Ukraine's cities quiet as Kremlin-sponsored ceasefire kicks in
A three-day ceasefire declared by Russia came into effect on Thursday morning with skies over Ukraine's major cities quiet in a change from successive nights of heavy attacks by Russian drones and ballistic missiles.
However, a Ukrainian military spokesperson told Reuters Russian troops had continued assaults in several areas on the eastern front. The air force said Russian aircraft had launched guided bombs on the Sumy region of northern Ukraine three times.
But the air force also said there had been no Russian missiles or drones in Ukrainian airspace since the Kremlin-sponsored ceasefire kicked in. There was no word on damage and Reuters could not independently verify the reports of attacks.
The Russian ceasefire, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the World War 2 defeat of Nazi Germany, went into effect at midnight Moscow time (9pm GMT).
As part of the anniversary events, Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders in Moscow and will review a military parade on Moscow's Red Square on May 9.
Ukraine has not committed to abide by the Kremlin's ceasefire, calling it a ruse by Putin to create the impression he wants to end the war, which began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Putin says he is committed to achieving peace.
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Daily Maverick
2 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
‘One worker does the job of 62' – the hard truth lesson for Ghana on human capital reform
The worker-to-output gap can be narrowed. But only if we first build systems that close the skills-to-opportunity gap. Let's train for the jobs we want, make the skills that pay and move from potential to performance. Not long ago, I met an executive of a steel company based in Ghana. He'd just returned from a visit to a couple of factories in China. 'In one of these places, one worker,' he told me, shaking his head, 'does the work of 62 of my workers in a day.' The shock wasn't just in the numbers; it was also in the revelation that his Ghanaian plant had more modern equipment than he encountered on the tour. To add insult to injury, the situation, although less jarring in another factory, was similar; this time, the comparison was with about 40 workers. The difference wasn't tools or technology. It was about systems, skills and the structures that shape how people work. This is the crisis at the heart of Ghana's development challenge. We talk about jobs. We talk about youth. But we avoid the hard truth: we are underperforming not because we lack potential, but because we consistently underinvest in our people and the systems that enable their productivity. When skills, discipline and incentives are misaligned with economic needs, even the best technology gathers dust. Productivity is not just about effort; it's about structure, strategy and support. If Ghana is serious about transforming into a productive, resilient and job-creating nation, as President John Mahama laid out in his 2025 State of the Nation Address, then we must bet big on our people. Not in theory, in practice. We cannot build a 21st-century economy on a 20th-century workforce preparation. Human capital reform must become a national economic strategy, not a donor-driven project or policy footnote. Thankfully, there is no shortage of models to learn from. Over the past 60 years, countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and, more recently, Rwanda and Mauritius have made deliberate choices to transform their populations into engines of economic productivity. Across the world, there is much to learn. Build education for jobs, not just exams When Japan rebuilt after World War 2, it didn't just focus on GDP; it focused on skills. It established Kosen schools, which were technical colleges that trained engineers, electricians, machinists and factory managers. Graduates didn't struggle to find work. They were already embedded in industry by the time they were done. South Korea, too, scaled technical training in tandem with industrial policy. When factories opened, skills followed. As new sectors emerged, curriculums changed. Singapore established its Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in collaboration with employers. It created SkillsFuture, a national programme that paid people to learn what the economy actually needed. The country's ascent from a resource-poor island to a global hub was driven mainly by Lee Kuan Yew's commitment to meritocratic education and strategic talent recruitment. Simultaneously, foreign professionals filled gaps in hi-tech industries. Programmes targeted both highly skilled immigrants and workers with portable skills. Singapore's quotas for foreign talent accelerated sectoral growth – a model Ghana could replicate in areas such as healthcare and engineering. Ghana has no shortage of educated people. However, there's a significant mismatch between what we teach and what employers actually need. Many school-leavers cannot find work, not because there are no jobs but because they aren't job-ready. It is estimated that more than one in six tertiary graduates and one in four secondary graduates in Ghana are out of work. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) remains a second-class option – underfunded, underrespected and unaligned with growth sectors such as agritech, construction, renewable energy and logistics. Ghana's recent educational reforms underscore the critical need for the development of technical skills. Initiatives like the National Education Consultative Forum have set the stage for aligning education with the modern demands of the workforce. Partnerships like Huawei's ICT Academies are instrumental in providing students with practical skills and certifications that enhance their employability and career prospects. By fostering such collaborations, Ghana can emulate successes elsewhere, where industry-education partnerships have significantly reduced youth unemployment. Involving employers in curriculum design is not a luxury; it's the fix. Make business co-investors in skilling In high-performing economies, businesses don't just hire skilled workers; they help create them. In Singapore, companies receive subsidies to upskill their workforce through the SkillsFuture programme. In South Korea, large