Kofi Ahovi

The Government of Ghana has declined a GH¢20 million support package offered by MTN Ghana to assist Ghanaian nationals affected by renewed xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press statement issued on Wednesday, August 26, said the government had already made adequate financial provisions for the ongoing evacuation and reintegration of Ghanaians returning from South Africa. The Government of Ghana commends MTN for the offer, however, we respectfully decline,” the Ministry stated. According to the Ministry, the government’s decision had already been communicated to MTN’s Board Chairman, Dr Ishmael Yamson, and Chief Executive Officer when they met the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on August 14, 2026. The Ministry said the Mahama administration remained fully committed to providing humanitarian and financial support to Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa. It added that the government would publish a comprehensive account of ...

  President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently dispatched a delegation to Ghana to discuss the recurring xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. He announced this during a meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssou, at the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday, July 22. According to him, he used the meeting with the delegation to stress the need for greater openness in addressing the issue. President Mahama said Ghana’s decision to raise concerns over the attacks was not intended to strain relations with South Africa but to promote transparency and accountability. He assured that Ghana harbours no malice towards South Africa but is raising the issue to allow the country to explain to the international community the measures it is taking to address the situation. On, July 21, President Cyril Ramaphosa sent a delegation to me, and I explained the reason why we need t...

  Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has condemned xenophobia and the growing hostility toward African migrants within the continent, warning that such attitudes undermine Africa’s integration and development agenda. Speaking as keynote speaker at the closing ceremony of the 3i Africa Summit in Accra, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said Africa cannot pursue economic and financial integration while Africans continue to mistreat one another across borders. The summit, held on the theme “The Next Frontier: Shaping Africa’s Integrated Fintech Future,” focused on strengthening digital finance, cross-border payments, financial inclusion and regional collaboration across the continent. Addressing participants on the topic “Regional Financial Integration for Nation Development,” Ablakwa stressed that regional integration remains central to Africa’s economic transformation and global competitiveness. However, he said true integration must go beyond policy frameworks and tr...

  South Africa emerged as Ghana’s leading export destination within Africa in the fourth quarter of 2025, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the country’s total exports to the continent, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). Data from the GSS International Trade Statistical Newsletter shows that Ghana exported goods worth GH₵12.1 billion to South Africa during the period, representing 63.8 percent of total exports to Africa. The report highlights a strong concentration of Ghana’s exports among a few key regional markets. The top five destinations—South Africa, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo—collectively accounted for over 91 percent of Ghana’s exports to the continent in the fourth quarter. Exports to Burkina Faso reached GH₵2.5 billion, making up 13.2 percent of the total, while shipments to Nigeria amounted to GH₵1.0 billion, representing 5.4 percent. Exports to Côte d’Ivoire and Togo stood at GH₵0.9 billion and GH₵0.8 billion, respectively. Commodity...

  Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs,  Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa , has called for a full-scale investigation into reported xenophobic incidents targeting Ghanaians in  South Africa , following the circulation of a disturbing viral video. The intervention comes after a viral video surfaced on social media showing a South African woman leading a youth group to confront a Ghanaian resident, accusing him of overstaying and calling for foreigners to return to their home countries rather than seeking opportunities abroad. In the widely circulated footage, the woman expressed frustration over migration within the continent, declaring that Africans should focus on developing their own countries instead of relocating to others in search of better prospects. Responding to the incident in a Facebook post on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Ablakwa disclosed that he had held a telephone conversation with his South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola, to address the situation. I called him o...

  Paymentology, the leading global issuer-processor, today announced a new partnership with Bank Zero to accelerate access to modern digital banking in South Africa. As Bank Zero’s first alliance partner, Paymentology supports the bank’s vision of enabling organisations to participate more easily in financial services through its scalable, cloud-native infrastructure. Bank Zero, a branchless, app-driven bank built from the ground up with cutting-edge digital thinking, brings deep local market expertise and a modern approach to banking. Combined with Paymentology’s global card processing expertise and long-standing presence in South Africa, the partnership brings together local market insight and scalable payments infrastructure to power the next generation of financial services while meeting South Africa’s regulatory requirements. Through this partnership, fintechs, retailers, SMEs and digital platforms will be able to...

 Ghana’s Minister for Finance, Honourable Ken Ofori-Atta, and his delegation attended Day one of MTN Group’s Capital Markets Day in Johannesburg, South Africa. The accompanying delegation included Reginald Yofi Grant, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and Solomon Asamoah, the CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) who participated in the panel on Ghana's economic health, prospects, and opportunities at the event.  The first day of the Capital Markets Day afforded MTN investors the opportunity to better understand the market dynamics across the Group footprint, with speakers unpacking the key drivers of these markets and sharing some of the challenges and opportunities. Key speakers for the event included the Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Dr. Rashim Cassim, CEO of South Africa’s Energy Council James McKay, Standard Chartered Bank’s Head of Research: Middle East and Africa, Razia Khan and Bismarck Rewane who is the Managing D...

 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a  national state of disaster  over South Africa’s crippling power shortages, saying they posed an existential threat to the economy and social fabric. We are in the grip of a profound energy crisis,” Ramaphosa said in his annual state of the nation address to parliament. “The crisis has progressively evolved to affect every part of society. We must act to lessen the impact of the crisis on farmers, on small businesses, on our water infrastructure and our transport network.” Eskom is implementing the worst rolling blackouts on record, leaving households in the dark, disrupting manufacturing and hurting businesses of all sizes. The power cuts are expected to reduce economic growth to just 0.3% this year. Declaring a national state of disaster gives the government additional powers to respond to a crisis, including by permitting emergency procurement procedures with fewer bureaucratic delays and less oversight. The legis...

