Apraku leads government delegation on three-nation tour
Business and Financial Times re-launched
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2001 - The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku is leading a government and business delegation for a two-week tour of the US, Germany and Qatar.
A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said whiles in the US, the minister would participate in a US/Africa Business Summit which would incorporate the Africa Growth and Opportunity (AGOA), Private Sector Forum and the US/Africa Trade and Economic Co-operation Forum.
The minister will co-chair one of the plenary sessions with Mr Donald Evans, US Secretary of Commerce under the topic: "Strengthening Commercial Linkages".
The objective of the summit is to identify ways in which the two continents can work together to build and strengthen commercial linkages and remove business impediments.
The AGOA Forum would seek to identify ways to improve US/Africa commercial relations under AGOA by supporting private sector linkages, business development and trade expansion.
It would identify impediment to building effective commercial linkages, how to remove such impediment and ways to support the private sector in order to maximise AGOA benefit.
The German visit, the statement said, is at the invitation of the Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development, Mrs Heidemarie Wiezoerk-Zeul.
It said Dr Apraku would address the Chambers of Commerce of Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen and Frankfurt and open a workshop on "Import Shop Trade Fair Berlin" which would feature suppliers from around the world, including Ghana, and buyers from giant German chain shops.
In Qatar the minister would lead the Ghanaian team to participate in the fourth session of the World Trade Organisation ministerial Conference.
The conference would provide an opportunity to take stock of development in the muti-lateral trading system and how it affects Africa in particular.
Ghana's participation would ensure that its concerns and interest are reflected in any programme that would be agreed on.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 31 October 2001 - Peter Harold, World Bank Country Director in Ghana, on Tuesday said although agriculture was the biggest employer in the country it has remained a disappointment for many people because its growth has not been sustainable.
He said there is the need to ensure that government services such as extension, research and other support to farmers become more efficient and timely than they are now.
Mr Harrold, who was speaking at the re-launch of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT), an Accra weekly newspaper, said services such as support in marketing, food storage and processing, supplies of seeds and fertilizers are best provided by the private sector.
The government used to do many of these but because it was not doing them efficiently the Bank had encouraged them to stop, he said.
The Business and Financial Times, which was sold to the Goldcity Group, has a staff of 55 and under a new management. The staffs have five per cent shares in the business that has branches in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Mr Harrold said Ghana needs a genuine public/private sector participation to sustain the growth in agriculture. "We need to combine the ability of the public sector to reduce risk with that of the private sector to get things done to achieve results."
Mr Everest Ekong, Chief Executive of Goldcity Group, said in the 70s it was difficult for someone to think of selling anything to do with business and financial news in Africa.
However, he said, from the 80s the trend had changed and the public now depended on the media for business and financial news. He urged newspaper publishers to forge ahead and fight for a common goal that would sustain the industry.
GRi../
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