As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Of Politics & CITI97.3Fm's destination of choice in the "Write-Away" contest

For the past week, I have been struggling very hard to remember what has happened during the week -- and all I can think of is politics, more politics, and even more politics. Sometimes I wonder whether Ghana will ever change this predilection and grow up.

Truth be told, it is growing up: Ghana has become more discerning. At least, some of the media has. I continue to commend the English-speaking private radio stations like Joy FM and CITI97.3fm, who consistently offer a good mix of politics with "development-related" issues. But it can certainly be more.

This week, CITI fm has focused a lot of their discussions on education. It is what Citi Breakfast Show host Bernard Avle called the station's "pet" topic. I have to say that their "write-away contest" for kids between 10-14years is an innovation I have yet to see any other radio station emulate. The ability to get kids to think about their country, by assuming they were president is great.

My only beef is why do the destinations always have to be South Africa and London? Why can it not be another West African country -- like Senegal, Cape Verde?

Things to do in Accra when you're dead (to the world)

Imagine this: you're at home watching TV around 22h00. You're kind of winding down for the evening. Dishes done. Stuff packed. You're anticipating a delicious sleep in an hour or so. Suddenly, darkness falls.

Sadly, it lasts too long. Two hours later, you're still in darkness--and it looks like you're the only house in the street to experience it, too! You know there's enough electricity, so that's ruled out. You call 0302.611.611 and speak to ECG's hotline. They are not very reassuring, especially because you're only one or two houses without power.
The following morning, you wake up with a semi-headache, on account of a lack of qualitative sleep. There's no-one to sympathise with you, especially as no neighbour knows what hell you were going through.

Honestly. Really. Save the battery-powered radio, you were dead to the world.

Because this is Ghana, where patience seems to be in abundance, you stoically shake your head--and press on to work with that crumpled shirt you vowed to iron before the lights went off.

Things to do in Accra when you're dead to the world?

Sleep, ofcourse!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Xmas Preparations

So much has happened over the past month that it's difficult to know where to start.

I have been to a wedding and quite a number of funerals; gotten ill (for which I am recovering); been swamped by work (as you do at this time) and generally taken time out to do more tweeting than blogging and facebooking (on account of office restrictions).


Suffice to say, the fat lady has not sung, which means that the blogging show is not quite over. There's quite a bit I want to add to the debate on Ivory Coast, such as that the ECOWAS Standby Force (under the ambit of the African Standby Force) ought to intervene over the diplomatic pussy-footing and tergiversation.

Africa has come of age, and it's time the Ghanaian media pointed these out instead of the cacophony over Ghana producing oil (as important as that may be) since 15 December.

I will officially take a blogging hiatus from the 23rd of December up to New Year 2011.

Till then, the fat lady still got some practising to do!;-)

A Paler Shadow of my Blogging Self

Given the frenetic nature of last week, coupled with the equally intense week (of web searches; more web trawls, plus a significant case of m&e on the horizon), I have been seriously driven to distraction in a way I have not been a very long time.

It looks like though nothing will ever surpass the last week, this week, and next, the month of June ought to be a better one for calming the mind to be the best I can be.

Frankly, I have been a paler shadow of myself--and not just in blogging. I need to catch up on reports; report some more; evaluate where I am going on every blessed thing that is important to me, and learn a lot of things more intensely than I had done.

Blogging might be this side of light next week; accept my many apologies!

I seriously will bounce back the first week of June...

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: T&TofaFADINGHA Gets Noticed!; Gear Up For Gold Cab!

The week has ended with some degree of sanity on the Spintex Road. I have not received the proverbial call from the NRSC for the past few days, but I rest assured that the MTTU is doing their job, so I'm quite satisfied.

That said, satisfaction is far from my mind as the country went political again, what with the President reading the State of the Nation, and incurring the wrath of the hapless opposition who should, frankly, be booed out of the august house of Parliament for the time-wasting that they practice there!

But to the point:

There I was minding my business on a Friday lunchtime, checking the latest entries on ghanablogging.com, when I notice a blog entry by Global Voices Online co-"author" for GhanaGayle Pescud and now author of An Insider's Guide to Ghana. Her entry was on "Ghana Blogs I like".

Now I know this humble site--though five years and some 369 posts old --is not as popular as some of the newer ones who have been around for only a year, so I far from expected that it would top her list--but it did. She wrote:

Another top Ghanaian writer is E.K. Bensah and his blog The Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly Arrived Denizen of Ghana, with a fantastic view of Akosombo Bridge as the main header. If you want to know what it's like to get caught in Accra traffic, read  The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Spintex Road Traffic. (Great title, crappy situation.)

She also praises another ghanablogging colleague Mac Jordan, who does have a great site. I exhort you to go check it out.

Now, while we're in the self-congratulatory mood(;-), allow me to direct your attention to one of my first posts of 2005 and here on this blog, which you can click here: http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2005/03/im-in-accra.html!!

Gear up for Gold Cab!

For the past almost-four years, I have been patronising the services of "Gold Cab", located in the centre of town (Kokomlemle). Though I have never been to their head offices, they have always been a phone call away. They are useful because they can go where commercial vehicles are unable to go, because they have WHITE number plates, which are the preserve of private cars (unlike yellow ones that dominate the taxi landscape).

Only this week, their fares per hour went up from GHC10.00 to GHC12.00, which is, respectively, US$6.66 to US$8.00. Not bad per hour, considering normal taxis have now gravitated towards that amount.

What makes them even more special is the fact that the cars are all new, or fairly new (roughly 1-2 years old) and are all air-conditioned. They first started with this fiat in the captured picture in this post, went to TOYOTA YARIS (no funny thoughts, pls!!) some 12 months ago...and will now go to...the Black Cabs of the UK.

Two GOLD CAB drivers have confirmed independently that the British Black Cabs will not be as big as in the UK, and will be converted from right hand- to left-hand drive. Another driver told me yesterday that they are currently at the ports.

I seriously look forward to seeing a slice of British cabbies here in Ghana very soon! If you're ever tempted to patronise Gold Cab's services, let me know and I'll pass you the info. Frankly, their communication strategies are poor. Despite the fact that they have a fleet of some 25 cars (painted in inimitable GOLD), they do NOT have a website!

