Donors support Ghana’s private sector

Donors have renewed their commitment to help the private sector grow in order to play its role effectively as a partner in Ghana’s economy, the Danish Minister for Development Assistance, Ulla Tornaes said on Wednesday.She was speaking at a photo exhibition mounted by five Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund beneficiaries in Accra. The fund helps small scale businesses to boost their production in Ghana. She said the fund would fold up by 2009. The second phase of the project would, however, run for another five years so that many more people would benefit.The occasion was also to afford the donors – US Agency for International Development (USAID), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and British Department for International Development (DFID) – to ascertain beneficiaries’ achievements and challenges in their day-to-day operation.The beneficiaries include the Sunyani Market Association that engages in variety of trading activities, Ghana Agricultural Input Dealers Association, which provides support to farmers in Ashanti Region and Sunbariwa Shea Butter Producers Association from the Upper West, which is engaged in the processing of sheanuts.Others are Spinnet Textiles and Garments Cluster in the Greater Accra region, Akpokpe Kente Weavers Association and Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) from the Ashanti region.Tornaes noted that there was room for further deepening of cooperation between development partners.

AU: Share power equally in Zimbabwe

African Union has pressed for an equal power sharing deal in Zimbabwe to save the country from plunging further into serious political and economic turmoil. The continental body wants the two largest political formations – Zanu PF and Movement for Democratic Change to break the stalemate now.Tanzania which currently holds chairmanship of the AU, said a rapid resolution of the power sharing deal should be agreed to bring normalcy to a country once a basket of Southern Africa.Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe said AU wants to see a 50-50 power-sharing deal aimed at giving powers to the incumbent Robert Mugabe and MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai.”There is a problem and we still hope the mediation will continue and we still hope wisdom will prevail. We would prefer a solution be arrived at immediately because of the escalating economic crisis,” Mr. Membe said.SADC mediator and South African President Thabo Mbeki have been widely criticized for failure to break the Zimbabwean deadlock and his sympathy for President Mugabe.The talks hit a snag after the SADC summit in South Africa because of differences on how to share executive power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who refused to sign an agreement two weeks ago that would have made him prime minister because it did not give him enough executive powers.Tsvangirai also revealed that MDC does not want positions only but power. He said he is going to be held accountable to the people if something happens in the future adding that he will not endorse something that does not reflect the will of the people.Meanwhile South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected in Harare on Thursday in his endeavors to break the deadlock on the power sharing talks.The negotiators from all the parties returned home after a short sojourn in South Africa where they had gone for the continuation of the power sharing talks. They returned home with nothing, a sign which political analysts say reflect that the talks have failed to resolve the crisis.

M-Net Face of Africa

Malawian girls are too short in height to feature in one of Africa`s top talent search shows according to media reports. The scouting session for the M-Net Face of Africa began on Wednesday but the contestants did not meet the specified minimum height of 1.72 metres and a maximum hip measurement of 96cm.The judges for the sessions said they were looking for an X factor which most of the contestants in Malawi did not have. “The X factor is something you cannot describe but we know it when we see it,” said judge Andiswa Manxiwa.By 12pm on Wednesday, about 50 girls had auditioned in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe but less than five had made it into the next round, a local newspaper Daily Times reported.After the sessions, 24 finalists will be selected to participate in a Model Boot camp which is to be held in Zanzibar, Tanzania where the top 10 will then be selected. The finalists will then head into this year’s glittering Face of Africa finale set to be screened live on DStv in over 40 countries across Africa. It will take place on November 29.Face of Africa is a pan-African talent search showcasing Africa’s beauty and style. The winner of the contest is expected to walk home with US$ 50,000 in cash. Apart from the cash, the winner is also expected to land herself a modeling contract with Oluchi’s O Model Africa Agency.Some of the countries participating include Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana and Malawi.