Fan Milk Ghana, a Danone company that operates in the diary and beverage industry, has been urged to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to expand its op­erations on the African continent to create jobs and meet continental demand.

The Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, and Agribusiness, Mr Sampson Ahi, who said this at the launch of Fan Milk PLC’s 65th anniversary celebration on Friday under the theme, “65 Years of Spreading Joy”, indicated that trade among African countries remained very low.

“We are not trading among our­selves, even as African countries, and we still have huge markets that we need to explore. So, I was just trying to challenge them [Fan Milk Ghana] that even though they have performed very well in Ghana, they should try and expand to our sister countries,” Mr Ahi said.

According to him, Fan Milk Ghana’s investment in waste water treatment, biomass, boilers, and solar energy systems was setting a new benchmark in sustainable manufacturing.

Such a benchmark, Mr Ahi said, was not only admirable but aligned with the country’s commitment to green industrialisation and climate resilience.

Mr Ahi stated that the regional presence of Fan Milk Ghana and its operational strength put the company in a prime position to benefit from AfCFTA.

He, therefore, commended the company for its innovativeness, profound impact, inclusivity, and job creation that had driven the economic growth of the coun­try while pledging government’s support to companies like Fan Milk PLC through its 24-hour economy policy.

The Managing Director of Fan Milk Ghana and Francos, Mr Lionel Parent, described the company’s journey in the past three decades as both fantastic and challenging as it had gone through ups and downs moments, especially during the Covid-19 period.

Mr Parent said that the com­pany intended to build Ghana as a powerful export hub to drive employment and create 20,000 street vendors daily to help support the economy of the country, local income, and empower individuals to grow and invest.

“Fan Milk Ghana is still owned at 40 per cent by Ghanaians. Today, we announced that we are paying GH¢9.3 million dividend, and that is GH¢ 9.3 million going straight into the pockets of people living here as they can use it for their pensions, school fees for their children and medical bills,” Mr Parent said.

According to him, although the company was present in some African countries, it was looking forward to expanding to other African countries it did not exist.

Mr Parent said that Fan Milk Ghana was committed to sustain­ability as it had programmes that were aimed at transitioning the entire ecosystem to a solar system.

He said that Fan Milk Ghana had a good relation with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), adding that, “We have increased the tax we pay. We also paid GH¢250 million last year.”

The General Manager, Danone Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Hen­drik Born, said the anniversary launch was a recommitment to the mission of Fan Milk Ghana of bringing health through food to as many people as possible.

 BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY

 President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a 37-member Nation­al Development Planning Commis­sion (NDPC) with a task to deliver a “bold and transformative path” for the country’s development.

He wants the Commission to develop a long-term development plan that would transcend political regimes to Ghana’s prog­ress for generations.

The Commission amongst others is mandated to co-ordinate the decentralised development planning systems both at the district, regional and national levels.

Swearing in the Commission in Accra yesterday, President Mahama charged the Commission to develop the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Devel­opment Policies in line with the NDPC Act, 1994, (Act 479).

The programme, which he is enjoined to present to Parliament within two years, would form the basis for the medium-term national development policy framework.

He underscored the need for the Com­mission to broadly consult with the citizenry to draw a development plan that addresses the needs of the people.

President Mahama observed that nearly seven decades after independence, Gha­na’s economy continue to rely heavily on a narrow range of primary commodities, with limited diversification and value addition.

He noted the existence of multiple long-term development plans including the Gha­na Beyond Aid Charter, the Ghana@100 Long-term Development Framework, and the Vision 2057 Perspective Framework.

President Mahama urged that, in close collaboration with Parliament, the frame­works are consolidated into a single working document for easy implementation.

Chairman of the Commission, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, said the Commission would support the President to deepen decentrali­sation in the country.

Dr Thompson commended President Mahama for government’s decision to decentralise the management of waste by tasking the assemblies with the responsibility to manage their own sanitation.

“We need more of such decentralisation. The practice of procuring goods and ser­vices for district assemblies from Accra does not only undermine their ability to manage their own affairs, but it also represents the extraction and repatriation of wealth from those districts to Accra. It aggravates inequality and undermines the Constitution­al objective of equitable development,” Dr Thompson stated.

Other members of the Committee are the ministers for finance, gender, children and social protection, tourism, culture and creative arts, local government, chieftaincy and religious affairs, trade, agribusiness and industry, labour, jobs and employment, representation from all 16 regions, organised labour, academia, amongst others identifi­able groups.

The Commission is expected to work through eight sub-committees in the areas of the economy, transport and logistics, energy and private sector development, agriculture and natural resources, employ­ment, productivity, and earnings, public sector reforms and governance, social de­velopment, and infrastructure and land use management.

Child Rights International (CRI) has urged authorities to be sensitive to the fundamental rights of children involved in the recent swoop by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to rid the streets of Accra of migrant beggars.

The CRI said the government must adopt a more “child-sensitive and coordinated approach” in dealing with the situation since it involved children and adults.

The operation, which took place on Friday, May 16, 2025, targeted major areas like Kane­shie, Abossey Okai, and Kwame Nkrumah Circle, and led to the “arrest” of over 2,000 individuals with more than 1,300 of them being children, many of whom are foreign nationals.

The Executive Director of CRI, Mr Bright Appiah, addressing the media in Accra yester­day said while it was “illegal and unsafe” for children to beg on the streets, any interven­tion involving children must uphold their rights and dignity, regardless of their nation­ality.

He expressed concern about the high number of children caught in the exercise and emphasized that the issue was not just one of “public order, but of child protection.”

He stressed that these children should not be treated as offenders but rather as vulnera­ble individuals in need of care and protection.

Mr Appiah referred to both international and local laws to support its position.

“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which Ghana ratified in 1990, clearly outlines that children should not face discrimination and that their best interests must be a primary consideration in all matters affecting them,” he explained.

According to him, “Ghana’s Children’s Act further states that any child who is homeless, begging, or living in unsafe conditions is enti­tled to state protection.

Mr Appiah said the lack of coordination raises serious questions about how the chil­dren were being cared for after the operation and whether any proper procedures were in place for their reintegration or repatriation.

He mentioned the risk to Ghana’s inter­national image and national security if such operations continued without a structured and humane approach.

The child right advocate warned that the presence of children on the streets was more than a moral failure, adding that it was a social and economic problem that drain public resources.

He said a 2015 government report estimat­ed that child abuse alone costs Ghana up to GH¢1.44 billion annually.

The Executive Director urged the gov­ernment to make long-term changes and recommended that authorities collect proper identification and bio-data of everyone involved in such operations to ensure no child was lost in the system.

He called for detailed case assessments to better understand each child’s background and needs.

This he said would help in tracing families and reuniting children with them safely.

“CRI wants the government to set clear and consistent procedures for handling foreign children found on the streets. These should include safe return protocols and legal coop­eration with the countries of origin,” he said.

He said stronger border monitoring and immigration systems were also needed to pre­vent illegal entry and better protect vulnerable children from exploitation or trafficking.

Mr Appiah insisted that operations like the recent GIS swoop should not be repeated without proper planning and agency collabo­ration.

“We believe that if Ghana is to truly protect its children and meet its legal obligations, it must treat this issue as a national emergency and a rights-based and child-focused strategy is not just ideal — it is a necessity,” he said.

Mr Appiah called on all government agen­cies to work together to put the interests of every child first,” failure to act responsibly and urgently risks leaving hundreds of children on the streets, exposed to danger and stripped of hope.”