By WILFRED CLARKE 

Lady Rita, who is officially known as Adwoa Isaka on Uniique FM has spoken candidly about her professional experience on radio and television at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. Explaining the details of her daily routine on radio, Lady Rita remarked:

“I am a radio presenter and I play the Drive-Time-Show. I used to present ‘Lunch on ‘Uniique’ which is a lunch time slot on Ghana
Broadcasting Corporation’s radio, but not anymore. “I have presented all kinds of programs on the radio, including ‘The Inspirational Hour on Sundays and a lot of different stuff.”

It has been claimed by some of her numerous fans, that her ‘driving experience’ with respect to her radio show, is second to none. So, that calls for the conversation to be narrowed and concentrated towards her current show which is ‘The Drive Express’. 

And in that, Lady Rita said: “In terms of content on the Drive Express and with respect to production, we try to sometimes noose around to find news that is interesting and trending. “Stories such as in relationships, because I don’t like too much of politics, in the sense of talking about political affairs of governance.” 

“The reason is that our ‘Breakfast Show and others have political topics within its programming already, hence the switch in our style and content on the ‘Drive Express’.

“On the ‘Drive Express’ I look at the entertainment aspect of our daily lives as to how to inform, educate and to entertain our listeners. 

“So, in whole, I like to see the show as a show that people can relate and relax to, after finishing or embarking on their day’s work. I don’t like tensions, neither do I like debates on the show.

“I like people to listen to the show and not be tensed. And that is what we try to avoid. I most at times, intentionally create things to make listeners laugh, and that is deliberate. “Again, this is to let people relax, understand and flow with you, enjoying whilst being entertained and making better informed decisions even as we drive.

Listening to the radio, to some extent, is arguably classified as the ‘theatre of the mind’.

Because the listener cannot see whoever they are listening to. Same as the presenter cannot see the listener. But, in Lady Rita’s case, some listeners can put her face to her voice, simply because they also follow her television activities as well.

For her shows to get the necessary advertising push, Lady Rita would not mind some help for her shows, both on radio and TV saying: “I would like sponsors to come to our aid in sponsoring the shows either on radio or TV.” 

Since she also presents another show on TV, namely ’Lifestyle Chat Show’ on Life-Style Television, the conversation moved from radio to television. Telling it all as to what she does on the Television with her show, Lady Rita confirmed her position as the host of the chat show and said: “After the rebranding of the show, I am sure our producers and directors wanted to do something different.

“This is not the first time Ghana Television is hosting a Chat-Room program, there have been so many shows in the past, such as telenovelas and so on. “So, the concept is to watch some shows and talk about its moral angles and the lessons we can learn from them, regarding our lifestyle and the society we live in.

“We did it with shows like ‘Flower in My Heart’ ‘Two Hearts’ and our audience loved it, because it was something to remember. “So, after the two shows, our producers decided to switch the program to a general Chat-Room discussions.

“Mrs Debora Antwi, Elvis Tetteh and Mr George Lomotey our director for TV and Marketing wanted somebody who will be able to do an Akan program or a program in Akan language.

“And I said OK, although I am not an Akan person, however, I can speak Twi so let’s see. Knowing well that, in the Akan language there is no room for mistakes. When speaking the language, any mistake could land one in a serious situation.

 
“So, I told my directors and producers that, I will give it a go and try my best. When we started the show, I was still speaking more of the English language than the supposed Twi.

“But my good producers and directors kept prompting me every now and then, till I eventually gained the knack of it, by hooking more of our target audience with the show. And that is how come, I got on TV.”

Angola is set to export the most oil in almost four years in August, demonstrating why the country decided to leave OPEC.

Shipments will jump to 1.23 million barrels a day, loading plans show. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had tried to set a production limit of 1.1 million a day on Luanda, prompting Angola to depart the group. Output is not directly tied to monthly exports.

“They have a very clear mandate to grow production in Angola,” said Paul McDade, chief executive officer of Afentra Plc, which holds licenses there and plans to boost output. The government “wants to see the country grow up from 1.1 million barrels a day,” he said in an interview earlier this month.

