Nana Ama Dokua (third left), Patricia Dovi Sampson (second right), Director at MOI in a pose with officials of UMB and Information Ministry
Government has launched the fifth edition of the National Policy Summit with a focus on scrutinizing the performance of some key State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
The two-day summit is held every quarter of the year and provides the platform to explain government policies, plans and activities to the citizenry and also receive feedback for policy refinement.
The National Policy Summit is a public-private initiative jointly sponsored by the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) and Information Ministry.
It’s designed to bring together policy-makers, business leaders, Industry players, academia and Civil Society Organisations, among others, to brainstorm on topical issues of national importance.
The launch of the summit comes a day after Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, disclosed that government was in the process of conducting an exercise in all state agencies to identify those that can issue bonds to finance capital expenditure.
Deputy Minister of Information, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, in a keynote address at the launch of the policy on Thursday, November 22, 2018 in Accra, said the fifth summit will focus on the performance of SoEs and agencies owned by the state under the theme, “Improving Performance in State Owned Enterprises & Agencies.”
It’s expected to be held at the Best Western Plus Atlantic Hotel, Takoradi on Sunday, December 9, 2018.
“The full programme comprising eight parallel sessions in the morning and afternoon will kick off on Monday, 10th December, 2018 at 9:00 am.
According to the minister, the summit would be held under the distinguished patronage of Mr Osafo Maafo, Senior Minister and would be addressed by Chief Executives/Heads of selected state organizations, including Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Accra Digital Centre, State Housing Corporation, Ghana Free Zones Board, Microfinance and Small Scale Loans Centre (MASLOC), Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) and the Committee on Illegal Mining.
She stated that Ghana’s oil sector and the role of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), support for digital innovation and entrepreneurship in Ghana, among others, would be discussed.
She added that “the 5th National Policy Summit, like other summits organized by our Ministry, is closely aligned with the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies: An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All and also the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) Goals 16 and 17.
The National Policy Summit started in 2017 under the theme, “Building Partnership for Growth and Jobs.”
The second edition focused on Trade and Industry and was on the theme, “the industrial transformation of Ghana.”
The third summit was themed, “Assessing the Growth, Jobs and Prosperity Agenda.”
In the case of the fourth National Policy Summit, which took place on 24th and 25th September 2018, the focus was on government’s flagship programmes.
By Melvin Tarlue