Nationwide
launch of NEPAD begins next week
Unless rich countries keep their promises...
North
Tongu District plans to set up 3 industries
Inter-bank
exchange rates of the cedi
Single
currency crucial for healthy financial system
Nationwide launch of NEPAD begins next week
The launchings,
which would be in phases, begin on 21 July, in Tamale, followed on 22 July at Bolgatanga and 24 July in Wa, under the first phase.
The launching
would be followed by a vigorous and sustained sensitisation programmes to bring
NEPAD to the doorsteps of the people and create a sense of ownership.
Also to be
launched is a brochure titled: "Visions of A
Better Tomorrow," which provides information on the NEPAD initiative as
well as on the Africa Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) for the citizenry.
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku,
Minister of Regional Integration and NEPAD, made this known on Thursday when he
briefed Journalists on
He disagreed
that because NEPAD would be depending on donor support, it would in no way be
different from the many initiatives, protocols and conventions that had failed
on the continent because of interferences from the international community.
Dr Apraku said African governments had come far and have been
awakened to a new
Dr Apraku said NEPAD as a vision and a framework for
socio-economic development could not be confined to the corridors of government
alone. He said this was why the founding fathers did not hesitate to emphasis
that "the new partnership would be successful only if it was owned by the
African people united in their diversity."
The Minister
said by emphasizing good governance and inviting all stakeholders to be part of
the sensitisation,
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Unless rich countries keep their promises...
The 2003 Human
Development Report said on Thursday that despite promises by wealthy nation to
eradicate extreme poverty, "developing nations still need more aid, fairer
terms of trade and meaningful debt relief".
At the
Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development last year, rich nations
promised to increase annual aid flows by $16bn by 2006.
"But even
if the commitments announced in Monterrey are fulfilled, the total will still
fall far short of the $100bn minimum needed per year to meet the goals,"
the Report said. It noted that the concept behind a fair deal was for both rich
and developing countries to be held accountable to benchmarks and deadlines.
"Without
rich nations doing their share, the poor countries will not be able to achieve
the goals," Eveline Herfkens,
Executive Co-coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals Campaign Team
stressed.
The Millennium
Development Goals are a series of time bound, quantifiable targets ranging from
halving poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
The Report to
be launched in
The Report put
subsidies to US cotton growers at more than triple the amount of US government
aid to Sub-Saharan Africa and in the EU, cash subsidy to every dairy cow
exceeded total per capita EU trade to Sub-Saharan Africa. It also asked rich
countries to write off unsustainable debt, saying rich countries needed to
provide more meaningful debt relief.
The Report said
aid inflows must be stepped up while creating better access to technological
progress. It was not happy that only 10 per cent of research and development
focused on the health problems of 90 per cent of the world's people with rich
countries undermining the right of the poor in making life-saving drugs
available at affordable prices.
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North Tongu District plans to set up 3
industries
Adidome (Volta Region)
District
Assembly Members, chiefs, opinion leaders and businessmen and women of the area
attended the conference. Under the programme every district is to establish at
least three industries all based on resources that would involve as many people
as possible in their areas.
Nicholas Ahiadorme, District Chief Executive, told the meeting that
research findings indicated that deposits of oyster shells were enough to
sustain lime production for years.
He said large
herds of cattle and the extensive tracts of grazing ground as well as the
growing popularity of ostrich rearing in the District made tannery a possible
lucrative venture. Ahiadorme said the Assembly in
partnership with the Cattle Farmers Association would open a Cattle Market at Adidome before the end of year.
Obed Okudzeto, a Businessman, said the habit of
consuming every part of a cow including the skin made tannery less attractive.
He called for the introduction of breeds of cattle to support milk production.
The meeting discussed location of the businesses to ensure parity among the
traditional areas, the comparative advantage of cattle and ostrich farming and
sources of funding for the enterprises.
Newton Amedofu, Assembly Member, urged participants to avoid
clamouring for enterprises to be sited in their areas since raw material were
limited to certain areas of the District. Togbe Kwashinyi Agyeman IV, Chief of Adidome, suggested that a share holding system be found to
ensure some level of equity in the ownership and benefits sharing across the
District.
Kwao Tsatsu Badagbor,
the Immediate Past Presiding Member of the Assembly, said the success story of
the Mepe and the North-Tongu
Rural Banks was an indication that the district was up to the task. A nine-member
project implementation committee, representing all the traditional areas, was
set up to collate ideas and manage affairs that would lead to the establishment
of the ventures.
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Inter-bank exchange rates of the cedi
Currency Buying Selling
U.S.
Dollar
8,599.91 8,773.73
Pound
Swiss
Franc 6,282.19 6,406.29
Canadian
Dollar 6,200.70 6,323.55
Danish Kroner
1,299.15 1,325.05
Japanese
Yen 72.71 74.16
South African
Euro 9,661.50 9,852.85
CFA Franc 14.73 15.02
Naira 68.14 69.52
ECOWAS
WAUA 12,386.27
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Single currency crucial for healthy financial system
Accra (Greater
Accra) 18 July 2003 - The achievement of the macroeconomic convergence criteria
for a single currency in West Africa must be complemented by a healthy and
functioning banking and financial system, Joseph B. Clottey,
Head of Bank of Ghana's (BOG) Banking Supervision, said on Thursday.
He said a well
functioning banking and financial system was crucial since it would guarantee
transmission of monetary policy impulses and operations of payments systems in
addition to the mobilization of domestic and external resources towards growth
objectives in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).
Clottey, who represented the Governor of the Bank of
Ghana, was addressing a workshop in
He said
financial stability was a worthy goal if banks and other financial
intermediaries played their expected roles in the monetary zone, adding that,
financial stability was paramount in promoting monetary stability in member
countries and would enhance regional trade and production activities.
The workshop is
discussing the findings of a report that embodies financial systems and
supervisory frameworks in place in all member countries and the extent of
compliance with the Basel Core Principles of banking supervision. It is being attended by
Clottey said the planned integration posed several
challenges for the banking and financial system, adding, "the number and
variety of financial intermediaries ... differences in the supervisory
framework and practices require a re-appraisal to ensure harmonisation."
He said, even
though, member countries had complied with most of the core principles and
issues relating to information sharing; dealing with market and prevention of
money laundering must be addressed quickly.
On the
challenge of combining one large financial system with three small ones, Clottey said: "It is my hope that no one country would
be disadvantaged or made to relax its supervisory regulations towards efforts
at harmonising existing systems."
He called for a
discussion on the establishment of WAFSA indicating that, participants must tap
from experiences in the European Union, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the
Banking Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
O. Ojo, Director-General of the West African Monetary
Institute, said that the report would help strengthen and reposition the
financial sectors in the WAMZ along the lines of international best practices
in monetary unions.
He said the
disposition of member countries towards the study would determine the extent to
which the objectives could be attained and urged participants to decide on an
action plan for implementation.
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