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Satellite TV: Ghanaian market most promisinWith digitalisation as a key focus and a national priority, Vice President, Marketing of satellite operating company SES, Paul Freeman, says he sees a potential digitization market upsurge in Africa.

Paul Freeman was speaking at the launch of the 2017 Satellite Monitor Study Report which provided insights on Ghana’s broadcasting landscape, the importance of satellite for TV delivery, video trends in the Ghanaian market, as well as the SES reach in the country.

With over 3,000 interviews conducted for this study in 2017, the satellite operator doubled its market reach to 4 million TV homes as compared to 2 million in 2015.

According to the expert, although Ghana is not digitizing any slower than other African countries, SES noticed a big development in the span of four years; that is between the year 2014 and 2017.

He said, “From a pure data point of view, which market in Africa has the highest penetration market of TV homes in terms of percentage.”

He lauded the local team who liaised between SES and customers for ensuring the progress of the Ghanaian market television. 

“The Ghanaian market has adapted very quickly and successfully in satellite television. So the team here has done well working with the customers here to develop the Ghanaian market television,” Mr Freeman stated.



He added that the investment by SES made into Ghana is to “support our customers with developing and delivering services into the market.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Communications, George Nenyi Andah, disclosed earlier this year that Ghana will experience Digital Terrestrial Television Switch nationwide by Second Quarter of 2018.

He was confident that even though Ghana missed the international deadline of transitioning from analogue to digital terrestrial of 17th June 2015, there is a window of opportunity to conclude all the migration process globally by 2020.

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One village one dam contracts awarded - Nitiwul Nitiw33 Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul Implementation of the government's ‘one village one dam policy is to begin soon, a revelation by Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul suggests. Mr Nitiwul said that contracts have been awarded for the flagship project to begin. “Last week, contractors were issued appointment letters to go and construct 570 dams,” he said. He made the revelation on Newsfile Saturday on Joy FM in response to Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, who pestered him about the huge number of staff at the Presidency. “…if they [government] were constructing the village dams now I wouldn’t have a problem…,” the opposition MP argued. The dams are expected to aid agricultural work in the country. President Akufo-Addo during the 2016 election campaign, promised to build a dam in villages of the three regions of the north, via a well-planned irrigation policy. ADVERTISEMENT He said a robust irrigation policy “one-village-one dam” will make Ghana crop all year round and eventually become a net exporter of most foodstuff. Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia had promised in December 2017 that the dams will materialize soon. According to him, the country’s agricultural sector is key to national development, noting that “it is an engine of growth to move our economy beyond aid.” “It is therefore fundamental to boost agricultural productivity to achieve sustainable industrial and agribusiness development as a means of wealth and job creation. “Consequently, our Government has placed renewed emphasis on the agriculture sector, pumping in much resource into the sector to facilitate rapid integration to global and regional value chains,” he said.

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Your strength is in agric, invest in it –
                                 

 RMB Analyst Heyy Senior Global Markets Researcher at South Africa's Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Celeste Fauconnier Ghana’s strength lies in agriculture, and therefore structures must be developed to support and fund the sector to grow the economy and create employment for the millions of unemployed youth, Celeste Fauconnier, Senior Global Markets Researcher at the Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), South Africa has said. Ms. Fauconnier, who was speaking at the 3rd Edition of the First National Bank’s Economic and Business Breakfast Forum held in Accra said: “One of the things that Ghana has failed to do as a nation is look at where it has comparative advantage. Agriculture is a key sector, but the problem is in the structures. “Ghana can actually thrive by diversifying the economy and not depend on oil, which makes it an attractive destination; but in agriculture, if they make good use of the resources and give the right incentives, why not?” The agriculture sector has seen its contribution to the economy drop sharply – from 31.8 percent in 2009 to 18.3 percent last year. ADVERTISEMENT Despite government introducing its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs programme in 2017 to increase investment in the sector and help boost production, its impact – at least from the 2016/2017 figures – show little was achieved. The Planting for Food and Jobs programme experienced a temporary setback when Fall Army Worms (FAW) invaded huge hectares of farms. It is estimated that about 113,000 hectares of farmlands were affected, of which 15,000 hectares were completely destroyed. Despite these setbacks, Ms. Fauconnier believes that the sector holds the key to the country’s development, given its competitive advantage in the area. ADVERTISEMENT “One thing that’s very clear is that not that much has been done in the agriculture sector, which remains a weak sector. And so, I would say go exactly to the weak spots and try and grow those. “Though some gains have been made in the new oil found in 2010, not much has been done in agriculture and I think they could have done more. This, you can see, has affected the growth rate in the agricultural sector.” Growing the economy’s size On how to grow the size of Ghana’s economy, she said: “The country needs to put in measures to rope-in the informal sector to be become formal, in order to increase the size of the economy. ADVERTISEMENT “I think what Ghana has to do is to grow its economy by capturing the huge informal sector and drawing them into the formal sector, just as Nigeria did a few years ago by rebasing its economy. This brought in some sectors that were never part of the formal sector, and just bringing that to the numbers you will see that your actual GDP numbers expand. And, of course, you need the growth rate to keep on expanding.” She added that: “I think with the growth rate of 8.5% last year and 8% potentially in 2018, Ghana can easily move into the top-10 most-preferred investment destinations. The private sector must receive a major boost from government in order to engineer the growth,” she added. Pointing out that the private sector over the years has been crowded out, Madam Celeste said this makes it difficult to get credit for it: “We know that it is also the reason why the central bank has brought down the policy rate to where it is now meant to spur the private sector participation and growth. Government and the private sector need to sit together more and discuss what it is that each will have to do to achieve growth and increase the economy’s size.” Meanwhile, she admitted that government is currently in a very difficult position as it has to stop or cut spending and at the same has to help grow the economy, making it a very precarious position; but she believes that with the right measures Ghana can make things work. ADVERTISEMENT Ghana drops one place The 2018 edition of Where to Invest in Africa report revealed that Ghana, previously at fourth among the top-10, due to perceptions of worsening corruption and weaker economic freedom slipped to fifth – though it remains among the most attractive investment destinations in West Africa. The survey reveals that despite a myriad of economic challenges, the country labours on as it slowly rebuilds confidence in its processes and policies under the watchful eye of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The theme for Where to Invest in Africa 2018 is ‘Money Talks’, and this edition “follows the money” on the African continent to evaluate aspects crucial to each country’s economic performance. The report focuses on the main sources of dollar revenues in Africa, which allows it to measure the most important income-generators and identify investment opportunities.

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The Ho Airport will soon be handed over for use following the completion of major construction works on the facility.

The $25million project was funded by the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) to boost economic activities and tourism in the Volta Region.

The Minister of Aviation, Madam Cecilia Dapaah who paid a working visit to inspect the facility ahead of its commissioning on Thursday, expressed satisfaction at the work done by the contractors, Amandi Holding Limited; and urged the Volta Regional Coordinating Council to develop a business plan to market the airport.

The project, which was scheduled for completion in September 2016, has 1,900 metres runway, traffic control tower, 1,150 capacity passenger waiting area, an ultramodern airbus terminal and an automatic fire detection system.

The airport, with the slogan, “Ho Airport, the New Destination” is expected to host domestic and commercial flights and open up the region for growth.

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Ghana is a haven to invest in – President Akufo-Addo tells UK investors
                     

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told investors and business leaders from the United Kingdom that Ghana is the ideal place in the West African region and on the continent to invest in and conduct business.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “Ghana is a haven of peace, security and stability; a country where the principles of democratic accountability are now firmly entrenched in its body politic, and where the separation of powers is real, to promote accountable governance.”

Delivering the keynote address at the second edition of the UK-Ghana Investment Summit, organised by the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, yesterday, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that his government is keen on establishing a business-friendly economy to attract foreign direct investments to exploit Ghana’s great potential on mutually satisfactory terms.

Stressing that investments are protected in fact and in law in Ghana, the President assured that “the rule of law in Ghana is not a slogan, but an operating principle of state development. We want to participate in the global marketplace, not on the basis of the exports of raw materials, but on the basis of things we make.”