conglomerates – chaebols – train workers as part of a long-term industrial strategy. In Japan, business federations work with government to forecast labour needs and co-design vocational tracks. Ghana, by contrast, lacks a national compact. Most firms, especially SMEs, which make up a significant portion of work, have little incentive to do so, and large firms often prefer to import skilled labour with no structure in place to train or transfer skills to locals. Meanwhile, more than 70% of Ghana's workforce is in the informal sector, where access to quality training is nearly nonexistent. Ghana needs a 'Train and Hire' Compact: a nationwide initiative that rewards firms for investing in local talent through tax incentives, wage subsidies and visibility. Digital job-matching platforms and modular, mobile-based training for informal workers can help bridge the gap between education and the workforce. We must also stop ignoring the informal economy. Hairdressers, welders, tailors and informal tech workers power much of Ghana's growth. Partnering with trade associations and mobile operators to deliver modular, mobile-based training, paired with flexible certification, can professionalise and scale this workforce, increasing their output and productivity. Rwanda and Kenya are already piloting such initiatives with measurable success. The private sector won't lead alone. But if the state de-risks investments and shares costs, firms will step up. It's not CSR. It's smart economics. Use diplomacy to build human capital Ghana has embassies in Japan, Korea and Singapore. These missions must broker skills partnerships, not just trade talks. They should pursue technical placements in Japan's Kosen network, linkages with Korea's ETRI and Singapore's A*STAR, and access to SkillsFuture programmes. If we are sending envoys abroad, they must return with tools, not just talking points. The goal is to leverage and capitalise on international relationships. Beyond our borders also lies an untapped reservoir of talent: the Ghanaian diaspora. With about 1 million citizens abroad, half of whom reside in OECD countries, this community boasts a high concentration of tertiary-educated professionals, particularly in the health and technical sectors. In 2023, remittances reached US$4.6-billion, accounting for about 6% of Ghana's GDP. Their impact can go beyond money. Engaging this skilled diaspora through targeted initiatives could accelerate our human capital development and bridge critical gaps in our workforce. Professors abroad can deliver virtual or in-person training. Health professionals from Cuba to Switzerland can share practices. Tech professionals in Silicon Valley and Dublin can serve as formal mentors to start-ups. Launching a 'Digital Ambassadors' initiative, with tax incentives for diaspora-led masterclasses or mentoring, could yield major gains. Turning knowledge into national power Japan didn't become a tech leader by accident. It built the Japan Science and Technology Agency. Korea has ETRI. Singapore consistently invests 1%-2% of its GDP in research and innovation. Ghana? Less than 0.4%, most of it tied up in bureaucracy. If we want innovation, we need to fund it. We must fund applied research in agriculture, health and energy. Universities need partnerships with businesses. Innovation hubs should solve real problems – like farm productivity, water access, and small business logistics – not just launch apps. We must also expand rural broadband, train teachers in digital literacy and collaborate with global EdTech firms, among other initiatives. Talent exists. Access must catch up. Stanford's Eric Hanushek found that education quality, not quantity, explains most long-term growth. It is not how many years kids spend in school but what they learn. Heeding this would help us make smarter policy choices, not populist ones. Don't leave people behind It must also be said that most human capital strategies fail because they assume a level playing field. Access to education, internet and training in Ghana is deeply unequal by region, gender, income and (dis)ability. Girls in rural areas are more likely to drop out early. Persons with disability face systemic exclusion. Children of farmers are often several years behind their urban peers by the time they hit secondary school. The challenge isn't ignorance; it's inertia, a lack of systemic coordination and a culture of tokenism in decision-making spaces where those most affected are rarely ever at the table. And too many people stay quiet in policy rooms, worried about ruffling feathers or offending political loyalties. Education equity isn't charity. It's strategy. And it pays dividends. The bottom line Productivity isn't a miracle. It's the result of policy choices. Others have made them, and we have a plethora of outcomes to inform our own. The lesson is not that Ghana has to replicate mindlessly what some country did; it is that we cannot afford to ignore those who have had success, why they achieved it and what we can learn from that experience. That's the benefit of having others 'go ahead.' The steel executive's words still echo: 'One worker there does the work of 62 of my workers in a day.' That gap isn't solely about effort. It's about systems, skill-building efforts and priorities that overlook the engine of real growth — the people. Eric Hanushek's research confirms that what people learn, more than how long they learn, determines national growth. Ghana cannot afford to invest in education that doesn't translate into employable skills. It cannot fill classrooms at the expense of quality. It cannot fund training programmes without demanding results. And it cannot promise jobs while leaving human potential untapped. If we continue to sideline human capital, President Mahama's vision will remain just that — a vision. But it doesn't have to. The worker-to-output gap can be narrowed. But only if we first build systems that close the skills-to-opportunity gap. Let's train for the jobs we want, make the skills that pay and move from potential to performance. That means realising that the smartest investment we can make is not solely in concrete but in capacity, too. If we don't start now, we will continue to watch the world move on, while Ghana continues to ask why one foreign worker can do what 61 of ours cannot. We need to make different choices.
