The MTN Ghana Foundation has announced that it will close entries for its Bright Scholarship program on May 31, 2024. Eligible applicants who meet all the criteria are urged to apply through the web portal scholarship.mtn.com.gh before the application deadline.

The MTN Bright Scholarship is open to continuing students pursuing a first degree at any public tertiary institution or pursuing vocational and technical skills training. Applicants must be Ghanaians, of good conduct, and have excellent academic results.

The MTN Bright Scholarship covers the cost of tuition, accommodation, provides a stipend for books, and includes a device for the beneficiaries. The MTN Ghana Foundation will award 200 scholarships to continuing students in public tertiary institutions across the country for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Adwoa Wiafe, MTN’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, commented on the scholarship, stating, “we have doubled the number of beneficiaries this year because of the compelling needs in the society. We are confident that this will ease the financial burden on needy students and reduce the number of students dropping out of school due to financial constraints.”

The commencement of the MTN Bright Scholarship in 2018 was in fulfilment of a commitment MTN made to Ghanaians during the commemoration of its 20th Anniversary in 2016. During the celebrations, MTN, through the MTN Ghana Foundation, promised to award a total of 300 scholarships over three years. Considering the impact of the scholarship at the end of the first three years, the MTN Ghana Foundation again approved the renewal of the scholarship program in 2021 during MTN’s 25th Anniversary celebration.

Bolt Food, the leading platform delivery company and a thought leader in Ghana, partnered with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to organise a pioneering one-day hygiene workshop. This inaugural event aims to enhance food safety standards among Food Service Establishments (FSEs) across Ghana, reflecting Bolt Food’s strong commitment to promoting health and safety within the food service industry.

The workshop brought together fifty FSEs using the Bolt Food platform to educate them on the FDA’s stringent food safety regulations. This event also provided a valuable opportunity for vendors to voice their challenges and seek support in overcoming them, fostering a collaborative effort towards improving food safety practices.

In a significant step towards supporting these FSEs, Bolt Food announced that it will sponsor the FDA Food Hygiene Permit licence acquisition for 20 establishments. Additionally, Bolt Food will offer the necessary technical support to ensure these businesses meet all regulatory standards, reinforcing its dedication to maintaining high-quality service and safety.

This initiative marks a milestone in Bolt Food and FDA’s efforts to uphold and elevate food safety standards, ensuring that customers receive safe and hygienic food from their favourite establishments. It was inspiring to witness the FSEs united with a shared commitment to uphold and elevate food safety standards across Ghana. Each establishment made a pledge to maintain these high standards, reflecting a collective dedication to public health and safety.

The Regulatory and Policy Head for Africa at Bolt, Weyinmi Aghadiuno, said: “Our mission is to continually enhance food safety for everyone. This collaboration with the FDA is a key part of Bolt Food’s commitment to promoting health and safety in Ghana’s food service industry.”

“We aim to cultivate a strong partnership with the FDA and our FSEs. Our objective is to create an ecosystem where customers can trust that every order from Bolt Food comes from establishments that uphold FDA’s rigorous food safety and hygiene standards.” She added. 

Mr. Roderick Daddey-Adjei, Deputy Chief Executive, Food Division, at the FDA emphasised that, “as the

Guardians of food safety in Ghana, it is the responsibility of the FDA to ensure that every meal served, whether in a restaurant, by the streets or delivered to our homes and offices, meets the highest standards of hygiene and safety in alignment with the Public Health Act 2012. The issuance of hygiene permits is not just a formality; it brings a sense of assurance that food service establishments are adhering to Good Hygienic Practices (GHPs) upholding the principles of food safety.

Chief Regulatory Officer at the FDA, Dr. Edward Archer,  addressed the importance of regulatory compliance within the food industry. He urged all food establishments across Ghana to regularise their operations with the FDA, stressing that securing a Food Hygiene Permit is crucial for industry compliance and consumer safety.

“Operating a food business without a Food Hygiene Permit is unlawful. The FDA is ready to collaborate and ensure the safety of FSEs nationwide,” Dr. Archer stated.

