Day: May 17, 2023

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National Youth Authority trains officers on revenue mobilisation

A workshop has been held in Tamale to equip municipal and district officers of the National Youth Authority (NYA) with skills to effectively mobilise resources to support youth growth and development. The Northern Regional Secretariat of the NYA organised the workshop, which brought together various municipal and district officers from the Northern, North- East and Savannah regions. Participants were trained in how to write successful grant proposals to solicit funding support from organisations to complement the government’s efforts at addressing challenges confronting young people. Mr Mumuni Sulemana, the Northern Regional Director of NYA, said the development needs of young people were multifaceted and required support from other stakeholders to adequately equip them to participate in national development. He urged participants to implement the knowledge gained to ensure that youth development in their specific areas was not compromised. Madam Habiba Seidu, the Sagnarigu Municipal Director of NYA, lauded the initiative, saying: ‘Youth development requires collective support. Depending on the Central Government only will not enhance speedy execution of youth-led organisations.’ The participants are expected to share the knowledge gained with their subordinates to ensure holistic capacity building for effective revenue mobilisation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Cable & Wireless Seychelles commemorates 130th anniversary with exhibition, concert, fun day

The Cable & Wireless Seychelles (CWS) telecommunication company launched a month-long exhibition on Wednesday as part of activities to mark its 130th anniversary in the island nation.

A group gathered at Kenwyn House in the capital Victoria for an exhibition to view artefacts that document the company’s presence in Seychelles and the evolution of telecommunication technology.

Cable & Wireless was set up in 1893 linking Seychelles to Zanzibar when for the first time the island nation joined the world telecommunication network.

In his virtual address, the chief executive of CWS, Georges D’Offay, said that the venue was chosen because this is where the company’s history in Seychelles started.

“Our founder Eastern and South African Telegraph Company bought this property in 1880. An interesting fact is that this historical establishment, which has been declared a national monument in Seychelles, was used by our engineering directors. This is when the first cable to connect Seychelles to Zanzibar was being installed, a remarkable event in our history,” he said.

The first cable to connect Seychelles to Zanzibar was installed in 1893. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

Other activities being organised to mark the company’s anniversary include a grand lottery with a BMW lX3 as a star prize, a mega concert, and a family fun day.

Another activity to celebrate the 130th is the special session for CWS employees’ children, who will be given a tour of the exhibition as part of a family fun day.

For the younger generation this exhibition is a chance to see a dial phone, the company’s phone cards that were used on its payphones located all over the country a few years ago.

CWS is also displaying its quad-play services – where it is combining the triple-play service of broadband Internet access, television and telephone with wireless service provisions – through short videos at the exhibition.

Marc Denousse, who worked on the exhibition, explained that while his team has been able to gather “as many artefacts as possible, we were unable to get all of them since the company found some to be obsolete and did not need to keep them.”

The secretary general of the Seychelles Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts (SICHA), David Andre, who is a former CWS employee, officially opened the exhibition.

“I remember applying for a position in the company when I completed my studies in 1976, receiving an answer the next day informing me that I could start work immediately. It is during my short time with the company that I also learned Morse code,” said Andre.

He congratulated the company for the work it has done in Seychelles and the services it has provided to the country in its 130 years here.

Since November 2019, the company has been entirely owned by a group of Seychellois entrepreneurs who purchased Cable and Wireless Seychelles under the group CWS Investment for a price of $130 million from Liberty Global, one of the world’s largest television and broadband companies.

On September 26, Cable and Wireless Seychelles was listed on the MERJ Exchange based in the country, where 120,000 shares were made available for sale to increase its shareholder base and raise approximately $4.3 million.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

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African University College of Communications to host academic conference

The African University College of Communications (AUCC), in collaboration with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), will hold a historic research conference and students’ project poster presentation in Accra. The conference would take place at the Discovery House at AUCC on May 26, 2023, a statement from the AUCC Corporate Communication Unit copied to the Ghana News Agency said. The conference, on the theme ‘Decolonizing Education in Africa and Diaspora’, is expected to bring students and faculty from the famed group of 107 HBCU in America together with their counterparts at AUCC Ghana. Participants in the conference would have panel discussions, a book launch, and a research project poster presentation by graduating students of AUCC and HAEC. ‘This event affords students, faculty, researchers, and industry professionals the opportunity to engage in networking, discussion, and exchange of research in Africa and the diaspora. The broader aim of the collaboration is to establish long-term relations between AUCC and HAEC.’ Professor Abeiku Blankson, AUCC President, said they expected the conference would mark the beginning of an annual international research symposium for students from both continents and possibly beyond to engage in scholarship.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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NGO appeals to government to remove taxes on sanitary products

The Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has reiterated the call for the Government to remove taxes on sanitary products. ‘The high cost of sanitary products is adding to the discomfort and pains associated with the menstrual cycle, which is having a serious toll on hygiene and education of some adolescents,’ it said. Ms Bernice Gyawu, a Programme Officer at ARHR, speaking to the Ghana News Agency after a two-day training for Adolescent Health Champions in Ho, appealed to the Government to support local producers of sanitary products to reduce the cost. She said in some communities, especially in the rural areas, sanitary pads were not available, so government should help the local producers to produce more to make it available and affordable. Ms Gyawu said adolescents had a lot of potentials, which must be developed, hence society must provide them with the enabling environment and proper guidance to explore these potentials. She appealed to parents to continue to offer the needed physical, emotional and spiritual support to their children to enhance their overall well-being. The training was to build the capacity of the Adolescent Health Champions on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (ASRHR) to effectively continue their work as peer educators. A total of 20 out-of-school adolescents from the South Dayi District of the Volta Region benefited from the training, supported by the United Nations Population Fund. Madam Albertina Alipui, the Acting Programme and Administration Manager at Volta Educational Renaissance Foundation (VEReF) said it was important to educate adolescents on reproductive health rights and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence to protect them. The programme has empowered most of adolescents to demand their sexual rights and report those who abused them to the appropriate authorities. Some of the beneficiaries thanked the organisers for the empowerment of their sexual rights and pledged to carry out their duties as peer educators in their various communities to achieve the desired results.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Pension Authority urges traders to register for tier three pension scheme

The National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has advised informal sector workers to register for tier three pension to reduce their financial dependence on their children in old age. Tier three is an optional contributory scheme with monthly contributions of up to 16.5 per cent of the basic salary of all employees and informal sector workers, and privately managed by NPRA licensed service providers. ‘The majority of workers in the country are in the informal sector. It is, therefore, important for employees in the informal sector to think about a plan to secure their future not to burden their benefactors,’ Mrs Rosina Akrofi, Assistant Manager Corporate Affairs, NPRA said. She was speaking at a financial literacy programme organised for some traders in Accra by the Ministry of Finance, aimed at empowering the citizenry against fraudulent investment schemes and how to manage their finances prudently. The programme received institutional support from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), National Insurance Commission (NIC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ‘These days when you depend on your family to take care of you when you’re old, you become a burden on them. So, it’s important to have your own retirement plan to avoid this situation,’ Mrs Akrofi said. Mrs Akrofi urged traders not to hesitate to register and contribute regularly to pension to reap the benefit when due, extending special invite to farmers, fishermen, hairdressers, tailors, and drivers to join the scheme. Mrs Deborah Freeman, General Secretary, Union of Informal Workers Association, (UNIWA), lauded the Finance Ministry for the foresight. She said with the education received, she was confident that the traders would be well-informed to make the right investment and financial management decisions. ‘Money is important in both your trade, personal and family life – if you don’t educate yourself on effective management and investment, you’ll end up losing your life-time funds – so, let’s be cautious,’ Mrs Freeman said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Africa forges stronger partnership at Kenya climate summit in September

The African Union Commission and the Government of Kenya will in September 2023 hold a three-day summit to form stronger partnerships among governments, private sector players and other development partners to tackle climate change challenges on the continent. The regional summit is to also create a platform that would birth ideas to address climate change challenges in Africa, including the mobilisation of financial resources and showcasing innovative solutions from countries on the continent. Under the theme ‘Africa together for bold, innovative, and resourced climate action,’ the event, which is scheduled from 4th to 6th September 2023, would also mark the beginning of the journey towards the inaugural Africa climate week. The summit will be attended by more than 10,000 delegates, including Heads of State and Government and their delegations; representatives of UN agencies and other multilateral institutions; civil society entities; and a host of other interest groups. ‘It also aims at providing a unique opportunity for stakeholders to come together to discuss, collaborate and act on climate change in Africa,’ said, Rosalinda Soipan Tuiya, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Kenya. ‘The effective application of climate prediction relies on climate information becoming appropriately integrated into different users’ policies and practices,’ she said. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts under all climate scenarios above 1.5 degrees Celsius, with Seven of the 10 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change in Africa. The Bank noted that despite having contributed the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa faces exponential collateral damage. It said the situation poses a systemic risk to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods, threatening to undo its modest development gains and slip into higher levels of extreme poverty. The Bank also estimates that the continent loses $7-15 billion annually from the nefarious effects of climate change, an amount that is projected to rise to $50 billion a year by 2030. African countries, therefore, need on average $125 billion annually between 2020-2030 to adapt to climate change.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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