About ten years ago I had heated debate with a casual friend on the economic prospects of our dear nation. His pessimism was frightening. He concluded without any equivocation that Ghana will forever remain poor. I must say, in return, he received a serious verbal dress down. As a constitutional optimist, I could hardly see eye to eye on the premise of his argument.

Accra -Ghana's government plans to use some of its World Bank loans to fund a free sanitary pad program for young girls in poor rural communities to reduce dropout rates.

On 17th July 2014, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Ms. Sun Baohong paid a courtesy call on the First Lady of Ghana, Mrs Lordina Mahama, and had a friendly talk with Her Excellency on China-Ghana relations, and other issues of common concern.

The Association of Africa Election Authorities (AAEA) is meeting in Accra to share experiences of member countries on the use of biometric technology in election management. The meeting is a platform for member countries to share their problems and how they were resolved. The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, says the biometric technology alone cannot address the challenges of any electoral system.

Accra -THE Chief of the Victoria Falls Region in Zambia, Chief Munokalya Mukuni, is in Ghana for a four- day official visit to explore investment opportunities in the tourism sector.

Accra -GHANA's Minerals Commission pledged its commitment to help skilled job seekers become self employed in this sector hit by massive job-cuts.

Accra -THE Supreme Court has given the Bank of Ghana (BoG) a fortnight to submit its statement of case, in the suit filed against it by a renowned private legal practitioner, Dr John Ephraim Baiden, on the continuous depreciation of the cedi.

Parliament has approved by consensus the nomination of some eleven persons appointed by President Mahama for various ministerial positions.

The Minister for Communication, Dr Omane Boamah, has assured staff of the former Ministry of Information and Media Relations that none of them would lose their job due to the change of the name of the Ministry to the Ministry of Communication.

Accra -GHANA'S mobile subscriber base has grown by more than 1 percent between April and May.

Accra -PENPLUSBYTES, a leading civil society organization, is partnering the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) to develop a digital platform that would ensure transparency oil and gas sector.

Accra -PRICEWATERHOUSE-COOPERS (PwC), a leading multinational professional services network says inflows from cocoa syndicated and Eurobond loans, estimated at US$3billion, would do little to ease the pressure on the cedi (Ghana currency).