The Country Manager for Bolt Food said: “this collaboration between Bolt Food and the FDA signifies a step towards ensuring the highest quality of food safety and hygiene for our customers. Together with the FDA, we look forward to bringing positive changes to the Food Delivery industry in Ghana.

As we prepare to host leaders for Dr. Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp in Mombasa, Kenya in June 2024, we consider it important to discuss Emotional and Mental Health (EMH) in leadership this month of May. We started the month by discussing 10 Warning Signs A Leader’s Emotional & Mental Health Might Be At Great Risk. Today, we conclude the discussion with Part 2 of 10 Excuses Top Executives Give About Their Emotional & Mental Health

10 Excuses Top Executives Give About Their Emotional & Mental Health – 1

Excuse #5 – This Is Just The Way I Am

Humans are generally resistant to change even though we talk about it a lot. Many people have adjusted to their traumas and have seemingly built a coping mechanism around such nasty experiences. Seeking professional help for such traumas that have messed up their emotional and mental health for so long would mean, taking off the masks and faux personalities they have carefully built over the years and come face to face with the root of their pain. That’s too much for some top executives, they would rather continue with their lives than deconstruct those layers of alter egos and heal into their authentic selves – hence the lame excuse, “this is just the way I am”. Others are scared to find out who they could become on the other side of getting professional help; they prefer the familiar to the possible.

Excuse #6 – Everybody Does This

Another excuse bothers on the fallacy of generalization and is usually used in corporate environments where toxicity is entrenched, accepted and a staple. In essence, the ecosystem rewards such bad behaviour that there is no incentive to unlearn it. For example, many top executives don’t see bullying their colleagues from the perspective of having an emotional and mental health challenge because what bullying really speaks to is a lack of a healthy self-image or self-esteem but masked by aggressive behaviour towards others. They rather explain it away by saying that it is how people survive in a space that is akin to a shark-infested water – hence, the best form of defence is attack. Such top executives find solace in the fact that the society is seemingly indifference to their untoward behaviour; so the absence of sanctions or consequences makes them double down on their dysfunctions.

Excuse #7 – It’s Not That Bad

This excuse comes from a perspective of cognitive dissonance and intellectual dishonesty. It’s an attempt by top executives to gaslight people by downplaying the gravity of their emotional and mental health challenges. This view is prejudiced especially coming from business executives because judging by the power dynamics within an organization, they are usually high up the totem pole – which means that there are fewer voices that can challenge such people on the negative impact of their actions on others. It’s very rare to see employees on a much lower cadre, stand up to someone in top management. Even the Human Resource Manager who should be the port of call for those who seek redress are more disposed to protecting their personal interests than ensuring the right thing is down – the lack of moderating influences for top executives eventually hurts them.

Excuse #8 – I Can Handle It On My Own

This excuse bothers on self-help. Here a top executive believes that he or she can apply DIY-solutions to their emotional and mental health challenges. This excuse is underpinned by expertise in other areas of their lives especially their professional endeavours. These top managers extrapolate success in one or more areas of their lives and use such as metric for determining their ability to solve problems in other areas of their lives. In doing so, they underplay the level of skill that is used by professionals to manage emotional and mental health challenges. It takes a level of respect to acknowledge that just as you are an expert in a particular area of life, someone else is also an expert in another area of life.

Excuse #9 – I Don’t Talk About My Issues To Strangers

For top executives, they are within their rights to be concerned about how much personal information can be shared with third-parties because owing to their being at the helm of affairs, such information could be weaponized by their rivals and used for a smear campaign which could hurt the fortunes of their organization very quickly. However, a simple solution to this is the involvement of legal counsels who will adopt memorandum of understandings, non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses that protects the executive. There is no guarantee that even with familiar faces, personal information would be safe – so seeking professional help for mental health challenges is certainly worth the risks.

Excuse #10 – All I Need Is God

The overly religious executives who hold extreme views about their faith don’t believe that there is anything wrong with them and to engage in therapy would be to imply that a perfect God didn’t create a perfect human. This puritan view downplays the effectiveness of intervention. Some extreme views even reject interventions such as accepting blood transfusions, taking medications, or engaging in therapy. These top executives embrace a perception of divinity that signifies that “man-made” solutions demean their spirituality. This notion is misguided because first, the very definition of human implies to be imperfect and most of the solutions to human problems were discovered by those who took time to study what God created. For example, people were inspired to create the aeroplane from studying the science of how birds fly in the sky, it only presupposes that God can use people to help other people.

