W.Africa's mobile market seen growing 35% in 07

West Africa's mobile phone market rose 58 percent last year and is expected to jump another 35 percent in 2007 thanks to robust competition and a booming Nigerian market, research showed on Thursday.

Informa Telecoms & Media said the number of mobile phone subscribers in West Africa swelled to 49.3 million at the end of 2006, rising faster than in other parts of the continent, where the market grew by 39 percent.
Around 66.6 million West Africans are expected to have a mobile by the end of 2007, the research group said.

Research analyst Thecla Mbongue said the arrival of new operators in Nigeria, Guinea and Ivory Coast had pushed down the price of calls and SIM cards and lured more customers.
The sheer size of Nigeria also drove growth in the region. Africa's most populous country is expected to become the continent's biggest mobile market by the end of 2007 with nearly 40 million subscribers, ahead of South Africa.

"West Africa is expected to continue to sustain a higher growth rate than the average for the continent over the next five years... mainly due to new market entrants," Mbongue said.
Africa's third-ranked operator Celtel, owned by Kuwait's MTC, last year snapped up Nigeria's number three mobile operator and has been investing heavily in rolling out a network there.
Tough competition in Nigeria with the continent's biggest operator MTN has helped cut prices and spur growth.

Demand for mobile phones is spurred in Africa by patchy fixed line infrastructure and tariff cuts, but still only about one in five Africans has a cell phone.
Informa expects mobile penetration on the continent to grow to about 34 percent by the end of 2011.

(Reuters)

NPP is responsible for current energy crisis

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Wednesday said the energy crisis the country was faced with now stemmed from the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) reversal of all the important steps that the NDC initiated in the energy sector.

And by so doing, the NPP did not add a single megawatt of power generation capacity to the energy supply system.Professor John Evans Atta Mills, Flag-bearer of the NDC told a press conference in Accra that the depletion of the Akosombo reservoir to a precarious level of 237.78 feet, was due to the directive to enable VALCO be in operation to satisfy President John Agyekum Kufuor's claim of establishing an "Integrated Aluminium Industry"He said the current energy situation was due to government's decision to force the Volta River Authority (VRA) to sell power to the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) far below its average cost of production.

This situation had put the VRA in a serious financial distress and hardly able to meet its commitment and that the President should be personally held responsible for this.The press conference, which is to present the views of the NDC on the current electricity crisis in the country brought together top party members including Mr. Alban Bagbin, Minority Leader, Mr. Moses Asaga, MP for Nabdam, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, Chairman of the Party and Dr Kwame Ampofo, MP for South Dayi and an Energy Expert.Professor Mills said apart from a period of incredible mismanagement of the VRA, its resources also went into an unproductive venture like the Strategic Reserve Plant on which more than 35 million US dollars were wasted without justification.

He said President Kufuor's promise that the country would be getting electricity from Nigeria would not materialize adding, "we all know the scale of the problems that Nigeria has with their power system; how can anyone seriously look to electricity from Nigeria to solve our crisis."He said issues in the energy sector required a sober analysis and clear plans of action and that members of the NDC were prepared to put their expertise on the management of the energy crisis to alleviate the suffering of the people.He said the NDC established institutions like the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Energy Commission to reform the power sector and allowed the private sector to contribute to the generation of power.

He said the deployment of emergency energy power supplies to augment the distressed national power system must be done bearing in mind the most cost-effective solutions.Professor Mills said decisions about the management of the Akosombo Dam must not be influenced by expediency and short-term political calculations and also agreements in respect of the West African Gas Pipeline project should be finalized with the country's objective in mind.

He said there was the need to modernize the facilities with reference to energy efficiency before the next phase of operations and that no untested projects should be embarked on in desperation. He called on Ghanaians to appreciate the enormity of the problem and help to conserve energy where and whenever possible. Dr Kwame Ampofo on his part called for the provision of a prepaid meter to all energy consumers to enable them to pay the right tariffs for the power they consumed. 04 APRIL 07
Source:GNA

Stop the Radio War

Ganaians have been strongly warned against what has now become a daily ‘verbal war’ among followers of the ruling NPP and the NDC on the country’s air waves.

