Hot!
Gov’t urged to invest in tourism to reap full benefits
The Director in-Charge of monitoring and Evaluation at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Dr George Asafo Adjei has said that although the tourism sector is receiving some attention from the government with the development of key tourism sites, a lot more needs to be done to maximise the benefits of the sector.
According to him, there was the need to develop tourism along the value chain, adding that “we need to link tourism development with all its accompaniments such as entertainment, food joints and other side attractions to sustain the interest of tourists who would flock into the country.”
He said it was not enough to just draw tourists into the country without the favourable conditions to sustain and generate their interest.
Most tourists want something that would generate their interest rather than merely visiting tourist sites.
“We need to ensure that the 10 or 15 minutes a tourist will spend at tourist sites, he can take something away. There could be things like cultural displays performed by local people at these sites,” he emphasised.
He was speaking in an interview with The Spectator on the sidelines of a day’s Regional sensitisation workshop organised by GIPC to create awareness on its mandate and service delivery at Techiman in the Bono East Region.
Among the objectives of the workshop was to share insights of the region’s untapped economic potentials and opportunities among others.
Dr Asafo Adjei charged the Bono East Regional Coordinating Council to liaise with the GIPC to develop a business plan to push for the region’s development.
The Bono East Region, he noted must leverage on its tourism potential as well as agribusiness which the region abounds in to fast-track the development of the area.
He also called for the improvement in infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and hotels which he said were very critical to attract investors into the new region.
The Bono East Regional Minister, Kwasi Adu Gyan, commended GIPC for extending their activities to the Bono East Region and expressed the hope that this would go a long way to speed up the implementation of the area.
He explained that the government believes that the unit of development begins from the Municipal and district Assemblies through the implementation of local content and urged the participants to make use of the knowledge acquired through the workshop.
From Daniel Dzirasah, Techiman
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