In the 21st century?!

This free ad, I hope, ought to get them some patronage;-)

Just in case you missed what the GOLD CAB TAXI SERVICE CAR looked like in 2006 before it was painted a gold colour, here it is:

Vodafone Ghana's Got What's Coming

Some of us hate to say "we told you so", but some of us really did carry on till the cows came home on how bad and inimical for Ghana the Vodafone deal last August was. Here is what I wrote for nowpublic.com:

The specialists can bandy around figures that point to gross inefficiency in GT till the cows come home, but they can never escape what the legendary Mark Twain wrote--to wit: “there are lies, damn lies and statistics.” Even if we were to accept the plausible argument that GT is mismanaged and in dire need of capital injection, we cannot take away from the fact that despite this “mismanagement”, GT was able to roll out DIALup4u, despite the fact that many foreign cards were on the market that enabled internet access with no less than a GT landline base. On top of that, GT rolled out an aggressive campaign around 2005/2006 of BROADBAND4U (est.2004), which is now reportedly available in all the regions of the country.



I am not quite sure how dedicated a Vodafone Ghana will be to ensuring that the remotest parts of the country will have broadband internet access. As a state-owned company, it will always be in its interest to ensure deep penetration of its products in the country--and the bottom line is not always what counts. Contrast that with any strategic investor that comes into the country: unless the government monitors, there will be scant attention paid to the provision of rural telephony.

I cannot get over the fact that no less than the UK's Serious Fraud Office is considering querying Vodafone Ghana over what it calls financial irregularities. I cannot help but wonder what would have happened had this current administration not assumed power.

I do not believe for a second that they have a spotless record, but the retention of Ghana's fibre optic as a strategic national asset is nothing to be sneezed at. I do hope Ghanaians will strip away the polarization and politicization and remember that a fibre optic that is retained by Ghana is a deal that benefits Ghanaians--just the way our policy-makers should be looking at every aspect of policy.

Is This Ghana's Generation X?

I am writing this from AnC Shopping Mall in East Legon not because I am going to be stuck here indefinitely, but I thought it w as a while doing mobile blogging, so here it is--from no better place than this mall, where there is always plenty to observe and write about.

I could not help but notice some kids with their parents this afternoon, and was reminded very sharply that the kids are on break, so they would be around their parents at some point. What got me thinking at all about them was a mother who was shopping for croissants and pastry with her tw boys.

The younger boy was doing a lot of pointing and prodding, while the elder brother felt it necessary to relate a story about a flying croissant to his mum. Kids these days. Anything to get their mum"s attention right? She promptly ordered one or so, and the brother went off casually looking around for things tp buy. Meanwhile, all this had taken place in English, and the kid's intonation was quasi-flawless.

For just a nano-second, I imagined me a father going shopping with my progeny and being mindful to exact the degree of discipline I experienced when shopping with my mum and older brother when I was younger. The discipline was that you self-regulated at the time--long before you understood what any "self-" meant, which meant that you allowed your mum buy what she thoought and knew was good for you.

That made sense, and I guess it still makes sense,because in this digitally-exuberant society, I can foresee parents being significantly challenged by the intrusiveness of meretricious ads that seek to suggest that sugar or hedonism (as expressed in some ads) is king.

To read a few weeks back that no less than a baby tried to imitate Raffy Samuels in the Tigo ad by falling down from a table--like he falls down a tree-- reflects not just how easily kids are lured by the influences of the visual, but also how quickly they learn!

So when I see middle class Ghana with its English-speaking kids eating in eateries and restaurants, I am encouraged by this kind of exposure, but I am praying so fervently that these up-and-coming leaders learn to appreciate that the foundations of quality life in a developing country like Ghana is recognizing that Western lifestyles are good insofaras they seek to complement the traditional customs that have made Ghana a putative model in Africa.

Malls are great, but a sense of responsibility for how they can enhance our lives to make us responsible for the future is, in my view, even better for Accra's Generation X

These words brought to you by Ogo.

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra:Of Milk of Human Kindness, and So You Wanna Work for the UN?

This picture of yours truly is only to illustrate how lovely an experience it was two days ago when I went into town for an appointment (in the service of the nation!) before getting back to work. I travelled in the trusted tro-tro, and found it was great to have the back of the seat all to myself! This must have been around 9.30/9.45am. Sales are so low that time for the mates and the drivers that it's small wonder in the evening, they want everyone and anyone to join--and as quickly as possible!.

In any event, on my way back to the office (again, I took the tro-tro), I stopped by the block factory located at SHiashi, and walked some ten minutes to the office. Passing by a banana, I couldn't resist and returned to buy myself GH0.50p worth.

The young man suddenly asked where I work; I explained just opposite "East Gate Hotel", and then some. "I'm looking for a job, o! I'm an SS graduate. Been home all this time."

He said this in good English.

I felt so bad, sighing a huge one.

"Look", I explained, "I'm merely a worker--not a manager or anything", so I cannot really help you--except to give you this paper called "Weekly Donkomi. I explained it was a recent one.

He thanked me profusely.

As I offered him the money, he refused categorically adding that he wouldn't take the money as I paid for the paper.

"Oh, no, massa!", I exclaimed, "it was free, o!".

"It's okay, sir!" he went on. "Thank you very much!"

I was so touched by the gesture it was not funny. I know many people who, despite all the explanations, would have taken the money and the paper--no matter how ostensibly negligible.

It's at times like these that I realise that the milk of human kindess is still rife. And I'm proud to know that I made a small difference. God bless that guy; he's clearly someone humble--and possibly magnanimous--enough to appreciate a small gesture. He will most likely take it to his job and career.

Good luck to him!!

So You Wanna Work for the UN?

...to be continued!!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Of Job-hunting Tips in Accra; the African Youth; and Climate Change

When I posted the entry last week about job hunting in Accra, I could hardly believe the number of hits I got. I couldn't believe it, partly because I had no clue how many! Seriously, all I saw in that bar to the right of the screen were entries from all over the world--some that had been referred through FACEBOOK and whatnot--that had gone straight to that post.

