SIAKON MEDIA

Accra, Feb. 20, GNA - Fidelity Bank and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) are to collaborate to build capacity for journalists in banking and finance.

Mr Edward Effah, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, who announced this on Friday, said the Bank would participate in this year's GJA Journalists of the Year Awards scheduled for August 2010.    

He was speaking at the maiden GJA/Fidelity Bank Media Soiree in Accra on Friday.

Mr Effah noted that the media had made significant progress in educating the public about the banking sector, financial services and products, however, there should be more progress in this sector with the focus on business, wealth creation, entrepreneurship, banking and finance than over focusing on politics.

Mr Ransford Tetteh, National President of GJA observed that Ghana did not suffer greatly from the effects of the global downturn as experienced in most developed countries.

He said the interaction with the banking sector was an opportunity to reflect on the role of the sector in Ghana's economy, understand operations of the banks and the financial sector.

Mr Tetteh noted that with such an encounter, the media was expected to monitor activities in the sector in order that Ghana could not face crisis encountered in Europe and other developed countries.

Fidelity Bank operated for eight years as Fidelity Discount House limited, a wholesale money market broker from 1998 to 2006 and to provide enhanced range of products, the shareholders decided to convert its operations into a fully fledged bank.

The bank obtained a universal banking licence on June 28, 2006 from the Bank of Ghana and the bank was launched on October 6, 2006.

The bank began with a branch in 2006 and now has 17 branches throughout the country with 55,000 customers and planned to establish at least 25 branches nation-wide by the end of the year in Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale.

GNA

Accra, March 16, GNA - Africa Media and Democracy Conference (AMDMC), an Accra-based NGO, will host a conference under the theme "The Africa Media and Democracy Conference" in Accra.

Scheduled for August 18-20 this year, the conference would be attended by delegates from around the world including politicians, parliamentarians, media owners, broadcasters, print, online and community journalists, academics and members of NGOs.

In a statement to the GNA, Barima Adu-Asamoa, Director of AMDMC, said Africa had undergone traumatic experiences on all indexes of human development and still expected to demonstrate her ability to uphold democratic values.

"Much as one would expect an improved performance in terms of governance and in particular democratic values in Africa, it is fair to say that there are mitigating factors that ought to be placed in its historical context," he said.

Mr Adu-Asamoa said the impetus towards democratic governance and its implication for development in the 21st Century suggested that Africa must strenuously work towards peaceful and stable democratic governance for development.

"This demands that all stakeholders involved in the democratisation process have a responsibility to perform diligently and to uphold democratic values for the good of the citizenry," he said.     

The conference would not only engage discourses on democracy within academia but create a platform that would engage media practitioners, academicians, politicians and social commentators to discuss the role of the media in democratic process and governance.

It would examine the broad impact of the media on democracy, address the role of the media in the democratic processes with a focus on the critical concerns that arise from the practice by the media as it performs its legitimate role in the democratic process.

Mr John Mahama, Vice President has affirmed the commitment of the Ghanaian government towards deepening democratic governance and called on media professionals and academics to equally help sustain and enhance the growth of democracy in Africa, according to the statement.

Mr Mahama made the remark when the Executives of AMDMC led by Mr Adu-Asamoa called on him at the Castle Osu in Accra.

The Vice President welcomed Africa Democracy Conference as a laudable initiative that would make engaging contributions towards strengthening democratic governance in Africa.

He also noted the significance of the organization having its head office in Ghana and assured the delegation that his government would provide the necessary support to the organization in pursuit of its objectives.

GNA