NEW CEO FOR MTN GHANA :)

By Nana Appiah Acquaye, Accra, Ghana

The newly appointed Chief Executive for MTN Ghana, Michael Ikpoki assumed his office today.

The former Sales and Distribution Executive of MTN Nigeria is taking over from Brett Goschen, who has been assigned to Nigeria as its Chief Executive.

He is expected to spend most of his first days in office engaging regulators of the communication sector and some government officials.

With the network claiming a subscriber base of 9 million and 53% market share, will need to come up with new strategies to maintain or even improve its numbers as mobile number portability (MNP), due to come into effect on 1 July, threatens to increase competition.

MNP has proven to be a major challenge for leaders in other markets.

Meanwhile, the out-going CEO, Brett Goshen, said he expected MTN Ghana to maintain its number one position and make more gains in the sector, despite the stiff competition.

Speaking to journalists in Accra at the end of his four-and-a-half year term in the country, Goshen said the company was certain to rake in more subscribers and increase its customer base when the number portability project takes off later this year.

He noted that MTN Ghana had grown to 9 million subscribers from only two million in 2006. The company now also has over 2000 mobile base stations around the country.

Goschen ascribed the success in part to the stable macro-economic climate and investment opportunities. He said growth opportunities now lie in the mobile data industry.

He said with an internet penetration rate of only 5%, there was enormous potential in the market for the telecoms companies to tap into.

He said limited data cable provision had been the major contributing factor to the low penetration rate, but expressed the hope that the landing of new fibre optics cables would enhance penetration and increase the use of the internet.

"With companies coming on board with fibre optic cables, the issue of low penetration will soon be a thing of the past," he said.

Commenting on the challenges that he faced during his tenure as the CEO in Ghana, he said "huge taxes paid by mobile companies and rigid site approval processes" were high among these.

http://www.biztechafrica.com/section/mobile/article/mtn-ghanas-new-ceo-takes-office/577/

Ghana clocks fastest internet

According to this website, Ghana Has the Fastest/Highest Upload and download Internet speeds in Africa :cheers:

http://www.speedtest.net/ - BTW: U could test yours.

http://www.biztechafrica.com/media/images/stories/_thumbs/Accra_Ghana_jpg_410x270_upscale_q85.jpg

In recent tests of internet speed, Ghana was found to have the ninth-fastest broadband speeds in the world and the fastest in Africa.

Internet performance ranking tests performed by independent internet firm speedtest.net, Ghana had the fastest broadband upload and download speeds in Africa. Vodafone’s broadband was the country’s fastest service.

Isaac Cudjoe, Vodafone Ghana’s Head of Corporate Communications, said: “Due to Vodafone’s massive investment in its broadband services, Ghana is now the highest ranked in Africa. Before this investment, we were sitting at 116th for download and 56th for upload globally.”

Speedtest checks broadband upload and download speeds and ranks them by country. South Korea was ranked at number one in the world with download speeds of 33.64 Mb/s and upload speeds of 19.02 Mb/s.

Ghana ranked ninth globally on the upload speed ranking, with speeds of 8.13 Mb/s, and number 35 with download speeds of 8.14 Mb/s.. Rwanda was listed at number 34 on upload speeds (2.00 Mb/s) and number 89 on download speeds (2.43 Mb/s), followed by Uganda at number 45, with upload speeds of 1.53 Mb/s, and Kenya at number 65, with upload speeds of 1 Mb/s. Kenya was number 94 with download speeds of 2.28 Mb/s. South Africa followed at number 90 for download speeds (2.40 Mb/s) and number 92 for upload speeds (0.73 Mb/s). Namibia was 98 on the upload rankings, with speeds of 0.69 Mb/s. Trailing behind, below 100th spot on the list were Mali, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, Mauritania, Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, Mauritius, Angola, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and lastly, Zambia on 178th position with download speeds of 0.30 Mb/s and upload speeds of 0.04 Mb/s.

Nice thread. To The Nigerians on here...can't thank u enough for the way u helping the Ghana sub section! Much loooove!

^^ Ur welcome :)

Glo 1 outdoored in Ghana, promises limitless opportunities
Last Updated: Saturday, 9 April 2011, 17:41 GMT

Ghana’s latest telecoms operator, Glomobile Ghana Limited, owned by Globacom, Friday took a major step it says will totally revolutionize telecommunications in the country and usher in real industry competition with the official launch of the high-capacity submarine fibre-optic cable system, Glo 1.

With the launch of Glo 1, which pipes through 14 African countries and connects continent to the rest of the world, Globacom is promising unprecedented internet connectivity and data transfer speed, plus a myriad of business opportunities.

The launching, an elaborate two-tier showpiece - first with the media at the Holiday Inn Hotel and then with the corporate world at the Banquet Hall of the State House, turns out a huge relief from a long wait and a fitting closure to the often repeated question of when Glo was rolling out after securing its license and completing initial set-ups.

In the words of Communications Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, who welcomed the Glo 1 launch with a “mixed feeling” because the expectation of the people of Ghana is the launch of Glo’s voice mobile telephony, “we cannot wait any longer to see Globacom launch fully as part of Ghana’s six licensed communication entities for our country in order to expand access to voice telephony”.

Haruna Iddrisu observed that Ghana has made giant and tremendous strides in the area of telecommunications and that “even the socialist among us will agree that when we say that liberalization has no dividend, we certainly cannot say so for the telecoms sector. We are today reaping [from] the foundations that were laid for a liberalized regime of the telecoms sector and allowing the private sector to take its pride of place.

“Mine will be to commend Globacom Limited, at least the launch of Glo 1 today in my conception, is West Africa’s Indigenous response to the need for global connectivity and this is the first time that we are having such a major investment come from an African, meant for an African, and connecting with the rest of the world and you deserve our commendation.”

He appealed to Globacom to reserve some of their additional value added services-related businesses for Ghanaians, “whether in the area of the printing of scratch cards, whether in the area of security, whether in the area of providing diesel or manning cell sites,” he said, “we will be happy that it generates some additional business for the Ghanaian people and that is how we can share in their entry to the market.”

Haruna expressed hope that Globacom’s entry will in the near future engender a situation where Ghanaians will be afforded free calls at the weekends rather than being reduced to keep vigil at midnight in order to enjoy some of the added benefits.

Vice President John Mahama, special guest, predicted that in the not too distant future, the capacity of bandwidth available to a country will determine its status of development rather than GDP.

He therefore welcomed the increase in bandwidth availability in Ghana with the arrival of Glo and its launch of the backbone infrastructure and services, which he said will deepen competition and provide alternative choices, comparable pricing and improved quality of service for the benefit of Ghana’s communication sector.

“It will be common in future to be asked not of the size of the GDP of your country but of the size of bandwidth that is available in your country,” he said, emphasizing the determination of the government to develop ICT infrastructure that will provide abundant capacity to carry high speed voice, video and internet facilities to all districts of Ghana.

“I say this because towards the end of 2008, the uptake of broadband in Ghana stood at one percent which was extremely low and inadequate for meaningful development. With the arrival of Glo 1 and other submarine cables the total bandwidth capacity of 2,040 gigabytes will be available to Ghana… It is therefore expected that the increase in bandwidth capacity will be more than adequate to meet the increasing demand for communication services, promote and support business process outsourcing industry in Ghana by creating jobs and revenues to government while exerting a downward pressure on prices as a result of increased competition.”

Limitless opportunities



Mr. Mohamed Jameel, Group Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, underscored the manifold significance of the launching of Glo 1 for Ghanaians, Africans, industries, academia and governments.

“If fully optimized by every sector of the society, the Glo 1 submarine cable has the infinite capacity to trigger an unprecedented social and economic revolution not only in the telecommunication sector but also in the agricultural, transportation, medical, hospitality, tourism and educational sectors.”

“With the amazing broadband capacity that the Glo 1 submarine cable offers, Ghanaians in particular and Africans in general now have the limitless potential to be connected to a new era of prosperity where bulk data that can instantly be used to transform lives and climb the social and economic ladder can be downloaded and uploaded at the speed of light.

“Due to the seamless connectivity of the Glo 1 submarine cable, which connects Ghana to the rest of the world with the Glo Ghana nationwide optic fiber cable, farmers in the different regions of Ghana for instance will now be able to access high yield seeds from any part of the world which they can plant and harvest to enhance their economic power. Similarly, students and educationists can tap into the Glo 1 facility for long distance learning, research and any other academic pursuit.

He expressed exceeding delight that the Glo 1 submarine cable, sponsored 100 percent by an indigenous African entrepreneur, will avail Africans of huge potentials.

“For us, the dream of the Glo 1 project turned into manifest reality when some months ago, the cable landed on the Ice Company Beach at Osu in Accra all the way from the United Kingdom through several European and African countries. We are immensely grateful to the people and government of this great country for supporting us to make the dream a reality and we are optimistic that the facility will be fully leveraged for the benefits of mankind. Worthy of mention is the support of His Excellency, Professor Atta Mills, the Vice President and other members of cabinet and the NCA.

“We assure you that we shall not relent in our avowed commitment to avail Ghanaians of the very best telecommunication infrastructure through the Glo 1 submarine cable which is being commissioned today and through the Glo Mobile Ghana network when it becomes operational.”


Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Ghana and Spain have initialled a bilateral Air Services Agreement and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to allow direct flights between both countries.

The agreement followed two days of negotiations between delegations from Ghana and Spain in Accra from April 12-13, to review the previous agreement.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Ghana.airways.1.arp.750pix.jpg
The new agreement would allow flights for passengers and cargo from Ghana directly to Spain and vice versa.

Mr Raul Medina Caballero, Deputy Director General, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, led the Spanish delegation. He said it was important to update the current agreement into a modern framework to allow for the first flight between Ghana and Spain to provide the platform for creating the necessary conditions for direct flights.

Mr Caballero said: “Our experience shows us that reaching an adequate air transport framework will, without doubt, help to consolidate and strengthen the relationship between countries, fostering not only the air transport branch but also widening social, cultural and business opportunities among countries”.

He said a more flexible and open agreement would be enough to start creating a real air link between Ghana and Spain.

The Ghanaian delegation included Mr Selby Twumasi Ankrah, a representative of the Ministry of Transport, who signed the MOU on Ghana’s behalf, Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of Ghana Airports Company Limited, and Air Commodore Kwame Mamphey, Director General of Ghana Civil Aviation Authority.

Mrs Owusu-Fianko, speaking to GNA, said the new agreement was an update on the previous one signed about 15 years ago and only allowed flights from Accra to Las Palmas but the new agreement would enable designated flights from Spain to fly directly to Accra.

He explained: It also provides a more relaxed policy on transfer of earnings, that is, the airlines would be able to easily transfer cash through the Bank of Ghana to Spain and vice versa”. Mrs Owusu-Fianko said a text agreement would be sent to the Attorney General by the Sector Ministry after which it would be sent to Cabinet and then to Parliament for approval.

The MoU spells out the modus operandi for designated airlines subject to approval of the GCAA of aircraft type and licensing of personnel.

So far only IBERIA, a Spanish airline is ready to begin operations in October 2011 and no Ghanaian airline has yet expressed intention to begin flights to Spain.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/11/15898083_33f7ef7493_z.jpg
The Spanish delegation included Ms Ana Belen De Castro Reyero, Legal Advisor DGCA, Ms Beatriz Saiz Rubio, Air Transport Policy Advisor and Ms Rebecca Chantal Guinea Stal, a representative of the Embassy of Spain in Ghana.

Others were Mr Federico Soto Gonzalez, Traffic Rights Manager of IBERIA, and representative of the Association of Spanish Companies of Air Transport and Mr Javier Ortega Figueiral, Deputy Director External Relations SPAINAIR and representative of the Association of Spanish Airlines. :smug:

Source: Africa News (http://www.africanews.it)

Ghana’s inflation dips again to 9.02% in April
Ghana’s inflation rate continues its downward trend for the second time this year. The rate for April stands at 9.02%, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced in Accra Wednesday May 11, 2011.
The rate is lower than the March rate of 9.13% and that of February which was 9.16%.
The Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako told reporters that the inflation rate fell by 0.11% points.
“The downward trend in inflation in April 2011 can be attributed to the food and non-alcoholic beverages group which had a 0.52 percentage point decline and the non-food group recorded 0.16 percentage point increase”, Dr Grace Bediako said.
The non-food group inflation rate which was 12.16% is almost three times higher than the food group rate which stood at 4.18%, the GSS said.
The monthly change, which is the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) between March 2011 and April 2011, was 1.31%.
Accra, recorded the highest inflation rate of 12.31% and Volta region the lowest inflation, 5.24%.

New Alpha Refinery (Ghana) Ltd., A South African Company has been awarded a $6 billion contract to build the largest Oil Refinery in West Africa. The Refinery will be located in Accra Ghana.

Executive Chairman Merlyn Julie told Reuters the refinery would initially produce 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), with first production seen by 2015.

“We have signed a memorandum of understanding … We expect the first fuel to be produced in 2014 or 2015,” Julie said on the sidelines of an African energy conference.

He added the capacity of the refinery, to be situated on 1,000 acres in central Accra, could be expanded to 400,000 bpd.

Julie said the costs, initially pegged at $7.6 billion, were now projected at some $6 billion and that was because, globally the economic slowdown and weaker oil prices have eased pressure on the cost of construction materials.

The small nation known for its cocoa production and Gold mines has positioned itself as a potential ‘African Lion’ with the discovery of commercial quantities of oil. It’s government’s commitment to good governance and rule of law has seen it become a favorite for International investors.

Compared with other African countries where oil or other natural resources were found in the past, current conditions in Ghana seem favorable to avoid the typical resource curse we’ve seen take place on the continent.

US-based Kosmos Energy, British owned Tullow Oil, Anadarko with the state-owned oil and gas company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, (GNPC) make up the current cast of performing companies that operate the budding Ghanaian Oil industry...

Hey my uncle is an executive at the GSS! But yea an oil refinery will be great. Cuz other countries just export their oil raw

Hey my uncle is an executive at the GSS! But yea an oil refinery will be great. Cuz other countries just export their oil raw

ask him about it, if its still on

Accra, June 5, GNA - The management of New Alpha Refinery-Ghana, a South African based company with a subsidiary in Ghana is undertaking feasibility studies to establish a tank farm and second refinery in Ghana. The refinery will be located in the Western Region in addition to the establishment of a power-generation plant using gas turbines. Mr Merlyn Julie, Executive Chairman of New Alpha Refinery Ghana, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, said management was equipping itself to train personnel for the oil and gas industry. "We envisage providing jobs for about 4,800 to 5,000 people," he added.

Mr Julie said management was negotiating with the Ministry of Energy and other stakeholders as well as the landowners to fast track the proposal and conduct technical audit to enable them to use Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) a= s module for the training.

"The project, which comes with import and export facilities; a tank farm and a gas turbine, will have the capacity to process 200,000 barrels o= f crude per day.

"This will be more than quadruple the capacity of TOR whose output i= s about 45,000 barrels per day," he added.

Mr Julie said the company would supply neighbouring countries with refined products such as gasoline, jet-fuel adding 93We are delighted with Ghana for her stability and profitability as an investment destination." On the need for an additional refinery, Mr Julie said this was necessary because of Ghana's rising consumption of petroleum products of about three billion litres annually compared to TOR's capacity of 45,000 bpd-which was inadequate to keep up with the trend despite imports of refined products from Europe to augment its output.

"Construction of an additional refinery is deemed more than just welcome news: it will improve local manpower capacity for the hydrocarbon industry and create jobs," Mr Julie said.

He explained that European refineries had been operating at all time high, with nearly 30 cargoes traversing the Sub-Saharan African shores on monthly basis, with Nigeria alone receiving about 10 of these cargoes. "Ghana's ability to export refined products to neighbouring countr= ies will be a strategic economic venture," he added.

The company has initiated a feedstock agreement with Nigeria and Mali to buy feedstock (crude oil) and set up an off-take agreement in return to sell the refined products to them. According to project consultants in South Africa, all layouts and technical issues are being concluded and confident of a successful implementation...

wo days ago, Vice-President John Dramani Mahama told a delegation of technocrats from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China that Ghana's foreign reserves had hit the $4 billion mark, and is now capable of taking credit facilities to undertake development projects to improve upon the standard of living of the people.

In contrast to the impression of a thriving economy, the Vice-President sought to portray what the President of the Republic had told the nation, via an interview with an Accra private radio station barely two weeks earlier, that money was so scarce in the system that the government was not able to continue with major road networks under construction.

He specifically mentioned the Achimota-Ofankor and the Nsawam-Apedwa links of the Accra-Kumasi Highway, and the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange-Adenta stretch of the Accra-Aburi Highway, two of the nation's most important road networks.

On Wednesday, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms. Hannah Tetteh, who immediately pronounced after this administration took charge of the state machinery that Ghana was broke, and triggered capital flight that sent the national currency tumbling against the major currencies of the world, inaugurated the Industrial Sector Support Programme in Accra, and claimed that the new document was the panacea to the industrial transformation of this country.

'The Industrial Policy represents the set of specific policy instruments and measures to be applied to increase access to competitive factors of production, in order to enhance its productivity, efficiency and competitiveness,' states the new guidelines.

Key development objectives of the new Industry Policy include the concept of creating a modern productive economy, with high levels of value-additions to expand productive employment in the manufacturing sector, expansion of the technological capacity in the manufacturing sector, and transformation of agriculture, through agro-based industrial development.

Others are to provide consumers with fairly-priced, better quality products and services that are competitive in both the domestic and international markets, and to promote the spatial distribution of industrial development, in order to achieve a reduction in poverty and income inequalities.

In conjecturing the ability of this administration to carry the concept of the spread of industry to achieve a reduction in poverty across the country, it is important to conceptualise a recent debate in Parliament, where the idea mooted by some Members of the House to get the headquarters of the oil and gas industry in this country moved to the Western Region, was torpedoed from the Majority side.

The Chronicle is of the view that the posture in Parliament tells a lot about the commitment level of this administration. With an attitude like this, The Chronicle is of the conviction that it would be very difficult to follow the pattern of economic development outlined in the new policy guidelines.

The Chronicle would have wished that the very glossy picture being painted by the Vice-President and Minister of Trade was achievable and that this nation had really put in place measures to ensure that Ghana becomes an industrialised nation.

Our beef is that a policy, by itself, could hardly translate into an industrial boom without the necessary resources. We are afraid this administration has not demonstrated any commitment towards the development of this nation.

Ghana has never been short on policies. From the five-year Development Plan of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, through to the various presidential initiatives in the Kufuor regime, the paperwork has always been in place for an industrial take-off.

We have not been able to translate what has been on paper to the ground, because of lack of resources and the will to ensure that the resources were available.

Unless, and until this nation makes it a policy of finding the resources to implement our industrial policies, the idea of an industrial take-off would continue to be mere paper guarantees.
:):)

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority has drawn up an expansion plan for the Takoradi Harbour at a cost of seven hundred and fifty dollar s($750m).

The project is expected to boost business in the maritime sector in the wake of the oil find in the Western Region.

The Port Civil Engineer, Kwabena Asamoah, made this known when members of the Ghana Shippers Authority Board visited the Harbour...

Castle Minerals stocks have soared after it announced a significant new gold discovery at its Baayari prospect in north-west Ghana.

Castle announced today that first pass drilling had intersected a strong zone of gold mineralisation, including 55 metres at 1.82 grams per tonne of gold from 15m, and 5m at 6.64g/tonne gold from surface.

Castle said the results were the most significant to date at Baayiri, and provided encouragement that substantial gold mineralisation could be present.

Another drill rig is being mobilised to site, and additional drilling will commence this week, Castle managing director Mike Ivey said in a letter to shareholders today.

"We believe we have just scratched the surface of what we hope will be a major new gold discovery on ground that has never previously been explored," Mr Ivey said.

At 11:23AM its stock had jumped 36.6 per cent, to trade at 41 cents.

Mr Ivey said the discovery was a vindication of the company's Ghana exploration strategy.

The disseminated nature of the mineralisation is suggestive of a broad and possibly large-scalle pervasive mineralising event providing encouragement that this is a substantial deposit," Mr Ivey said.

"The width, grade and near surface nature of the intercept has obvious economic implications and we are keen to recommence drilling as soon as possible to determine the exact geometry and scope of the mineralisation intercepted."

The Baayari prospect is part of Castle's 10,000 square kilometre Wa project in Ghana.

An 80,000m exploration program is focusing on four regional scale prospect corridors, including Baayiri.

"These initial results at the Baayiri prospect validate our commitment to develop the company and drive value for our shareholders through ground-up exploration in Ghana," Mr Ivey said.
..

Ketan (W/R), June 16, GNA 97 Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Transport has estimated works on the Western railway lines at $400 million.

He said Government was banking its hopes on a Chinese loan facility to start the rehabilitation of the railway lines by the end of the year. Alhaji Dauda made this known during workers' durbar at a popular site in Ketan in the Western Region, known as 91Bottom Tree', where pertinent issues affecting railway workers and the railway sector were discussed.

The Transport Minister noted that, the economic viability of the railway sector was paramount towards revamping the economy and assured the workers that, Government would not sit aloof for the Ghana Railway Company (GRC) to collapse.

He urged the workers to support every effort being put in place by the Government to revitalise the sector.

Alhaji Dauda observed that the work attitude of the workers would go a long way to determine the fate of the Company.

"There is a popular perception that, public institutions are not well administered because they don't belong to any individual. But if we change our attitude towards public work and work assiduously towards its sustainability, its positive rippling effects would be felt by all," he stressed.

Alhaji Dauda noted that, the railway sector was the heart of the people in the Region; particularly the people in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and therefore, Government would do its possible best to secure funding for rehabilitation of the railway lines.

"The current spate of road crashes in the country could be attributed to the inefficiency of the railway sector because heavy duty trucks that ply our roads often cause the accidents.

"=85If we rehabilitate the railway lines, people would prefer using trains to cart their goods instead of vehicles since they are affordable and reliable."

The Minister said he had set up a three-member committee to review the law that established the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA).

According to him, there was the need for the law to be reviewed to ensure effective and efficient management of GRC.

He said: 93The promulgation of the law has limited the GRC because the GRDA is the regulator whilst the GRC is the operator thus making decision-taking towards the revitalisation of the sector difficult."

Alhaji Dauda said as the law stood now, the GRDA had the authority to issue license to the GRC to operate.

He noted that, if the law was reviewed, it would help the restructuring process of the railway sector effectively and efficiently.

Alhaji Dauda charged the Management of the GRC to engage the workers regularly, at least once a month in order to know their problems and concerns.

He advocated the frequent flow of information from the Management to the workers front to ensure trust and transparency.

The Minister said communication was vital towards efficient management of any public or private institution.

He pledged his commitment towards the payment of the workers' salary arrears as well as promotion and collective bargaining agreement issues.

The Acting Managing Director of the GRC, Mr K. B. Amofa said freight traffic remained the mainstay of the company accounting for 90 per cent of the revenue it generated, covering a route length of 947 kilometres.

He said much of the freight traffic were primary commodities such as manganese, bauxite and cocoa meant for export through the Takoradi Port.

Mr Amofa said successive governments failed to use the revenue generated from export to maintain the infrastructure and assets, thus leading to the current deplorable state of the railway lines.

The Acting Managing Director called for major infusion of capital into the railway sector to ensure the realisation of its full potential. "As at now, about 45 per cent of locomotives and wagons required to run and achieve set freight targets have broken down and are being repaired, but lack of spare parts has delayed their service since some of them are (more than) 50 years and needed to be replaced.

"There is difficulty running cocoa trains due to the poor track infrastructure from Dunkwa to Kumasi while cement and timber trains cannot go to and from Kumasi for the same reason," he said.

Mr Amofa said the signal and telecommunication systems which were installed in 1984 had broken down thus hampering communication.

During the open forum, workers expressed their sentiments such as low remunerations, late payment of salaries, and lack of information flow from Management.

They called for capital injection to revitalise the operations of the sector..

The Ghanaian financial market is the most attractive destination for funds looking to maximise returns, Mr. S. J. Kok, Director, Global Markets Africa, Standard Bank Group, has said. Ghana is one of the biggest attractions for the offshore funds. From an offshore perspective, the investor perception is very positive, he explained.

He told this to 15 financial journalists from seven African countries who attended the just-ended the 4th Annual Media Forum of the Standard Bank Group when they visited the dealing offices of the bank in Johannesburg, South Africa.

It transpires that Ghana offers fund managers and investors much higher yields compared to other African markets, which makes it the most attractive investment destination in Africa. Other markets in Africa are offering an average of between seven and ten percent yields, while Ghana offers between 18 and 20 percent. In the United States and some European markets, investors can only expect a three percent yield.

While the real return on long-term investments on the capital market is offering between six to seven percent minus inflation, just investment in money market instruments like dollar-indexed fixed deposits can guarantee a return between 2.5 percent and 3 percent compared with other markets outside Ghana where the returns range from .25 % to .75%.

Dealers in foreign exchange are guaranteed returns between 18% and 19%. One-year government Treasury bill notes also guarantee a yield of 12%, which is far better than some countries where the one-year note’s yield is normally lower than the inflation rate.

Non-resident holders of listed securities have the legal right to remit capital, profits and income freely. Forwards are also available for all players. And there is no withholding tax for foreign investors. The stable political environment has also contributed to the positive investor perception of the country.

Some analysts have explained that flotation of an international bond by government in 2008 also contributed immensely to help to raise the image and profile of the country in the international financial markets. The issuance of the offshore bond helped in assessing the Ghanaian market, and it has offered the benchmark in evaluating some securities.

However, getting access to the market is very difficult for offshore fund managers. More investors are eyeing the Ghanaian market, but the challenge of lack of access is still a major problem -- especially in the secondary market. It may be that more corporate issuance might serve as the solution to the problem.

The secondary market is controlled by a few players, and if investors could trade in them it would open up the market and make it more liquid. Some investors from South Africa and other parts of the world are looking into investing in the Ghanaian market, especially the equity investments.

Some analysts have suggested that one of the options Ghanaian companies could look at is attracting these investors to invest in their companies through private placement. This would also provide them with the necessary capital.
..

Accra, June 15, GNA – The annual rate of inflation fell to 8.90 percent in May from 9.02 per cent in April on the back of lower food prices, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said on Wednesday.

Announcing the figures at a press conference in Accra, Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, said the marginal decline in inflation was because of the downward trend in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group.

“The non-food inflation is almost three times higher than the inflation in the food group,” she said.

Food inflation during the period was 3.93 per cent while non-food average inflation rate is 12.15 percent.

Inflation rates in the regions ranged from a low of 4.15 percent in the Northern Region to 12.23 percent in Greater Accra Region.

The Upper East, Western, Central and Greater Accra regions recorded inflation rates above the national rate of 8.90 percent.

Dr Bediako said there was the likelihood that inflation would remain in the single digits for the next few months unless there was a dramatic change in the current trends.

“We expect inflation to be in single digits for a couple of more months unless things change dramatically,” she said.
..

A leap in revenue performance lowered the first-quarter fiscal deficit to GH¢369 million (0.7% of GDP) from GH¢956 million (2.2% of GDP) in the same period of 2010, according to figures provided by the office in charge of budgetary statistics at the Finance Ministry.

Tax and non-tax revenue collections went up by 66% year-on-year to GH¢2.375 billion, not counting revenues from oil, which are yet to be credited to the fiscal accounts.

VAT receipts were up by 61 % over the previous year and import duties grew by 66%.

Airport taxes, which were hiked in a bid to boost collections, increased by 16% to GH¢6.87 million. The fiscal deficit target for the year is GH¢2.3 billion, equivalent to 4.4% of GDP.

Though spending was down by 9% in the year to the first quarter, the wage bill shot up by more than half, coming in at GH¢1 billion, about 27% of the total estimated for the year.

Thanks to sky-high prices and a hedging programme for crude exports, oil-revenue windfalls are expected to accrue to the government, a large portion of which will be saved in accordance with a formula under the petroleum revenue management law.

In line with global trends, the government has reviewed the oil price assumption underpinning the 2011 budget. It revised the figure from US$70 per barrel to US$100 per barrel.

It also announced two weeks ago that it was hedging its share of crude sales at a price of US$107 per barrel, above the budget’s assumed price.

Finance Minister, Kwabena Duffuor, said the move is to ensure a minimum guaranteed price for oil exports and to stabilise budget revenues.

A similar contract for crude purchases has been in place since October last year.

The initial arrangement was for six months, but has since been extended to December 2011.

The transaction had generated a net surplus by the end of May this year, according to Kwame Adu Okyere-Mensuo, a technical adviser at the ministry of finance. He explained that gains have been made because total settlements to the government have so far exceeded the combined amount paid in premiums.

He said the number of counterparties has expanded as Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and Morgan Stanley have also been admitted to the deal.

“This should even give us competitive premiums, because we would want to deal with those who offer the lowest premiums.”

Some of the surplus generated has been paid to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to be used to partially offset under-recoveries of pump prices, but he noted notwithstanding the work being done by the ministry’s risk-management committee, any decision on pump prices rests with the NPA.

“Whatever savings we can make for Ghana is what we are interested in,” he said...

The Communication Director of Tullow Oil Company, Mr Gayheart Edem Mensah has observed that, Ghana earns more than it’s 13 per cent share from the oil find off the shores of the Western Region.

He said Ghana also earns a 35 per cent corporate tax on every load of oil sold in addition to a royalty of five per cent.

Mr Mensah explained that though the oil revenue could increase the earnings of the country, the amount was not sufficient to turn the country into a prosperous nation over night and there was therefore the need to manage the expectation of the people from the oil find.

Mr Mensah was speaking in Koforidua during a media interaction with officials of Tullow Oil, one of the major partners engaged in the off shore mining of oil in Western Region...

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister for Transport, has estimated works on the Western railway lines at US$400million.

He said the government was banking its hopes on a Chinese loan facility to start the rehabilitation of the railway lines, by the end of the year.

Alhaji Dauda made this known during a workers’ durbar at a popular site at Ketan in the Western Region, known as ‘Bottom Tree’, where pertinent issues affecting railway workers and the railway sector were discussed.

The Transport Minister noted that the economic viability of the railway sector was paramount towards revamping the economy and assured the workers that, government would not sit aloof for the Ghana Railway Company (GRC) to collapse.

He urged the workers to support every effort being put in place by the government to revitalise the sector.

Alhaji Dauda observed that the work attitude of the workers would go a long way to determine the fate of the Company.

“There is a popular perception that, public institutions are not well administered because they do not belong to any individual. But if we change our attitude towards public work and work assiduously towards its sustainability, its positive rippling effects would be felt by all,” he stressed.

Alhaji Dauda noted that, the railway sector was the heart of the people in the Region; particularly the people in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and, therefore, Government would do its best to secure funding for rehabilitation of the railway lines.

“The current spate of road crashes in the country could be attributed to the inefficiency of the railway sector because heavy duty trucks that ply our roads often cause the accidents.

“If we rehabilitate the railway lines, people would prefer using trains to cart their goods instead of vehicles since they are affordable and reliable,” he said.

The Minister said he had set up a three-member committee to review the law that established the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA).

According to him, there was the need for the law to be reviewed to ensure effective and efficient management of GRC He said: “The promulgation of the law has limited the GRC because the GRDA is the regulator whilst the GRC is the operator, thus; making decision-taking towards the revitalisation of the sector difficult.”

Alhaji Dauda said as the law stood now, the GRDA had the authority to issue license to the GRC to operate.

He noted that, if the law was reviewed, it would help the restructuring process of the railway sector effectively and efficiently.

Alhaji Dauda charged the Management of the GRC to engage the workers regularly, at least once a month in order to know their problems and concerns.

He advocated the frequent flow of information from the Management to the workers front to ensure trust and transparency.

The Minister said communication was vital towards efficient management of any public or private institution.

He pledged his commitment towards the payment of the workers’ salary arrears as well as promotion and collective bargaining agreement issues.

