We need no compensation, where is our baby?

The family of the missing stillborn baby says they are disappointed with the Health Ministry’s latest pronouncements which it says “gives no indication as to the whereabouts of the missing bodies of the stillborns including that of Suwaiba”.
According to the family, their only concern is for the hospital to either produce their baby alive or find out where their purported dead baby’s remains were sent.
In the latest of the Health Ministry’s probe into the controversial missing baby saga at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital has been asked to take his accumulative leave.
This follows numerous administrative lapses uncovered in the latest report delivered by the hospital and the preliminary reports made available by the Nurses and Midwifery Council and the Medical and Dental Council.
The Health Ministry after missing its March 21 deadline to bring a closure to the matter, rather released a preliminary report of its findings on the probe into the saga on Tuesday.
Addressing a news conference, the sector minister Sherry Ayittey indicated that reports received from the hospital showed that “still births should have been handed over to the mortuary attendants and certified by a doctor that the baby was actually dead and registered by the mortuary attendant in the register but there is no evidence to that effect.
She also disclosed that a report from the Nurses and Midwifery council suggested that there were inappropriate storage facilities for still born babies at the labor ward. The report further pointed out that laid down processes for documenting births and deaths at the ward had been neglected while there was absolutely no communication between the midwifes and their doctors at the ward.
On sanctions, Mrs. Ayetey noted that “the ministry has decided that the Chief Executive Officer should take his accumulative leave with immediate effect” while the board directs a senior person in management to take over from him.
The medical doctor and midwife on duty that day are also to remain on leave indefinitely. She also pointed out that the ministry of health is in “the process of facilitating a meeting with Madam Suwaiba, her lawyer and her family to find an amicable settlement to the unfortunate incident”.
But the family will not have any of this. Spokesperson for the family, Abdul Rahman in an interview with Kumasi based Ultimate Radio described the Health Ministry’s latest verdict ordering the CEO to proceed on leave as a mere “warm up” stating that “we want to see the real action.”
“The family is very disappointed in the way that the baby has not been accounted for as the ministry directed that the hospital gives full account of the whereabouts of the baby. We understand that it is a preliminary report but we are hoping that the actual report coming out in two weeks will tell us the whereabouts of the baby,” he said.
He however stated forcefully that “the family’s position is that we are not considering anything like compensation. At the moment our position is to know the whereabouts of the baby whether dead or alive. That is what will give us peace.”

Ghana’s Rap Doctor and PRO for the Musicians Union of Ghana, Okyeame Kwame will soon be smiling to the bank as he was earlier today unveiled as a brand ambassador and icon for one of Ghana’s leading banks, Guaranteed Trust Bank, in a colourful event held at the Osu Branch of the bank in Accra, Ghana.

Okyeame Kwame who has for the past years carved a niche for himself as one of the most respected musical icons, a family man and a corporate figure will for the next one year share word on the bank’s new GT Create student’s account targeted at students all over the country.

His duties will be to educate and inform the youth at large and students in particular on the need to save for the future.

In an interview with www.nydjlive.com, Okyeame Kwame expressed who was all smiles expressed his profound gratitude to God, the management of Guaranteed Trust Bank, his management and his loyal fans for the continuouslove and support shown him throughout his musical career and promised to deliver just like he has always done.

Source:nydjlive.com

How to Start Poultry Farming in Ghana Small and Grow Very Lucrative

                                             the califonia white

Poultry Farming in Ghana is probably one of the most lucrative in the world especially when it is setup and managed properly. This aspect of livestock farming presents one of the finest opportunity for entrepreneurs to make good money within the shortest period of time possible due to the quick maturity of chickens. 

With over 100 Million consumers in the country who buys poultry products on daily basis, the market is always there. 

I have written some number of articles before on this blog on poultry rearing which you can find here. This very post will take more critical look at the business and how entrepreneurs who are interested in this business in Ghana would be able to start easily without wasting much time and resources. 

Anyone can engage in poultry business, it doesn't matter your education background nor how rich you are, you can start at any level and grow as big as you want with time. The most important thing is that you are interested in starting somewhere.

This articles will focus on how to start small and grow big which I think will interest anyone with limited financial capacity who wants to start small without involving much risks.

One of the factors that makes poultry business ideal business is because chickens grows very fast. Unlike goats that takes 2 to 3 years to mature, a chicken can be ready for the market within 28 weeks from birth. That is why it is considered ideal business for loan takers who may actually invest the loan and within 30 to 40 weeks, they may start paying back through the money realized from sells.

Profit potential in poultry business. 

1. Chicken do reproduce fast and in large numbers - Average healthy Layer lays egg almost everyday or at least 4 times in a week. Some Breeds can lay as much as 325 eggs in a year and take 21 days to hatch. This means that technically a Layer is capable of producing another chicken twice in three days.

So, if you have 500 healthy layers of good breeds (such as California white) they are capable of reproducing a whooping 12,000 chicks within 40 days! 

