Day: May 21, 2023

MTN Ghana is most likely to exceed the USD 1 billion target the company set out in 2021 to invest in infrastructure and information systems in the next five years.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) MTN, Ghana announced this in Takoradi during the 2023 stakeholder and media forum for Western and Central Regions.

‘Leveraging technology to serve customers with excellence’ was the theme for this year’s forum.

He said by the end of 2023, MTN would have spent approximately USD 650 million in the areas they projected to work on.

‘With 4G population coverage, we are at 99.3 per cent while, 2G and 3G, we have a population coverage of 99.5 per cent. This year, we hope to expand to 350 new sites, and 4G sites to about 1000. We also intend to invest massively in our infrastructure’ he explained.

The CEO noted that on fibre connectivity they have about 9000 kilometres and would continue to expand this with additional investment as the firm sought to ensure that the backbone infrastructure was also in place for digitization.

‘For instance, we should deliver on average five megabytes per second for any 4G transaction or at the minimum five megabytes per second on all 4G transactions. Today we are not there, and these are the things we want to improve upon so we can guarantee our cherished customers a minimum of a certain type of experience.’

‘On 3G today, we are in most places but when we have peak hour, traffic it turns people down so, these are some of the things we are trying to enhance.’

Explaining more on the five pillars of the telecommunication firm, he stated that Ayoba and Fintech have 2.5 and 15 million customers respectively and that they were making quite quick progress and needed to do more.

Mr Adadevoh further said, ‘Network as a service, most of you might have heard that we had national roaming partnerships with Bolt, Vodafone and Airteltigo and again we are doing quite well but a lot more should be done to get to our ambition.’

‘Not all the platforms will be at the same stage in 2025. Fintech, Ayoba and Network as a service will be ahead and then Enterprise and Chenosis will be behind’, he indicated

The CEO emphasized they had not changed their ambition for 2025 because it was their core strategy, hence everything they embarked on now goes towards that initiative.

Source: Ghana News Agency

As part of efforts to promote women’s participation in the mining sector, Women in Mining (WIM), Ghana has organised a two-day sub-national policy dialogue in Ahwetieso in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.

The meeting sought to afford stakeholders the opportunity to discuss issues of gender inclusion and their implications for policy formulation.

Addressing participants, Mrs Georgette Sakyi-Addo President of WIM Ghana said, the organisation was established in 2015 with the objective to advocate the full participation of women along the mining value chain.

She said in line with that, their aim in the regional dialogue programme was to listen to the strategies, policies and interventions recommended by various institutions.

Mrs Sakyi-Addo further said it was also an opportunity for the participants to share their stories, gains, challenges, and recommendations to help shape the development of gender-sensitive policies for the sector.

She noted that responsible sourcing, environmental, social and governance frameworks and sustainability, are emerging issues that could help grow their industry positively.

‘People are at the centre of these concepts. When you take care of people, you take actions that will improve your scorecards and Sustainability matrix. In Africa, women make up over 50 per cent of the population. So, let us take care of women in the mining sector’

In that regard, WIM with support from the Ford Foundation, undertook an eight-month study on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the mining sector in Ghana. The geographic areas for the study were in the Western and Eastern Regions.

‘The research examined women living in communities affected by the decision to mine, women working in the Artisanal and Small-Scale mining sector, women entrepreneurs offering services and supplies to the mining sector and women working professionally in the mining sector’

For professional women in the industry, the report highlighted concerns such as discrimination and harassment, retaliation from superiors for reporting incidents of harassment, lack of leadership, mentorship, and gender-insensitive work environments that make the workplace unreceptive to many women in the mining industry.

Additionally, it was observed that women in mining communities faced challenges such as low education levels, poor health, lack of skills, absence of formal employment, poor community leadership, and unequal access to mining benefits, consequently increasing their socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

Under small-scale mining, the report highlighted the lucrative nature of informal (galamsey) mining for many young boys and girls who eventually drop out of school. Reports of discrimination in issuing concessions for small-scale mining were also reported by some women in the communities.

‘Another area of concern in the report was the lack of access to financial aid for women who work as entrepreneurs in the industry. Many are pushing for financial institutions to include gender-based financing options that are accessible to them.’

‘This report is one of the many steps WIM is undertaking to achieve its objectives. Engaging various industry players, local governments, national regulators, and other community stakeholders is evidence.

