Yeah!!
Ghanaian; ECOWAS Community Citizen; AU Citizen. Development of life in Ghana is meaningless unless linked up with development of Africa!
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Monday, July 13, 2015
Anyone for Ghanaian Coconuts? What's Ghana Government Policy on its export?
First: is there such a thing as Ghanaian coconuts? Anecdotal evidence suggests there is. Those who have tasted Nigerian coconuts say it pales into comparison to that of Ghana's on account of the juice alone.
Second: Coconuts are sold all over the capital -- nay, all over the country -- but you are sure to get some almost every corner of Accra and even its suburbs.
They go for less than a dollar. These days, that's a VERY loaded term, but rest assured they are affordable for everyone.
Today's not the day to tell you about health benefits of coconut, which are immense!
Just to say that: although West Africa is home to coconuts (at least Ghana; Nigeria; & Cote d'Ivoire feature), no West African country is in the top 10 of coconut production. That prestige goes to the East African country of Tanzania, which produced (according to 2009 figures) 577,099 thousand tonnes.
That said, UNCTAD reports that as far as coconut oil is concerned, Cote d'Ivoire is in there, with 28000 tonnes*, while it exports 19,849 tonnes* at a value of USD3,725,000 -- as per UNCTAD's data!
Again: no other West African country features, prompting my immediate question: what is my government doing strategically to ensure we enhance the value chain of our coconuts, and get to the stage where we can compete with our West African neighbour to the West of Ghana?
*Source: http://www.unctad.info/en/Infocomm/AACP-Products/COMMODITY-PROFILE---Coconut2/
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Monday, July 06, 2015
#FilmNoir: Thinking of #Greece, Being Ghanaian...we are all Greeks today!
At a time Ghana is ready to accept next tranche of IMF money in August, it is very refreshing to see the simplicity, albeit sartorially-eloquent style, of outgone-Finance Minister Varoufakis -- a Minister who had the testicular fortitude to make history by encouraging Greeks to vote "Oxi", or "No!" to more bailouts from Europe.
It is speculated that for having dared call the Troika of the European Commission; European Central Bank; and IMF "terrorists", they no can no longer countenance his presence among negotiators.
Very democratic, that!
#lifeunderIMF
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Thursday, July 02, 2015
Film Noir, #Accra-style: of High-Rise Buildings by Accra's Beach
I took this picture around the beach, near Osu, at the centre of Accra. Ghana's Social Security National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has invested our pensions heavily into some up-and-coming flats near the beach, which prices are most likely high-and-exorbitant, totally outside the brackets of the putative middle-class family with 2.5 children!
I deliberately used a blue-ish filter as a kind of tongue-in-cheek to the film genre "film noir", which connotes gritty realism: a fatalism that has an under-current of menace, or a sense of foreboding of storm clouds ahead.
Simply put: there is a falling cedi, yet a surge of high-rise buildings. A veritable film noir, Accra-style!
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Wednesday, July 01, 2015
Happy 55th Republic Day to Ghana!
● As a potential #Grexit weighs heavily on the minds of #Europe, will this small West African country, which was once the darling of the West for what some consider its successful prosecution of #IMF policies, begin to take cues from #Greece?
Further, as it goes down another round of IMF money, will Ghana consider how Grexit may inform Ghana's own locus in the West African integration dynamic of #ECOWAS when it's #paybacktime to the IMF? Will Ghana continue to overlook the regional space, including Ecowas Bank for Investment & Development, or will it experience the regional-panacea epiphany? #AFRICAINFOCUSSHOW
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Wednesday, October 08, 2014
Covering Climate Change & Development in Africa -- IV: Still in the Newsroom
Still in Morocco. Still in the Newsroom trying to file stories before 6 pm. One down, and another left.We usually know how these conferences are like: the speeches are so predictable it is not funny; so the challenge comes with how to make the stories jump out at you for the Paper the next day.
My first story about the African Union's African Risk Capacityu made it to the Paper, and I met a fortmer associate of my former workplace who has just found out am now with Radio.
How do you find it? She wondered. I must have said something like I find it liberating. Not quite sure exactly, but it was something close enough.
I was approached to write a blog post by close of the conference, and so, this is an attempt of sorts to do so. Actually, I just feel like venting!
I have met some incredible people; and found it hard to write about it as the keyboard is not particularly conducive -- there are too many Arabic characters! -- but I want to write this down for posterity.
Something tells me this experience here in Morocco is going to be a lot more memorable than I ever dreamt of.
So am counting on noone but myself to ensure it becomes so!