The Acting Managing Director of the GRC, Mr. K. B. Amofa said freight traffic remained the mainstay of the company accounting for 90% of the revenue it generated, covering a route length of 947 kilometres.

He said much of the freight traffic were primary commodities such as manganese, bauxite and cocoa meant for export through the Takoradi port.

Mr. Amofa said successive governments failed to use the revenue generated from export to maintain the infrastructure and assets, thus leading to the current deplorable state of the railway line.

The Acting Managing Director called for major infusion of capital into the railway sector to ensure the realisation of its full potential. “As at now, about 45 per cent of locomotives and wagons required to run and achieve set freight targets have broken down and are being repaired, but lack of spare parts has delayed their service since some of them are (more than) 50 years and needed to be replaced.

“There is difficulty running cocoa trains due to the poor track infrastructure from Dunkwa to Kumasi while cement and timber trains cannot go to and from Kumasi for the same reason,” he said.

Mr. Amofa said the signal and telecommunication systems which were installed in 1984, had broken down, thus hampering communication. During the open forum workers expressed their sentiments such as low remuneration, late payment of salaries, and lack of information flow from Management. They called for capital injection to revitalize the operations of the sect..

Ghana’s economic growth accelerated to an annual 23 percent in the first quarter as the West African nation began producing oil for export, the country’s statistics agency said.

Growth compared with 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter, Grace Bediako, head of the Ghana Statistical Service, told reporters in the capital, Accra, today.

“The commencement of oil production will accelerate the growth momentum,” Yvonne Mhango, a sub-Saharan Africa economist at Renaissance Capital, said in an e-mailed note yesterday. “In addition to that we are likely to see an increase in activity in the industrial and construction sectors, the transportation sector, and financial and business services sector.”

Ghana began production of oil from its offshore Jubilee field in December. Output is about 70,000 barrels a day and may climb to 120,000 next month, according to the field’s operator, London-based Tullow Oil Plc. (TLW) Growth may taper off in 2012 as the boost from oil settles, while remaining above the sub-Saharan Africa average of 5 percent, Mhango said.

The economy expanded 7.7 percent last year, up from 4 percent in 2009, the statistical agency said May 11.

Faster growth does not pose a threat to the Bank of Ghana’s monetary policy, Sampson Akligoh, an economist at Accra-based Databank Financial Services Ltd., said in an e-mailed note yesterday.

“Monetary policy has enough room to accommodate the growth target of 2011, especially with the ongoing disinflation process,” Akligoh said.

The inflation rate fell for a third month in May, reaching 8.9 percent, the statistical service said June 15. The central bank cut its key lending rate to 13 percent from 13.5 percent last month, after leaving it unchanged for three consecutive meetings
..

PARLIAMENT HAS unanimously approved a ₵40 million loan facility to improve the infrastructure of four urban cities and metropolitan areas with the aim of providing access to essential services and promoting economic activities among others.

The beneficiary areas are the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Sekondi-Takoradi, Ho and Tamale; and activities to be carried out under the facility include the construction of markets, roads, landfill sites and abattoirs.

The loan agreement, which is between the government of Ghana and Agence Francaise de Development (AfD), is to further support the Ghana Urban Management Pilot Project (GUMPP).

Before the approval of the loan, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah urged his colleagues to support the agreement since it will help improve the living conditions of people in the selected cities, particularly Sekondi-Takoradi.

He was hopeful that the Kokompe Road in the Takoradi metropolis, which he noted is in a deplorable state, will benefit from the loan to promote the economic activities of artisans and traders in the area.

In addition to this, the Finance Committee of Parliament chaired by James Klutse Avedzi has been informed that there is the need to construct a bigger and more modern haulage transport terminal in Sekondi-Takoradi.

This is as a result of the fledgling oil industry in the twin-city and the ever-increasing number of haulage trucks that ply the area to convey timber and cocoa beans from the hinterland to the port of Takoradi.

A report of the Finance Committee observed that the objective of the GUMPP indicated that apart from improving the living conditions of people living in the selected cities, it will also reinforce the capacities for service delivery and accountability by designing a strategic, realistic and practical urban management project for each city.

It is expected that the GUMPP will improve urban planning, street naming, property valuation and revenue mobilization in cities and introduce computer based mapping among others in the four cities.

All these including the creation of property registries with computerized land registration, according to the Finance Committee, will increase collection of Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) at the Assemblies thereby enhancing the financially autonomy of the cities.

On his plans for other cities that will not benefit from this facility, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo assured the Committee that a facility is being arranged to cater for about 40 other municipalities in the country.

..

Mr Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, has assured Ghanaians that an Occupational Health and Safety Policy Legislation would be implemented by the end of the year.

Mr Sekyere, who made this disclosure at the First Biennial National Safety Conference in Tema, said the new policy, which is yet to receive cabinet approval, would help strengthen the Factories Inspectorate Department of his Ministry and cater for workplace safety in industries and factories.

The Conference, attended by industry leaders, safety practitioners, regulators and representatives from various professional bodies, was jointly organized by the Bureau of Public Health Safety and Environment and the Factories Inspectorate Department of the Ministry.

“We are very sure that by the end of the year, we will have a new occupational health and safety policy legislation that will be effective in dealing with our workplace safety and health.”

The Deputy Minister lauded organizers of the conference for their initiative and foresight, and assured them that the conference would be institutionalized and held biennially, to provide participants with the platforms to review and make inputs into regulations that would govern workplace safety.

Mr Sekyere assured the Factories Inspectorate Department that the new policy would pave way for the training of more personnel into the Department.

Mr Davidson Akwada, Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Health Safety and Environment, was hopeful that future conferences would help address the numerous industrial incidents in the country.

Mr Akwada intimated that the next conference would focus on road safety.

AAF/GNA

..

A survey conducted by Africa Business Panel among 800 business professionals involved with Africa shows that the three countries were earmarked as the continent's favourites when it comes to international investment.

Ghana, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Botswana, Uganda and Mozambique are the runners up and complete the top ten countries for investment out of 53 economies on the African continent.

At the meeting held in Amsterdam, Netherlands early Friday, said virtually all African economies show promising year-on-year growth Which is attracting the attention of the international investor community who increasingly see Africa as ‘the last frontier' for attractive growth opportunities.

The countries are ranked as:

1. South Africa

2. Nigeria

3. Kenya

4. Ghana

5. Angola

6. Tanzania

7. Rwanda

8. Botswana

9. Uganda

10. Mozambique

The phenomenal success of the mobile payment system Mpesa in Kenya is seen as one that will attract others who are interested in the opportunities offered by the country.

Nairobi is and still continues to be one of the best environments for innovation in Africa.

..

despite global economic turmoil - Dr Aryee

Koforidua, June 28, GNA - Dr Joyce .R. Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, on Tuesday said Ghana's mining sector performed quite creditably in 2010 despite the global economic turmoil. She indicated that mining companies were not insulated from the adverse impact of the global economic turmoil.

"According to the Ghana Statistical Service and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the mining sub-sector grew at a remarkable rate of 11.2 per cent, which compares favourably with the 6.8 per cent recorded in 2009," she said.

Interacting with Journalists in Koforidua to inform them about the Chamber's activities and to share ideas on how mining can continue to be a catalyst for sustainable national development, Dr Aryee said mineral revenue represented 49 per cent of Ghana's gross export earnings in 2010.

This, she said, also compared favourably with the 48 per cent recorded in 2009.

"The mining sub-sector contributed about GH¢520 million (about US$364 million) to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) representing 21 per cent of total GRA collections in 2010."

Dr Aryee said the increase was on account of increased mineral revenue, which translated into higher mineral royalty payments and the rise in Pay as You Earn (PAYE) payments on the back of significant appreciation in salaries (mostly pegged) in US dollars.

She said the mining sector also paid GH¢242 million (US$170 million) in corporate tax to the GRA, representing 24 per cent of the total company tax collected in 2010.

"The sector emerged as the highest payer of corporate tax in 2010 having improved from the third position in 2009".

On the mining industry and local impact in 2010, Dr Aryee said producing member companies returned about 68 per cent of the US$3.7 billion mineral revenue to the country through the Bank of Ghana and the private commercial banks in 2010.

"An average of 20 per cent is repatriated to Ghana through the Bank of Ghana and the 48 per cent through private banks.

She said the significantly high proportion of mineral revenue returned to the country underscored the extent to which the mining industry positively affected the local economy.

"In 2010, the industry spent US$865 million representing about 27 per cent of its total funds to procure inputs locally including diesel and power".

Dr Aryee indicated that the industry directly employs over 12,294 people, adding that out of that number 98 per cent were Ghanaians and two per cent expatriates.

The CEO advocated for a 30 per cent of the royalties to be returned to mining areas over a specific period of time and ring fenced to specific infrastructural projects in order to catalyse the socio-economic development of mining districts

She said the perception that the mining industry did not contribute adequately to the national kitty was not supported by the facts and statistics both in the public domain and within the industry.

"The industry's contribution to the national economy has been increasing appreciably over the years".

Dr Aryee said the Chamber would continue to advocate that mining should be seen as a catalyst for development since the US$865 million spent in the country in 2010 alone could have been an impetus for deeper and broader value creation beyond the fiscal amount paid to the state.
..

Four local entities have been issued with air carrier licenses by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to operate domestic and regional flights starting September this year, B&FT has gathered.

The four Ghanaian registered carriers whose names were not quickly made known to the B&FT are said to have already eyed the west-coast of the sub-region, where there is a grey market for new entrants to the aviation industry to ply their trade.

The Director-General of the GCAA, Air Cdre Kwame Mamphey, in an exclusive interview with the B&FT said he was buoyed by developments in the industry with local carriers taking part in the growing aviation market.

“We have registered a number of local carriers -- that is, Ghanaian registered carriers -- and they should be starting operation by the last quarter of the year. There are about four of them, in addition to what we already have.

“And now the majority of them are also going into the regional sector. As of now, we don’t have any carrier doing the west-coast. So by the last quarter of this year, we will also be participating in the operations along the west-coast,” noted Air Cdre Mamphey.

Currently, there two Ghanaian registered airlines -- Antrak Air and CiTylink -- flying domestic operations. Other airlines which are not Ghanaian-owned but fly directly to the west-coast include Aero, Air Ivoire and Slok Air Gambia.

Despite the increasing local participation in the aviation industry, one of the two present indigenous operators is less enthused about developments in the aviation front.

The chairman of Antrak Group, Alhaji Asuma Banda, recently lashed out at the industry regulator for doing little to protect the interest of local air carriers as it (the Authority) has over-liberalised the country’s airspace to the detriment of Ghanaian airline operators.

Alhaji Banda explained that even though other countries in West Africa were signatories to the same agreements that promote liberalisation of airspace among countries, they are not over-liberalizing their airspace like Ghana is

Alhaji Banda cited examples of the difficulties one has to go through to receive overflying permits from some African countries to use their airspace, and the refusal of countries such as Nigeria to allow airlines from other West African countries to fly directly to Nigeria.

These countries have reserved direct flights to their country for their local operators, unlike Ghana, he said, adding “over-liberalising does not help us.”

Air Cdre Mamphey, however, has dismissed the allegations of the Antrak boss as false, saying: “I don’t think that that statement is right…We have opened up competition so that we can see more efficient airlines being run in the sub-region. I disagree with his statement.”

Last year, Ghana’s aviation market grew by 15 percent and the same growth rate figure is expected for the industry this year. However, the GCAA estimates that growth of the industry will slow down to about seven percent in the next three years.
..

Good news for customers as the rates for flying within the region are just too high. I met a Senegalese in Accra last year who told me he couldn't get a direct flight from his country to Ghana. He had to pass through a third country to get a connecting flight.

Fievie (V/R), June 29, GNA - Government is poised to produce 20,000 metric tonnes of 93highest grade" quality rice by 2012 to reduce rice importation.

To this end, interventions such as providing the necessary machinery and promotion of Private Public Partnership policy have been intensified to enable Ghana to increase rice production to meet the target.

Mr Fifi Kwetey, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning announced this during a visit to the Fievie Rice Project in the Volta Region on Wednesday.

The project is a 30 years lease of 1000 hectares farm land granted to Global Agri-Development Company to develop rice farm. GADCO started operations in January and had so far developed and planted 700 acres and poised to harvest 1500 metric tonnes of rice by the end of July.

The project is a partnership agreement with the local community and the South Tongu District to undertake rice production to create employment to the people.

Ghana currently spends about 450 million dollars annually on rice importation to augment local demand.

The country's self-sufficient in the rice production stands at about 30 per cent, leaving a short fall of 70 per cent.

Mr Kwetey said government would encourage the Millennium Development Authorities and the beneficiary assemblies to take advantage of the opportunity to engage the private sector in developing infrastructural projects and services.

He used the occasion to announce Cabinet approval of the Private Public Partnership Policy.

Mr Daniel Amelorku, District Chief Executive said the project was the beginning of more development initiatives in the district to reduce unemployment.

He said the rice project would be extended within fours years to 4000 hectares to make the district the highest producer of rice in West Africa...

I read somewhere that KFC is supposed to be opening up soon in Accra sometime this year. Any confirmation on that ?

I read somewhere that KFC is supposed to be opening up soon in Accra sometime this year. Any confirmation on that ?

yep

LOUISVILLE, KY. -- Yum Brands Inc. is targeting emerging African markets, like Ghana, for expansion for its KFC chain that has already become a dominant fast-food player in China.

The company said Wednesday that it expects to double the number of KFC restaurants in Africa to about 1,200 by 2014. Yum projects that KFC will become a $2 billion brand in Africa within four years.

Yum's expansion in Africa will include new restaurants in Nigeria, Ghana, Angola and Zambia. The company said it expects franchisees to invest about $500 million in Africa by 2014.

KFC already has more than 600 restaurants in South Africa and has a small presence in a few other African countries.

Yum's chains also include Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. It is based in Louisville.

Cabinet has expressed concern about the deplorable sanitation condition in the country that had created a gap in achieving the Millennium Development Goals target on sanitation and environment.
To address the situation, Cabinet has approved a Strategic Environmental Sanitation Investment Plan (SESIP) to provide the platform for development partners to resource and assist the country to implement a new direction and focus in government’s plan to address the sanitation menace.
The four-year plan from 2011-2015, will help the country to achieve the MDG on sanitation and environment.
Speaking at the monthly briefing on government business focusing on decisions taken at Cabinet level in Accra on Thursday, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Information expressing the concern of Cabinet, said Ghana was lagging behind in the achievement of the MDGs sanitation related.
The press briefing was the outcome of the Cabinet meeting held on June 3, which considered 12 Cabinet memoranda and six information papers.
He noted that Ghana was among the countries described as “very off-track” in reaching the MDG target on basic sanitation and called for the need to develop measures to bridge the gap and achieve meaningful progress.
In addition to the issue of inadequate basic household sanitation, there was also the need to improve all the other aspects of environmental sanitation.
The Deputy Minister explained that Cabinet had requested for the exemption of all forms of taxes amounting to $512,758 for the Northern Rural Growth Programme, which would contribute to the development of the area and in line with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) intervention.
The Northern Rural Growth Programme, which consists of commodity chain development, rural infrastructure, access to financial services and programme coordination, is being co-financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) out of which AfDB is providing $60 million.
Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa noted that Cabinet had observed that the e-zwich system was an integrated and interoperable payment infrastructure for switching and clearing electronic payments and called for a critical examination of existing communication infrastructure to facilitate the e-zwich usage in the rural areas.
“Cabinet has further directed that more possibilities be explored in getting the vast numbers of customers of the commercial banks to use the e-zwich system for their transactions,” he added.
Mr Mohammed Baba Jamal, a Deputy Minister of Information reiterated the need for Ghanaians to change their attitude towards sanitation and the environment.
He called on Ghanaians to be each other’s keeper and ensure that the country was kept clean to achieve the MDG related on sanitation and environment.
Source: GNA
..

A deputy Finance Minister under the Kufuor administration, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, has warned that if the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) continues on its borrowing spree, the country may retrogress from its celebrated lower middle income status to a HIPC country again.

He said taking Ghana's debt stock from $8.025billion in 2008 to $13.4billion in 2011, cannot under any circumstance be a sustainable way of managing the economy.

Speaking on the 'Minority Caucus' on MultiTV on Wednesday evening, Mr. Agyeman-Manu said, 'You see, borrowing is good, but you have to borrow - let me use that harsh word - wisely.'

He said all Ghanaians must be concerned because apart from the lightening speed at which the government had added to Ghana's debt, also in the pipeline were colossal amounts the government was still contracting.

'Where they are driving us is very dangerous. This [debt] level is minus the $1.5 billion Korea thing, the STX (housing loan); this is minus the $13 billion arranged Chinese one that has not [yet] been accessed; this is minus SADA's $300 million that was announced just last week, minus the $400 million that became an issue, minus the $1.8 billion for the eastern corridor road because Parliament even hasn't approved that. So now, within the next six months, if we manage to get all these [loan agreements approved], and we begin to access them…where will we get to? Where will we go?' he asked.

Government has argued that it was mischievous to seek to add the $1.5 billion STX loan to the debt stock because the houses had not yet been built and government was not obligated to pay a dime, but Mr. Agyeman-Manu disagrees. He said that argument was risible, at least.

'You have announced to the nation that you have finished, it is coming so we can add on so we may have two budgets; committed debts and non-committed debts plus that.'

Mr. Agyeman-Manu, who is also the Member of Parliament for Dormaa West, said it was ironic that the NDC, after complaining bitterly about the debt they inherited, and which they blamed for not being able to deliver on their promises, had in two years borrowed $5 billion, representing 60 percent of the debt left by former President Kufuor's eight-year rule.

'You see, we should be very cautious and take away some aspects of propaganda and politics and concentrate on the work that Ghanaians have assigned to us [in order] to do the work better so that we can have the moral courage to go back to them to ask for another mandate,' he stated.

The government has been explaining that unlike the NPP, which borrowed and didn't use the money prudently, it was investing aggressively in the country's infrastructure.

But Mr. Agyeman-Manu is not convinced.
He challenged the government to point to one major infrastructural project it had initiated, that was work in progress. In his view, all the projects the president had gone around the nation commissioning were either GETFund projects or those undertaken by the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies. Such projects, he emphasized, had been undertaken with dedicated funds.

As far as he is concerned, central government had not undertaken any serious project on its own. 'I have been questioning and asking people to ask our NDC colleagues to point [out] to us central government projects they have either started, advanced to about 20, 30, 15, 5 percent completion, and what they plan doing. You can't find any!' he noted.

A former National Youth Organiser of the NPP, John Boadu, who was also on the show, said the NDC government had insatiable taste for contracting loans, and yet was not using the loans to better the lot of the people.

He said what the government was interested in was announcing big loans - even if they are bad ones - with pump and pageantry as if merely announcing huge loans by itself would automatically improve on the living conditions of the people.

Mr. Boadu accused the government of sophistry, arguing that claims by the government that it had paid the Tema Oil Refinery debt were simply deceptive.

'The truth of the matter is that they have robbed Peter to pay Paul. What they have done is to convert the debt at TOR into a bond for which we are going to pay because if it was true that they have paid all the debt at TOR, what would have happened is that they would have withdrawn the debt recovery levy, but we are still paying,' he stated.

Mr. Boadu, who is also a Deputy Director of Communications for the NPP, also accused the government of consistently circumventing the procurement laws of the country for obvious reasons.

'The Public Procurement Law states clearly that every year there must be a report of the activities of public procurement over the period, stating clearly contracts that were given on restricted tender, emergency and all that. For years now, if it is now that they are sending the report to parliament, I don't know.'

He said restricted and emergency tendering had become the modus operandi of the government. 'Can you imagine the Dansoman dual-carriage road was given on an emergency contract? As we speak now, the project is at a standstill so what was emergency about that contract?' he asked, to which Mr. Agyeman-Manu answered, 'So that we will circumvent the process of open and competitive bidding.'

Mr. Boadu said he was not surprised the government had become so desperate. In fact, the desperation of the government, he argued, knew no bounds 'to the extent that the Vice-President goes into a meeting with the World Bank and IMF. In the middle of the discussion, the Spokesperson for the Vice-President talks to [the Daily] Graphic and says that IMF has given us over $400 million to finish some projects.'

He quoted a friend as saying it appeared the NDC leaders didn't really know the value of money else they would not be bandying about figures the way they did. Myjoyonline
:ohno::ohno:

I think rapid economic growth, oil, and political pressure will prevent Ghana from going over the deep end, but prudence and care have to be taken. I'm really backing a NPP or CPP victory in 2012 because I trust either with debt management, but only the NPP has a chance to win.

:ohno::ohno:

I think rapid economic growth, oil, and political pressure will prevent Ghana from going over the deep end, but prudence and care have to be taken. I'm really backing a NPP or CPP victory in 2012 because I trust either with debt management, but only the NPP has a chance to win.

hmm sad really

Government has revealed that it has secured $1.5 billion for the start of the STX Housing project.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday July 5, 2011 Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister Alban Bagbin told the House that Barclays Bank Capital is the leading consortium of banks which are signatories to loans required for the STX Housing Project.

“The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has on behalf of government issued the sovereign guarantee and made the necessary guarantees for the transfer. A dedicated account has been opened at the Bank of Ghana for the necessary transaction.

"In the meantime STX Engineering and Construction Ltd per their programme of implementation will start land preparation this July and are currently mobilising to send equipment to the site,” Hon Bagbin disclosed.

The former Majority Leader’s remarks come in the wake of media reports that the $10billion housing deal between the government of Ghana and STX Korea was on the verge of collapse due to internal bickering among the parties. However, Hon Bagbin confirmed the necessary steps were being taken to ensure the project saw the light of day.

"What must be done is that the Ministry of Finance must ensure that the proper procedures and the accounting and the financial procedures are all followed through.

"There is no transfer into the account yet because the project as I said would start this month. Surely the figure has been approved by Parliament which is $1.5 billion.”

However, the opposition New Patriotic Party Member (NPP) has raised questions about the propriety of the project, especially what they describe as the mortgaging of the country’s newfound oil wealth to a single project...

Accra, Jul, 5, GNA- Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister Mr Alban Sumana Bagbin on Tuesday said Barclays bank was the syndicating financial institution leading a consortium of banks to finance the Ghana's STX housing project. The project which sod cutting ceremony was performed in January 27, 2011 would commence fully at the end of July 2011, according to the minister.

Mr Bagbin was responding to strings of questions during questions' time in Parliament on the famous STX Housing project. Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, NPP member for Bantama, had asked the minister to brief the House on the status of the execution of the STX agreement.

The Ghana Government and Management of Korean Construction Firm STX, signed two agreements for the construction of 30,000 housing units for the first phase of a proposed 200,000 units for the next five years. The agreements are Suppliers' Credit and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC).

The Minority members who have dismissed the housing agreement as a bad deal, crowded the minister with many supplementary questions especially on the source of funding, the amount spent so far, the amount in the dedicated account and the issue of sovereign guarantee. He said there were three companies involved in the project 96 the STX Engineering and Construction GH Limited as the parent company holding a share of 10 per cent and STX Korea 90 per cent share holder and that Ghana Airports that hold no share.

On the local content, the Minister said the 10 per cent local provision and the 90 per cent labour would be strictly adhered to. Asked why the project delayed, Mr Bagbin said many administrative bottlenecks cropped up and delayed the project especially seeking permission from the Environmental Protection Agency. When asked what were the legal difficulties that arose and how they were resolved, he said there were no legal difficulties apart from the Attorney General requesting for the agreement to make inputs as the legal officer of the government.

He said the NPP Affordable Housing project which was still on its knees also delayed so many months after sod cutting before it finally took off. He said the NPP Affordable Housing project was funded by the HIPC fund of GH C40,000.00 but was not completed adding, they also came to Parliament for another GH C30,000.00 but the project was only 60 per cent complete. The Minister announced to the House that the rivalry between the Chief Executive Officer and the Koreans was over as the legal tussle was dropped and attempts by Ghanaian counterparts to convene a board meeting to prevent the Koreans from sacking him were all resolved.

When asked who the sovereign guarantee was handed to and what was the value, the minister said, it was handed to STX. "The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has on behalf of the government of Ghana issued the Sovereign Guarantee and made the necessary arrangements for the transfers of the money," he said. He noted that: 93A dedicated account has also been opened at the Bank of Ghana for the necessary transactions." He stated that the project would start in Accra at Burma Camp, Air Force Base, Tesano and some other places adding, 4720 houses would be completed first as directed by the President John Atta Mills. "STX Engineering and Construction GH Limited per their programme of implementation will start land preparation this July and are currently mobilizing to send equipment to the sites," he said.

Mr Bagbin told the House that after the approval by Parliament of the various agreements on the National Housing project, the Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning, Justice and Attorney General and Water Resources Works and Housing in collaboration with the Parliamentary Service duly executed the programme...

An overview of the potential for Ghanaian oil and gas investors Introduction With the discovery in 2007 of a major untapped oil and gas field off the coast in Ghana, the die was cast for the future of the West African country. Since then a revolution has taken place to begin the process of farming the huge amount of natural resources present and transforming Ghana.

Oil has been mined in Ghana in a small way since the late nineteenth century, but the discovery of a commercial level field in 2007 has brought Ghana into the realms of becoming a major producing nation. The three blocks of crude oil deposits uncovered 65km off the coast of Ghana have been grouped together and named Jubilee field, and already the field has reaped millions of barrels of oil.

“The financial benefits alone are immense, with the Ghanaian government estimating a yield of some $400 million dollars this year, a figure expected to rise to some $1 billion dollars a year once drilling is at full capacity.”

And further explorations around Ghana have revealed two more major fields, Enyenra and Tweneboa, both of which possess potential for huge amounts of oil and gas for years to come. Today, progress is well under way. In November 2010 history was made when UK-based Tullow Oil began drilling on the Jubilee field, and already the pumps are producing around 120,000 barrels of oil a day. The financial benefits alone are immense, with the Ghanaian government estimating a yield of some $400 million dollars this year, a figure expected to rise to some $1 billion dollars a year once drilling is at full capacity.What is happening in Ghana today? With the historic first phase of drilling underway, the government and investors are looking to progress rapidly.

The impact of Ghana’s new oil and gas industry are already being felt across the nation and employment is booming. In towns like Takoradi, the closest port to the Jubilee field, thousands of new jobs have been created and the flood of new workers has brought an instant turnaround in the fortunes of a town that had been in a state of decline. To prepare for the new oil and gas age, the Ghanaian government has fast-tracked a programme to set in place a legislative and regulatory framework fit to cope with the challenges and maximise the opportunities ahead. Managing the huge surge of investment that has come into the country has been one of the key challenges, and keeping the balance between attracting backers from outside while continuing to reap the rewards within Ghana is a key priority. Also vital to the government of Ghana is to ensure that the whole industry remains transparent and accountable from top to bottom. And it has set in place ambitious targets to use the major new revenue to reduce poverty by 2015 throughout Ghana.

“...growth in the economy surged to 23 % in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 9.5 % in the last quarter of 2010 when drilling began.”

Further exploration has been green-lighted and has been taken up in earnest by oil companies both international and domestic. One of the key players, the Ghana National Petrolium, which has already drilled 79 separate wells, has secured some £550 million dollars of foreign investment to date, and is continuing with major exploration and production operations in four of the major sedimentary basins, Cote d’Ivoire-Tano Basin, Central Basin, the Accra/Keta Basin and the Inland Voltaian Basin.

Already the boost has been felt. In June the Ghanaian government revealed that growth in the economy had surged to 23 % in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 9.5 % in the last quarter of 2010 when drilling began. The world is looking in at Ghana as the potential for major investment remains exceptionally high. International oil companies and suppliers are already benefiting from early investments made in 2007 and 2008, and as more discoveries are made this trend is set to continue.Opportunities for investment The opportunities that exist in Ghana are immeasurable. Gas and oil production is nowhere near capacity and as more natural resources are discovered this potential continues to grow.

“With low crime and a stable political landscape Ghana is a safe and secure country for investment” Described by the UK Department for Trade and Investment as a “peaceful and politically stable country”, Ghana is by no means solely dependent on its new found natural resources. Already a major producer of cocoa and gold, it is estimated will account for only 6% of the national economy, compared with neighbouring Nigeria where oil and gas make up 92% of GDP. With low crime and a stable political landscape Ghana is a safe and secure country for investment. “Ghana offers oil and gas investors the highest returns of any country in Africa...a massive 18 to 20 % yield” So much so in fact, that Ghana offers oil and gas investors the highest returns of any country in Africa. Compared with an average yield for foreign investors of between seven and ten per cent, the Ghanaian oil and gas industry brings a massive 18 to 20 % yield, and has been describe as one of the best investments currently in the world.

The key areas for investment are as follows:

Exploration

A series of new discoveries (see above) has opened the floodgates for major new exploration and development opportunities. Some 23,000 sq km of untapped coastal basins rich with oil are awaiting companies ready to seize the initiative, and experts both within the government and from outside predict that many more thousands of kilometres of oil deposits probably exist offshore and onshore. These opportunities are in offshore deep water, offshore shallow water and onshore basins.

Refining

Currently Ghana’s only refinery, the Tema Oil Refinery, is in the process of being upgraded to meet the increased demand. A major project which will more than triple the refinery’s capacity, outside private investment is being sought.Export-orientated refining An initiative by the Ghanaian government, the Export-Orientated Refinery Project, has been set up to attract global investors to the huge potential for exports. Some 70 % of the oil and gas produced in Ghana will be sold for export, and investors are being invited to establish private refineries in the Free Zone Enclaves of Ghana.

Technology

The government is seeking private companies to offer a huge range of technologies to provide solutions to the many logistical challenges currently being handled. Technology providers will find countless opportunities for investment in all aspects of petroleum operations throughout the Ghanaian oil industry. Education With the creation of thousands of new jobs the need for skilled labour is exponentially growing.

Outside companies that can provide education and training solutions at this crucial time will reap a great many short and long term rewards. Looking ahead a national framework in Ghana for continuing education and training for generations needs to be established and the opportunities to capitalise on this great demand still exist in abundance.

Sustainability

As a fledgling oil and gas producing nation, Ghana is highly conscious of the need to bring in sustainable technologies to prevent today’s drilling and refining being the seed for major environmental damage of the future. An initiative by the government is already underway to attract private companies with expertise in green technologies to come forward and be involved in research and development.

Conclusion

The potential for growth in Ghana is huge. With some 1.5 billion barrels of oil in the Jubilee field alone, and many more fields expected to be discovered in the coming years, there are countless opportunities for the right investors. Knowledge, timing and the right solutions to the challenges that exist in this burgeoning market will be the key to unlocking its potential. The Ghana Energy Summit 2011 (November 14th & 15th, Accra).

The Ghana Energy Summit 2011 (Conference & Exhibition) will be examining the latest developments, strategies and opportunities in Ghanaian oil and gas. Attending the event will be a wide range of government ministers, local and international oil & gas companies, market experts, and solution providers.
..

Dambai (V/R), June 7, GNA - Modern markets with commensurate social amenities are to be built in the regional and district capitals as well as some major towns across the country.

Each of the proposed regional and district markets are each estimated to cost 36 million cedis and 12.5 million cedis respectively while each of the major towns market would cost 8.5 million cedis.

Mr Ben Piasah, a Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said this at the launch of 93National Every-Day Wear" at Dambai.

The National Every-Day Wear seeks to popularize the patronage of local fabrics as part of initiatives to revive the local textile industry.

Mr Piasah said drawings of the proposed markets would be presented to Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives in their regions for discussion.

He said the markets were part of government's policy initiatives to create the necessary conditions to boost domestic trade and commerce.

Mr Piasah said the Ministry's Taskforce on pirated fabrics would continue to search for, seize and burn them until the practice loses its financial attraction to those making financial gain from it.

He said the practice has crippled the local textile industry which employed 25,000 people directly in the 1970s dropping to 3,000 now.

