Job creation still number one priority of Government of Ghana

Job creation still remains the number one priority of the Government of Ghana (GoG) in the pursuit of her “Better Ghana” agenda.
To help realize her dream, the GoG through the National Youth Employment Program (NYEP) and the National Youth Council (NYC) has partnered with the Youth Enterprise and Skills Development (YESDEC) in an ambitious project aimed at engaging scores of unemployment youth in job creation.
The focus of the project is in Agro-processing, Manufacturing, Services and Environmental Sanitation sectors.
Employment in the public sector is already overstretched and the Government of Ghana therefore sees this initiative as an avenue to cut the ever increasing unemployment rate down.
“Recruiting young people and putting them on payroll was going to be unsustainable in the near future” remarked Abuga Pele, Coordinator of the National Youth Employment Program at the program’s launch in Accra on Wednesday.
The NYEP Coordinator sees the public-private initiative as one that would encourage and afford the youth of Ghana an opportunity to create wealth and participate in the development of the nation.
“This is a legacy we can leave as a nation for our young and up-coming youth,” he noted.
Initiators of the project say over forty thousand unemployment youth including beneficiaries of the NYEP who are exiting after their tenure are expected to benefit from the program.
However, a target of one thousand youth, according the NYEP Coordinator, is expected to be engaged by November 2011.
Madam Akua Sena Dansua, out-going Minister of Youth and Sports under whose jurisdiction falls the NYEP said over ninety seven thousand youth are currently engaged in various programs in the areas of Youth in Film production, Grass cutter rearing, Airport Assistants, Community Police among many others.
She expressed the hope that the YESDEC-NYEP module would compliment the Government of Ghana’s effort aimed at creating direct employment for over seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000) youth through a four-year period, beginning in 2010-2013.
The Coordinator of YESDEC, Mavis Yamoah told The Chronicle in an interview that her outfit’s partnership with the NYEP is targeting the setup of micro businesses for one thousand youth in the ten regions of the country by the end of 2011.
So far, the YESDEC project has till date trained and assisted over two hundred youth in business to successfully set up new businesses.
Key areas that YESDEC has provided training and simple logistics include Transportation of food stuff from farm gates to commercial or market centres, agro-processing and packaging, water tanker delivery services in water deprived communities, machine shop enterprise, ICT support centres, block construction, catering services and garment and beauty care enterprises.
The beneficiaries, according to initiators of the project would have the opportunity to own the equipments and supported to payback through the various banks by installment over a two-year period.

Yara injects $20m into Tanzania’s economy

Yara International ASA, a leading global fertilizer company is injecting US$20m into Tanzania’s economy to fuel the country’s agricultural growth.
The amount according to company officials would be invested into a new fertilizer terminal by the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial city.
Announcing the feat on Thursday in Dar es Salaam, CEO of Yara, Joergen Haslestad said “This strengthens Yara’s long term commitment to development of Tanzania’s agricultural sector. In the years to come the agricultural sector has the potential to be a key driver of economic growth, providing business opportunities. Tanzania stands out as a natural hub for regional growth.”
Yara believes that investing in increased port capacity is a strategic step that would position the company for the growth it has long been yearning for whilst providing a boost in the value chain.
Yara presently supplies 120,000 tons of fertilizer annually to the region. The new terminal will have a revolving storage capacity of 45,000 tons of fertilizer, which will be sufficient for the medium term requirement, and the location allows for new capacity to be added for long term requirements.
Sustainable growth
The initiative raises a promise of sustainable growth, aiming at reducing rural poverty both through providing opportunities for smallholder farmers and creating new jobs, says Mr. Haslestad.
Officials of the company estimate that the US$20million investment in Tanzania would lift two million people out of poverty, and bring in annual revenues of US$1.4billion.
Yara has been a partner in the Tanzania Agriculture Partnership since 2006 and was also instrumental to the process leading to the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT).
The SAGCOT is driven by a unique partnership of public, private and donor companies and organizations.
In the recently released ‘Blueprint for Investment’, the SAGCOT outlines how a shared value creation approach can be used to tackle some of the key constraints to development. The result, over a 20 year period, would be over 350,000 hectares under commercial production, much of it farmed by emergent and smallholder farmers.
Yara International ASA is the world’s leading chemical company that converts energy, natural minerals and nitrogen from the air into essential products for farmers and industrial customers.

