Day: December 14, 2023

The Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, has called on the business community to partner with the judiciary in its digitalisation drive to enhance justice delivery.

She said the businesses could support the promotion of virtual hearings in courts across the country to ensure that parties in dispute could participate in proceedings without necessarily travelling to be at the trial.

She explained that the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 87, which amended the High Court Civil Procedure Rules, made room for hearings to be conducted electronically via video link.

This, she said, could save cost and time.

The Chief Justice was speaking at the 12th edition of the Association of Ghana Industry (AGI) Industry and Quality awards.

It was on the theme: ‘Promoting local production in an ever changing business climate.’

She urged businesses and chambers of commerce and industry to consider adopting regions, districts and different levels of court to provide line items such as e-auction platforms and e-signature
for easy delivery of court proceedings and virtual hearing.

‘Unfortunately, the Judiciary does not have enough facilities to make the option of virtual hearings available in all the 430 courts around the country,’ the Chief Justice said.

In all, 27 individuals and companies were recognised for their excellent performances with KEDA Ghana Ceramics Company Ltd winning the Overall Best Industrial Company of the Year award and GB Food grabbing the Overall Best National Quality Company of the Year.

The Ghana Enterprise Agency, GIZ Ghana, and the European Union were given honorary awards.

Chief Justice Torkornoo said efforts had been made to deal with the long time it took to settle trade and commercial disputes through the setting up of the Commercial Courts to exclusively deal with such cases.

There are also opportunities for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for all commercial disputes.

Mr K.T. Hammond, the Minister of Trade and Industry, said the country’s economy would not improve with the unbridled a
ppetite for imports.

It was in this context that, he said, a decision was taken to restrict some of the imports to save the country’s economy.

For his part, the President of AGI, Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, said the Association supported deliberate policies to restrict the importation of items in which the country had local production capacity.

‘AGI will continue to dialogue with government to develop targeted policy interventions that will enable businesses to increase production to meet both local and export demands,’ he said.

He said local production was a catalyst for job creation and economic growth with rippling effects on society, opportunities and shared prosperity for all.

‘I wish to reiterate that local production is a necessity. It is a strategic path to resilience, prosperity, and sustainability in our ever-changing business climate,’

Dr Ayim-Darke urged policymakers to create favourable conditions for local businesses through the provision of incentives, grants and supportive regulations.
Sourc
e: Ghana News Agency

Mr Irchad Razaaly, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, says the EU-West Africa Fusion Artists Residency and Expo will promote cultural integration and cross-cultural collaboration.

He said the Expo would showcase the unique fusion of European and West African art, highlighting the rich heritage, cultural diversity, and contemporary trends.

Mr Razaaly said this during a press conference to announce the opening of applications for the EU – West Africa Fusion Artist Residency Expo in Accra.

The Residency expo would bring together musicians, fashion designers and visual artists: painters, photographers, street artists from Ghana, Togo, Benin, and the EU Member States in promotion of the spirit of cultural integration and cross-cultural collaboration.

The EU-West Africa Fusion Artists Residency and Expo is Centered on three thematic areas, Fashion, Music, and Visual Arts with a total amount of EUR 3,000 being awarded to the winning team, comprising a musician, a fashion designer, and a visual artist.

He said, ‘There is no denying that Ghana is one of the countries in the sub-region with a richness of cultural history and it is the goal of the EU to facilitate cross-cultural exchanges and promote Ghanaian, and African culture and heritage in and outside Europe.’

He said through this, the EU-West Africa Fusion Artists Residency and Expo would endeavour to create an enriching platform for cultural exchange and expression, fostering understanding and appreciation of art forms from multiple perspectives.

The Ambassador said for the EU, culture was a key element or area for job creation, stating that they had recognised the central stage that culture was taking in Ghana, especially during yuletides.

Mr Razaaly said the EU was looking at 12 artists in different fields of arts for the beginning to assess how progressive it would be and improve upon it moving forward.

He said interested applicants could submit their applications by Wednesday, 3 January 2024.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GNCCI) has launched the ‘Made in Northern Ghana (MiNG)’ marketplace digital platform to link producers in northern Ghana to potential buyers across the globe.

The MiNG is a common virtual marketing platform for all products and services produced in the five regions of the north including shea products, agro-products and woori (smock materials) among others to promote sustainable and inclusive business practices between producers and buyers and the business industry in the north.

The initiative had funding support from the GIZ’s Market Oriented Agriculture Programme in North-West Ghana (MOAP-NW) to drive positive change and innovation in the business landscape in Ghana, particularly northern Ghana.

Speaking at the launch in Wa, Mr Jeremiah B. Tengan, the Upper West Regional Manager of the GNCCI, said the initiative was borne out of research the GNCCI conducted, which revealed that though there were good products and services in northern Ghana, access t
o market for those products was a challenge.

He said the research also revealed that intermediaries denied the producers value for their products, but that the MiNG market platform would give the producers direct access to potential customers and substantial value for their products.

Mr Tengan indicated that the GNCCI had carried out a sensitisation tour across the five regions of the north to educate the business operators on the MiNG and its potential benefit to them.

‘Indeed, the importance of this market is that you can be in your comfort zone in northern Ghana and somebody in America or Europe can view your product, you can chat and negotiate, and they can buy your things from there.

‘It means you can be in the north and access the global market. It is an opportunity to have a good market price for our products’ the GNCCI Regional Manager explained.

He therefore encouraged commercial farmers and industry players to take advantage of the platform to market their products without dealing with intermed
iaries.

Mr Reuben Binpori, Inclusive Business Development Expert at MOAP-NW, observed that northern Ghana was blessed with large agricultural lands for crops and animal production.

He, however, said while some commercial farmers and producers had established markets for their commodities, some were still grappling with challenges in accessing markets.

He said the digital marketplace was opened to all businesses in northern Ghana to display products and services produced in the area for easy market access.

‘Markets have gone beyond physical, and it is now virtual so, leveraging the digital tools that are available and the current wave of digitalisation, we think that our SMEs will be able to sell their products to buyers all over the world’, Mr Binpori explained.

Mr Salford Iddrisu, the Upper West Regional Chairman of the GNCCI, thanked the GIZ for supporting the GNCCI to establish the online marketing platform.

He said the platform was free and all businesses in the north should take advantage of it to
access direct market services across the country and beyond.

Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) from the five regions of the north and other stakeholders attended the MiNG platform launch.
Source: Ghana News Agency