Ghana

School lunch in Ghana (Photo: Ndcuk.org)

The lack of political will seems to be the main obstacle on Ghana’s road to development and human well-being, but it is not the only one, according to the contribution from civil society organizations of this West African nation to the Social Watch Report 2013.
Ghana has walked a long way towards poverty eradication, food security and education to all, but not all the people have access to medical services, and not all pregnant woman benefit from free health care, so maternal mortality remains very high, aggravating the endemic gender inequities. With this social landscape as a backdrop, the economy experiences a sustained growth, notes the report.

Tetteh Hormeku of TWN-A. (Photo: Transnational Institute/Flickr/CC)

The Economic Justice Network (EJN), a Ghanaian coalition of civil society organizations working for socio-economic justice and equitable national development, was re-launched to deal with new policy threats affecting livelihoods, reported Ghana News Agency and AllAfrica news portal.

Small-scale gold miners in Obuasi, Ghana. (Photo: George Osodi/ Africa Renewal/Panos)

Obuasi, about 200 kilometres northwest of Accra, Ghana’s capital, is home to one of the richest gold mines in the whole world. For more than a hundred years the precious metal mined there has been taken to jewellers in the West and beyond, earning millions of dollars for mining companies and their shareholders, wrote journalist Efan Dovi Africa Renewal magazine, published by the United Nations.

In terms of gender equity Ghana places itself above the Sub-Saharan African average, and also in a better condition than its three neighbours.

Ahafo Mine at Kenyasi, in Asutifi District. (Photo: Ghana’s Mining Portal)

Three months after the announcement of an increase in corporate tax for mining companies from 25 to 35 percent in Ghana, the raise is yet to be implemented. The tax may not be collected until 2013, according to TV3 television channel. “The attitude of government gives reasons to believe that it will yield to pressures from the industry,” wrote Alhassan Atta-Quayson, expert of Third World Network-Africa (TWN-A).

Source: Ghana Nation

A two-day African Regional Capacity Building Workshop for members of Social Watch Coalitions on the continent was held in Accra this week, with the aim to strengthen the capacity of members to actively monitor the implementation of social policies and programmes by their governments.

Gyekye Tanoh, of TWN-A, at the forum. (Photo: MyJoyOnline)

Sources: BusinessGhana, ThinkGhana, Ghana Business News, MyJoyOnline, GhanaWeb, AllAfrica

Several Ghanaian civil society organizations warned that the renewal of the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the country and the European Union (EU) will condemn the Western Africa integration process and the national economy to an irreparable doom. The Third World Network-Africa (TWN-A, focal point of Social Watch), the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), the Integrated Social Development Centre (Isodec) and Abantu for Development, among other groups, said the government must not give in and sign an agreement which will be harmful to the long-term development goals and aspirations of the country.

Deputy Minister Tia Alfred Sugri. (Government of Ghana)

Sources: Daily Guide, Business and Financial Times, Ghana Business News, X FM News Center.

The Government of Ghana announced that it's studying tariff and non-tariff measures to restrict the importation of poultry products, after local analysts warned that those purchases are harming the national economy. "Imported chicken is being sold at below the cost of local chicken, and farmers in Ghana cannot simply compete, resulting in the collapse of dozens of farms and the loss of hundreds of jobs," said Yaw Graham, expert of the Third World Network-Africa (TWN-A), focal point of Social Watch.

The gender unit of TWN-Africa is hosting a round-table on gender and regional economic integration in Africa on 18-19 November, 2010, in Accra, Ghana.  The meeting brings together scholars, feminist economists and gender experts, as well as policy-makers, to discuss issues of gender equity and Africa’s economic integration.