Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has demanded high level professionalism and sportsmanship from all the 16 national football teams, which have qualified for the African Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008 tournament.

The competition, he said, should serve as a unique opportunity not just to showcase the best of teams and talents but also strengthen the bond of unity of the continent.

President Kufuor was speaking at the official draw for the tournament at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra on Friday.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Isa Hayatou and members of the continent's football controlling body, the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Ministers of State and Parliamentarians attended the colourful and well patronised ceremony.

The event was telecast live to viewers from across the world. President Kufuor noted that Africa had a vast football potential, whose realisation was yet to peak.

He said it was a promising industry that must be supported by investors to provide additional opportunities for football talents. He congratulated the teams that would from January 2008, be competing in Ghana at four centres - Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi and Tamale - for the coveted African Nations Cup and said they were entitled to see themselves as winners.

President Kufuor also invited football fans from all over the world to travel down to Ghana to watch the competition.

Govt to facilitate ICT to make financial services efficient

Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - Government is facilitating ICT-enabled services by laying optic fibre around the country to ensure that financial services are made reliable and effective. This is expected to make companies and businesses hook unto the information super highway.

Deputy Minister of Communication, Frederick Ansah Opare said this at the end of an international workshop for the implementation of International Express Money Orders via the International Financial Service (IFS) Network in Accra on Friday. The three-day workshop hosted by the Ghana Post drew participants from Ghana, France, Nigeria, South Africa and The Gambia. It was in line with a resolution of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Bucharest, which emphasizes orientation among member countries concerning the development of regional projects, particularly the development of International Express Money Transfer Services (IEMO) of Postal Organizations.

The Deputy Minister noted that with lack of ICT infrastructure in Africa, Universal Postal Unions needed to set up more regional technical centres to provide support for African Postal Administration in establishing ICT centres to train more people to acquire the needed ICT capabilities of African countries.

He said with most human resource base destroyed in some African countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone it was necessary that ECOWAS gave them the necessary support in terms of training and provision of infrastructure to enable them to make headway in introducing technology in their postal operations.

Mr Opare said the ministry would put in place strategies that would make the implementation of the International Express Order and all other Postal Financial Systems workable.

Mr Kofi Duah Adonteng, Managing Director, Ghana Post, expressed the hope that financial services would enable the company to resume its proper position in the remittance business.

He said Ghana Post had several branches countrywide and could therefore perform better in the remittance services. A communiqu=E9 issued at the end of the workshop among other things agreed to admit South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda as full members.