Let me be clear: this list is far from exhaustive as I indicated. I am encouraged, though, to regularly post more of these. I got a thumbs-up from quintessential blogger Esi Cleland, which blog I highly recommend visiting, even if I am jealous of the number of visitors she gets and the number of comments her entries elicit! I'm talking green-eyed monster city baby!;-)

On the more serious point of some of the other tips for looking for a job in Accra, I got some other tips from someone else who commented, but would like to offer some of my other ones: "Be Humble"; "Create a Blog"; "Practise Dressing Neatly--Always"; "Carry a Pen-Drive Wherever You Go".

Be Humble

This is a lesson straight from the Good Book. Humility pays. If you don't have it, better learn it fast! My parents have often accused me of lack of humility when I don't ask questions. At first I thought they were off-tangent, but the older I get, the more I kind of see the light on that one. It realy is true; if you do have a problem or a challenge, what stops you simply asking for help? Apart from shyness or an excessive introspection, when stuck, ask for help--and that includes tips on getting to the job market!

Create a Blog

You might have guessed I would bring this one in. I cannot tell you the immense benefits have been "bequeathed" me owning a blog. Let me be straight for a second, though. I Started a blog when I landed a job, but I did have a website before then, which I started in 1999. I learnt HTML language on my own (with plenty encouragements from the folks, especially my Dad who would print many, many self-help stuff on it, expecting me to learn it the following day!).

To the point: despite holding down a job, I'm in the unique situation of owning and maintaining five major blogs. The one you're readinig has been around since 2005, and is one of the more popular ones, followed by Accra Daily Photo. The third is more sector-specific, and more geeky, with me pontificating on my knowledge of an emerging disclipine of international affairs, known as regional integration. That's been around since 2006. I have two others, which include writings on technology, etc.

This glorification of my good self has less to do about me, and everything to do with my interests. As I advanced in blogging, I decided to categorize my interests through blogs. It has little to do with me being intelligent and everything to do with trying to be smart. By segregating my interests, I've developed a kind of esoteric, cult followings on my other blogs, which is pretty cool. You might want to do that when you set up a blog on blogger.com[no, no pay for this ad!!], or wherever else you might want.

Blogging gives you exposure; and exposure means you're likely to be noticed by someone out there. Somewhere. Believe me when I tell you that there's always someone watching and reading--and not just the CIA!;-)

Practise Dressing Neatly--Always

A picture paints a thousand words, so if you're dressed neatly even when you're unbase, you're half-way there. Why should you dress down just because you're out of work? Practise being the person you want to be, so that you attract what you think about. It doesn't mean wearing your best every time you go out, but dressing even if conservatively (blue,black,white colours) when you need to go into town. Remember that the law of the universe is so powerful that you attract what you think about most. Dressing gives confidence, and with confidence, you never know who might notice you for some networking...!

Carry a Pen-Drive Wherever You Go

Make sure that a relative or a friend, or you yourself procure a pen-drive. They're one of the most useful communication tools--bar the mobile phone--in town. Why? That's where you put your CV on, and carry it around--always. Perhaps, if you can get a scanned copy of your certificates/transcripts, that would be great too. This means wherever you are, as long as you can get to an internet cafe, you can pop out your necessary documents for consideration.

Lecture Over!

the African Youth

I turned 32 on 26 April. According to the African Youth Charter that was adopted in Banjul, Gambia in 2006, I am still a member of the youth, for the youth ranges between 18 and 35 years old. I guess in between the the three years I have left before I leave that age bracket, I can think of what I can do not just for myself, but my country, my sub-region of ECOWAS; my continent;-) Thinking about it just gives me a headache, but it's one I'm prepared to endure.

If you never heard of the AU Youth Charter, kindly allow me to fill you in on some of the main parts:

Every young person shall have responsibilities towards his family and society,
the State, and the international community.
Youth shall have the duty to:
􀀾 Become the custodians of their own development;
􀀾 Protect and work for family life and cohesion;
􀀾 Have full respect for parents and elders and assist them anytime in cases
of need in the context of positive African values;
􀀾 Partake fully in citizenship duties including voting, decision making and
governance;
􀀾 Engage in peer-to-peer education to promote youth development in areas
such as literacy, use of information and communication technology, HIV/
AIDS prevention, violence prevention and peace building;
􀀾 Contribute to the promotion of the economic development of States Parties
and Africa by placing their physical and intellectual abilities at its service;
􀀾 Espouse an honest work ethic and reject and expose corruption;
􀀾 Work towards a society free from substance abuse, violence, coercion,
crime, degradation, exploitation and intimidation;
􀀾 Promote tolerance, understanding, dialogue, consultation and respect for
others regardless of age, race, ethnicity, colour, gender, ability, religion,
status or political affiliation;
􀀾 Defend democracy, the rule of law and all human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
􀀾 Encourage a culture of voluntarism and human rights protection as well as
participation in civil society activities;
􀀾 Promote patriotism towards and unity and cohesion of Africa;
􀀾 Promote, preserve and respect African traditions and cultural heritage and
pass on this legacy to future generations;
􀀾 Become the vanguard of re-presenting cultural heritage in languages and in
forms to which youth are able to relate;
􀀾 Protect the environment and conserve nature.

In short, there is a lot the African Youth--strike that: the Ghanaian youth--is capable of doing, but is not, instead allowing themselves to be the tools of politicians who use them to further polarize society! We have a climate in peril, yet we are forever talking about forming groups left, right, centre to support politicians. If that is not folly, I don't know what is!

The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Tree

I've never been a tree before, so I wouldn't know how light it feels being a tree! What I do know is that it's no fun these days being a tree in Africa, as you're most likely to be chopped down? Yesterday, the BBC World Service had an Africa Have Your Say programme on Trees.

Coincidentally, my colleague and I had just attended a two-day workshop, discussing climate change, and the international instruments--such as REDD and FLEGT--and how they help complement the fight to have a greener world.

Let me be clear--and not for the last time!--I am so spooked by climate change. To think that if the Earth warms up by less than 2m degrees, civilization as we know it will no longer be around is just downright scary. To also think that more trees are being cut down by the day is even scarier. We need to think about planting more trees to absorb the carbon that the absence of them creates. I am beginning to understand that our carbon footprints are what we leave behind as excessive levels that all contribute to climate change.