  The South African government has urged mobile operator MTN Group and the Ghana Revenue Authority to work closely to resolve a GH¢8,209,603,842.14 (US$773 million) tax dispute. South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor last Friday encouraged MTN to work closely with the authorities in Ghana to devise a solution. A media statement issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said the South African Government is committed to promoting increased investment in Ghana. The Minister calls on the parties involved to do everything possible to find an amicable solution to these reported challenges," the statement said. "Our common destiny as outlined in the Agenda 2063 aspirations, depends on a win-win intra-African collaboration and cooperation". South Africa is one of the largest foreign direct investors in Ghana, mainly in mining, communication, beverages, retail and franchising. Dispute Scancom PLC, owners...

  A South African man who literally went the extra mile to prove his love for his woman has set online users on a frenzy and has been trending on social media. The 57-year-old man, identified as Joseph Kagiso Ndlovu, ran a 90km (56 miles) marathon to propose to a woman named Prudence. He was pictured holding a banner asking the woman to marry him, as he approached the finish line of the Comrades Marathon on Sunday. Prudence will you marry me? Run 90k for you," read the banner. Local media and online users have been having a field day talking about the lengths to which the man had to go to woo his lover.   Ndlovu told the BBC on Monday that Prudence Dick, who was at the race to support him, said yes to his proposal. He said they have been dating since the beginning of this year and plan to get married sometime next year Earlier, it was not clear she had accepted the proposal and some people online had been egging her on to accept the proposal. As a country, we deserve the answe...

  The African Energy Chamber (AEC), the voice of the African energy sector, is honored to announce that Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), will be attending and participating as a keynote speaker at this year’s edition of the African Energy Week (AEW) conference and exhibition, Africa’s premier event for the oil and gas sector which will take place from 18 – 21 October in Cape Town. Representing Ghana ­– one of Africa’s up-and-coming oil and gas markets – and the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing and distribution of petroleum-related products in the West African country, the participation of Danquah in a keynote address at AEW 2022 – Africa’s biggest event for the energy sector – will be crucial for shaping dialogue around how Africa can maximize the exploitation of its vast hydrocarbon resources to address growing energy poverty and drive socioeconomic development. Since joining GNPC’s leadership as Deputy CE...

  The National Treasury and Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) launched the 2022 edition of Money Smart Week South Africa (MSWSA2022) on Thursday, 18 August. MSWSA is an initiative of the National Consumer Financial Education Committee (NCFEC), a committee established to secure active involvement, collaboration, and coordination of various stakeholders in consumer financial education and is chaired by National Treasury. Seipati Nekhondela, Chairperson of NCFEC, advised that the NCFEC launched its flagship financial education awareness campaign, MSWSA, in October 2018 as a way of reaching large audiences, conveying financial education messages more inclusively and highlighting financial management as an integral part of our lives. MSWSA2022 will run from 29 August until 04 September 2022 and will be the third iteration of the campaign. The 2020 campaign was cancelled due to COVID-19 and the 2021 campaign was conducted online in line with the COVID-19 regulations. “MSWSA is th...

Mobile telecommunications company MTN has been recognized as the best network in South Africa on the basis of a report on Network Performance Score by telecommunications specialist Rohde & Schwarz SwissQual AG. Chief Executive of Rohde & Schwarz, Hanspeter Bobst congratulated MTN South Africa for ranking first with a score of 763 out of 1000 points on the Rohde & Schwarz Network Performance Score in line with ETSI TR 103,559. MTN was followed by Vodacom with 722, Telkom at 603 and Cell C with 496. MTN also outperformed its competitors in data services score by achieving 421 out of 600 for data, followed by Vodacom with 373, Telkom at 347 and Cell C with 241. For the voice service score Vodacom came out tops with 349 out of 400 followed by MTN with 342, then Telkom with 256 and Cell C with 255. Rohde & Schwarz SwissQual AG is a telecommunications company specializing in wireless network service quality benchmarking and network optimization. The company is a contributor t...

 Africa’s leading telecoms operator, MTN Group, has announced plans to offers shares in its Nigerian operations to the public, while plans are also far advanced to sell the group’s towers to a third-party tower operator in South Africa. This was contained in the telecom giants third quarter results ending September 30, 2021. A statement from the group quoted President and CEO Ralph Mupita as saying “MTN South Africa is well-advanced with a passive tower infrastructure transaction, securing an ‘opco-friendly’ sale and leaseback deal, subject to regulatory approvals.” Regarding the initial public offer (IPO) in Nigeria, MTN said up to 575 million shares in MTN Nigeria will be on offer by way of a bookbuild to institutional investors and a fixed price to retail investors. The offer is anticipated to open in November 2021 with a bookbuild to institutional investors, after which a fixed price is expected to be announced for retail investors, also in November 2021. The offer is expected ...

  Siemens South Africa and EE Business intelligence collaborate to host a virtual Grid Edge Symposium that will introduce the power of Grid Edge technologies; discover how Grid Edge solutions could revolutionize the South African energy landscape; Grid Edge technologies will play an instrumental role in decarbonizing the global energy system. The global energy system is being transformed, becoming more decentralised, utilising more renewables and turning electricity consumers into prosumers (consumers and producers) of electricity; but this change creates challenges at the interface between the grid and consumers – the grid edge. These developments are highlighting a change of perspective in the global energy landscape. In the past, companies have mainly focused on the grid – the regulated side of the medal; however, the rising need for sustainability as well as new technologies is shifting focus to the other side of the coin: to buildings, prosumers and consumers. To explore grid ...