Brazil will play Ghana in an international friendly in London next month, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

The five-time world champions will face the African heavyweights at Fulham's Craven Cottage on 5 September, the CBF announced. Brazil had originally arranged a 6 September date with Egypt which was cancelled for security issues.

FIFA World Cup™ quarter-finalists Ghana were to have met Nigeria at Watford near London last week but that match was called off following widespread rioting in the British capital.

Brazil coach Mano Menezes will unveil his squad for the rearranged match on Thursday. Since their Copa America quarter-final loss to Paraguay, 2014 FIFA World Cup hosts Brazil have followed up with a friendly loss to Germany.

Now, Menezes is trying to establish a winning formula as the five-times world champions prepare for further friendlies later in the year against Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico and Gabon.

Source AFP

Ronaldinho has been recalled to the Brazil squad to play Ghana in a friendly next month in London.

The attacking midfielder missed the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and has played only once for the national team since then.

Coach Mano Menezes has picked Ronaldinho in a 24-man squad for the 5 September match at Craven Cottage.

Real Madrid left-back Marcelo and FC Porto striker Hulk have also returned to the squad.

Also summoned into the team are Neymar, Paulo Henrique Ganso, Lucas and Robinho.

Ronaldinho last played for Brazil in November 2010 in a friendly against Argentina, which the 2014 World Cup hosts lost 1-0.

Ghana and Brazil announced next month's friendly on Wednesday.

Brazil squad:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, Italy), Jefferson (Botafogo), Fabio (Cruzeiro)

Defenders: Lucio (Inter Milan), Thiago Silva (AC Milan, Italy), Dedé (Vasco da Gama), David Luiz (Chelsea, England), Daniel Alves (Barcelona, Spain), Danilo (Santos), Marcelo (Real Madrid, Spain)

Midfielders: Adriano (Barcelona, Spain), Lucas Leiva (Liverpool, England), Luiz Gustavo (Bayern Munich, Germany), Ralf (Corinthians), Elias (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lucas (Sao Paulo)

Forwards: Ronaldinho (Flamengo), Robinho (AC Milan, Italy), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan, Italy), Hulk (Porto, Portugal), Leandro Damiao (Internacional) , Neymar (Santos)

Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Communications has ordered Globacom, a Nigerian telecommunication firm, to fully roll out its services in the country by September 15, this year, or face sanctions.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, in his remarks to open the 20th anniversary seminar of the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) in Accra last week, under the theme “The telecom industry in perspective: History, overview and contemporary challenges of the media in Ghana.”

This ultimatum to the telecom operator follows its inability to step up in the market with full operations since it was licensed to operate in Ghana about four years ago.

The minister said Ghana, as a country, has a teledensity of 80% telephony with six major operators and Globacom is one of the major operators with high speed data base “and it is about time we take the company on because they have the Ghanaian markets space waiting for too long.”

Iddrisu also mentioned that his ministry is working to push forward the Data Protection Legislation, which is currently before parliament, to protect the privacy of the communications industry.

Music duo, FOKN Bois made up of Wanlov the Kubolour and M3nsa has incurred the wrath of many, especially Nigerians, for their latest track Thank God We Are Not a Nigerians.

According several comments from social media, the lyrics of the song, recorded two weeks ago, is distasteful and insulting to Nigerians and must be banned immediately.

Part of the lyrics said: Kofi is a common name, that’s what even I say, But a Ghana man will never call a child Friday, Thank God we’re not Nigerians

You like school more than any African I’ve seen, Simple thirteen, you still say thirteen, Thank God we’re not a Nigerians…,

These and many more have opened the ‘flood gates’ of insults on several social media sites creating tension between the two brotherly nations.

But Wanlov the Kubolour, a member of the group has laughed off the attacks mounted on them saying there is nothing wrong with the song if only those bashing them know who they were.

Wanlov speaking in an interview with Myjoyonline.com said, “If people read deeply into the song, they will know what is really going on with the lyrics. First of all, we didn’t even tell one lie in the song.”

M3nsa’s wife, he disclosed “is Nigerian, so his daughter is also Nigeria. He is always eating eba [a lot of] Nigerian food; they have pounded yam and the rest. When am there that’s what I eat, I go to Lagos a lot, I have a lot of Nigerian friends and artistes. So we just did it in a certain jest.”

“If you are a Nigerian who knows FOKN Bois, then, you won’t be worried because you know that we love Nigeria more than the average Ghanaian. You have to know who we are to understand the song, if you just take the song as two people who are saying something then you will get angry, that one I can’t blame you.”

The words of the song, he stressed, are just for fun and if one pays close attention to it, the song is rather bashing Ghanaians stating, “Nigerians are very proud of their traditions, their accomplishments and so on and we look up to them. By us teasing them, we are really teasing ourselves, Ghanaians, because we wear more suits than the Nigerians.”

He said the song which was supposed to hype up fans ahead of the Ghana vs. Nigeria football match, scheduled for August 9 but was cancelled due to riots in London should be taken in good faith as there is nothing wrong with two 'brothers' teasing each other.

The song is part of several other ‘teasing’ songs on their yet to be released album, FOKN Wit U. The album is however expected to hit the market by close of year.

Wanlov and his Afro Gypsy band just returned to the country after what he tagged as a hugely successful European tour.

Ghana's economy, fastest-growing in the world - report

Ghana’s economic growth has been projected to be the fastest-growing in the world for the first half of 2011 by EconomyWatch.com.

According to a release by EconomyWatch.com, other countries which were selected among the 12 fastest-growing economies in the world were India, Angola, Iraq, Ethiopia, Mozambique, East Timor and Laos.

Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which at the time was estimated to be 20.146 per cent, was far ahead of the 14.337 per cent recorded by Qatar as the next fastest-growing country. Qatar was followed by Turkmenistan, which recorded 12.18 per cent; China, 9.901 per cent; and Liberia with 9.0 per cent.

EconomyWatch.com has a database of information from reputable sources, which it uses for analysis on economies and markets.

The organisation, which has a database of economic statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which tracks the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries across the world, puts Ghana’s nominal growth of 23 per cent in the first half ahead of many bigwigs in emerging economies, including China, Qatar, India, Angola and many others.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, reported on July 14, 2011, when he presented the Supplementary Budget Estimates to Parliament, that the year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter of 2011 showed a 23 per cent growth over that of the same period in 2010.

The provisional quarter-on-quarter estimates of the real GDP showed a growth of 21.4 per cent.

EconomyWatch.com used the nominal GDP growth figures (constant prices based on national currencies).

This impact of the growing economy includes the successful issuance of the GH¢300 million last Friday to fund major road projects, which was over-subscribed by GH¢184 million.

The government eventually accepted GH¢305 million of the bond subscription. This comes in the wake of the international investment community ranking Ghana the fourth best investment destination in Africa, riding on sound and stable economy and political climate.

Reacting to the assessment of Ghana’s economy by EconomyWatch.com, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning told the Daily Graphic that this year’s economic programme would consolidate the gains made last year and restore fiscal sustainability, as the deficits would be slashed from 6.8 per cent of the GDP in 2010 to 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2011.

Provisional figures for the first half of the year indicate that total revenues and grants were 9.3 per cent higher than the budget target for the period, with corresponding expenditures being 4.2 per cent higher than projected.

“This resulted in the achievement of a cash fiscal deficit equivalent to 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product,” the Finance Minister said, adding that the outturn meant a narrowing of the deficit during the first half of the year, compared to a deficit equivalent to 3.4 per cent of GDP for the first half of 2010.

Dr Duffuor said the performance of tax revenue for the first half, which amounted to GH¢4.2 billion or 7.4 per cent of GDP - an outturn which is 20.6 per cent above the targeted - indicated a strong growth in revenues, especially from customs.

He said although expenditures for the first half were also higher than targeted, the performance of revenues led to a lower than budgeted fiscal deficit, which would be monitored to ensure that the economy did not overly expand its fiscal position.


Story from myjoyonline.com News:
http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201108/70825.php

Published: 2011-08-10 13:16:42

© myjoyonline.com

Ghana’s economic growth has been projected to be the fastest-growing in the world for the first half of 2011 by EconomyWatch.com.

According to a release by EconomyWatch.com, other countries which were selected among the 12 fastest-growing economies in the world were India, Angola, Iraq, Ethiopia, Mozambique, East Timor and Laos.

Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which at the time was estimated to be 20.146 per cent, was far ahead of the 14.337 per cent recorded by Qatar as the next fastest-growing country. Qatar was followed by Turkmenistan, which recorded 12.18 per cent; China, 9.901 per cent; and Liberia with 9.0 per cent.

EconomyWatch.com has a database of information from reputable sources, which it uses for analysis on economies and markets.

The organisation, which has a database of economic statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which tracks the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries across the world, puts Ghana’s nominal growth of 23 per cent in the first half ahead of many bigwigs in emerging economies, including China, Qatar, India, Angola and many others.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, reported on July 14, 2011, when he presented the Supplementary Budget Estimates to Parliament, that the year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter of 2011 showed a 23 per cent growth over that of the same period in 2010.

The provisional quarter-on-quarter estimates of the real GDP showed a growth of 21.4 per cent.

EconomyWatch.com used the nominal GDP growth figures (constant prices based on national currencies).

This impact of the growing economy includes the successful issuance of the GH¢300 million last Friday to fund major road projects, which was over-subscribed by GH¢184 million.

The government eventually accepted GH¢305 million of the bond subscription. This comes in the wake of the international investment community ranking Ghana the fourth best investment destination in Africa, riding on sound and stable economy and political climate.

Reacting to the assessment of Ghana’s economy by EconomyWatch.com, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning told the Daily Graphic that this year’s economic programme would consolidate the gains made last year and restore fiscal sustainability, as the deficits would be slashed from 6.8 per cent of the GDP in 2010 to 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2011.

Provisional figures for the first half of the year indicate that total revenues and grants were 9.3 per cent higher than the budget target for the period, with corresponding expenditures being 4.2 per cent higher than projected.

“This resulted in the achievement of a cash fiscal deficit equivalent to 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product,” the Finance Minister said, adding that the outturn meant a narrowing of the deficit during the first half of the year, compared to a deficit equivalent to 3.4 per cent of GDP for the first half of 2010.

Dr Duffuor said the performance of tax revenue for the first half, which amounted to GH¢4.2 billion or 7.4 per cent of GDP - an outturn which is 20.6 per cent above the targeted - indicated a strong growth in revenues, especially from customs.

He said although expenditures for the first half were also higher than targeted, the performance of revenues led to a lower than budgeted fiscal deficit, which would be monitored to ensure that the economy did not overly expand its fiscal position.


Story from myjoyonline.com News:
http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201108/70825.php

Published: 2011-08-10 13:16:42

© myjoyonline.com

If you think that China is the world's fastest growing economy, think again.

However, among the major (or large) economies, China does remain the fastest growing economy. But if you take smaller nations too in the list, China slips down the list.


1. Ghana: 20.146%


Many economists believe that Africa is the next boomtown. Several African nations are now growing at a rapid pace, trying to make lives better for their people. None more so than Ghana.

For quite a long time, Ghana received many an unflattering adjectives to describe its economy: 'worst managed', 'disastrous', etc. However, the small African nation has since then come a long way and is the world's fastest growing economy today.

Ghana's economy is growing at a blistering 20.15 per cent, says Economy Watch. It's a $23.4-billion economy.

Blessed with rich reserves of natural resources, Ghana has suddenly turned around and is now speeding along the growth path.

Ghana suffered the most due to the ineffective economic policies of past military governments, says Wikipedia, but the new government has managed to bring the country out of economic doldrums.

Economic reforms, political stability, low crime rate, and an overhaul of earlier policies have made the nation very attractive to foreign investors.

Ghana is oil-rich, has large gold and diamond deposits, and has a booming tourism industry.

Others are:

2. Qatar: 14.337%
3. Turkmenistan: 12.178%
4. China: 9.908%
5. Liberia: 9.003%
6. India: 8.43%
7. Angola: 8.251%
8. Iraq: 7.873%
9. Ethiopia: 7.663%
10. Mozambique: 7.548%

If you think that China is the world's fastest growing economy, think again.

However, among the major (or large) economies, China does remain the fastest growing economy. But if you take smaller nations too in the list, China slips down the list.


1. Ghana: 20.146%


Many economists believe that Africa is the next boomtown. Several African nations are now growing at a rapid pace, trying to make lives better for their people. None more so than Ghana.

For quite a long time, Ghana received many an unflattering adjectives to describe its economy: 'worst managed', 'disastrous', etc. However, the small African nation has since then come a long way and is the world's fastest growing economy today.

Ghana's economy is growing at a blistering 20.15 per cent, says Economy Watch. It's a $23.4-billion economy.

Blessed with rich reserves of natural resources, Ghana has suddenly turned around and is now speeding along the growth path.

Ghana suffered the most due to the ineffective economic policies of past military governments, says Wikipedia, but the new government has managed to bring the country out of economic doldrums.

Economic reforms, political stability, low crime rate, and an overhaul of earlier policies have made the nation very attractive to foreign investors.

Ghana is oil-rich, has large gold and diamond deposits, and has a booming tourism industry.

Others are:

2. Qatar: 14.337%
3. Turkmenistan: 12.178%
4. China: 9.908%
5. Liberia: 9.003%
6. India: 8.43%
7. Angola: 8.251%
8. Iraq: 7.873%
9. Ethiopia: 7.663%
10. Mozambique: 7.548%

Newsweek: Ghana 3rd best country to live in sub Saharan Africa

Ghana is the third best Sub-Saharan African country to live in terms of education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment, a Newsweek magazine ranking has said.

According to the magazine's first-ever Best Countries special issue, Ghana ranked 86th of 100 countries worldwide; 7th best in Africa, 3rd best in Sub-Saharan African and best in West Africa.

In an article entitled "The Best Countries in the World", Ghana was sandwiched between Algeria and Kenya, scoring 89th in health, 84th in quality of life, and 87th in economic dynamism, 92nd in education and a respectable 44th in political environment. Though Ghana may not have a stellar economy, its political environment is ranked the best among low-income countries like India

At position 67, Tunisia is the leading African country followed by Morocco, Egypt, Botswana, South Africa, Algeria and Ghana, in that order.

On the brink of its 50-year anniversary of independence, Nigeria was ranked 99th. Other African countries that featured in the list include Madagascar, Senegal, Mozambique, Zambia, Cameroon (#98) and Burkina Faso (#100) in that order.

The top 10 countries are Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Luxembourg, Norway, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, and Denmark. The USA is ranked 11th and Germany, which is Europe's largest economy is ranked 12th.

In its editorial Newsweek stated: "The list shows the best countries tend to be small, rich and safe. It also shows there are many plenty of ways to look at it."

Although no African country made it to the top ten, the continent can take solace that its countries appeared alongside the best in the world.

The top 25 from Newsweek’s ranking of the “best” 100 countries

1) Finland
2) Switzerland
3) Sweden
4) Australia
5) Luxembourg
6) Norway
7) Canada
Netherlands
9) Japan
10) Denmark
11) United States
12) Germany
13) New Zealand
14) United Kingdom
15) South Korea
16) France
17) Ireland
18) Austria
19) Belgium
20) Singapore
21) Spain
22) Israel
23) Italy
24) Slovenia
25) Czech Republic
Bottom three: Cameroon at #98, Nigeria at #99 and Burkina Faso at #100.

Ghana  is definately a good place to be right now,orderly,clean and safe.We have our own show on an Accra Fm station Vibe 91.9fm called 3609ja every sunday from 4-6pm for new arrivals like you where we network and discuss the welfare of Nigerians living in Ghana.
Where in the world would Nigerians be given air time on a local station to promote and network with their brothers from 9ja.We,ve been discussing a lot of topics from this forum and it's been prettiy healthy and the Ghanaians who call into the show have been very constructive unlike some of the comments we get in this forum.Ghana is cool if you are law abiding and you are definately welcome.