Yesdec/CHF to empower youth into waste management

About 400 youth in the Alajo community have been targeted to go into waste management business, courtesy Yesdec and the Corporative Housing Foundation (CHF).

Dubbed 'Yes Project', the program seeks to focus on four value chain modules in the areas of organic compost plant, tin-film, e-waste and ferrous metals in a six months pilot phase.

About 100 youth would be directly employed in the project that would in turn encourage their peers to venture into the waste management business.

'With this four value chain, we want to create sustainable employment opportunities for the youth within this sub-metro,' said Eugene Pwawole, Value Chain and Business Development Officer of CHF, an American non-governmental organisation (NGO) with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The project, which was recently launched in Alajo, a suburb of Accra, would see the youth being trained in the production and marketing of compost, in order to reduce the volume of waste in that community.

'When you look at our solid waste, about 65% of what goes into our landfill are organic, and we have a problem with finding landfill sites. And so, we want to pilot this project in what we call community level compost plant, to reduce the level of volume that goes into the landfill,' noted Pwawole in an interview with The Chronicle.

About 300 houses in the Alajo community are going to be selected for the source separation, according to Ebenezer Adu Appiah, Yesdec Project Coordinator.

The project, he said, would also involve the collection of waste plastic bags, including sachet water bags, and the collection of ferrous metal.

According to Appiah, his outfit, together with Yesdec, a subsidiary of ZoomLion Ghana Limited, would have in place a buy-back center, where the collected waste plastic bags would be bought and sold to recycling companies.

On the issue of ferrous metal, he said the joint venture identified some inefficiencies in the collection of metals, hence their decision to engage the youth in that business.

The project, according to Appiah, was also being implemented in Ga-Mashie in the Asiedu Keteke sub-metro, Nima in the Ayawaso East sub-metro and Avenor in the Okaikoi sub-metro.

Ecobank introduces mobile banking with Zap

Ecobank Ghana, a subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (ETI) on Wednesday introduced another innovative product dubbed ‘Ecobank mobile banking’ onto the Ghanaian market.
The product works in partnership with Zap, a mobile commerce service that allows Zain, now Bharti Airtel, customers to use their mobile phones like a mobile wallet to pay for utility bills and goods and services.
“For the first time in Ghana, mobile phone customers can manage their bank accounts using their mobile phone. They can transfer funds from their Ecobank account to their phones, transfer funds between Ecobank accounts and check their account balances at their own convenience anywhere and at any time. The Zap service continues to bring safety and convenience to the everyday lives of our customers with this new service”, said Philip Sowah, Managing Director of Zain Ghana at the launch of the product in Accra in a statement read on his behalf.
He added “We strongly believe innovative products like Zap is a strong contributor to this occurrence”.
The new product is, however, expected to provide faster banking service whilst expanding the customer base of both Ecobank and Zain through the provision of easy access to funds using the mobile phone.
The product allows customers of Ecobank with Zain’s Zap service account to use their mobile phones to; send money to Ecobank accounts, receive money from Ecobank accounts, transfer money between two Ecobank accounts, check bank balance, check bank statements.
Furthermore, they could also use the product to pay bills and also pay for goods and services, receive and send money to friends and family, withdraw or receive funds from accredited agents across the country and top up their own airtime or someone else.
“This is real banking in your palm and something that we are bringing to the door step of our customers”, recounts Owureku Asare, Head, Transaction Banking, Ecobank.
Customers of Ecobank, according to Owureku Asare could transact business with any of Zap’s 600 agents countrywide.
Commenting on the new product, the Managing Director of Ecobank who doubles as the Cluster Head of Ecobank West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ), Samuel Ashitey Adjei said the introduction of the ‘Ecobank mobile banking’ product is “an exciting new way of doing financial transactions at your finger tips”.
He believes that the new product will help attract the under-banked and unbanked population into banking in the country.
The Head of the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana, Nicholas Okoe Sai commenting on the product said “This is an evolution of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System” and however, entrusted stakeholders in the banking industry to ensure that certain fundamental systems are in place for the smooth operations of electronic banking in the country.
“The Payment System needs to be highly secured and occasionally reliable. The System should be transparent and easily accessible to users. Rules relating to accountability and responsibility of stakeholders should clearly be spelt out. Participants should be committed to responsible banking in practice as far as disclosure of information is concerned”, he noted.
Mr. Sai, however, advised players in the banking industry to effectively manage the risk associated with such electronic products so as to sustain public confidence in the system.

