Ghana’s first and most popular news portal, GhanaWeb, is marking its 22nd anniversary of existence which has been characterized by media development and freedom.
Founded on January 1, 1999, GhanaWeb has maintained its position of independence over the years devoid of political censorship and interference spanning five different governments in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
A household name for over a decade, GhanaWeb has been the only online platform that allows millions of regular Ghanaians in Ghana and the Diaspora to speak truth to power from the comfort of their homes, offices and any place of convenience with a full guarantee of their right to freedom of expression.
The platform has ensured citizen participation in online socio-political discussions which has helped position Ghana as a shining example of how democracy should be practised in Africa. GhanaWeb cannot be delinked from Ghana’s democratic success story which has been hailed by scholars, practitioners, and the international community.
“The GhanaWeb dream started from a tiny room in Amsterdam where we served the Ghanaian community with news and information. The mandate grew and the scope expanded with many Ghanaians across the world yearning to add their voices to national issues. Our platform and technology were there for all during the important moments of Ghana’s democracy since our launch and we will continue to give Ghanaians a voice,” said Robert Bellaart, founder of GhanaWeb and chief technical officer (CTO) of AfricaWeb.
The year-long 22nd-anniversary celebration is under the theme: “GhanaWeb Then. Now. Later.”. GhanaWeb readers, users, clients, advertising and editorial partners and the general public will be let in on the history, growth, challenges, success story, achievements, technology-driven products and vision of the premier online media channel which currently garners over one billion pageviews per year.
Among the activities lined up for the celebration are community engagement programmes; webinars; product launches; media tours; special awards and recognition; corporate social responsibility activities among many others that would be held under the strict observance of COVID-19 protocols.
“We officially launched the anniversary on February 15, 2021, in Accra and we look forward to engaging you, our partner, throughout the year with special packages and activities that will add more value to our relationship,” said Ekow Blankson, commercial manager of GhanaWeb.
Dozens of Ghanaians across the country and beyond who work for GhanaWeb through local partner companies will actively participate in the 22nd-anniversary activities designed to honour all GhanaWeb readers and users.
GhanaWeb has experienced substantive growth that has inspired the creation of country-specific portals under the AfricaWeb Holding umbrella which has developed viable and robust independent news portals as well as web and publishing solutions in Africa.
“Loyal to our heritage of more than two decades, we are committed to our mission of giving all layers of society access to uncensored news. We shall expand our activities to more Sub-Saharan countries than we already did and we will announce some more empowering partnerships,” said Marc Stubbé, chief executive officer (CEO) of AfricaWeb Holding group which includes GhanaWeb, CamerounWeb, TanzaniaWeb and MyNigeria among other country-specific portals.
About GhanaWeb
GhanaWeb is Ghana’s first vertical portal, content curation and syndication website relaunched in 1999 to offer news, background information, classifieds, radio stations and a social network for Ghanaians and the Diaspora.
The privately-owned independent and objective portal operates under the laws of the Netherlands, a legal setup that has allowed Ghanaians to express themselves freely for over two decades through opinion articles and comments.
Made for and by Ghanaians, GhanaWeb is updated by a team of editors and journalists who ensure balanced coverage of the news by creating original content, publishing syndicated and user-generated content and curating articles from a wide range of Ghanaian print and online media partners.
GhanaWeb has evolved over the years to include video content and social media components to its news feed as well as a mobile app for smooth web navigation. Its team of web developers and web designers regularly improve the technology and design of the portal which has been built to meet the requirements of its 4 million unique visitors each month.
According to the Alexa website traffic statistics, GhanaWeb is very popular among Ghanaian migrants in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Italy, South Africa, Netherlands, France and many other countries.
These loyal visitors and the millions of readers in Ghana have made GhanaWeb the most popular news website in Ghana and ranked the third most visited website in the country after Google and YouTube.
GhanaWeb is part of the AfricaWeb Holding group, an advertising and digital solutions provider for African publishers. AfricaWeb also owns CamerounWeb.com, TanzaniaWeb.com, MyNigeria.com among other country-specific portals as part of its goal of developing viable independent news portals as well as advertising and publishing solutions for Africa.