2. Chicken grows very fast - Within 21 days, the egg is hatched and within 28 weeks, they are ready for the market. That means a farmer could start making his money in just 34 weeks after successfully setting up his farm and whatever returns he make could be doubled in a year based on this calculation.

3. Chicken sells at a very good price - A fully grown healthy chicken sells between GHC13 to GHC25 in Ghana. Therefore, if you produce 12,000 chickens in your farm, you will be making   at least GHC1560000 by the time they are completely sold.

4. Egg market in Large too - Apart from the chicken, the egg is another money of it's own. A crate of eggs sells for GHC8 - GHC10 for smaller eggs and GHC12 - GHC15 for bigger ones. Each crate contains 30 eggs. Therefore, if you have 500 layers that produces 12,000 pullet in a month and decides to sell all, you will be make huge income.

As you can see, the profit in poultry business is mouth watering and the turn over time is fantastic as well, but the big question now is how to start.

What Your Poultry Business Plan Should Look Like

Draw out your effective business plan. Poultry business plan is like a road map leading you to where you are going in you business. It will help you know where you are at any point in time. Hence your business plan should include:

1. Type of Bird you want to concentrate on -  Here you choose Chickens (Layers and Broilers). We choose chicken because that's what this article focuses on. There are other types of birds that are good for livestock business too,  such as Goose, Duck, Turkey, etc. 

2. Write down your area of interest - You can't just be in all aspect of poultry farming. You have to choose your area of interest where you would like to concentrate your business. This will ensure high level of focus and professionalism. If you can do two area, no problem. Below are some of the major Niches in Poultry Farming

• Layers Breeding which is egg production by Layers
• Broilers breeding which referrers to the chicken meat production by Broilers
• Hatchery which has to do with breeding chicken for the purpose of Hatching new chicks
• Poultry feed which is producing feeds for other poultry farmers

You may choose to Breed Layers and Broilers at a time or one of them. Hatchery is better done independently just like feed production. So, you choose your area of focus

3. Sort out Location - This has a direct effect to your startup cost. A location in a very remote rural area will cost far less than the one close to the urban area. Remote rural area with good road is the ideal location as you will be free from regulatory agencies and drive down the cost of labor too.

As a new person to Livestock business, you don't want to invest all your capital into buying lands in urban area which may turn out not being used because Government policy is against setting up poultry farm near residential/urban areas for health implication. 

4. Investment Capital - With location in mind, you now have clearer idea of the capital required of you. Write down your detailed capital and investment requirements and set to source it.

Like every other farming projects, the bigger you plan to start, the more investment required. You need to decide on the level of capital investment you are willing to commit into this business before starting.

(a) Small scale Chicken Rearing (of about 50 birds) kept in cages at the backyard of your resident will take about GHC250 to start. 

(b) A medium scale poultry farming that requires land and housing and other materials in 1 - 2 plots of Land takes about GHC2,500 to GHC5000 to start.

(c) Large scale or Intensive poultry farming that requires high level of sophistication and more careful planning and professionalism, using advance Livestock farming techniques takes from GHC20,000.

Set Up Your Poultry Farm

With your business plan is in place, the next is to proceed to setting up your farm without delay! At this point, it is my believe that you already have the money in your hands. So here are the things you need to acquire and put in place.

1. Buy land - Like we said earlier, look for land in a remote location but make sure it's not too far from the city. A place like Amasaman, Dunkwa, Safokasem in Ashanti region - these places are perfect. Other places will do depending the structure of the land.

You can get Acre of land there for cheap price, cost of lands in most cases is determined by the sellers. But we may suggest price during commenting. So drop your comments below and let's get the discussion going.

2. Build your Structure - House is very important for chicken rearing and effective keeping and management. Poultry housing are classified according to the scale and the management system. The most common types of poultry housing used in Ghana are:

•    Deep litter-
•    Half litter and half slats -
•    Battery -
•    Semi-fold -

Buy day old chick - Look for good Hatchery where you can get healthy day old chicks to start with. It costs from GHC 0.50P to GHC 1 each, sometimes up to GHC2. If you are looking for where to get day old chicks in Ghana? You can get good day old chick at Akate Farm Ltd. in kumasi- sepe buokrom, Ashanti. Or any other farm you know in your area. You can ask other poultry farmers near you where they get their chicks.

Other Items you need - Feeders, Drinkers, Perches. Nests, Crates, Lighting system, Waste disposal system, Incubator, Heaters or brooders, Egg tray, Cages and coops.

What's Next...

1. Click on the Facebook and Twitter buttons below to share this with your friends let's move the discussion forward.

2. Make comment using the comment box. You can ask any question related to poultry farming or share your knowledge with us. 