Trees are a good start, and maintaining the greenery also counts.

It begins with YOU...and me.

Have a great weekend/May Day!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: The Rise & Fall of Gateway Broadcasting Services (GBS)

Many Africans will remember the day when they woke up to the news that popular pay-TV Gateway Broadcasting Services (GBS) had gone “into liquidation”.

In fact, quite a number will remember the day of infamy when they would indefinitely be deprived of pay-TV. In a country where there remains a yawning gap between the rich and the poor (I like to delude myself we have a middle class sometimes!), the difference between paying for GBS and the still well-known DsTV was always going to hurt.

The Monday after the news of the liquidation, I asked a couple of work colleagues who subscribe to DsTV how much they pay a month; my jaws almost dropped to the ground. Although it varies depending on the bouquet you want, if you want a comprehensive one, with Africa Magic and whatnot, you will be hitting some GHC70-GHC80/month. That’s half of someone’s salary right there—if not *all* of it. Truth be told, it was less guilty paying for GBS, as the cost was half DsTV’s! There was some sense of satisfaction that you were part of the “masses” that wanted pay-tv, but were put off by the ridiculously-prohibitive cost of the competition.

When GBS broke out in late 2007, it immediately created two categories of viewers—those with a passion for football—and those with a love for movies and news. From the very start, we would belong to the latter; after all, sports is big on Metro TV, so why pay some twenty Ghana cedis extra just for instant gratification? I quite remember the sales people being profoundly troubled when we indicated we didn’t want sports—just movies. Obviously, it would have meant more profits per month for them; but we were steadfast. So it was that with the start-up of G-PRIME and a handful of stations, GBS would grow up slowly and surely. Here’s how I captured their entry on my Ghana blog in an entry of November 2007: “*There's a new satellite service provider in town, and I'm sure DSTV isn't too happy, even if it's enjoying its current monopoly like no-one's business. I heard on the radio yesterday that it's slashed its prices to GHC139 (US150) as start-up for its decoder, satellite and whatnot.

Meanwhile Gateway Broadcasting Services--owned by a Brit, Julian McIntyre, -- has been on the African continent for the past six months and in Ghana for almost a month. It really has been giving people's TVs a new life!;-)

It has fifteen channels, and is aiming to get a "G-Africa" by the end of the year, where it will show African movies only. I am happy to see that 2006-launched NBC hit HEROES, which started airing on the UK's terrestrial station BBC2 only this year is in its 13th episode on G-Prime, which is the major channel by GBS that features movies--both classics (as in popular 80s and 90s films) and otherwise.

Having been brought up to be awakened to the sensitivities of the underdog--whether putative or not--I am happy to say that though there remain some serious catching up by GBS over DSTV, I for one am not going to run to DSTV any time soon!*”

Inherent in that entry post was not only a happy man content that there was finally competition to the run-of-the-mill, but someone who was content to see a wide variety of movies on television, without having to wait for “foreign movie” on Metro TV on Saturdays, or go out to get a DVD—a categorically more expensive enterprise!

But GBS would be more about movies; it was also about news: SKY News; AL-Jazeera; BBC World News were the top three. While the latter two are on our terrestrial channels free-to-air every day, Sky News was a must-watch, especially if you wanted to catch up with news in Europe and Britain.


GBS Meant Much to Sports Fans
Even though I never cared for the sports, I acknowledged fully that it was always going to be difficult talking about GBS without whispering “Premiere League”. The sports meant that it had a serious competitive edge over its rival DsTV. You could argue that its success was largely predicated on that edge—and sometimes at the expense of its movies and series. That some movies would be repeated some five times in a month left one to wonder about the variety they claimed they had. Still, with the new segments that came along in May 2008, who could argue much. This is what I wrote in my entry of May 2008: “*After the three new channels -- G-Series; G-Africa; KidsCo -- "arrived", I next had a question for the ages: how on Earth did GBS procure Lipstick Jungle, which is an entirely new show on NBC in the States? How on Earth, when the show started airing only earlier this year?

It's clear that those are some of the insider secrets that only GBS staff would know--and would not be willing to divulge--no matter how hard I tried to interrogate them;-)

I have to say that G-Africa has been the bomb in the sense that it's exploded in our senses and--my God!--our minds and whatever else it can explode into. Sundays these days are to die for, 'cos there's only one station we tune to--and that's G-Africa. You've got your series and your Nollywood movies all vying for our attention--and plenty of attention they get from us!!! … I've had enough now--it's simply good! In all seriousness, it's hard to believe that you can even get a monthly subscription as low as GHC11.00!! (Circa $US11.00)

Friends and acquaintances comparing DsTV to GBS have great basis of comparison in the sense that the former offers its proverbial so much more. Question is: how much MORE TV can I watch?? I struggle even with these 17 stations that GBS offers in that I cannot watch even half of them regularly. We generally watch SKY news to catch up news in the UK; G-Prime; and MGM.”

It’s clear from that entry that beyond the excitement, GBS was promising in many respects. Given that hindsight is always 20/20, the post-mortem of their demise has been captured in some business papers in South Africa thus: “Pay- TV service provider GTV collapsed under a financial overstretch arising from overspending, cheaply priced subscriptions and content promises it could not honour.”

Lessons for the future
If we forget about the honouring for a second, I believe what we should be asking ourselves is how on Earth, as an update on the press release in one of the dailies reveals, did the GBS Ghana crew no nothing about a possible liquidation until a good TWO hours on that fateful Friday 29 January, 2009? Even if we are to take their word for it, what can this new government offer on liquidation laws to ensure that one does not experience such abysmal behaviour by corporate investors in this country?

Secondly, what protective measures are there to protect the consumer from any company—let alone a communications one—filing for bankruptcy? Laws are on thing, but this mess that GBS has left behind screams for regulation—and I cannot think of any other government agency to provide guidelines on these than…the National Communications Authority (NCA).

Is anyone listening?

