to afford the local folks opportunities to own the bamboo bicycles.

Mr. Danso is confident an upscale of the bamboo project will create sustainable cottage industries that are economically and environmentally relevant to the rural economy.

 

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Lord Kenya to establish rehabilitation center for addicts

Evangelist Lord Kenya plans to establish a rehabilitation center for drug addicts and other social deviants in society as part of his Gospel Ministry.

His desire is to support young people who are addicted to the use of narcotics, prostitution and armed robbery as well as the destitute in society to have a new life.

“I am the best person to talk to these people and by God’s grace they’ll listen because they know I’ve been through that – being an addict for almost 12 years and now here I am,” Lord Kenya told Luv Fm at a worship service to commemorate three years of his new life in Christ dubbed “a total turnaround from ghetto to church”.

The Ghanaian multiple award winning ‘rap heavyweight champion’, was ‘arrested’ by the Holy Spirit three years ago as he sought supply of drugs at his usual ‘wee’ joint.

Today, he is engaged in evangelistic activities, sharing testimonies and the Gospel of Christ in churches and schools across the country, with the aim of drawing people closer to God.

The ‘born-again’ Lord Kenya describes his encounter with Christ as “awesome” and wants to move beyond testimonies to lend a hand to help others come out of addiction.

“From where I’m coming from, I know some of them will love to come out of the addiction but they don’t have the will power. I know God in His own wisdom will take them out, but once they’re out, they need to be occupied; this is what I have in mind to have the rehabilitation center and be able to impart what God has done for me,” he stated.

Scores of people, mostly students from second-cycle schools thronged the auditorium of the Kumasi Technical Institute to join Lord Kenya celebrate his third anniversary in Christ.

Ministers included Pastor Joe Bechem, Moses OK, Agnes Opoku Agyemang, Prophet Seth Frimpong, Bro. Jackson and Agape Incorporated.

“Out of my mysteries, God has given me a ministry… we thank God for how far He has brought us and I know this is just the beginning,” Lord exclaimed.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Roadmap for cassava-based animal feed system in Africa to be drawn in the IITA

Top international researchers will meet with decision makers, business people, and other stakeholders working in the Nigerian cassava sector in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, 28 to 30 October.

The meeting aims to draw a roadmap for a cassava-based animal feed system that will highlight action plans for adding value to the cassava business in Nigeria. The roadmap will have a potential to serve as a model for all cassava-producing countries in Africa.

 “We need to seize this opportunity and harness the benefits of every part of the cassava crop for national development, income generation, nutrition enhancement, and poverty alleviation,” says Dr Kenton Dashiell, IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships and Capacity Development. 

Nigeria, the world’s top cassava producer, is transforming its cassava sector and strengthening the value chain of the root crop to make it more competitive. Reforms in cassava-growing countries in Africa, backed by supportive government policies and improved varieties developed by agricultural research centers have significantly raised the productivity of cassava. In Nigeria, annual production of cassava climbed to 52.4 million tons in 2011.

The increase in production of cassava roots is also generating 5 – 7.5 million tons of wet peels (10 – 15% of whole tuber), as farmers and industry rev up processing of cassava.

Dr Iheanacho Okike, a researcher with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) based in IITA, says the peels could contribute largely to the income of farmers, and provide additional economic options for livestock and fish producers if converted to animal feed.

Additional benefits accrue to consumers due to increased production of milk, meat and fish, and the additional availability of maize and other grains that could otherwise have gone into the feed system.

The IITA-hosted meeting involves representatives from many international research institutes and is organized by the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century, the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and co-hosted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).  

As the second most important food crop in the least developed countries and the fourth most important source of food energy in the world after wheat, maize, and rice, cassava is generally grown by small holder farmers, who appreciate its tolerance of drought and poor soils, one of the reasons why the root crop has been dubbed “the crop of the 21st century.”

 

Cassava also holds great postharvest potential as food for the household, feed for livestock, and raw material for a wide array of value-added products – from coarse flour to high-tech starch gels. Both the roots and leaves can be directly fed to livestock, or used in producing commercial feed.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, “animals raised on cassava have generally good health, good disease resistance, and a low mortality, and require few, if any, antibiotics in their feed.”

Dr Claude Fauquet, GCP21 Director notes that “When the cassava transformation agenda of Nigeria is completed, the production of cassava by-products (peels) is expected to reach 2 million tons dry matter per year… this is the perfect time to set up a feed manufacturing system on an industrial scale.”  

Security capo busted for siphoning fuel at BOST depot in Kumasi

Police in Kumasi have busted a security supervisor alleged to be leader of a fuel stealing syndicate at the Kumasi Depot of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company.

Stephen Nana Yaw Nketia was arrested Sunday dawn as he led a team to siphon 24 drums of petroleum products at the depot. Five other accomplices are on the run.

Stephen and four members of the gang work for Jidem Security Services, a private firm engaged five years ago to manage the security activities at the Kumasi BOST.

The fifth person is believed to be driver of the KIA truck used in Sunday’s operation.

 

Luv News sources indicate the oil-siphoning operation has been going for some time and usually takes place at night on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The syndicate undertakes its nefarious activity by switching off the CCTV system at the depot.

