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Nana Kwasi Gyan-Appenteng’s AFCON 24-2
What shall we say – about the 42-year curse on the Black Stars?
Putting an optimistic gloss on a Black Stars match has become increasingly demanding, even at the best of times.
The worst of times demand more cryptic adjectives that suppress instead of describing the reality of our mass depression. In that sense, the reporter must act in response to a psychological emergency instead of filling a gap of ignorance. In truth, it serves a better purpose to throw up one’s hands and ask: What shall we say?
Let us begin with the facts, or rather the fact. Ghana’s Black Stars lost their opening match of the 2024 AFCON tournament to Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks.
Cape Verde’s national team’s nickname comes from the country being a small island (obviously surrounded by the blue sea) with supersized ambitions.
In FIFA’s global ranking, Ghana is in the 61st position with Cape Verde at 74. On the field of play, the Sharks were better than the Stars in most departments, including ball possession, goal attempts, corner kicks, and shots on goal.
The most telling stat is this: the Cape Verde Goalkeeper did not have to make a single save. These are the facts. No adjectives required.
However, this is a match from which Ghana could have taken a point. The best we can say is that the Black Stars were on course to do so, but for a calamitous, ruinous, catastrophic defensive lapse in the dying minutes of the game.
That is our excuse, and we are sticking to it. The truth is bitter, but that is its taste, so we have to swallow it. We were second best for most of the evening, although again, we can point to refereeing decisions that could have gone our way if the gods of football had favoured us on the night.
To paraphrase MTN, the headline sponsor of the Black Stars, EVERYWHERE YOU GO, you will meet a Ghanaian coach, and as one of Ghana’s accredited 30 million coaches, I insist that we lost this opening match in the midfield.
Without any offence to the players, this coach believes that the Ghana formation cried out for at least two creative midfielders to hold the ball when it needed holding, to distribute it when that was needed, but to be accurate at all times, or most of the time.
That could have relieved the pressure on the full backs and the hapless goalkeeper, whose performance exemplifies a curious Akan word-play: kumfo-domfo: killer-redeemer. He was brilliant when he was, and out of his depth when he needed to stay between the sticks.
This was the first match, and it was against an opponent that should have shown Ghana a measure of respect, for history’s sake. But the days are long gone when teams used to fear the Black Stars. Post-Comoros, we Ghanaians fear every team.
What shall we say? On paper, our team is as good as any other team at this year’s AFCON. There were glimpses of the brilliance that is begging to come out but something is stopping the team from performing. If I am permitted to switch from coach to psychologist, I would suggest that the team don’t look like a happy bunch. Are we too hard on them, or perhaps the gods are to blame after all.
A couple of days ago, I watched a Citi News TV documentary on the Black Stars in which former Black Star legend George Alhassan explained that there is a curse on the team.
He explained that in 1982, the players felt betrayed when the PNDC Chairman and Head of State Flt Lt. Rawlings only gave them a salute after they won the cup for the fourth time. The precise moment of the curse was when they entered the team but that took them away from Burma Camp, where the snub occurred.
Obviously, the time has come to remove this curse, at least to prevent the Black Stars goalkeeper from grabbing empty air on the 90 minute mark.
Unfortunately, the little I know about reversing curses makes this a depressing prospect. As I understand it, a curse can be reversed only by the curser(s) at the same spot at which this curse was pronounced. Mr Alhassan said that the curse was laid collectively by the whole team.
The mere thought of assembling the 1982 Black Stars all in one bus at Burma Camp hurts my brain. I can’t think far. It is easier to remain a coach than a curse remover; or put another way, we need a person who can remove this curse as the national coach.
kgapenteng@gmail.com
The Global Network of Export-Import Banks and Development Finance Institutions (G-NEXID) successfully held its sixth (6th) Exchange Programme, hosted by the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) Bank in Accra from March 22 to 23 March.
The event brought together member institutions, partner organisations and Ghanaian public entities to advance dialogue on South-South trade, investment and development finance, while also creating opportunities for knowledge-sharing and institutional cooperation.
Organised as a capacity-building and networking platform, the 2026 edition of the G-NEXID Exchange focused on GEXIM’s experience in developing innovative solutions to promote intra-African and extra-African trade.