He continued, “We want to bring greater dignity to the lives of millions of people in Ghana. We want to build a Ghana beyond aid. I believe very strongly that Ghana is on the cusp of a new, bold beginning, which will repudiate the recent culture of failure.

Private sector key

President Akufo-Addo indicated that his government is of the firm conviction that the role of the private sector in the development of our national economy is crucial, adding that “it is the very essence of our economic philosophy, and has been so for 70 odd years.”

In furtherance of this, he stated that over the past 15 months in office, his administration has set about putting in place the measures needed to reduce the cost of doing business and improve the business environment in Ghana.

The President noted that “Our actions have resulted in the growing stability of the macro-economy and the cedi, reduction in inflation, and an abolition of nuisance taxes whose aim is to shift the focus of the economy from taxation to production.”

The “effective economic policies” put in place, he said, have ensured that the fiscal deficit, which stood at 9.5% at the end of 2016, has been reduced to 5.6% at the end of 2017, and is projected to go down to 4.5% in 2018

Inflation, the President added, has declined from 15.6% at the end of 2016 to 10.4% at the end of March this year, and is expected to decline even further to an end-of-year single-digit target of 8.9%, with economic growth increasing from 3.6% in 2016 to 8.5% in 2017.

The President stressed that “As a result of appropriate policy and the normalisation of the power situation in Ghana, these interventions have also led to the revival of Ghanaian industry, from a growth rate of negative 0.5% in 2016 to 17.7% in 2017. Interest rates are declining, and we are now witnessing a more stable cedi, our national currency. Our macro-economy is growing stronger,” he said.

At the same time, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that government has implemented specific measures which are leading Ghana and her economy into the new digital age.

These, he said, include the introduction of an e-business registration system, a paperless port clearance system, a digital addressing system, a mobile interoperability system, and a national identification card system, all of which are designed to formalise the Ghanaian economy, reduce the cost of doing business, and facilitate interaction between businesses and their clients, particularly in a technology-driven era, where connectivity through digital services is an important element in achieving competitiveness.

Infrastructural Development

A key challenge of Ghana’s economy, like many other economies in Africa, the President said, is its infrastructural deficit.

He told the gathering that Ghana is embarking on an aggressive public-private-partnership programme to attract investment in the development of both the country’s road and railway infrastructure.

“We are hopeful that, with solid private sector participation, we can develop a modern railway network with strong production centre linkages and with the potential to connect us to our neighbours to the north, i.e. Burkina Faso; to the west, i.e. Cote d’Ivoire; and to the east, i.e. Togo. We believe that this is an area where British technology and expertise would be very welcome,” he said.

He added that, “There are several projects in roads, water transport, industry, manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum and gas, renewable energy, the exploitation of our mineral wealth of bauxite, iron ore and gold, and the ICT sector, amongst others, which are being structured to attract private sector financing.”

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Let’s create a future for all – Akufo-Addo to Commonwealth leaders . President Akufo-Addo shaking hands with UK Prime Minister Theresa May President Akufo-Addo says the continuous relevance and the survival of the Commonwealth depends largely on the safety and well-being of all its member states and their citizens. Nana Akufo Addo said leaders of Commonwealth countries should create an environment where all citizens will benefit from programmes and policies initiated by their administrations. “The Commonwealth will remain relevant, not only because of the shared values and principles but also because of our ability to use our collective strengths and resources to meet the aspirations of our citizens, create prosperity to improve living standards, as well as promotion of rule of law and respecting the rights of citizens’”. In a message to Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting in London, Nana Akufo Addo urged African countries within the Commonwealth to consider education as a topmost priority in improving the lives of its citizens. “I hesitate to prescribe policies for other countries, but on the matter of education, I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending that we all adopt the policy of free compulsory education from kindergarten to Senior High School, this is one of the most important things we have to guarantee prosperity for all’’. He added that “for us in Ghana, we want to build a Ghana Beyond Aid because it’s time to pursue a path of prosperity and self-respect for our nation and a country in charge of her economic her destiny’’. ADVERTISEMEN





T President Akufo-Addo has been in London for five days and has met the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on how best London can forge a harmonized sister-city relationship with Accra, to help the Accra Metropolitan Assembly address the many challenges it is faced with. The President also met with the leader of UK’s Labour Party and leader of the opposition, Rt. Hon Jeremy Corbyn, MP. The two leaders discussed Ghana and the UK’s strong bond of friendship and co-operation. The President has also met The Duke of Cambridge Prince William and former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

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Prince Charles praises Kwame Nkrumah, others for Commonwealth

The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, has praised Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for his contribution to the formation of the Commonwealth.

