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Dr.Bawumia unveils Ghana’s QR Code, buys waakye by the roadside
The vice President, Dr.Mahamoudu Bawumia has officially unveiled Ghana’s Quick Response (QR) as demonstrated by buying Waakye for Ghc60 from popular food vendor, Auntie Muni at Ridge.
The Veep who was accompanied by Minister of Communications,Ursula Owusu Ekuful paid for using the waakye using the QR Code.
Ghana’s QR code is a universal quick response payment system to aid bank and non bank customers.
The use of the universal QR code according to Dr.Bawumia, will improve Ghana’s cash-light system, adding that under it, merchants are expected to receive immediate payment from the buyer.
He urged all merchants in the informal and formal sectors to acquire and start using the all-new, all-inclusive Universal Quick Response Code (QR Code) system developed for Ghana, as part of efforts by the Akufo-Addo government, to migrate the economy from a cash-based one to a cash-lite one.
“We are here to formally outdoor the Ghana Quick Response Code system or the QR Code, as it is known for short. It’s a very very historic day because we are solving a major problem here in Ghana and it is historic because Ghana will be the first country in Africa, to launch a QR Code payment system; and not only are we the first in Africa, we are also, as far as I’m aware, the third country in the world to do a Universal Quick Response System after Singapore and India”, the Vice-President said.
According to him, even the QR Codes systems of Singapore and India “only cater for bank customers” but “Ghana’s QR Code system will cater for both bank and non-bank customers”, explaining: “That is those who use mobile money as well as have bank accounts”.
“So, you scan the QR Code and then you can confirm that this is the merchant and I’m paying this amount to the merchant, so, it’s very secure in that regard; it is very convenient”, he observed.
He noted that“We are solving a problem that has been with us practically since independence: we’re a cash-based economy and a cash-based economy is a very inefficient economy and we are cash-based because so many people are excluded from the financial system, so, we do a lot of financial transactions through cash, which means robberies can take place, as people carry cash around.”
According to him, in the era of COVID-19, technology comes in handy
“In this COVID environment, in fact, one of the ways you transmit the virus is by handling things like cash; e-commerce, too, doesn’t develop if you have a cash-based economy, so, we have been thinking, since we’ve been in office, of how to solve this problem: how do we move Ghana from this cash-based economy to an electronic payment-based economy?”
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