Leaders of the two giant political groups have therefore been called upon, as a matter of necessity, to do all they could to halt this unpleasant trend as early as possible before it was delivering a devastating blow to the country’s young democracy.

Apostle Dr. Joel Kofi Ayim, the Founder and Leader Of the Christ Compassion Ministry International Church (CCMIC), gave the warning at Asamankese in the Eastern Region on Sunday. He was closing a month-long Pre-Easter Special Fasting and Prayer programme held at Ozeko, the Headquarters of the Church, near Asamankese. Apostle Dr. Ayim said ; “we should utilise such precious air time used to highlight political issues which more often than not tended to disintegrate the people, to discuss things that would foster closer ties among members of the various ethnic groups in the country.

“ He said continuous utilization of the media for political expediencies might cause more harm than good to both socio-economic and political development of the nation. Apostle Dr. Ayim said the time has come for Ghanaians, irrespective of political, ethnic and religious leanings, to focus their attention on collective planning and execution of programmes that would bring prosperity to the people and free the vulnerable people in the society from perpetual bondage of poverty.

He cautioned people who deliberately haul insults on both current and the former Presidents of the country through phone-in programmes and other media under the guise of democracy. Apostle Dr. Ayim reminded the citizenry that leaders of nations were appointed spiritually by God before they were offered the mandate of their people materially, so they must be accorded all the respect and honour due them by their people to correspond with divine principles.

“Anyone who insulted them should know that he or she had insulted the Creator”. Apostle Dr. Ayim said the programme to change the country’s currency was a divine directives, adding that he had a vision about the coming change over as far back as in 1999 and subsequently made it public but those who heard the message did not believe it.

GNA

Newmont allays public fear

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited says it is committed to working with all relevant regulatory agencies to investigate the cause of death of tilapia fingerlings in one of its environmental control dams at its Ahafo mine area. The company said in a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency that the results of both its internal and third party investigations into the case would be made public.

The statement explained that Newmont Ahafo mine, like other mines of its type elsewhere in the world, "uses small, artificial dams to control surface water run off and stop sediments entering natural water courses". There are four of such dams at the Ahafo mine. The statement said over time, due to natural causes, the dams had developed a small fish population. "With the end of a dry season with lower than normal rainfall and with high seasonal temperatures, the dam water chemistry has changed significantly.

"Isolated heavy storms at the beginning of the wet season cause rapid changes to water conditions and impose shocks to fish stocks and in some cases result in fish losses", the gold mining company explained. Last week, mine personnel discovered a similar case of the death of tilapia fingerlings in one of the dams. The company said the Ahafo mine environment department had informed the EPA and the mines department and samples of the water and the dead fishes had been taken for laboratory analysis internally and also for the third party investigation.

It said such an incident occurred last year at one of the dams, but toxicological analysis by the Ghana Standard Board found no evidence of pesticide or poisons as the causes of death of the fishes. The statement gave the assurance that Newmont Ghana was fully committed to the highest standards of environmental stewardship and disclosing all aspects of its mine operations in Ghana.GNA

ECOWAS conference on Biotechnology ends

Ministers of Agriculture and Science of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the end of a four-day third ECOWAS Ministerial Conference on Biotechnology, adopted"The 2007-2010 Plan of Action on Biotechnology and Bio-safety" in the Sub-Region.

The Ministers at the weekend also recommended the creation of a coherent framework between the national bio-safety; strengthen communication on bio-safety, and implement a strategy of communication on the risks involved in the Action Plan.The four-day conference brought together about 200 experts in biotechnology from ECOWAS countries to examine and adopt the Plan for the development of biotechnology and bio-safety within ECOWAS prepared in line with the decision taken by the Ministers during the Second ECOWAS Ministerial Conference in Bamako in June 2005.