Mr Piasah urged the citizenry to patronize local fabrics in order to revive the industry because though the pirated fabrics were cheaper the locally made ones were superior in quality...

Wow! This is something that I have wished would become reality. I'm impressed with the government here in this decision.

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has been asked to address issues of unauthorized fees that are imposed on traders engaged in cross-border trading to foster the growth of intra-ECOWAS trade. The relevant Bilateral Commissions should also be strengthened to among others further the attainment of the ECOWAS regional integration process.

These were contained in a resolution adopted by the Sekondi-Takoradi and Cape Coast Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry (TRCCI) and (CCRCCI) at the end of a two-day workshop at Elmina over the weekend.

It was held under the theme 93Enhancing the capacity of Ghana's Private Sector, particularly the members of the GNCCI to increase their trade with its neighbouring countries (Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo) as well as the European Union". The workshop, which was attended by 25 participants drawn from the Central and Western Regions, touched on issues such as ECOWAS trade-related protocols, diagnostic study of the GNCCI, study on the use of the Ghana's Ports as transshipment center for trade between Ghana Burkina Faso, as well as the study on the use of ICT to promote trade between Ghana and its neighbouring countries.

They also called on the Government to mainstream the Ghanaian legal system into that of ECOWAS to harmonize the rules and promote the expansion of Ghana's trade and business with neighbouring countries.

The group resolved to create within the Takoradi and Cape Coast Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a Trade Group under the name 93ECOWAS Business Forum" to focus on the promotion of cross-border trade and business between Ghana and its neighbouring countries. It also resolved to undertake measures to facilitate the promotion of trade along the Takoradi-Cape Coast-Kumasi-Paga trade route through advocating for the reduction of police and other road blocks that constitute obstacles to the flow of both domestic trade in Ghana and intra-ECOWAS trade.

It urged the GNCCI to undertake comprehensive studies into the structure of the fees paid for the issuance of certificates of origin, bearing in mind the destination of the export as well as the volume or cost of the exports and in consultation with all stakeholders in the export/import business. It called on the GNCCI to develop new revenue streams such as the establishment of companies that will diversify the income-base of the Chamber and to build the capacity of Ghanaian transit trade operators to improve their efficiency and methods of operation. The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) should also simplify the clearing procedures at the ports while the GPHA intensify its cooperation with all stakeholders including the GNCCI to facilitate transit trade. All concerned agencies should implement the International and ECOWAS conventions on Inter-state transit of goods, particularly to avoid the payment of discriminatory fees and other levies such as VAT. It also advocated for the study of the French language to be taken seriously at the basic school level...

Ghana inflation falls to 8.59%
Accra, July 13, GNA - The year-on-year inflation fell for the fourth consecutive month to 8.59 per cent in June, down from 8.90 per cent in May, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) announced on Wednesday.

This means that the general price level went up by 8.59 per cent from June 2010 to June 2011. However, the year-on-year inflation rate is lower in June than in May.

Dr Grace Bediako, Government Statistician, who announced the figures at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, attributed the downward trend in the inflation rate to the food group, which has been on the decline since January 2010.

The rate of inflation has fallen continuously over 19 months from 20.74 per cent in June 2009 to 8.58 per cent in December 2010. Inflation has remained relatively stable since June 2010 with rates ranging between 8.58 and 9.52 per cent.

Dr Bediako said internationally the rate was still high but relatively low compared with Ghana's previous years' inflation. The average food inflation rate for June is 2.78 per cent compared to the non-food group average of 12.44 per cent, four times higher than the food inflation rate. She said the inflation rate for 14 imported food products in the group was about twice that of local food products for the last 11 months.

Some of the imported items in the food group include rice, flour, biscuits, sugar and canned tomatoes. On regional variations, Dr Bediako said Greater Accra recorded the highest inflation rate of 12.48 per cent and Volta Region the lowest inflation of 4.65 per cent. The Western, Central and Greater Accra Regions recorded inflation rates above the national rate of 8.59 per cent...

A renowned investment banking consultant and financial economist, Dr Sam Mensah has indicated that low investment in the country’s economy is due to high interest rates offered by banks to borrowers.
According to Dr Mensah, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of SEM Group Limited, an investment advisory firm, the average lending rates of banks in Ghana have been in the region of about 27% which makes it difficult for businesses to invest in the economy.
“If businesses are going to invest, they need to invest in a project that has a rate of higher returns to enable them pay back the loan and make profit,” said Dr Mensah at a World Bank organised meeting in Accra this week.
“If your average lending rate is 27%, then the project has to generate at least 27% of profit just to pay the bank without you paying yourself,” he emphasized.
According to him, economies grow by the number of investments they receive for the various sectors but if there are low investments, the economy finds it difficult to rise.
“We know that the economy grows by investments,” he added.
So for that reason, investment rates in Ghana are quiet low because there are too many projects that will need to generate 27% of profits to pay back loans and leave something small for an entrepreneur, he said.
He said in most efficient banking systems, the interest rate spread is very narrow, citing Canada as one of the countries where the spread between borrowing and lending is about 2% to 3%.
“But in Ghana, in the few months, the spread has been about 18%…if you compare that to the average rate in the sub-Saharan Africa which is about 12% with Kenya having 8.8%, Tanzania 7% and Nigeria 5%, by all standards Ghana’s interest rate spread is extremely high”, he reiterated.
Professor Cletus Dordonu, speaking at the same function indicated that interest rate spreads should be legislated to force banks to offer low interest rates to borrowers as it was done in Nigeria and China.
But former Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Dr. Akoto-Osei raised a caution by saying “Ghana is not Nigeria or China and so if it worked in both countries, it does not mean it will work here.”
The deputy Head of the Financial Stability Department at the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Settor Amediku revealed that the bank has met over this issue at the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting but no conclusion has been drawn yet.
Investment in the country for the first quarter of 2011 recorded 109 businesses with an estimated value of $378.44 million, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) figures show.
Investments into Ghana as at 2010 reached over $1.5 billion with 3,597 registered projects...

Vodafone Ghana has recorded another impressive revenue performance, Vodafone Group’s financial results for the first quarter which ended June 30, 2011 shows.
According to the results which were released July 22, 2011 and published on its website, the Ghana subsidiary recorded service revenue of 27.1% as against 21% it had for the 2010 financial year which ended in May 2011.
“Ghana saw strong service revenue growth of 27.1%,” the results show adding that Vodafone Ghana recently launched its 3G network on June 29, 2011.
It did not, however mention the factors that contributed to the service growth even though in the 2010 financial year it said “in Ghana service revenue was supported by competitive tariffs and improved brand awareness.”
The Group’s service revenue grew up by 1.5% excluding mobile termination rate cuts which were up by 3.9%.
The total capital expenditure of the Group was £1.2 billion up by 15.9% during the quarter and a free cash flow of £1.2 billion.
Vodafone Ghana recorded a subscriber base of almost 3.5 million (3,494,000), 99.6% being prepaid customers...

..

Apart from high interest rates, the general cost of living is still quite high. Part of this is due to the low manufacturing base in the country. We still import most of the stuff you see on the markets (even tooth-picks). Rental costs are so high, its scary. I wonder how businesses manage.

Apart from high interest rates, the general cost of living is still quite high. Part of this is due to the low manufacturing base in the country. We still import most of the stuff you see on the markets (even tooth-picks). Rental costs are so high, its scary. I wonder how businesses manage.

Toothpicks? :nuts:

yep,toothpicks, matches, pens, pencils, you name it- Made in China, Indonesia or India.

Ghanas interest rate has not been falling with inflation. The banks HAVE to be forced to lower interest rate inline with inflation.

yep,toothpicks, matches, pens, pencils, you name it- Made in China, Indonesia or India.
.
Sad facts of manufacturing industry in SS-Africa. :(, But some will say, we are making big progress when things like that are imported.

US Bank JP Morgan says it is hopeful its eventual presence in Ghana will be of immense benefit to the financial sector in the country.

The bank is gearing up to open a permanent office in Ghana by the first quarter of next year as it tracks its multinational clients into frontier Africa.

The company is already present in South Africa and Nigeria.

JP Morgan has topped the fee-earning league tables among investment banks in sub-Saharan Africa for the last two years.

The bank says its move to establish a presence in the country is to among other things provide credit for smaller banks in the country.

It also hopes to deepen its customer reach as well as cater for its clients in Ghana.

Ghana started pumping oil in December 2010, attracting considerable investor interest.

Managing Director of sub Saharan Africa for JP Morgan, Marc Hussey told Citi News that the bank was drawn to the country by the impressive growth of the economy.

“We have plans to open an office in Ghana by the end of this year or early next year depending on the logistics in securing an office space. We hope to become more relevant to business and government in Ghana. We were attracted by the growth prospects in the country and I think the GDP growth is accelerating very strongly.

“We like the business dynamics in the country, we think we can do business with existing domestic banks and to satisfy the international clients in the firm doing business in Ghana."
..

ccra, Aug. 23, GNA – Vodafone Ghana’s first ever live interactive display retail shop at Osu, in the heart of Accra, is said to deliver by far the fastest Internet speed in Africa with a minimum of 40MB per second.

Touring the facility on Monday, media personnel from both print and electronic were exposed to the company’s array of latest devices ranging from mobiles phones, Internet and many others.

The 24-hour Internet café centre, fully equipped with 29-seater terminal and a five-seater Wifi zone, has been provided by Vodafone Ghana, to give customers the convenience of accessing information at the fastest Internet speed.

Mr Clement Wiredu, Vodafone’s National Retail Manager, said in terms of its equipment and service, the facility is unmatched and noted that all products showcased could be tested live by the visitor or the customer at the centre any time and any day.

“This is a café positioned in the heart of Accra and our next model will be in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region,” he said.

Touching on some of the latest products, Mr Wiredu said one of fastest and well patronised Vodafone Internet device on the market now is the Mifi, which is a line of compact wireless routers that act as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.

Mr Wiredu said one advantage of Mifi is that it could be connected to a mobile phone (cellular) carrier and provide internet access for up to 5 devices. He added that it could work at a distance up to 10m or 30 ft and will provide internet or network access to any WiFi enabled peripheral device.

In a statement Vodafone Ghana said it was committed to reaching out to its customers wherever they were to provide world class services to them.

“Our customers are ou passion and we all go the extra mile to ensure they are satisfied giving them innovative services in the most exclusive locations,” it said.

“Being at the forefront of innovation in the industry, it is part of our overall plan to open a chain of new retail stores across the country,” the statement said.
..

in West Africa as exports grow from $139m to over $417m in 10 years

Exports of goods and services from South Africa into Ghana have grown from about $138 million to $416 million in ten years.

Products such as vehicles, machinery, mechanical appliances; electrical equipment, base metals, aircraft, vessels & associated products have contributed to the increased exports to Ghana, SA government officials say.

This makes Ghana the second largest export market for South African goods in West Africa after Nigeria. Welcoming Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills on a two-day state visit to South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, disclosed in his speech that his country’s trade exports into Ghana have grown tremendously. Mr Zuma thanked Prof. Mills for creating an opportunity for South African business people to invest in Ghana.

“South African exports have grown from less than one billion rand (approximately $139 million) in 1998 to over 3 billion rand ($417 million) in 2008. We thank you, Mr President, for creating an opportunity for South African business people to invest in Ghana,” Mr. Zuma told President Mills in Cape Town today August 23, 2011.

“We welcome the progress thus far. In recent years, trade between South Africa and Ghana has grown significantly,” he added. Mr. Zuma indicated that there are more than 80 South African multinational and small scale companies registered in Ghana and that investors are prevalent in sectors such as mining, retail, insurance, transport, tourism, banking, telecommunications, construction, services, franchising, manufacturing, fishing, advertising, aviation and energy.

Some of the South African companies which have invested in Ghana include MTN, Telkom, Standard Bank, Gold Fields, SABMiller, Woolworths, Engen, Hytec Engineering, Multichoice, Alliance Media, Steeldale, Stanbic Bank, Shoprite Checkers, Sherwood, Steers and South African Airways.

Meanwhile President Mills during the visit is expected to sign three bilateral memoranda of understanding with President Zuma, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa said in a statement on its website. “The two Presidents will discuss and concretise cooperation in the key bilateral priority areas such as cooperation in trade, tourism, communication technology, energy, mining, agriculture, and science and technology,” it said.

Together we have identified areas of further expansion. These include tourism, communication technologies, mining, agriculture and infrastructure development, Zuma said.

President Atta Mills will lay a wreath at the Gugulethu 7 Memorial near Cape Town. It is also expected that President Atta Mills will visit Robben Island. The two Presidents will use the occasion to discuss enhanced cooperation in dealing with multilateral issues such as reform of global institutions of governance such as the UN Security Council and the Bretton Woods Institutions, officials noted...

Question for the Ghanaians,

How much is the political stability and welfare benefiting the country’s economic growth? Is the economic growth directly correlated with political performance?

Question for the Ghanaians,

How much is the political stability and welfare benefiting the country’s economic growth? Is the economic growth directly correlated with political performance?

I think in all cases, the correlation between political stability and economic growth is undeniable. It is impossible to improve the quality of life of your citizens if there is the absence of some degree of political stability. As with all things, progress thrives when it is unhindered. Ghana has been making a lot of progress economically because it seems like we understand democracy or at least we are comfortable with our own interpretation of it. The gains made are subtle when it's translated to the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian but they are significant considering where The country was not too long ago.

The welfare of Sweden is built upon an extensive international trade. Our market today is not just in Europe but globally. According tp a press release from the SWEDISH embassy in Abuja Sweden want to further strengthen its competiveness and broaden its field of "export products". Sweden used to be famous for its high-tech products such as industrial tools, cars and lorries, communication systems, packaging systems, etc. Today we see, in addition, a growing export in services such as knowledge products - lean health care, green technologies and creative products - music, design, culinary experiences, etc. Our economy is strong and solid and we are pleased having been nominated as the most innovative country in the EU.

With a strong economy comes responsibilities and visions for the future. The Swedish Minister for (free) trade, dr. Ewa Björling, launched a vision in 2010 to double the Swedish Export until 2015. Quite a challenge! However, with joint efforts, this could be within reach in a number of African countries. The minister's aim with the vision is to encourage all stakeholders (governmental bodies, companies, etc.) to work more intensively on both new and old markets.

Trade is closely connected to growth in many areas. In Africa, Corporate Social responsibility plays a significant role for companies. The need for investment in education and training goes hand in hand with successful business. The possibility to invest from the very start in green technologies and sustainable solution could give Africa an advantage over other markets. A good example is that while Africa is lacking behind in most areas, 40 percent of the population has access to a mobile phone compared to South Asia were it is "only" 33 percent. Despite its richness of raw material and human resources there is still a huge demand for more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Africa. Statistics from UNCTAD shows that FDI on average has given a return on investment of 29 percent since 1990. This is more than any other continent.

There will be more focus on Africa in 2012 from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and from the Swedish Trade Council. In the beginning of the year the Trade Minister will visit Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. In April the Trade Council will launch its new Strategy for Africa. In autumn a trade delegation under the lead of the State Secretary for Trade is planned for Nigeria. In addition many other promotion activities are on the agenda.

From Stockholm we are looking forward to a dynamic year with increased trade with the African countries.From FRANK OWUSU OBIMPEH on Swedish embassy press list 0026876425674

Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), has announced that government is on the verge of adding certified seeds and liquid fertiliser in the farmers' subsidy package for the 2012 cropping season.

He said last year about 68 million dollars worth of fertiliser was imported into the country for distribution to farmers.

Mr Ahwoi announced this when he launched the “irrigated maize production programme in Ghana” by Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds, a US agro-business entity, in Tamale at the weekend.

Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds which has been in the country for some time now has already introduced its hybrid maize known as “Pioneer maize” which is drought resistant and could yield 42 bags per acre.

Mr Ahwoi said the subsidy on certified seed and liquid fertiliser would be done in conjunction with increased irrigation, improved soil and water management to obtain a holistic approach to step up farm-level productivity.

He said farmers are the pivot around which the drive for increase productivity revolves and as a result they are being provided with critical research findings and results together with education to enable them adopt and apply appropriate technology along the agriculture value chain.
He said he wants to see farming as a business and farmers becoming rich.

To achieve this, farmers need to increase their productivity from the current yield of 1.7 metric tons per hectare to about eight metric tons per hectare.

The Agriculture Minister said it is the intention of government to double the current maize production of 1.8 million metric tons to about three million metric tons within the next three years to meet both animal and human requirements.

Mr Ahwoi urged Pioneer Hi-Bred Company to consider the local content practice by putting in place modalities that would facilitate and enhance its operations in Ghana.

He said Northern Ghana could boast of a number of reputable institutions and manpower which could serve as a platform from which Pioneer's activities would be sustainable and mutually beneficial.

Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Northern Regional Minister noted that farmers could have the best of soils and agricultural inputs but without good seed they can achieve no better yields and therefore encouraged farmers to adopt the new hybrid maize seeds.

He said nature had blessed the region with water bodies and therefore urged farmers to take advantage of it to embrace the irrigated maize production programme to boost productivity.

Dr Bob Walker, Africa Director of Pioneer HI-Bred, said the Company annually spends billions of dollars to undertaking research in several of its centres around the world to improve upon the quality of its seeds to ensure that farmers got the right type they wanted.

He said the Company also deals in a collaborative manner with its customers to grow their businesses and not strictly on business lines.

Edward Appiah-Brafoh, Principal Human Resource and Administrative Officer of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), on Wednesday said the Corporation would establish a fabrication yard in partnership with the private sector in 2013.

He said this would not only provide job opportunities for the youth, but serve as an avenue for training, skills development and provide procurement services to oil and gas companies in the country.

In addition, it would provide Ghana additional revenue and save oil companies from the stress of importation of operation equipments.

Mr Appiah-Brafoh announced this when addressing a forum at the on-going 63rd Annual New Year School and Conference organised by the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Ghana in Accra on the theme: 'One Year of Oil and Gas Production: Emerging Issues'.

He said Ghana was in the process of becoming one of the leading oil and gas producers with the discovery of 14 new oil resources in various areas apart from the Jubilee field production and needed to explore all the opportunities available to harness the benefits for national development.

Mr Appiah-Brafoh expressed concern about the low equity participation of local companies in the oil and gas industry in Ghana.

He said while the country seemed to be doing well in several new oil discoveries, its local companies seemed to be left in the dark with numerous challenges such as lack of bulk financial capital and human resource capacity to meet the high demands of management and operation.

Mr Appiah-Brafoh was optimistic that the passage of Ghana's Local Content Policy would help address such challenges, and therefore called for support in capacity building and skills development as the way forward to equip Ghanaian industries to fully and effectively participate in the oil sector.

He said conscious plans and strategies for the future should include at least five per cent equity participation by Ghana's private sector, while preference must be given to local companies who would want to venture into the oil and gas business.

Mr Appiah-Brafoh expressed concern about the financial limitation as a result of the high cost of accessing credit, inadequate technology in respect to upstream petroleum activities preventing effective local participation in upstream petroleum sector in Ghana.

He advised the youth not to be too optimistic about direct job opportunities in the oil and gas industry, but explored the numerous opportunities that existed in other soft areas of the sector such as the hospitality, artisanal, educational, catering and entertainment sectors for their development.

Mr Appiah-Brafoh said government should use some of the oil revenue to develop its domestic sector and other areas such as health, education and infrastructure to ensure that all sectors were fully protected.

Accra, Jan. 13, GNA – The Ministry of Trade and Industry has denied a publication by Imani, suggesting that the proposed development of the Sekondi Industrial Estate would jeopardize the Government’s ability to access the China Development Bank (CDB) loan.

In a statement issued in Accra and signed by Nana Akrasi Sarpong, Acting Director of Communication and Public Affairs, said “We would like to assure the general public that there is no truth in the publication”.

“We are f the view that in planning the development of what will be the second enclave in the country, we should learn from our past experience to improve upon our future prospects of promoting industrialization in our country.

“The development of the Sekondi Industrial Estate shall therefore not jeopardize the government’s ability to access the CDB loan. We are committed to ensuring that it will be successful development and help to make Ghana a better place.”

The development of the Sekondi Industrial Estate as a second export processing zone has been an objective of the government for some years now. The proposed site was declared a Free Zone area over 12 years ago, however, it has not been developed for various reasons, but mainly due to the government’s inability to finance the acquisition of the land and the development of the project.

Given the industrial potential of the Western Region and the easy access to port facilities for the export of products from Ghana, the current administration decided to focus on the development of the Sekondi Industrial Estate as a priority project.

The Ministry and Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB) have had several challenges with regard to the development of adequate infrastructure with the development of the Tema Export Processing Zone. Though different companies were given licenses to develop the enclave as at now the infrastructure is still inadequate.

This experience informed the Ministry and GFZB’s decision that prior to entering any leasehold arrangements for the Sekondi Industrial Estates with a developer the Ministry acting through its agency – the GFZB, would develop the basic infrastructure for the estate such as the drainage systems, road network, external walls, and provision of utilities.

The funds made available for the Sekondi Industrial Estate under the CDB loan will be used for this purpose.

China Hasan International Holding has not been awarded any contract for the construction of the proposed development in Ghana.

The company’s subsidiary in Ghana namely Hasan Investment Ghana Limited, has been granted a developer’s license to develop the Sekondi Industrial Estate. Under the provisions of the Free Zones Act (Act 504), the GFZB has the authority to award a developer’s license for the development of a Free Zones enclave.

Ghana has the potential to catch up with Ivory Coast in cocoa production by 2015 if present interventions and support for farmers are sustained.
This is according to Eric Asare Botwe of Olam Ghana, the third largest Licensed Buying Company in the internal cocoa marketing and a leading trading company operating in 20 products across the world.

He told Luv Biz Report the benefit of guaranteed prices for farmers and application of the high-tech fertilizers and other technologies should propel the country to scale-up production.

“Can you imagine that doing three years of high-tech, we're already in one million [metric tonnes], if we do it like Cote D'Ivoire has been doing for so many year, I think that the sky will be the limit. I believe that if we sustain all the practices and the support that is being given to the farmer, Ghana should be catching up with Cote D'Ivoire”, he observed.
Ghana hit the million metric tonne target two years ahead of the 2013 scheduled date. The country is second to the Ivory Coast as the world's leading cocoa producer.

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) targets to purchase 800,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in the 2011/2012 crop season. About 520 tonnes have already been achieved and the LBC's are confident of sailing over the one million metric tonnes when the season closes in June.

“Once the farmer gets enough returns on his investments, I think we'll continue to grow production,” said Mr. Botwe.
He however noted certification of cocoa beans should be the country's focus, though Ghana's premium quality cocoa is a strong brand and hot cake for chocolate producers the world over.
“Certification has come to stay and it is important that you align yourself,” said Mr. Botwe.

Working with 100,000 farmers in Ghana, Olam is looking forward to producing 20,000 tonnes of traceable cocoa beans in Ghana by close of its financial year, under a partnership with Conservation Alliance and Rainforest Alliance.

Farmers under certification schemes stand to benefit most whilst producing to meet international standards.
Olam supports farmers with an annual GHS1 million as loans to enhance their operations, in addition to other schemes like the hi-tech fertilizer applications

Hess Corp to pump $800m into operations in Ghana

A US-based oil giant Hess Corporation has announced plans to invest about $800 million in its operations in Ghana.

This is part of an exploratory budget of 6. 8 billion dollars it plans on spending on its global oil and gas operations.

Hess Corporation made the announcement on Monday on its official website.

In June 2011, the company announced that it has found significant oil and gas at its Paradise-1 exploration well offshore Ghana and that the oil and natural gas condensate they have found is one-third thicker than previous estimates.

Hess operates the well in the Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Points area and owns 90 per cent stakes with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) owning the remainder.

In October last year, the company together with Sahara Energy Fields Limited also announced they were seeking exploration and production rights over blocks offshore West Keta block and East Cape Three Points of the Jubilee offshore field.

According to the Chairman and CEO of the company, John Hess, the company is hopeful of generating long term profitability and growth for the shareholders if its operations in Ghana are successful.

Meanwhile, as production and exploration activities in oil and gas show signs of a boom, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) insists it will remain vigilant in ensuring that Ghana become the utmost beneficiary

According to him, at the end of December 2011, the GRA had collected provisionally GHC8, 706.39million, exceeding the target by GHC1, 61.73miilion.

In the 2011 Budget and Economic Policy Statement of the government, the GRA was given an overall collection target of GH¢7,208.97million, excluding upstream petroleum revenue.

However, in May, 2011, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning revised the revenue target upwards by 4.7% bringing the total revenue target for 2011 to GH¢7, 544.64million.

Breaking down the collection for the 2011, Mr Blankson told journalists in Accra yesterday that GRA recorded domestic taxes (direct) of GHC3,733.94million showing an excess of GHC603.60million or 19.3%, as against a target of GHC3,130.38million.

The Authority mobilized GHC1, 367.64million in domestic taxes (indirect) depicting an excess of GHC21.85million or 1.6%, as against GHC1, 345.76million target.

Furthermore, the GRA recorded customs of GHC3, 604.82million, representing an excess of GHC536.30 or 17.5% as against a target of GHC3, 068.49million.

Mr Blankson was happy to say that: 'Overall, the 2011 collection performance is 46.6% over the actual collection performance of 2010. The tax revenue/GDP ratio which collapsed to 12.7% in the wake of the re-basing in 2010 grew to 15.9% in 2011.'

This is a remarkable achievement. At the High Level Aid Effectiveness Conference held in Busan, South Korea two months ago, which was attended by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-mon, four Heads of State, Ghana's achievement of three percentage points growth in tax/GDP ratio in one year was touted as a performance which has no precedent in recent revenue history, he told the journalists at a press conference.

Key among the factors responsible for the sterling performance of tax revenue in 2011, the Commissioner-General mentioned include: synergies arising from the strides made in the reform for integration and modernization; the introduction of the Ghana Integrated Cargo Clearance System; the establishment of the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) by the Customs Division; and streamlining of tax exemptions.

Mr Blankson commended the Ghanaian taxpayers for their support, saying 'the exceptional revenue performance of GRA in 2011 would not have been possible without the goodwill and support of taxpayers.'

He also used the opportunity to applaud the spirit of voluntary compliance demonstrated by the majority of taxpayers in 2011 and urged them to keep it up.

To this end, the tax expertise disclosed that plans were far advanced to hold a special function next month at which deserving taxpayers would be honoured.

U.S. oil company Anadarko Petroleum said one of its wells, located in the Deepwater Tano Block offshore Ghana, encountered significant light oil accumulation.

The Ntomme-2A appraisal well encountered about 128 net feet of light oil pay in excellent-quality sandstone reservoirs, the company said.

Fluid samples from the well, which was drilled to a depth of about 12,810 feet, indicate oil of about 35 degrees API gravity, Anadarko said.
"We now estimate oil makes up the majority of the resource in place," the company said in a statement.

Anadarko owns an 18 percent working interest in the Deepwater Tano block, which is operated by Britain's Tullow Oil plc, also with a 49.95 percent working interest.

Other partners in the block include Kosmos Energy ltd and the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corp.

Finland trade delegation lauds Ghana’s business environment
February 6, 2012 | Filed under: Business | Posted by: VibeGhana The Finnish Business Council, West Africa (FBCWA), on Monday lauded Ghana’s business environment, which according to the group hinged heavily on proactive investment laws, political stability, security and strategic government policies.

Ms Tuuli Saarela, FBCWA Director, commended government for consistently creating conducive investor environment to attract more technology as well as capital into the country.

“Finnish business people are not only coming to trade, but also bringing know-how technology as well as capital, to share with the Ghanaian business community and entrepreneurs on the win-win basis,” she said to introduce an advance team of Finnish Business delegation to the media in Accra.

The Finland trade led by Finnish Under-Secretary of State Mr. Esko Hamilo marks a reciprocal visit of Ghanaian Government’s delegation to Helsinki Finland in September 2011.

The Finnish business delegation include representatives of companies with household names such as Nokia, less well-known giants such as Metso and smaller companies with innovative new products such as Cold Cargo Solutions (CCS).

Ms Saarela said Finland: “seek cooperation with Ghanaian investors in its broad sector including agriculture, forestry, housing, construction, service industry, oil and energy sector, other business entities in the country.

“A lot of foreign investors are showing in interest in Ghana now. Ghana is the most visible country in Africa…Finns are impressed with the massive growth of the Ghanaian economy this year and are finally looking at Ghana as a developing market with true potential, some for the very first time”.

Mr Kalevi Tervanen, of Procope and Hornborg, Finland, told journalists that Ghana had been recognized as one the world’s fastest growing economies; “these positive economic signals have gradually directed the world’s investor community towards doing business in Ghana.

“We are here to do business not to engage in talk, talk, but to initiate positive ventures which would yield positive results for both countries, and so far our feasibility studies indicate that Ghana is ready for business”.

He said Ghana stands at the periphery of becoming West Africa’s business hub, “a giant economic destination to link-up other business ventures in the region to the rest of the world mainly due to its stability, systems that deals with corruption and security of investments”.

Mr Tervanen, who is a Strategic Business Advisor, noted that Ghana and Finland shared a lot in common as recently Ghana has emerged as Finland’s economic partner.

Mr Marko Sorri, Business Development Director of the CCS, introduced journalists to a new packaging system, which allows unbreakable cold chain transportation without any external energy.

He said due to the great isolation capacity combined with the patented cooling element, the CCS was able to maintain the right temperature during transportation, storage and delivery.

Mr Sorri said the system: “is automatically monitored online to keep records of the continuous temperature level and warns if the temperature goes close to critical limits”.

The CCS system includes transportation module, medical module, cooling element, monitoring system.

Ms. Saarela and her lead partner Procope & Hornborg Law Firm, assists Finnish companies to set up locally, offering business development services and advice on Ghanaian business practices.

The Finnish Business Council is an independent network of professionals and companies, who want to participate in building awareness about Finland and Finnish companies in West Africa.

Ms Saarela said:”Our organization provides a platform where dialogue is facilitated between companies, individuals and institutions interested in business opportunities between Finland and West Africa.” GNA

Ghana and Euromoney to hold investment conference
February 3, 2012

Ghana and Euromoney are to hold ‘Ghana Finance and Investment Conference’ next week to create a platform for policy and strategy as well as highlight Ghana’s attractions as a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destination.

Speakers for the two-day event scheduled for February 7-8 February, will be drawn from Ghanaian government, local practitioners and international investors to set the economic direction of the country over the next twelve months and in the medium term.

With Ghana rapidly becoming a regional centre for minerals, cash crops including cocoa, and with new-found oil – a discovery which certainly made the country attractive to global financial watchers and the need for infrastructure expansion, present the right conditions for foreign investment.

Commenting on the conference, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said, “This is the opportune time for investors to come to Ghana. Our economy is doing well, it’s being touted as one of the fastest growing economies and it is strong and resilient. We have made a lot of efforts to diversify and modernize it; above all, we are a stable country where the rule of law, transparency and good governance are held sacred”.

“Currently our focus is on developing our oil and gas industry and to bridge the huge infrastructural gap – roads, rails, energy, ICT, health facilities etc. The World Bank estimates that we need about US2.5 billion annually for the next four to five years to bridge this gap. I hope that participants would find our economy attractive enough to invest in some of these areas”.

The conference will be officially opened by President John Evans Atta Mills and will feature a live interview on stage with Dr Kwabena Duffour and a keynote address from Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, Governor, Bank of Ghana.

A keynote address from Mr Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman, Templeton Emerging Markets Group, Franklin Templeton Investments, the emerging market investment guru, on investing in Africa in the current climate.

“Euromoney’s Ghana Finance and Investment Conference is a clear demonstration that Ghana is taking the need to revitalise its finance and investment environment very seriously,” said Christopher Garnett, Director of Euromoney Conferences.

“Although, parts of the region exist in a state of some turmoil, this is not true of Ghana and I can think of no better time for us to be here.”