CAPS:Nicholas Okoe Sai officially launching the Ecobank Mobile Banking product in Accra

Welfare of veteran soldiers must be improved -MPs declare

Members of parliament (MPs) yesterday paid glowing tribute to the country’s gallant soldiers who fought for peace and human rights in the world Wars I and II.

However, the MPs expressed worry over the continuous deteriorating welfare of the veteran soldiers, a situation, they said, needed immediate attention.

“One thing that we fail to note is that some of these veterans are now facing the brunt of their occupational hazards. These are former para-jumpers, who now have knee and stability problems and are wheelchair bound; there are also the bombardiers and artillery personnel who have hearing problems and permanent headaches,” recounts the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ho Central, Capt. G. K. Nfojoh (rtd), in a statement read on the floor of the House to honour the veteran soldiers.

He argued that ever since the introduction of the Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG) lottery to cater for the veteran soldiers, the Association of Physically and Mentally Challenged, Association of the Aged, and the Association of the Orphans and Destitute Children, “nothing has happened in that respect.”

“Considering the meritorious service rendered by these gallant men and women to the nation, the meager pension pay given them is woefully inadequate to sustain them. It is important for the government to consider instituting a Special Fund for the Retired Officers and Ex-servicemen and Women, in order to address their plight,” noted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Nkoranza North, Major Derek Oduro (rtd), in joint statement to honour the veterans.

Contributing to the statements, the NPP MP for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, said the welfare of the veteran soldiers should be of national concern, and however, called on the Ministry of Sports to organise matches so that the proceeds would be used in taking care of them (veterans).

The NDC MP for Ablekuma South, Frederic Fritz Baffour, also added his voice to the call for improving the welfare of the veteran soldiers, by calling on the government to put structures in place to help rectify the issue.

The NPP MP for Akropong, William Ofori Boafo, contributing the statement, said the occasion should be extended nationally, to enable all the people to participate.

Yesterday, November 11, 2010 was ‘Remembrance Day’. It is an occasion celebrated on November 11 each year to remember those who were killed in World Wars I and II.

Formerly known as Armistice Day, the day became effective at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, when the guns fell silent on the Western front in France and Belgium, thus ending four years of hostilities. Ghana, then the Gold Coast, being part of the British Empire, also sent her sons overseas to fight in this war, and some lost their lives in action.

The day also underscores the paramount need, not only to stop wars, but also to pursue the idea of peace at all costs and at all times, as the only condition for the survival of the human race.

Time to embrace paper bags is now!

A Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim North, Kwame Anyimadu-Adu, has expressed concern over the level of aquatic pollution in the country.

According to him, the situation, if not checked immediately, would have a rippling effect on aquatic life and fishing activities, a phenomenon, he said, would have a heavy toll on the country’s scarce resources.

His concern was born out of the continuous littering of plastic bags and other materials into the sea and waterbodies across the country.

Anyimadu-Antwi was speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, after a delegation of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Water Resources, Works and Housing, led by David Tetteh Assumeng, recently visited Ada to familiarise itself with the ongoing ‘Ada Coastal Protection Urgent Measures’, a project aimed at reclaiming lost lands, whilst protecting lives and properties from the devastating sea erosion.

“Something needs to be done to protect aquatic life in the country. Everywhere along the coast is polluted. There is so much plastic bags in the sea, and this should tell you the level at which it has been polluted. As a country, we need to sit up and address this issue. We have to re-examine the laws governing waterbodies, and see if we can do something to reduce this level of pollution,” he noted.

He added: “Maybe it is time we start introducing paper bags in the country. Another school of thought is the introduction of a levy on the producers of plastic bags, to raise revenue to address the problem. We can employ people to start picking these plastic bags along the coastal communities, and that is another way of creating employment.”

Mr. Anyimadu-Antwi said protecting aquatic life should be the number priority of the country, and called for all hands on deck in addressing the issue.

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