Angola decided to quit OPEC in December because the production threshold — set by the group after an external review of the nation’s capacity — was to be 400,000 barrels a day lower than a prior limit. That would have entrenched output restrictions and made it harder to go higher.

“Leaving OPEC has opened further opportunities for investment into the oil and gas sector,” said Robert Besseling, CEO of advisory firm Pangea-Risk. It means the US and China are now vying to become Luanda’s favored economic partner, he said.

The government has encouraged exploration companies — including Afentra — to invest more by granting them license extensions and favorable fiscal terms, McDade said.

The producers running Angola’s fields have invested heavily in expansion and reservoir management to counter dwindling production, according to Energy Aspects. August’s export flows also reflect the deferral of two cargoes that were meant to be shipped in July, said Dylan Hattingh, an analyst at the researcher.

Even without those adjustments, exports would still be the highest since last July and above OPEC’s proposed lower limit, the loading plans show.

“The recent stabilization in production is likely the result of incremental field work and infill drilling undertaken over the past few years,” Hattingh said. “Investment in offshore assets remains robust, and we anticipate this trend will continue under the management of experienced operators.”

By Bill Lehane, Grant Smith and Paul Burkhardt, With assistance from Julian Lee.  Bloomberg

Donald Trump and Joe Biden have faced off at one of the earliest presidential debates in modern US history.

The two wannabe presidents clashed at the debate hosted in Atlanta, Georgia – a key battleground state which Biden won by less than 13,000 votes back in 2020.

This is the second round of debates between Trump and Biden, as they both competed to become president in 2020, a battle Biden ultimately won.

But the consensus seems to be that Trump won this clash, with Democrats concerned that the president stumbled, drew blanks, and didn’t take opportunities to challenge Trump’s record.

Vice President Kamala Harris defended Biden, telling CNN it ‘was a slow start, but there was a strong finish’. 

The two candidates strode on stage on Thursday evening and walked directly to their lecterns, avoiding a handshake.

Trump repeatedly attacked Biden on the economy and his foreign policy record, while Biden slammed Trump for ‘having sex with a porn star’ and his recent criminal conviction.

The attacks turned personal several times, with both men trading personal insults and at one point slamming each other’s golfing skills.

Biden’s raspy voice, which his team says is because he was ill, was repeatedly questioned by analysts who think his chances of retaining the presidency are slipping.

At one point he seemed to lose his train of thought and go blank, leading to Trump mocking him to his face for ‘not knowing what he’s saying’.

Aiming to avoid a repeat of their chaotic 2020 meetings, Mr Biden insisted – and Mr Trump agreed – to hold the debate without an audience and to allow the network to mute the candidates’ microphones when it is not their turn to speak.

The first question saw Biden pressed to defend rising inflation since he took office, which he pinned on the situation he inherited from Trump amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the economy as the first issue of the debate, Biden detailed what he described as an American economy ‘in freefall’, while Trump bragged about the state of the economy while he was in office, as well as his handling of the pandemic.

Biden blamed Trump during the debate for the deluge of state abortion restrictions since the fall of Roe v Wade.

The former president repeated his catch-all states-rights response when abortion rights came up, touting that he returned the abortion question to individual states.

Trump said on the debate stage that he believes in abortion ban exceptions ‘for rape, incest and the life of the mother’.

Asked about the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, Mr Trump quickly pivoted to immigration and taxes.

Pressed on his role, he said he encouraged people to act ‘peacefully and patriotically’, then attacked former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Biden said Trump encouraged the supporters to go to the Capitol and sat in the White House without taking action as they fought with police officers.

Almost 45 minutes into the debate, Biden finally referenced Trump’s recent felony conviction in New York.

During the discussion about the insurrection, Biden said: ‘The only person on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now.’

Trump sought to pivot from his own legal troubles by referring to Mr Biden’s son, Hunter, as a ‘convicted felon’.

He was referencing the younger Biden’s felony conviction this month on three firearms charges.

Trump also repeated long-running claims related to the Bidens and Ukraine, a frequent attack point for Republicans, while Biden brought up allegations that Trump had sex with porn actress Stormy Daniels. Trump denies this.

The next presidential TV debate will be held on September 10, two months before the US heads to the polls on November 5. Metro