Latest news with #Ghanaian
Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Africa's largest gold producer to hedge prices as reserves hit $11.1 billion
Ghana is developing a plan to hedge its gold exports in a bid to safeguard the earnings that have strengthened its central bank's foreign reserves. Ghana plans to hedge its gold exports to stabilize revenue, strengthening its international reserves. The Bank of Ghana reports a rise in gold reserves to 32.99 tonnes as of June 2025, with significant annual export growth. Improved trade surpluses and fiscal policies have strengthened the Ghanaian cedi, making it a top-performing global currency in 2025. Ghana is developing a plan to hedge its gold exports in a bid to safeguard the earnings that have strengthened its central bank's foreign reserves, according to Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama. Speaking in Accra, Asiama noted that rising gold production and favourable prices have significantly boosted the country's gross international reserves, which now stand at $11.1 billion, enough to cover 4.8 months of imports. According to the Bank of Ghana, the country's gold reserves rose to 32.99 tonnes at the end of June 2025, up from 32.16 tonnes in May, reflecting a steady effort to build stronger foreign exchange buffers. Ghana's gold exports jumped 76% year-on-year to $5.2 billion in the first four months through April, helping to widen the country's trade surplus to $4.1 billion, up from $759 million in the same period last year, Bloomberg reported. This strong performance, combined with the government's ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts, has fueled a more than 40% rally in the cedi against the dollar in 2025, making it the second-best performing currency globally among those tracked by Bloomberg. Inflation has also eased, reaching a three-year low of 18.4% in May, down from 21.2% in April thanks to a stronger currency and reduced import costs. Regulatory framework for Crypto Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama also revealed that the country is finalizing a regulatory framework to oversee cryptocurrency activities. The move aims to bring digital asset platforms and exchanges under formal regulatory control, ensuring better oversight and investor protection. 'Crypto is here. The question is how do we manage it, not whether to ban it,' he said. ' The Bank is not anti-innovation. We only seek to ensure that digital financial products do not undermine confidence in the monetary system or facilitate illicit transactions.' With this move, Ghana is positioning itself among a small but growing number of African nations proactively tackling the regulation of digital currencies.
Fashion Network
5 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Zara launches Accra-inspired capsule with Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Zara, the global fashion giant under the Inditex umbrella, continues to bridge the gap between fashion and fine art. After partnering with Chinese textile artist Fanglu Lin, the brand now collaborates with Ghanaian painter Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe on a men's capsule collection inspired by his hometown of Accra. Together, Zara and Quaicoe have created a collection inspired by the natural elements and aesthetics of the artist's hometown, Accra. The pieces evoke the places, objects and people central to Quaicoe's artistic universe, expressed through a rich color palette where neutral earth tones meet vibrant hues. With prices ranging from €19.95 for a short-sleeved T-shirt featuring the artist's signature to €69.95 for a bomber jacket, the collection includes cotton trousers embroidered with floral motifs, shirts, Bermuda shorts, a cardigan, a sweater, and swimwear, all crafted from cotton, knit, and jacquard fabrics. The capsule also offers a wide range of accessories, including clogs, sandals, earrings, necklaces and a bandana. It is available on Zara's e-commerce platform and in selected stores. The Galician brand, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, operated a commercial network of 1,759 sales points, including both company-operated and franchised stores, as of the end of 2024. Financially, Zara, which reports combined results with home and décor brand Zara Home, recorded revenue of €27.78 billion in its latest fiscal year, a 6.6% increase compared to 2023. Since its founding, Zara has been part of Inditex's portfolio, which also includes Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Oysho, Zara Home and Lefties. The Inditex group, chaired by Marta Ortega, posted a 7.5% sales increase during the same period, reaching €38.63 billion in turnover. €1 = $1.16
Fashion Network
11 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Zara launches Accra-inspired capsule with Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Zara, the global fashion giant under the Inditex umbrella, continues to bridge the gap between fashion and fine art. After partnering with Chinese textile artist Fanglu Lin, the brand now collaborates with Ghanaian painter Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe on a men's capsule collection inspired by his hometown of Accra. Together, Zara and Quaicoe have created a collection inspired by the natural elements and aesthetics of the artist's hometown, Accra. The pieces evoke the places, objects and people central to Quaicoe's artistic universe, expressed through a rich color palette where neutral earth tones meet vibrant hues. With prices ranging from €19.95 for a short-sleeved T-shirt featuring the artist's signature to €69.95 for a bomber jacket, the collection includes cotton trousers embroidered with floral motifs, shirts, Bermuda shorts, a cardigan, a sweater, and swimwear, all crafted from cotton, knit, and jacquard fabrics. The capsule also offers a wide range of accessories, including clogs, sandals, earrings, necklaces and a bandana. It is available on Zara's e-commerce platform and in selected stores. The Galician brand, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, operated a commercial network of 1,759 sales points, including both company-operated and franchised stores, as of the end of 2024. Financially, Zara, which reports combined results with home and décor brand Zara Home, recorded revenue of €27.78 billion in its latest fiscal year, a 6.6% increase compared to 2023. Since its founding, Zara has been part of Inditex's portfolio, which also includes Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Oysho, Zara Home and Lefties. The Inditex group, chaired by Marta Ortega, posted a 7.5% sales increase during the same period, reaching €38.63 billion in turnover. €1 = $1.16