If you are reading this wondering whether I am back to my blogging habits, well, kind of. The Moroccans are a lot more friendlier than I imagined.
In 2005, I was in North Africa -- Tunisia to be precise for a UN World Summit on Information Society -- and I met some incredible people in a country that looked more European than African! Those stories can be read here: http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2005/11/tunis-mosaique-of-breathtaking.html
Yeah; that is how long I have been blogging. Almost a decade.
Humbling!!
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
The African Union as a ‘Game-changer’ in combating climate Change
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| Mr.Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, Board Member, ARC Agency Governing Board |
Once a request for assistance is approved by the Board, it takes around one hundred days for the money to be disbursed. This contrasts sharply with the donor agencies, which often take between four and six months. Against this backdrop is the idea that action must be taken quickly.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Emmanuel K Bensah Jr shared "AFRICA IN FOCUS 23-09-14.mp3" with you
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Friday, September 12, 2014
Emmanuel K Bensah Jr shared "AFRICA IN FOCUS 09-09-14 .mp3" with you
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Thursday, August 28, 2014
Emmanuel K Bensah Jr shared "AFRICA IN FOCUS 26-08-14.mp3" with you
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Sunday, August 17, 2014
Fwd: [Africa in Focus Blog!] FEATURE: ECOWAS Finally sets up Ebola Awareness Page
by Emmanuel.K.Bensah Jr, Head of Research & Communications Unit, Africa in Focus Show
Barely a month after ECOWAS recorded its first fatality at the ECOWAS Lagos Office to Ebola, the regional institution has finally established a website to help respond to staff concerns about the Ebola virus. Dubbed "ECOWAS Health Awareness", the site is in the three official languages of ECOWAS--English; French; and Portuguese--and uses a combination of cartoons and simple language to explain all one needs to know about Ebola.
Under the "All you need to know" tab, there are sections on recognising the virus; preventing it; transmission; and treatment.
On clicking the FAQ tab, one is directed to pertinent questions on Ebola for "ECOWAS"; the "WHO" and the "UN". There is regrettably no information under the UN section, but there are a detailled list of questions under the "ECOWAS" and "WHO" tabs.
Perhaps the most useful part of the site is the "Updates" tab, which is populated by some statistics of deaths recorded since 27 July up to 8 August, 2014. Although the French and Portuguese site have little information, the English site seems to be more up-to-date.
This website comes at a time when many ECOWAS Community citizens have been left wondering what the regional response to the crisis is. Reports that the AU and WHO are actively collaborating to help countries affected by Ebola have left many sceptical as to whether there is actually any ECOWAS Ebola Fund as trumpeted by ECOWAS at the 45th Ordinary Session that was held here in Accra in July.
The West African Health Organisation(WAHO), the regional counterpart to the World Health Organisation, has been found wanting in its response to the crisis. It is only a small news digest about an upcoming emergency meeting in Accra on 28 August that offers some assurance.
According to the WAHO website, the "Extraordinary Meeting of the Assembly of Health Ministers will be devoted to reviewing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the region". The meeting will seek to provide "an update on the implementation of recommendations from the last WHO-sponsored Accra Meeting and the Summit convened by the Heads of State of the Mano River Union."
More than 1,000 people lost their lives to the deadly virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria in recent months.
Access the ECOWAS Ebola Awareness site here: http://www.awareness.ecowas.int/
ENDs
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Posted By Blogger to Africa in Focus Blog! at 8/17/2014 03:41:00 PM
E.K.Bensah Jr, Head of Research & Host -- "Africa in Focus"(Radio XYZ 93.1FM)
www.ekbensah.net | http://www.twitter.com/ekbensah | www.ekbensahdotnet.org
*TEL:+233.268.687.653 / +233.233.311.789 / +233.243.111.789
Emmanuel K Bensah Jr shared "AFRICA IN FOCUS 5-08-14.mp3" with you
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Monday, August 04, 2014
AFRICA IN FOCUS >> Coming up on 5 August, 2014: "Africa & Social Media: Blogging; Activism; and the Future"
2. Google plus COMMUNITY: http://gplus.to/africaonradioxyz
3. Google plus Profile: http://gplus.to/africainfocusongoogleplus
*FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/africainfocusonradioxyz
*Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14, using #AfricainFocus #radioxyz
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Posted By Blogger to Africa in Focus Blog! at 8/04/2014 11:31:00 AM
E.K.Bensah Jr, Head of Research & Host -- "Africa in Focus"(Radio XYZ 93.1FM)
www.ekbensah.net | http://www.twitter.com/ekbensah | www.ekbensahdotnet.org
*TEL:+233.268.687.653 / +233.233.311.789 / +233.243.111.789
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Emmanuel K Bensah Jr shared "AFRICA IN FOCUS 22-07-14.mp3" with you
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Thursday, July 17, 2014
Emmanuel K Bensah Jr shared "AFRICA IN FOCUS 15-07-14.mp3" with you
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Saturday, May 03, 2014
Watch out for Maiden Edition of Radio XYZ93.1 FM's "Africa in Focus" Show hosted by E.K.Bensah Jr!
