The increase in Inflation rate from 50.3 per cent in November to 54.1 per cent in December 2022 is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.The Graphic reports that Inflation, the rate at which the prices of goods and services change in a given time, increased from 50.3 per cent in November to 54.1 per cent in December.

This is the 20th consecutive time the rate had increased, a development which is expected to impact the already high lending rates, among other economic indicators.

Last month’s inflation was driven by the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels division which recorded an inflation rate of 82.34 per cent.

The newspaper says that the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has launched the National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) report for 2019, 2020 and 2021, which shows that the country spent $323.7 million in the years under review.

The report showed that the total HIV and AIDS-related expenditure for 2019, 2020 and 2021 stood at $88,648,568, $107,280,242 and $127,828,300, respectively.

The Director-General of the GAC, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, who made this known at the launch and dissemination of the NASA report, said the funds for each respective year were the total contribution made by the government, the private sector and the international donor community.

However, he said the findings showed an over-dependence on international sources in financing the national HIV response, as it had been over the years.

NASA is a comprehensive and systemic resource tracking method that describes the financial flow, actual disbursements and expenditures on HIV and AIDS programmes.

The NASA process, which is a key tool for tracking resources and expenditures for the national HIV and AIDS response, maps the financial transactions on HIV from its funding source through to the final destination — the beneficiaries receiving goods and services.

It describes the HIV and AIDS financial flow and expenditures for both health and non-health activities for the period mentioned, while identifying and addressing funding gaps.

The report focuses on three dimensions — financing, provision and consumption — and the overall estimates on the expenditures of the public and the private sectors and international donors on the national HIV and AIDS response.

However, Dr Atuahene said there was the need to use the report as an advocacy tool for re-prioritising HIV spending as the country sought to address the complex inequalities in resource allocation.

The Graphic also reports that the Ministry of Youth and Sports has begun a series of consultations with stakeholders to strategize on how to attract spectators to the various stadia to watch Ghana Premier League matches

There has been a public concern in recent times regarding the low attendance of football fans during Ghana Premier League matches.

To address the crisis, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, met with the leadership of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) to deliberate on the matter.

The Ministry in a statement said, “further consultations would be made with all stakeholders including the Ghana Football Association (GFA), the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), the National Sports Authority (NSA) and supporters for their inputs on the strategy to be adopted to address the situation”.

“Meanwhile, the Minister would like to encourage supporters of the various clubs to patronise the local league matches to raise enough funds to manage the clubs and develop them to the level that we all desire”. There has been public concern in recent times regarding the low attendance of football fans at the various stadia across the country during local league matches involving the premier league clubs.

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon Mustapha Ussif shares in these concerns and therefore convened a meeting on Wednesday 11th January, 2023 with the leadership of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) to strategize on how to attract fans to the various stadia to ensure massive attendance for our domestic league matches.

The Ghanaian Times says that a GH¢160 million programme to support Small and Medi¬um-scale Enter¬prises (SMEs) to accelerate their growth was launched in Accra yesterday.

Dubbed, “SME High Growth Programme,” it is being funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) with a target of 2,000 SMEs under the Economic Trans¬formation Project (GETP).

The programme is focused on providing beneficiary SMEs with technical assistance on business management capabilities and pro¬ductivity-enhancing improvements for improved business operating culture that will enhance competi¬tion and growth.

At a ceremony to launch the programme yesterday, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Ad¬jei, said the programme formed part of government’s efforts to promote private investments and firm growth in non-resource-based sectors.

She noted that selected SMEs would undergo generic training, capacity upgrades, and would be pro¬vided with grants that could enable business transformation and growth.

Women-owned businesses, en¬terprises using green technologies, youth-owned SMEs, and firms owned by Persons with Disability (PWDs), she noted, would be given special attention under the programme.

The Deputy Minister said the programme’s support was expected to culminate into job creation and job sustainability.

Further, Mrs Asiamah-Adjei noted that the support would transition the beneficiary SMEs into the next stage of growth, thereby improving their ability to increase sales and exports.

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, said the pro¬gramme was designed with the ob¬jective to boost the productivity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized firms with high potential for scaling up their operations, increasing sales and creating sustainable jobs.

She stated that the technical assistance component of the pro¬gramme was necessary to help the businesses take advantage of tech¬nology and other modern platforms to transform their businesses.

All interested applicants, she not¬ed, were required to visit the agency’s portal which was opened from now till February 22 this year for regis-tration.