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GFA President visits Black Starlets ahead of WAFU B Championship
The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, has met with the nation’s national male U17 team and backed them to qualify to the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Beaming with smiles and energy, the hardworking GFA chief, interacted with the players and technical team at their hotel in Accra on Tuesday, ahead of the team’s WAFU Zone B opening match against neighbours Ivory Coast on Wednesday May 15, 2024.
President Simeon-Okraku told the team his hands were itching to touch the golden trophy at the end of the tournament, thus setting a tough target for the Black Starlets.
“I am very happy to be here and to see you on the night before your first major competitive test tomorrow. Over the past months, you have been working hard and looking forward to this week. I’ve come here to encourage and assure you that the Football Association and the entire nation are behind you,” President Okraku said
“You offered yourself to serve Ghana at this tender age and Ghana has offered all of you the chance to serve. This is the first time that I am going into a tournament that I feel extremely confident. I trust in your abilities and whatever happens, you will surmount the challenge. I’m looking forward to the celebration after the match,” he encouraged amidst loud applause.
President Simeon-Okraku charged the players to reward Head Coach Laryea Kingston and his backroom staff for the confidence reposed in them.
He said, “For the chunk of you, this is your first time of representing Ghana in a competitive game. But when you were first scouted by the technical team, your ambition was to arrive at this day. Your ambition was to show to Ghana the stuff you are made of and what you can do for yourselves and for our country. Fortunately, you’ve gone through a good preparatory period where you have listened, practised and rehearsed all the ideas, the methodologies and the processes from the technical team. Now, it’s time for you to show to Ghanaians all the things that you have learnt.”
The Black Starlets will open the WAFU Zone B tournament on home soil with a crunch tie against Cote D’voire on Wednesday at the University of Ghana Stadium. Benin is also in Group A.
A run-of unbeaten matches in Ghana has turned the home team into a side with high hopes of qualifying to the U-17 AFCON for the first time since 2017.
The team took their preparations a notch higher when they participated in a UEFA U1-6 tournament in Russia last month, losing to the host nation and dismantling Kazakhstan and Serbia.
The regional tournament serves as a pathway to the 2025 U-17 AFCON, with the top two teams earning qualification.
The Black Starlets will commence their campaign against Ivory Coast on May 15, followed by a fixture against Benin six days later.
Ghana have not participated in the U-17 AFCON since finishing as runners-up in 2017. It is noteworthy that the U-17 AFCON also serves as a qualifying platform for the World Cup.
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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.
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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
