Hot!
Security for traveling clubs now!
We have heard horrifying stories about armed robbers in Ghana attack passengers in the middle of their journeys.
It is not one, two or three. It happens a couple of times in a year with passengers left injured, maimed, brutalised and traumatised.
Sadly, now, the robbers have extended their dreadful operations to footballers – charging them down on the road after football matches.
We have had a number of such incidents of late, and it is now increasingly becoming tormenting!
The latest one on our hand is the attack on Tamale-based FC Savannah Ladies when they were traveling for a Women’s Premier League Matchweek 14 game against Dreamz Ladies FC at the Bantama Astro pitch on Saturday.
According to reports, the robbers collected all the monies of the players and thumped them with canes on top. The torture left the team physiotherapist with injury to the knee and had to be rushed to hospital. Heartily, no tragedy – as regards death, was recorded.
Only last month (March 21), Ghana Premier League (GPL) side AshantiGold SC went through similar terror on their way back to Kumasi after their game against Hearts of Oak in the GPL on Sunday evening. After the game, the team opted to travel in the night back home to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. Some officials of Hearts, we were told, impressed on the AshGold team to spend the night in Accra and leave the following day. It fell on deaf ears.
According to a report on the Twitter page of the club, the team’s bus was attacked at Assin Endwa as armed robbers shot at the bus. Fortunately, gunshots to the front bulletproof glass could not go through as the driver of the bus managed to drive the team and all onboard to safety.
Last year, too, Ghana Women’s Premier League side Pearl Pia Ladies narrowly escaped a robbery attack after their team bus was shot at in the late hours of Monday, December 21.
The incident was said to have occurred at Yapei, a small town in the Central Gonja District, a district in the Savannah Region of northern Ghana.
The Pearl Pia Ladies were heading to Tamale after a league match against Ampem Darkoa Ladies. The three assailants tried stopping the team bus but the driver upon sensing danger sprinted on top gear.
Disappointed, they fired several gun shots at the bus, but no injuries or deaths were recorded from the atrocious blitz.
Whilst we call on the relevant authorities to beef up security on our highways to steer clear of such incidents, we also think it is incumbent on clubs to carry or engage their own security – especially when they are traveling in the night.
Alternatively, the clubs are hereby advised to avoid night travels altogether. However, if they think they must embark on the trip in the night at all cost, then it would be prudent they engage the security services or seek security advice before making trips.
However, it would also not be out of place if the clubs liaise with the Ghana FA and the Ghana Police Service (GPS) in finding ways of providing consummate security support to teams when they travel across the country.
For now, we can only thank heavens that there have not been any serious casualties in the various scary situations that we have recorded over the years.
However, let us act now before it is too late. We might not be fortunate tomorrow when those muggers strike again.
PlainTalk With 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.