The conference will cover several key investment areas including banking, capital markets, oil and gas, SMEs, infrastructure and PPPs, mining, soft commodities and agribusiness, under the banner ” Ghana: Where Growth and Stability Meet.”

More than 250 participants will attend the conference. GNA

Africa is next destination for rapid development
January 27, 2012
Vice President John Mahama on Friday gave the assurance that the Government would work round the clock to make Ghana a world economic power in the coming years.

He said the country was already enjoying good governance, democracy and the rule of law which could in future spur the nation on an accelerated economic growth and development.

Vice President Mahama gave this assurance when Dr Chutikul, Senior Advisor in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), led a delegation to his office at the Castle, Osu.

The delegation was at the Castle to present the report of the last conference that was held in Ghana in 2008 and also to inform him of the next conference to be held in Qatar.

Vice President Mahama said Africa had before the world economic recession been marginalized in world trade and economics, but as the World was recovering from the danger, Africa would become the central point in trade and development.

He said although most of the countries were engrossed in political and other challenges, good leadership coupled with prudent economic measures would place the country on the right pedestal.

According to the Vice President, Ghana would hold on firmly to democracy and good governance to become a shinny example to other African countries in the coming years.

Dr Kobsak Chutikul said Ghana was regarded as a country of life and hope in the activities of the United Nations and therefore needed to accelerate its level of democracy and good governance to serve as an icon to the rest of the World.

He said notwithstanding the numerous economic challenges, they could still surmount those challenges with good leadership and prudent management. GNA

Tullow Oil launches “Invest in Africa” Initiative to woo investors to the Continent
January 24, 2012
Tullow Oil, Africa focused oil company, on Tuesday launched a new business initiative aimed at attracting and facilitating further investment on the continent.

Dubbed, ‘Invest in Africa’, the initiative aims to encourage long-term investment across the continent to help build and develop local capacity, boost domestic job markets, develop skills and stimulate economic growth.

The programme’s call to action will be supported through a partnership with English Premier League Football Club Sunderland AFC to raise awareness about business opportunities in Africa to facilitate inward investment and sustainable development through investor forums, organised business delegation visits and networking events.

Mr Aidan Heavey, Tullow Chief Executive, said despite the enormous economic progress made by countries on the continent, many investors were still scared about exploiting existing opportunities.

“Tullow is investing in Africa for the long term and we want more businesses to do the same. Africa has been good to us, and we have been successful, but we want that success to bring growth for local people and economies too,” he said.

Mr Heavey said the partnership with Sunderland would allow the message about the investment opportunities in Africa to reach global audience and called on other companies who share in the vision of selling Africa to the world to join the crusade.

“One of our key aims is to look at how international business can work in partnership with local businesses in order to develop local business capacity, “he said.

Mr Niall Quinn, Director of International Development Sunderland AFC, expressed the club’s excitement about the opportunity to use the global appeal of the Premier League as a tool for change through the innovative partnership with Invest in Africa.

“Africa’s passion for football is both heart-warming and inspirational and as a football club with community people and international aspirations firmly at its core, there is a natural synergy between us and this wonderful continent. We look forward to growing and developing the partnership in the coming months,” he said.

As part of the initiative, a year-round schedule of Invest in Africa partner events will be organised to provide a platform for international business audience the opportunity to interact and discuss new investment opportunities.

Mr Ike Duker, Executive Chairman of Tullow Ghana, said although the company was at the fore-front of the new business programme, all corporate institutions should come on board to make it a success.

Further details of the initiative including the additional partners which join the campaign will be announced at the end of the Premier League season. GNA

Emirates, one of the world's fastest-growing international airlines, underlined its commitment to Ghana this month by introducing the Airbus A340-500 on to the Accra-Dubai route, starting from 1 February 2012.

"Demand for our services to Accra has been steadily building and the introduction of the A340-500 will offer our customers an even better experience when travelling on this route," said Manoj Nair, Emirates Regional Manager for West Africa.

"Our customers will now enjoy the very latest Emirates in-flight product, including our multi award-winning ice entertainment system. Additionally, First Class passengers will experience Emirates' ergonomically-designed private First Class suites, featuring privacy screens for maximum exclusivity and massage-enabled seats which convert into flat beds. Our Business Class customers will experience angled lie-flat beds and those travelling in Economy Class will enjoy the comfort of generously-sized seats...This aircraft upgrade will offer travellers from West Africa markets seamless connections to the Far East, Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Australia, via Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport."

Emirates serves Accra daily, with an A340-500 aircraft offering 12 First Class Private Suites, 42 seats in Business Class and 204 Economy Class seats.

The aircraft also has a total of 13 tonnes of cargo-carrying capacity. EK 788 departs Accra at 1845hrs and lands in Dubai at 0630hrs. EK787 leaves Dubai at 0740hrs and arrives in Accra at 1240hrs.

Customers in all cabins can enjoy Emirates' professionally selected wines, spirits and beverages, as well as fresh, locally-sourced dining options prepared by gourmet chefs and served by the airline's multi-national cabin crew.

Passengers can also lose themselves in more than 600 channels of on-demand entertainment, including 50 new movie releases, more than 20 movie classics and 20 children's films.

The airline employs more than 130 Ghanaian nationals in a variety of roles across the Emirates Group, including 75 cabin crew.

Already this year, Emirates has launched new routes to Rio and Buenos Aires on 4th January, Dublin on 9th January, Lusaka and Harare on 1st February, Dallas on 2nd February and Seattle will follow from 1st March, Ho Chi Minh City from 4th June and Barcelona effective 3rd July.

Ghana and India are said to be close to finalizing the price of gas for the proposed fertiliser factory to be set up in Ghana.

Finalising on the gas price is key before the execution of the factory by India’s state-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF).

India could settle for a gas price anywhere between $2 and $3 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) for the proposed unit, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal-HT Media’s business news outlet, the Mint February 16, 2012 citing two Indian government officials familiar with the development.

Both, however, said that no final decision on the gas price has been taken yet.

The fertilizer maker, based in Mumbai, plans to secure fuel for the $1 billion project from the Ghana Oil Company to produce about a million metric tons of the soil nutrients annually, according to a Bloomberg news report.

A bulk of the produce is expected to be shipped to India if the project is completed

AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) is to spend approximately US$200 million as investment capital next year to revamp the Obuasi mine, which has more than 20 years mine-life with 9 million ounces of gold reserves, Mr. Peter Anderton, Senior Vice President, AGA (Ghana), has revealed.




“Obuasi’s production declined marginally due to obsolete underground equipment. Once the leading gold mine in the country, it is a high-cost producer and has never produced beyond 400,000 ounces since the merger between the former AngloGold of South Africa and Ashanti Goldfields Company of Ghana.
“At Obuasi, costs remain the key outstanding issue from 2011.”



This was made known during the company’s Stakeholder Town Hall meeting held in Accra. It was attended by its social and business partners, members of the diplomatic community, banks and financial institutions, chiefs and people in the host communities, and government representatives.



Mr. Anderton revealed that a high-level special taskforce -- ‘The Obuasi Taskforce’ -- has been formed for a 12-month period to fast-track additional corporate funding and external resources to support and define the long-term turnaround strategy for the Obuasi underground operation which has been struggling in the past years.



The objective is to accelerate the refurbishment and improve operational stability at Obuasi.
The taskforce is also looking to ensure that the work done today links to the long-term strategy for Obuasi, and that it yields sustainable outcomes for AGA’s Ghanaian stakeholders.



The work of the taskforce has now largely been handed over to AGA Ghana, which has been expanded to ensure product-delivery today but will also invest to create world-class operations at Obuasi, said Anderton.



AGA Obuasi will be supported with corporate funding as put in place by the taskforce, and additional expertise, where required, from AGA Corporate.



He said AngloGold Ashanti’s gold production was 4.52 million ounces last year, of which about 11% came from the Obuasi and Iduapriem mines -- though Obuasi was challenged by restricted ore passes and unplanned plant shutdowns for maintenance of the tailings-dam facility.



The Ghana mines produced just over 502,000 ounces, of which Obuasi churned out 317, 000 ounces with Iduapriem producing 185,000 ounces.



Ghana accounts for 33% of continental Africa gold production, but only contributes 13% of the region’s cash flow.



Kwesi Enyan, Managing Director of Obuasi Mines, explained that efforts have been made to tackle the company’s social and environmental problems head-on.



He indicated that the project to resettle the Dokyiwa community is at an advanced stage, and efforts are also being made to tackle poor roads at Sansu and Anyinam villages this year, in partnership with the municipal assembly.



“AGA is consistently demonstrating itself to be a responsible corporate citizen in Ghana and around the world. AGA will engage to an even greater extent to ensure that all its stakeholders are fully aware of the real positive contributions to the communities and the country,” Enyan said.



By Ekow Essabra-Mensah

The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a department of the British government, has estimated that about $2.250 billion investment is needed to expand both the Tema and Takoradi ports in Ghana.

According to the UKTI, the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA), which manages both the Tema and Takoradi sea ports, is looking seriously to significantly develop its transport infrastructure which it sees as essential to sustained economic growth.

Giving a market overview of the ports sector in the country to potential British investors via its website February 6, 2012, the department said the GPHA is looking to increase the size of the Tema port to relieve the current congestion.

“Expansion plans are significant and include a new container terminal, fruit and sugar terminal, passenger terminal and transhipment terminal. Costs have been estimated at $1.5 billion and investment through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) is being sought by the GPHA,” said the UKTI.

The Tema Port is the largest in the country and it handled about 75% of maritime trade in 2010. It also has 12 berths with draughts ranging from 8-11.5 metres, and handled 590,147 teus in 2010, a 12% rise in container volume from 2009.

For the Takoradi port, the GPHA is looking at a “$750 million expansion plan over three phases” to increase the size of the port by 300%, which includes land reclamation, according to the UKTI adding that the port in recent times has gained more significance due to the discovery of oil in 2007.

The port, which is now the main supplier for the offshore production and exploration operations and capacity, the department said “is under considerable strain.”

Investment through PPPs is being sought though the Ghana Government has listed the first phase of works amongst infrastructure projects to be financed under the $3 billion Master Facility Agreement with the China Development Bank.

The UKTI noted that Lonrho Plc is undertaking a feasibility study for an oil services terminal in Atuabo in the Western Region.

The British company plans investing $1 billion to build oil services ports in Ghana, according to a Bloomberg report February 8, 2012 citing Lonrho’s Development Director, Mr Steven Gray as saying in an interview.

By Ekow Quandzie

CAL Bank, a locally-owned bank, has recorded profit after tax of GH¢17.98 million in 2011, an increase of 90.00 percent from 2010 figure of GH¢9.47 million; but it is yet to meet the Bank of Ghana’s minimum capital requirement.




According to CAL’s financial report for 2011, the Bank’s stated capital is pegged at GH¢27.7million, 54 percent below the minimum capital requirement that local banks need to meet before the close of this year.



The CEO of CAL Bank, Frank Adu Jnr., said: “CAL posted a sterling performance in 2011, driven by broad-based growth in total revenues across all our business segments in general but in non-funded income in particular.



“Specifically, total income increased by 32 percent underpinned by 11 percent growth in core earnings (net interest income) and 58 percent increase in fees and commissions from increased trade finance.”



He explained that other income grew by a remarkable 107 percent from improved profits on active forex trading during the year, and from impressive contributions from corporate finance advisory fees resulting from a number of significant mandates executed in 2011.



“I am particularly proud of our 2011 performance in a year when adverse global economic conditions posed particular challenges to banks in the developing world as far as foreign trading lines and correspondent banking relationships were concerned.”


Looking forward, he said: “We are confidently on track to complete our GH¢75million private placement in Q2 2012. With our new capital, we are strategically focused on growing CAL into a strong top-tier Ghanaian bank serving the banking needs of the fast-expanding domestic corporate sector.”



He added: “On the retail side, our branch expansion over the next 3 years into identified locations will focus on serving a growing middle-market retail clientele with an emphasis on accessible and efficient service.”



On the bank’s financial strength, Chief Financial Operator Mr. Philip Owiredu said: "CAL’s profitability grew by a significant 90 percent margin in 2011 as we recorded an operating profit of GH¢24.4million.



“The 61 percent growth in our advances portfolio resulted from our targetted loan growth in the corporate sector. We recorded the greatest revenues from non-funded income (79.6% increase in 2011) linked to our increased trade finance operations, forex trading and corporate finance advisory fees.”



He indicated that the bank achieved a remarkable 110 percent increase in overall customer deposits through targetted deposit mobilisation focusing on key growth sectors -- notably telecoms, mining, bulk-oil distribution and real-estate.



“The modest 23.6 percent growth in total operating expenses was achieved through prudent control of administrative expenses and increased efficiency achieved through further process automation.
“Our capital adequacy ratio decreased to a comfortable 11.6% in 2011 from 16.1% in 2010. This reduced ratio is in keeping with our historical norms.



“In 2011, we also reduced our NPL ratio to 9.6% as compared to 11.4% in 2010, through a concerted recovery process that enabled us to recover some impaired corporate loans. I am confident that we will continue to preserve these key financial metrics going forward.”

Questions of equity are beginning to emerge over tax-hikes in the mining industry as companies wielding so-called stability agreements appear to be protected and less aggrieved.

At least two miners, Anglogold Ashanti and Newmont, have signed such agreements with the government that freeze taxes, royalties and other conditions over 10-15 years, and have said they do not expect to be immediately affected by the new rules.

Anglogold Ashanti Limited, which signed a stability agreement with the state in 2004, has said it will not scale-back planned investments at the Obuasi mine, its biggest operation in Ghana, despite the tax-changes -- which include an increase in the corporate tax from 25 to 35 percent, a windfall-profit tax of 10 percent and changes to capital allowance rates.

The company says it expects to invest at least US$150million for a second year in the mine. Obuasi has had a difficult last few years with output shrinking and costs rising, but Anglogold believes it will remain fecund for at least the next 30 years.

“We’re committed to Ghana in the long-term so we’ll continue to invest, but we’ll continue to engage government,” said Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Anglogold’s Vice President (Ghana) in charge of corporate affairs.
When early indication of the government wanting to review the mining regime and contracts was given two years ago, Newmont’s CEO Richard O’Brien said the company had reminded the government of its stability pact, but was nonetheless “willing to “talk”.

Meanwhile, there are more than 20 large-scale companies that cannot seek solace in any stability agreement, and are subject to any changes or new rules that come into effect in the industry.

Gold Fields, which operates the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines, said in the wake of the tax-hikes that planned investments worth about US$1billion at the mines could be dealt a deathblow by the new development.

But shedding light on these initial comments, made by chief executive Nick Holland in Johannesburg, the company’s head of corporate affairs in Ghana, Mrs. Pamela Djamson-Tettey, said the miner is having to reassess its plans because, unlike others, it is “directly exposed” to the hikes.

“We need to look at [Gold Fields’ position] in the context of the mining regime in Ghana. Some of the mining companies have stability agreements that protect them, but Gold Fields does not have such an agreement with the government.

Therefore, Gold Fields is exposed whenever there is new legislation or new taxes are introduced,” she said.

More biting, in respect to Gold Field’s capital-injection plans, according to Mrs. Djamson-Tettey, would be the lower capital allowance rate of 20 percent for five years, from 80 and 50 percent at different periods in the past.

“That specifically impacts on project work, and it’s going to impact our plans so severely in terms of the feasibility and viability of future projects,” she stated.

While its initial action is going to be unevenly felt within the industry, the government has already put together a seven-member team to renegotiate stability agreements in the industry.

“[Your] first task is to review and re-negotiate any part of a stability agreement between the Republic of Ghana and any mining company that is not in the best interest of the country,” Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor told the team at its inauguration in Accra last month.

The team, led by academic and jurist Prof. Akilagpa Sawyerr, will be assisted by a local resource team and advised by international mining experts in discharging its duties.

Anglogold has said it is yet to be contacted over the review of its stability agreement, and will not react now in order not to pre-empt any future event.

“These [stability] agreements are binding in international courts, and it’s not likely that the government will succeed in changing them,” said one industry source not willing to be mentioned.

According to Addo-Kufuor, Anglogold’s stability agreement was legally procured, and he said he believed there is mutual value in it for the state and his company.

But the government has often said it is not getting a fair share of miners’ profits and revenues, which have soared during the last decade as gold and other metal prices spiked to record levels.
“What we are looking for is a win-win situation in which mining companies and the people benefit equally,” Duffuor said.

Yet, Dr. Toni Aubynn, chief executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, has blamed the country’s inability to devise a “comprehensive vision” and framework for local participation in the industry’s value-chain for its failure to derive maximum benefits from mining.

“The best way to keep the mining industry as an integral part of the country’s economy is to put in place deliberate and sustained local-content and capability-development policies, backed by legislation and enforcement mechanisms -- and not just resorting to appeals or pleas to mining exploration and production companies,” he said.

In a new study published this month on the industry in West Africa, the World Bank said both governments and companies need to do more to expand the benefits of mining to communities. It reckoned the industry would have a bigger impact on economic growth if companies purchased more equipment, supplies and services from locals.

Countries have to enact policies that encourage local procurement, while helping locals to be able to utilise the opportunities, the bank said. For their part, companies will have to give fair access to locals to opportunities and provide information to communities on their procurement needs.

The bank said, also, that regional economic blocs could promote cross-border procurement by harmonising incentives and taxes linked to activities in the industry’s supply-chain.

Olam Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Olam International Limited and one of the leading agro business companies in the country, is to set to launch a fully functional state-of-the-art Wheat Mill facility in Tema.

The ultramodern facility, valued at US$55 million, would be launched on Friday, 24th of February, at Kpone Industrial Area in Tema.

The mill has eight large Silos for the storage of the wheat, two warehouses, spacious loading grounds, a lab and the factory itself and is set to produce 115,000 metric tonnes of flour every year within three years, which would make it Ghana's third largest flour mill.

A statement from Olam quoted the Country Manager, Amit Agrawal as saying ‘we are very much committed to adding value to businesses and to making meaningful impact in the area of our business and so we are always on the lookout for opportunities to make significant difference in the industry.”

He said the company believed this wheat milling facility would contribute significantly to Ghana's food security plans, create employment and contribute no less than 20 million Ghana cedis per year to government revenue through taxes and duties.

The Global CEO of Olam International, Sunny Verghese was also quoted as saying “this facility marks another milestone in our lasting partnership with Ghana - wheat flour is a significant and highly demanded food component worldwide and in Ghana as well, whose demand and consumption we envisage to increase further over the next few years as incomes increase in the country’.

Dignitaries to grace the occasion include President John Evans Atta Mills, Ministers of State, officials from Olam International and from Olam Ghana, among others.

Olam International is a leading global integrated supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients, sourcing 20 products with a direct presence in 64 countries and supplying them to over 12, 000 customers.

Olam has built a global leadership position in many of its businesses, including cocoa, coffee, cashew, sesame, rice, cotton and wood products. Olam Ghana now has a country-wide spread in 80 towns and villages with an annual turnover in excess of USD 335 million.

Produce Buying Company (PBC) Limited, the largest buyer of cocoa beans in the country, has said it aims to increase its share of the market to 40 percent in two years.




The company, which bought 37 percent of cocoa beans in the last season -- down from 38 percent previously -- said it “will brace itself to recover whatever ground that was lost” in the last buying season.



Its Managing Director, Mr. Kojo Atta-Krah disclosed this at a Facts behind the Figures session at the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in Accra.



He said the company faces competition from 25 other Licenced Buying Companies (LBC), but its excellence performance has granted it the biggest share of the market for a long time.



Cocoa purchases by PBC increased by 56.8 percent to 374,858 tonnes in the 2010/11 season, when total output and purchases of the crop jumped 60 percent to surpass 1 million tonnes.



The record output was due chiefly to good weather conditions and government interventions through the provision of farming inputs and other incentives.



Mr. Atta-Krah said turnover for PBC’s cocoa operations increased from GH¢622.664million to GH¢1.285billion -- an increase of 106 percent driven by an increase in the producer price, buyers’ take-over margin, and the volume of cocoa purchased and delivered.



“The company registered a significant growth in volume of cocoa purchases, total revenue and operating profit. This led to the attainment of a profit before tax of GH¢37.44million as against GH¢19.256million in the previous year,” he said.



This was the highest level of profitability recorded by the company since the board and management began the process of lifting it from the doldrums, he added.



The company is faced with some challenges, he disclosed, including frequent port congestion and other industry problems which restrict quick turnaround of its articulators and cargo trucks. This impeded its projection to haul about 40% of cocoa at the secondary level -- being able to achieve only 20%.



PBC has been engaging in other activities to diversity its operations and create a broader revenue base, Mr. Atta-Krah told investors and pressmen at the GSE.



The company has acquired vehicles to move cocoa stocks, and is in the process of setting up a hospitality centre. It has also started a project to establish a shea nut factory in Buipe in the Central Gonja district to process shea nuts into butter for export.

ACCRA Feb 28 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Bank Ghana said on Tuesday that its net profit for 2011 was up 7.6 percent to 77.676 million cedis ($45.95 million) from 72.208 million cedis a year ago.

* Net interest income slipped 1.2 percent to 150.403 million cedis compared to 152.748 million cedis in 2010.

* Total income fell to 63.649 million cedis from 86.233 million cedis, while basic earnings per share rose to 3.97 cedis from 3.64 cedis. (Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Bate Felix)

Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), a state owned organisation that deals in the manufacturing and sale of gold jewellery and in the export of gold and diamond has commissioned its diamond cutting and polishing plant.

The US$ 480,000 facility will enable the company to polish diamonds from its raw form that will bring out the beauty of the highest quality with equally good financial returns.

The Board Chairman of PMMC, Mr. Kwabena Kyereh when speaking to the press said, they undertake this project because diamonds have been mined and exported in its raw form since colonial times and the inception of the company.

He explained, “We see it as an opportunity to provide a linkage with other diamond producing countries in the sub-region with the view of making Ghana the focal point of the diamond industry in the region”
The installed cutting and polishing plant is expected to have a start-up capacity of 1,750 carats of rough diamonds.

In his speech on the technical aspect of the plant, Mr. Seth Klaye said “the output from our diamond mining sector has enabled counties like India, Israel and Belgium to create thousands of jobs and generated millions of dollars of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for their respective countries’ economies.”

He explained that countries that are involved in the cutting and polishing industry, 99% of them do for instance Israel, Belgium and Mauritius not have the raw materials but the industry generates billion of dollars in income yearly to support their various economies.

According to Mr. Klaye this is a seed being sown, and if the country position itself well as far as adding value to rough diamond is concern, Ghana can become the polishing hob of the West Africa sub-region in the process create thousands of quality jobs with a multiplier effect and generating millions of dollars to support the economy.


“The facility has the capacity to employ forty and this can be expanded to create thousands of jobs if our plan to position Ghana as the cutting and polishing hob of the sub-region becomes a reality,” he said.
The art of cutting and polishing of rough diamonds is a process that brings out the beauty and sparkle out of the otherwise dull piece of rock or stone that ordinary people will pass by without noticing.

Kosmos Energy says that it has exercised a right under the existing Joint Operating Agreement to acquire the participating interest of Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Limited in the Deepwater Tano Block, offshore Ghana.



The purchase price is estimated to be approximately US$365million, with up to an additional US$45million contingent upon achieving certain performance milestones, said a company statement issued in Accra.

Following closing of the acquisition, Kosmos’ interest in the Deepwater Tano Block will increase from 18 percent to 22.05 percent. Kosmos’ interest in the Jubilee Field will increase from 24.1 percent to 25.8 percent.

Brian F. Maxted, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We feel very fortunate to have an opportunity to grow our interest in what we believe are some of the most valuable assets in West Africa at a compelling price.

“This transaction adds existing production at Jubilee, enhances our stake in the next oil development offshore Ghana, and increases our exposure to the significant Deepwater Tano exploration programme in 2012.

“We have great belief and confidence in the quality, value, and upside of our discoveries, and the further potential of the Tano basin petroleum system.”

Closing of the transaction should occur in the second quarter of 2012, subject to a definitive transaction agreement, customary closing conditions and necessary government approvals.

The Company anticipates funding the purchase price through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings. The effective date of the acquisition is January 1, 2012.

Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), a state owned organisation that deals in the manufacturing and sale of gold jewellery and in the export of gold and diamond has commissioned its diamond cutting and polishing plant.

The US$ 480,000 facility will enable the company to polish diamonds from its raw form that will bring out the beauty of the highest quality with equally good financial returns.

The Board Chairman of PMMC, Mr. Kwabena Kyereh when speaking to the press said, they undertake this project because diamonds have been mined and exported in its raw form since colonial times and the inception of the company

He explained, “We see it as an opportunity to provide a linkage with other diamond producing countries in the sub-region with the view of making Ghana the focal point of the diamond industry in the region”
The installed cutting and polishing plant is expected to have a start-up capacity of 1,750 carats of rough diamonds.

In his speech on the technical aspect of the plant, Mr. Seth Klaye said “the output from our diamond mining sector has enabled counties like India, Israel and Belgium to create thousands of jobs and generated millions of dollars of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for their respective countries’ economies.”

He explained that countries that are involved in the cutting and polishing industry, 99% of them do for instance Israel, Belgium and Mauritius not have the raw materials but the industry generates billion of dollars in income yearly to support their various economies.

According to Mr. Klaye this is a seed being sown, and if the country position itself well as far as adding value to rough diamond is concern, Ghana can become the polishing hob of the West Africa sub-region in the process create thousands of quality jobs with a multiplier effect and generating millions of dollars to support the economy.

“The facility has the capacity to employ forty and this can be expanded to create thousands of jobs if our plan to position Ghana as the cutting and polishing hob of the sub-region becomes a reality,” he said.
The art of cutting and polishing of rough diamonds is a process that brings out the beauty and sparkle out of the otherwise dull piece of rock or stone that ordinary people will pass by without noticing.

The Produce Buying Company (PBC) has accused the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) of deliberately disrupting its operations through undue delays at the Tema and Takoradi ports.

“When we move cocoa to the port, COCOBOD should arrange and offload it from our vehicles and pay us," Kojo Atta Krah, Managing Director of PBC recently disclosed in Accra.

"We should be paid within a maximum of a week after delivery of cocoa to the port but you won’t believe that in the past weeks, it has taken some of our vehicles over five weeks to be offloaded.”

“At a certain time, PBC had about a 1,000 trucks at the port. The money which we took as loans for our operation, was locked for weeks and we have been complaining all the time to COCOBOD to ensure that this problem is solved but it persists every year.”

According to Mr Atta Krah, the situation posed the biggest challenge to his outfit in addition to other issues.

He said every year government, through COCOBOD, sources for loans offshore for cocoa purchases but “due to challenges in the industry, we do not get the full complement of these resources.”

Despite the foregoing, the company was able to pay a total amount of GH¢7.565 million as corporate tax to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2011.

The company also paid GH¢2 million as dividend to government as a shareholder, bringing its total contributions to the national treasury in the year to almost GH¢10 million.

PBC recorded a gross profit of GH¢134.803 million in 2011 as against the previous year’s figure of GH¢76.229 million despite an increase in cocoa operations by 109.5 percent for the year under review from GH¢553.059 million to GH¢1.159 billion as a result of an increase in producer price.

The ruling NDC lawmakers of Ghana have voted massively to pass the controversial off-taker agreement between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the UNIPEC Asia Company Limited, paving way for the construction of a massive gas infrastructure expected to speed-up the Jubilee natural gas in the Western region.

The House also approved a loan deal worth US$150 million to finance the ICT-enhanced Surveillance and Monitoring Facilities for the Oil and Gas Enclave Project under the Master Facility Agreement (MFA) between the Government of Ghana and the China Development Bank Corporation (CDBC).

Today's approval came days after lawmakers approved a loan deal worth US$850 million to help Ghana to finance the construction of the proposed massive gas plant that will harvest natural gas from oilfields in the deep waters of the Western Region for domestic and industrial use.
The off-taker agreement, which is under the Master Facility Agreement between Ghana and the China Development Bank Corporation, was passed by a voice vote during today's sitting. Whereas ruling National Democratic Congress MPs shouted in support of the agreement, minority MPs abstained.

New Patriotic Party MPs had earlier called for withdrawal of the agreement for a more thorough scrutiny, arguing that the terms of the deal, which among other things require the GNPC to supply 13,000 barrels of jubilee oil per day until the loan amount is fully paid using the nation's crude, could seriously harm Ghana's economic interests in diverse ways.

The NPP MPs also accused the Mills government of seeking to enter into an agreement they argued breached key provisions in the Petroleum Revenue Management Law passed by Parliament last year.

They cited a provision in the agreement, which states that the tenure of the deal is 15 1/2 (fifteen-and-half) years, instead of the 10-year ceiling imposed by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to back their stance.

But, majority MPs stood firmly behind the deal, insisting that the agreement holds the key to push Ghana into the much trumpeted industrial age promised by the Mills government.

It will be recalled that the government of Ghana entered into a Master Facility Agreement with the China Development Bank Corporation for an amount of $3,000,000,000.00 to finance various infrastructural projects in the country.

Parliament approved the agreement on August 26, 2011. The agreement was subsequently signed by the parties on December 16, 2011 and an Addendum to the Master Facility Agreement also approved on February 21, 2011.

"The MFA requires that the government of Ghana enters into separate subsidiary agreements with CDB in respect of each project to be implemented under the 3 billion dollar facility," a report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy said.

"Further, Parliament in giving approval for the MFA, directed the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to present each subsidiary agreement to the House for approval

The canalisation of the Accra Plains is likely to take-off in earnest in June pending parliamentary approval, Dr. Ben Vas Nyamadi, Chief Executive of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), has disclosed.

He told B&FT in an interview that the contractor will move to site as soon as the three shortlisted contractors are presented to parliament for selective tendering, in line with the country’s procurement laws.

The intended canalisation of the Accra Plains, which has been identified as a potential bread-basket, follows the pre-feasibility study carried out by STUDI of Tunisia in 2008 for 150,000 hectares gross area, out of a projected 200,000 hectares originally.

Dr. Nyamadi said 50,000 hectares was deemed not suitable for canalisation because the soil samples were not conducive for cultivation, or because of human settlement within the catchment area. He however stated that the US$1.4million provided by the Kuwaiti Fund was used before the review study, which includes the 5,000 hectares for a detailed feasibility study and design of the Plains.

The entire duration of the canalisation process is expected to take four years, Dr. Nyamadi said. However, the Studi feasibility was for a mechanism known as the pump scheme of irrigation for the open canal system which was completed in 2010.

But the authority decided that the pump system would be more expensive, because the water has to be lifted and the machines used in lifting have to be periodically maintained. Consequently, the Authority contracted NTC International Consultants from Japan through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which funded the project, to conduct pre-feasibility studies; and they identified 11,000 hectares of land that can be irrigated through the gravity pump scheme.


The canalisation of the Plains, Dr. Nyamadi explained, will be carried out in two phases. US$100million has been earmarked from the Chinese Development Bank loan of US$3billion, and the contract terms insist that 60 percent of the workforce must be Chinese while the remaining 40 percent will go to Ghanaian artisans.

Dr. Nyamadi said the plains will be used to cultivate rice and engage in agri-business. He said the plains will be given out on a private-public partnership basis, with the irrigated lands leased to interested private companies and individuals. He also mentioned the possibility of making some of the water available for communities within the Accra-Tema catchment area.

Ghana International Bank, the only Ghanaian Bank based in the City of London, has released its 2011 performance results.

At its Annual General Meeting held in Accra yesterday, the Chairman Mr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, confirmed that the Bank achieved a forecast-beating full-year profit before tax of GBP12.3m in 2011, an increase of 14% over the 2010 figure of GBP10.8m.

This is the highest profit ever achieved in the history of the bank. Operating efficiency also recorded a marked improvement, with cost to income ratio reducing from 39% in 2010 to 37% in 2011.

