Ghana - The African Mirror

Sep

05

2024

Victory for women’s rights in Ghana as affirmative action law is passed

NEWS

THE passage of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill by the country’s parliament on 9 August 2024 marked a victory for women’s rights in Ghana. The bill, which has been years in the making, is the result of several actors, allies and activists lobbying and protesting for over a decade. The bill in it its current form makes it compulsory to have women either elected or appointed to major decision-making organs of public life. The Conversation Africa spoke to lawyer and gender scholar Josephine Jarpa Dawuni about the key aspects of the bill. What are the key aspects of the…

Aug

23

2024

By SAMUEL ADOMAKO and JOSEPH AMANKWAH-AMOAH

Corruption holds small businesses back: Ghana study reveals two strategies to avoid the traps

BUSINESS

SMALL and medium enterprises account for 95% of all registered businesses and contribute about 50% to the total GDP of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet they face significant obstacles to growth and prosperity. These include, but are not limited to, the traditional barrier of acquiring finance. Corruption is perhaps the biggest challenge. Its effects are worsened by the region’s generally weak governance and, in some cases, political instability. Small and medium businesses in these kinds of environments struggle to get the vital resources and expertise they need to operate efficiently and to grow. Ghana is no exception. The country was…

Aug

06

2024

By AMY S. PATTERSON; MEGAN HERSHEY and TRACY KUPERUS

Young, urban, African: research explores what it means to be a good citizen in Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania

NEWS

YOUNG people between the ages of 18 and 35 make up two-thirds of Africa’s population. The number is expected to reach 75% by 2030. They live in an environment of rapid urbanisation, high unemployment rates and poor state services. These are some of the factors that incline young people towards political involvement – as seen in Kenya and Uganda most recently. As the Kenya example illustrates, youth can use protests, advocacy, or voting to express their citizenship. At its most basic, citizenship is a legal recognition by the state that gives individuals rights and obligations. But it’s more than that.…

Aug

01

2024

By The African Mirror

Ghana becomes latest West African nation to ban youth-led cost of living protests

NEWS

GHANA has joined other African countries in prohibiting youth-led demonstrations against the rising cost of living, as a high court in the capital Accra blocked planned protests by civil society groups. This development aligns Ghana with a growing trend across the region and East Africa attempting to quell public dissent over economic hardships. Reuters reports that the planned protests were expected to draw over two million people to the streets. Demonstrators intended to demand stronger action from President Nana Akufo-Addo on corruption and living conditions, as well as express frustration over delays in signing an anti-LGBT bill into law. According…

Jul

11

2024

By SETH KOFI DEBRAH

Ghana is planning its first nuclear energy plant: what’s behind the decision

NEWS

GHANA is considering bids from five companies for the construction of what would be its first nuclear power plant. The companies are France’s EDF, US-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group; China National Nuclear Corporation; South Korea’s Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation; and Russia’s Rosatom. The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo interviewed Seth Kofi Debrah, director, Nuclear Power Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, on the pros and cons of adding nuclear power to the country’s power mix, and why Ghana needs to diversify and identify new energy sources. What makes the nuclear option attractive to Ghana?…

Jul

09

2024

By SEFAKOR FEKPE, BIRD STORY AGENCY

This woman-led, ride-to-own electric bike initiative in Ghana is powering sustainable livelihoods and earning carbon credits

NEWS

IT'S midmorning in Accra and a group of bike riders are inspecting their motorcycles before hitting the capital city's busy roads for the day’s deliveries as lunchtime orders start to come in. Lawrence Akakpo removes a battery that powers his bike from its plug, fixes it to its seat on the two-wheeler, picks up his food delivery bag and moves quickly to a pick-up point where there’s an order waiting to be delivered to a client. He owns a Wahu bike — an electric-powered motorcycle that is part of a wave of electric utility vehicles impacting job opportunities and the…

Jul

04

2024

By MARIAN SELORM SAPAH

Ghana’s schools don’t teach enough about geoscience: why kids need to know how the planet works

EDUCATION

OVER the last few decades Ghana has seen a rise in environmental degradation such as pollution, deforestation and land degradation. These have been driven by urbanisation, industrialisation, carbon emissions and waste burning. Environmental problems have an impact on public health and the economy. One path to finding solutions is geoscience education, but it’s lacking in the curriculum of Ghana’s schools. Geoscientist Marian Selorm Sapah has published research on the subject. She explains that geoscience education is closely related to everyday experiences, and it can help develop the skills that people need to make wise decisions about the world we live…

Jun

25

2024

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s debt restructuring takes another step forward

BUSINESS

GHANA'S long-running debt restructuring took another step towards the finish line after the government said it struck an agreement in principle on a debt rework with holders of some $13 billion of international bonds. Below is a condensed timeline of key events: * February 2022 - Credit ratings agency Moody's downgrades Ghana's credit rating from B3 to Caa1, saying the country had a "very high credit risk", after Fitch cut its Ghana credit rating to B- from B in January. * March 2022 - Ghana's central bank hikes interest rates by a record 250 basis points to 17% in a bid to…

Jun

17

2024

By EMMANUEL AMEYAW

Ghana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing – the central bank did the best it could: economist

BUSINESS

GHANA is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation. The past two years have seen record-high inflation in the country. Ghana’s central bank (the Bank of Ghana) has been criticised in some quarters for its role in the country’s economic malaise, which has hit the profitability of Ghanaian banks. The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo speaks to economist Emmanuel Ameyaw about monetary policy decisions made by the central bank during this period. What was the Bank of Ghana’s role in the inflation rate crisis? In 2002, Ghana’s parliament enacted the Bank of Ghana Act 612, Section 33(2), granting…

Jun

14

2024

By DANIEL FREY

Bicycles can change lives, especially in rural Africa – new report looks at their use in Ghana and Malawi

NEWS

TO many people around the world bicycles are a crucial means of transport, especially for carrying loads in rural areas. While their benefits are huge and many organisations are working on making access to bicycles a reality, a range of barriers still prevent them from being more widely available in low-income communities – not least of these being their cost. A team of researchers has produced a new report called Access to Affordable Bicycles in Africa. We asked team leader Daniel Frey about their study and its findings. What did you set out to study? Low-income households in low-income countries…