Accra - The concern expressed by President Akufo-Addo about the impact of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on the safety and evacuation of Ghanaians dominates the headlines of Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed concern on the Russia-Ukraine crisis and also on oil prices. In that regard, he has urged students and other Ghanaians in Ukraine to seek help at government places of shelter.
The President said that was to ensure their temporary safety as the government “engages the authorities, our relevant diplomatic missions and our honorary consul on further measures.”
The government places of shelter include Ghana’s mission in that country, other buildings belonging to the government in that country, the diplomatic buildings of countries with whom Ghana has a bilateral agreement to fall on as safety place, properties belonging to ECOWAS and the African Union.
While President Akufo-Addo expressed concern about the potential loss of Ghanaian lives, he was equally frustrated by the effect of the conflict on global crude oil prices and its resultant effect on the economy of the country.
In a message conveyed on his behalf by the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, President Akufo-Addo said at a time when the world was dealing with rising energy prices and supply-demand imbalances in several precious metals and commodity markets, a steady supply of crude from Russia was crucial.
“This means that fuel prices in the country are contingent on the ongoing conflict and likely to negatively impact Ghanaians, who, for apparent reasons, are already facing spikes in fuel prices,” he added.
The newspaper says that Ghana's housing deficit has for the first time decreased, the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim has disclosed.
Prof Annim said the country had recorded a decrease in the national housing deficit which has dropped by 33 percentage points (over 1.8 million units).
Presenting the 2021 Population and Housing Census on Thursday, February 24, in Accra, Prof Annim said the decrease could be attributed to interventions in the housing sector by the government and private developers.
However, he said the findings by the Ghana Statistical Service did not consider the quality and affordability implications of the decrease.
"One area that has attracted a lot of policy concern is housing deficit. Since our independence in 1960, we have seen an upward trend in the housing deficit inching up over the last 50 year period from 1960 to 2010 from a figure 1 million to 2.8 million.
"For the first time, we've seen a reversal in the housing deficit by 33 percentage points, this points to possibly some of the interventions that are happening both from the governmental point of view and the private sector point of view,“ he said.
APA