Speaking at the opening of the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, Prince Charles said the Commonwealth has become a strong organization because of the contributions of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and other African leaders.

“The modern Commonwealth has a vital role to play in building bridges between our countries, fairer societies within them, and more secured world around them. I pray that this Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting will not only revitalize the bonds between our countries, but will also give the Commonwealth a renewed relevance to all its citizens, finding practical solutions to their problems, and giving life to their aspirations,” he said.

On her part, the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, expressed joy at the strong bond between Commonwealth countries describing it as one of the strongest organizations in the world

“When I became head of the commonwealth, who would have guessed that a gathering of its member states would number 53 or that it would comprise 2.4 billion people. Put simply, we are one of the world’s great convening powers, a global association of volunteers who believe in the tangible benefit that flows from exchanging ideas and experiences and respect each other’s point of view, and we seem to be growing year by year,” she said.

President Akufo Addo is in London attending the conference which will seek to address shared goals and aims of member countries in enhancing economic growth and development.

Speaking at the Malaria Summit London 2018, on Wednesday, 18th April 2018, on the sidelines of the ongoing Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, President Akufo-Addo stated that the fight against malaria in Ghana is an age-old one.

“According to the Ghana Health Service, malaria tops Out Patient Department cases and is responsible for the death of three children, every day, in the country. Indeed, in 2016, 10.4 million cases of malaria were recorded in a population of some 30 million people,” he said.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, 18 April 2018, held a meeting with the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William at Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom (UK).

The two leaders discussed issues of trade and cooperation between Ghana and the UK.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ongoing Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London.

Nana Akufo-Addo is currently in the UK for the 25th CHOGM.

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Denmark has provisionally handed over the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Network Extension Project to the Ministry of Communications, which will be managed by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA). The 165 kilometres, which connects the Eastern Corridor Optic Fibre from Ho to Accra, was financed with a grant of € 3,795, 017 from the Danish Government.

The Ho – Accra Fibre Optic Extension Project was executed by Nokia – Alcatel-Lucent Denmark in partnership with a local subcontractor – Kenpon Constructions Company Limited.

The provisional handing over certificate, which had one year warranty was signed by Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications and Mr Jan Plenge, Export Director, Nokia, in Accra.

The ceremony was witnessed by Madam Tove Degnbol, the Danish Ambassador to Ghana; Mr Issah Yahaya, Chief Director, Communications Ministry; Mr David K. Gyewu, Director-General, NITA; and Mr Kennedy Agyapong, President and Chairman of Kepon Constructions Co. Ltd.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said “having an adequate infrastructure on which all digitalisation effort would ride and having the necessary fibre infrastructure was a Sine qua non (an indispensable condition); adding that no part of this country can be left behind and so this project was commenced”

She said originally the project extended from Ho to Bawku; declaring that “but we noticed that without the metro fibre link from Accra to Ho, we couldn't derive the optimum benefit from this project”.

She said the Eastern Fibre connects 120 communities along the route; and that major towns like Kpando, Jasikan, Nkwanta, Bimbila, Yendi, Gushegu were all connected through that.

“Fibre is there, but we do need to work on the last mile to link the communities along the route to the fibre back bone and that we are actively working with partners to develop, then we can derive optimum benefit from that fibre,” she said.

So that outing communities, the schools, government agencies, district assemblies and health providers will also utilise that infrastructure to update and digitise their work.

She said in line with the Policy of the Ministry of Finance, her Ministry would ensure all districts, municipal and metropolitan areas were connected to the national fibre optic network to facilitate the smooth implementation of the Ghana Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) project.

She said: “We are also very keen in digitising governance and making government more accessible to the people and we need to necessarily put in adequate infrastructure to make that happen.”

“And so we need to connect the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Network to Accra,” the Minister added.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful commended DANIDA for the assistance that it had been provided to really give effect to the project.

