News
President Mahama calls on Japanese companies to invest in Ghana
President John Dramani Mahama has urged Japanese companies to invest in Ghana, saying the country is open for business and offers a strategic gateway to West Africa and the African continent.
He made the call at a high-level Presidential Investment Forum held in Yokohama, Japan, on the sidelines of the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-9).
The forum, which brought together more than 100 Japanese companies, was organised by the Centre in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Agribusiness, and the Japan External Trade Organisation.
President Mahama said Ghana was ready to support Japanese investors with fast-track approvals, sovereign guarantees, blended financing frameworks, and access to industrial sites.
He encouraged Japanese firms to enter into local content and technology transfer agreements to help train Ghanaian workers and managers.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Simon Madjie, highlighted Ghana’s transformative economic agenda and pointed to two flagship programmes, the Big Push Agenda and the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Development Programme, as key drivers of investment.
He added that Ghana had introduced investor-friendly measures, such as streamlined approval processes, one-stop investor services, revisions to the GIPC Act to remove minimum capital requirements for foreign investors, as well as access to sovereign guarantees and industrial sites.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has amended the charges in the ongoing case against former National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Chief Executive, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine others.
The number of counts has risen from 25 to 54 after investigators uncovered new evidence.
The accused are facing trial for alleged large-scale extortion, abuse of public office, and money laundering involving over GH¢291 million and US$332,000.
According to the OSP, the accused persons allegedly extorted huge sums of money from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies under the pretext of carrying out official duties.
The proceeds were reportedly laundered through the purchase of properties and investments in business entities to conceal their source.
The accused persons include Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Jacob Kwamina Amuah, Wendy Newman, Albert Ankrah, Isaac Mensah, Bright Bediako-Mensah, Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah, Propnest Limited, Kel Logistics Limited, and Kings Energy Limited.
The OSP has also seized and frozen several assets, including tanker trucks, fuel stations, houses, apartments, and parcels of land valued at more than GH¢100 million pending the outcome of the trial.
The case, titled The Republic v. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid & 9 Others (Cr/0603/2025), is currently being heard at the Accra High Court.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The National Operations Directorate (NOD) Surveillance Unit, of the Ghana Police Service has arrested a 32-year-old man, Akoto Nelson, for posing as a police officer during a public event at the Black Star Square in Accra.
The suspect was arrested on Sunday, 19th October 2025, by a team of officers deployed to provide security at a musical concert. The team observed the suspect dressed in a police uniform with the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) behaving suspiciously. Upon interrogation, he admitted that he was not a police officer.
Investigations revealed that the suspect impersonated a police officer to gain free entry to the event, claiming he did not have money to pay the entry fee. He further disclosed that the uniform belonged to a deceased Chief Inspector, identified as Gyasi, from whom he obtained the police accoutrements in 2022.
A subsequent search conducted at his residence in Taifa-Ashaiman uncovered several items that were retained as exhibits. These include one toy P99 pistol, one pepper spray, two ZTE mini handsets, one pepper spray pouch, one ZTE charger, one Xinfa cutter knife, some complimentary cards, one voter ID in the name of Akoto Nelson Elikem, and one birth certificate in the name of Nelson Akoto.
Preliminary investigations further established that the suspect works as a security guard and a messenger at a private company. He remains in police custody and will be put before the court.
