Seat of the Presidency is now a barbershop–Sam George
The Ningo Prampram Member of Parliament Samuel George has mocked President Akufo-Addo for the ongoing experience by citizens at various banks regarding their savings and investment across the country. The Ningo Prampram legislator posted “I thought President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians that there would be NO haircut! Did he lie? Was he lied to?” “The seat of the Presidency is now a barbershop giving haircuts to citizen’s savings and investments”. “We are in troubling times!🦁🇬🇭😪 Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email apexnewsgh@gmail.com
Grass Charcoal: A Hidden Gold In The Open
By Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Grass, popularly known in the African circle as a nuisance grass because of its irrelevant, will soon become another raw gold, especially within the African continent. This is because nuisance grass has become a remedy for the increasing wood fuels which has a more negative impact on our society. According to government statistics, about 80 percent of households in Ghana depend directly on wood fuels (firewood, charcoal, and other biomass) for cooking. An investigation conducted by Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh.com shows that citizens are moving to wood fuels products such as firewood and charcoal to be specific due to the continuous increase in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), meaning the lower class of citizens can no longer afford the purchase of LPG. Charcoal is very essential as far as our cooking activities are concerned but, should we continue to allow the felling of economic trees such as rosewood and shea trees for charcoal production? Especially, if not for anything else, these trees are noted for their contribution to the economy and benefits to citizens themselves. However, aside from the economic importance of these precious trees, in this era of climate change, the felling of these trees for the production of charcoal posed a massive threat to our environment as a people. Now the question is, what is the remedy? To me, the remedy is simply “Grass” which I described as a “Hidden Gold in the Open” a commodity that is accessible to all across the African continent. In Ghana, Professor David Millar, the President of Miller Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies in his own wisdom has come out with a new innovation that will address most issues ranging from bushfire burning, felling of economic trees, and creating of job opportunities for especially people in the rural area with grass as a commodity. If not for the intervention of the Ghanaian Professor, no one has thought or dreamed that nuisance grass in today’s world could be an essential commodity or source of livelihood for the ordinary African living in that rural community. Grass briquette Charcoal will surely be a replacement for wood fuels, especially as the information is gradually penetrating across, people will begin to appreciate the kind of opportunities the nuisance grass is bringing on board. When people realized that the stress of felling a tree for charcoal production is huge compared to the less stress used to produce grass charcoal, they will definitely shift their attention towards grass charcoal production. That is a fact, because no one enjoys suffering. I call on African leaders to embrace this wonderful grass-charcoal innovation by Prof. Millar which has come as a remedy for more employment opportunities for the unemployed, especially in our rural communities across the continent. The Grass-Charcoal innovation to me still remains a “Hidden Gold in the Open”. Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email apexnewsgh@gmail.com
WASSCE results could’ve been better but for FSHS implementation challenges – Apaak
The deputy ranking member for Parliament Select Committee on Education, Dr. Clement Apaak says the implementation of the Free Senior High Schools (FSHS) has challenges that need to be addressed. The lawmaker’s call comes on the back of President Akufo-Addo’s recent commendation of the policy vis a vis the results in West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) so far. Delivering an address at the 70th Anniversary Celebration of Opoku Ware Senior High School, President Akufo-Addo noted that the 2022 WASSCE results of the third batch of the graduates shows 60.39% of students recording A1-C6 in English, as opposed to 51.6% in 2016.” In Integrated Science, he noted that 62.45% recorded A1-C6 in Integrated Science in 2022, as opposed to 48.35% in 2016, with the 2022 result being a slight regression from the 2021 pass rate of 65.70%. President Akufo-Addo added that 61.39% of students recorded A1-C6 in Mathematics, as compared to 33.12% in 2016; and 71.51% recorded A1-C6 in Social Studies, as compared to 54.55% in 2016. But the deputy ranking member indicated a national discussion on the policy will make it better. “No one is against the policy, the call is for a comprehensive plan to address the implementation challenges, aimed at making FSHS work even better. “The results could have been better but for the challenges. A national conversation or review is long overdue,” Mr. Apaak stated in a tweet on Sunday December 4 2022. However, according to President Akufo-Addo, “six (6) years on following the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy, which has guaranteed a minimum of Senior High School education for 1.7 million Ghanaian children, the highest such enrolment in our history, I can state, without equivocation, that I am very proud of the policy and of its results thus far.” “Lest we forget, the 2021 batch of students, who also obtained very commendable results, were the pioneers of the double track system, which elicited a lot of vilification and unfounded criticism on its introduction,” he said. The President continued, “The 2022 results are the best of the last eight (8) years. Surely, there can no longer be any controversy about the validity of the Free SHS policy and its consequential measures. It is working, and working well. —Starrfm— For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email apexnewsgh@gmail.com
Debt restructuring: Financial Stability Fund coming – Ofori-Atta