“And extend our gratitude to the Danish Government and people for continuing to undertake projects like this which deepen the historic links that we have with you and the bonds of friendship that we've had with you.”

She said a lot had been done to secure enough network infrastructure for all the government commercialisation or digitisation effort and to promote optimum use of technology at all levels.

The Minister said a lot had been done to ensure the delivery of optimum e-governance services to the people and facilitate government to government and government to people interaction.

She noted that: “With the eastern corridor fibre in place, we are continuing to explore all avenues of completing that loop around the country and working on the western corridor and off shore fibre links that we need to complete that fibre loop around the country.”

“Government can't do it alone, and we are encouraging the private sector to also get involved and we will be exploring public-private partnership initiative and grant opportunities to get that done with the right technical partners.”

She commended the entire team and NITA technical personnel whose efforts led to the fruitful execution of the project and urged NITA officials to work hand in hand with the contractors and the commercial partners to ensure that the network was adequately maintained.

“No matter how high specification of the network we put in place, if we do monitor, operate and maintain it adequately, it will breakdown and the investment we have made would have been wasted,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful stated 

Madamam Degnbol said the project was a condition for the implementation for the Ghana Card project and other initiatives such as e-governance and e-health.

She lauded the development collaboration between the Ghana and Denmark over the past 25 years.

The whole of the Eastern Fibre Optic Project cost the Government € 38 million with a loan facility from the government of Denmark 

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The Government of President Nana Akufo-Addo is reviewing a number of regulations governing the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in order to free up the innovative talent and capabilities of already existing and start-up companies.

The review would, among other objectives, also aim to make it easier to enter and invest in the sector in order to support the government’s desire to increase the use of ICT to solve peculiar Ghanaian challenges, while ensuring the appropriate security assurances for users and investors.

“We are trying to build a new, efficient Ghana. The world is continually evolving, and this evolution is led by cutting-edge technology. We know there are many talented young men and women in the ICT space, and government is looking at ways to make innovating and actualising promising ideas easier,” the Vice President of the Republic, H.E. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, declared at separate meetings with leading lights in Silicon Valley when he paid a five day working visit to the Valley from April 10, 2018.

The Vice President, together with some government officials and the leadership of 15 leading local ICT firms, is on a visit to the technology hub of Silicon Valley, California, USA during which he will hold discussions with the Valley’s thought and technology leaders to explore the possibilities of developing strategic insight, decisions and partnerships with the view of helping to enhance the digitisation of the Ghanaian economy to move Ghana Beyond Aid.


Some of the companies visited include General Electric, IBM, GreyLock Partners, AirBnB, SalesForce, Stanford SEED, and Linked IN.Touting the Akufo-Addo Government’s determination to make Ghana the most business-friendly country in Africa, Vice President Bawumia urged tech investors and innovators to take advantage of the many competitive advantages Ghana has including location, a stable macro-economic environment and a large pool of talent to set up shop. 

“We as a government want to set the framework, the environment, then move out of the way so that you guys can do what you do best. Whether it is in health, education, agriculture, utility service provision or wherever, you can come in and invest and help us with the sort of innovations that you can come up with.”

The Vice President also called for partnerships between Ghanaian ICT firms and their Silicon valley compatriots, insisting that Ghanaian talent was as good as any found anywhere in the world, if not better.

“The indigenous ICT firms are as good as any you can find anywhere in the world. Government is convinced about that and we want to encourage our local ICT firms as much as possible to be very competitive,” he stated, adding “a collaboration between you is likely to be of mutual benefit to all parties.”

The ICT leads accompanying the Vice President include representatives from GHIPSS, Hubtel, BlueSpace Africa, DreamOval, Rancard, Nsano, ExpressPay, IBM, and Bsystems.The rest are from IT Consortium, Trotro Tractor, General Electric, Callens Solution, Edel Technology Consult and the SoftTribe. 

Also on the team was Deputy Minister of Communications and MP for Awutu Senya East, Hon George Nenyi Andah; Hon Mohammad Tijanni Habibu, Deputy Foreign Minister; Hon. Alex Tetteh Djornobuah, MP for Sefwi Akontonbra and member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education; and Hon Halidu Ali Maiga, Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs.

