Shortage of cocoa sacks hits Brong Ahafo Region
An acute shortage of cocoa sacks has hit five cocoa producing areas in Asunafo North Municipality and Asunafo South District of the Brong Ahafo Region, for the past three weeks.
A study by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) revealed that a number of private licensed cocoa buying companies had run short of the sacks, since the re-opening of this year’s main crop season, making the weighing of cocoa beans extremely difficult for the purchasing clerks.
During a visit to a number of cocoa depots at Asumura, Sankore, Goaso and Kasapin a number of cocoa beans were piled up due to lack of sacks.
Some of the buying companies including OLAM, Akuafo Adamfo, Federated Commodity, Adwumapa Company and the Produce Buying Company confirmed the problem to the GNA.
Mr Kofi Amponsah, a purchasing clerk with OLAM at New-Sanireso, appealed to the government to intervene to reverse the situation.
Source: GNA
Ghana’s private sector said to be key in boosting oil industry
The key objective of government to rapidly grow the country’s economy with proceeds from the oil and gas sector could only be achieved if the private sector plays an active role in the process.
Dr Osei Boeh-Ocansey, Director General of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), made the observation at a day’s workshop on the oil and gas industry in Cape Coast, on the theme: “Opportunities in Ghana’s emerging oil and gas industry for local participation.”
It was organised jointly by the PEF, Ghana Journalists Association and Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE), with the aim of ensuring that Ghanaians derive the maximum benefits from the oil and gas sector by fully participating in it.
Dr Boeh-Ocansey recommended to the government to ensure skills development of local entrepreneurs in the sector, because they could play a crucial role in achieving the 90 per cent local content target by 2020.
Dr Robert Adjaye of the GhIE and the Petroleum Skills Development Institute said corporate entities should be encouraged to form partnership with educational facilities to develop the needed local training centres.
He asked local companies to form international strategic alliances with foreign service providers, to benefit from their skills and expertise.
Dr Adjaye said there is the need for the nation to create separate, well resourced and empowered agencies to implement the local content aspect of the oil and gas find, adding that Ghana’s procurement policy should give preference to indigenous industries and workers.
He outlined some of the challenges against the local content objectives as; inadequate infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity, relatively undeveloped industrial base, lack of comprehensive and integrated national capacity building programmes as well as inadequate training centres and institutions.
Dr Adjaye said a well informed media is essential for effective dissemination of information and management of the national expectations of the oil industry.
Source: GNA