Hot!
Our standards have fallen!
A nation’s football strength and sturdiness is evidenced by its international performance – especially, at the club level.
At present, our club football is in comatose!
That, for 15 years, no Ghanaian club have won any continental fleece should be enough to portray the state of frustration and near hopelessness local fans find themselves.
Hearts clinched the CAF Champions League in 2000 – 21 years ago, topping up with a CAF Confederation Cup feat four years later. Great achievement, but that is all there is to it.
For Asante Kotoko, their last continental feat was in 1983 when they annexed the African Clubs Championship trophy (now CAF Champions League) by beating Al Ahly of Egypt.
Ever since, both Hearts and Kotoko have failed to re-enact their past glory after a panoply of disappointing attempts.
As far back as December 14, 1997, Obuasi Goldfields (now AshantiGold SC) found themselves in the CAF Champions League finale, losing narrowly to Morocco’s Raja Casablanca 5–4 on penalties at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca – the two legs having failed to produce a winner (1-1).
Three years later came the Hearts’ accomplishment.
But truth is that the Ghanaian game has slumped drastically over the years – a saturnine situation that compelled the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to slash the nation’s continental slot, and maybe, given the opportunity, CAF might even take back the solitary window accorded us.
The slump may have hit its apogee last week, probably showcasing why Ghanaian clubs should take a back seat for a while, do a very deep introspection and self-absorption before endeavouring to embark on another dead-duck adventure.
As you may have been aware, Hearts were flushed out of their African campaign in the most outrageous manner.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the play-off stage of the CAF Confederation Cup, Hearts dashed for the return leg encounter full of beans, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, against Algeria’s JS Saoura – only to be hammered 4-0 after a rather shambolic performance, to bow out 4-2 on aggregate.
A month earlier or so, Hearts were whitewashed 6-1 in the preliminary stage of the Champions League by WAC of Morocco, after winning the opening fixture in Accra 1-0.
Conceding 10 goals in two away games against North African oppositions is as discomforting as ego-battering.
For a side that once dominated Africa and proceeded into the campaign as Ghanaian champions, last Sunday’s exit was pure mortification.
It must be reiterated that the performance of our clubs in Africa has for some time now been nothing to write home about. It is, perhaps, the snowballing effect of low investment and poor player quality.
Most of our premier clubs, today, have no corporate sponsorship and with pitiable attendance at games (even during pre-Covid 19 era), clubs are compelled to sell off their marquee players to their foreign counterparts for survival.
So, how do such clubs hope to compete on the same platform with their counterparts at the continental stage? Not possible! You cannot be ready for any serious competition, if you behave in this manner.
Our clubs ought to accept the fact that the game has changed completely. It is now more capital intensive than before. The planning and organisation of the game, too, is more demanding than used to be the case. Interestingly, we expect to reap a different result after doing same thing over time. It does not work like that.
Certainly, our local game is in some sort of crisis and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and its stakeholders may have to meet and find an efficacious panacea to reviving its fortunes.
By John Vigah
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.