With sponsors in West Africa Civil Society Institute(WACSI) officially on board to take the programme to even greater heights, the Unit was happy to have interacted with key WACSI staff who paved the way on the future of the partnership.
There was general reporting of activities, and a lot of exciting information-exchange on developments during the past week, including on the just-ended Pan-African Conference on Inequalities that was held here in Accra.
The Research & Comms Unit meets every week at Eastgate Hotel with the Business Desk to monitor and evaluate previous editions of AIF show; progress on the direction of the research component of the "Africa in Focus" show; the state of communication instruments (facebook; twitter; google plus community); how far weekly activities are contributing to enriching the Unit's monitoring of African integration dynamics of ECOWAS; the AU; and Africa's engagement with members of the Global South.
Finally, the meetings seek to undertake innovative strategies to further-educate the public on Africa's development.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
A Happy World Consumer Right's Day?
*HAPPY WORLD **#CONSUMER** RIGHTS DAY*>>
15 March is a day to remind consumers of their right to complain for more effective and efficient public services. Are YOU aware of YOUR rights? #15March
On Thursday, I had the priviledge of attending a policy roundtable on consumer rights, which was organised by CUTS--a consumer protection NGO working in areas of consumer protection, trade and development, competition policy and law, economic regulation and good governance.
Present were regulatory agencies of Public Utilities Regulatory Commission; Food and Drugs Authority; National Communications Authority, and other civil society organisations. They offered frank views on the role of the regulator in protecting the consumer.
I believe there will be important follow-ups from this meeting, with CUTS playing an important role in sustaining the platform.
Friday, December 13, 2013
A Google+ conversation about Rosemond Nyampong's Murder: Way forward?
_ I just finished reading this harrowing story and my opinion is that it's an inside job. It certainly was a disgruntled friend or colleague whom she may have been acquainted with or better still a family member, given that the door to her home was locked.
I asked the same question whether the nation was equipped with a state of the art forensic lab, but from an above post my curiosity has been answered.
However,
1: What is the point in possessing a £3 million state of the art forensic lab when there's no computerized national data base of finger prints to help such a lab to function correctly?
2: Is there a national program being implemented to educate the nation on how to report and treat a crime scene without tampering with evidence?
3: Since no mention was made in the news report concerning a response unit of CSI FORENSIC officials, I presume none is even in effect or probably not highly trained enough to respond to such emergencies.
4: Although I'm against national institutions monitoring the private phone conversation of its nationals, one cannot pretend to underestimate its effectiveness in cases like these to have an insight into such horrendous crimes.
Equipping the nation with a highly functioning forensic lab without the backing of some, all or more of the above mentioned programs would be like an individual possessing an expensive Gulf Stream private jet without a trained pilot and crew to fly it.
This young lady could be a family member, friend or colleague of ours. My condolences rests with this family for their loss. I mourn with them, because such an atrocious act may find its tentacles on my door steps someday and there might not be a solution in place to apprehend the culprits._





Answer: We're in Ghana
Anyone who tries to anwer the questions above is getting ready to not answer the question.
No matter how you try to follow up this issue, won't bring this beautiful lady back to life. The ending will be this: The issue will be dumped in the zoomlion trashcan.
I'm not discouraging anyone to try find answers. I'm just telling you a fact, which will happen should anyone attempt to learn. Don't become the next victim by trying to find out.






I'm fastly loosing faith in the Ghana Police Force and if measures are not implemented to deter this national unrest, it will ultimately throw this prestigious national institute into disrepute... To be continued!!!








I know that a major reason why the Ghana Card (& non citizen version) isn't being accepted as ID for use (IE in banks) is because verification kits aren't available to the institutions. This is aside the fact that it is actually illegal to accept any form of ID aside the National ID card (that or use of the passport is illegal, I'm a bit fuzzy on that).
But if one doesn't have something one needs to do his/her job, one should pursue it no? From where I am, I have not seen that happen at all. The non-citizens card project has been going on for almost a year and the police haven't been involved in our stakeholder engagements for most of it.


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