Total assets increased by 13% to GBP736m from GBP601m. Mr Amissah-Arthur said the outlook for the bank remains encouraging, and commended the management and staff for their high level of professionalism which has culminated in the achievement of such an impressive result in one of the most competitive markets in the world.

Mr Amissah-Arthur added that Ghana International Bank’s return on equity of 15% is in the top-tier for Banks operating out of London and is a commendable achievement. He further said the result achieved in 2011 is a vindication of the shareholders’ decision to increase the bank’s capital by an additional injection of £50m via a rights issue.

Commenting on the result, the Managing Director and CEO Mr. J. R. Mensah explained that the record performance was due mainly to innovation, quality of service, development of new revenue streams and asset diversification strategy which has over the last six years seen the bank establish its footprint across Africa through syndicated risk-based lending and correspondent banking operations.

He added that the roll-out of the bank’s MasterCard Debit card product has also been a massive success and led to an exponential growth in its Retail banking and remittances business. As a follow-up, the bank will be rolling-out mobile banking products for the benefit of its customers this year.

He paid tribute to the valued and loyal customers who have made the achievement possible.

World’s leading mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia has officially launched its Asha phones onto the Ghanaian market.
The company outdoored the Nokia Asha 201 and Nokia Asha 303 at a colourful event in Accra.Nokia Asha phones are affordable messaging devices produced with full QWERTY keypad for quick and easy text input.

The General Manager in charge of Sales for Nokia, Chris Brown, said consumers can now send text messages, emails and chat with their friends with the added speed advantage of the QWERTY keypad.He added that “they can also view their friends status updates and tweet right there on their home screen and download thousands of free applications from the proprietary Nokia store.”

On his part, Nokia’s Operator Account Manager, Kolawole Osinowo said, “Asha means hope and we see the next generation as one that is bound to be connected beyond calls and text messaging. Thus today, we are launching an ambition and not devices.’’This, according to him, led leading operator, MTN to partner with Nokia to provide free one-month internet access to Nokia faithful in Ghana who purchase the device.He further stated that Nokia Asha is consistent with the company’s tradition of churning out devices that suit consumer needs.

“We are making phones that give users a great experience and in Asha 201 and 303, we are giving young people devices that are trendy and packed with lots of exciting applications,” Mr. Osinowo.

He further explained that besides QWERTY Pad, Asha 201 and 303 also give users access to the Nokia store, where thousands of applications can be downloaded and the internet access is free for one month, thanks to MTN
Nokia Asha 201 comes with fully integrated social networks to make consumers stay connected to friends and networks via Nimbuzz, Facebook chats and more.It also has high performance loudspeakers to enable consumers share favourite music with friends and support for up to 32G with a microSD memory card.

The Nokia Asha 303 comes with all tools on the homescreen, which means consumers can view their friend’s updates and tweet right there. It also comes with touch screen capabilities to enable consumers navigate their phone as well as play games on the sleek touch screen.

Nokia Asha 303 has the Nokia browser that gives consumers faster and more cost effective web-browsing experience.The Nokia browser compresses consumer data by up to 90 per cent that allows consumers to spend less money and time surfing the internet via data.In a related development, the company opened a care centre at Asylum Down Roundabout in Accra.
This brings the number of Nokia Care Centres in Accra to three.

Commissioning the facility, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Djanmah Vanderpuye said “it is also refreshing to observe that the Care Centre would also help detect fake Nokia phones which are mainly imported elsewhere around the globe.”He commended Nokia for the initiative, which he said will go a long way to help curb the activities of traders of counterfeit Nokia phones on the market.

The Head of Care Nokia West Africa, Silvin Sinan said the objective of the Care Centre is to ensure that Nokia users are continuously connected.He noted that Nokia phones with warranty will be repaired free of charge and announced that his outfit will open care centres in Kumasi and Takoradi by the end of 2012.

Southern Fried Chicken (SFC) Restaurant has outdoored new cooking techniques to improve its operations in Ghana.Andrew Withers, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Southern Fried Chicken, addressing the media, said with the introduction of the new techniques, Ghanaians would enjoy nutritious local and continental meal.

SFC Restaurant, he noted, provides local dishes that are prepared in a hygienic environment by seasoned chefs and professional kitchen staff. The UK-based CEO said, “The lip-licking flavour of every single piece of SFC comes courtesy of extensive refinement of both the products and processes. Succulent pieces of fresh chicken are marinated to give flavour right through to the bone. They are then coated in breading made from the finest ingredients mixed with a unique blend of herbs, spices and exclusive lemon pepper. They are then pressure-fried to perfection.”

The launch of the new cooking techniques was done simultaneously with the re-branding of the restaurant to ensure that Ghanaians enjoy excellent services in healthy surroundings.Commenting on the quick service restaurant industry in the UK, he said it has grown at a more rapid rate than any other sectors and was currently worth around £3.5 million. Major high street retailers have concentrated on the development of three individual products – namely hamburgers, pizza and chicken.

“Now, for the first time, SFC combines all of these top selling items into a single restaurant concept which is perfectly positioned to deliver exactly what the customer wants – convenience, quality, value, etc.” In an interview after the ceremony, Mr. Withers reiterated that SFC uniquely uses local rice, vegetables, poultry and cholesterol-free oil to reduce fat intake.

He stated that globally SFC has about 800 branches and ten branches in Ghana, noting that staff of SFC are trained to be elegant and hospitable in the discharge of their duties

Samsung mobile and electronics has given a total of US$250,000 in prizes to its customers who participated in the company’s promotion during the AFCON tournament held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Seventy-six customers won Samsung Galaxy SII and Y phones, and the ultimate winner was rewarded with a 64-inch Plasma TV. Marketing Manager of Samsung, Richard Nunekpeku, said the promotion was part of the company’s sponsorship of the 2012 AFCON.

“As part of the sponsorship of the tournament we decided to run this promotion to reward our loyal customers and football lovers in general, and also to drive consumer participation in the tournament.” He added that all that customers had to do was purchase any Samsung product from any certified shop. They will be given a coupon to enter the weekly draw or can win an instant prize.

“We have given out 800 mobile phones, 500 DVD players, 1000s of ‘T’ Shirts and replica jerseys as instant prizes to customers upon purchase of any product from any accredited shop,” he said. Mr. Nunekpeku added that this is not the only promotion Samsung is running for the year, so all consumers should watch out for the bigger and better ones in coming months.

The last weekly draw held at the Accra Mall saw 19 customers walk away with their prizes which included six Galaxy SII, 12 Galaxy Y phones and a 64-inch Plasma TV. David Bazango of Abeka Lapaz, a civil servant who took home the ultimate prize, said: “I am surprised and happy at the same time.”

He explained that before winning the prize he said he never believed in promotions that are organised by companies and institutions. “But I now believe them for real, and also seize this opportunity to tell everyone that these promotions are true only if they are coming from the accredited source like Samsung,” he said.

He purchased a split air-conditioner from one of the official shops and was given a coupon to enter the draw.

Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will undergo expansion that will increase its capacity to handle 5.2 million passengers by next year 2013, a feasibility report prepared by US-based LPA group for the Ghana Airports Company has projected, (an increase of approximately 400 per cent on 2010 figures) and 49,325 tonnes of freight (up from 46,480 in 2010) during the same period.

The expansion works are estimated to cost about $405 million it says.
A global engineering group and airport systems integrator Cavotec which claims it has won an order to supply advanced ground support equipment for the KIA.

According to Cavotec, it won the order worth several million euros for the manufacture, supply and integration of a complete fuel hydrant system at the country’s main airport in conjunction with PW Ghana.

Ghana has no plans to cut the price at which it buys cocoa from its farmers in the coming 2012/13 season despite the dive in the world market price of cocoa over the past year, the industry regulator of the world's number two grower said on Thursday.

Cocoa futures are trading at just under $2,300 a tonne, about a third down on this time last year when the political conflict in top grower Ivory Coast triggered fears of tight supplies that have since been proven unfounded.

Regulator Cocobod is the sole buyer for the country's cocoa at a fixed rate of 3,280 cedis ($1,930), which at current exchange rates is almost double the price achieved by Ivorian farmers in some regions - a differential which has prompted sustained smuggling of Ivorian cocoa into Ghana.

"There are no plans, nor proposals to reduce the producer price now or at the start of the upcoming season - it'd be difficult to justify that sort of decision and I don't see it happening," said Cocobod spokesman Noah Amenyah.

"The number one objective is to make cocoa farming attractive to our people, including the youth - it's a reward system for them as stakeholders in our drive to significantly improve production," Amenyah
At least 500,000 farmers' families are dependent on cocoa in Ghana. President John Atta Mills is seeking a second term in what is expected to be a tight election race in December.

Ghana has a producer price review committee, comprising representatives of farmers, buyers, Cocobod and the government. They meet ahead of every crop year to recommend the buying price to government, generally around October.

Amenyah said there were safety valves built into the pricing mechanism such as a stabilisation fund used to cushion the effects of price changes on world markets.

Cocoa export profit windfalls are lodged in the fund when market prices are high. This serves as a buffer and provide resources to the government for the payment of producer prices during periods of price falls.

Ivory Coast is seeking to create a similar stabilisation mechanism to guarantee its farmers a minimum price.

But for now its farmgate prices remain highly volatile and exporters and analysts forecast anything up to 145,000 tonnes could be smuggled out of the country in the season to end-April, with most of it bound for Ghana.

Ghana produced a record more than one million tonnes of cocoa last year. Analysts and traders have estimated up to a fifth of that was smuggled in from Ivory Coast, but Cocobod disputes those figures and says the bumper crop was the result of improved farming techniques and favourable weather

MTN Ghana CEO, Michael Ikpoki has predicted an explosion in data consumption beginning from this year, and resultant significant economic returns for the country as a whole.

Other industry players made similar predictions in part earlier this year, and Michael Ikpoki told Adom News that was a clear sign that industry players know what’s up, and are preparing not only to get the fair share of the boom, but also to use data to trigger economic growth.

He said in the market like Ghana, where there is 80% mobile penetration and huge amount of multi-simming, the voice aspect of the business starts to slow and that reduces voice revenue for operators so the obvious alternative is data.

“But it is important to point out that data is not just an alternative source of revenue for telcos because it has very important economic implications for the country,” he said.

Mr. Ikpoki explained that Ghana was at an interesting phase of economic growth in terms of investments into the country, and the growth of different industries, which would increase the demand for data.

He noted, for instance, that telecoms has become a tool, not just for voice service but also for supporting the growth of other key industries like mining, oil and gas and other strategic sectors of the economy.

Indeed, the Ghana Statistical Service reported in 2010 that the service sector was the biggest driver of economic growth and the telecom sector alone was the biggest driver of the service sector itself.

Mr. Ikpoki said the expected growth in data consumption has, to a large extent, started with the large-scale industries, but would gradually trickle down to the small and medium scale enterprises because those enterprises would need data consuming systems in order to participate fully in, and maximize their benefits from the expected economic growth.

He said it was therefore very strategic for MTN, for instance, to have landed the 14,500KM WACS (West African Communications System) submarine fibre cable in Ghana at such a time as this.

“We would be deploying the 5.2 terabit WACS to augment the capacity of our three switch/data centres to improve the data quality and experience of our customers, particularly those in the high uptake areas,” he said.

MTN invested some $90 million into the $650 million WACS, which stretches from South Africa to Europe – terminating in London, with landing stations in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Congo, and 11 other countries along the Western and Southern coasts of Africa.

The WACS cable along the caost of Africa, and like others such as Glo One and Main One, is expected to raise the level of internet and broadband availability in Africa, boost Africa’s efforts at bridging the digital divide, and also reinforce Africa’s position as a major player in the digital age.

But some African telecom operators and regulators recently expressed concern over how much fibre capacity would be consumed in Africa, given the high level of illiteracy and the rampant power fluctuations on the continent.

Mr. Ikpoki, however, said last year MTN launched MTN Business, and the focus was to develop customized solutions for both SMEs and large-scale businesses to help them have more efficient practices and grow their businesses better, adding that data would be key in that regard.

“We will develop websites for small businesses (because) research has shown we can help them in that direction - we have a product that helps small business to subscribe to those services, and we have a huge data centre with the capacity to support such set ups,” he said.

He said MTN was currently on a listening campaign, to know from the various businesses what their specific needs are so MTN could customize solutions to meet their needs and ensure that they participated fully in the data boom.

At the individual level, MTN has just recently launched the Vehicle Tracking Service, where users would acquire a SIM-based tracking device from MTN through which they could track the location of their vehicle when they are away from the vehicle; when someone tampers with; and even trace it when it is stolen.

Mr. Ikpoki said the launch of MTN data bundles last year, and the celebration of Internet Festival (I-FEST) month in September last year among other things, were just the beginnings of MTN’s focus on data, and the company made significant inroads towards establishing itself as a data brand.

“Currently we have the best 3G coverage – fastest on the market (comparable to Expresso’s CLIQ) three high capacity data centres and we are preparing to go live with our WACS fibre cable in April/May this year to stamp our position as market leaders in data service as well,” he said.

Ghana's full-year gold production declined by a few percentage points last year but is expected to rise in 2012, the head of its Chamber of Mines said on Friday.

Ghana is Africa's second largest gold producer after South Africa and produced 2.97 million ounces of gold in 2010. Output was originally seen rising in 2011 but in the end shrunk as a number of firms focused on longer-term maintenance and expansion projects rather than maximising existing production.

"Gold output in 2011 came down 2-3 percent compared to the year before," Ghana Chamber of Mines Chief Executive Tony Aubynn told Reuters, adding details were yet to be finalised.

He said the decline could have been deeper but for the fact that Australian miner Adamus Resources poured its first gold in January last year.

"Two more mines are expected to come on stream this year and we also anticipate that Adamus will be ramping up production during the year - so we are going to see production go up this year," Aubynn forecast.

In the first half of 2011, the country produced 1,497,023 ounces, up three percent on the same period of 2010, with revenues jumping 31 percent to $2.2 billion on the back of higher gold prices

Ghana has no plans to cut the price at which it buys cocoa from its farmers in the coming 2012/13 season despite the dive in the world market price of cocoa over the past year, the industry regulator of the world's number two grower said on Thursday.

Cocoa futures are trading at just under $2,300 a tonne, about a third down on this time last year when the political conflict in top grower Ivory Coast triggered fears of tight supplies that have since been proven unfounded.

Regulator Cocobod is the sole buyer for the country's cocoa at a fixed rate of 3,280 cedis, which at current exchange rates is almost double the price achieved by Ivorian farmers in some regions - a differential which has prompted sustained smuggling of Ivorian cocoa into Ghana.

"There are no plans, nor proposals to reduce the producer price now or at the start of the upcoming season - it'd be difficult to justify that sort of decision and I don't see it happening," said Cocobod spokesman Noah Amenyah.

"The number one objective is to make cocoa farming attractive to our people, including the youth - it's a reward system for them as stakeholders in our drive to significantly improve production," Amenyah said.

At least 500,000 farmers' families are dependent on cocoa in Ghana.
Ghana has a producer price review committee, comprising representatives of farmers, buyers, Cocobod and the government. They meet ahead of every crop year to recommend the buying price to government, generally around October.

Amenyah said there were safety valves built into the pricing mechanism such as a stabilisation fund used to cushion the effects of price changes on world markets.

Cocoa export profit windfalls are lodged in the fund when market prices are high. This serves as a buffer and provide resources to the government for the payment of producer prices during periods of price falls.

Ivory Coast is seeking to create a similar stabilisation mechanism to guarantee its farmers a minimum price.

But for now its farmgate prices remain highly volatile and exporters and analysts forecast anything up to 145,000 tonnes could be smuggled out of the country in the season to end-April, with most of it bound for Ghana.

Ghana produced a record more than one million tonnes of cocoa last year. Analysts and traders have estimated up to a fifth of that was smuggled in from Ivory Coast, but Cocobod disputes those figures and says the bumper crop was the result of improved farming techniques and favourable weather

Ghana cocoa regulator Cocobod raised its main crop output forecast to 870,000 tonnes from 770,000 tonnes and now expects the full season to be "in the same region" as last year's record 1 million tonne harvest, an official said on Tuesday.

The sharp upward revision is due to improved rainfall in the world's No. 2 cocoa grower, Cocobod Deputy Chief Executive in Charge of Agronomy and Quality Control Yaw Adu-Ampomah indicates.

Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Mines, has said some mining companies were proceeding with their production in spite of the uncertainties and the business risks associated with the industry.

Government in the 2012 Budget announced an increase in corporate tax on mining companies to 35 per cent from 25 per cent and a 10 per cent windfall tax on mining profits to be introduced.

The Government recently set up a team to review and re-negotiate stability agreements it had entered into with some mining companies to ensure that the country derived maximum benefits from its resources

“Most companies are willing to expand their operations which will invariably bring value to the mining industry. This would bring value to the country,” Dr Aubynn said during a presentation to a German Business Delegation to Ghana.

He said while a couple of companies in the mining industry were in distress in spite of the relatively high gold price, most companies had been able to play down the global down turn very well and the Chamber expected this to continue.

Dr Aubynn said the emphasis on fiscal receipts directly from the industry did not reflect on the total benefits of mining to the economy.

The country, he said, should adopt a policy to identify and develop all downstream and upstream activities linked to the mining industry for which the country had a competitive advantage to create value multipliers.

Dr Aubynn said based on data gathered by Supply Managers, it could well be possible to increase mining sector spending on Ghanaian manufactured products in the long term by 66 per cent from around $120 million per annum to $200 million dollars.

“The multiplier effect of this growth on the Ghana economy would be many times the current increase in direct expenditure,” he said.

In this direction, he said, a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed between the Chamber, Minerals Commission and IFC to define the roles and responsibilities of each of the parties in the development of a National Local Content Programme.

He said the mining sector would continue to play its lead role as a major export earner and contributor to the country’s balance of payment, accounting for nearly half of the country’s gross export revenue.

PERSEUS Mining has blamed the spread to West Africa of the Canberra "disease" of increased taxation of the resources industry for a 10-15 per cent fall in its market value since November.

The company is increasing gold production at its Edikan mine in Ghana, where corporate taxation of the mining industry has risen in stages from the standard 25 per cent corporate rate to 35 per cent.

Speaking at an investor briefing in Melbourne yesterday, Perseus managing director Mark Calderwood said the "disease that started in Canberra is spreading" to West Africa.

His pointed reference to the Gillard government's proposed mining tax on iron ore and coal came as other West African nations seek to increase the government take from the resources sector. Mr Calderwood suggesting the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund had been encouraging the moves.

Mr Calderwood said the start date for the windfall tax in Ghana was still unknown, but it had "clearly been frustrating for investors".
One aspect of the mining scene in West Africa that did not give him concern was security of tenure -- one of the exceptions being Guinea, where both Rio Tinto and BHP have projects.

Perseus was trading at $3.30 a share in November. Yesterday, it closed at $2.52 -- a value loss since November of 23 per cent, indicating more factors at play than the West African tax grab.

Analysts said the market could be waiting for confirmation that Edikan was hitting its targets as it worked up to forecast gold production of 225,000 ounces this year and as much as 290,000 ounces next year.

Perseus is also planning to become a gold producer in the Ivory Coast from the high-grade Sissingue deposit.

The development of Sissingue would establish Perseus as a 450,000-500,000 ounce a year producer, one of the biggest on the ASX. That growth has made it a perennial favourite to be taken over by one of the other big gold producers that also have operations in Ghana-Ivory Coast.

Mr Calderwood said any takeover bid would have to be friendly. "It has all been quiet" on that front since Canada's Kinross Gold revealed its 2010 Red Back Mining acquisition was a dud.

"The big boys are scared senseless about another Kinross," Mr Calderwood said. Perseus itself is looking to add another project to follow on from Sissingue. The new project could come from its own exploration efforts or through joint ventures

The rate of Ghana’s inflation slowed down marginally to 8.6 per cent in February from 8.7 per cent in January 2012, helped by lower average food inflation, the Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday.

“Even though the food component accounted for 4.3 per cent inflation, individual items have high inflation rates. All in all we have some stability,” Dr Philomena Nyarko, Acting Government Statistician, said at the press conference.

Food inflation rate slipped to 4.3 per cent in February compared to non-food inflation rate of 11.2 per cent, which is more than two and half times the food inflation rate.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages group has been recording single digit inflation rate since January 2011 while the non-food inflation has remained stable between 11.1 per cent and 12.4 per cent since February.

Movements in inflation rates within the last 12 months were relatively stable. The highest inflation rate recorded in February 2011 was 9.2 per cent and the lowest 8.4 per cent in September last year.

Dr Nyarko said with current trends, it would be difficult to tell what the outlook for inflation over the next few months.

The monthly change for February 2012 was 1.5 per cent compared to 2.2 per cent in January.

Six groups in the non-food component recorded double-digit year-on-year inflation rates with transport and miscellaneous goods and services registering relatively high rates of 17 per cent and 16.2 per cent respectively. Recreation and culture, clothing and footwear, furnishings and household equipment registered rates between 12.2 per cent and 14.1 per cent.

Inflation rate in the regions ranged from 5.3 per cent in Upper East and Upper West regions to 13.2 per cent in Central Region.

Central, Western and Ashanti regions recorded inflation rates above the national rate of 8.6 per cent.

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited is to construct a petroleum terminal at Atwereboanda in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region.

The 200-million dollar facility that would store Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and other petroleum products, would be built with part of Chinese loan facility.

Three hundred acres of land has been acquired for the project that is expected to take off before the end of the year, and it would take about 24 months to complete.

Dr. Yaw Akoto, Managing Director of BOST announced this during a courtesy call on Mr. Joseph Dofoyenah, Ahanta West District Chief Executive, at Agona-Nkwanta.

He said the terminal would receive LPG from the proposed Ghana Gas Facility at Atuabo for transportation to BOST branches in the country.

Dr. Akoto also paid a courtesy call on Nana Kwesi Aboagye VII, Chief of Pumpunie at Atwereboanda and visited the project site, accompanied by the DCE and officials of BOST.

Mr Dofoyenah said the terminal would be constructed with state of the art equipment and would be a “Flagship” for the Western Region.

He said the company was negotiating with the Lands Commission on the terms of payment of the land, which is estimated at 4 million Ghana Cedis.**

Kosmos Energy announced today that the Enyenra-4A appraisal well, located in the Deepwater Tano Block offshore Ghana, has successfully encountered substantial light oil in multiple good quality reservoirs. Full analysis of well results, including wireline logs, fluid samples and reservoir pressures, indicate that the Enyenra-4A well encountered 32 meters (105 feet) of net oil pay.

The well is located approximately 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) south of the Enyenra-2A well and nearly 21 kilometers (13 miles) south of Enyenra-3A. Pressure data from the well demonstrates that the oil is in static communication with the other wells, indicating a continuous oil column of approximately 600 meters (1,970 feet).

Darrell McKenna, Chief Operating Officer, stated, "The Enyenra-4A well was a very positive result for Kosmos, as we confirmed a significant downdip extension of the field and encountered more net pay at this location than our pre drill expectations. We have now proved static communication in the reservoirs over 13 miles apart. Additional appraisal activities at the field will include the monitoring of pressure gauges, which have been deployed in multiple wells to determine dynamic communication. Success at Enyenra-4A further enhances the momentum behind our drive in submission of a plan of development."

The Ocean Olympia rig drilled Enyenra-4A to a total depth of 4,174 meters (13,695 feet) in water of 1,878 meters (6,160 feet). Prior to submitting a plan of development for the Tweneboa, Enyenra, and Ntomme project, which is expected in the third quarter of 2012, a drill stem test of the oil zone at the Ntomme-2A well on the Deepwater Tano Block will be performed. Injectivity tests are currently underway at Enyenra-4A to provide important information for the design of the water injection system.

Kosmos Energy currently holds an 18 percent interest in the Deepwater Tano Block offshore Ghana. The Company’s partners include Tullow Oil plc (49.95 percent), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (18 percent), Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. (4.05 percent), and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (10 percent carried). Kosmos Energy recently exercised a right to acquire the interest of Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. in the Deepwater Tano Block. After closing of the transaction, the Company’s interest will increase to 22.05 percent.

As Virgin Atlantic celebrates its second year anniversary of operations in Ghana, the airline has announced that it will now fly 5 times a week between Accra and London. The announcement was made by Mr Nick Taylor, Regional Country Manager (West Africa) at a dinner and awards ceremony in Accra, to honour top trade agents and partners.

Mr Taylor and Mrs Tosan Woode, Head – Sales and Marketing (Ghana), were both excited about the new service expected to kick off on March 23. They described the addition as a much needed increase in flight frequencies to reflect the growing trust of travelers in the airline over the period.

The ceremony saw the presentation of Certificates to top trade agents including: Accra Air Travel Centre Ltd , BCD Travel Ghana , Doscar Travel and Tours Ltd , Eurotour Ghana Ltd, Kessben Travel and Tour Ltd , Keymeb Travel and Tours, Kumasi Travel Agency Ltd , Litina Travel and Tours Ltd, Satguru Travel and Tours Services and Skylife Travel and Tours Ltd . The rest were Skyresources Travel and Tours Ltd , Special T Travels Ltd , Stellar Travel Ghana Ltd, Sunlife Travel and Tours Ltd, Timewise Expo Travel and Tours , Travel Bureau Ltd , Travel House Ltd Ghana , Travel Matters Limited , Travel Zone Ltd Ghana ,and Yoshiken Travel and Tours .

Woodfields Energy And Cirrus Oil Limited, Chase Petroleum Oil Limited, Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, Akwaba Limited and Glico Group Of Companies Limited also received certificates as supportive corporate; while the Most Supportive Corporate Award went to PW Ghana Limited. Litina Travel & Tours Limited won the Most Improved Travel Agency Award starting with low but steady volumes of seat sales and capacity but within months of getting on board our platform, gradually grew to becoming the 3rd best performer with year to date revenues constantly hitting the top five in every category.

Other award winners were: Best In Class (Economy) – Kessben Travel & Tour Limited; Best In Class (Premium Economy) – Stellar Travel Ghana Limited; Best In Class (Upper Class) – Stellar Travel Ghana Limited; New Comers Award - Travel Zone Limited Ghana; Travel Agency of the Year – Kessben Travel & Tour Limited; and Country Managers Award – Doscar Travel & Tours Limited.

After the presentation of awards Chief John Adebanjo (Group Africa Representative Virgin) officially launched the 5th frequency flights with a short closing remarks and the popping of champagne.

In typical Virgin Atlantic style, guests were treated to a delightful menu of African, Chinese and continental dishes, drinks and cocktails. For starters, there was the choice of Goat pepper soup, Caesar salad, and brown and white bread rolls with butter. The main meal included sated beef jollof rice, plain rice with petit pois, moin moin, trio of swallow (mini eba, pounded yam or semo), efo riro, charcoal grilled chicken, fresh catfish soup and dodo under the African menu.

The continental menu included, cake of lamb and mashed potato with wine sauce, sole fish with sauce rose, homemade tagliatelle with fresh basil, and steamed mixed vegetables. While the Chinese menu included Egg and vegetable fried rice, Singapore fried noodles, beef in oyster sauce, and schezuan chicken. To seal off the gastronomical delight guests rounded it off with Tiger nut pudding, rum and mint flavored cocktail, chocolate mayonnaise sponge with hot chocolate sauce, and cheddar cheese and crackers for dessert.

First National Savings & Loans Limited (FNSL) is expected to commence full operations as a universal bank by June this year.

Komevor Tettegah, acting General Manager, FNSL, who made this known recently at the annual get-together and family awards for customers in Accra, said FNSL had attained all the necessary requirements to operate as a universal bank.

Noting that the company’s capital base grew from GH¢7 million to GH¢20 million, he added that the company’s partner investors increased the amount to GH¢60 million as required by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

Mr. Tettegah said FNSL would expand its operations beyond Ghana in addition to entrenching its presence in the country.

“We aim at becoming a “People’s Bank” where our customers, such as traders, farmers, students, workers and small scale business entrepreneurs everywhere in Ghana, will be provided with efficient banking services”.

In all, 21 customers were awarded with special electrical appliances, souvenirs and special two-day treats at any Coconut Grove Regency hotel in the country.

The acting MD advised Ghanaians to develop a positive attitude towards local financial institutions to enable them grow and expand their businesses so as to create employment.

He further expressed worry about how Ghanaians chose to patronize the services of foreign banks over local financial institutions.

FNSL, among others, offers emergency commercial loans for clearing goods at the port, payroll loans for salaried workers, auto loans as well as the introduction of bullion van services for easy cash deposit by customers.

Mr. Tettegah noted that all branches of FNSL would be networked to engage in money transfer services.

Established in 2006, FNSL currently has 48 branches in all the 10 regions with a customer base of over 180,000.

It is poised to increase its branch network to 50 by the end of this year.

Saudi Airlines Cargo will launch a weekly freighter flight to Accra in Ghana, starting March 25.

The new service will use the airline’s B747 freighters, a statement from the company said.

“Ghana is an emerging market with enormous business potential for air cargo. The addition of this new destination will help us to increase our activities in Africa, where we already operate scheduled B747 freighters from Saudi Arabia to Nairobi, Lagos, Addis Ababa, N'djamena, Khartoum and Johannesburg," said Peter Scholten, vice president commercial at Saudi Airlines Cargo.

“The commencement of the new Saudi operation coincides with the opening of a new perishable cargo centre, maintaining the high quality of the fruit and vegetable supply chain. Together with the forthcoming construction of a major new cargo terminal and hub operation, opening up 11 West/Central African destinations with scheduled cargo feeder services, we see new opportunities for this new service to Accra,” he said.

Located in West Africa, Ghana's principal airport serves as the aviation hub of the sub-region. The country's export traffic consists mainly of perishables (fruit/vegetables), with bulk of over 2,000 tonnes per month destined for the European market, followed by the Middle Eastern market.

Saudi Airlines Cargo operates scheduled services with 12 freighters and sells the belly-capacity on 140 passenger aircraft for Saudi Arabian Airlines spanning a rapidly expanding global network of 225 destinations.

The cargo airline also provides cost -effective and practical worldwide charter flight solutions from a growing fleet of dedicated charter aircraft.

Newmont Gold Ghana Limited has been presented with the most outstanding taxpayer award for 2011, for its compliance and commitment to paying the right taxes due government.

In 2011, Newmont Ghana paid over $152 million (GH¢ 241 million) in taxes to the Internal Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and it included corporate tax, income tax, stabilisation levy and withholding tax.

The GRA therefore cited Newmont Ghana as “demonstrating good corporate citizenship in the prompt payment of its taxes,” a statement from Newmont Ghana said.

“We appreciate being recognized by the GRA for our commitment to this aspect of our business and we look forward to continue to work with the Government and affected communities to enhance the long-term benefits of our operations to Ghana and Ghanaians,” the statement quoted Mr Dave Schummer, Senior Vice President, Africa Operations as saying.

Meanwhile a study by Prof Ethan Kapstein, a renowned political economist and sustainable development expert, showed that in 2009, Newmont Ghana’s Ahafo Mine was a major contributor to Ghana's economy.

It said the Ahafo Mine alone generated nearly 10% of the nation's total exports (USD 528 MM), about 4.5% of its total foreign direct investment in 2009, directly and indirectly supported about USD 174m of Value Added…, created some 48,000 jobs in Ghana, and played a significant developmental role in the communities around the Ahafo mine.

“The Ahafo Mine also provided 99 local companies with nearly USD$ 6 million in contracts and thereby supported more than 400 jobs, not including direct mine employment,” it said.

In 2006, Newmont Ghana in partnership with 10 communities around the Ahafo Mine area signed an agreement to contribute US$1 per ounce of gold sold and 1% of annual net profit from its mining operation into a Fund for the sustainable development of the company’s host communities.

The Fund, the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF), has so far accumulated about US$8million for sustainable development projects including community libraries, schools, teachers’ quarters and micro-credit schemes the Ahafo Mine’s 10 host communities.