As the Week Opens in Accra: Reflections on Blogging about Life in Accra

I used to think that it was my international blog that got me stuck in what I call a blogging paradox, but it appears that almost almost four years of blogging about life in Accra, it seems I'm getting the block here as well.

In 2006, in order to ensure that the blogging came in free-flow, I started to categorise my posts. I came up with:

Darkness Falls...

, which chronicled living in testing times when the electricity went going off and on, and citizens were confined to what was called a load management. It seems so distant now that I had almost forgotten how serious a toll it had on one's finances.



Before that, though, I had come up with As the Week Draws to a Close...in Accra, where I rounded up the week's events. From 2006-2007, there was quite a bit to write about; but in 2008, as Accra became increasingly Westernised, it seems like there was less to write about. Am unsure whether it has anything, though, to do with it, as there remain myriad number of problems and challenges in the country.

Now that we learn that President Attah-Mills has inherited an economy that is broke, the task cannot be more daunting!

All that said, with new categories like Mid-Week Madness and Taxi Tales, it seems like theer is plenty to write about, but I am just not feeling like writing it!

Like the picture above, looked like insofar as my blogging here is concerned, I have reached the end of the road?

I have said elsewhere that I don't like New Year resolutions, so there will be none of that here--just to say that I really do not have any excuse!

The sky is my limit!

I'll see you here soon!

As The Week Draws to a Close in Accra: the UN is Coming to Town; Onetouch, not Always in Touch

It's been a while, and I can only say that blogging has taken a back-seat due to seious work pressures, which I can primarily attribute to the design (and conception) of a website for the Civil Society Forum for no less than the 12th session of the UN Conference on Trade And Development. Last time it was held was in Brazil, and after CAN2008, that's the next big thing. Ghanaians, sadly, are not finding it too sexy, so there's little coverage of it in the news. Ofcourse, it is not without good reason. Next week, a press conference will put paid to the ignorance.

Still, I cannot for the life of me understand why the Ghana government is not trumpeting it the best way it knows how (through corporate sponsorships, like MTN?? maybe?;-))). In any event, the Ghana government's site, with accommodation in Ghana and everything else about Ghana can be found here:http://www.unctadxii.com.

I wil most certainly be posting more UNCTAD-related information about UNCTAD over the next couple of weeks. UNCTAD is scheduled for 20-25 April, with the civil society one held alongside it on 17-19 April. The site can be accessed here: http://www.unctadxii-csoforum.org.


Onetouch--Not Always in Touch
The network that is "always in touch" in Ghana has not lived up to its name offlate. Sure, I'd die for ONETOUCH and all that, given that it's "proudly Ghanaian", but not any time soon! Both my significant other and myself have made what we can report to be interminable calls -- if you count three or four callsas "interminable" -- to the network's FREE hotline on 011. They are very responsive and quick, but their products on ONETOUCH have been decisively strange. Sending a CALL me back, which involves sending a FREE text message from the network to a recipient, does not work by sending a text message to the recipient. Strange thing, though, is that it works on some phones.

Consequently, I have had to use my other phone that has a ONETOUCH number to send a "CALL ME BACK" txt message to my girlfriend, which is not always the best!

I needs must bother them this weekend, I guess!

Enjoy yours!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: The Expensive Game, Where Talk is Cheap

The defeat of the Ghana Black Stars by the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon with a scoreline of 1-0 in their favour has gone to further shatter to smithereens the idea of the "host-and-win" concept. When my Cameroon colleague told me that Cameroon would beat us—and that the home crowd was nothing to write home about, I disbelieved her. Today, I bow my head in shame—not because she was right, but because Ghanaians hyped the success of the Black Stars too much.

I know that at times like this, we all become armchair coaches and pundits—and that's why blogging at this time is as instrumental in airing grievances!!!—and seek to twist and over-exploit the proverbial "hindsight is 20/20" till it's no longer funny.

But Ghanaians are wont to behave this way—and were always going to do some hyping. After all, we saw CAN2008 as the perfect opportunity to market the country—even if Ghana Tourist Board did little to sufficiently market it for us—and the beautiful game, as played by Africans. There were such high hopes—possibly excessive—of the players. Agogo, for starters, is a good player, but in the family's view, in the last game before our resounding trounce yesterday—in which we packed Nigerians home—he maximized an opportunity to best effect. The dribbling was absent—as was the good technical play. His angles could be a bit better—as in yesterday's game, when he headed the ball just slightly over the bar.


The little said of Pele's son brought on when he's not as experienced as the likes of Asamoah-Gyan (reportedly nursing an injury—as was Laryea Kingson) the better. That Ghana's "rock of Gibraltar"—John Mensah—red-carded in the Nigeria-Ghana clash, but cleared of one game into a putative final-that-never-was-for-Ghana was absent did not help the country in any way.


A discussion on CITI97.3FM today was heated—and for the right reasons. The UEFA-licensed coach and award-winning journalist/columnist Nana Ageyman attacked the literacy of our sports journalists that transmogrify, he believed, from "shoe-shine boys" to ones "behind a mike", and how they ask "stupid questions." His attitude, though decried by many, was, in my view, along the lines of what we should be asking ourselves at times like this—how responsible is our media towards tournaments like these, and, yes, how well-trained are they in generating a discerning view of the sports they report on. At what point do they cross from being fans to journalists? These are valid questions that need to be asked.




If there had, perhaps, been a more toned-down expectation of what the senior football team could offer, they would not be as crest-fallen as they, along with the nation, are.

I personally take consolation from the fact that the beautiful-yet-expensive game creates pundits from all of us, but always, we are reminded that talk truly is cheap. If not, the Ivorians would not have conceded a good four goals to title-defenders Egypt. I sent a text message to CITI Morning Breakfast Show host that too bad for Ghana, and let's rally behind the team to make it a "West African affair." I was hoping that the "ECOWAS-man" in me would come out. It wasn't to be--for Cameroon and Egypt in the final makes a nonsense of the ECOWAS nexus I had promulgated last Sunday, when we beat Nigeria, and Cote D'Ivoire qualified over fellow-ECOWAS country Guinea.

Yet again, we are all Africans.