The Vice President returned to Accra on Saturday April 14, 2018.

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Adam Afriyie is United Kingdom Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ghana

The United Kingdom Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ghana, Mr Adam Afriyie, has lauded Ghana’s credentials as a stable shining democracy in Africa.

“Ghana is really the shining star. She has stable politics, stable democracy, building its institutions as well as building trust with the international communities,” Mr Afriyie remarked at a cocktail reception organised by the British High Commissioner for a visiting Scottish Trade Mission Delegation in Accra.

Mr Afriyie said Ghana had built an overwhelming trust within the international community and within the oil and gas sector in particular.

He explained that Ghana had built an overwhelming trust with the international community and as such investors were far more willing to invest in the country.

The aim of the visit was to enable the delegation gain a thorough understanding of local market conditions while investigating local investment opportunities.

The visit was to afford Scottish companies opportunities to partner with local Ghanaian oil and gas companies interested in bringing new technologies and skills to Ghana.

The trade mission of 22 Scottish companies, included Aberdeen Drilling School, Air Control Entech, Apollo Offshore Engineering, and Aquatic Engineering and Construction Corex UK.

Mr Afriyie said the visit, which was the third Scottish Trade Mission Delegation to Ghana, was the largest ever Scottish trade delegation to Africa.

He said the visit enabled Scottish experts the opportunity to connect with their Ghanaian counterparts in the oil and gas industry.

He said the ruling of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in favour of Ghana, means that the country had clearly established its right to more oil fields.

He said it also means that there would be more drilling rights being authorised, a lot more licenses allowed; adding that, this would lead to a huge influx of technology, skills, equipment and training services.

He said the trade relation between the UK and Ghana was for the mutual benefits of both nations

Mr Ian Walker, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, said they were committed to improving all aspects of the Ghana-UK relationship.

The Leader of the Scottish trade mission to Ghana, Mr Cameron Douglas, Scottish International Trade Advisor for Sub-Saharan Africa at Scottish Development International Scotland (SDI), UK, said whilst the delegation was in Ghana, they had fruitful meetings.

Mr Andrew Monaghan, the Africa Regional Manager, SDI, said they were in Ghana to bring Scottish investors into the country.

The delegation, which was on a three-day visit to Ghana, had since left for Lagos, Nigeria on a similar trade mission.

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Bawumia, 15 local ICT companies visit Silicon Valley

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia accompanied by the leaders of 15 local ICT companies left Accra on Monday night for a five-day working visit to the high-tech city of Silicon Valley in California.

During the visit, the Vice President will hold discussions with Silicon Valley’s thought and technology leaders to explore the possibilities of developing strategic insight, decisions and partnerships.

The meeting is aimed at helping to enhance the digitisation of the Ghanaian economy to move Ghana Beyond Aid.

The ICT leaders accompanying the Vice President include representatives from GHIPSS, Hubtel, SoftTribe, DreamOval, IBM, and EDEL Technology Consulting.

The rest are from GE, Trotro Tractor, EDEL Technology Consulting, Rancard Solutions, Nsano, Expresspay, Bluespace, Callens solution, Bsystems, IT Consortium.

Last week, the Vice President recently visited a number of Ghanaian ICT firms to understand their challenges in order to aid policy formulation.

The visit to Silicon Valley by the Vice President and the leadership of the ICT firms is to engage the world leaders in ICT in order to exchange ideas and fashion Ghanaian solutions to Ghanaian challenges.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is scheduled to meet with Corporate Executives of cutting-edge digital technology organisations including Microsoft, Facebook, Tesla, and Alphabet, and visit a number of facilities including the G.E. Digital Centre and the IBM Watson Centre.

The Vice President will also meet with the Ghanaian community and brief them on happenings back home.

The Vice President returns to Accra on Saturday.

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Group picture of managements of GPHA and Diamond Cement. INSET: The Director-General of GPHA

In line with plans by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to fulfill its promise to construct a port at Keta in the Volta Region, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Diamond Cement Ghana Limited, one of the leading cement producers in the country.

