Hot!
Ghana football at crossroads!
• Annor Walker – Head coach, Black Galaxies
Shocks are no longer strange to Ghana football. They are now commonplace!
The other day, it was the senior national team – Black Stars, being bowled out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon, after losing 3-2 to Island side Comoros, at the group stage.
That stunning loss culminated in a calamitous first round exit from a tournament the Stars had not won since 1982 – an unthinkable 41-year logjam.
The ongoing Championship of African Nations (CHAN), has yet another fabulous story to relate following the quarter-final elimination of Ghana’s locally-assembled national team – Black Galaxies.
Playing some lifeless piece of football, the Galaxies crashed out after suffering an ego-battering 2-0 loss to lowly-placed Niger – having earlier slumped 2-1 to Madagascar in the group stage that had only three teams.
Defending champions Morocco pulled out of the tournament at the 11th hour, citing logistical reasons after the team was denied permission to fly directly from Morocco to Algeria using their national airline – Royal Air Maroc.
Algeria one-sidedly ruptured relations with neighbours Morocco in August 2021, for various geopolitical reasons, and have since also prohibited Moroccan aircraft from flying in Algerian airspace.
Paired in Group C alongside Ghana, Sudan and Madagascar, Morocco’s absence left the three teams battling for honours.
After losing to Madagascar, the Galaxies raised their standard against the Sudan and got the result (3-1) that sent the Ghanaians to the quarters only to crash out rather disquietingly to Niger.
The Niger game was difficult to watch as the Ghanaians were comprehensively outclassed in all aspects of the evening, leaving many wondering where Ghana’s football is really drifting to.
As said here a couple of weeks ago, Ghana football has sunk so low or speedily plummeting at a neck-break pace, and we shall be reduced to nothingness if we do not wake up now to fix the miserable plunge.
Dishonesty in player selection, player quality and player commitment are just a few justifications why our football is struggling. This same reason applies to the plunge experienced at the senior level. Whatever reasons, there are to it, fact remains that Ghana football is in the doldrums.
President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG), Kwabena Yeboah, minced no words when he alluded to that assertion during last weekend’s 47th Awards Night of the association, calling for a profound reflection on the nation’s deteriorating fortunes in football in recent years.
The SWAG capo howled at the miserable performances of Ghanaian football clubs and national teams in competitions – scolding the Ghana Football Association (GFA) over its major failure.
“We have to do a sober introspection into our lives as a football nation. We need to work smart and invest meaningfully in our sport to halt the rot. Isn’t it sad that in our last four World Cup appearances, we cannot boast of any legacy project from the FIFA money much of which was shared among players and officials?
“We certainly have to take a second look at the practice, for instance, of paying as much as $100,000 to some management members as appearance fee,” he said.
Mr Yeboah could not have put it better, and it is high time we woke up as a nation to put a long-lasting cessation to this malady.
It is also very imperative we realised that we are no longer one of the Gullivers of the African game. We are becoming the whipping boys at tournaments we are expected to glow. It is pretty sad!
By John Vigah
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
