Kofi Ahovi

  By Oliver Tackie When Jasent Enterprise asked their bankers for GHS 50,000 to restock their trade, the answer was no. No audited books. No land title. Too risky. Last month they tried again. This time the CEO’s Ghana Card and two years of MoMo transactions got her approval in 48 hours. Jasent’s story shows Africa’s big contradiction: Small and medium enterprises create over 80% of jobs, yet they remain shut out of formal credit. That is changing – fast – as banks rethink how they lend. Why Banks Still Say No For decades, the problem was simple: no traceable identity, no loan. Banks lend deposits, so they fear default. Most SMEs run informal books and cannot offer collateral. Digital ID systems are fixing the first hurdle. Ghana’s upgraded Ghana Card now links citizens to verifiable, traceable identities and even works for payments. Nigeria’s NIN and BVN, Kenya’s Maisha Namba, and Rwanda’s national digital ID do the same. “Once we can authenticate and trace a borrower online, we c...

  By: Ing Joseph Koranteng Ghana’s economy is rapidly becoming more digital. Each day, millions of transactions flow through mobile money platforms, banks depend on real-time systems to serve customers, and businesses increasingly operate through digital channels. This digital shift has delivered greater speed, efficiency, and new opportunities. Yet it has also deepened our dependence on something many people rarely notice — the underlying infrastructure that makes it all possible. As this dependence grows, a more important question begins to emerge. Who controls the systems behind Ghana’s digital economy? This is what we mean by digital sovereignty. It is often explained as where data is stored, but that is only part of the story. Sovereignty is about control. It is about ensuring that data, systems, and digital services operate within an environment that is secure, reliable, and independent. It is about making sure that critical parts of the Digital Ecosystem are not exposed to r...

  By: Isaac Aidoo In classrooms across Ghana, pupils are failing tests not because they lack intelligence, but because they lack iron. Ama is 10 years old and struggles to stay awake in class. She isn’t lazy. She isn’t unintelligent. She’s iron deficient — like thousands of schoolchildren nationwide. Her teacher says Ama often rests her head on the desk by mid-morning, too drained to follow the lesson. Behind every child nodding off at a desk may be an empty plate, not an empty mind. New research from the University of Ghana, based on a 2024 and 2025 field study in Kyekyewere in the Ayensuano district of Ghana’s Eastern region, is reframing poor academic performance as a nutrition emergency. The study links iron deficiency in school-aged children to lower concentration, slower cognitive processing, and weaker memory retention — all critical for learning. “We found children who were anemic were twice as likely to score below average in comprehension tests,” says Professor Matilda St...

  The Ghana Chamber of Mines has called for the complete removal of the Growth and Sustainability Levy (GSL) on mining companies, arguing that the current fiscal regime is placing excessive pressure on the sector. In a statement issued on April 20, 2026, the Chamber said that although the recent reduction of the levy from 3 percent to 1 percent is a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough to ease the cumulative tax burden on mining firms. The adjustment of the GSL from 3% to 1%, while directionally appropriate, is inadequate to offset the cumulative burden imposed by the current fiscal structure,” the Chamber stated. It explained that both the GSL and mineral royalties are applied on gross revenue, making them cost-insensitive and particularly burdensome for high-cost and marginal mining operations. Both royalties and the GSL are levied on gross revenue and are cost-insensitive, thereby compounding the pressure on mining operations, particularly for high-cost, mature...

  The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in the Western North Region has seized more than 155 packs, approximately 15,523 units of unapproved baby diapers from 21 outlets within the region. The operation, conducted with support from the Ghana Police Service and Consumer Protection Agency, targeted sellers within Dwenase, Bekwai, Asawinso, Bibiani and Juaboso markets. The Western North Regional Director of the FDA, Albert Ankomah, during the exercise, said the move formed part of the Authority’s week-long market surveillance aimed at controlling the influx of unapproved and second-hand baby diapers on the market. He explained that it was to ensure babies were protected from harm caused by these substandard diapers. He advised parents to consider the safety of their children and buy only approved baby diapers by the Food and Drugs Authority. Parents should buy diapers registered and well packaged to ensure the safety of their children,” Ankomah said. He also encouraged wholesalers and re...

  The Ghana Chamber of Mines has strongly rejected claims that the country’s mining sector is undertaxed, insisting instead that Ghana imposes one of the highest fiscal burdens on mining companies worldwide. In a statement issued on April 20, 2026, the Chamber said Ghana’s current mining fiscal regime results in an effective tax rate of nearly 60 percent under prevailing conditions, placing it among the most heavily taxed mining jurisdictions globally. The response follows recent assertions by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which described Ghana’s framework as overly reliant on royalties and raised concerns about recent changes to the Growth and Sustainability Levy (GSL). However, the Chamber dismissed this characterisation, clarifying that Ghana operates a comprehensive royalty–tax regime—not a royalty-only system—with multiple layers of taxation applied across revenue, profits, and dividends. These include mineral royalties ranging between 5 and 12 percent, a 1 percen...