The Deputy Minister of Finance Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson has said that training of journalists to enhance efficiency and accuracy in reporting economic issues is very critical to enabling citizen participation in the economic development process. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two day workshop scheduled for the June 25th, 2015 to June 26th, 2015 organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in conjunction with Penplusbytes and the Institute for Financial and Economic Journalists on economic and finance reporting at the New Media Hub in Accra.

The workshop seeks to build the capacity of Ghanaian journalists in exercising an oversight role in the utilization of the fund in the area of macroeconomics and international finance. Also, in attendance were Samir JahJah, IMF’s resident representative for Ghana,  Andrew Kanyegirire and Dieng Ismalia of IMF communications department. The workshop is facilitated by Mathieu Robbins and James Jukwey who are trainers from Thomson Reuters Foundation. Robbins, stated that the training will generally refresh the skills of the participants and empower them to easily and transparently cover financial news in Ghana.

A total number of 13 business reporters from various media houses are partaking in this workshop. These media house include; Joy FM/Multi TV, Ghana News Agency, Peace FM, Citi FM, GBC Radio, Daily Guide, The Finder, Business and Financial Times, Business World, Daily Express, CAJ News Africa and TV3.

Participants have generally recounted the importance and impact of the programme in the execution of their tasks in reporting economic issues as journalists.

“This training is an eye opener as I have learnt a lot about the IMF and their operations than I initially knew. It will help me in making informed decisions when I am reporting,” said Mercy Darko of the Radio division of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.