By Iddi Yire
Accra, Jan 15, GNA – Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia will on Tuesday, January 17 open the 74th Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra.
The three-day programme is on the theme: “Positioning the African market for Sustainable Economic Development through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Mr Wamkele Mene, Secretary General AfCFTA, would deliver the keynote address for this year’s Programme, which is under the auspices of the School of Continuing and Distance Education (SCDE), College of Education, University of Ghana.
Dr Simon-Peter Kafui Aheto, Director, 74th ANYSC/ Senior Lecturer, Department of Distance Education, SCDE, University of Ghana, who made the disclosure in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, said the Programme would consist of the Main School and Conference, and a Youth School.
He said the Main School and Conference was slated for Tuesday, January 17 to Wednesday, January 18, while the Youth School would be on Thursday, January 19, both at the Conference Room of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana.
“We are expecting about 400 participants for the main School and Conference from civil society, government agencies, private sector, informal sector, academia and people from all walks of life,” Dr Aheto said.
“For the Youth School, we will be expecting a minimum of 350 participants from around the country.”
Touching on expected outcomes of the Programme, Dr Aheto said one of the major outcomes of the Annual New Year School and Conference was the release of a communiqué at the end of the event.
He said the previous communiqués had shaped policies and provoked discussions of the themes within the public space.
He reiterated that adequate opportunities would be created to ensure non-partisan discourse on the theme and widely disseminate policy briefs both locally and internationally.
He noted that this year’s Programme would contribute to the continent’s quest in advancing trade and industry with the aim of building a robust African economy that could sustainably contribute to growth in member countries
He said the Annual New Year School and Conference had existed over the last 74 years; adding that “in the course of the year, we shall be cutting sod for the Annual New Year School and Conference Multipurpose Digital Youth Village Complex on campus, a hub for youth training and development in Ghana and on the continent.”
“Again, this year’s ANYSC coincides with the 75th Anniversary celebration of the premier University of Ghana, the institution that is affectionately called, Legon.”
Dr Aheto told the GNA that the 74th ANYSC was creating a platform for every Ghanaian, every African to have a better understanding and involvement of the whole concept of the AfCFTA, an intra-continental trade space to promote.
Since its inception in 1948, the Annual New Year School and Conference has been the flagship programme of the University and attracts people from all walks of life to deliberate on topical issues of national and international interests.
It opens at the beginning of every new year.
At the end of every school and conference, a communiqué is issued, which captures the recommendations of participants and discussants.
The recommendations usually inform policy decisions and directions in the country.
GNA