The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Henry Wampah has warned Ghanaian media over the negative repercussions of inaccurate economic reportage on the country’s economy.

According to him, such inaccurate reportage could erode investor confidence in the West African second largest economy.

Dr Wampah gave the warning at the opening of a two-day training workshop on ‘Improving Knowledge Base for Effective Financial and Economic Reporting’ underway in Prampram of the Greater Accra Region.

The Governor in a speech read for him by the Assistant Director of Governors’ Department at the BoG, Dr Johnson Asiama lamented: “Sometimes, the media tend to be too busy covering sensational news, and even when they do, some often do not cross-check facts before publication.”

“In other cases, there are significant levels of inaccuracy with distorted facts whether deliberately or otherwise. One can also often see clear cases of lack of a good grasp of economic and financial issues.” While the Central Bank, just like other public bodies, has the responsibility to promote greater information disclosure, the responsibility of the media is to filter the information through to the public.

However, to really do service to the public, Dr Wampah noted that the media must understand the information well to be able to analyze the information cogently and to be able to disseminate it clearly and effectively. He also used the opportunity to congratulate the media on the significant improvement in the quality of financial and economic reporting over the last couple of years.

“While much of what comes out by way of financial and economic reporting currently is of good quality; nonetheless, like in every profession, practitioners must continually strive to upgrade their skills and to keep abreast of new trends.“

We see this workshop as such an opportunity for practicing journalists to do just that – that is to fill in knowledge gaps and to sharpen skills adequately, Dr. Wampah stated. The workshop which was organised by the Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA), an offshoot of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and sponsored by the Ecobank Ghana was the first of a series to be organized across the country to help journalists to fill-in knowledge gaps and to sharpen their skills.

The Central Bank Governor, therefore, thanked the organizers for this undertaking which would without doubt contribute to enhancing financial and economic news reporting among journalists in the country. “In particular, let me thank Ecobank Gh. Ltd, whom I am told are among the major sponsors for the program.”

The Head, Communications and Public Relations of Ecobank Ghana, Rev. Mrs Patricia Sappor, said: “Ecobank, the pan-African bank is very delighted to be associated with the Journalists for Business Advocacy group and also for the organization of this workshop”.

“This is because the workshop fits into our vision of contributing to the financial integration and economic development of Africa and for that matter Ghana”.

Rev. Mrs Sappor acknowledged that the aim of the JBA to promote private sector development and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was extremely commendable, admitting that SMEs in the country contribute immensely to the growth and development of Ghana.

“SMEs contribution towards job creation in Ghana cannot be over-emphasised not forgetting their contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is why we at Ecobank commend the Journalists for Business Advocacy for being the voice of the SMEs in Ghana”.

The Executive Director of the Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA), Suleiman Mustapha on behalf of the association thanked the management of the Ecobank for their continuous support and urged other companies to emulate the bank’s shining example.

Touching on the success stories of the JBA, Mr Mustapha noted that a research undertaken by JBA indicated that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) were either not aware or not concerned about the plight of SMEs, but were only interested in collecting levies from them.

“The advocacy by JBA has resulted in positive change in policy and programmes in some districts,” he stated. Instructively, the JBA was established out of GJA’s special two-year project dubbed “Using the Media to Strengthen Business Advocacy”.

The project, co-facilitated by KAB Consult, and sponsored by the Business Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund, begun in 2006, under the theme “Using the Media to Promote Small-Scale Business Concerns.”

Under the project, a core team of journalists undertook capacity development in business advocacy to create a multimedia platform to discuss the concerns of business, particularly SMEs. In Ghana the SMEs account for 90 per cent of enterprises of the economy, contributing about 60 percent of employment and about six per cent to GDP.