According to him, the involvement of private investors both domestic and foreign, can be a strong backbone.

This comes on the back of a promise made by President Nana Akufo-Addo to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by the end of his first term in office.

Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of brief press event to outdoor a six-member business delegation for the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) on Thursday, Mr. Vanderpuije, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, said the metropolitan assembly must involve investors in their projects and desist from solely depending on government for funds.

“Accra can be the cleanest city, but we have to infuse a level of investment to make it happen, we need to get private investment and private business people to partner with the city authorities be it Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tema and other cities. The time has come for our decentralization system to take a new level. I wish today we will be walking into level of our mayors and chief executives of our cities having the authority and power to engage investors so that they don’t have to go to the central government.”

Mr. Vanderpuije further advised government to prioritize infrastructural development in the country.

“We should also find a way to invest into some of our infrastructural needs, be it bridges, drains, roads and economic empowerment in our community,” he added.

In September 2016, the NBMBAA invited Mr. Vanderpuije to make a presentation at a conference in Philadelphia in the United States on Ghana’s business potential to members of the Association.

The business delegation, led by NBMBAA President and CEO, Dr. Jesse Tyson, is in Ghana to get first-hand knowledge about the business climate and to identify viable sectors for investment.

The six-member delegation currently in the country, is the outcome of the former Mayor’s sterling presentation on Ghana as a viable business environment.

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By: Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Selected from a total of 210 stories received from 13 countries across the continent, this longlist showcases some of the finest African writers and African children’s stories today. With four writers each, Ghana and South Africa are the four most represented nationalities on the longlist.

Other countries that had writers on the list were Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The longlist represents stories submitted to the Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books and the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books. No story from the Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers made it onto the 2014 longlist.

Speaking on the prizes’ evaluation and selection processes, the Prize Coordinator, Delali Kumapley commented, “stories submitted to the Golden Baobab Prizes go through an incredibly exhaustive evaluation process. We have a team of about thirty people from all over Africa and around the world that read and score each story. A winning story for the Golden Baobab Prizes gets evaluated at most six times by different readers. This year’s longlist represents a very strong crop of African writers.”

Now in its sixth year, the Golden Baobab Prizes inspire the creation of enthralling African children’s stories by African writers. To date, the prizes have received nearly 2000 stories from all over Africa.

In 2013, to increase its support of the African children’s literature industry, the organization, Golden Baobab, introduced the brand new the Golden Baobab Prizes for African Illustrators. This prize will complement Golden Baobab’s efforts in literature by discovering and celebrating Africa’s most exciting artists and illustrators who are creating images to tell stories to children.

According to the Executive Director for Golden Baobab, Deborah Ahenkorah, “Golden Baobab is dedicated to the mission of championing the finest African stories for children and celebrating the people who create these stories. In 2014, we dedicated $20,000 to our prizes alone. We hope to do even more. We are wildly encouraged by the promise we see in the 2014 longlist.”

The shortlist for the Golden Baobab Prizes for African literature will be announced on 30^th October, 2014.  The winners for the Golden Baobab Prizes for Literature as well as the winners of Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrators will be announced on 13^th November, 2014.

Below are the titles and writers on the 2014 longlist:

Early Chapter Book Prize

Ricky Dankwa Ansong (Ghana) – Kweku Ananse: The Tale of the Wolf and the Moon

Jayne Bauling (South Africa) – The Saturday Dress

Mamle Wolo (Ghana) – Flying through Water

Mary Okon Ononokpono (Nigeria) – Talulah the Time Traveller

Bontle Senne (South Africa) – The Monster at Midnight

Hillary Molenje Namunyu (Kenya) – Teddy Mapesa and the Missing Cash

Dina Mousa (Egypt) – The Sunbird and Fatuma

Picture Book Prize

Katherine Graham (South Africa) – The Lemon Tree

Aleya Kassam (Kenya) – The Jacaranda Tree

Kwame Aidoo (Ghana) – The Tale of Busy Body Bee

Mandy Collins (South Africa) – There is a Hyena in my Kitchen

Mike Mware (Zimbabwe) – The Big Ball

Shaleen Keshavjee-Gulam (Kenya) – Malaika’s Magical Kiosk

Portia Dery (Ghana) – Grandma’s List

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Source: goldenbaobab.org

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