NADeF has awarded scholarships worth GHC2,026,279.01 to 2,335 tertiary and second cycle students from communities around Newmont’s operations pursuing various programs across the country.

The company has also instituted comprehensive social investment programs at all its project areas here in Ghana in the areas of Education, Health care, Infrastructure, Job training and Small business development.

Access Bank (Ghana) Limited has announced that it has successfully completed the absorption of employees of Intercontinental Bank Ghana (“IBG”) following the Bank of Ghana approval on March 5, 2012, for the merger of the two banks into a single entity.

About 90% of IBG employees have accepted their absorption into Access Bank Ghana and are now fully absorbed into the combined entity.

Commenting on the employee absorption exercise, Mr. Dolapo Ogundimu, Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana said the bank was delighted that over 395 out of the total 448 employees of “IBG” employees “have successfully boarded the Access train”.

He said the step marks a significant milestone in re-shaping the business and accelerating its growth and expansion over the next few years.

“Although all IBG employees have been offered job opportunities with no diminution in their terms and conditions of service, we are aware that a few have not accepted the offer and have petitioned the National Labour Commission demanding severance pay. Access Bank has maintained a fair, objective and transparent process during the business combination, in line with international best practice. As such, the Bank remains committed to working with the Labour Commission and all other relevant bodies to uphold the laws of the land and address any residual issues arising from the merger”.

Mr. Ogundimu added that “there are enough jobs for everyone and therefore does not see the need to terminate anybody’s employment. Access Bank has in the course of the entire process been keen to ensure that no employee of “IBG” is worse off as a result of the merger.”

A statement issued by Access Bank said the “merger creates a formidable Ghanaian financial institution ranked amongst the top 7 in the banking industry by most metrics. With over 39 branch offices and 43 ATMs spread across the country, Access Bank Ghana is leveraging its geographical network to showcase its expertise in Treasury, Cash Management, Trade Finance and Technology driven banking solutions.”

“Last week the Bank completed its rebranding exercise at all the Intercontinental Bank branches across the country, and is currently deploying technology driven banking solutions to further enhance the quality of service at these locations. Banking hours have also been extended from 4pm to 5pm each day to afford customers more time during the day to transact business.”

The latest Credit Reference bureau Dun & Bradstreet is hoping to capitalize on its international experience to succeed in the market.

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) received its full operational license from the Bank of Ghana last Friday, joining the likes of XDS Data and Hudson Price Data Solutions.

Credit Reference Bureaus usually store information on the credit worthiness of customers who borrow or do business with financial institutions such as banks non-bank financial institutions among others.

The fledgling industry is already faced with inaccurate data challenges but D&B is optimistic its inclusion will bring enough competition to sanitize the system.

In a statement released by the company and sent to Citi Business News, Dun & Bradstreet expressed its excitement about launching business operations in the Ghanaian market.

“The main objective of this credit bureau is to provide information on the credit repayment trends of individuals and companies. The credit bureau will allow financial institutions to make an inquiry or check on a consumer or commercial entity before approving any form of credit or deciding on whether to sustain the credit granted. The credit bureau aggregates information among participating member financial institutions to provide the credit decision-maker with a more complete risk profile to enhance their risk mitigation capabilities.

The credit bureau will become a key player in the lending business as it will provide financial institutions with a better risk management tool and the bank customers will be better evaluated on their credit worthiness.

From the experience of credit bureaus in other countries, it was found that over time, borrowers stand to benefit from faster credit applications processing, faster disbursement of loans, fairer assessment and better adjusted quantum according to their more informed assessments.

Credit bureaus have long existed and are considered an integral part of the credit approval processes in a majority of developed economies such as those in North and South America, Australasia, Europe and Asia. Countries like New Zealand and Hong Kong have adopted credit bureaus since the 1980s while bureaus in the U.S. go back to the 1960s. Within the African region, D&B has implemented bureaus in countries like Egypt, Nigeria and Libya.

“D&B is pleased to launch business operations in Ghana and will work on creating a sustainable financial infrastructure in Ghana.

Our experience with government and private credit bureaus across the world has facilitated us in building this robust bureau for Ghana”, says Miguel Llenas, Executive Vice President at D&B

Strong revenue growth has seen ECOBANK record an appreciable jump in its profit for last year.

Revenue shot-up by 30 percent as a result of good earnings from its business.

The bank saw a substantial growth in deposits, assets, loans advanced to customers and a huge leap in returns to shareholders.

Profit after tax went up by 20 percent to 72.3 million Ghana cedis.

Ecobank’s expenses however went up substantially due to some cost in opening new branches.

Samuel Ashitey Adjei Managing Director of ECOBANK attributed the revenue growth to “the three main business segments- corporate, domestic and capital.”

“I think all three segments contributed equally because we tried to balance performance."

He was hopeful the performance will be sustained this year because the business module remains virtually the same.

Money transfer transactions through the e-zwich payment system saw a significant growth in 2011, going up by over 147 percent compared over the same period in 2010.

Over 60.6 million Ghana cedis worth of funds were transferred last year compared to 24.5 million Ghana cedis in the previous year.

In terms of volume, some 225,253 money transfer transactions took place last year compared to 100,500 in the previous year.

In its first year of operation, only 600, 000 Ghana cedis worth of money was transferred through the e-zwich, moving up to three million Ghana cedis in 2009.

According to the management of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), traders, and parents whose wards were in second and third cycle institution in particular had embraced the e-zwich for internal money transfers because of the convenience associated with its use.

While other internal money transfers are specific to banks, the e-zwich allows money to be transferred and received from any bank.

Additionally, it is possible to transfer money from the e-zwich ATMs.

These features, officials say had led to the continuous growth in e-zwich money transfers.

Mr Archie Hesse, General Manager in charge of Project and Business Development, GhIPSS, said in an interview that figures from this year suggested that more and more people were resorting to the e-zwich for money transfers.

He said GhIPSS will continue to work hard to ensure high patronage of the service throughout the country.**

British Airways has downplayed threats to its market share from other airlines that are currently plying the Accra-UK route.

The British carrier, until now had monopoly on the Accra-London route.

The past few years have seen the entry of some airlines on the route which was dominated by British Airways.

There are others who are also offering connecting flights to London at competitive fares.

But the new country commercial manager for British airways James Wooldridge told Joy Business they still have a strong hold on the Ghanaian market because of its premium services.

Meanwhile, British Airways said calls by government officials for reduction in airfares might be difficult.

According to the Commercial manager for British carrier rising airport taxes in Ghana and UK, as well as crude oil prices will make it difficult to reduce airfares.

A passenger travelling from Accra to London on an economy class, might pay about 500 dollars as taxes in addition the an original ticket price of 400 dollars

Barclays Bank Ghana is offering comprehensive risk management products to its clientele to manage the price risk they may encounter in their line operation.

The risk management product, plain vanilla derivatives, is the standard version of a financial instrument that is specially designed to alter the components of a traditional financial instrument, resulting in a more complex security. At a seminar to introduce the product to some selected clientele of the bank, an international expert, Dr Mabouba Diagne, who is a Director and Co-head of Barclays Product Control Group at Absa Capital, highlighted the importance of the product to companies.

The Barclays risk management product, which would be launched before the end of this year, is to help corporate organisations manage the price risk inherent in their foreign currency, interest rate and commodity prices.

Dr Mabouba said interest rate and foreign could be volatile and that a floating rate allows the borrower to take advantage of falling interest rate but leaves the borrower exposed to rising rate which could severally affect the cost of debt.

However, the risk associated with the interest and foreign exchange rates could be hedged to reduce the risk of adverse price movements.

“The objective is not to make money but to reduce risk,” he said. And this would require clearly defining hedging policy, combined with knowledge of the underlying risks.

On benefits for managing such risk, he said, companies would be able to stabilize their earnings, secure minimum operating margin and increase the probability of meeting high priority capital expenditure.

Benjamin Debrah, Managing Director of Barclays Ghana, said financial markets since 2007 have been volatile due to the sub-prime mortgage induced crisis and the recent debt crisis in Europe. “…The negative effects of these price movements can be significant and can be the difference between a firm making sizeable profits and even a loss.”

He hinted that the Risk management products represent an important set of products that the Barclays franchise offers to its clients in other parts of the world.

The Barclays MD said last year, Barclays offered some of the risk management product to the government of Ghana for its oil hedging programme.

Mr Deberah noted that the product enabled the government to successfully manage the price risks in its crude oil import and export bill.

“This played an extremely important role in the macroeconomic stability that the country enjoyed last year.”

Barclays, he said, aims to be the best bank in the country with a view to offering its clients a diverse bouquet of products.

“We have been in Ghana for 95 years. We have always been here and have always offered our clients the best. We value your business and promise to build trusted partnership.”

DESPITE investing over US$500 million in the energy and transport sectors of Ghana’s economy, EXIM Bank is preparing to invest more money into other sectors.

This comes in the wake of the signing of a Bilateral Investment Treaty between Ghana and the US recently during President John Mills’s trip to the US at the invitation of President Barrack Obama.

The move is to help improve trade between the two nations under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), by which the US would engage Ghana in areas such as mining, energy and communications.

Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President of the United States Export-Import (Exim) Bank, said the bank was bent on creating a lot more jobs in Ghana, adding that the financing of the Akosombo Dam’s construction in the 1960s was done by Exim Bank.

A number of agreements have been signed between Ghana and the US towards the development of a number of sectors of Ghana’s economy.

President Mills reiterated his administration’s resolve to create jobs and opportunities for all, adding that the collaboration between government and Exim Bank would help facilitate such aims and objectives easily.

Ron Kirk, a US Trade Representative, said the US knew Ghana to be a gateway to the continent, for which reason the current US administration had drawn a special partnership project to help achieve such a goal.

Mr Kirk commended Ghana’s pursuit of democratic governance, good economic management, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

UT Bank has confirmed that it has met Bank of Ghana’s 60 million Cedi recapitalization requirement.

This was contained in a statement released by the bank yesterday. This follows a subscription agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which will see the corporation invest up to 22 million Cedi into the bank.

UT not now joins the elite group comprising Ghana Commercial bank and Agric Development Bank (ADB).

The Chief Executive Officer of UT Bank in the statement said, ““IFC is the world's largest development institution focused on the private sector, and its investment constitutes a welcome affirmation of the commercial success of the "UT Way," as well as the positive social and developmental impact UT has made in Ghana”.

Mr Amoabeng added that IFC’s investment will help spur the development of Ghana's SME and mid-market companies and prepare the Bank for future growth opportunities in the economy”.

IFC, focuses exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. In 2011 it supported some Ghanaian banks including Ecobank Ghana with over $2 million dollars.

Following UT Bank’s track record of supporting SMEs, it is likely that attracted the IFC to support the bank with the 22 million cedis.

According to the agreement IFC’s investment into UT Bank will be done through a private placement of new common equity shares.

IFC will also extend an Advisory Services program to strengthen UT Bank’s risk management and corporate governance practices.

Ghana's financial market is undergoing some dramatic capital increases following the country’s entry into the league of oil producers and the attainment of a lower middle income status.

This has pushed regulators of the financial sector to compel industry players to up their capital base to conform to Ghana’s desired status as the financial hub of the sub region.

But just when the insurance companies had come out of a bout of recapitalisation, some local banks are trotting to the wire while the brokerage firms have just been hit with a recapitalisation drive.

The directive by the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) for all the 23 licensed investment banks or brokerage firms to raise their capital base from the current GH¢100,000 to a million Ghana Cedis by 2013 has attracted mixed and swift reactions.

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) too had based on a 2006 legislation, directed every life insurance company in Ghana and every general insurance to have a minimum of US$1 million in core capital, a stipulation which all the 42 licenced insurance companies in Ghana had complied with.

The NIC had earlier raised the minimum capital for general insurance firms that wish to engage in underwriting policies in the oil and gas industry to recapitalise further to a minimum of US$5 million.

The banking sector too is going through some transformation in phases, which the Bank of Ghana hopes all banks especially the local ones to recaptalise to the tune of GH¢60 million by the end of 2012.

In all these cases the players in the markets had not taken lightly to these new rates of re-capitalisation. However, officials of the GSE say the re-capitalisation of the brokerage firms is not reversible.

The General Manager of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mrs Elizabeth Mate-Kole told the Graphic Business in an interview that the re-capitalisation of licensed investment banks was meant to make the brokerage firms stronger and be able to take on big businesses as the economy get set to thread on wheels of oil.

“Yes, we are in discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the brokerage firms to increase their capital base from GH¢100,000 to one million by December 2013”, she confirmed.

But the directive is yet to be endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is the regulator of the industry.

Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mr Adu Anane Antwi says the regulator require more information from the GSE before approving the capital raise.

“We will for instance want to know from the Ghana Stock Exchange whether they have consulted widely from the market and industry stakeholders before approval”, Mr Anane Antwi said.

Head of the Research Division of Databank, Nii Ampa-Sowa is hopeful that a higher capitalisation will bring greater success on the GSE.

“This will enable us do a proprietary trading,” he said. This means that brokerage firms will be able to buy stocks to keep in their books.

But a senior broker at FirstBanc Financial Services, brokerage and investment firm in Accra, Mr Edem Akpenyo, however disagrees. He suggests that the increase in the stated capital should be a gradual process.

According to Mr Akpenyo, going slow and soft should have been the best approach. “It should from the current GH¢ 100, 000 to say, GH¢300,000 or GH¢500,000 and not higher lump sum at a go”, he said.

He cautioned that the GSE should not adopt a one size fits all policy towards the brokerage firms adding that the timeline is “too short” but conceded that the increase in the stated capital will bring a lot of activities on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

For the banking sector, the on-going recapitalisation exercise were set out in two phases, which aimed to dramatically improve the core capital of the industry from a previous minimum per bank of just GH¢10 million to GH¢60 million (US$40 million).

The first phase required that all majority locally-owned banks achieve a minimum core capital of GH¢25 million (US$16.6 million) by the end of 2010 and that all majority foreign-owned banks raise theirs to GH¢60 million (US$40 million) by that time.

However, the other 10 foreign-controlled banks and the 14 majority Ghanaian-owned ones have all met their respective stipulated new capital targets.

December, this year, comes the hard part when more than 12 Ghanaian-controlled banks will have to raise their own capital base to GH¢60 million, to complete the second phase of the recapitalisation exercise and bring them at par with their foreign counterparts.

The National Insurance Commission insisted that any general insurance firm that wishes to engage in underwriting policies in the oil and gas industry, had to recapitalise further to a minimum of US$5 million in core capital by 2010.

While this means that the new minimum capital is not altogether compulsory – any general insurer could choose not to recapitalise, and not underwrite oil and gas industry risks, but none of them were willing to let the obvious opportunities in that newly emergent industry pass them by.

Indeed, it is instructive that all of Ghana’s general insurers have signed up to be part of the newly formed consortium to underwrite oil and gas sector risk, which tend to be so big that Ghana’s insurers must necessarily pool their resources together to handle them.

Already, under the consortium, all of Ghana’s general insurers have jointly underwritten the insurance of the Floating Production and Storage (FPSO Kwame Nkrumah), which was acquired for commercial production of oil from the Jubilee oilfield off Cape Three Points in the Western Region, which has an insured value of close to US$900 million.

Toyota Ghana Company Limited on Friday released a new Toyota Avensis onto the Ghanaian market to ensure the safety and comfort of customers.

The 2012 Toyota Avensis, which has received a five-star rating under the latest Euro NCAP rating scheme comes with a dynamic and unique presence with outstanding performance of responsive driving feeling created by the innovation.

The new Avensis has been designed with an improved aero-dynamics to reduce co-efficient of drag and efficient fuel consumption for improved performance.

It has radiator grille with continuous flow to the headlamp to express a wide feel and an assertive lower grille to ensure aero-dynamic, cooling and pedestrian protection performance.

The 2012 Avensis, has an expanded width of 60mm for wider space and a three dimensional unified door trim and instrumental panel design.

There has been a change with the fuel and speed metres of the 2012 Avensis to enhance appearance, and an introduction of multi-information display on the metres for easy access to information such as days of the week, outside temperature, current and average fuel consumption, rear seatbelt reminder and average speed.

Other feature of the vehicle include 2.0 petrol litre, four speed automatic, audio control in the steering wheel, Bluetooth, radio CD player with six speakers, wireless door lock with answer back, side impact beams on all doors, multi-reflector headlamps, and automatic light control.

Launching the vehicle in Accra, Mr Takohiko Takabayashi, Managing Director of Toyota Ghana said, introduction of the 2012 Avensis was motivated by the current rapid changes in the technological advancement which had resulted in customers always looking out for new inventions.

He said the new Avensis had been lifted to a level aimed to achieve smooth ride and comfort to outclass competitors in the global market.

Mr Takabayashi said Toyota was committed to offer customers with world-class products and services.

“We have principle philosophy of customer first and a policy of KAIZEN, meaning continuous improvement. Through these, we are always ensuring to provide our customers with high level satisfaction,” he said.

THE NATIONAL Communications Authority (NCA) has challenged Millicom Ghana Limited, operators of Tigo network, for publishing a report contrary to what the former has carried as regards network rankings.

In its 2011 report, Tigo maintained that it was still the second leading operator in Ghana despite an earlier report by the NCA that Vodafone Ghana was the second leading network.

According to the regulator (NCA), it was the only authority mandated to report on the telecoms industry in the country. Per its 2011 report therefore, Vodafone finished the year as second leading operator with 4.2 million subscribers, representing 20.2 percent market share while Tigo came third with 3.9 million subscribers, representing 18.53 percent of the market share.

NCA also noted in its full year subscriber base report that the total mobile penetration for year ending 2011 was 21.2 million.

However, according to Tigo’s annual report published on myjoyonline.com, it closed the year with 3.5million subscribers, and not 3.9 million, which represented 21.3 percent of the market share.

Tigo’s report also stated that mobile penetration in Ghana was 16.53 million as opposed to the 21.2 million stated by the NCA.

Per Tigo’s report, its 3.5 million subscriber base was 21.3 percent of 16.53 million subscribers, which made it the second largest among five operators in Ghana.

A source at NCA, in an interview with this paper, said Tigo could not claim to be the second leading operator because the NCA received monthly reports from the telecom operators in Ghana. Based on these reports, the regulator is able to determine the number of subscribers that each operator has.

The source, who spoke on behalf of NCA, stated that “the authority’s report, among other things, includes the number of active subscribers and the number of churned out registered subscribers.”

The source noted that MTN, the leading operator in the country, had over 10.2 million subscribers, which was a well documented fact; therefore Tigo’s claim of a total subscriber base of 16.53 million was shocking.

According to the report, “Millicom reports to NCA subscribers up to 90 days of activity, according to NCA policy, but internally, we report to headquarters up to 60 days of no activity.”

Explaining the foregoing, a highly placed official at Tigo explained that figures in Tigo’s annual report were based on how many Tigo subscribers were active within the last 60 days up to December 31, 2011, adding that, that was different from how many subscribers were active within the last 90 days.

The official further explained that “within 60 days, every subscriber from any other network that makes a call or sends an SMS to a Tigo number, even for once, is captured as an active subscriber for that network. And when we put those figures plus our own subscribers together, we determine the mobile penetration,” the official said. This, according to the NCA official, was not practicable, as an operator could not determine the number of active calls or number of SMS from another operator.

The long-awaited commodity and exchange as well as a regulated warehouse receipt system to ensure price stability and ready market for producers in agribusiness in the country would be realized by the end of this year, officials have disclosed.

The system, expected to provide sustainable and affordable finance to farmers who would use their commodities as collateral, has been touted for some time now.

Speaking at the opening of a two-week training for stakeholders involved in the setting up of the Ghana Commodity Exchange, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh stated that some of the advantages of the warehouse receipt system are assurance of quality and quantity because of the proper system of storage and ascertaining the value.

She said the Exchange Commodity which is receiving funding from the UNDP under its Trade Initiative Project, would serve as an additional mechanism to support the agro industry.

“It would bring small holder farmers to the main stream sector and give them an incentive for doing so and therefore translate to significant changes in their lives.”

She said it would also serve as an incentive for the multinational companies and other large scale producers to source local raw materials “as they would be assured of quality”.

Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, UN resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative agreed that even though the establishment of a commodities and exchanges may not be the panacea for all the weaknesses of the agricultural sector “they have the potential to improve the functioning of agricultural markets…”

“We look forward to working with the Ministry of Trade and other partners to ensure the Ghana Commodities Exchange is established and operational by the end of 2012. We eagerly await the start of the first trading on the floor of the Commodity Exchange to enable the Ghanaian farmers obtain fair and predictable pricing for their produce.”

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange is the most successful in Africa, and it is assisting Ghana to establish an exchange modeled after that of the former.

Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange who is leading a team to train stakeholders in Ghana, said Africa with its untapped potential arable land cannot afford not to embrace this innovative instrument to manage and ensure food security on the continent.

The idea of establishing commodity exchanges, she said, “is resonating across the continent and we have been visited by 18 countries so far and have signed memoranda of understanding with about three of them.”

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, which was established in 2006, is now trading 580,000 tonnes of commodities valued at $1.2 billion.

The exchange in Ethiopia, which trades coffee, sesame seeds and maize, has 350 members of which 12 per cent are small farmers and records $20million daily from clearing activities which is in excess of 10 times the average of $2 million trading value of the Ghana Stock Exchange.

The United Bank for Africa (Ghana) Limited, (UBA) has joined the top-ten banks in the country in terms of profitability, Mr. Oliver Alawuba, Managing Director of the bank, has said.

The company’s annual report and financial statements for 2011 show it recorded a profit before tax of GH¢30.2million, against GH¢13.9million in 2010. This represents an increase of 143% over the previous year.

Profit for the year after tax also increased from GH¢9.2million in 2010 to GH¢22.4million. Deposit volume increased to GH¢404.6million from a previous GH¢311.2million.

A decrease in interest income margins last year presented an opportunity for the bank to go into fees and commissions. About 57% of the bank’s income during the 2011 financial year came from fees and commissions, a trend which would continue, according to Mr. Alawuba.

The bank’s improved risk analysis and prudent measures contributed in reducing its nonperforming loans (NPLs) from 19% in 2010 to 7.91% during the 2011 financial year.

“We have been able to reduce the bank’s NPLs through our collective effort, and I can say that by the end of the year it will be reduced further to about 5%,” Mr. Alawuba told the B&FT in an exclusive interview.

Commenting on the expectations for the banking industry this year, Mr. Alawuba said: “The operational environment will be different from what pertained last year, because this is an election year. The inflation rate is going down and the margins are coming down as well. These are the realities of 2012.

“In these realities, harsh as it may look, we should be able to use our skills to find a way of doing our business. We will remain focused, and improve our operations and customer service. UBA is also strong in electronic banking, and this will help us serve our customers better and attract new ones.”

He indicated that the bank will support the agricultural sector as part of its measures to diversify its loan distribution for 2012 to include commodities, public-sector business and telecommunications.

The move will see the bank finance commodities such as cocoa, by providing financial assistance to Licenced Buying Companies (LBC) engaged in the purchase of the cash crop as well as farmer associations. The bank further hopes to extend its assistance to shea butter and cotton cultivation.

“Fortunately for Ghana, it has a well-established mechanism that is bankable for cocoa. We want to enter that value chain. The cocoa business is well-structured and makes it easier for banks to get into the sector. We will support the LBCs and that will also translate into support for farmers.”

Explaining the rationale for the bank’s decision to go into public finance, Mr. Alawuba said: “For Africa to develop there must be that uniformity of purpose between the private sector and the government in terms of infrastructure development. Most African countries are not doing very well in that regard. The problem is that in time past government did not understand the private sector and vice versa. But it is important that banks assess and help finance some of these critical projects.”

Mr. Alawuba explained that local banks can address the issue of capacity by forming alliances among themselves, and even with foreign banks, to be able to bring in funds to finance some critical public-sector projects.

“UBA has a lot of capacity that it can leverage on, given the number of countries it operates in, to provide some of the critical infrastructure that is needed in the country. UBA has no problem of capacity; the UBA group can support us to undertake big-ticket transactions here in Ghana.”

UBA Ghana Limited is a subsidiary of United Bank for Africa Plc, which is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions offering services to more than 7 million customers across 750 branches and over 2,000 ATMs in 19 African countries.

UBA Ghana has a footprint of 26 fully-networked branches and 40 Visa-enabled ATMs spread across Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Takoradi and Aflao.**

Barclays Bank Ghana has reported a 40% jump in 2011 after-tax earnings on the back of lower impairment costs and a fall in operational expenses. The bank’s after-tax profit went up to GH¢83million from GH¢59.2million the year before, Managing Director Benjamin Dabrah said last week.

He said loan-impairment charges were down to GH¢6million from GH¢20.8million in 2010, and operational costs dropped marginally to GH¢105.8million from GH¢114.6million.

“We believe we are back for good to the top-end of the banking industry where Barclays belongs,” Mr. Dabrah said.

A top-five lender by assets, Barclays saw an overdrive in impairment losses to GH¢60.9 million in 2009, which contributed to a loss after tax of GH¢18 million. But a swift recovery began in 2010, with loan losses dropping to GH¢20.8million and earnings after tax rising to GH¢59.2million.

The upturn was also helped by measures such as a slowdown in branch expansion, which curbed the rapid rise in operational costs, with more focus on delivering high-quality and more efficient services.

Last year, Barclays removed charges on ATM transactions and requests for statements, and broadened the reach of its Internet banking and SMS alert services.

“We had to go back to the basics and focus on the customer and doing things properly, ensuring that we price right and keep our key stakeholders such as staff and customers happy,” Mr. Dabrah said.

The bank’s balance sheet added GH¢300million to GH¢1.9billion in 2011, he said, with much of the growth attributable to an expansion in credit to the real sector of the economy.

“Our loans and advances to customers in the private sector grew by 35%, and goes contrary to claims that banks are not lending.” He said the outlook for 2012 is positive, with first quarter results showing the momentum from the previous year has been sustained

Cocoa purchases declared to Ghana's sector body Cocobod reached 717,171 tonnes by March 22 since the start of the 2011/2012 season last October, Cocobod sources said on Monday amid fears of a production shortfall.

The figures, which covered the first 23 weeks of the main crop, were up 3.5 percent the same period last year.

Total purchases for the week ended March 22 were 1,494 tonnes as the harvest begins to tail-off before its expected rebound at the end of April, the sources said.

Ghana, the world no.2 cocoa producer after Ivory Coast, hopes to buy some 950,000 tonnes in the season ending September, up from an original forecast of 850,000-900,000 tonnes.

But key industry players, including farmers have expressed fears that Cocobod might not meet the revised target due to uneven weather conditions likely to stunt pod development.

"We are having uneven rains now and they are not enough to match the long dryness that came before - it is not likely that Ghana will meet this year's target," Lawrence Adu, a prominent cocoa farmer in the Eastern region told Reuters over the phone.

Adu said any late rains would boost the 2012/13 harvest rather than be of help to the current one.

A major cocoa buyer feared the expected rebound of the current crop at the end of April might be weak, adding that it would be difficult for Cocobod to meet the target.

"It's going to be very tight and we dont think they will be able to make it," the buyer, whose company buys cocoa mainly from the top growing Western and Ashanti regions, told Reuters.

Deputy chief executive Kwabena Asante Poku said Cocobod was still working towards the revised target.

"We are doing the best we can... we are working towards it," he told Reuters, adding the current tailing off of the main crop was normal. "We are hoping it will come up again by the end of April, so we are keeping our fingers crossed."

The International Financial Corporation (IFC) now controls 22 percent shares in UT Bank following a $15 million investment into the bank last week.

The investment catapulted UT Bank to meet Bank of Ghana’s 60 million cedi recapitalisation requirement.

The IFC on Tuesday, made an additional capital injection of $15 million bringing its total investment in UT Bank to $30 million.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Mr. Prince Kofi Amoabeng, IFC’s 22 percent stake in UT Bank is a positive development.

“This is good for us because IFC has got worldwide expertise and we need a member on board to share that expertise with us. And other bit is the technical advice that they can offer UT,” Mr. Amoabeng said.

“The additional $15 million investment will among other things help increase access to medium term capital for Small to Medium Enterprises and also provide the bank access to a global network of banks that will help UT Bank finance cross-border trade transactions of local companies.”

IFC’s Vice President in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Western Europe, Therry Tanoh said his outfit is committed to partnering UT Bank for the long haul.

“Ultimately, we want institutions like UT to grow so that at some point, they can do without institutions like IFC in accessing long term resources,” he said.

He was speaking to journalists when the two parties signed documents covering the additional $15 million investment.

The additional capital includes US$5 million Senior Loan while US$10 million is a Trade Finance Guarantee Facility to UT Bank, Ghana’s leading SME bank.

The Senior Loan and Trade Finance Facility are in addition to an IFC Advisory Services Program and a combined US$15 million equity investment in UT Bank agreed to by IFC and the Africa Capitalization Fund Ltd (AFC), which is managed by the IFC Asset Management Company

Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and Societe Generale on Wednesday signed two loan agreements, totalling 82.2 million Euros for financing developments in the energy sector.

A total of 48.1 million Euros will be used to finance the Tumu-Han-Wa transmission project to enhance reliability of power supply in the Northern sector of the country and the remaining 34.1 million Euros will be used for the financing of the Substations Reliability Enhancement Project under which 21 substations would see an uplift.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Energy Minister Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, said the agreement was an indication of government's commitment to ease the constraints within the power sector and help attain the generation capacity of 5,000 mega watts by 2015.

He said the financing arrangement was part of government's initiative to ensure reliable operation of the transmission network and replace old equipment, which were unable to cope with the demand as the economy expanded.

Dr Adjei said, the Tumu-Han-Wa project would create a loop that would enable supply of reliable power to the north saying “we are doing all these to ensure that the bottlenecks and the continuous key constraints within the generation, transmission and distribution systems are removed”.

Mr Seth Terkper, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said the agreements were part of three major initiatives announced by government in the 2012 Budget to enhance infrastructural development and ensure sustainable power to meet the developmental needs of the country.

Mr Gilbert Hie, Country Manager for Societe General and Managing Director of SG-SSB, said the bank was delighted in supporting Ghana’s energy sector and assisting government to generate the targeted 5,000 megawatts.

“It is our desire to partner the Government in the socio-economic development of the country and strengthen the cordial business relations that presently exist between SG, SG-SSB and the Government in future,” he said.

Mr Charles Darku, CEO of GRIDCo, said the company had already begun work to improve the transmission system and funding from the bank would speed up the implementation and attainment of goals of replacing old equipment.**

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and Venture Capital Trust Fund on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the listing of small and medium scale enterprises on the Exchange.

Mr Kofi Yamoah, Managing Director of GSE and Mr Daniel Duku, CEO of VCTF signed the MoU that would enable the two institutions collaborate with other stakeholders to develop alternative market for SMEs.

The MoU would ensure that they jointly lead the SMEs listing project, coordinate with other stakeholders, facilitate the underwriting and provide upfront funding for SMEs desirous to list and hold public fora and education for SMEs and the public.

“The MoU is about Ghana. There are many SMEs and with the right growth strategy can help accelerate the pace of development,” Mr Yamoah said at the signing ceremony.

Mr Duku said the relationship with the Exchange in the alternative SMEs market would provide good exit strategies for venture capital finance companies and SME investors.

“We are coming on board as great partners in the Alternative SMEs market,” he said, adding that the company was putting into the revolving fund $500,000 to support the scheme.

He said the Exchange is setting up a revolving fund to pay for the listing expenses such as underwriting and legal fees of the companies adding that an agreement to that effect has been signed with Accra-based Fidelity Capital Partners to pool resources for the fund and discussions are on-going with the African Development Bank and other development partners to contribute to the fund.

Mr Ekow Afedzie, Deputy Managing Director of GSE, said the Exchange would contribute to the fund and was working to get other institutions to do the same.