May the best team win—and may that be one closer to West Africa—Cameroon!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra…There’s Something Good on TV Africa; DSTV Has a Run for its Money, Whilst GBS Enters Ghana

Akumba Ben is a typical example of an erudite man who carries a quiet confidence. A man with the ability to ask surprise questions, possibly think on his feet. Akumba Ben is the man interviewing all the Presidential aspirants—a good nineteen of them—from the incumbent NPP administration, as well as from the CPP on the Tuesday programme "I want to be President" on TV Africa.

To each candidate, he brings questions—some general, a few, more specific—that get right to the heart of what type of policy the aspirant wants to bring to being a President of Ghana. After thirty minutes of interviewing, the small audience, comprising usually journalists and the like, ask their prepared questions based on what they know or what they have heard of the aspirant at the studios.

These days, there’s something certainly good on TV Africa. Thankfully, it’s not just on Tuesday nights.

Saturday nights are a to-die-for: the highly-acclaimed "Prison Break" is on. It started some six weeks ago, and is riveting stuff. I sent a txt msg to a Ghanaian friend living in Canada the first Saturday I watched it exclaiming it was hit stuff. She got back to me recently explaining that in Canada, they’re in Season Three! Two years is not too behind if you consider how challenged the station was in terms of programmes.


That last two Thursday’s edition of "Graphic Showbiz" had one comment praising the station, as well as a celebration of where TV Africa is going these days underscores the validity and appeal of this growing popularity towards a station that projects itself as promoting "African values".

There’s a refrain on the station that often precedes programmes of African origin: "They ask. Always they ask. What is the story of Africa?"

Therein, in fact, lies a small paradox.

For with a station that purports to promote African values, the values of 24, and "Prison Break" are seriously inimical to the putative African values!

In the long run, it’s all about balance.

Since you cannot have too much of a good thing, then it stands to reason that you cannot have too much African stuff on TV Africa!

DSTV Here Today, Gone…When?

There's a new satellite service provider in town, and I'm sure DSTV isn't too happy, even if it's enjoying its current monopoly like no-one's business. I heard on the radio yesterday that it's slashed its prices to GHC139 (US150) as start-up for its decoder, satellite and whatnot.

Meanwhile Gateway Broadcasting Services--owned by a Brit, Julian McIntyre, -- has been on the African continent for the past six months, and in Ghana for almost a month. It really has been giving people's TVs a new life!;-)

It has fifteen channels, and is aiming to get a "G-Africa" by the end of the year, where it will show African movies only. I am happy to see that 2006-launched NBC hit HEROES, which started airing on the UK's terrestrial station BBC2 only this year is in its 13th episode on G-Prime, which is the major channel by GBS that features movies--both classics (as in popular 80s and 90s films) and otherwise.

Having been brought up to be awakened to the sensitivities of the underdog--whether putative or not--I am happy to say that though there remain some serious catching up by GBS over DSTV, I for one am not going to run to DSTV any time soon!

Enjoy the weekend!!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra…Thoughts on Liberia Dressing; MTN Benin Bites the Dust…by Getting Bitten?

I woke up Monday morning to the news that Liberia was cracking down on “immoral” dressing in the country. None of us could do anything but give a mental thumbs-up to the female president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. For a second, I wished that our President John Agyekum Kufuor was a member of the opposite sex, because she would then pay some greater attention to the increasingly scantily-clad manner in which university girls in particular dress. I’m not of the creed of people who believe that women who dress in such a manner ought to have something bad happen to them, because I think we all have free will and choices, and we should be able to decide to look—and look away.

All that said, I think Liberia has done well, and should be a lesson for a country like Ghana that claims to be the putative, or so-called, gateway to West Africa.

Still in West Africa, I’ve been rolling around myself with glee over what has been transpiring in the ECOWAS country of Benin and MTN. You may recall that a few weeks ago, I reported that I was bored by the Y’ellowness associated MTN, and I am not really that impressed. So it’s great news to see that the Beninois phone regulator—Telecommunications Regulation Authority—is giving MTN a biting hard time.

The crux of the story resides in the fact that when MTN changed its name in Benin, it failed to inform the regulator—or so the regulators claim—and has, consequently led the two entities of MTN and the regulator in a stand-off that has endured since 9 July when the regulators indefinitely switched off MTN in Benin!

This means that as I write, it’s been SIX good weeks since MTN has not been given the nod. Okay, with one exception—it pay a sum of -- what was originally $10million, but has been increased to – a vertiginous $620million! This is in effect 620% increase, and let’s face it: it’s not something that the MTN corporation cannot afford, what with its networks all over the Middle East and much of Africa.



Observers are crying foul, blue murder and all that, because they are saying it’s about the principles inherent in international law, and the breach thereof that is problematic. Beyond that, it’s also about the signal that MTN feels other ECOWAS neighbours might get, though MTN group CEO Phuthuma Nhleko, in an article by ITWEB.CO.ZA maintains (in my view, rather complacently) that it’s not going to happen.

Of course it won’t, especially when MTN ensures it has greased the palms of regulators. I’ve no proof, but speculation has been rife in Ghana—for ages—that this is why National Communications Authority (NCA), despite the fine it imposed on what was then AREEBA last year, never managed to break the defiance of AREEBA in paying the sum!

To top it all off, with the South Africa-based MTN’s network switched off, it’s none other than the (much-maligned) country of an ECOWAS giant Nigeria, and its GLOBACOM that has been granted a ten-year licence to operate in the small ECOWAS country of Benin.

What, for me, is significant about this development is that despite the regionalization of power politics world-wide--as exemplified by multinational-extraordinaire Chevron’s involvement with the West African Gas Pipeline--serious tectonic shifts might just be in the offing in the ECOWAS sub-region as a result of this David-versus-Goliath fight.

The CITI Just Gets Better…
I think CITI 97.3FM has gotten smart by capitalizing on the rather heavy traffic times of 5-7.30pm by introducing a few new programmes on the 7pm slot.



On Mondays, you get a new programme, hosted by veteran Observer columnist Francis Ankrah, which is used for a one-hour interview of statesmen, diplomats, public officials on issues of national development. I had the opportunity of listening to the very first edition some three weeks ago. It was rivetting stuff about the drugs trade. The interviewee was one Gary Nicholls, the Public Relations person at the British High Commission.

