Anders Samuelsen said this in an interview with Citi FM’s Director of News Programming, and Host of the award-winning Citi Breakfast Show, Bernard Avle, and Portia Sonia Adoley Gabor of TV3 in Denmark, ahead of the Danish Queen’s historic visit to Ghana.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IHvMlga7gtgAH3KWickaWHAV29Vuj3iz”]Denmark has earned global repute for its environmentally-friendly policies which have helped it maintain a ‘green’ outlook despite its industrial prowess, something other countries have tried and failed to achieve.

The Danish Minister believes that industrialization, whilst generally making the lives of the citizens better, will also result in more attention being given to the protection of the environment.

Ghana in particular has had challenges addressing environmental issues, with one of the recent fights being waged against illegal miming, which is destroying water bodies and forest reserves.

In the case of the illegal mining fight for instance, the perpetrators, who consider it a survival issue, appear unconcerned, and they are not perturbed about government’s decision to stop them with the excuse of saving the environment and water bodies from destruction.

Whilst admitting that transition to an industrialized nation might initially have challenges, the Danish Minister believes the eventual shift to a middle-class economy as a result, would be hugely beneficial to the population and would ensure that a lot more focus is given to the environment.

“When you get a middle class, you’ll have pressure to have a better environment. As long as people are very poor and only think about survival and getting to their next meal and take care of their kids, that is more important than the environment. When you move your population into being part of the middle class – what we’ve noticed in Denmark is, when we become richer, we become more focused on the environment,” he said.

“You have to lift your people out of poverty, have a well-functioning democracy, and then you’ll see that with education, you’’ lift your people out of poverty into the middle class and that’s what’s going on in Ghana at the moment.”

Free trade key to poverty eradication

Mr. Anders Samuelsen thus emphasized the importance of free trade in the eradication of poverty in developing countries like Ghana.

According to him, great strides have already been made to reduce world poverty in recent years on the back of limited restriction of trade between nations.

“Free trade is very important for small countries like Denmark, but I guess that goes for all countries around the world as well. What we’re seeing is a tremendous move away from a situation where we have 40% of the world’s population living below the level of not being able to support themselves according to the United Nations figures. In 25 years, we’ve been able to bring it down below 10 percent,” Anders Samuelsen said.

“We would not have been able to do this without free trade. We would have to keep focus on creating a situation where people keep getting educated, and that is the way forward. Of course, moving from aid to trade is difficult, but it’s the only way forward.”

The visit by Ghanaian journalists to Denmark

The 3-day press trip to Denmark for the four selected Ghanaian journalists, is in preparation for the visit of the Danish Queen to Ghana, on November 23 – 24, 2017.

The press trip from October 30 to November 2, 2017, comes with a comprehensive program, including a unique opportunity for a press conference with Her Majesty the Queen.

It will also include visits to businesses and cultural locations in Copenhagen and its surroundings.

Background

At the invitation of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Denmark’s Head of State, Her Majesty the Queen, will visit Ghana from 23 – 24 November on an official State Visit.

The State Visit will emphasize and consolidate the long-standing and well-established relations between Ghana and Denmark, while at the same time marking the gradual transition of the relations from aid to trade.

The Queen will be accompanied by a Danish business delegation within three focus sectors, namely food & agriculture, sustainability, maritime, infrastructure and railways.

Ghana and Denmark have enjoyed strong commercial ties over the years, and this visit by the Queen, is expected to strengthen those bonds.

The Danish Queen is expected to attend the opening of the conference and pay visits to several local business and cultural institutions.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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GMGI is an environmental advocacy group aimed at propagating the course of environmental consciousness and management among Ghanaians through advocacy while seeking common solutions to the country’s environmental challenges.

At GMGI, we believe that “change begins with the mind and the power to stop environmental depletion rests within the individual consumers”.

It is imperative therefore, that promoting environmental literacy among students is a stepping stone for solving the country’s environmental problems whiles protecting our valuable natural resources.

Our strategy is to create a pool of youth in schools and communities to act as change agents for environmental management.

GMGI charges students to educate their parents, peers, friends and families on the need to plant trees, avoid felling of trees in their homes, schools and forests in order to control the excessive emission of greenhouse gases that heat in the atmosphere and also to stop indiscriminate waste disposal.

To do this and ensure the sustainability of knowledge shared, we establish environmental clubs in schools across Northern Ghana. We charge the youth; either in school or not, at the primary, JHS, SHS and tertiary levels to be at the forefront of environmental issues and to improve the usage and management of natural resources in Northern Ghana.

As we commemorate the Earth Day on the theme “Environmental and Climate Literacy”, Green Minds Ghana Initiative is calling on people that climate change is real and it already having impacts on our natural resources and systems such as agriculture.

It is important to recognise and to intensify climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts across the country. “We urge all Ghanaians, especially the youth to inspire actions toward environmental protection.

We urge the government to help promote climate change adaptation and to advance policies towards respecting and protecting our environment from any form of indiscriminate behaviours from individuals and corporate organisations or countries”. In our own small ways, let us make this celebration a success by cutting back on

In our own small ways, let us make this celebration a success by cutting back on single-use plastics, recycling and planting at least a tree.     

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By: Green Minds Ghana Initiative, Wa-Ghana (

([email protected])

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This proposed council will assess technology-based ideas and proposals from deprived, but promising individuals and possibly offer state support.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wUgY6sl4MJQEtUbOlBSwOuWEriVFsxQg”]During his vetting for his nominated portfolio, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng recounted two individuals with potential, but no means, whom he had supported to realise their technological talents.

“We are suggesting to his excellency the President that we should have an advisory council on science and technology where people will serve on it, not on institutional bases, but as individuals from all sections of the society so that children like this one can come, bring ideas, we sort them out and then give them the opportunity to excel.”

One of these individuals, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng narrated, was a drop-out from the Kumasi technical Institute who had some prowess in electrical engineering.

This particular individual rode on further support from other individuals including, the Asantehene and the Dutch embassy, to work with a Dutch company specialising in solar energy.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s point was that the Ghana did not lack the talents but is in need of systems to harness the potential of some brilliant but needy persons who, more often than not, go unnoticed.

“The people are there and every day they come to me so we have to find a forum where we can address this that is why we have said, given the nod, we will set up a business development unit in the ministry so that we promote these things.”

“We need to build a critical mass and when we come above [this challenge], only the sky will be the limit. There are amazing things we can do in this country when we tap the resources, especially those not on the radar,” he said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Advisory Council needed to boost innovation, technology – Frimpong-Boateng appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.