SARPONG'S BLOG

By: Mathias Amoah, Daily Express MTN Ghana has played host to over 2,000 students from tertiary, first and second cycle institutions since the establishment of its data and switch centers in the country. The switch and data center is where equipment that enable MTN subscribers to originate and terminate calls and send and receive text messages are housed. The host form part of MTN initiative to explain the workings of mobile networks to future leaders of this country. In March this year, MTN hosted IT students from New Life International School, a private school located at Suame in the Ashanti Region. MTN engineers explained the process of working of the network and ICT infrastructure to the students.   Mr. Enoch Tetteh, IT Instructor at New Life International School who led the students expressed appreciation to MTN for the in-depth knowledge shared with the students. “MTN is indeed the leader in ICT services,” he commented. The company said it w...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Alcatel-Lucent has announced the appointment of Mr. Richard Edet as the Country Senior Officer and Managing Director for Nigeria. In his new role which takes effect immediately, Mr. Edet will assume overall responsibility for managing day-to-day operations, as well as taking the lead on strategic business directions for Alcatel-Lucent in Nigeria. Mr. Edet who will base in Lagos-Nigeria will report to Mr. Amr K. El-Leithy, the President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Commenting on Mr. Edet’s appointment, Mr. El-Leithy said:  “I’m very pleased to welcome Richard in his new position in Alcatel-Lucent. His in-depth knowledge of the industry as well as an extensive experience in sales and operations will reinforce the company’s business and presence in Nigeria to help to meet the needs and requirements of our customers with best-in-class solutions and services.” He said Mr. Edet brings to ...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Dr. Tony Aubynn has categorically stated that some other nationals such as Americans, Spanish are operating illegal mining (galamsey) in the country apart from the Chinese nationals. He also mentioned Niger nationals and Malians among those nationals operating illegal mining in Ghana. He stated that the reasons why people relate ‘galamsey’ activities in Ghana to the Chinese nationals are that their number exceeds all other nationals who are operating illegal mining in the country. Dr Aubynn said until this ‘galamsey’ business will cease in the country, every Ghanaian have to join hands to fight this menace. ‘‘We are the problem and we must act now,’’ he added. Dr Aubynn said this when he delivered a statement at the Natural Resource conference in Accra last weekend. The conference focused on ‘‘natural resource governance and management in Ghana: The stride towards an effici...

By: Mathias Amoah About 50 retailers of agro products within the Techiman municipality benefited from a technical training organised by Yara Ghana in collaboration with Northgate Agro, a major distributor of Yara products in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The training took the participants through the different Yara crop nutrition solutions, the right fertilization programmes for different crops and the application processes that will ensure safe usage of products to ensure maximum benefits. They were also educated on how to identify nutrient deficiency in crops and to know which crop nutrition product to recommend. The aim of the training was to provide the relevant technical knowledge on the Yara products to the retailers so they in turn will impart the acquired knowledge to the farmers whom they are in direct contact with on a day to day basis so the farmers will derive maximum benefits from using the products. The Tropical Crop Segment Manager for Yar...

The deputy minister of Roads and Highways says the Ghana Road Fund has carried forward an indebtedness of Ghc230.86 million from last year to this year. Mr. Isaac Adjei-Mensah also indicated that the government is considering a public/private partnership arrangement in funding road maintenance and would be more responsive to the rehabilitation of deplorable roads in the country. The move, he noted, was due to the fact that 40 percent of road networks were not attended to annually due to insufficient funds. In addition, the fund, which is mandated to finance routine and periodic maintenance of roads in the country, carried forward an indebtedness of Ghc230.86 million from last year to this year, he said. The Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, made this known at a forum organized by the Management of Ghana Road Fund in Takoradi. He said the government would adopt Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement with private corporate entities in order to fast-tr...

About 200 workers of mining firm, Goldfields Ghana are set to be laid off before the end of June. According to management, the move has been influenced by the rising cost of production which has been compounded by the energy crisis, challenging business environment and the marginal hikes in utility tariffs. The recent layoffs could bring the total number of retrenched Goldfields workers to about 700. Some 500 workers had been already laid off between the end of last year and early this year. Country manager at Goldfields Ghana, Alfred Baku told Joy Business, the marginal hikes in utility tariffs announced yesterday could worsen the situation in the coming months. Although Alfred Baku acknowledges that the situation might put a lot of burden on the families of the workers, keeping them at post will affect the company’s productivity. Earlier this month, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company laid off over 250 of its employees as part of efforts to keep it in business...

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Enterprise Life in partnership with Sanlam, one of the largest financial service groups in South Africa will on this Thursday March 26, 2015 cut sod for the construction of a social Centre for the children of the SOS Children’s village in Asokore Kumasi.  The project forms part of Enterprise Life’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda and the company’s objective of giving back to society. The construction of this social center which is scheduled to be completed within 18 months is being funded by the Enterprise Life and the Sanlam Group from South Africa. The facility when completed will serve a variety of purposes which include family meetings, get-together for the children and partnership meeting places among others.   The SOS Village believes that this project will go a long way in enhancing the social impact and accountability the organization is strives to create for the children. A delegation from Sanlam-Sou...