Hot!
Consume locally manufactured cocoa products …Ghanaians told ahead of 2024 National Chocolate Week Celebrations
Mr Ray Ankrah
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in collaboration with COCOBOD and Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) will begin this year’s National Chocolate Week celebrations today with a series of activities lined up to commemorate it.
Under the theme ‘Eat Chocolate, Stay Healthy, Grow Ghana,’ the celebration would be held at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange (Accra Mall) with the exhibition of variety of chocolate products.
It would be a five-day event to end on February 14 (Valentine’s Day).
Dubbed ‘Explore Ghana, Eat Chocolate,’ there would be enough locally manufactured chocolate for all, according to the organisers.
Speaking at the launch of the celebrations, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Board, Mr Akwasi Agyemang, assured that this year’s celebration would be used to showcase amazing products from Cocoa with the call on Ghanaians to patronise Ghanaian chocolates.
“This year’s celebration would be used to appreciate the excellent works of Cocoa farmers across the length and breadth of the country,” he stated.
For his part, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the COCOBOD, Mr Ray Ankrah, said the annual celebration was to highlight the consumption of locally cocoa-manufactured products.
He called on Ghanaians to embrace chocolates made from Ghana’s cocoa to generate revenue for developmental projects across the country.
Mr. Ankrah also announced that the consumption rate of chocolate had increased from 21 percent to 40 per cent due to hard work by the management of COCOBOD over the years.
By Michael D. Abayateye
Hot!
GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
Hot!
Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
