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I am a business reporter with Daily Guide and Business Guide newspapers published by the Western Group of Companies. I was a general reporter when I joined Daily Guide in 2006, but along the line I realized the need to specialize. So I found business reporting as the best area to specialize and I have been on the desk for about four years now. Since I started reporting on business related issues my interest has being in the areas of telecommunications, the extractive industry (ie. oil, gas and mining), and the Small and Medium scale Enterprise (SME) sector. I have a page dedicated to SMEs in the weekly Business Guide newspaper were I write features on the SME sector in Ghana. In view of this I was adjudged the best SME reporter for 2009 during the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) awards in 2010. This has further motivated me to pursue development driven stories which will help change policies and enhance the livelihoods of Ghanaians. I am a member of the Ghana Journalists Association and an executive member of the Network of Communication Reporters (NCR) in Ghana.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Google Goes Digital With Elections


By Esther Awuah

In line with its mission to improve internet usage, Google Ghana has been engaged in election related activities aimed at informing and educating people.

Through this initiative, Google Ghana has been engaging the media and civil society to use the internet and Google products to access information and make it relevant and understandable for Ghanaians. 

Estelle Akofio-Sowah
In an interview with CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE, Google Ghana Country Manager, Estelle Akofio-Sowah said, “Google is committed to democracy and that means helping citizens get the right information and political parties to get their information across.”

She noted that going digital this year has seen most of the political party candidates using Google plus, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to actively engage and reach citizens with their message via the internet.

“There is room for improvement, but all in all this year has been different in terms of the party’s engagements on the internet,” said Ms Akofio-Sowah.

Last month Google hosted hundreds of people made up of developers, civil society and political parties to the "Elections Going Digital" event, which was aimed at promoting successful and transparent elections.

Ms Akofio-Sowah said the event created an atmosphere to share ideas related to elections, as well as ensure that Ghanaians find relevant election information.

She noted that going forward, Google Ghana would continue to work with its partners and the developer community to build more relevant internet applications.

As part of the programme, Google has launched the Ghana Election Hub (www.google.com.gh/election), which serves as a one stop place for all information on the elections.

Google also worked with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Multimedia Group to stream the presidential and vice presidential debates live on YouTube. 
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