Hot!
Virtual platform to help market agriculture and non-agriculture products launched
The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) in Wa has in collaboration with the GIZ/Agriculture Finance Consultants (AFC) Market-Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) has launched a virtual platform to help market agriculture and non-agriculture products that are produced in the northern part of the country.
Christened the Made in Northern Ghana (MING) Marketplace digital platform, the application which was officially launched at Wa in the Upper West Region on Tuesday seeks to enhance access to products and services in the northern part of the country and to open them to the global market.
The Regional Manager of the GNCCI in the region, Mr. Jeremiah Tengan stated that the Chamber commissioned a research into the performance of products from the northern part of the country on the global market and identified that the goods from the north received less attention on the global market.
“Products such as smock and shea butter from the north are good but they receive very limited showcase globally and unfortunately have very poor marketing network”, he said.
He mentioned that in collaboration with GIZ, the platform was created to facilitate the buying and selling of products and also make it easier to trade with people across the globe without geographic restrictions.
He mentioned that before the official launch of the platform, the team organized a sensitization tour across the five northern regions; Upper West, Upper East, Northern, North East and Savannah Regions to create awareness of the platform.
He maintained that the platform was an opportunity to have a reliable market for their products and to open them up to the global market.
“The Development Bank of Ghana (DBG) is poised to lend loans to people in business with a maximum of five to fifteen years to redeem the debt, and this will go a long way to improve their business”, he said.
The platform, he noted sought to drive positive change and innovation in the business landscape in Ghana and help improve on the revenue of businesses in the northern part of the country.
For his part, Mr. Reuben Binpori, the Inclusive Business Development Expert with MOAP indicated that they have supported farmer groups, inputs dealers and processors to expand their vocation.
He said marketing in recent times had gone beyond interpersonal to digital where a wider audience is reached and adequate revenue is generated.
“In view of this, the digitized platform which was well thought through was introduced to help small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to enable them sell their products by connecting them to buyers all over the world”, he added.
FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, WA
Hot!
Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Hot!
Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