On Tuesdays, we get a repeat of a “A Question of Law’, which broadcasts originally on Saturdays for two hours. Thursday, we get a programme called “Sister, Sister: What’s on a Woman’s Mind”, which is a rather thought-provoking one-hour discussion programme seeking to dish out, re-heat and revisit age-old discussions of relationships, and the central role that women play in them.

So, latest news in town is that The Black Starlets beat Brazil 1-0! Despite a good SIX minutes added on as extra time by the Polish referee, the youthful Ghanaian team got one over them, possibly signaling a comeback after many years in the wilderness of bad football…

Have a good weekend!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Stanbic Must Leave Ghana's ADB Alone; MTN Ghana is Born but What's Changed?

A journalist friend of mine came by my workplace yesterday to introduce an innovation in this country--a free newspaper!

Not to steal his thunder or anything, but his paper will be called "Real News", and there is even a website in the offing. Sounds all exciting!

Even more so was our conversation after he told me he's been using the same Areeba # for five years.

"I prefer ONETOUCH these days" I started. "You can surf the 'Net on it. Did you even know that ONETOUCH is launching Mobile television with a Korean firm?".

As he started to text away a message, he remarked: "what, do you know someone working there--the way you're doing P.R. for them!"

"Not at all" I quipped, "it's because they're almost-all Ghanaian!"

He broke out in a semi-laugh, adding "I see!"

That's what I am talking about--supporting the Ghanaian industry no matter what. Idem with the ADB/Stanbic furore.

I have actually been accused elsewhere of being xenophobic towards South Africans, because of my acerbic post about Stanbic.

If it behooves me to hold strong viewson a so-called strategic foreign investor that is clearly in Ghana to maximize whatever profits it can -- under
the guise of facilitating Ghana to the Promised land of a West African gateway, then I'm all against it!

Stanbic is now providing loans for the re-construction of Flagstaff House; it's also intent on partnering with thw country's state paper Daily Graphic on some projects.

Nice try, Stanbic. Get into the hearts and minds of Ghanaians, and maybe, just maybe, the divestiture-friendly governmentwill give you the nod--and maybe, a wink with good measure.

Again, not so fast, Stanbic.

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of them all of the time!

I don't want Stanbic money in any part of my economy. What I want is autonomy to manage my country's own affairs!

MTN is Born

I'm really bored by the yellow front cover that most newspapers had today regarding the changeover from AREEBA to MTN--yet another South African entity.

I am hoping more that what MTN Ghana brings is quality to the execrable network that AREEBA was offering. With its humongous subscriber-base of circa two million subscribers, eclipsing that of TIGO; ONETOUCH and KASAPA, it better get delivering--fast!



At least I have my AREEBA/MTN number for life. It's an easy number to remember, so I gotta get filling it with credit;-)

Have a good weekend!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Bank of Ghana Gets Proactive on Re-denomination; Why ONETOUCH Still Rules

Last week Friday, Ghanaians woke up to the news that the Bank of Ghana had launched a new website on the re-denomination of the currency, scheduled for July 2007.

Getting to work, I checked Joy FM's website on the article, a story culled from the Ghana News Agency about the initiative. It was great to see the Bank of Ghana, in a manner reminiscent of the flyer it sent out in January with copies of the Daily Graphic.

By clicking http://www.ghanacedi.gov.gh, you are exposed to a fresh, rather hip webpage that is replete with funky graphics and bold colours that are pleasing to the eye. There is a download page, where you can download videos of the now-very-popular jingles all over radio and tv. The refrain is no longer recondite:

"There is no change in value, the value is the same"

The video can be downloaded on the page listed above, along with a few other less popular jingles.

Why ONETOUCH Rules

You may or may not re-call that I have blogged about Onetouch and areeba quite a few times. The Last time I blogged, it was about the war between the two operators.

Even though South African giant MTN has almost bought AREEBA, I would like to state explicitly here that though I also possess an areeba number, I am passionately a ONETOUCH promoter and supporter. Here's why:

1. Onetouch is 70% Ghanaian
2. It has FREE directory assistance (you can find out any number in the country for free!)
3. flat rate of GHC1,450, or almost $0.16/minute to ANY network, with GHC900 to landline and onetouch users during off-peak hours
4. GPRS is VERY user-friendly, enabling users to browse mobile web, with as little as GHC2000, whereas AREEBA demands you have GHC50,000 before you can browse
5. you can call a Ghana Telecom helpline for FREE, which you cannot do on any other network

Onetouch musn't get complacent, and with people like me around, I will ensure it doesn't;-) SUffice-to-say, so far, I'm very happy with them!

Good weekend!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra:Load-Shedding Resumes in Style; When Residents Run to the Media

Get video codes at Bolt. This video was taken on 16 March, reminding us of the cherished rain that the nation had so waited for for aeons. It was finally here--as was the resumption of load-shedding.

Now, since last Wednesday 28 March, the load management programme has resumed ingrand style, with the lights going off 12 hours every other day--either during the day or night. This morning, parts of Accra woke up to lifeless houses, prompting many to reach for their battery-operated radios...till 6pm, when electricity resumes. Come Sunday, the same parts of Accra will be lifeless--except this time from the evening towards the night!

This morning, there was now contemplation that for businesses, there ought to be a review. Given that the incumbent NPP likes to talk about private sector being the motor for development and all that, small wonder.
Truth be told, the Daily Graphic carried the story that the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) were the ones that called for this new review as a way of stimulating productivity. They argued for the lights to go off during the evening, and not during the day, as it kills productivity and has the serious potential of laying off jobs.

Fair point, in my view, as during the evening is when more electricity is consumed.

Community Advocacy
Meanwhile, last week Saturday, residents of Manetville, off the Spintex Road, called a Press conference to convey their grievances, as it were, to the court of public opinion that has had no clue of the execrable service delivery that has been delivered by Manetville.

Now the reason why this press conference is particularly significant is because it is coming a good SIX years after the first one that yielded little results, coupled with the more important point that all efforts by residents are now in place to launch what is, in effect, a media war against the estate developer that is Manet.