According to our sources, the suspects do not use the usual pumps for oil lifting, rather break into a secured valve under lock and key.

A tip-off from a man, who refused a 5,000 cedi bribe offer, led the Asokwa police to effect arrest.

District Police Commander, Superintendent Rev. Samuel Nyamekye Adane-Ameyaw, says the suspects had filled 18 of the 24 drums at the time of arrest.

“Because when they went in they had locked up the gate, the policemen could not have easy access, so the rest who were doing the operation managed to escape narrowly from Police arrest,” he told Luv News.

The BOST facility in Kumasi holds a maximum capacity of 84 million barrels of petrol and diesel to serve the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and parts of the Western Regions.

The suspects would have lifted 6,000 liters of fuel if they had managed to fill-in all 24 drums.

 

Luv News sources say depot managers are often blamed for shortages in collation and tallying of sales figures.

Police investigations continue.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Intercultural dialogue highlights Arts for economic development

Speakers at the first international conference on culture and conflict resolution in Kumasi have emphasized the role of the arts in economic development.

The Intercultural Dialogue was hosted by the Centre for Cultural and African Studies (CeCASt) at the KNUST to harness cultural values for social stability and democracy.

“The very act of development is an act of culture because it impacts on people’s beliefs, ideals and values”, noted Prof. Mike van Graan, Executive Director of the African Arts Institute (AFAI), a South African NGO.

For him, culture can be used as a tool for development but “development practitioners haven’t done enough to understand the culture of the people who are supposed to be developed”.

He emphasized the need for cultural impact studies to understand what effects any particular kind of development has on the culture of beneficiary community.

 

According to Prof. van Graan, mitigating potential conflict within a community will demand an understanding between development and culture.

He also emphasized the role of the arts in contribution to economic development.

“When we understand the arts and the industry as being the drivers of economic growth, things like theater, film and music, then I think we’ll be solving a little bit of a myth by people in the global North where the creative industry have done incredibly in terms of driving economic growth and creating employment and the like”, said the Professor.

He wants government, the private sector and educational institutions to make the arts a profit-making activity to benefit majority of the population.

Director of the CeCASt , Dr. Vesta Adu-Gyamfi says the conference explored the role of chieftaincy, religion and the arts in conflict resolution.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghana’s Cocoa-Eco Project to receive support from IITA

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has expressed interest in supporting interventions to address the impact of climate variability and climate change on Ghana’s cocoa production.

The Institute would partner with SNV Ghana to support cocoa farmers in how they can “best find a balance between intensification, adaptation and mitigation and identify short-and long-term risks and benefits” under the Cocoa-Eco Project, that SNV and the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union are implementing.

This 30-month pilot project, covering ten cocoa growing districts, is aimed at limiting the encroachment of cocoa plantations into forest lands and conservation of biodiversity by creating environmental awareness among cocoa farmers, especially on issues of land degradation and deforestation.

The Cocoa-Eco Project connects with the IITA’s goal to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture, by driving knowledge development and facilitating innovation.

The IITA is convinced that intensified and diversified cocoa farming systems can help to raise farmers’ incomes, protect against biodiversity loss, enhance conservation efforts, and reduce rates of deforestation.

The Associate Advisor at SNV Ghana, Ernest Adzim, says the IITA will provide backstopping, build capacity at the management level and serve as the knowledge-base for the Cocoa-Eco Project.

“There is an area of technology where the farmers and extension officers can access extension services through the mobile and other electronic media, so we are expecting IITA and its partner Grameen Foundation when they come on board to develop this area to provide a platform where information can be made easily accessible at the farmer level,” he stated.

The IITA proposes to introduce a state of the art real-time cell phone-based data collection for high-performance monitoring and evaluation, scientific research and collective learning purposes.

SNV has already trained over 100 lead farmers drawn from 50 communities and 30 Internal Control Officers under the Kuapa Kokoo Limited, who have been in direct contact with the farmers on the fields.

Another activity will involve the training of credit officers manning district business development centres as well as business committee members and managers of Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union.

SNV is also exploring partnerships with other local institutions to upscale the project.

Such future partners include Solidaridad, a forerunner of cocoa certification globally, which is supporting farmers to cultivate cocoa in combination with other trees for sustainable production.

The organization has distributed over 26,000 shade trees to farmers in 52 cocoa growing communities in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions. The farmers have also established cocoa nurseries to produce varieties of recommended shade tree seedlings.

The Managing Director of Solidaridad West Africa, Isaac Gyamfi said, “it is no longer sustainable to grow cocoa without trees.”

Increasing cocoa production demands expansion of area under cultivation, with the resultant effect of converting forests to farming systems which leads to a decline in carbon stocks.

 

Mr. Adzim says a baseline study would be carried out under the Cocoa-Eco Project to link the cocoa farmers to national programs on climate change, especially with the REDD+ which looks at reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Bank of Ghana asked to allow FDIs into microfinance industry

Kumasi-based policy think-tank, Ghana Institute of Governance and Security (GIGS), is asking the Bank of Ghana to relax regulations that bar foreigners from investing in Ghana’s microfinance industry.

