Ghana's first independent national daily newspaper since independence will be launched in Accra early this year.

A press release issued in Accra on Monday said it would be published by a consortium of Ghanaian professionals and businessmen, some of whom are resident in the US and United Kingdom. It said Mr Kofi Badu, former Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Ltd., would be the Chief Executive of the paper's publishing company.

"The paper is intended to break the monopoly of the state-owned media in the daily newspaper sector and offer readers and advertisers a product of high professional quality, both in content and technical presentation," it said.

The name and other details of the paper would be announced later. The statement said since leaving Graphic, following a Supreme Court ruling that chief executives of state-owned media must be appointed by the National Media Commission, Mr Badu has had "extensive talks" with a number of professionals and businessmen in Ghana, the US and United Kingdom.

These talks have been "on the need for a quality independent daily newspaper in Ghana," it said adding that considerable support has been generated in the new media company.