Cocoa is the most important cash crop to both the Ghanaian economy and as the main source of livelihood for over a million farmers. Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa, and exports about 800,000 metric tons accounting for over 9% of the country’s GPD. As one of country’s key agricultural crop, cocoa rakes in an estimated $1.5 ...

Ghana has ranked 78 out of 180 countries on the 2018 global Corruption Perception Index (CPI), according to Transparency International (TI). According to the report, in 2018, Ghana scored 41 out of a possible clean score of 100, with the score showing that Ghana’s performance had improved by one point from its 2017 score of 40. Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), ...

A former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong has charged pastors to cease displaying children on TV and social media as self-confessed witches and wizards. According to him, the practice is breaking families apart and exposes the children involved to social stigma and abuse.“We are having challenges where 13- and 14-year-old children are being ...

The Forestry Commission has reemphasized its resolve to continue to arrest and prosecute people who engage in illegalities in the forestry sector. “The  Forestry Commission will not allow anybody to profit from such illegalities; we will continue to arrest people who engage in these illegal activities,” the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie cautioned  at a ...

The Minister of Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has stated that the government’s agenda to bridge the development deficit in inner cities and Zongos is on course. He said to ensure efficiency and coordination, the ministry had segmented its development agenda into sectors, including health, water and sanitation, education, livelihood empowerment, peace and security.   Apart from ...

The Acting Programmes Manager of the National Leprosy Elimination Programme, Dr Benedict Okie Quao, has called for an end to discrimination and stigma against people affected by leprosy. He said it was important to dispel the myth that leprosy was a curse resulting from sin, adding that leprosy could not be contracted through walking beside patients or shaking their hands. ...

Ghana is blessed with a lot of resources largely categorised under both human and natural among several other endowments, yet we lack behind so far as development is concerned. Why? What could possibly be the cause? The level of underdevelopment that has hit the country can largely be attributed to the emergence of corruption that has bedevilled this country. Several ...

OccupyGhana is delighted that Ghana has passed a fiscal responsibility act. It’s a step in the right direction. But we at OccupyGhana are still grappling with the basic question: “will the Act actually control excessive government expenditure now and in the future?” For instance, according to the law, “… the overall fiscal balance on cash basis for a particular year shall not ...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has donated 15,000 dollars (GH¢75,000) to support the establishment of an Integrated Support Centre for female head porters (Kayayei) at Agbobloshie in Accra. The Centre is to be established by Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP), a Non-Governmental Organisation that empowers girls through formal and informal education. Ms Christine Lagarde, the IMF Director, during her ...

The Bank of Ghana on Monday reduced the policy rate to 16 per cent representing a 100 basis points. In March, 2018, the Bank reduced its rate by 200 basis points from 20 per cent to 18 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee noted that the immediate risks to the disinflation path were well contained and the current conditions provided ...