Author: newsfilegh

INTRODUCTORY POINTS: ESTIMATING 2026 PAYMENT FOR ICUMSPlease patiently read the analysis below to understand how dumb or wicked or both the NDC government has been signing such a contract to squeeze traders (importers and exporters) the way they’ve done. Finding it difficult to get a direct projected FOB value our import for 2026, I used three different approaches as in below to determine 2026 FOB outturn to enable me estimate 2026 payment to operators of ICUMS. First, I used Ghana’s total imports for 2025 estimated at about US$17–17.5 billion (FOB), equivalent to about GH₵210–215 billion and applied observed growth rate…

Paramount Chief of the Akuapem Traditional Area Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III has made a strong call for the protection of two of Ghana’s most significant healthcare interventions — the Ghana Medical Trust Fund and Free Primary Healthcare — describing them as lifesaving policies that must never be abandoned by any government. Speaking during a visit to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, the Akuapemhene emphasised that both initiatives are critical pillars in strengthening Ghana’s healthcare system and should be safeguarded beyond political transitions. He urged that they be entrenched in the country’s legal framework, ideally within the Constitution, to ensure continuity…

When the President of Ghana, H.E J. D Mahama, stood before investors in Yokohama in August 2025 and announced plans to tear down Ghana’s minimum capital barriers, I recognised in my article titled “Scrapping Minimum Capital Requirement: Opportunity or Risk?  the opportunity; a more open investment climate, attractive startups, SMEs, and the alignment with Ghana’s 24 Hour-Economy initiative. Also, the risk, which was identified was that, without defined citizen-only trading activities, local equity participation requirement and robust enforcement, Ghana risked walking the path of South Africa, where absence of such legislative protections fuelled perceptions of unfair foreign competition and those…

Global oil prices have jumped after US President Donald Trump said its navy had intercepted and seized an Iran-flagged cargo ship. The Brent crude benchmark oil price jumped 5% to around $95 (£70) a barrel, reversing the slump on Friday when Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would be “completely open” to commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire. On Saturday, Iran said it was closing the strait again and that any ship that approached it would be targeted. The waterway is of key importance as usually about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through…

It is now widely accepted that African countries, like those in the West, the Gulf and Asia, cannot solve their developmental challenges without strong collaboration with a robust and resilient private sector. Globally, entrepreneurs create jobs, finance infrastructure through taxes and fees, and deliver practical solutions to local problems. Yet in many Africa countries, private sector development has benefited mostly privileged foreign firms, who are often backed by their home governments, while local entrepreneurs struggle with limited support, unfair competition and regulatory hostility. In some cases, governments turn openly against their own businesspeople in a sad spectacle that was almost…

Two newly surfaced details first revealed by African.football could significantly strengthen Morocco’s case when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) examines Senegal’s appeal over the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final. The revelations centre on a leaked report from the final’s general coordinator and remarks attributed to the chairman of CAF’s referees committee. Together, they appear to reinforce Morocco’s core argument that the match should have been considered abandoned when Senegal’s players left the field in protest during the closing stages of the final in Rabat. If accepted by CAS as credible and relevant, the two points may help…

On Sunday, March 29, 2026, we once again announced our collective carelessness as a nation to the world when an uncompleted three-storey building at the Newtown Experimental D/A School in Accra, Greater Accra Region, collapsed. The incident, according to media reports, claimed three lives – two women and a man. Twenty others who were rescued sustained various degrees of injuries. The internet, on that fateful Sunday, went into mourning. Eyewitnesses shared horrifying accounts, with some bemoaning the apparent absence of emergency services at the very beginning of the incident. “Right now, if there were an excavator here, they [civilian respondents]…

Chairperson of the Trade and Industry Cluster at the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) Tsonam Akpeloo, , who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SUKU Technologies, and a leading voice in Ghana’s industrial sector, has been announced as a distinguished featured speaker at the prestigious 17th Annual Harvard Africa Development Conference (ADC), scheduled for April 17–18, 2026 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The event, which brings together influential leaders, policymakers, and innovators from across the globe, is dedicated to charting actionable strategies for the continent’s socio-economic growth. Under this year’s theme, Reclaiming Africa’s…

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has become the new owner of Catalan club Cornella. The 38-year-old, who helped Barcelona win the Champions League four times and also claimed 10 La Liga titles with the Catalan giants, is currently playing for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami in the United States. Cornella announced “eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Leo Messi has formalised the acquisition of the club”, who are in the fifth tier of Spanish football. They added: “This move reinforces Messi’s close ties to Barcelona and his commitment to the development of sport and local talent in Catalonia.” Messi left Argentina for…

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger has died at the age of 48 after his car was struck by a train. Police said the incident happened at about 08:20 local time (07:20 BST) at a level crossing near Salzburg. Manninger made 64 appearances for Arsenal between 1997 and 2002, winning the Premier League and FA Cup. He won 33 caps for Austria and was part of the squad that featured at Euro 2008 in his home country. “Alexander Manninger was an outstanding ambassador for Austrian football, both on and off the pitch,” said Austrian Football Association sporting director Peter Schottel. “His…