Government has said it is setting up a Financial Stability Fund with the help of development partners to provide liquidity support to banks, pension funds, insurance companies, fund managers, and collective investment schemes to ensure that they are able to meet their obligations to their clients. This comes on the back of government’s debt restructuring deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As part of the debt restructuring, Finance Minister Mr Ofori-Atta at a press conference over the weekend said “domestic bondholders will be asked to exchange their instruments for new ones”. Also, “existing domestic bonds, as of 1December 2022, will be exchanged for four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037”. “The annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity”, he announced Sunday evening (4 December 2022). Coupon payments will be semi-annual, he said He noted that the government’s commitment to Ghanaians and the investor community, in line with negotiations with the IMF, is to restore macroeconomic stability in the shortest possible time and enable investors to realise the benefits of this Debt Exchange. Read Mr Ofori-Atta’s full address below: Good Evening Ghanaians, In the Budget Statement presented to Parliament on November 24th, I announced that government will undertake a debt operation programme. The broad contours of the Debt Sustainability Analysis has been concluded and I am here this evening to provide some details on Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange which will be launched tomorrow. External debt restructuring parameters will be presented in due course. Under the Programme, domestic bondholders will be asked to exchange their instruments for new ones. Existing domestic bonds as of 1stDecember 2022 will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037. The annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Coupon payments will be semi-annual. Our commitment to Ghanaians and the investor community, in line with negotiations with the IMF, is to restore macroeconomic stability in the shortest possible time and enable investors to realize the benefits of this Debt Exchange. The Government of Ghana has been working hard to minimise the impact of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds, particularly small investors, individuals, and other vulnerable groups. In line with this: Treasury Bills are completely exempted and all holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity. There will be NO haircut on the principal of bonds. Individual holders of bonds will not be affected. The government recognises that our financial institutions hold a substantial proportion of these bonds. As such, the potential impact of this exchange on the financial sector has been assessed by their respective regulators. Working together, these regulators have put in place appropriate measures and safeguards to minimise the potential impact on the financial sector and to ensure that financial stability is preserved. Specifically: The Bank of Ghana, the Securities & Exchange Commission, the National Insurance Commission, and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority will ensure that the impact of the debt operation on your financial institution is minimized, using all regulatory tools available to them. A Financial Stability Fund (FSF) is being established by Government with the help of development partners to provide liquidity support to banks, pension funds, insurance companies, fund managers, and collective investment schemes to ensure that they are able to meet their obligations to their clients as they fall due. These are difficult times and we count on the support of all Ghanaians and the investor community to make the exercise successful. We are confident that these measures will contribute to restoring macroeconomic stability. With your understanding and support and that of the entire investor community, we shall overcome our current difficulties, and with the help of God, put our economy back on the path of renewed and robust growth. As 1stSamuel 30:19 says, nothing was missing, small or great. I say to you, nothing will be lost, nothing will be missing, and nothing will be broken. We will, together, recover all. Thank you and God bless our homeland Ghana. Meanwhile, an IMF staff team, led by Stéphane Roudet, mission chief for Ghana, has been visiting Accra from, Thursday, 1 to 13 December 2022 to continue discussions with the authorities on the country’s post-COVID programme for economic growth and associated policies and reforms that could be supported by a new IMF lending arrangement. The IMF staff will also further engage with other stakeholders during the visit. Ahead of the visit, Mr Roudet said: “We have had productive discussions with the Ghanaian authorities over the last few months and look forward to our engagement in Accra”. “Our objective for this visit is to make further progress toward reaching an agreement on policies and reforms that could be supported by an IMF lending arrangement”. “The IMF remains fully committed to help Ghana restore macroeconomic stability, bring relief to Ghanaians in this time of crisis, and lay the foundation for more inclusive growth.” In Ghana’s 2023 budget, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the government and the IMF have agreed on programme objectives, a preliminary fiscal adjustment path, debt strategy and financing required for an extended credit facility programme to be in line with the government’s Post-COVID-19 programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG). The PC-PEG is the government’s blueprint to restore macroeconomic stability, promote debt sustainability, sustain economic recovery and support structural reforms. Updating the house on the negotiations so far, Mr Ofori-Atta said: “Mr. Speaker, since the government announced its engagement with the International Monetary Fund for a supported programme on 1 July 2022, we have made “substantial progress”. The Fund, he said, has assured the government of its “strong commitment and support in these difficult times”. —Classfmonline— For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email apexnewsgh@gmail.com