The South African
18 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
Timeline report: New Kaizer Chiefs kit unveiling
Kaizer Chiefs are gearing up to unveil their brand-new third kit ahead of the 2025/26 Betway Premiership season, adding to the excitement building around the club. Amakhosi's ongoing collaboration with Kappa has already produced two designs this season, which were met with divided opinions. Now, attention turns to the third release. Meanwhile, the club's Head of Commercial and Marketing, Jessica Motaung, has shared insight into when supporters can expect to see the new kits in action. Kaizer Chiefs to make a big announcement The Kaizer Chiefs home jerseys for the 2022/23 (left) and 2024/25 (right) seasons. Images: Kappa South Africa 'We will wear our New Jersey, home and away, at the Toyota Cup,' Motaung said at the tournament's launch. 'So supporters will see our new jersey at the stadium.' Kaizer Chiefs lose business relationship with PSL club The Toyota Cup is set for Saturday, 26 July, at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium. Amakhosi will face off against Asante Kotoko, the Ghanaian giants who recently finished third in their league and secured CAF Confederation Cup qualification. Kaizer Chiefs will be looking to bounce back from last year's Toyota Cup disappointment, when they suffered a 4–0 loss to Tanzania's Young Africans. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
The last suppers: how a Ghanaian artist turned his final days into feasts of connection
After years of living with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder, Joseph Awuah-Darko's fight for peace led him to choose legal assisted euthanasia in the Netherlands, a deeply personal, controversial decision that has taken four long years to approve. Image: Joseph Awuah-Darko/X When you've stood at the edge of your own existence, when the world feels like a never-ending tunnel of ache, it can take everything you have just to stay alive for one more sunrise. For some, what pulls them back from the brink isn't just hope. It's a mission. A reason to keep breathing. Joseph Awuah-Darko, a well-known Ghanaian artist, knows this feeling too well. After years of living with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder, Awuah-Darko's fight for peace led him to choose legal assisted euthanasia in the Netherlands, a deeply personal, controversial decision that has taken four long years to approve. But before he goes, Awuah-Darko is doing something extraordinary: he's inviting strangers to dinner. The Last Supper, as he calls it, is not a final meal in the biblical sense, but an intimate ritual of human connection. Thousands have answered his call, volunteering to share a meal, a moment, a memory. His open letters, like one he wrote to musician SZA after dinner number 141, are raw, tender glimpses into a mind both tormented and beautifully alive. 'I'll never forget the night,' he wrote, describing how a simple dinner with a stranger became a moment of meaning in a life that often feels unbearable. 'Thank you for giving me the kind of hug I imagine everyone needs after a long day.' Awuah-Darko's story is heartbreaking and hopeful. It reminds us that even in life's cruellest corners, some people cling to small connections like lifeboats. They turn pain into purpose. And they remind us that maybe, just maybe, we can too. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ When depression feels like drowning Severe depression is often invisible. Behind a smile, someone might be waging a silent war in their own mind. Depression tells you lies: You're a burden. You're broken. The world would be better without you. And yet, many who live with this relentless ache find ways to stay afloat. They scrap, crawl, and claw their way through dark days, finding glimmers of light in simple, unexpected places. Dr Vikram Patel, a global mental health expert and professor at Harvard Medical School, has long argued that depression is not a character flaw; it's an illness. 'No one tells people with a broken leg to just walk it off,' he told The Lancet Psychiatry. 'So why do we expect those with a broken mind to simply think positively?' What helps when nothing helps? What if you've done everything? The therapy. The medication. The meditation. The exercise. And yet the darkness stays? For some, medical interventions like ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) can help when all else fails. Studies show ECT is one of the most effective treatments for severe, treatment-resistant depression (Mayo Clinic). But sometimes, healing is about lifelines and daily acts that bring a shred of comfort. Psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl wrote: 'Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.' Finding meaning can be medicine. Small things that keep us here So what can help when it feels like nothing can? Mental health experts often talk about building a wellness toolbox, small actions to lift your mood, even for a moment. Reconnect with a lost hobby. Pick up knitting or pottery. Studies show 'grandma hobbies' can calm the mind. Try something new: A language class, a cooking lesson, or even planting a garden. Research from the Journal of Positive Psychology shows that learning something new gives your mind a purpose break. Make space for joy: Watch a movie that makes you laugh. Even t aking a walk in nature for even 20 minutes can lower stress hormones, reveals a study in Frontiers in Psychology. Serve others: Volunteer. Call a friend. Bake a cake for a neighbour. Service doesn't have to be grand; small kindnesses add up. When you can't do it alone If you or someone you love is feeling close to the edge, please reach out for help. You're not alone. Talk to a doctor. Call a mental health helpline. Tell a friend. Let people cook for you like Awuah-Darko did. His 'Last Supper' reminds us that sometimes, strangers save us. Sometimes, we save ourselves by inviting someone to dinner. Sometimes, one meal or one hug keeps us here a little longer. If you or someone you know needs help, reach out to the South African Suicide Crisis Helpline at 0800 567 567 or contact SADAG at 0800 456 789.