The Action Plan, which will serve as a working tool were in two parts - action plan on biotechnology and action plan on bio-safety. It raised concerns on the involvement of stakeholders; strengthening capacity of national research institutions including extension systems; the involvement of local private sector in the biotechnology programme; putting in place an efficient coordinating, management, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and intensifying communication on bio-safety.

They also agreed on the holding of Biennial Ministerial Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Environment, Science and Technology and to strengthen the coordination between Sub-Regional biotechnology and bio-safety institutions.The Ministers agreed that the fourth Ministerial Conference be held in Cote d'Ivoire in June, 2008.
Source:GNA

Kwesi N'doum will quit NPP Gov't soon

Minister for Public Sector Reform, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom on Friday dropped hints of his imminent resignation from the President Kufuor-led national administration of the NPP.He said his resignation is based on the conflict of interest that seems to be deepening as the campaign season for the 2008 December polls draws closer.

"I have plans to disengaging myself from the NPP (administration)", he said.Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, who is also an MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem said he would not behave like the late Vice President Kow Nkensen Arkaah who at one time was contesting the government of which he was a member on the ticket of another party, the Great Alliance.

To Dr Nduom, it is not expedient to remain a minister in an administration and contest its party on the ticket of another party.According to him, remaining in the office till election time places a lot of strain on a person as he experienced during the 2004 elections and said he would not want to go through such an experience in the 2008 elections.Dr Nduom was however quick to add that his declaration should not be misconstrued to mean that if the NPP retains the reins of national administration and he is invited to serve in any capacity he would decline it."I am ever ready to serve my country in any capacity", he intimated.

Dr Nduom pointed out that he is proud to be associated with the NPP administration though it was not every matter that he agrees with or is happy about. “It is however important that I step aside since I do not intend to join the NPP.”He said that his intension to resign is known to President John Agyekum Kufuor. He however declined to state when he would resign but said it is imminent and it is only a question of when.

Turning his attention to a group calling itself the Patriots and who claim to be members of the CPP, Dr Nduom described them as a bunch of intolerant politicians who want things to be done their way.He said some people in the CPP think the party is for them, but what they are doing is rather hurting the party. “We cannot have a party that is battling to woo people into its fold but whose leading members are behaving as if the party is a club”, he observed.

Ministry to acquire land for Korle Lagoon ecological project

The Government has approved 10.4 million euros to finance part of the Korle Lagoon ecological project to start infrastructural development in the Old Fadama area.

The project marks the commencement of the relocation of commercial activities at Old Fadama to Adgin-kotoku in the Ga-West district of the Greater Accra region which was meant, to decongest the central business areas of vehicular and human traffic. Dr. Thomas Fokuo Agyapong, Director for the Modernization of the Capital City said this on Friday when he interacted with owners' of the land to seek their consent to enable the Ministry to acquire 800 acres of land for the first phase of the project.

In all, over 1200 acres of land were required to complete the four phases of the projects across a ten-year life span. He said the first phase of the projects would have amenities such as a link road from the town to Midea, schools, Police post, health centres, electrification works and a warehouse.

He said the projects were being undertaken in collaboration with the Ministries of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment and Water Resource, Works and Housing, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, among others formed part of the Ministry's plan to beautify Accra. Dr. Agyapong noted that the projects, which would begin in September this year, would also have housing and hostel facilities to accommodate both traders and businessmen.

He said the rest of the phases would involve private entrepreneurs who would complement the efforts of government in the overall development of the area. Dr. Agyapong mentioned that the old Fadama area, which comprise Agbobloshie, Sodom and Gomorrah and Timber market would all be relocated after the completion of the projects and the site developed into an ultra modern entertainment center with other low cost apartment for rent.

Mr. Abeiku Dickson, Special Assistance to the sector Minister said the Ministry would continue to use dialogue as opposed to compulsory acquisition to acquire the land for the projects. He called on the landowners to regard the project as a feather in their cup and support government to develop the area into an urban one.GNA