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Living beyond autism …Young Phil inspires others

● Phil Benito
Africa’s only autistic cyclist, Young Phil Bertino continues to inspire other children with disabilities to reach out for their goals as the world marked Autism Day recently.
The 16-year-old who is gradually becoming a global icon despite being autistic was engaged in awareness campaigns as the month had been set aside for autism.
With a support from the Liztino Centre for Children with Special Needs, Young Phil since he was diagnosed with autism at age four, fought against all odds to live an independent life to become an example to others.
The young lad who plays the piano, rides bicycle, swims and plays tennis, managed to survive the childhood disorder and now living his best life as a normal kid, setting himself as an example to other children.
He had over the years, made donations to the needy in society, courtesy support from his parents Mr and Mrs Bertino as part of efforts to create awareness and inspire others to become better.

AUTISM DAY
This year’s autism month celebrations was no exception as the mother of Young Phil and the CEO of the Liztino Centre, Mrs Angel Acquah Bertino used her ward’s story to inspire parents and other kids to become better.
The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared April 2 (every year) as World Autism Awareness Day to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society.
Autism is a lifelong neurological condition that manifests during early childhood, irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status.
The term Autism Spectrum refers to a range of characteristics. Appropriate support, accommodation and acceptance of this neurological variation allow those on the Spectrum to enjoy equal opportunity, full and effective participation in society.
SEMINAR
During a seminar at the Aburi Girls’ Senior High School (SHS) on April 2 to mark the World Autism Day, Mrs Acquah Bertino encouraged schools and communities to accept autistic children and provide them with the platform to engage in social and sporting activities to enable them to discover their full potentials.
She emphasised that students needed to be enlightened to carry out the message to their homes and communities.
“We have been engaged in this awareness creation for the past four years and needed to extend the message to schools and communities to get everyone involved,” she stated.
She said, it was important to constantly remind Ghanaians on the need to support autism children to live a normal life by taking a cue from Young Phil’s development.
She urged the government and community leaders to take the canker seriously by providing resources in supporting children with autism and other forms of disabilities.
“It is important to make our schools, churches, work places, play grounds and other facilities autistic friendly so children with such disorders could live comfortably,” she stated.
She also urged corporate entities to come on board to support their awareness campaign as it would go a long way to bring change as far as support for autism in Ghana was concerned.
She said, they would hold this year’s Autism Awareness Creation with Cycling next weekend and urged all to come on board to support.
She said, Young Phil was living an independent life, courtesy support from family and urged communities to come together to support families to raise their children with special needs.
BACKGROUND
Phil Bertino, is the first child of Mr Phil Bertino and Mrs Elizabeth Acquah Bertino. He was born a healthy child and grew up with no sign of abnormality, but his development took a different turn at age six when he was diagnosed to be autistic.
The signs had started when he was about two years old. The one letter words he could easily pronounce had disappeared and he was only making unintelligible sound.
When the condition started to worsen at age three, his parents sought medical attention and were advised to enroll him in a speech therapy. He enrolled for six months but there was no remarkable progress.
Determined to ensure he grew up a ‘normal child,’ his parents tried other medical and spiritual remedies but eventually had to come to terms with the reality that Phil was, indeed, autistic.
The knowledge of the condition and the fact that it has no cure was unbearable for the couple, but this however did not crush Phil’s dream of becoming a professional cyclist.
In September 2021, he was part of over 70 professional riders at the 17th edition of the Teshie Homowo Cycling Challenge.
He put up a splendid performance to finish his 76km race in 2:45:33secs with an average speed of 27.56km/h. He received massive cheers for his efforts and was presented with a special trophy, medal and jersey for his achievement on the day.
By Michael D. Abayateye
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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