It says Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is critical to sustain the operations and increase opportunities in the sector.

“The concept is a brilliant one but you realize that there are a lot of things that need to be done to strengthen the microfinance sector… so we are saying that they should not allow foreigners to come and establish new ones, but buy shares in existing ones to strengthen it,” stated David Agbee, Executive Director of GIGS.

The emerging microfinance industry has the potential to support individuals and small and medium enterprises to grow their businesses.

However, sustainability of the sector has been threatened by liquidity challenges and inadequate managerial capacity.

Mr. Agbee says the FDIs will help inject capital, fresh knowledge and technology to help save the sector from collapse.

“Beyond the strictly economic and social improvement and benefits of Foreign Direct Investment, we strongly believe it will bring hope and confidence for the sustainability of the microfinance industry and speed up the acquisition of thoroughly knowledge and technology transferring into microfinance industry,” he said.

 

The Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies (GAMC) has endorsed the proposal.

National Board Chairman, Collins Amponsah-Mensah, says the Association is already in the process of tabling the proposal before the Bank of Ghana.

“I believe that the intention of government to secure that financial sector for only Ghanaians was a very good thing but you realize that Ghanaians in themselves are not interested in equity stake in the microfinance sector. So if Ghanaians are not interested and the companies need capitalization, why not look at foreign participation”, he suggested.

 

Mr. Amponsah-Mensah however noted that any foreign participation should ensure Ghanaians hold majority shares in the business.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

One of world’s rarest frogs found in Ghana

A team of scientists has found the critically endangered frog – the Krokosua Squeaker Frog (Arthroleptis krokosua) – at Ghana’s Sui River Forest Reserve in the Western Region, after four years of intensive search.

The expedition was carried out by the nonprofit SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana, assisted by students at the Department of Wildlife and Range Management at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

“We have looked forward to this moment for the last four years. We are excited about the discovery as this has given hope that together we can save the Giant Squeaker Frog from extinction,” stated SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana Executive Director, Gilbert Adum, who led the nine-member team that made the discovery.

The Giant Squeaker Frog was first identified in 2002 from single specimen that research scientists found at the Krokosua Hills in Western Ghana.

Despite active searching to find more frogs it was not until 2009 that another Krokosua Frog was found, when 14 individual frogs, its highest abundance ever, were recorded at the Sui River Forest Reserve.

According to the researchers, what was most spectacular about the new finding was that the frog was recorded at an entirely new location and was at the highest point of the Sui Hills, 610m above sea level. The frog was an adult, indicating that a breeding population may be surviving at this location.

However, Sandra Owusu-Gyamfi, Programmes Coordinator at SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana, laments that the Sui Forest faces severe threats from logging, mining, farming and invasion of the alien Devil Weed, popularly called ‘Achempong’ weed.

She says the weed invasion and the habitat destruction activities may be the reason the Giant Squeaker Frog is not getting the chance to recover from the brink of extinction.

Gilbert Adum wants government and conservation organisations to ally SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana to ensure the continued survival of the Giant Squeaker Frog.

The team is also calling on the Forestry Commission and government to immediately delineate and protect the Squeaker Frog’s habitats permanently from any form of exploitation.

This project received funding from the Conservation Leadership Programme and SAVE THE FROGS! USA. Additional funding was also received from the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, and the German-based Stiftung Artenschutz (Species Conservation Foundation).

SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana is committed to protect Ghana's amphibian populations and to promote a society that respects and appreciates nature and wildlife.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Innovation and entrepreneurship promotion highlighted at in4in workshop

The recent global economic crisis has increased the urgency for companies and developing economies like Ghana to identify and develop new sources of revenue and sustainable path to ensure economic success, says Prof. William Otoo Ellis, Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

According to him, “it is only through innovation and entrepreneurship that companies and countries can enhance their competitiveness, diversify their profit portfolio and realize all the benefit of the rapidly expanding digital economy”.

He was speaking at the “Intelligence for Innovation – in4in” African Network Workshop in Kumasi. Partner universities in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Germany are attending the workshop which is discussing innovative management to promote Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The in4in concept, implemented by the International SEPT Program at the Leipzig University, upholds the important role universities play in the creation and growth of innovative SMEs.

Director of the Program, Prof. Dr. Utz Dornberger, says the in4in offers a set of strategies and instruments to be used by SMEs capturing important aspects for simulating the innovation culture and strengthening the competitiveness of the enterprise.

Prof. Otoo Ellis decried Ghana’s continuous export of raw materials “with limited value addition, observing that attempts to promote science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship have had limited successes.

He is however confident attempts to provide enabling environment in which entrepreneurship and innovation would be given the needed impetus as a catalyst to facilitate the activities of the private sector.

The Vice-Chancellor says the KNUST has been making efforts to link its scientific research and entrepreneurship efforts with industry for purposes of development and partnership.

He however acknowledged that higher institutions of learning “have been deficient in devising appropriate sustainable strategies to let our research outcome see the light of day by commercializing our research and innovative outcomes into products and systems to solve our everyday problems”.

A few successes have been made but there are a lot to get out there, he noted.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh