
Ghana's Economy Grows 5.3% as Slump in Cocoa, Gold Sectors End
Ghana's economy expanded at the fastest pace since the third quarter of last year, propelled by its gold mining and agriculture sectors.
Gross domestic product expanded an annual 5.3% in the three months through March, compared with 3.6% in the prior quarter, Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu told reporters in the capital, Accra, on Wednesday.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
UK and NATO allies agree to boost spending on defence and related areas to 5% of GDP by 2035
The UK and its NATO allies have agreed to increase spending on defence and related areas to 5% of GDP by 2035, two diplomatic sources with knowledge of the deal have told Sky News. Ambassadors of all 32 alliance member states signed off on the new spending pledge ahead of a major summit of leaders, including Donald Trump, this week, they said. The boost - up from a current goal of 2% of GDP - is as much about keeping the US president onside as it is about responding to what is regarded by the allies as a growing threat from Vladimir Putin and the challenge posed by China. The target will be formally rubber stamped when the heads of state and government meet in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ambitious spending goal - secured following a huge amount of persuasion by Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general - is broken down into 3.5% of GDP spent on pure defence and 1.5% of GDP spence on related areas, which can include infrastructure and cyber security. Spain had been the last to agree. The UK had also been slow to sign up but is understood to have been pushing for the 2035 timeframe, which would mean it is pushed beyond the next parliament. Sir Keir Starmer has said he has an ambition to increase UK defence spending to 3% of GDP from 2.3% by 2034. The new 5% spending goal is the kind of level of defence spending invested by NATO allies during the Cold War.

Wall Street Journal
2 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's Golden-Share Mistake
Last week brought us the Golden Share. No, that isn't a James Bond movie, or a detail from the Steele dossier, although the plot is as sinister. It's the Trump administration's first step to nationalize the steel industry. In exchange for approval of Nippon Steel's merger with U.S. Steel, the government receives a single preferred share, which includes voting rights and all sorts of control over U.S. Steel's ability to close factories, invest capital and relocate jobs outside the U.S. This 'Golden Share' is a bad idea. Nationalization is a fool's errand, a slippery slope to fascism's 'government controlling the means of production.' Don't do it.

Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Sierra Leone's President Bio to be the next ECOWAS chairman with region in turmoil
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio was chosen on Sunday to be the next chairman of the West African economic bloc, ECOWAS. The Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, was founded in 1975, and is facing challenges due to rising violence, member departures and economic disturbances. In a statement following Sunday's announcement, Bio promised to prioritize democracy, security cooperation, economic integration and institutional credibility. 'We are still confronting insecurity in the Sahel and coastal states, terrorism, political instability, illicit arms flow and transnational organized crimes continue to test the resilience of our nations and the effectiveness of our institutions,' he said. Bio is currently serving his second term as president after a contested election two years ago in the coastal West African country. He was president when ECOWAS imposed severe sanctions on Niger following a coup two years ago. Niger cited the sanctions as one of the reasons for leaving the bloc. Sierra Leone was one of the countries that supported a military intervention in the country in 2023. At home, Bio is facing an ongoing synthetic drug crisis and a stagnating economy. Bio's new position comes as the region faces its most severe crisis in decades with jihadist forces controlling vast swaths of the Sahel, a semi-arid region south of the Sahara. In the past few years, ECOWAS has struggled with the departure of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger which have all faced military coups. All three juntas left the bloc, and created their own security partnership, the Alliance of Sahel States. They have cut ties with the traditional Western allies, ousting French and American military forces, and instead sought new security ties with Russia. The three countries have been the hardest hit by jihadist violence in recent years.