Ghana - The African Mirror

Jan

2021

UK and Ghana to miss Brexit trade deadline, but deal close

BRITAIN and Ghana are close to announcing an agreement on post-Brexit trade but a deal will not take effect in time to prevent a period of operating on default terms, according to a source close to the negotiation. Once active, the deal will replicate the terms of trade Britain previously benefitted from as a member of the European Union. EU trade rules will cease to apply to Britain from Jan. 1 when it completes its exit from the bloc. Ahead of that deadline Britain has signed "continuity" agreements with 63 countries to safeguard terms on 885 billion pounds ($1.21 trillion)…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana opposition to challenge presidential election loss

NEWS

GHANA’S main opposition party plans to formally challenge the outcome of a presidential election won last month by incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo, a rare move in a country where losing candidates typically concede defeat. Akufo-Addo was declared the winner of the December 7 vote with 51.59%, ahead of the opposition National Democratic Party's (NDC) candidate, former President John Mahama, who received 47.37%. The contest witnessed heated rhetoric during campaigning and election-related violence that killed at least five people, a rarity in a country that has a reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies. "The NDC will contest the results…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana president Akufo-Addo promises economic boost after election win

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE GHANA's President Nana Akufo-Addo has won a second four-year term in office, the election commission said on Wednesday, following a tightly contested vote that was tainted by violence in which five people died. Akufo-Addo fended off a hard-fought challenge from his predecessor winning 51.59% of the vote against old rival John Mahama with 47.37%. Mahama said on Tuesday that he was in the lead and hoped that there would be no attempts to "steal the election". Akufo-Addo has promised to implement a $17 billion programme to boost growth in one of West Africa's largest economies. The coronavirus pandemic…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana President Akufo-Addo’s party claims slim lead in election

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE GHANA’S ruling party has claimed that President Nana Akufo-Addo held a slight lead in his bid for re-election over his main rival John Mahama, according to its preliminary tally based on results from nearly nine out of ten polling stations. The election on Monday was considered a two-horse race between the incumbent Akufo-Addo and his predecessor Mahama, who offered competing plans to end an economic crisis in West Africa's second-largest economy. Ghana emerged last year from a three-year lending programme with the International Monetary Fund only for the pandemic to knock demand for its key exports of oil…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana votes as candidates offer routes out of economic crisis

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE and CHRISTOPHE VAN DER PERRE THE polls have closed and counting has started in an election that is expected to be a close race between President Nana Akufo-Addo and his main rival John Mahama, who are offering competing plans to end an economic crisis. Eyes are on the West African powerhouse to see if it can keep its standing as a bastion of democracy in an unstable region where election disputes this year have fanned fears of a slide back into authoritarianism. In the morning, a long line of voters stretched out of a polling station and down…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana votes as candidates pitch route out of economic crisis

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE GHANAIANS started voting in elections on Monday in which President Nana Akufo-Addo and his main rival, former president John Mahama, are each offering plans to help the economy rebound from its first quarterly contraction in nearly 40 years. Eyes are on the West African economic powerhouse to see if it can maintain its standing as a bastion of democracy in the unstable region where election disputes this year have fanned fears of a slide back into authoritarianism. There are 12 presidential candidates, but most voters are likely to choose between Akufo-Addo and his New Patriotic Party, and Mahama's…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast, Ghana cancel cocoa sustainability schemes run by Hershey

BUSINESS

ANGE ABOA and MAYTAAL ANGEL IVORY Coast and Ghana are cancelling all cocoa sustainability schemes that U.S.-based Hershey runs in their countries, accusing the chocolate maker of trying to avoid paying a cocoa premium aimed at combating farmer poverty. In a letter addressed to Hershey and seen by Reuters, the Ivorian and Ghanaian cocoa regulators accuse Hershey of sourcing unusually large volumes of physical cocoa on the ICE futures exchange in order to avoid the premium, known as a living income differential (LID). The letter, which also accuses Fuji Oil Holdings' Blommer subsidiary of aiding Hershey, was verified as authentic…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana, Ivory Coast threaten to suspend cocoa companies’ sustainability schemes

BUSINESS

MAYTAAL ANGEL and ANGE ABOA GHANA’S cocoa regulator has threatened to suspend the sustainability schemes used by major cocoa and chocolate companies to assure consumers that the beans they use are sustainably and ethically sourced. In comments to the World Cocoa Foundation conference on behalf of Ghana and its West African neighbour Ivory Coast, Joseph Aidoo, chief executive of Ghanaian regulator Cocobod said on Thursday that cocoa and chocolate companies in West Africa were thwarting government attempts to combat farmer poverty. As a result, their sustainability schemes, which allow companies such as Barry Callebaut and Nestle to charge consumers a…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Saint or sinner: Rawlings was pivotal to Ghana’s political and economic fortunes

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TWENTY years after he left political office, probably nothing divides Ghanaians more than their opinions regarding Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings who has died. His lingering political influence on Ghana may be second only to Kwame Nkrumah. Some like Rawlings, some hate him. JEFFREY HAYNES, Professor Emeritus of Politics and Coordinator of Governance and International Relations, London Metropolitan University, London Metropolitan University I wrote a PhD on Rawlings and his rule at the end of the 1980s. After four years of intensive study, I was still not sure how to regard Rawlings. Was he a patriot who believed passionately in Ghana…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Tributes to Jerry Rawlings, hero of Ghana

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE GHANA is today a nation in mourning following the death of its former president, Jerry John Rawlings. Rawlings, 73, died after a short illness. His death came 25 days before Ghana’s next general elections. As a result all political parties have suspended their campaigns in honour of a man who led the nation for two decades. The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo said the country has started a seven day mourning period during which all flags will fly at half mast. "A great tree has fallen, and Ghana is poorer for this loss," Akufo-Addo said. Rawlings, who seized…