The residents have developed a blog (http://manetvillespintexroadwatch.blogspot.com/), which paints a very stark contrast of what the developer has delivered on its numerous Estates (Manet Palms, Manet Gardens;etc). You might be surprised to know that one of Ghana's most-visited websites GhanaWeb attracted some 54-odd comments from the article written by Ghana News Agency.

Suffice-to-say, as long as there is life, the fight for a better life continues in earnest!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Thoughts on... Stanbic Bank’s Taking Over Ghana’s Indigenous Agricultural Development Bank (ADB)

Let me be clear: I have a problem with the increasing number of South African interests in Ghana. From the so-called Accra Mall--set to be ready by May 2007, to the very expensive Woolworths, and Stanbic Bank, these are all ventures spearheaded by South African interests. Big South African interests.

When I first started work in Accra in 2004, not once was I tempted to save, or bank with Stanbic as soon as I found out that it was a South African bank. I have nothing against the country, but everything against big power interests that seek to distort small economies, like that of my beloved country of Ghana.

So, you can imagine my rage to have heard on CITI Business news at 1pm yesterday afternoon that Stanbic bank was going to take over the very profitable and indigenous Agricultural Development Bank that was established in 1965. According to December 2000 statistics from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, the total assets were $190m. Six years later you can imagine what it might be, especially with its portfolio for agriculture being a formidable65%, even though an article maintains it has fallen to 50%.

Now, yesterday, after I almost suffered a heart attack upon hearing the news, I decide to check my facts on-line. I got a cache of a story from Business Week Ghana online entitled Stanbic Bank Bids for ADB, which indicated:

Stanbic Bank is in negotiation with the Government of Ghana and the Bank of Ghana to acquire the Agricultural Development Bank. Government and the central bank are ADB’s shareholders. The discussions are still centred around technical details concerning how ADB would be run, and no bid price has been offered as yet. As of the end of 2005, ADB had total assets of ¢3,431.73 billion and shareholders’ funds of ¢619.66 billion

Now, consider this: once Stanbic bank takes over ADB, it has no intention of focusing on agriculture, like it has been doing traditionally for the past 42 years. Note that Ghana is the world’s second top producer in cocoa, and so imagine the impact that this takeover will have on the country’s farmers!

Stanbic Bank, its Ghanaian subsidiary, does not want to be committed to a specific proportion of its lending for agriculture

The article ends that Stanbic bank is in rapid expansion mode, and I ask myself: to what end? Then I read statements like this:

South African investor confidence has been bolstered by Ghana's educated and skilled workforce, vast mineral and agricultural resources, the official use of English and a shared colonial legacy.
South Africa companies can also use their operations in Ghana as a springboard to other West African markets

Enough said.

Except, that I have been following ECOBANK’s Pan-African aspirations, as exemplified by the quote below:

Following the adoption in June 2006 of its new strategic vision, the Ecobank Group is, now determined to transform itself from a regional banking group to a pan African group. "In spite of its international dimension, including the opening up of its capital to international shareholders, Ecobank remains focused on Africa," said MandÈ SidibÈ, President of the group. "Ecobank will continue to be true to its mission of supporting Africa’s economic and financial development"
From: http://www.independentngonline.com/news/47/ARTICLE/20680/2007-02-09.html

Now you no longer have to scratch your head in wonderment at the possible fears being espoused by South Africa on the West african “leadership”, that seems to be led by the very efficient ECOBANK.

All these points underscore real fears about the loss of jobs when the takeover happens. I called CITI FM this afternoon, and spoke to the business desk. One guy there informed me that he knows very well a high official from Stanbic Ghana, who is equally furious at the developments. He confirmed to me that the news is reliable and credible that the takeover will happen most likely by the middle of the year.

It behooves anyone with any iota of information to spread the news on this most scandalous South African takeover of a profitable Ghanaian bank!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra:Thoughts on...Africa Today; Kofi Annan in town

I was at the A&C Shopping mall this afternoon to have lunch, and had the opportunity to pass by one of the shops on the first floor to buy the Africa Today magazine, for a friendly-to-the-pocket price of ç20,000, or just under $US2.00. Having lunch afforded me the opprtunity to really do more than peruse the magazine. Here a few interesting facts I found:

p.5: Malawi's Lucius Banda, who is a musician-cum-MP was sentenced for 21 months for having falsified his high school certificate in order to stand as MP, but had his conviction overturned on appeal by Malawi's High Court

p.6: an interesting editorial "New era of cooperation" providing an interesting survey of how Joseph Kabila got to where he is today, but how he stillr emains mired in problems, especially with Bemba (obtaining a 42%) deciding to go to court to challenge the results of the election. The editorial praises dur process of decision to return to violence

pp.8-9: how Germany is putting a new focus on Africa, as it assumes presidency of the EU; and how climate change is critical; how the climate change most affects Africa, and how a UN report has some frightful prognostications that include how "if sea levels were to rise by one metre, part of Lagos in Nigeria would be under water"; and finally, under EVENTS, France declassifying Rwanda files, with survivors pointing serious fingers at the French for having explicitly supported Hutu killers

pp.24-25: how the G8 summit of 2006 flopped execrably to the extent that Nigeria was not---but South Africa was--invited to the former, including how 2007 will see a change of dramatis personae, what with Nigeria's Obasanjo due to go in May; Senegal's Wade trying to stand again for Senegal; Chirac out of power by June-July this year; and Tony Blair seeking to leave a legacy for Gordon Brown (incumbent UK finance minister) to follow on the Africa scene. More importantly, seeing the rise of the Asians, and t he impact of that for the G8 to re-strategise in their configurations

p.26: how the AU, in July 2006, mandated that Senegal prosecute former Chadian dictator (considered the "Pinochet of Africa")Habre...

...and much, much more

Go grab a copy! Even if it is the December 2006 edition;-))


It will no have escaped your attention perusing the Ghanaian blogosphere and Ghanaian online media that Kofi Annan, now immediate past UN Secretary-General, is in town, and delivered a what many consider to be "beautiful" and instructive speech at the launch of Ghana@50 Golden Jubilee lectures, which you can read more about here

have a good weekend!