A new newspaper, The Business Analyst, was launched at the Ghana International Press Centre on Tuesday, April 13, 2010.

The paper, which is published by JAKOBUS PUBLICATIONS, has a mission – “to assume the position of an important player in the local and international media; to inform the public about the world of business, through good analysis, with emphasis on oil and gas,” Mr. J. Ato Kobbie, the Managing Editor of the newspaper has revealed.

In his remarks as the Guest of Honour, Minister of Information, Mr. John Tia Akologu expressed appreciation to the publishers of The Business Analyst for adding such an important platform for the dissemination of information, which is his ministry’s call.

He urged journalists to operate within the ethics of their profession, adding his voice to concerns raised by the National Media Commission over recent indecent publications in some private newspapers.

On his part, the Chairman for the function, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, a former journalist, called for decency in the media.

He advised journalists to simplify the language of their reportage, so they do not end up spreading ignorance, instead of imparting knowledge to readers.

“Don’t deal in jargons,” he advised, calling for simplicity in reportage. He advised journalists to avoid the temptation to spread unverified statistics, expressing hope that The Business Analyst, with its motto, ‘Going behind with numbers with objectivity,’ would live up to expectation.

In solidarity messages, both the Managing Editor of The Insight newspaper, Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr. and Editor-In-Chief of The Enquirer newspaper, expressed confidence in the capabilities of the editor of the new paper, whom they said they had known for a long time.

The two veteran journalists both cautioned the editor about the huge responsibilities he has taken upon himself, and wished him success in his new venture.

Mr. Pratt expressed disgust at recent publications in some private newspapers, which were purely pornographic in nature and advised colleagues to refrain from such practices. The Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monnie, condemn pornographic publications by some newspapers and hoped that The Business Analyst was going to transform the media landscape and stick to its motto of ‘Going behind with numbers with objectivity.’

On his part, Mr. Alex Mould, Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) advised journalists to be more diligent in their work, by listening, researching, and engaging in consultative interviews to get to the bottom of issues.

“A paper is as sincere as its editor,” stated Mr. Mould, who officially launched the paper, adding that journalists should refrain from turning stories to suit their commercial interest. Mr. Mould, who expressed confidence in the editor of the new weekly paper to deliver, advised journalists to push regulators to perform the duties they are set up to do.

Continuing in his remarks, Mr. Kobbie emphasized that the story on oil exploration in Ghana is for Ghanaians and if they failed to tell it, others may do it begging the truth.

“We must tell our own story of our oil industry or risk others telling it for us, in which case we may not get a true account of the facts,” he emphasized.

According to Mr. Kobbie, “if we were to tell the truth about the recent commercial oil discovery, no one would, for even a moment, suggest that during the period before the year 2001investors considered Ghana a graveyard as far as oil exploration was concerned.”

The saddest part, in my opinion, is that not only do the facts not support this claim, but the opposite rather is the truth.

The editor of the new paper revealed that “by the end of the year 2000, around 70% of Ghana’s offshore blocks had been licensed out and many international oil companies were at various stages of exploration activities.”

Continuing, Mr. Kobbie said that “did not happen by accident and I believe colleague journalists who followed the GNPC’s participation at various international oil and gas fora, including the Oil and Gas Africa Conferences organized in collaboration with international partners in Ghana, can attest to the vigorous promotional work done by the GNPC.”

He took pride in having worked at GNPC before, saying: “I am happy to announce that I was part of that GNPC team whose leadership discovered the potential for commercial oil production ‘in the mind’ with supporting data, which it vigorously marketed to the international oil community.”

He said “it was in pursuit of these oil reserves the GNPC convinced key international oil players like Hunt Oil, Dana Oil, Nuevo Energy, Santa Fe Snyder and Fusion Oil about Ghana’s oil potential and encouraged them to acquire acreages to undertake exploration activities, especially from the second half of the 1990s.” The initial copies of the paper were auctioned, with the first two, going for GHC1,000.00 each.

Present at the launch were Mr. Fiifi Kwetey and Mr. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, deputy ministers of Finance & Economic Planning and Information, as well as other invited guests, including the partners of Lithur, Brew and company, Mr. Tony Lithur and Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, and staff of the new paper.