Hot!
‘Involve religious leaders in tackling teenage pregnancy’
● Mrs. Monica Mensah
Mrs. Monica Mensah, women empowerment advocate, is calling on stakeholders and policy makers including religious leaders across the country to help prevent teenage pregnancies.
According to her, ‘the nation cannot address challenges of teenage pregnancy in the communities without the support of religious leaders to sensitise the girl-child to the dangers associated with teenage pregnancies.
She said these in an interaction withThe Spectator about the risks involved in teenage pregnancy and the need for the girl-child to be empowered to attain their future aspirations.
“It is without doubt that, teenage pregnancy is taking its toll on us with unimaginable consequences and poses a threat to the development of the nation because the repercussions of teenage pregnancies puts pressure on the national budget”, Mrs Mensah said.
Mrs. Mensah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Overcomers Catering School at Ablekuma-Fanmilk, Accra, underscored the need for all to get involved in addressing teenage pregnancy because it increased poverty levels in the country.
“Teen parents and their children are less likely to complete high school and more likely to live in abject poverty, teen mothers are more likely to have low birth weight babies who risk lifelong developmental and health problems all of which may prove to be very costly for families, communities and nations”, she indicated.
She added that, tackling teenage pregnancies would not only reduce high population growth rate, but make it easier for families and nations to invest in quality human capital through good nutrition, health, and better education for the benefit of all.
She stressed that practices that did not conform to the well-being of any girl or woman amounted to abuse and an infringement to their fundamental human rights.
Touching on witch camps in some parts of Ghana, the Gender Advocate condemned the act, classifying it as a cruel phenomenon.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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