He said the revolving fund when operational would provide resources to have listing expenses paid ahead of actual public floatation.

He said the GSE plans to launch in the second half of the year an alternative stock market with focus on SMEs, which might want to raise capital but are unable to meet the stringent requirements of the bourse.

Mr Afedzie said this plan is part of efforts by the GSE to encourage listings and improve liquidity on the bourse while giving SMEs the opportunity to raise capital from the bourse.

Details of the proposed Ghana Alternative Market are with the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval

More Ghanaians are to be encour*aged to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) when the gas processing plant comes on stream in 2013.

In that regard, the Ministry of Energy has formulated a strategy to vigorously promote the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in domestic and public institutions.

The aim, according to Sec*tor Minister, Dr Joe Oteng* Adjei, was to increase the use of LPG in domestic and public institutions from the current level of 12 per cent to 50 per cent.

The initiative is expected to commence in 2013 when the Gas Processing Plant to process natural gas from the Jubilee Field becomes opera*tional.

In 1989, the government embarked on an LPG promo*tional programme, which was aimed at reducing wood fuel consumption.

The initiative resulted in an increase in LPG fuel consump*tion trom 5,267 tonnes in 1989 to 32,000 tonnes in 1996 and 178,400 by the end of 2010.

The energy minister made these remarks in Accra in a speech delivered on his behalf by one of his deputies, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, at a consulta*tive meeting on Sustainable Energy for all Accelerated Framework (SEAAF).

The SEAAF is an initiative of the UN Secretary-General that seeks to ensure, among other interventions, universal access to electricity, clean fuels and devices for cooking and mechanical power; improve*ments in energy efficiency, and increases in the production and use of renewable energy.

The consultative meeting was aimed at developing a Ghana Country Action Plan for the achievement of SEAAF by 2015.

Describing the SEAAF as a laudable initiative, Dr Oteng* Adjei said it would comple*ment the efforts of developing countries to ensure universal access to energy for their citi*zens.

High Court order which had directed it in November 2011 to remove levies im*posed on petroleum products, the court, in a unanimous decision, held that the NPA failed to convince it to stay the lower court’s order.

The court, presided over by Mrs Jus*tice Henrietta Abban, with Mr Justice F. Kusi-Appiah and Mr Justice E. K. Ayebi as panel members, also held that the NPA’s application for stay was devoid of merit.

It also awarded costs of GH¢500 against the NPA in favour of Develop*ment Data, a non-governmental organi*sation (NGO) which had contested the legality of the levy at the High Court.

A date is yet to be fixed for the hear*ing of the substantive appeal, which is praying the court. to dismiss, in its en*tirety, the lower court’s decision which directed the NPA to remove ex-refinery levies imposed on petroleum products.

The High Court, in November 2011, ruled as illegal the ex-refinery levy which had been part of the petroleum price build-up.

It, accordingly, ordered the NPA to scrap the levy and also refund all amounts accrued from the collection of the illegal levy to be paid into the Con*solidated Fund.

It further directed the NPA to publish the total amount collected from the ille*gal imposition and pay it into the Con*solidated Fund. .

Dissatisfied with the lower court’s de*cision, the NPA filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal and filed an application for stay of execution ofthe lower court’s order, pending the outcome of the sub*stantive appeal.

However, the Court of Appeal, after carefully perusing documents filed by parties in the matter, upheld the decision by the High Court in that illegal price margins disguised as “ex-refinery differ*ential” should be knocked off the fuel pnces.

The High Court had, in January 2012, refused an application to stay execution of its earlier order.

Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has crossed the first hurdle towards listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange by June this year.

Sources say the Finance Ministry has given its approval to kick start the process of converting the bank from a state institution to a private entity.

The bank could join the likes of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Cocoa Processing Company and Ghana Oil - three former state-owned entities that have listed on the local bourse.

State power generator, the Volta River Authority (VRA) is also working on a similar move.

Meanwhile, Agricultural Development Bank has attributed its sterling performance for last year to some prudent management strategies.
The bank, for the second successive time, saw a huge leap in its profits.

Its Revenue After Tax went up by 300 percent to 51.1 million Ghana Cedis. Loans advanced to agricultural sector went up by 42 per cent to 142 million Ghana Cedis.

Olam Ghana, a cotton producing company operating in the Upper West Region, is expected to cultivate 30,000 hectares of cotton during this year’s cropping seasons as against 10,000 hectares it did last year.

The company engaged 8,000 farmers in the cotton production chain last year and it is expected to involve 25,000 farmers this coming farming season.

Mr. Mritunjay Das, Business Head in-charge of cotton production, said this at the first Olam Ghana Farmers Day celebration at Tumu.

Cotton farmers from the nine districts in the region attended the Day which was organised to award the farmers for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the company.

Mr. Das said the company invested $10 million in cotton production in the 2011 cropping season and would increase it to $35 million this year to engage more farmers in the communities to cultivate cotton.

The company produced 8,000 tonnes of cotton as against 10,000 tonnes it projected for the year, realizing a shortfall of 2,000 tonnes due to erratic rain fall pattern that characterized season.

Mr. Das said the company intended to increase the acreage to 100,000 hectares within the next four years when all farmers in the region are involved in cotton production.

“It is the intention of Olam to grow farmers and their income levels at the shortest possible time in the region”, Mr. Das said.

He said the company would make tractors, insecticides, fertilizers and other farm inputs available and deliver them to farmers at the appropriate periods to enhance production.

Dr. S. Bhatkulikar, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, said composite manure would be developed to help farmers replenish less fertile cotton fields.

Dr. Bhatkulikar said plans were advanced to provide some assistance to children of cotton farmers.

The company also intends to encourage farmers to uproot cotton stocks and sell them to the company to generate at least 50 megawatts of electricity to run the ginnery.

Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton, Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional Area, appealed to farmers to take cotton production seriously since it has the potential of improving their livelihoods.

He urged them to use the money they realised from cotton to take good care of their children’s education and the health needs of their families and avoid drinking alcohol with the money.

Kuoro Kuri Buktie Limann, Paramount Chief of the Gwollu Traditional Area, commended Olam Ghana for establishing factories in the country to add value to agro products.

He appealed to the company to consider establishing a shea butter extracting factory and an additional ginnery in the Sissala area.

He advised the farmers to avoid selling cotton to companies that do not support them to the disadvantage of Olam Ghana.

Mr. Issaka Giaka, Sissala East District Director of Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said chemical poisoning was a huge risk among farmers in the region and asked Olam Ghana to be more concerned about that.

“Let us not be more concerned about the yields that we got but the occupational health hazards among farmers and the degradation of the environment should be of a worry for all”, he said.

The farmers comprising 45 groups from four zones in the region were awarded with motorbikes, cash and farm inputs among others.

Olam Ghana said it cost it 150,000 Ghana cedis to organise the Day.**

All is set for the signing of an agreement between Ghana and Canada, for Canada to support the expansion of the Aboadze Thermal Plant in Takoradi.

President John Evans Atta Mills, who held discussions on the Plant with the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) last November in Canada, has consequently welcomed executives of the Corporation to Ghana, commending the enormous Canadian assistance to Ghana’s development.

The CCC is the main investment grouping in Canada, and the executives led by Mr Marc Whittington, are in the country to sign an agreement with the Government of Ghana to support the expansion of the Aboadze Thermal Plant.

The agreement is the second pact to be signed after the first expansion project which had the capacity to generate an additional 132 mega watts comes almost to a completion.

The second expansion project is also expected to generate 132 mega watts to boost the plant’s capacity.

Welcoming the delegation at the Osu Castle in Accra, President Mills expressed appreciation to the group for the continuous support for Ghana, stressing that the Government values its partnership with the CCC.

President Mills said he was impressed about the high interest of Canadian investors in Ghana, and assured them of a congenial business atmosphere.

“Ghana values the contribution from Canada in support of the growth of our economy,” he said, adding that the Government was committed to the partnership.

Mr. Whittingham, for his part, lauded the progress of the Ghanaian economy, indicating that the Corporation acknowledges the huge business potential in Ghana.

He said CCC is supporting the second expansion plan for the thermal plant due to its importance to the economy.

According to Mr Whittingham, the CCC recognised electricity production as a critical instrument to economic development, and that there was a need to support that sector to create jobs.**

Ghana is set to sign an agreement with Canada to support the expansion of the Aboadze Thermal plant in Takoradi. The expansion will add a further 132 megawatts of power to the thermal power generation capacity.

President John Evans Atta Mills who held discussions on the plant with the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) last November in Canada, has consequently welcomed executives of the Corporation to Ghana, commending the enormous Canadian assistance to Ghana’s development.

The CCC executives led by Mr Marc Whittington, are in the country to sign an agreement with the Government of Ghana to support the expansion of the Aboadze Thermal Plant.

The agreement is the second pact to be signed after the first expansion project which has the capacity to generate an additional 132 megawatts on completion.

The second expansion project is also expected to generate 132 megawatts to boost the plant’s capacity.

President Mills expressed appreciation to the group for the continuous support for Ghana when he welcomed the delegation from Canada, stressing that the Government values its partnership with the CCC.

He said he was impressed about the high interest of Canadian investors in Ghana and assured them of a congenial business atmosphere.

Mr. Whittingham lauded the progress of the Ghanaian economy, indicating that the Corporation acknowledges the huge business potential in Ghana. He said CCC is supporting the second expansion plan for the thermal plant due to its importance to the economy.

According to him, the CCC recognised electricity production as a critical instrument to economic development, and that there was a need to support that sector to create jobs.

Ghana’s economic freedom has scored an overall score of 60.7, making it the 84th freest worldwide out of 179 countries, according to the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom released by the American Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Wall Street Journal.

Ghana, the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa, was ranked 9th out of 46 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score has risen above both the world average (59.5) and regional average of 53.7. Mauritius topped the region with 77 points.

Ghana’s overall score was 1.3 points better than last year (2011) and was “due to improvements in four of the 10 freedoms including labor freedom and monetary freedom” the report said.

Recording one of the 20 largest score improvements in the 2012 Index, the conductors of the report commented “Ghana has become a “moderately free” economy.”

With a five-point increase in economic freedom since 2006, it argues that the economy has been growing at an average rate of 6% per year. “A vibrant private sector, benefitting from macroeconomic stability and ongoing reforms, has contributed to the economic expansion,” the report adds.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation has completed lifting its second consignment of crude oil form the Jubilee Field.

Ghana last year earned a little over $444 million from the sale of four lifting’s, Joy News has learnt.

In all, the Jubilee Field partners have lifted a little over 10 million barrels for Q1.

Meanwhile the country has been able to save 69 million dollars from the revenues earned from crude oil sales last year. $14.4 million has been put aside for future generations in the heritage fund, while $58 million has accrued to the Stabilization Fund to cushion the country in times of price volatility.

Madrid-based Airline, Iberia, is set to begin scheduled flight from Accra to Madrid from July this year.

The airline will however start its operations in partnership with British Airways which merged with Iberia in 2010.

Ghana’s commercial manager for British Airways James Wooldridge told Joy Business they will offer seamless travelling experience to their passengers.

He added that Iberia hopes to capitalize on the structures of British Airways to reduce their cost of operations

About 40 airlines could be operating from the Kotoka International Airport by the close of this year as four international airlines are due to start operations. They include: China Eastern Airlines, Qatar Airways, Air Canada and Royal Jorda

THE AGRICULTURAL Development Bank (ADB) posted a profit-before-tax of GH¢51.1 million at the end of December 2011, marking a significant increase in its restated 2010 position of GH¢12.8 million.

This was as a result of a considerable expansion in the balance sheet of the bank, which witnessed a significant rise in assets from GH¢968.2 million at the end of December 2010 to GH¢1,213.7 million at the end of December 2011 – a growth of 25.4 percent.

The bank’s major earning assets included loans and advances that shot up from GH¢577.0 million to GH¢678.6 million, registering a growth rate of 17.6 percent.

Also, the bank made impressive strides in resource mobilization during the 2011 financial year, and that provided a major boost to the expansion of its assets base.

“Customer deposits grew significantly from GH¢536.1 million to GH¢827.7 million, registering a growth of 54.4 percent during the period. This resulted from the pragmatic strategic initiatives the bank has been implementing since 2010, thus responding to customer needs and providing attractive, quality and efficient customer service,” Steve Kpordzih, Managing Director of ADB revealed.

He continued that as evidence of its strength during the year under review, ADB transferred a further GH¢25.0 million from its income surplus account to its stated capital account, increasing its capital from GH¢50.0 million to GH¢75.0 million. Mr Kpordzih said this enabled ADB to fully comply with the regulatory minimum capital requirement of GH¢60 million ahead of the December 2012 deadline given by the Bank of Ghana for full compliance by indigenous banks.

“In the area of agricultural financing, ADB made several significant financing arrangements for the sector in the year 2011. The agricultural sector had total new lending amounting to GH¢141.7 million compared to GH¢100.1 million in 2010. The bank also made considerable new interventions in the productive agro-processing sub-sector and invested a total of GH¢84.5 million.

“Another significant development during the year under review was the completion of the upgrading of the branch and head office operations onto flexcube universal banking system (UBS) – version 11.2 banking software to support our corporate, retail, credit and treasury operations. The new IT infrastructure, systems and processes of ADB have enhanced the quality and efficiency of our customer service delivery. ADB has also added visa card processing to its cocktail of e-banking services.” he noted.

According to the MD, the release of the 2011 financial results of ADB was against the backdrop of the decision by its management to restate the 2010 accounts of the bank to make provision for transactions and balances which have been outstanding in the bank’s records for several years, some as far back as 2002.

“The financial out-turn achieved in 2011 will positively influence the strategic agenda of ADB to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 2012.”

South African Bank, FirstRand says it is about to finalize a deal to enter Ghana and Nigerian markets.

The Group CEO of the Bank Sizwe Nxasana made the comment in Mumbai, India this week as FirstRand opened a unit in that country. There were earlier merger talks between FirstRand Bank and Merchant bank to expand its operations in Ghana.

It is unclear though whether earlier reports that talks between the two banks had broken down, have been rectified or not.

The Group CEO Mr Nxasana in his statements said the bank is exploring opportunities for both acquisitions and new licences in Ghana and Nigeria.

Analysts have previously said the group could either buy one of the banks rescued by the Nigerian central bank when it injected $4bn in 2009 into troubled banks as part of a reform of the country’s banking sector, or FirstRand could start a greenfield project as it has done in new markets such as Zambia and Tanzania.

FirstRand’s entry into the Nigerian retail market, where rival Standard Bank is already a major player, will atone for its failure last year to buy Nigeria’s Sterling Bank after disagreement on price.

It is believed the deal would have cost up to $400m.**

Ghana Tema oil refinery shuts down on lack of crude

Ghana's 45,000 barrel-per-day state-run Tema oil refinery has shut its main crude distillation unit since April 11 after running out of feedstock, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

"The plant is down because we do not have crude to process - the last activity at the plant was on April 11 at 1630 GMT," a source at the plant's labour union said.

Ghana's National Petroleum Authority (NPA), which regulates petroleum downstream operations, confirmed the plant had shut down, but dismissed suggestions it was the cause of this week's fuel shortage.

Some petrol stations in the capital Accra and in Tema areas reported supply delays this week, blaming the situation on the refinery's shutdown.

"We are aware TOR (the refinery) has shut down temporarily in April, but that has nothing to do with the shortages in some areas - the shortage has to do with a little challenge at one of our major depots," said NPA spokesman Yaro Kasambata.

Kasambata said he did not know the reason for the shutdown.

"It could either be for maintenance or lack of crude oil, but all I know is that the plant is not processing crude at the moment," he said.

He said Ghana relied heavily on private suppliers to import finished products to make up for Ghana's daily requirement of 90,000-100,000 barrels daily, almost double what Tema produces.

The Tema refinery has been hobbled by repeated shortages in available crude since 2008, when its main lender Ghana Commercial Bank cut off support due to unpaid debts totalling $600 million.

Ghana's government repaid the debt to the bank early last year, but officials said the refinery still remained indebted to some bulk oil suppliers.

Ghana is Africa's newest crude oil exporter after starting up its offshore Jubilee field. But authorities have said the country's sole refinery needed an upgrade to be able to run the domestically produced oil.

The Tema plant currently relies on crude imports, mostly from Nigeria.


http://www.abndigital.com/page/news/top-business-stories/1247103-Ghana-Tema-oil-refinery-shuts-down-on-lack-of-crude

This is really shocking news..... Ghana, wassup, with all that Jubilee field, crude Oil?? :shocked:

I'm so surprise...!!! It really happens in Ghana ???

..

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's state-run 45,000 barrel-per-day Tema Oil Refinery will resume crude processing by Monday, the plant's managing director said on Thursday, following a two-week shutdown.

"We are set to start processing this weekend - we believe that (at the) latest by Monday, TOR should be in production," Ato Ampiah told Reuters.

Ampiah said the plant had undergone an upgrade to its boilers to allow them to run on gas instead of oil.

"It's a big turn around and we expect this upgrade to save the refinery millions of dollars a month," Ampiah said.

He added that the refinery had purchased 630,000 barrels of crude oil, meaning feedstock was on hand for the restart, and that another 200,000-barrel shipment would arrive to the refinery by next week.

Sources close to the plant's labour union told Reuters the plant had been shut since April 11 due to lack of crude.

The Tema refinery has been hobbled by repeated shortages in available crude since 2008, when its main lender Ghana Commercial Bank cut off support due to unpaid debts totalling $600 million.

Ghana's government repaid the debt to the bank early last year, but officials said the refinery still remained indebted to some bulk oil suppliers.

Ampiah said that by June, the refinery would have the capacity to produce high octane petroleum as part of plans to increase its expand its profitability. Currently, Ghana imports high octane fuel and other complex refined products.

Ghana is Africa's newest crude oil exporter after starting up its offshore Jubilee field. But authorities have said the Tema refinery needed an overhaul to be able to run the domestically produced oil.
..

Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS - News) announced results from the Teak-4A appraisal well, located in the West Cape Three Points Block, offshore Ghana. Located 6.1 kilometers (3.8 miles) northwest of the Teak-1 discovery well, the Teak-4A well was targeting the stratigraphic extension of the Teak discovery area. The well encountered thin, non-commercial reservoirs and is being plugged and abandoned. Kosmos and partners have begun integrating well results into the Teak field model to determine forward appraisal and development plans.

The Atwood Hunter rig drilled Teak-4A to a total depth of 2,850 meters (9,348 feet) in water depth of 554 meters (1,817 feet). Following the completion of operations at the Teak-4A well, the drilling rig will set gauges at the Teak-2A well and perform a drill stem test at the Akasa oil discovery on the West Cape Three Points Block.

Kosmos Energy is the operator of the West Cape Three Points Block with a 30.875 percent interest. The Company’s partners include Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (30.875 percent), Tullow Oil plc (26.396 percent), Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. (1.854 percent), and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (10 percent carried).

Renaissance Group to build two cities in Ghana


A multi-national company, the Renaissance Group, is to build two townships, one at Appolonia in Dodowa and the other at Asakae in Takoradi, beginning from the fourth quarter of this year.

The townships will involve residential, commercial and industrial buildings with educational and health facilities. The company will also construct roads and provide water for the townships.

Each township, to be funded solely by the Renaissance Group, is to take about 65,000 people.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Renaissance Group, Mr Stephen Jennings, made this known during a courtesy call on the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, Tuesday.

Mr Jennings and a business delegation were at the Castle to brief Mr Mahama on developments regarding the project.

The Renaissance Group, which is into capital investment, has invested more than $200 billion in various projects across the world.

Mr Jennings said his outfit had completed the master plan and indicated that the sod-cutting ceremony for the commencement of the projects would be held soon.

He stressed that all the funding for the project was coming from the group and that the company wanted the government’s support to make the project a reality.

On technology transfer, he said the group was partnering with technical institutions in Takoradi to enhance the skills of artisans who would work on the project.

Mr Jennings said apart from discussions with government officials, the company was also talking with traditional rulers in the two areas to ensure smooth execution of the project.

In his response, the Vice-President noted that the cities were getting congested, with 53 per cent of Ghana’s population living in urban areas.

He said the increased number of people in the cities was putting much pressure on the limited facilities and indicated that the government was trying to ease the pressure in the cities through the building of more facilities.

Therefore, he said, the construction of the townships in Dodowa and Takoradi was timely, noting that the population in Takoradi would increase because of the oil operations.

Mr Mahama said Ghana was open to business and asked investors to continue to have confidence in the country and not hesitate to invest in its economy.

He said they should not be discouraged by the increased political rhetoric in this election year and gave an assurance that the country was going to have peaceful and successful elections.

The Vice-President again assured investors that the government would not overspend in this election year, explaining that doing that might disturb the macroeconomic gains.

source
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=238395&comment=0#com

Comments (4)
« Prev
Next »




The Ghana Investments Promotion Centre (GIPC) recorded a total of 95 new projects with an estimated value of $1.8 billion for the first quarter of 2012. This represents an increase of 67.98 percent compared to the value recorded in the same quarter of 2011.

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) component of the estimated value of the newly-registered projects amounted to 979.85 million while the total initial capital transfers for the quarter amounted to $43.27 million.

George Aboagye, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GIPC, who made these known to the media in Accra, said the USA, with an FDI value of $407 million, ranked first while China registered more projects.

He said of the 95 projects registered, 52, representing 54.17 percent were wholly-foreign owned enterprises valued at GH¢422.77 million while the remaining 43 projects were joint ventures between Ghanaians and foreign partners and valued at GH¢1.29 billion.

The total foreign equity was GH536.19 million and the initial equity transfers was GH¢73.57 million. It is expected that 4,468 jobs will be created from the projects registered.

According to Mr Aboagye, the centre embarked on re-registration of companies about two years ago. This formed part of GIPC’s monitoring and evaluation strategies of investment activities in the country.

“These companies have created 43,923 actual jobs from the registered projects, 2,532 jobs of which are for non-Ghanaians. At the time of the initial registration with the centre, a total of 24,028 jobs were expected to be created. The current investment at the time of the re-registration by the companies is $982.91 million.”

Destination Inspection Company BIVAC International is calling on government to institute harsher sanctions against importers who use fraudulent means or documents to clear goods.

This, according to the Deputy Managing Director should serve as a deterrent for potential perpetrators. Fred Mac Bruce said this is crucial in addressing complaints of importers about delays in the clearance process at the ports.
He was speaking to Joy Business at a seminar to educate stakeholders on processes of acquiring their final classification and valuation report.
“There are delays in the process because when you raise a query on suspected invoices, you ask the importer to come and explain. It takes forever for them to come and explain. That’s obviously delays the issuing of a Final Classification and Valuation Report (FCVR)” he explained.

“And then when you are not there they turn around to accuse you of frustrating them. I can tell you we’ve given a lot of information to Customs.If you are an importer or trader in the European Union, you dare not because just one single attempt and you will be out of business forever” he added.

Credit Referencing Company, Dun and Bradstreet, D & B has finally received its full operational license from the Bank of Ghana. The company therefore joins the pioneer bureau, XDS Data and the second, Hudson Price Data Solutions as the 3rd credit Reference Bureau in the country.

Country Director, Evans Sarpong confirmed to JOY BUSINESS, their full operational licence was granted last Friday after meeting all the requirements by the Central Bank.

“We have the entire infrastructure and data centre in place. The delay basically had to do with some information the Bank of Ghana needed from us for which we provided. So now that we have the license, we are going to officially launch our operations anytime soon. From today we’re going start engaging the banks and obviously start collating data within the next couple of months.

A credit bureau provides information on the credit repayment trends of individuals and companies. This allows financial institutions to make inquiries on a consumer or commercial entity before approving any form of credit or deciding on whether to sustain the credit granted. Credit bureaus aggregate information among participating financial institutions to provide the credit decision-maker with a more complete risk profile to enhance their risk mitigation capabilities, he noted.

Dun and Bradstreet was granted a provisional license last year and planned to launch its operations before the end of the year. Mr. Sarpong however says they are however unfazed by any negative implications of the apparent delay.

“We appreciate that we coming on board at this time may give our competitors a bit of an edge but we believe that we have what it takes to add value to this credit bureau business in Ghana with our reputation as one of the major international credit bureau operators. So we’re not perturbed by having our competitors already taking the lead because we know what we’re bring on board” he added.

Credit bureaus will provide financial institutions with a better risk management tool and the bank customers will be better evaluated on their credit worthiness. From the experience of credit bureaus in other countries, it was found that over time, borrowers stand to benefit from faster credit applications processing, faster disbursement of loans, fairer assessment and better adjusted quantum according to their more informed assessments..

“D&B is pleased to launch business operations in Ghana and will work on creating a sustainable financial infrastructure in Ghana. Our experience with government and private credit bureaus across the world has facilitated us in building this robust bureau for Ghana”. D&Bs’ Executive Vice President, Miguel Llenas, also said. .

Shareholders of UT Bank have dispelled claims that continuous investments by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have diluted their shares and power of ownership of the bank.

The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, last week invested 15 million dollars in the bank.

The IFC again on Tuesday facilitated an additional capital injection of a 15 million dollars Trade Finance Guarantee Facility to UT Bank.

With these injections, the IFC now has 22% ownership of the bank.

Data and internet is the future of telecoms in Africa and remains a veritable tool that will drive socio-economic development on the Continent, Chief Operating Officer of Glo Mobile Ghana, George Andah has said.

According to Andah, Glo Mobile Ghana has invested in cutting-edge technology that provides customers with jet-speed internet and data services with nationwide coverage, making it the only operator that has the widest and fastest data network coverage in the country.

“The presence of Glo in Ghana will create a lot of excitement among the stakeholders and unleash potentials for economic and social development of the country.

With the state-of-the-art network that is technically structured to offer seamless connections, we guarantee high quality voice and data network service that is comparable to any network in the world. We believe that this will accelerate the social and economic growth in the country.”

Glo Mobile Ghana, has made robust investment on network infrastructure that will drive premium service offerings such as speed of uploads and downloads as well as flexible and convenient data bundling for its different consumer segments, he said.

Its network boasts of the latest broadband technology such as Next Generation Networks, 1,400 state-of-the-art Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), four ultra modern Switches and 18 Base Switching Centres (BSC).

Transmission of calls and data on these systems will be back-boned by the high-capacity Glo 1 submarine fibre-optic ring cable covering 3,100 kilometres across the length and breadth of Ghana.

“All these have the capacity to carry traffic for up to 10 million lines at a time,” said Andah, adding that “the network has planned to increase its BTS to 2,300 by the end of 2012, which will position it as the number one operator in network coverage in Ghana”

Source: GNA

UT Bank closed 2011 without paying dividends to its shareholders but it secured a total of $55.4million from a number of reputable international financiers to position the bank strongly for a better performance.

The bank could not pay dividends because it had to complete the payment of the GH¢60 million minimum capital to the Bank of Ghana as required for every bank operating in Ghana.

UT secured a $15 million loan from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the African Capitalization Fund Limited to finish paying the minimum deposit at the BOG, but it secured more than that amount.

CEO of the Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng reported at this year’s Annual General Meeting that it also secured a $10 million trade credit line, and $5 million senior loan from the IFC to help facilitate UT’s small and medium-scale enterprise (SME) business.

“We have also successfully negotiated a long-term loan of eight million Euros ($10.4 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB). This will help us fund projects that have a longer maturity period,” he said.

Prince Kofi Amoabeng said UT also planned to conclude negotiations for a further $10 million equity investment from a reputable European organization by the close of this year, 2012.

He said with the support from the IFC, the bank had now exceeded the GH¢60 million minimum capital to GH¢80 million, and was now poised to perform better and pay dividends in 2013.

Meanwhile, the bank posted some GH¢17.3 million profit before tax, and a little over GH¢13 million profit after tax.

The bank finished the year with total assets worth GH¢712.9 million, 26% return on equity, which was higher than the annual treasury-bill rate. It gave out GH¢408 millioin in loans in 2011, which was almost twice what it gave out in 2010.
Mr. Amoabeng however reported that the bank finished the year with a loan portfolio of GH¢499 million, which was 45% higher than that of 2010, adding that SMEs got 57% of the total loans disbursed within the year and the remaining 43% went to the corporate sector.

The bank also undertook a number of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects including financial literacy programmes with GIZ, grooming of up and coming entrepreneurs with Enablis Business Launchpad and the breast cancer awareness campaign and support to acquire a mobile pre-screening unit.

Board Chairman of the bank, Joseph Nsonamoah assured shareholders “the bank is moving up the ladder in terms of market position…and our underlying results show the strength and promise of the bank in achieving its goals.”

Zeal Environmental Technologies Limited (ZETL) is establishing a modern oilfields integrated waste management facility at Nyankrom in the Shama District of Ghana.

Mr. Kweku Ennin, Chief Executive Officer of the company announced this on Tuesday when briefing the media who visited the facility to acquaint themselves with the operations of the company.

Mr. Ennin said the company has acquired a 12.5 acre land for the development of the facility and 6.5 acres of the land has been used to develop the integrated waste management facility.

He said a modern Oily Waste Water Separating Plant, which can be used to manage gas condensate and other hydrocarbon liquid waste is being operated at the facility.

Mr Ennin said ZETL has also acquired a modern high temperature hazardous waste incinerator to manage hazardous waste such as oily rage and sacks, used oil and fuel filters, chemical sacks, obsolete chemicals, medical waste, paint cans and used paints.

He said the company handles ship generated oily waste water, oily sludge, waste oils and general garbage from all vessels that call at the Takoradi Port, the Sekondi Naval Base and the oil and gas industry as well as rigs in the West Africa sub-region.

Mr. Ennin said ZETL is “Committed to ensuring safe, high quality life and environmentally friendly health society for today’s population and tomorrow’s generation”.

Source: GNA

American oil firm Kosmos Energy on May 3, 2012 terminated the acquisition agreement to buy Sabre Oil’s 4.05% interest in the Deepwater Tano Block, offshore Ghana.

The termination was effected after both parties reached a “mutual agreement”.

“Kosmos Energy…has reached a mutual agreement with Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. (Sabre) to terminate the acquisition by Kosmos of Sabre’s participating interest in the Deepwater Tano Block, offshore Ghana,” the company said in a statement.

Kosmos on February 27, 2012 announced it has exercised the right under the existing Joint Operating Agreement to acquire the participating interest of Sabre in the DWTB for a purchase price estimated at approximately $365 million.

Kosmos expected to seal the deal in the second quarter of 2012 subject to a definitive transaction agreement, customary closing conditions and necessary government approvals.

Now that the transaction has failed to materialize, Kosmos’ interest in the Deepwater Tano Block remains at 18% with Tullow Oil plc (49.95%), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (18%), Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. (4.05%), and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (10% carried interest).

Tullow Oil Plc says it expects to secure approval to commence work on a second field TEN in the third quarter of this year.

Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive Officer, Tullow Oil Plc, who announced this said good progress, was made in appraising the TEN discoveries last year and that the company target is to produce 100,000 barrels-per-day from the field.

TEN is estimated to have oil reserve estimates of between 200 million and 1.2 billion barrels.

Speaking to journalists shortly after the first-ever investor forum organised by Tullow Ghana Limited (TGL) to update its local shareholders on the company’s performance for 2011, Mr Heavey said the phase 1A development of the Jubilee field was sanctioned in January and drilling of the first production well commenced on schedule in February.

“This development will be conducted over an 18- month period and the total cost is expected to be approximately $1.1 billion,” he said.

Mr Heavey said oil production from the Jubilee field was likely to hit the 120,000 production target in 2013, attributing the delay in achieving the target to sand seeping and blocking of the wells.

“We are currently doing around 70,000 barrels per day and while doing that we are also looking at various ways of enhancing the production to around 90,000 barrels by the end of this year and probably ramp up to 120,000 barrels next year,” Mr. Heavey said.

He said: Tullow was exploring various options to address the problem and that steady progress had been made.

