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Promoting local dishes: Hundreds turn up for ‘Gob3 Festival’ in Accra

● Some family time queing at a stand

Birds of the same cravings….eat together

Hundreds of patrons converged last weekend at the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout in Accra to participate in a newly introduced food bazaar dubbed: ‘Gob3 Festival’, as part of activities to promote Ghanaian heritage in the month of March.

Giovanni crowning the winner for the eating competion

The much anticipated event, organised by Media General Ghana, brought together food vendors and enthusiasts, families and friends, who took the opportunity to enjoy one of their favourite dishes amidst other entertaining activities.

As at 10 am, the first batch of the meal had finished while the second batch was consumed around 3pm.

‘Gob3’ is an acronym for gari, oil, beans and egg. The term is popular in secondary schools and on university campuses, due to the relative affordability and ‘salvation’ it gives compared with other foods.

The Channel Head of 3FM, Mrs Lois Kissiedu, said her outfit had conceptualised the event last year with the aim of projecting local foods but some delays made them to resechedule the event to 2023.

“We, therefore, decided to do this festival during the month of March, also known as the Ghana month to promote the eat Ghana, wear Ghana, watch Ghana, agenda.

Mrs Kissiedu said the event would be held annually to connect families and friends and promote Ghanaian culture.

There were some side attractions such as soft archery, bouncy castle, ludo, oware and other games which involved both parents and children.

The Okpo-Mates from the Mensah Sarbah Hall of the University of Ghana were also present to grace the occasion with cheer songs (Jama).

Dancing and eating competitions were also held while Palm Wine Music Group ‘Kwan Pa’ band thrilled the fans.

By Yunussah Essandoh

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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