The project is expected to commence in June this year subject to signing of Executive Instrument by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), in its 2016 manifesto, revealed plans to construct a port through the collaboration with players in the private sector.

The Director-General of GPHA, Paul Asare Ansah last Thursday, said the Keta Port would handle vessels to ease congestion at the Tema and Takoradi Ports and also increase the volume of business in the West Africa sub-region.

The GPHA boss indicated that the project would offer job opportunities to the teeming youth and promote the growth of the Volta Region.H

Hesaid that the construction of the port of Keta would attract more investments from Togo and other neighboring countries into the country.

According to him, the project would reduce the cost of doing business and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Volta Region.

The Director-General noted that the port would be instrumental in the exploration of oil in the Keta Basin.

He disclosed that other investors had expressed interest in the execution of the project.

The General Manager of Diamond Cement Ghana Limited, Tati Rama Rao, was grateful to government for creating the conducive environment for the private sector to thrive.

He was hopeful the President would accept the report for them to work together on the project.

Togbi Joachin Acolatse, Dufia of Kedzi in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region, commended the port officials for the continuous collaboration.

He noted that the construction of the port would boost economic activities and create job opportunities for the people in the region, urging the people to support government in the implementation of the project.

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Developed by US-based space technology start-up Orion Span, the fully modular space station will host six people at a time, including two crew members, for 12-day trips of space travel. It plans to welcome its first guests in 2022. "Our goal is to make space accessible to all," Frank Bunger, CEO and founder of Orion Span, said in a statement. "Upon launch, Aurora Station goes into service immediately, bringing travelers into space quickly and at a lower price point than ever seen before." While a $10 million trip is outside the budget of most people's two-week vacations, Orion Span claims to offer an authentic astronaut experience. Says Bunger, it has "taken what was historically a 24-month training regimen to prepare travelers to visit a space station and streamlined it to three months, at a fraction of the cost." During their 12-day adventure, the super-rich travelers will fly at a height of 200 miles above the Earth's surface in Low Earth Orbit, or LEP, where they will witness incredible views of the blue planet. The hotel will orbit Earth every 90 minutes, which means guests will see around 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. Activities on board include taking part in research experiments such as growing food while in orbit -- which guests can take home for a super-smug souvenir -- and soaring over their hometown. Guests can have live video chats with their less-fortunate loved ones back home via high-speed wireless Internet access and, upon return to Earth, will be greeted with a specially arranged hero's welcome. While enjoying the thrills of zero gravity, the travelers will be able to float freely through the hotel, taking in views of the northern and southern aurora from the station's windows. Deposits are already being accepted for future stays on the space hotel. The $80,000 is fully refundable, should applicants find themselves unable to rise to the full $9.5 million. Travelers will complete a three-month Orion Span Astronaut Certification (OSAC) program before take-off. Orion Span has a team of space industry veterans who together have more than 140 years of human space experience. Orion Span isn't the only venture boldly pushing the frontiers of elite travel into space. Axiom Space, a Texas-based company with a former International Space Station manager at the helm, has plans to put a commercial space station in orbit by 2024. It says it will begin to take tourists to the ISS in 2019 and later to its own station. As yet, Axiom hasn't priced its off-world excursions, but says it'll be considerably lower than the tag paid by previous space tourists like Dennis Tito, who stumped up a reported $20 million for a seven-day trip in 2001. Ravers enjoy the world's first zero-gravity dance party while soaring above Germany in a customized Airbus A310. Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson with the aim of taking passengers briefly into sub-orbital space, will charge for $250,000 for its trips. Branson originally said flights would begin in 2009, but an official date has yet to be set for its maiden voyage. Whatever the price tag, the tourist demographic with spare cash for space jaunts is presumably quite small. However, Bunger says that Aurora Station "has multiple uses beyond serving as a hotel." It plans to offer fully chartered trips to space agencies and support zero gravity research and space manufacturing. Adds Bunger: "Our architecture is such that we can easily add capacity, enabling us to grow with market demand." Orion Span's next mission? To launch the world's first condominiums in space.

This is absolutely for your praise and inspirations only

This is absolutely for your praise and inspirations only

This is absolutely your praise and inspirations only