Kofi Ahovi

  Climate communication specialist and media practitioner, Kofi Ahovi, has called for stronger international collaboration to accelerate climate action, saying global partnerships will be crucial in translating commitments made under World Environment Day priorities, the Climate Change Action Now (CCAN) initiative and the post-COP29 agenda into tangible outcomes. Speaking at WASCAL’s Intergenerational Panel Conversation held to mark World Environment Day, Ahovi said international cooperation offers significant opportunities for Ghana, West Africa and other developing regions to access climate finance, technology, research partnerships and capacity-building support needed to tackle the growing impacts of climate change. The dialogue was held under the theme, “From Global Commitments to Practical Implementation: Youth, Science and Diplomacy for Climate Action.” According to Ahovi who also doubles as the Editor of Business Week Ghana, one of the most immediate benefits of internationa...

 President John Dramani Mahama is calling for an urgent need for increased US support in tackling security challenges in the West African subregion. He made this call on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany during bilateral talks with the Commander of the US African Command (USAFRICOM), General Michael E. Langley. The two leaders explored avenues to improve coordination between the US and the Ghana Armed Forces regarding security cooperation and logistics to effectively respond to enhance their operations.   Today’s meeting with General Langley highlights Ghana’s commitment to enhancing our security posture in response to evolving threats across the region. We appreciate the support of the United States and are keen to expand our collaborative efforts,” Mahama stated. Ghanaian culture-inspired products These talks come as the West African subregion faces several security threats, including Terrorism and Extremism as well as conflicts resulting in instabil...

  The U.S. Government’s Prosper Africa initiative has announced the close of $274 million in long-term financing for West Africa’s rapidly growing housing sector. This landmark partnership with Bank of America Securities, Inc, Brean Capital, LLC, The Bank of New York Mellon, Togo’s Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire (CRRH), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) opens new opportunities for U.S. investment in Africa’s emerging markets. It also provides an avenue for West Africans to gain greater access to homeownership. Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) Advisors served as the originator and lead transaction advisor on this landmark transaction according to a release issued last night. The deal, the release said represents an innovative approach to mobilise transparent, market-oriented financing at scale and is expected to help about 6,000 households gain access to homeownership. As par...

 President of the ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM), Adama Soro has raised concerns about the security situation of mining companies in West Africa which has led to many human casualties and deaths. The ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines is a private sector voluntary mining organization in West Africa established in November 2016 as a company limited by guarantee, with a Secretariat located in Accra, Ghana. Its mission is to advocate for effective policies to promote sustainable & responsible mining, and to use the resources and capabilities of members to serve the needs of its stakeholders within the ECOWAS Community. Soro noted that “bandits continue to harass and operate with boldness in many regions. This is ultimately frightening for us private sector mining business Association.” Speaking at the third virtual Annual General Meeting of the Federation, the President of EFEDCOM assured members that discussions were underway with “ECOWAS Commission which wi...

 The 7th International Trade Show & Conference on Agriculture, Food & Beverage Technology on West Africa agrofood and plastprintpack has opened in Accra, Ghana with a call on West African countries to seize opportunities at the fair to increase self-sufficiency in the agriculture value chain. The three-day conference (from Tuesday, November 29,--Thursday, December 1, 2022), christened: "7th agrofood & plastprintpack West Africa 2022," is organised by fairtrade Messe in collaboration with its local partners, Geovision. It is aimed at helping countries in the West African Sub-region to increase self-sufficiency and also improve supply in the agricultural value chain. Six countries will be mounting pavilions at this year's exhibition. These are Germany, Italy, Iran, The Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka. In total, over 90 exhibitors from 20 countries will showcase products, technologies and solutions specifically tailored for the West African market. Welcom...

Gold Fields Limited has announced the appointment of Joshua Mortoti as its Executive Vice President and Head of its West Africa region. Mortoti is the former Vice President: Operations for the region and has been in the role since January 2022. He joined Gold Fields in April 2021. Joshua is highly experienced in mine operations, engineering, strategic planning, business development and leadership. “We believe he can successfully steer the affairs of the West Africa region in line with Gold Fields’ strategy and in line with our purpose of creating enduring value,” said Chris Griffith, Gold Fields CEO. Mortoti is a Mining and Mechanical Engineer with over 25 years of experience in the mining industry. Before joining Gold Fields, he worked at Newmont for 15 years in different capacities, including General Manager of the Akyem Mine and General Manager – Operational Services and the Regional Capital and Energy Manager. Prior to that, he held the position of Business Development Manager for ...

  Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) flows to Ghana increased by 39% to $2.6 billion for the year 2021, according to the World Investment Report 2022. This placed Ghana 2nd in West Africa, and 7th in Africa, in terms of FDI attraction. The rise in Ghana’s FDI flows was attributed to major projects in its extractive industries, which included the construction of an $850 million gold mining facility by Newmont Corporation, and the construction of a cement factory by Ciment d’Afrique (CIMAF) for $436 million. The increase in FDI flows reflects the findings of the Deloitte 2022 Africa Investment Attractiveness Index, which placed Ghana as the second most appealing destination for investments in Africa based on the comments of nearly 200 Chief Executives. Ghana has a great global reputation, and as the host of the African Continental Free Trade Area, it provides considerable opportunities for businesses to trade in the enormous African market. Furthermore, with our democratic stability a...

 Fairtrade Africa, West Africa Network is organising its Regional Convention and Congress from the 13 th to the 14 th July 2022 in both Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. This year’s event focuses on learnings and best practices from Fairtrade certified producer organisations on value addition and income diversification to remain resilient and viable farmer cooperatives. The West Africa Regional Fairtrade Convention (RFC) is a biennial event organised by Fairtrade Africa West Africa Network which brings together all Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade producers and other stakeholders within and outside the region to deliberate on contemporary issues affecting producers and to propose ways of advancing the businesses of producers and their partners. Through the event, producers deliberate on new market opportunities, linkages with entrepreneurs in Agri processing as well as issues that relate to advocacy, youth and gender-related issues within agricultural supply chains. The Regional Fairtrade Cong...

FactSpace West Africa, one of the leading fact-checking organisations in Africa, has entered into a partnership with AW Free Foundation to expand the fight against misinformation, disinformation, fake news and propaganda across Africa.  AW Free Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded by AfricaWeb, one of the biggest publishers in Africa operating in Ghana (ghanaweb.com), Cameroon (camerounweb.com), Nigeria (mynigeria.com), Tanzania (tanzaniaweb.com) and Togo among other African countries. The partnership seeks to leverage on AfricaWeb’s reach of 4 million multilingual visitors per month across three regions of Africa and its wide network of multilingual journalists to verify, fact-check and widely publish verified information in multiple languages across Africa. FactSpace West Africa and AfricaWeb platforms across West, Central and East Africa would introduce newly developed digital features that would, among others, rate the accuracy of information including claims by publ...

Oracle and Orange  today announced that they have signed a collaboration agreement as part of a joint plan to accelerate cloud-led digital transformation in West Africa. Under the agreement, the two companies will assess plans to build Oracle Cloud regions using Orange’s infrastructure in Senegal and Ivory Coast. This aligns with a common objective of ensuring that all customer data is hosted locally, providing customers with cloud services that meet their data latency and performance requirements. The companies also announced plans to jointly offer cloud services for enterprises and public sector organizations in the West Africa, starting with offerings in Senegal and Ivory Coast. For this initiative, Orange plans to use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to complement its portfolio of enterprise-grade managed cloud services. Orange has an extensive footprint in West Africa, reaching more than 130 million customers in the region, and its B2B services are supported by its exten...