TimesLIVE
4 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
US travel ban will not hinder Los Angeles Olympics, says LA28 CEO
US President Donald Trump's directive banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the US exempts athletes, and LA28 officials said on Thursday they were confident the Olympic Games have the full backing of the administration. Trump signed the proclamation on Wednesday as part of an immigration crackdown he said was needed to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats. "The important thing for us is the federal government and the administration recognised the importance of the Olympics," LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover told Reuters on Thursday. "There is a carve-out in the order in the travel ban that allows for and assures there will be access to the Games for the athletes and their families and officials. We will be able to have a wide-open Games." The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Daily Maverick
4 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Russia faces struggle to replace bombers lost in Ukrainian drone strikes
By Mark Trevelyan and Tom Balmforth Satellite photos of airfields in Siberia and Russia's far north show extensive damage from the attacks, with several aircraft completely burnt out, although there are conflicting versions of the total number destroyed or damaged. The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit – around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy – and around 10 were destroyed, two U.S. officials told Reuters. The Russian government on Thursday denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, accusing commanders of negligence. The strikes – prepared over 18 months in a Ukrainian intelligence operation dubbed 'Spider's Web', and conducted by drones that were smuggled close to the bases in trucks – dealt a powerful symbolic blow to a country that, throughout the Ukraine war, has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might. In practice, experts said, they will not seriously affect Russia's nuclear strike capability which is largely comprised of ground- and submarine-based missiles. However, the Tu-95MS Bear-H and Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers that were hit were part of a long-range aviation fleet that Russia has used throughout the war to fire conventional missiles at Ukrainian cities, defence plants, military bases, power infrastructure and other targets, said Justin Bronk, an aviation expert at the RUSI think tank in London. The same fleet had also been carrying out periodic patrol flights into the Arctic, North Atlantic and northern Pacific as a show of strength to deter Russia's Western adversaries. Bronk said that at the outset of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia was operating a fleet of 50-60 Bear-Hs and around 60 Backfires, alongside around 20 Tu-160M nuclear-capable Blackjack heavy bombers. He estimated that Russia has now lost more than 10% of the combined Bear-H and Backfire fleet, taking into account last weekend's attacks and the loss of several planes earlier in the war – one shot down and the others struck while on the ground. These losses 'will put major pressure on a key Russian force that was already operating at maximum capacity,' Bronk told Reuters. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. PROJECT DELAYS Replacing the planes will be challenging. Both the Bear H and the Backfire are aircraft that were designed in the Soviet era and have been out of production for decades, said Douglas Barrie, aerospace expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, although existing planes have been upgraded over the years. Barrie said that building new ones like-for-like was therefore very unlikely, and it was unclear whether Russia had any useable spare airframes of either type. Western sanctions against Russia have aimed to restrict the import of components such as microprocessors that are vital to avionics systems, although Moscow has so far been comparatively successful at finding alternative sources, Barrie added. Russia has been modernising its Blackjack bomber fleet, and Putin sent a pointed signal to the West last year by taking a 30-minute flight in one such aircraft and pronouncing it ready for service. But production of new Blackjacks is slow – one Russian military blogger this week put it at four per year – and Western experts say progress in developing Russia's next-generation PAK DA bomber has also been moving at a crawl. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) said in a report last month that Russia had signed a contract with manufacturer Tupolev in 2013 to build the PAK DA, but cited Russian media reports as saying state test flights are not scheduled until next year, with initial production to begin in 2027. While it would be logical for Russia to try to speed up its PAK DA plans, it may not have the capacity, said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the FAS. He said in a telephone interview that Russia is facing delays with a range of other big defence projects including its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. RUSI's Bronk was also sceptical of Moscow's chances of accelerating the timeline for the next-generation bomber. 'Russia will struggle to deliver the PAK DA programme at all in the coming five years, let alone accelerate it, due to budgetary shortfalls and materials and technology constraints on industry due to sanctions,' he said.