Growth Opportunities

To further position your leaders for peak performance, you can download a free copy of the latest edition of The Peak Performer Magazine You can also enrol your Mid-level  Leadership Team for the Made4More Accelerator Program and your Senior Leadership Team for the Dr. Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp MOMBASA 2024 We also have an upcoming training for leaders in public service 

About Dr. Abiola Salami

Dr. Abiola Salami is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp and The Peak Performer^TM. He is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance. You can reach his team on [email protected] and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.

UBA Ghana has commemorated this year’s Africa Union (AU) Day with a vibrant ceremony held at its head office and other Business Offices across the country.

As the bank marks its 20th anniversary of the Bank in Ghana and 75th anniversary of the UBA Group, it continues to leverage Africa Day to celebrate the continent’s unity in diversity and highlight its rich cultural and economic potential.

Staff members showcased the rich cultural heritage of Africa by dressing in various indigenous attire, representing different tribes, ethnic groups, and countries.

Nitrogen oxide (NOx) comprises reactive gases containing nitrogen and oxygen nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). These emissions primarily stem from combustion processes involving fuels. According to Phys.org, sources such as motor vehicles, power plants, and industrial facilities are contributors to emissions. Diesel engines stand out due to their high temperatures, according to the UK Government’s data on air pollutants. Road transport, specifically diesel cars, plays a crucial role in NOx emissions.

One of the primary concerns is the role of NOx in the formation of ground-level ozone and smog, which can significantly degrade air quality. Clean Carbon Energy explains that when NOx gases react with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight, they form ozone, leading to smog formation. 

Exposure to NOx emissions can lead to health issues. It may cause irritation in the respiratory system, reduce lung function, and increase the risk of infections. Long-term exposure could result in conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and other chronic respiratory diseases. Vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and individuals with existing conditions are at risk from these emissions.

NOx emissions also play a role in creating acid rain. When NOx gases interact with water vapour in the atmosphere, they form nitric acid that falls to the ground as rain. This can have effects on ecosystems, soil quality, and plant life. Moreover, NOx emissions can lead to the growth of algae and other aquatic plants causing oxygen depletion and harming life.

The Impact of Diesel Emissions on the Dieselgate Scandal

The Dieselgate scandal highlighted concerns about NOx emissions from diesel engines when it was discovered that Volkswagen (VW) had used software to manipulate emissions tests in its diesel vehicles. In September 2015 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a violation notice to Volkswagen Group of America Inc.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that Volkswagen (VW) had employed “defeat devices” in 11 million diesel cars globally. These devices could detect when a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing and adjust the engine’s performance to lower emissions. However, under driving conditions, the vehicles were emitting NOx at levels exceeding the limit by, up to 40 times.

The revelation of the Volkswagen emissions manipulation had consequences. It triggered a series of investigations, penalties, diesel emission claims, and product recalls. VW faced penalties and legal settlements leading to the resignation or prosecution of several high-ranking executives. Moreover, the scandal prompted inquiries into car manufacturers exposing a prevalence of emission manipulation than previously thought.

The scandal greatly eroded confidence in both the industry and regulatory authorities. Consumers felt deceived, underscoring flaws in emission testing protocols. In response, regulatory bodies worldwide tightened emission testing standards. Governments Introduced real-world driving emission tests to prevent fraudulent practices in the future.

The Dieselgate scandal marked a turning point for diesel vehicles. It accelerated the shift towards cleaner alternatives, such as electric and hybrid vehicles. Many cities and countries have since implemented stricter emissions standards and are promoting the adoption of zero-emission vehicles to improve air quality and reduce NOx pollution. Read more about Dieselgate at https://www.claimexperts.co.uk.

