ACCRA – Asma’u Bawa interviewed him live on television, where he explained the purpose of his visit and offered suggestions on how to improve journalism and the society as a whole.

From Hijira TV, Alhaji Aliyu Mustapha Sokoto’s team went to Marhaba 99.3 FM. Alhaji Aliyu also spoke to the station’s chairman, Alhaji Baba Shariff, about the progress of the radio program and how VOA is supporting the station and its programs on the station as well as its efforts to improve the relationship between VOA and Marhaba.

In the interview with Alhaji Mustapha Sokoto on Marhaba 99.3 MHz, Alhaji Baba Sharif’s shows his appreciation with excitement of the meeting where their conversation reached to the goals and agenda of voa Hausa.

Finally, the audience was given the opportunity to express their appreciation for the visit of the head of Voice of America (VOA)Hausa.

He has since traveled to Kumasi, Ashanti Region, to the Northern Region, where he returned to Accra to meet with Hausa rulers, Sheikh Dr. Usman Sharubutu, and bid farewell to the people of Ghana.

Listen to the full report in audio:

The Government of Ghana and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will hold a two-day retreat to arrange IFC’s medium term strategy. This term strategy is set to prioritize areas mentioned in the GHs 100billion Ghana Coronavirus Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises support (CARES) obaatanpa programme. The aim of the Ghana CARES obaatanpa programme is to reduce the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to improve and sustain the country’s economy for the next 3years; therefore participants will consent on IFC priorities. The workshop which holds on the 9^th to 10^th of June will discuss government’s plan for private sector development as well as unseal long-term growth capital to hold up Ghanaian micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSME). The IFC team will be led by Sergio Pimenta; IFC’s Vice President for Middle East and Africa along with Hon. Ken Ofori Atta; Finance Minister controlling the government team. Also scheduled to be present are the Ministers for Trade & Industry, Food & Agriculture, Communication & Digitalization and Works & Housing as well as private sector representatives such as the Bank of Ghana, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM) are also programmed to participate. Areas for critical analysis during the workshop will include Agriculture and Agri-business, Affordable housing, Infrastructure financing and development, Entrepreneurship, Manufacturing and Digitalization.

Three candidates who  represented the Ghana branch of King Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema – in the virtual Quranic memorization and psalmody competition – held virtually a few weeks ago, have been presented with cash prizes to the tune of $ 6000 (dollars) – at a brief ceremony at the foundation’s office in Accra.   The candidates received $2000 (dollars) each as motivational prizes for proficiency in memorization, adhering to the rules of recitation of the Holy Quran, and displaying remarkable competitive spirit among their peers across Africa.  The King Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema, which is an umbrella grouping of African Islamic scholars from 34 countries was formed in 2015 to pool and coordinate the efforts, knowledge and experiences of African Muslim scholars around the principles of common religious grounds – to promote interfaith dialogue and tolerance of other’s beliefs among other objectives.

As part of the activities of the foundation, it runs annual Quranic memorization competition at the various branches which culminates into a grand finale.  Travel restrictions and the social distancing protocol owing to Covid-19 pandemic compelled the organizers to opt for an unprecedented virtual alternative of the event – which was initially scheduled to be held in Libreville, Gabon.  Ghana displayed an unprecedented performance by outcompeting other countries to be among the first nine best in all the three categories of the virtual contest. 

 In a brief remarks before presenting the prize to Umar Issa, the candidate who came up 5th in the “ WARASH” recitation method, the President of the Ghana branch of the foundation, Shiekh Mustapha Ibrahim congratulated the candidates and commended them for raising Ghana’s name high.  He observed that even though, Ghana is not known as an internationally competitive country in Quranic memorization, the remarkable performance of these candidates showed signs of a promising future for the youth in various Quranic memorization study circles through the country.  He however, cautioned them not to rest on these laurels but rather work harder to achieve greater heights in subsequent contests.    Shiekh Mustapha also advised them to augment their knowledge of the Holy Quran by seeking other areas of Islamic knowledge in order to consolidate their knowledge base for bigger roles as future Islamic scholars.  The General Secretary of the Foundation, Shiekh Usman Bari, who presented the cash prize to Hamza Khalil Tamim, who came up 6th in the mix Quranic recitation method, also commended the contestants for making Ghana proud by standing tall amongst their peers across the continent. He thanked the contestants’ parents and teachers for their efforts and sacrifice – while urging the prize winners to be obedient by adhering to the Islamic teachings through which they are being molded.  Presenting the prize to Abdul Mou’min Abdallah who came up 9th in the 5 Ahzaab (thematic parts) of the Quran competition, the foundation’s Director of Administration, Shiekh Munir Abdallah Tawfiq congratulated the contestants and particularly commended Abdul Moumin Abdallah, the youngest Ghanaian contestant – who drew commendation from the panel of judges due to the quality of his recitation – despite his young age  – relative to other contestants, and reminded him that there is a brighter future ahead of him if he works harder.   Finally , the organizing  committee intimated that’s plans are far advance to come up with another event at a ceremony to be held in Dakar, Senegal later this month, where  the overall  winner of the first position will receive a cash prize of $6000, with the second prize taking home $5000, whereas the third prize bags home $4000.