News
NewageAgric Solutions set to create jobs for youth, women
The NewageAgric Solutions Limited has rolled out an initiative to create 145,000 jobs for youth, women and persons with disability over the next four years.
To this end, the company has started a consultative meeting with rice farmers and stakeholders in Tono in the Upper East Region to introduce them to Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity Youth (HAPPY)programme to encourage more youth and women into agriculture.
A statement issued by the company in Accra said NewageAgric Solutions Limited was doing this through HAPPY a co-created consortium-managed project.
According to the statement, New Age Agric Solutions Limited is set to achieve this target through the provision of 18,000ha of irrigated and rain-fed land for use by youth, especially women over the next four years.
“These youth would continue to have access to the lands for farming and be integrated into the network of farmers connected to NewageAgric Solutions Limited,” the statement said.
It said the primary goal of the programme was to catalyse transformative investments in the rice, soybean, tomato, and poultry value chains, to boost production volumes, curb imports, and strategically create employment opportunities for the youth
“NewageAgric Solutions Limited would also support 120 youths to establish 120 hectares of rice seed farms to supply rice seeds to farmers under the programme and reach other farmers outside the HAPPY programme.”
The statement said the company’s role in the project would result in increased production in smallholder young farmers and lead to the production and mobilisation of at least 141,790 metric tonnes of paddy valued at over $44.3 million and 55,000 metric tonnes of soybean valued at over $34.38 million annually.
The entire consortium-led programme, however, intends to achieve a 20 per cent production increase across the four value chains by the end of the implementation phase.
It said “The investment would entail the expansion of cultivated land by 40,000 hectares and enhancements in yields within the existing 15,000 hectares, with an anticipated outcome of an impressive yield of over 189,000 tons of food and 10,000 tons of poultry, resulting in an annual total revenue of $164 million post-2026.”
The HAPPY programme is projected to generate, sustain, and enhance approximately 320,000 dignified jobs.
The initiative is also expected to curtail the national import expenditure, resulting in savings exceeding $164 million over the four years.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Executive Committee member and Volta River Authority (VRA) Board Member, Wonder Victor Kutor, has described calls for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as premature and unjustified.
He argued that there was no evidence to establish that the minister had committed any wrongdoing to warrant such demands.
Speaking on Joy News in Accra on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, Mr Kutor questioned what had changed to justify the growing calls for the minister to step down.
He recalled that the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, had earlier indicated that the opposition was not accusing Mr Ablakwa of any wrongdoing.
Mr Kutor, therefore, challenged those demanding the minister’s resignation to provide fresh evidence to support their position.
“The call for the Minister to resign is premature, it is untenable. There is no evidence. I mean, what has he done wrong?” he questioned.
He added that documents, including boarding passes, airline receipts and flight manifests relating to the minister’s return journey, had been provided.
Mr Kutor expressed concern that the calls for Mr Ablakwa’s resignation could discourage young politicians from speaking out against corruption and advocating transparency.
According to him, politicians should not be targeted or maligned for demanding accountability, warning that such treatment could create the impression that speaking against corruption could later become a liability when one is appointed to public office.
He maintained that calling for accountability and transparency should not be used as grounds to target public officials without evidence of wrongdoing.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana will host the Africa Festival of Arts, Culture and Creatives (AFESTAC) 2026 alongside Industrial Skills Week Africa (ISWA) 2026 in Accra from December 9 to 12, 2026.
On the back of these programmes, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has called on corporate Ghana, the media and the general public to support the initiative through partnerships, sponsorships and active participation.
The events, supported by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), will bring together stakeholders to celebrate Africa’s rich cultural heritage, strengthen the creative economy, promote industrial skills development and create employment opportunities for young people.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