“We are sure one of the options we have will solve the problem for the long term to enable production progress,” he said, adding that Tullow is expected to spend about $400 million to address the technical challenges.

“The cost could be cheaper, depending on which option works out well at the end of the day, but we estimate to spend about $400 million maximum on this,” he said.

Answering a question on how the company to promote local content in its operations, Ike Duker, Executive Chairman, Tullow Ghana Limited said the issue was at the heart of the company’s operations because of its commercial advantages.

He said local capacity building and capability development helps to ease access to local raw materials for the company whilst creating shared prosperity in the country.

He said an entire department to focus only
on local content had been established, demonstrating the company’s commitment to the country for the long-haul.

Source: GNA

Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil will start operating at Ghana’s oil fields following a 35% working interest it has agreed to acquire from the Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) licence awarded to US company Hess Corporation in 2006, according to a statement issued by the company April 25, 2012.

Hess operates the 2,100 square kilometre licence with a 90% working interest and carries Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNPC) costs through the exploration phase for the remaining 10%.

Statoil says it “will assume a 35% working interest in the licence and carry a proportional share of GNPC’s interest, amounting to a total paying interest of 38.89%” as Hess retains a 55% working interest and the GNPC holding 10% carried interest.

The deal, which was through farming, will be effective from January 1, 2012 and is subject to final approval by the Ghanaian authorities, Statoil said in the statement.

“This gives Statoil access to a large licence in an emerging hydrocarbon province and the opportunity to participate in an area with high impact potential together with an experienced operator,” says Pål Haremo, senior vice president for Exploration global new ventures in Statoil.

LeapFrog Investments, a global impact investing funds company, on Tuesday announced its largest ever private foreign investment in the history of Ghana’s insurance industry.

The $5.5 million investment will allow LeapFrog to acquire a majority stake in Express Life Insurance Company, a Ghanaian insurance firm founded by Obed Kweku Danquah, Executive Chairman of Express Group of Companies.

Express Life Insurance market share below one percent market share in the country is expected to increase significantly with the injection and also meet the new minimum capital requirement of one million dollars for insurance firms in Ghana.

It will also pave way for Express Life to draw on LeapFrog’s capital and distinctive operational expertise to become the market leader in serving the large untapped market of low-income consumers in Ghana.

Briefing the media in Accra Mr Doug Lacey, Head of LeapFrog’s operation in Africa praised Ghana’s economic performance and said the decision to invest stemmed from the country’s macroeconomic achievements that had created a good climate for businesses to thrive.

The name Express Life Insurance would not change, Mr Lacey said because the Ghanaian company had brand equity in the market they believed must be maintained.

Life insurance industry has grown at about 40 percent annually and Lacey believes that there are still great opportunities in the industry because the vast majority of 25 million Ghananians do not have access to insurance.

“Our intension is to grow the business (Express Insurance business) in Ghana to the level an Initial Public Offer will be an option in the Ghanaian capital market,” Lacey said.

Through Express, LeapFrog aims to empower over 500,000 Ghanaians with financial safety nets and springboards to a better life.

Express Life Insurance Chief Executive Mr Obed Danquah said LeapFrog was bringing both capital and expertise to Express and that his company believes in building mergers and buy backs. Express hope to buy back what it had sold out in future.

A recent World Bank report titled: “De-Fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Integration in Goods and Services,” described Ghana’s insurance companies and others within the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) as inefficient.

It identified only one company within the entire WAMZ region, Nigeria’s NICON that has a gross premium base in excess of $100 million.

The report, however, noted that insurance regulatory supervisors in Ghana and Nigeria are best staffed and equipped.

The Venture Capital Trust Fund is working to increase its fund size to 250 million dollars by August this year.

This was after the fund secured a 150 million dollar facility from the China Exim bank last week. The facility is expected to help the Trust promote private equity funding in the country.

Government, which is the majority shareholder in the fund, however has to provide the necessary guarantee before the funds come in.

Chief Executive of the Venture Capital, Daniel Doku told JOYBUSINESS this will help improve its dealings with small businesses.

The Venture Capital Trust currently has a fund size of 100 million dollars.

State refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is considering listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange by 2014.

The move is part of management’s strategy to privatize the firm and make it more profitable.

The plan must however be approved by government which currently wholly owns the refinery.

Managing Director, Ato Ampia however tells Joy Business there are still some issues that need to be addressed, before they go public.

“The first thing to do is that TOR show the path to progress that adds value and that would boost investor confidence. After we have done these little these, little but are so much valued, that will boost the value of TOR’s shares at IPO and make sure that government get as much as possible. We want to do it but the timing is when TOR has its image right, has its plan right and its operations right.”

The refinery says it needs about 900 million dollars to turn around its fortunes.

TOR will then join other state institutions like Ghana Commercial Bank, Cocoa Processing Company and Ghana Oil which have been privatized in similar manner.

State power generator, Volta River Authority is also looking at the option of listing on stock market.

UT Bank was declared Ghana’s best bank at the 2011 Ghana Banking Awards held at the Accra International Conference Centre, Saturday night.

Apart from winning the prestigious Bank of the Year award, UT Bank also won Best Bank - I.T/Electronic Banking, Best Bank - Financial Performance and placed first runner-up in Customer Care, Advisory Services, Medium Term Loan Financing, Most Socially Responsible Bank, Retail Banking and came second runner-up in Corporate Banking.

Organised by Corporate Initiative Ghana, the 2011 Awards was under the theme: Leveraging ICT to transform the Financial Services Sector.

Unibank won Best Bank - Customer Care, Best Bank - Corporate Banking, Best Bank - Trade Finance and Best Bank - Advisory Services and capped their performance with the second runner-up in Short Term Loan Financing.

Prudential Bank won Best Bank - Long Term Loan Financing and Best Bank - Medium-Term Loan Financing and second runners-up in both Competitive Pricing and Retail Banking.

And for UBA which won Best Bank - Short Term Loan Financing, it was first runner-up in Trade Financing, I.T/Electronic Banking; first runner-up in Best Growing Bank, and first runner-up in Corporate Banking, and came second runner-up in Medium-Term Loan Financing as well as Long-Term Loan Financing.

Out of 18 award categories at stake, there were no winners in four categories - Best Bank - Product Innovation; Best Bank - Export Finance; Best Bank - Agriculture Financing and Special Award - Best Bank, Mobile Banking

Below is the list of winners


Bank of the Year : UT Bank

Best Bank - Corporate Banking : Unibank

Best Bank - Retail Banking : Cal Bank

Best Bank - I.T/Electronic Banking : UT Bank

Best Growing Bank : Fidelity Bank

Best Bank - Customer Care : Unibank

Best Bank - Most Socially Responsible Bank : Zenith Bank

Best Bank - Competitive Pricing : Ecobank Ghana

Best Bank - Financial Performance : UT Bank

Best Bank - Trade Finance : Unibank

Best Bank - Advisory Services : Unibank

Best Bank - Short Term Loan Financing : UBA

Best Bank - Long Term Loan Financing : Prudential Bank

Best Bank - Medium-Term Loan Financing : Prudential Bank

Best Bank - Product Innovation

Best Bank - Export Finance

Best Bank - Agriculture Financing

Special Award - Best Bank, Mobile Banking

World renowned airline, Virgin Atlantic, is planning to increase its Accra-London shuttle to seven flights weekly, says Jonathan Harding, the General Manager of International and Distribution.

Virgin recently launched its tri-weekly flight between London and Accra barely two years after receiving an operating license to fly in the Ghanaian airspace.

Virgin Atlantic would prefer to keep the timeline for this planned daily flight under wraps, but aviation analysts say it may commence the initiative soon, given the growing passenger throughput between Accra and London.

“The more frequency we offer, obviously that’s more convenience for travelers,” Mr. Harding told CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE in an exclusive interview in Accra recently.

“We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to fly to Ghana two years ago, it has been a great journey. We are here because we are pretty confident in the potential of the market in terms of business and leisure”.

Ghana is Virgin’s fifth African destination. It operates an Airbus A340-300 with passenger capacity of approximately 480 passengers per flight. Virgin targets an annual passenger throughput of 60,000, “All of you will benefit from more choice, competitive fares and value for money”, stated Jonathan Harding.

Jonathan Harding expressed optimism for the Ghanaian market because of the growing business and leisure travelers to Ghana caused by the improved economic performance and political stability in the country. Indeed, he believes that the burgeoning oil industry in the country will stimulate a lot more travel in the coming months.

Currently there are over 60 international airlines flying to Ghana, some of them are doing daily flights. According to Statistics from the Ghana Tourist Board, the Kotoka International Airport recorded approximately 1.7 million passenger throughput in 2011 alone

CAL Bank Ghana Limited on Wednesday said a new capital injection of GH¢75 million would boost its trade activity, expand and strengthen corporate banking and finance loan portfolio as well as focus on growing sectors such as oil and gas, energy, mining and telecommunications.

The Bank in April said it had raised GH¢75 million through a private placement, pushing its stated capital to GH¢100 million.

Investors in the private placement include African Development Partners I, (“ADP I”), an Africa-focused private equity fund advised by Development Partners International (“DPI”), Proparco of France and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) of Ghana.

Speaking at the Facts Behind the Figures programme of Ghana Stocks Exchange in Accra, Mr Philip Owiredu, Executive Director Cal Bank, said the funds would significantly boost the bank’s ability to increase its exposure limit to any single party and therefore increase its lending capacity.

He said the increase would ensure that the bank took advantage of existing opportunities in the oil and gas, energy, infrastructure, telecoms and utility sectors, which required larger transactions.

In addition, the bank would leverage the new equity to access cheaper funding from Development Finance Institutions to further strengthen its balance sheet for growth.

“Based on the bank’s existing relationships with various DFIs, the Bank expects to leverage the additional equity at least three times to fund its foreign currency portfolio,” Mr Owiredu said, adding, “This would improve the bank’s open forex positions and capital adequacy ratio to enhance trade activity and increase risk assets thereby increasing profitability”.

Mr Owiredu said the bank would invest in additional full service branches and alternative delivery channels including Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to help in the mobilisation of retail deposits, widen its footprint and enhance brand visibility.

Cal Bank plans to scale up its total branch network to 30 from the current 18 and have in place 100 ATMs by 2015 to increase access to retail deposits and reduce the bank’s cost of funds.

In addition, the bank will invest in technological platforms to improve service delivery to both corporate and retail clients.

Mr Frank Adu Jnr., Managing Director of Cal Bank, said the bank would continue to pursue growth in non-interest revenue by taking advantage of international trade finance and forex income.

The bank’s net profit for the first three months to March 2012 grew by 126.4 per cent to GH¢7.830 million from GH¢3.458 million in 2011 while total income was up to GH¢21.779 million from GH¢14.772 million.

Source: GNA

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana Commercial Bank said on Wednesday that its net profit for the three months to March rose 18 percent to 23.384 million cedis from 19.764 million cedis a year ago.

The bank said net interest income for the first quarter rose to 58.373 million cedis from 54.273 million cedis, representing 7.5 percent growth.

Basic Earnings Per Share were up to 0.35 cedis from 0.30 for the same period in 2011, it said.

However, its net profit for the twelve months to December 2011 fell nearly 65 percent to 17.972 million cedis from a restated 50.880 million cedis in 2010, while net interest income slides nearly 28 percent to 206.812 million in the same period.

The bank said it would be proposing the payment of a final dividend of 0.07 cedis per share for the 2011 financial year.

After officials investigated the books of Nigeria’s defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, it has been revealed that the bank’s subsidiary in Ghana manipulated its financial accounts and submitted it to the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

Spanning a period of two years (2008 and 2010), the accounts presented to the central bank by the Intercontinental Bank Ghana (IBG), according to investigators were masked to deceive the BoG. The bank was making loses but turned them into profits, documents obtained and released by Nigerian media outfit BusinessDay have showed citing investigators who worked on the books of the subsidiary.

From the documents, it emerged that for more than two years, between January 2008 and April 2010, IBG which has now merged with Access Bank suffered a “revaluation loss of about GH¢49.4 million in foreign exchange transactions that was covered up and later presented to shareholders and the BoG as profit.”

Quoted in the documents, investigators said “This loss was claimed to have been largely due to FX (foreign exchange) transaction losses and non-revaluation of FCY (foreign currency) accounts for over two and a half years.”

For instance, from January 2008, according to investigators, “the auto-revaluation feature was not enabled for all the Nostro Accounts. The implication of this was that no revaluation was being done on the Nostro balances.” A Nostro account is an account at a foreign bank where a domestic bank keeps reserves of a foreign currency.

The BusinessDay reports that as at December 31, 2008, IBG made a revaluation loss of GH¢110,596.68 on all foreign currency assets and liabilities that were revalued. When the next revaluation was done on October 9, 2009, it resulted in a loss of GH¢11,969,914, but this was manually reversed, the report added.

The bank’s general ledger (GL) No.340000009 after a review, indicated a revaluation loss of GH¢42,586,790.45 by end of December 2010, a situation which is said to have resulted in a loss for the year.

“This should have resulted into a loss of GH¢32,937,790.45 instead of a profit of GH¢9,649,000 declared by the bank as at December 31, 2010,” according to an investigative audit report the news publication claimed to have seen.

The change of loses into profits by the bank was believed to be deliberate as management of the bank in an effort not to disclose the revaluation losses in the 2010 audited financial statement, transferred the loss into a fixed deposit liability GL (I-Cash 210500001) “with an alleged intention of writing it off over two-years.”

After covering up the loss and presenting the financials to show profits, staff were paid bonuses totaling GH¢965,000 (or $644,493) out of the fictitious profit, with the erstwhile managing director of the subsidiary, Albert Mmegwa collecting $100,000 as his share, the BusinessDay reported.

When the story was reported by the BusinessDay in early May 2012, efforts to get a response from the Bank of Ghana proved futile when ghanabusinessnews.com contacted the office of the Head of Banking Supervision.

The BoG’s failure to detect these ‘anomalies’ in the financial accounts of the IBG has raised some questions about the capabilities of the BoG’s Banking Supervison unit.

The 2009 financial audit report of the Auditor-General which was recently discussed by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) indicted the BoG of poor monitoring over delayed tax transfers by Ecobank and the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB).

These two commercial banks were cited for unduly delaying the transfer of indirect taxes into the Consolidated Fund which deprived the government of Ghana of prompt access to tax revenue compelling it to borrow money to finance its budget.

Under an arrangement between the BoG and the two banks, they (Ecobank and GCB) are to collect on behalf of the Customs Division of the GRA’s, “indirect taxes on goods and services and transfer same into the consolidated fund within three working days on receipt”.

But in spite of the agreement, the audit report indicated several instances of delays some of which “exceeded 500 days” in transferring monies promptly into the consolidated fund.

A recent Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) Petroleum Transparency and Accountability (P-TRAC) Index report said it was negatively impacted by the lack of information on the performance of the Heritage and Stabilisation Funds, which was supposed to be published semi-annually by the Bank of Ghana.

But commenting on the Intercontinental Bank issue, Bright Simons of policy think-tank IMANI Ghana, told ghanabusinessnews.com that “Similar to the accounting fraud scandals that brought down some major international financial institutions during the recent global financial crisis, this incident highlights two dimensions of equal ethical significance but posing different technical challenges.”

In an email, Mr Simons said “The blatant fraud represented by the decision to misreport foreign exchange trading losses was clearly pursued with such calculation and energy that even with a near-perfect inspection regime, Central Bank authorities could still have missed it.”

ProCredit Savings and Loans Company Ltd has announced the launch of its 10th anniversary celebrations, under the theme, “Growing with You… 10 Years and Beyond! ”

The company was established on 2nd July, 2002 as Sikaman Savings and Loans Company Ltd, by four bilateral and multilateral companies with the aim of providing transparent, reliable and development-oriented financial solutions to the unbanked, very small businesses of Ghana.

The transition from Sikaman to ProCredit Savings and Loans Company was effected in 2004 to lend the company an international identity, along its strong, customised, local approach to doing business.

At 10 years, ProCredit can boast of an international presence in 21 countries across three continents, 26 networked branches across the Central, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Western regions of Ghana, a credit portfolio of GHS 60.8 million, fully financed by a deposit portfolio of GHS 71.5 million; and ably supported by some 500 dedicated, professional staff.

As the company marks 10 years of business in Ghana, management has given the assurance of ProCredit’s commitment to its core values of transparency, open communication, social responsibility and tolerance, service orientation, high professional standards, and high degree of personal commitment on the part of employees.

Meanwhile, the Company has announced its up-coming Green Environment Campaign, aimed at sensitising staff, clients and the general public about the alarming effects of the depletion of the earth’s natural resources. As part of this drive, the company is setting the pace by incorporating solar energy in the design of a new Head Office Complex, which is to be constructed to meet international environmental standards and certified by the Ghana Green Building Council.

Shell Ghana has revamped operations at its Bitumen depot in Takoradi after investing about a million dollars to address some initial challenges.

The company says aside from the increased quality of its bitumen, it has also increased its storage capacity at its depot.

Speaking to Joy Business, at the opening of the Shell Road Construction Conference, Commercial Manager for Shell Ghana and Togo, Sampson Annor-Quarshie said road construction works in the country should be enhanced by the development.

“In the recent past we had challenges with storage capacity where one of our tanks had to be emptied and repaired but that has been done. We have revamped the bitumen plant at a very high cost and at present we have three bitumen tanks ready to supply the market” he said.

“We know the Highway Authority is introducing a new grade of bitumen and currently we are using two grades of bitumen that was specified by the Ghana Highway Authority. They are bringing in a third grade. We already have a third tank so we can use that to supply the third grade when it becomes available” he concluded.

http://www.seneweb.com/news/Afrique/ghana-2000-2010-de-la-catastrophe-au-succes_n_68785.html
^^
Interesting article on a senegalese website titled: ''Ghana 2000-2010: from disaster to success''.
It was written by Francis Konan, an Ivorian economist.

Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), Ghana’s largest processor and exporter of tuna products, says it does not have any official binding contract to supply fish waste to the Ghana Protein Company (GPC).

Reacting to GPC's accusations of PFC running down its operations, Nana Yaw Amaka- Otchere, Acting Head of Human Resource of PFC said, there had not been any official and commercial contract signed for the continuous and uninterrupted supply of fish waste between them.

“It must be said that there has been no official commercial contract signed between PFC and GPC to date except for a letter of intent used to facilitate this transaction from the beginning and which was never intended to be binding,” he said, adding that allegations of possible monopoly against PFC had no basis.

GPL and PFC has since 2010 been in disagreement after PFC whose core business is tuna processing, stated its intention to start processing its own fish waste for the livestock and poultry industry.

Mr. Amaka-Otchere said PFC had on many occasions informed GPC that once there was no on volume agreement in the absence of an official contract, PFC would continue to exercise its independence of any limitations from their operations.

Besides, he said, the GPC set up its operations without any prior consultations with PFC and it was only when they commenced business that they made an offer to buy supplies of fish offals for their plant.

Mr. Amaka-Otchere said PFC had completed an installation of a 3.2 million dollars fish meal plant as part of its expansion drive to create new job opportunities for the youth.

He said as part of the company’s compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) requirement, PFC had allocated an additional 3.5 million dollars for a water treatment plant which was under construction.

“PFC currently produces about 50,000 tonnes of raw tuna fish per year with the strong expectation of increasing it to 55,000 tonnes by 2014,” he added.

Mr. Amaka-Otchere noted that PFC would not hesitate to take legal action against GPL for libel or negative communication which could have adverse effects on PFC’s operations.**

The free fall of the Ghanaian cedi and the upcoming tension-packed general elections have not deterred Indian business executives from increasing their investments in the West African country.
To this end, over 200 business leaders, accompanying Mr. Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, have converged at Accra International Trade Fair, Ghana, for a three-day 'India Show' which began yesterday. The 'India Show', which is underway, is an exhibition and conference, being put up by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), with the support of the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, and External Affairs.
The 'India Show' is being partnered by the ECOWAS and the counterpart Chambers of Commerce and Industry across the West African sub-region, will rollout "Brand India" to West Africa, as many Indian businesses are taking part in the trade fair.
Opening the 'India Show' in Accra, yesterday, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Miss Hannah Tetteh said "holding the fair in this election year is a vote of confidence in the Ghanaian economy".
With Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which stood at 14.4% in 2011 and sustained macroeconomic development, Ghana is a good place to invest, Ms Tetteh told the Indian and ECOWAS business leaders.
The sector Minister assured the Indian investors that the ECOWAS sub-region was poised for business partnerships and urged them to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that abound in the sub-region.
On his part, the Indian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Mr. Anand Sharma noted that in spite of the global economic turmoil, ECOWAS sub-region was growing at an incredible rate.

According to him, it was important for Africa and Asia to sustain their growth, so as to erase the painful colonial periods. With the South-South co-operation, the African and Asian continents would be able to the sustain growth in their countries.

The Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E Mr. Rajinder Bhagat revealed that trade figures between India and Ghana had recorded $818million in 2010, depicting an increase of 52%, as against 2009.

The India show brought the biggest Indian business delegation to ever visit Africa, and comprise of representatives from sectors including agriculture, health, infrastructure, mining and minerals, ICT, construction, energy, pharmaceuticals, and education.

Ghana was chosen to hold the 'India Show' because of its economic and political stability; rich natural resource base; modern, vibrant and fast growing financial sector; and gateway to the ECOWAS market of 240 million people.

Renaissance Group, a leading emerging markets investment firm and developer of Africa's most exciting urban living solutions, in partnership with two traditional authorities in Ghana, has jointly ushered in Ghana's urban future with the unveiling of $600 million urban housing projects, to be developed at Kpone-Appolonia-City of Light and the King City, both in the Greater Accra and Western regions.

According to the senior managers of the Group, the projects would redefine the country's urban landscape and see the construction of mixed-use urban development's for more than 160,000 Ghana.

The two projects, which are due to start in 2013, and completed over a period of 10 years, are expected to create new growth points to ease the current congestion in major cities and urban areas in Ghana.

The King City will be developed on nearly 2,400 acres (1,000 hectares), while Appolonia, being christened the City of Light, will be constructed on 2,000 acres (800 hectares). Both cities will be designed for a holistic lifestyle, whereby each of their more than 80,000 residents will be able to live, work and play in one geographical location.

The senior managers say the land will be developed for residential properties, retail and other commercial centres, as well as schools, healthcare centres and other social infrastructure.

Launching the projects in Accra, over the weekend, the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, expressed the need for proper spatial planning for cities in Ghana, which has become imperative, as the urban population overtakes rural population.

In his own words: "In the past, we used to have 70 per cent of our population in the rural areas and 30 per cent in the urban areas, but now the figure has changed to an estimated 53% in the urban areas and 47% in rural areas, due to economic growth, and this means we need to do proper spatial planning in our 'disorganized' cities".

He said government did not have a hard time giving its blessing to the projects, because it was a private initiative, which would not be a burden on government's budget, but promised to yield great benefits for the country, particularly with the oil discovery.

Mr. Mahama commended the Renaissance Group for choosing Ghana, and assured them of government's full support for the projects.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Renaissance Group, Mr. Stephen Jennings was happy to say that "the company is proud to join Ghanaian partners to announce King City and Appolonia-City of Light in Ghana and to create a world-class infrastructure and visionary urban solutions to Africa's economic growth".

The Chief of Takoradi, Osahene Katakyi Busumakura III, said the King City project falls within the Omanhene's Sustainable Development Programme, which aims to make Takoradiman, an attractive port city and gateway to the sub-region a viable investment centre, a livable and conducive city in Africa and the world by 2025.

He thanked the Renaissance Group for coming onboard to make his vision a reality, and urged all Ghanaians to start booking their place in the King City and "be the first to enjoy a peaceful, happy life in the modern environment that will be created by this project."

The Chief of Apolonia, NiiTeiAdumuah II said even though Apolonia is known to be a peaceful, beautiful, serene and refreshing environment, there is very little economic activity in the area, as youth unemployment has been a major challenge, and development is virtually nonexistent.
"This is why I am particularly excited about this project because the development that my people and I have long desired will soon become a reality," he said.

The Vice President in charge of West Africa of the Renaissance Group, Mr. DelaWorsonu told journalists earlier at press conference that the projects had already received massive support from government, as well as the chiefs and peoples of the two areas chosen for the projects.

He said the company and the chiefs of the two areas had reached separate equity agreements, in which the chiefs invested the land on behalf of their people, and Renaissance Group would also invest the money as the master development planner to demarcate the areas, build the roads, and bring in utilities and other infrastructure and services.

Mr. Worsonu, therefore, assured his fellow Ghanaians that both cities would have areas for people of different income levels, saying that they had, for instance, secured a company ready to do mortgage of as low as GH¢18,000 repayable in 15 years.

The Head of Real Estates, Africa for the Renaissance Group, Arnold Meyer, said Renaissance would do the master plan for the two cities, and bring in the essential utilities and infrastructure, but the actually buildings would be constructed by private individuals and companies with specifications from Renaissance.

JOHANNESBURG Aug 10 (Reuters) - Gold Fields' Ghana operations, where gold is extracted from ore, have reopened after being shut for over three weeks by the country's Environmental Protection Agency, the company said on Friday.

Gold Fields, which produces around 850,000 ounces globally each quarter, said it lost about 15,000 ounces to the closure of what are known as "heap leach facilities". The company is the world no. 4 bullion producer.

The operations are part of the company's Tarkwa gold mine and were shut on July 16 to comply with an EPA directive calling for water discharges to be directed through a treatment plant.

"Although Gold Fields believes that Tarkwa was complying with the prescribed conductivity levels in its water discharges, it has nonetheless commissioned the construction of two water treatment plants at the heap leach facilities," the company said in a statement

Renaissance Group, a leading emerging markets investment firm and developer of Africa's most exciting urban living solutions, in partnership with two traditional authorities in Ghana, has jointly ushered in Ghana's urban future with the unveiling of $600 million urban housing projects, to be developed at Kpone-Appolonia-City of Light and the King City, both in the Greater Accra and Western regions.

According to the senior managers of the Group, the projects would redefine the country's urban landscape and see the construction of mixed-use urban development's for more than 160,000 Ghana.

The two projects, which are due to start in 2013, and completed over a period of 10 years, are expected to create new growth points to ease the current congestion in major cities and urban areas in Ghana.

The King City will be developed on nearly 2,400 acres (1,000 hectares), while Appolonia, being christened the City of Light, will be constructed on 2,000 acres (800 hectares). Both cities will be designed for a holistic lifestyle, whereby each of their more than 80,000 residents will be able to live, work and play in one geographical location.

The senior managers say the land will be developed for residential properties, retail and other commercial centres, as well as schools, healthcare centres and other social infrastructure.

Launching the projects in Accra, over the weekend, the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, expressed the need for proper spatial planning for cities in Ghana, which has become imperative, as the urban population overtakes rural population.

In his own words: "In the past, we used to have 70 per cent of our population in the rural areas and 30 per cent in the urban areas, but now the figure has changed to an estimated 53% in the urban areas and 47% in rural areas, due to economic growth, and this means we need to do proper spatial planning in our 'disorganized' cities".

He said government did not have a hard time giving its blessing to the projects, because it was a private initiative, which would not be a burden on government's budget, but promised to yield great benefits for the country, particularly with the oil discovery.

Mr. Mahama commended the Renaissance Group for choosing Ghana, and assured them of government's full support for the projects.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Renaissance Group, Mr. Stephen Jennings was happy to say that "the company is proud to join Ghanaian partners to announce King City and Appolonia-City of Light in Ghana and to create a world-class infrastructure and visionary urban solutions to Africa's economic growth".

The Chief of Takoradi, Osahene Katakyi Busumakura III, said the King City project falls within the Omanhene's Sustainable Development Programme, which aims to make Takoradiman, an attractive port city and gateway to the sub-region a viable investment centre, a livable and conducive city in Africa and the world by 2025.

He thanked the Renaissance Group for coming onboard to make his vision a reality, and urged all Ghanaians to start booking their place in the King City and "be the first to enjoy a peaceful, happy life in the modern environment that will be created by this project."

The Chief of Apolonia, NiiTeiAdumuah II said even though Apolonia is known to be a peaceful, beautiful, serene and refreshing environment, there is very little economic activity in the area, as youth unemployment has been a major challenge, and development is virtually nonexistent.
"This is why I am particularly excited about this project because the development that my people and I have long desired will soon become a reality," he said.

The Vice President in charge of West Africa of the Renaissance Group, Mr. DelaWorsonu told journalists earlier at press conference that the projects had already received massive support from government, as well as the chiefs and peoples of the two areas chosen for the projects.

He said the company and the chiefs of the two areas had reached separate equity agreements, in which the chiefs invested the land on behalf of their people, and Renaissance Group would also invest the money as the master development planner to demarcate the areas, build the roads, and bring in utilities and other infrastructure and services.

Mr. Worsonu, therefore, assured his fellow Ghanaians that both cities would have areas for people of different income levels, saying that they had, for instance, secured a company ready to do mortgage of as low as GH¢18,000 repayable in 15 years.

The Head of Real Estates, Africa for the Renaissance Group, Arnold Meyer, said Renaissance would do the master plan for the two cities, and bring in the essential utilities and infrastructure, but the actually buildings would be constructed by private individuals and companies with specifications from Renaissance.
Did they start anything? engineering or construction?Renaissance has major projects in France too and does not go ahead....

Great thread

Did they start anything? engineering or construction?Renaissance has major projects in France too and does not go ahead....

In the Article it says the project is due to commence in 2013.

In the Article it says the project is due to commence in 2013.
Yes but is it construction or design starting at this date? I suppose that it is design, because if it is construction, the design should already be under process....

Ghana's economy grew 14.4 per cent in 2011 mainly from the cocoa, mining and oil sectors, Professor Felix Asante, Deputy Director, Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER),said on Monday.

Despite this encouraging situation however, the growth has not been effectively transformed into areas of economic growth such as job creation and wealth creation where the individual citizen is concerned such as improvement in the standard of living and a reduction in the cost of living.

Prof. Asante who launched "the State of the Ghanaian economy for the year 2011â-', authored by the research body in Accra, said "macro-economic indicators are good, but the challenge is how to transfer these gains into the people's pockets."

According to him, there was the need to put in place structures that ensured that economic growth easily reflected through the standard of living of the people.

He said it was worth noting that the recorded growth was mainly achieved because of the oil find.

Prof. Asante said other areas such as agriculture and the manufacturing sector "are not doing well".

According to him, whilst the oil and gas sectors strongly fuelled economic growth, they were dominated by expatriates, who were more interested in their own gains saying, "There is the need to strengthen the local business industry. We need to see more Ghanaians going into business so we could have more of these returns coming back to us"
Prof. Asante said the situation also called for the strengthening of the local industries so that the agriculture and manufacturing sectors would contribute more towards economic growth.

He said two key areas of the economy that had to be tackled for better economic growth were youth unemployment and productivity at the work place within the public sector.

Prof. Asante said the public sector had to work hard, in order to effectively support the private sector, which was supposed to be the engine of growth of the economy.

He called for a national policy that would promote youth entrepreneurship because "If we ask the youth to be creative and generate jobs, then we should also create the environment to compliment this creativity. Their products and services should have a market."

Touching on the on-coming election, he said there was the need to ensure that more money than necessary was not spent on Election 2012.

"If we over-spend in this election, we might exceed our spending targets, and this could culminate in inflation and other negative economic indicators.

Prof. John Gyapong, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana, Legon, who launched the State of the Ghanaian Economy Report for 2011, said the country needed to invest in science based education, to meet the present needs of the economy.

"The newly discovered oil industry for example needs a science based expertise to thrive," he said.

Prof Gyapong called on policy makers and the government to put in place measures to ensure that "these concerns are looked at" to ensure better economic growth.

The over 200 page document looks at Global Economic Developments, including Ghana's Economic Performance, as well as Youth Entrepreneurship in Ghana.