LAARY WATCH

Trade is an important pathway to Africa's export-led industrialisation. The World Bank predicts that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will boost Africa’s income by US$450 billion by 2035 and increase intra-Africa exports by over 81 per cent.  However, current estimates of African trade flows tend to miss the contribution of informal traders in border regions and small enterprises run primarily by women and youth. We also know that between 50 and 60 per cent of total intra-African trade is carried out by unregistered traders or firms.  As women constitute up to 70 per cent of informal cross-border traders, their contribution to trade and industrialisation is grossly undervalued. They are also locked out of emerging opportunities.  According to a report titled Engine of Trade in Africa: Amplifying the Voices of Women across Africa on how to make the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade work for development, pre-existing gender imbalances at the macro,...

The overwhelming disruptive noise and emotionally charged interlaced with the incoherent argument put forth by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's followers about the Mahama 24-hour economy policy demonstrate that the noble policy idea has far-reaching potential and significant advantages in resuscitating Ghana's ailing economy. This cacophony also shows that no matter how desperate or how much media campaign propaganda is applied, the benefits of John Dramani Mahama's 24-hour economy policy (better called Mahama 24) cannot be discredited, dismissed, disapproved of, or invalidated. The good people of Ghana have overwhelmingly endorsed it, period. Since Mr. Mahama, the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) presidential candidate for the 2024 general election, announced the Mahama 24, the level of discussion has shifted from grassroots analysis to a more sophisticated interrogation, which is helping to refine it for better implementation. This groundbreaking policy, Mahama 24, h...

If the economic catastrophe created by the present administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) mafia can be cleaned up at all, it will take thirty to forty years, according to experts in governance, finance, and economics.  What have the Ghanaian people done to merit this degree of heinousness, callousness, and recklessness? As the telltale signals of a change become more obvious in the sky, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Bawumia, is developing a fever, but the profound thinking of the former president, Mahama, is coming up with real-time practical solution ideas like the 24-hour economy, which is to ramp up production in the direction of a more rapid economic recovery.  At the beginning of this month, Bawumia lied about attempting to promote the idea of a blue economy by reading from books, which are, as is typical, very theoretical and far divorced from reality.  After visiting a few different locations and coming back in touch with reality, one week lat...

  A violent storm that occurred seven months ago in Konkonteriso, near Acheresua in the Ahafo region, resulted in Mariama Mumuni, a widow in her late 60s or early 70s, tragically losing her home.   Mariama Mumuni lives alone as her children have either relocated for better prospects or have started their own families. This widow takes care of her own meals and keeps all her personal belongings in a partially damaged structure, which exposes her to unpredictable weather and potential health risks.      She is appealing for assistance to reconstruct her brick building for housing.   The appeal was made when the blogger visited the town in November for a family funeral.   Following the devastating storm, countless other houses were also destroyed, leaving many individuals and families in need of shelter.   Unfortunately, Mariama had no one to rely on and was forced to endure living under the debris of the structure to survive.

Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, Counsel for Professor Margaret Kweku and four other petitioners contesting the validity of the election of Peter Amewu as MP for Hohoe constituency has told a High Court in Ho, presided over by Justice Owoahene Acheampong, that the denial of voters in the SALL Traditional Areas of the right to vote for a parliamentary candidate affected the parliamentary election in the Hohoe constituency. He contended that the continued denial of the people in the SALL traditional areas of representation in the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic undermines Ghana’s democracy and urged the court to grant the reliefs sought by the petitioners. According to Tsikata, the Electoral Commission (EC) had made admissions, which justified those reliefs being granted. The EC admitted that the SALL Traditional Areas were not districts when Constitutional Instrument 112 of 2019 went into effect and made the Oti Region. This was one of the things Tsikata talked about. Referring to that consti...

The neem tree has attracted significant interest due to its therapeutic properties, particularly in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.  Unfortunately, the species in the Krobo areas of the Eastern region is now at risk of extinction due to the impact of changing climate patterns and irresponsible human actions.  According to Mr. Kojo Odum Eduful, the President of the Traditional Medicines Practitioners Association, consuming and inhaling boiled leaves of neem trees has been found to boost the immune system, providing protection against the virus during the COVID era.  Furthermore, it is utilised in the management of a range of health issues, such as malaria, nosebleeds, intestinal worms, stomach discomfort, decreased appetite, and other conditions.  The cultivation of the neem tree is widespread across several African countries, spanning from Ghana and Mauritania to Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea. Other countries where neem trees are extensively grown...

An advocacy nonprofit organisation, The Environment Report, has urged for a halt in all exploration activities at the Newmont Ahafo North project until the concerns of farmers regarding the damage to their farmlands are properly addressed.   Farmers in the mining area are increasingly frustrated as they voice their concerns about the detrimental impact of the multinational company's operations on their livelihoods and the environment.   In a statement, Mr. Awudu Salami Sulemana Yoda, the Director of the Environment Report, emphasised the importance of addressing the concerns of farmers and preventing any further escalation of tensions.   He highlighted the significance of Newmont addressing and resolving these concerns to foster a more sustainable relationship with the communities in its vicinity.   Following three days of visits by the NGO to five communities in the Tano North District of the Ahafo Region, concerns were raised about the proposed development ...

Ghana's mining industry is grappling with a significant challenge as the problem of reckless mining practices persists, sparking environmental concerns and human rights violations. This irresponsible mining practice has led to extensive deforestation, water pollution, and land degradation, causing substantial irreversible damage to the country's natural resources and threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of rural dwellers. Ghana is blessed with abundant natural resources, like gold, bauxite, and oil with the mining industry playing a vital role in generating revenue, creating employment opportunities, and supporting the livelihoods of over 30 million people. Small-scale miners extract minerals like gold from sand or gravel using a variety of techniques, including underground, surface, and placer mining. Many of them fail to adhere to proper mining protocols and also lack the necessary initial funding. The World Bank Group reports that these activities are typically mo...

CARE International Ghana has recorded tremendous strides in tackling forced and child labour, including all forms of exploitative work among girls, women, and other vulnerable populations in the cocoa-growing Western North, Central, and Ahafo regions. Within five years, the percentage of child labour among child participants dropped from 68.4 per cent to 42 per cent, and hazardous child labour fell from 67.2 per cent to 19 per cent. These positive changes were recorded after the organisation successfully implemented a five-year (2018-2023) Adwumpa project in 80 communities in the regions, supporting 500 vulnerable girls aged 15–17 and 2,500 vulnerable women. It was implemented in collaboration with Youth Opportunity and Transformation in Africa, Child Rights International, and Olam Food Ingredients, with funding from the United States Department of Labour, Bureau of International Affairs. The initiative aimed to minimise the risk of child and forced labour, as well as other e...