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VP Bawumia, Paul Kagame, William Ruto, Mackey Sali Named Among 100 Most Influential Africans
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has been named among the 100 most influential people in the African continent.
The exclusive list of transformational African leaders, was drawn by revered Pan African publication, the New African Magazine, which seeks to recognise, acknowledge and honour a rare breed of transformational African leaders, whose works are truly transforming lives and making telling impacts on their respective countries and the African continent.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was selected in the category of influential LEADERS, along with Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Mackey Sall of Senegal and William Ruto of Kenya. Others are African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina, Afriexim Bank President Professor Benedict Oramah, among others.
Dr. Bawumia was recognized for his relentless efforts at spearheading Ghana’s digitization as a core economic strategy to solve socio-economic problems.
GLOWING TRIBUTE
Naming Dr. Bawumia as one of Africa’s most influential leaders, the publication eulogised the Vice President for his transformational leadership, noting that his reforms are setting “unique precedents on the African continent.”
‘The Oxford-trained economist, former Deputy Governor of Ghana’s Central Bank and Vice President of the Rephblic of Ghana since 2017, Dr. MahamuduBawumia is spearheading Ghana’s digitisation as a core economic strategy to solve socio-economic problems, formalise and build a more inclusive economy, deal with corruption and to provide social services more effectively,” wrote the magazine.
“His reforms are setting a unique precedent on the continent. His digitisation agenda has resulted in the implementation and adoption of a National Identification System, a Digital Property Addressing System and a Mobile Money Interoperability System. This is enabling a new set of opportunities for the consumer including mobile wallets and greater financial inclusion.”
“Bawumia sees technology as the key to transforming the economy and delivering essential services,” the publication added.
Dr. Bawumia was also commended by the magazine for initiating Ghana’s recent oil for gold barter initiative, which seeks to pay for imported oil with Ghana’s gold, rather paying with its reserved US Dollars – a smart move to curb the depreciation of the Cedi, as well as control the rising cost of fuel in the country.
IMPACT OF DR. BAWUMIA’S DIGITISATION INITIATIVES
With the transformational policies Dr. Bawumia has championed, Ghana has achieved the following: successfully issued digital national identity cards to Ghanaian nationals and residents, become the first African country to adopt a national digital property address system, become the first African country to implement mobile money interoperability between mobile money accounts and bank accounts, been ranked number one in terms of access to financial inclusion in Africa, become the first country in Africa to implement a universal QR Code payment system and Ghana has also become the first country in the world where banks have issued their own mobile money wallets known as GhanaPay.
Through his digitisation initiatives, Ghana has also become the world’s largest provider of medical delivery services using Zipline drones to deliver medical supplies to remote parts of the country in real time.
Ghana has also become the first country in Africa to implement a national scale E-Pharmacy digital platform, and the country has also figitized the provision of government services using a common digital portal (Ghana.gov), as well as a common digital platform for property taxation in Ghana – all contributing immensely to revenue mobilization.
New Africa Magazine’s latest honour, adds to the growing list of international acknowledgement of Dr Bawumia, for his starring role in Ghana’s acclaimed digitisation drive.
Recently, the UNDP, through its country rep, Angela Rusigi, described Dr. Bawumia as a “champion of digitisation”, adding that his efforts have contributed to ‘inclusive and accelerated development.
The Vice Chancellor of the Pentecost University, Apostle Professor Kwabena Agyapong-Kodua, is advocating an intentional conversation about the development and education of the boy child in creating stronger families and societies.
According to him, the boy child must not be ignored in conversations on leadership, education, family stability and national transformation because they are key to national development.
“There is a reason why a boy child must not be denied opportunities like education; he is a future leader. When boys are trained well, society becomes safer and stronger,” he stated.
Apostle Prof. Agyapong-Kodua made the remark at a forum organised by the Church of Pentecost Schools Outreach Ministry in Accra to observe the International Day of the Boy Child observed on May 16.
