The Bank of Ghana has deepened its commitment to media capacity-building with the launch of a four-day training workshop for business and financial journalists in the Eastern Region, aimed at enhancing the quality and accuracy of economic and financial reporting in the country.
The workshop, which runs from June 25–28, 2025, is part of a broader series of regional engagements spearheaded by the Bank’s Communications Department. In his opening address, Mr. Bernard Otabil, Director of Communications at the Bank of Ghana, underscored the vital role the media plays in the central bank’s mission.
“This initiative reflects our unwavering commitment to fostering a well-informed media landscape, particularly in the areas of monetary policy, macroeconomic analysis, and financial reporting,” Mr. Otabil said.
He explained that the Bank’s management, led by Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, had sanctioned the programme “because of the important role the media plays in enhancing the Bank’s work.”
According to Mr. Otabil, effective communication by the central bank is instrumental in “enhancing transparency, fostering public understanding, and bolstering credibility, thereby instilling confidence in monetary policy decisions and overall macroeconomic stability.”
He acknowledged the crucial role journalists play in public education, but also pointed to a “persistent need for enhanced clarity and comprehension of the Bank’s monetary policy framework and the underlying factors influencing the decision-making process, as well as key aspects of the work of the Bank.”
To counter the challenges posed by misinformation and disinformation, Mr. Otabil revealed that the Bank had embarked on a series of regional media engagements. “So far, media training programmes have been held in the Volta Region, Western Region and the Ashanti Region, with an average total of 75 journalists attending these workshops. This figure will reach 100 if all the journalists we have invited for today’s programme attend.”
He added that these engagements have enabled the Bank to “formalise and establish a dedicated press corps, who have helped to propagate the Bank’s monetary policy decisions and activities to Ghanaians in the regions.”
A key outcome of the workshops has been the establishment of dedicated WhatsApp channels for trained journalists. “To further enhance the Bank’s relationship with the media, a dedicated WhatsApp channel has been created for the press corps in Ashanti, Volta and Western Regions post-training. I assure you, colleagues, if you pass the test over the next two days, you will have your dedicated WhatsApp group too,” Mr. Otabil said.
Topics to be covered over the two-day intensive training include:
• Accurate Reporting
• Monetary Policy Practice in Ghana
• Understanding Inflation Dynamics in Ghana
• Recent Developments in the Foreign Exchange Market
• Responsible Borrowing
• Understanding the Central Bank Balance Sheet
• Macroeconomic Analysis & the Significance of Macroeconomic Indicators
Mr. Otabil also used the occasion to highlight key innovations introduced by Governor Dr. Asiama to improve central bank-media engagement.“First, Governor Asiama, at the start of every MPC meeting, engages the media in a kick-off meeting, explaining his expectations for the meeting, in the context of global and domestic economic developments. These meetings, the first of its kind in the Bank, have proved crucial to the Bank’s monetary policy process.”
He continued, “The second significant innovation by Governor Asiama is the publication of the submissions of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee. Since the Bank adopted the inflation-targeting monetary policy framework in 2007, this is the first time such submissions have been done, bringing Ghana at par with other central banks using the inflation-targeting framework.”
“Reading these minutes would be useful for your work, and enhance your understanding of the broad-based nature of the IT framework,” he added.
Mr. Otabil concluded by reaffirming the Bank’s continued efforts to support the media through innovation and partnership.