It is demonstrative of commitment, and we are all encouraged to fully utilize this platform and opportunity to project and find solutions to our common concerns and challenges,’ she noted.

Giving an overview of the Gender Mainstreaming Programme, Mr Hillary Konadu Awuah, project coordinator said in October 2021, WIM Ghana received funding support from Ford Foundation West Africa to implement the said project to enhance the advocacy agenda for gender inclusion in the mining sector.

The project intended to increase women’s participation in the mineral value chain at three levels of implementation.

At the continental level, he said they established the office of the Association of Women in Mining Africa (AWIMA) in Ghana to strengthen the administrative and institutional structures for the effective implementation of activities.

Mr Awuah explained that at the subregional level, WIM-Ghana is collaborating with Women in Mining of West Africa (WIMOWA) to sensitize women in the geo-extractive sector on the Draft ECOWAS Gender Charter among countries in the West African region.

According to him, quarterly meetings were held to support the capacity-building efforts of WIMOWA for their member countries through online presentations, workshops, and webinars.

At the country level, WIM Ghana has commissioned a study to assess the gender gaps in the current mining laws, and determine the levels and forms of gender injustice, discrimination, and diversity in Ghana’s mining sector, he explained.

The project coordinator emphasized that promoting women’s participation in the mining sector is a daunting task which required, collaboration from all sector actors such as government, regulatory institutions, mining companies, and local authorities, among others.

The queen mother of Apinto Divisional Council, Nana Abena Boaduwaa II, expressed appreciation to the organisers for including the Western Region in this all-important programme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) delegation conferred with China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) officials in China.

Deputy Commissioner of EIC, Temesgen Tilahun and CCOIC Deputy Director General, Yang Hong expressed their keen mutual interest in advancing institutional cooperation.

The two sides, hence, agreed to revamp the partnership and embark on planned joint trade and investment promotion works to strengthen bilateral trade and investment partnerships between Ethiopia and China.

EIC investment delegation has also visited the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT).

During the occasion, Deputy Commissioner Temesgen and vice chairman of CCCT Zhang Xinmin raised matters of mutual interest and agreed to rebuild and lead partnership initiatives between the two institutions based on the EIC-CCCT cooperation MoU signed in 2016.

Both sides stressed the need to develop a joint plan of action in facilitating business and investment relations in textile and apparel between the two countries.

Established in 1988, CCCT represents and coordinates over 12,000 companies whose investment and trade volumes account for 70 percent of the Chinese textile import and export business, according to EIC.

Ethiopia’s investment promotion delegation is in China for a working visit.

The Delegation has held meetings with officials of several institutions in China including Chinese Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) to discuss ways to strengthening cooperation in the promotion of investments in the two countries.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) announced that more than 550 million USD has been secured from the export of horticulture products in eight months of the current fiscal year.

The Association held experience sharing and field visits in flower farm companies located around Batu town to students and teachers of horticulture at Hawassa University today.

During the occasion, Promotion and Information Head of the Association, Yemisrach Birhanu said Ethiopia is the second nation in Africa after Kenya and 4th in the world in the production and export market of flower.

The association was established with a view to strengthen the international competitiveness of companies engaged in horticulture production and exports in order to help the country reap the economic benefits of the sector, Yemisrach said.

The association also strives to improve the competitiveness of members and promote sustainable growth of Ethiopian horticulture sector by providing innovative services.

Hence, the head stated that the association has been exerting efforts to strengthen Ethiopia’s international competitiveness and foreign exchange revenue from the horticulture sector including cut flowers, fruit, vegetables, and herbs among others.

To realizing this objective, she indicated that several trainings are being given to the companies in addition to providing incentives by developing international quality standard certification of various levels.

The association has established its own Technical and Vocational College that gives trainings to its members and others who wish to attend the courses.

Workplace safety and quality of production process are some of the key criteria vital to improve competitiveness; she said adding trainings are being organized to the companies and their experts to help them carry out the production process with quality standard and free of environmental pollution.

According to the head, the Association is also engaged in establishing market linkages between the producers and buyers using various methods.

She said horticulture sector is playing key role in the development of the national economy of Ethiopia, noting that more than 550 million USD has been secured from the export of horticulture products in eight months of the current fiscal year.

EHPEA is a business membership organization which is established in 2002 with the objective to promote the interest of members who are engaged in the production and export of cut flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs, cuttings as well as vegetable seeds.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency