'It's Africa's Time' focuses on Ghana, South Africa

14 Mar 2013

In Episode 6, 'It's Africa's Time' travels to Ghana and South Africa, to visit interventions that are uplifting the standard of living for local communities, advancing the development agenda of these countries and contributing significantly towards the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

'It's Africa's Time' focuses on Ghana, South Africa

In Bolgatanga, in the upper east part of Ghana, lack of access to electricity is a major obstacle to the region's socio economic development. Citi Group has provided loan funding to the government of Ghana for its rural Self Help Electrification Program known as SHEP IV.

"The idea was that by 2020 we should get at least 80% of our population onto the national grid. The aim is that we would increase socio economic development in these areas. We expect improvements in the standard of living of the people, water supply, education, health. We have achieved it ahead of time and we believe that by 2020 will almost have universal access" says Emmanuel Osaf, director of Power, Ministry of Energy in Ghana.

The Royal Bafokeng Nation, a community within in the Rustenburg Valley of South Africa's North West Province, emphasizes education are part of a broader plan to make the Nation's society and economy more self-sustainable.

"As a child-centered community that views learning as a lifelong activity, the Bafokeng Nation places a very high value on education. Learning that is active, collaborative, and geared to each child's abilities is at the heart of our educational philosophy. Lebone II aims to foster intellectual curiosity, problem solving, ethical decision-making, and creativity in every one of its learners. We see our graduates entering higher education equipped with a strong sense of self, purpose and responsibility", comments King Kgosi Leruo.

With agriculture as the backbone of Ghana's economy, the Ghana Grains Partnership (GPP), initiated by Yara in 2008, plays an essential role in strengthening the market through improved infrastructure, closer collaboration and improved efficiency throughout the grain value chain.

The emphasis is on food crop production, especially maize. Farmers who join the program organise themselves in the Farmers' Association "Masara N'Arziki", which includes a number of benefits, including credit for inputs, guaranteed purchase price for outputs, quality extension services and training. Yield levels have steadily been rising, and the association in 2012 was Ghana's biggest maize producer with 8 300 farmers on 11 600 hectares of land.

"Agriculture is the number contributor to our economic development...We want to really promote maize, rice and soya beans as our three main food security crops. The Ghana Grains Partnership is a wonderful model for our agricultural development" adds Emmanuel Ansante-Krober, director of Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Ghana.

Catch 'It's Africa's Time' on Monday, 18 March at 7.30am on CNBC Africa, DStv Channel 410, with repeats on Friday, 22 March at 9pm and Saturday, 23 March at 10am CAT.