Ghana Financial News

Uzbekistan and Oman in the US next month. The USMNT will take on the White Wolves of Uzbekistan on September 9 in St. Louis and Oman’s Gulf Samba three days later in Minnesota. They will meet Ghana and Germany in October.

Central banks in Ghana and Eswatini have made progress from introducing CBDCs to their countries, and have seen benefits emerge. CBDC usage has proved cost-efficient, convenient, and more secure than other digital payment methods. With the intention of prompting more of the 1.4 billion unbanked population engage in the digital economy, these initiatives have seen key developments and could pave the way for new markets and networks in the global digital payments sector.

Web3 game development company QORPO says there are significant shortcomings in the play-to-earn space — and a drastically different approach is needed to create games that retain users and achieve sustainable tokenomics.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC (TAQA) is looking to double down in India and is evaluating a large exposure in the expansive power businesses of Gautam Adani that span thermal generation to transmission, clean energy and green hydrogen, said people aware of the matter. TAQA, among the largest integrated utilities in Europe, West Asia and Africa and also the second largest stock on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), is keen to deploy $1.5-2.5 billion in Adani Group firms or in a single entity, said the sources mentioned above.

Mastercard is forming a partnership program with seven prominent blockchain and payment technology providers to “bring a greater understanding of the benefits and limitations” of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), it announced Aug. 17. 

In my youth, amid Ghana’s cocoa farms, I walked with my grandfather, a soldier turned farmer. He shared how these beans fueled our nation’s pride and economy. As the digital age unfurls, I often wonder: Could the modern marvel of crypto tokenization be the change my grandfather and countless cocoa farmers need?

Global South, are quietly revising them. The Global South sees a chance to chart its own future. Nirupama Menon Rao, a former Indian foreign secretary, points to her country’s spreading of digital payments to developing nations.

Switzerland rejected 13.2 per cent of all visa applications filed by Indian nationals in 2022, Schengen Statics showed. The same data also showed that 106,025 applications filed by Indians received a positive response. Indians are listed as the 30th nationality in the list of those with rejection rates. Nationalities whose visa applications were rejected the most include Pakistani, Ghanaian, and Congolese nationals. The rejection rates of Pakistani nationals were the highest – 55.1 per cent, showing that more than half of applications for visas got rejected. Ghanaians and Congolese had a rejection rate of 46.5 and 41.5 per cent respectively, while the other nationalities in top 5 included Algerians and Argentinians with 39.9 and 35 per cent rejection rates, respectively. Recently, in an article SchengenVisaInfo.com said that the Swiss embassy in New Delhi has declared its temporary suspension of Schengen visa applications for Indian tour groups until October. Clarifying the same, Swiss embassy in Delhi issued a statement saying that it has not suspended Schengen visa appointments for Indian tour groups and has almost 800 daily appointments through the end of September 2023. The mission asserted that people-to-people contact is at the core of Swiss-Indian relationship.

Emtech Solutions has raised $4 million as a part of a fresh funding round led by Matrix Partners India. The round also saw participation by global investors, including BTN, VestedWorld, Equity Alliance and Lofty Inc. The US-based company said it would use the fresh funds to continue developing its products and infrastructure stack.

The Fed and ECB both lifted borrowing costs by a quarter of a percentage point while keeping options open for their next meetings in September. In Japan, the central bank made a surprise decision to loosen its yield curve control policy — a pillar of its effort to suppress interest rates and stimulate the economy. That stoked speculation of more drastic changes to the country’s ultra-low borrowing costs.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). From India, Akshay Makar has been shortlisted under SDG13 Climate Action, Soumya Dabriwal SDG 5 Gender Equality, Kaushal Shetty SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Shrutika Silswal SDG 4 Quality Education. «Each year, I am always amazed by the innovative and transformative work these young people are undertaking to create a better world for us all,» Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General.

Gold miner Perseus could pay bonus shareholder returns next month after smashing full-year production targets, almost doubling its cash reserves and deferring one of its major spending options because of an African civil war.

Nigerian social payments platform Bundle plans to cease its crypto exchange services and instead focus on its peer-to-peer platform Cashlink. 

Nigerian social payments app, Bundle announced on July 20 that it is shutting down its crypto exchange arm. 

Former Twitter employees in Ghana, who were laid off in November, have been left without severance pay and have not heard from the company for three months, sources told CNBC.

Gandhinagar: Most G20 member countries believe that a one-size-fits-all approach to debt restructuring may not be feasible for all vulnerable nations, considering the differing circumstances of low- and middle-income countries, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions said on Sunday. “There’s a need for distinct debt restructuring strategy for every low- and middle- income country," the person said seeking anonymity. In June, Zambia struck a deal to restructure a $6.3 billion debt owed to various governments, including China, raising hopes of similar deals for other vulnerable nations awaiting relief for several years.

The latest episode of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast delves into how blockchain technology is changing how young Africans interact with each other. Joining host Elisha Owusu Akyaw for the conversation is Eric Annan, the CEO of Aya, a platform that uses blockchain technology to provide training and connect Africans to the job market. 

Despite a «wild year» of scandal and failure in 2022 when the FTX exchange and a number of crypto dealers collapsed, Peter Smith, chief executive of London-based Blockchain.com, told the Qatar Economic Forum that there is now «real growth» in the crypto community. Smith, who said nearly a decade as head of Blockchain.com had left him with «no nerve endings», told how other countries were taking advantage of the void left by the US where some regulators were «openly negative about crypto». While some US legislators want to see rules for a cryptocurrency market, regulators there have taken a tough line because of fears of money laundering and scams such as the FTX collapse. Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried is due to go on trial in New York in October.

Nigeria’s eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) is over a year old, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has a late birthday present for it, in the form of a working paper assessing its first year of performance. “Laudable,” said IMF researchers, but there were a few suggestions too.

Nigerian crypto exchange Roqqu has been granted regulatory approval to operate in South Africa, allowing users to purchase cryptocurrencies and withdraw funds with the country's fiat currency, the South African Rand, according to local media reports.  

Leaders of several global financial bodies warned that rising interest rates are increasing pressure on low-income developing countries, around 60% of which are now in or at high risk of debt distress.