It also highlighted trade and investment opportunities in Ghana, particularly in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and broader national development initiatives.
The Exchange Programme forms part of G-NEXID’s mandate to foster cooperation among export-import banks and development finance institutions in support of South-South trade and investment.
This 6th edition follows earlier successful programmes hosted by India Exim Bank (2016), BNDES (2017), Indonesia Eximbank (2018), Afreximbank (2019) and Saudi EXIM Bank (2025).
On the first day, participants were presented with G-NEXID institutional information and received an update on the Network’s 2026 work programme.
There were a series of substantive presentations, including an overview of the Ghanaian economy by the Ministry of Finance, with particular attention to debt-related challenges; a presentation by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), on investment opportunities in the country; and institutional presentations by GEXIM and Development Bank Ghana (DBG) on their respective mandates, initiatives, products and services.
Discussions during the sessions underscored strong interest in sector-focused webinars and business dialogues, particularly in agribusiness value chains such as poultry and rice.
Participants also emphasized the importance of continued information exchange and the sharing of best practices, especially in the area of guarantees.
The second day opened with a presentation on the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, a national economic transformation strategy launched by President John Dramani Mahama in July 2025.
The initiative aims to enhance economic productivity through continuous industrial activity, accelerated export development and strategic import substitution.
As the programme is expected to mobilise both private and development capital, it presents concrete opportunities for G-NEXID members in areas such as co-financing, guarantees, trade finance and technical cooperation.
The programme also featured institutional presentations by guest organisations, namely the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE) and the West African Development Bank (BOAD), which shared their mandates, initiatives, products and services.
Following these exchanges, the G-NEXID Secretariat held bilateral discussions with both institutions as part of the Network’s ongoing membership drive.
Participants further benefited from a presentation by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), as well as a showcase of GEXIM’s key pipeline projects.
On the margins of the Exchange Programme, G-NEXID members also held their 20th Annual General Assembly Meeting to review progress and discuss strategic priorities.
Following the event, participants joined the GEXIM@10 International Conference, held from March 24-25, 2026 under the theme, “A Decade of Enabling Export Trade and Industrial Transformation: Resetting GEXIM for the Next Frontier.”
The conference provided an important platform for exploring how Ghana can strengthen its transition from a primary commodity exporter to a more competitive player in value-added trade and industrial development.
Source – G-NEXID
President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, signed five bills including three amendment bills passed by Parliament into law.
They are: Security and Intelligence Agencies Bill, 2025; University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Bill, 2025; Ghana Deposit Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Growth and Sustainability Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and Education Regulatory Bodies (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
In a brief remark after assenting to the bills, President Mahama explained that the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, 2026, scraps the Office of Minister of National Security and frees the President’s to appoint any Minister to supervise the security agencies.
He said it also reverses the name of the office of National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), to the original name, Bureau of National Intelligence, (BNI).
This the President said, addresses the confusion between that security agency and a well-known Ghanaian financial institution, the National Investment Bank.
President Mahama also noted that the University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Act, 2026, establishes another University in the Eastern Region, at Bonsu, with three campuses – the main campus at Bonsu in the Eastern Region, with the second campus to be cited at Ohawu in the Oti Region.
The third, the Presdient assed will be located at Acherensua in the Ahafo Region.
Touching on the Amendment to the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act, the President said, “As you’re aware, the act was amended to increase it from 1% to 3%, and so this act reduces it again. That is the levy on mining companies. It reduces it again to 1%, because of the introduction of the sliding scale of royalties.”
He also spoke to the passage of the Government Education Regulatory Bodies Amendment Act, emphasising that amends Act 1023 to grant greater flexibility to private tertiary institutions and the option to Charter.
The Ghana Deposit Protection Amendment Act, the President concluded, is an amendment to an original act that was supposed to guarantee deposits held in commercial banks or financial institutions.
It basically expands protection to include mobile money wallets and other digital platforms, ensuring a wider scope of digital financial assets are secured.
The signing ceremony, was witnessed by the Clerk of Parliament, Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, Secretary to the President, Dr Callistus Mahama, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr Dominic Akrutinga Ayine, Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, a Senior Presidential Advisor and a Special Aide to the President, Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, and the Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang.
