My Ghana Electronic Desk

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Facilitator of the dialogue Mrs Rosemary Akolaa (standing) addressing participants The rate of maternal deaths in Ghana currently stands at 350 deaths per 100,000 births, a very high rate by all standards. Compared with other countries, available statistics indicate that the likelihood of a woman dying during child birth in Ghana is 1 in 66, while it is 1 in 100 in South Africa and 1 in 4700 in the United Kingdom. Further, it has been noted that about 75 women in Ghana, die every week from complications during pregnancy and childbirth, most of which are preventable. It is to help address this high incidence of maternal deaths in Ghana, that Oxfam, an international non-governmental organisation, together with its partners, Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) and Participatory Action for Rural Development Alternatives (PARDA), held a dialogue Friday, January 27, 2012, with traditional birth attendants

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Trainee guards on parade In demonstration of its commitment to beef up operations on the Volta Lake in order to safeguard lives and property of precious Ghanaians who conduct their daily business on and around the lake, Zoil Services Limited has embarked on the training of more lifeguards for its Volta Lake Transport Enhancement Programme. The two-week training, which is in collaboration with the Ghana Navy, is being carried out at the Eastern Naval Base in Tema and involves 150 guards selected from all regions of Ghana where the project is operational. The training is the third to be conducted since the launch of the programme in 2009 and is meant to increase the number of lifeguards who are currently operating at the various landing and boarding sites along the lake. In an interview with the National Coordinator of the Project, Mrs. Rhoda Donkor, she indicated that the rationale for training more lifeguards is to beef up the services of those that are alrea

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Researchers, business executives, social enterprises, international organisations, funders and governments from across the globe, are set to change the face of development, with a critical look beyond aid. The platform is a global forum dubbed Forum 2012 to be held by the Council on Health Research and Development Group ( The COHRED Group ), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology of South Africa , in Cape Town, South Africa. According to a press release, the forum which is scheduled to take place from April 24 to April 26, 2012, will examine the prospects for a new vision of development that looks ‘beyond aid’, by focusing on developing capacities in low-and middle-income countries and emerging economies. The interactions will also probe how global collaborations can be used to support research and innovation processes that can enhance this new era of development. COHRED says Forum 2012 will investigate three main themes in support of

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE The Chief Executive Officer Ghanaian waste management giant, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has been named Ghana’s most influential industrialist for the year 2011. His nomination was the result of a poll conducted by eTV Ghana, a private television station in the country, which featured a range of public figures associated with politics, sports, entertainment, religion and enterprise. The poll was carried out with the aim of acknowledging Ghanaians who made significant impact and news in the country in the year under review. Dr. Siaw Agyepong, who is also the executive chairman for the JOSPONG Group of Companies, is a seasoned Ghanaian entrepreneur and Industrialist who has received many awards and honours in his career. For instance, on Saturday, November 26, 2011, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology conferred on him an honorary doctorate degree in Literature, in recognition of his contribution to waste management and hi

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE The Nokia Lumia 900 Nokia, a leading   manufacturer of mobile phones and telecommunications devices, has won the prestigious “Best Smartphone” award from technology site CNET, at the just ended International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, United States of America. The mobile phone manufacturer won the award with its newly launched windows smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 900. In addition to the Nokia Lumia 900 launch for AT&T’s 4G LTE network, the Nokia Lumia 710 went on sale at all T-Mobile stores while Microsoft said it will sell the Nokia Lumia 800 in all its retail stores. For its part, mobile phone device dealer, Rogers, in Canada,   said it will carry the Nokia Lumia 710, while TELUS another dealer, said it will sell the Nokia Lumia 800. The buzz around Nokia’s return to the international electronics show, was clearly seen in Las Vegas where only standing room remained at a packed press conference and media had to be turned away, while t