It was held in collaboration with the Pentecost Men’s Ministry and the Ghana Education Service (GES), and under the theme: ‘Flourish and Thrive: Investing and Unleashing Boys for Strong Families and Communities.’
Leading the discussion, the Pentecost University Vice Chancellor warned that poor mentorship, declining in education, harmful social media influences and emotional neglect have made a lot of young boys vulnerable.
With a lot of the attention switching to the girl child, the boy child, he said was confronted with many challenges including violence, substance abuse, educational decline, emotional neglect and the absence of positive role models.
According to Apostle Prof. Agyapong-Kodua, he noted that boys were turning to social media for direction due to the absence of fathers and mentors to help shape their lives.
“If we are not intentional, social media will mentor our children for us. We are not saying they should not use social media, but they should be guided to access the right information to excel in life,” he stated.
Prof. Agyapong-Kodua urged society to encourage boys to become creators of technology rather than mere consumers.
Contributing, Madam Gifty Asiedu, Director of the Girls’ Education Unit at the GES Headquarters, said the service remained committed to ensuring that no child was left behind, adding that, “supporting the boy child should not come at the expense of progress made in girl-child education.”
“If you focus intentionally on one gender and neglect the other, you create a societal problem,” she underlined.
She said the GES had observed some decline in boys’ retention in school, although the gap between boys and girls was not yet too wide.
“Over the years, attention has been focused on the girl child and we have seen the benefits. However, data now show that the statistics concerning the boy child continue to decline,” she indicated.
She explained that the service was implementing gender-responsive education to ensure that classroom teaching addressed the needs of both boys and girls equally.
Elder Barima Acheampong Sarpong II, Deputy Director of the Pentecost Men’s Ministry and Chief of Asante Asaman in the Ashanti Region, said society needed to critically examine the plight of boys.
“As we celebrate the International Day for the Boy Child, I urge every man to identify one boy child, find out how he is doing and dedicate some time to mentoring him,” he explained.
The programme, attended by educators, church leaders and policymakers, was the second edition following a partnership initiated last year between the Schools Outreach Ministry, the Pentecost Men’s Ministry and the GES.
It sought to improve school enrolment, completion rates and learning outcomes among boys so they could grow into responsible men who would build strong families and communities.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
Candidates that wrote the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Ho Municipality are hopeful of obtaining good grades to make everyone especially their parents and the Regional Minister proud.
The candidates said they had so far sat the examination with focus and integrity after a call from Mr James Gunu, Regional Minister to avoid examination malpractice saying, they expected great performance upon release of results.
Mr Gunu, at the start of this year’s BECE delivered the message during a monitoring visit to some centres in the municipality including Ho Kpodzi EP Basic A School, Mawuli School, Mawuko Girls Senior High School (SHS), and Kabore School.
He urged the candidates to rely on hard work and discipline, warning that shortcuts could jeopardise their future.
“Stay focused and give your best in this year’s BECE – your determination and hard work will pay off. Avoid shortcuts and examination malpractice; integrity matters just as much as success,” he said.
The Minister, accompanied by the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, the acting Volta Regional Director of Education, and the Ho Municipal Director of Education, encouraged candidates to view the exam as a foundation for their academic journey and to celebrate responsibly after the final paper, commending parents, guardians, teachers, and officials of the Ghana Education Service for their support in preparing the candidates.
Candidates at some of the centres Ghana News Agency visited, echoed the call for honesty and high standards.
At Kabore School, Ms Francisca Atsu of Sokode Lokoe MA Basic School said, “The Regional Minister was here earlier to speak to us and also to encourage us. We’ve done our best. I assure him that we will make him and our parents proud.”
At Taviefe SHS Centre, Ms Valentina Sakpla of Taviefe R.C Basic School added, “We are expecting good results to make everyone proud and for our own good.”
Mr David Dotse, Supervisor at Kabore School, hosting 11 schools, with a standby ambulance on site to cater for any health emergency, reported smooth proceedings. –GNA