If you need addition resources, you can Join hundreds of other poultry farmers who have made our eBook their companion towards starting their poultry farms and managing it effectively. And the best part is that it contains complete Poultry Business Plan. 

ibrahimidd.blogspot.com

Ghanaian messaging app Saya gains popularity in India

Ghana-based chat application Saya has gained a huge following among mobile phone users across the globe. Founded in 2012, Saya is a replacement for text messaging much like WhatsApp, but built for feature phones.

Fresh out of the Accra-based Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, Robert Lamptey built Saya to solve the problem of expensive SMS messaging which most feature phone users face.

The app has gained users in 35 countries across the globe and is actively used in developing countries outside Africa such as Syria, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Lamptey notes that Saya has been popular among users in the revolutions in Egypt, Syria and Libya. The service initially offered group messaging for non-smartphones but has now expanded to the smartphone market.

The initial adoption of the platform came as a surprise to Lamptey and his co-founder Badu Boahen. Speaking in Nairobi last week, Lamptey recounted how the company’s servers crashed several times due to overwhelming demand from users. The application went viral with 400,000 downloads in its first two months.

“Five months after the launch we got 14m people who had been invited by their friends to use the service. We realised that each person was inviting about 100 people to join. There was this guy in India who had 120 people on his phonebook using Saya. We contacted him and he told us he found it useful. In fact, India is our largest user,” says the CEO of Saya Mobile.

Thinking global

Lamptey attributes the success of Saya Mobile to his upbringing in a household where striving to be the best was encouraged.

“I was one of the few kids in the neighbourhood who had a chemistry lab [and] who dismantled TVs. I was a science student. I used to win all the literature awards in school. My father always taught me to be the best in everything I did. Even if I wanted to be a footballer, there was one rule: be the best.”

Lamptey told How we made it in Africa that Saya is moving into enterprise messaging, a venture that will help the company to monetise. He explains that Saya Mobile waited this long because there was “no clear way to monetise”.

“Most of the ways to monetise involved premium SMS and the margins were not good because telcos would take about 75% of the amount and the company providing a short code would also take a cut. The math just didn’t make sense,” he says. “I think for us the right conditions were not available. If we had been in Kenya where M-Pesa was started, it would have been easy to plug in M-Pesa into the app.”

Saya Mobile has raised funding in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to cover its operating costs and technology development.

The ugly side of entrepreneurship

Lamptey notes that the biggest hurdle Saya faces is “money issues”.

“The thing most big companies forget is that a startup has a limited time to survive and that when we want to do a deal with a telco for instance, and they drag their feet, it becomes very frustrating.

“There have been two or three occasions where I had to use my savings to pay my employees. Those are the realities of a startup. People just don’t know the sacrifices we have to make. There is an ugly side of being an entrepreneur. Sometimes things just don’t work. You plan 10 steps ahead, you go do it and when you get to step seven things go wrong and everything falls apart.”

He describes an instance when Saya’s investors in the UK wanted to make a cash transfer to the company in Ghana but because of legal issues the process was delayed for three months.

“I had to explain to my employees that I couldn’t pay them their full salaries for the next three months. I gave them small amounts from my own money and told them to hang in there until the transfer goes through.”

Lamptey reckons that steering a business through such challenging times can be very difficult and requires one to be “extremely positive”. The 30-year-old adds that he is spiritual and draws “strength in reading the book of Psalms”.

“I think being a CEO is the most difficult job in the world. First you have to motivate yourself, then you have to motivate your employees. It is really, really difficult. It is only for certain personality types and people of certain mindsets. As the CEO you are the captain of the ship [and] you are the last person to jump out when the ship sinks. Even when you see a storm coming you just tell your team all is well.”

Networks for therapy

Lamptey explains that he finds sharing stories of challenges and successes with other entrepreneurstherapeutic.

“I remember a day I was very down and one of the entrepreneurs I knew came in and said his company had made sales of US$50,000. I figured if he can make that kind of money in Ghana in this hard situation so can I… I stopped crying and got down to work.”

Lamptey urges other entrepreneurs to form partnerships with peers, seek help when in need and support each other. He says he practices pay it forward, a culture of helping each other that is predominant in the US’s Silicon Valley.

“I am not afraid to stalk someone on Facebook and Twitter and send them a message to ask them for help,” says Lamptey. “When I go to Silicon Valley and meet companies that have scaling issues I help them out for free because we have done well in scaling. Today, anytime I am travelling and I need a place to sleep I call someone and I get somewhere to sleep for free. I don’t pay hotels. If I need a partnership with someone in Silicon Valley I easily get connected to that person.”

Lessons from Silicon Valley

One of the key lessons Lamptey has learnt from his trips and interaction with the Silicon Valley ecosystem is to “pay people well”.

“It is a no-brainer. It is the most important thing you can do as an African entrepreneur. We always forget that in Africa people have extended family members that they care for. If you pay people well enough so that they can take care of their families and therefore have no pressure they will give you 200% of their time and effort.”

credits: howwemadeitinafrica.com