Strategies for Reducing NOx Emissions

Solutions have been created to address NOx emissions. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) are commonly used in diesel engines to lessen NOx emissions. SCR systems utilise a catalyst to transform NOx gases into nitrogen and water while EGR functions by recirculating some of the engine’s exhaust gas to the cylinders thereby lowering combustion temperatures and NOx production.

Government officials play a role in overseeing and decreasing emissions. Strict emission standards and regulations like those enforced by the European Union and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have proven effective in reducing emissions from vehicles and industries. Offering incentives for adopting technologies and transitioning to vehicles (EVs) can also lead to substantial reductions in NOx emissions.

Raising awareness about the risks associated with NOx emissions and promoting changes can also aid in mitigation efforts. Encouraging using public transportation like carpooling and alternative modes of transport such as cycling and walking can lower vehicle numbers on roads, reducing NOx emissions. Additionally, holding manufacturers accountable for diesel claims and supporting policies that advocate for energy sources can help cut down on emissions from cars and power plants.

In Conclusion

Nitrogen oxides are dangerous pollutants with significant health and environmental impacts. Diesel engines are major contributors to NOx emissions, which play a crucial role in urban air pollution. The Dieselgate scandal exposed the extent to which some automakers were willing to bypass emissions regulations, bringing global attention to the dangers of diesel emissions.

Reducing NOx emissions is critical for improving air quality and protecting public health. This can be achieved through stricter emissions standards, promoting cleaner technologies, and encouraging the adoption of alternative fuels and electric vehicles. As we move towards a more sustainable future, addressing the issue of NOx emissions remains a top priority in the fight against air pollution and climate change.

The Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), an initiative dedicated to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship across the continent, announces the inaugural Ethiopian Startup Awards – a Global Startup Awards Africa event coming to Addis Ababa on June 3rd and 4th, 2024, proudly sponsored by Development Bank of Ethiopia, Ethio Telecom and Ethiopian Airlines.

The two-day event, hosted by GIIG, Ministry of Labor and Skills (MOLS), Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MINT), and Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), promises an immersive experience celebrating the vibrant startup culture of Ethiopia and providing a platform for cross- vertical collaboration. Attendees can expect a series of workshops, training sessions facilitated by industry specialists, pitching opportunities, networking and an awards show announcing the Ethiopian finalists.

This year’s competition received an overwhelming response of 11,900 entries from 54 African countries with 24% of the Eastern region entries originating from Ethiopia. The entries spanning Sustainable Development Goals-aligned categories, including Agritech, Youth, Fintech, Green Tech, Women Empowerment, Health Tech, and Mobility, signify the remarkable growth and trajectory of Ethiopia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As one of 120 countries participating in the Global Startup Awards program, Ethiopia, as the host nation for Africa, is gaining significant visibility and recognition on a global scale as a developing startup nation.

HE Ms Muferihat Kamil Ahmed, Minister of Labour and Skills, emphasized the significance of Ethiopia’s role as the host nation for this landmark event, stating, “Ethiopia’s selection as the host nation for the 2024 GSA Africa Awards holds immense significance and is already contributing significantly to the country’s growing reputation as a centre for tech innovation. The focus on youth entrepreneurship through the Youth category is a unique aspect that highlights Ethiopia’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of innovators and job creators and I look forward to celebrating their successes.”

The festivities will start with an awards ceremony on June 3rd at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), honouring the top Ethiopian startups that have progressed through the competition to become regional finalists.

Dr Hassan Hussein, CEO of EDI commented, “For Ethiopian startups, the GSA Africa Awards serves as a gateway to international recognition, funding opportunities, and invaluable connections. By showcasing Ethiopia’s potential as a hub for tech innovation and entrepreneurship, the event aims to elevate the country’s profile on the global stage.”

Jo Griffiths, co-founder of GIIG and GSA Africa, expressed her enthusiasm, stating, “Initiatives like the Global Startup Awards Africa exemplify our collaborative efforts, serving as catalysts for transformation, further amplified in Ethiopia by recent progressive legal reforms, signalling a new era of growth and innovation for the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

To REGISTER your attendance apply here https://qkt.io/ZH9zSX

For further information contact: Global Startup Awards Africa Email: [email protected]
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