OmniBSIC Bank partners with PAPSS to enhance cross-border payments … performs rst transaction to Nigeria

OmniBSIC Bank has announced a strategic partnership with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). This collaboration signi es a remarkable milestone for the bank, as it reinforces its commitment to delivering exceptional and innovative banking services to its esteemed customers, while further solidifying the dedication to providing seamless nancial solutions.

PAPSS is a centralized Financial Market Infrastructure designed to facilitate secure and e cient cross-border money transfers throughout Africa. This innovative initiative, supported by Afreximbank and The African

Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), aims to enable instant cross-border payments in local currencies between countries in Africa.

As part of this partnership, OmniBSIC Bank successfully completed its rst transaction to Nigeria on Thursday June 1, 2023 through the PAPSS platform. This transaction showcased the seamless transfer of funds in Cedis originating from a Ghanaian customer in Cedis through OmniBSIC which was received in Naira by the bene ciary in Nigeria.

This achievement demonstrates the bank's commitment to leveraging innovative nancial tech- nologies and enabling greater nancial inclusion for businesses and individuals.

Mr. Daniel Asiedu, Managing Director of the Bank, expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating, "We are thrilled to collaborate with PAPSS in advancing nancial integration across Africa. This partnership aligns perfectly with the bank’s mission of providing excellent and innovative banking services to our customers through competent employees, extensive delivery channels and technology. Through the collaboration with PAPSS, we can o er our customers faster, more secure, and cost-e ective cross-border payment solutions."

Additionally, he emphasized that the bank's customers can now carry out transactions seamlessly from any branch of OmniBSIC Bank to some banks in Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

“With this partnership, our customers will experience many bene ts, including instant payment in local currencies, secure and nal settlement of funds for recipients, instant access to funds by bene ciaries, simpli ed money transfers for businesses and individuals, reduced transfer costs and promotion of intra-African trade.”

Mike Ogbalu III, CEO of PAPSS on his part said: “I am very delighted and proud to see OmniBSIC Bank joining the PAPSS network. This shows how PAPSS will be a game changer for the continent by enabling infrastructure to spur the growth of intra-African trade and commerce, with the active participation of central banks, nancial institutions, regional economic communities, private sectors, and other stakeholders.”

He further stated that “PAPSS has run a successful pilot in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) where transactions between countries did not exceed two (2) minutes to be settled. This is a great opportunity for individuals, SMEs and businesses who want to make transactions across the African continent. PAPSS is currently working closely with the OmniBSIC team to allow its clients to do fast and secure cross-borders payments in local currencies in the shortest possible time.”

Through this collaboration with PAPSS, OmniBSIC Bank will enhance its payment infrastructure and expand its presence across the continent. By leveraging PAPSS' extensive network and expertise, the bank aims to provide customers with e cient and reliable cross-border payment services, bolstering trade and fuelling economic growth in Africa.

OmniBSIC Bank remains committed to fostering strategic partnerships and implementing cuttingedge technologies to revolutionize the banking industry and meet the evolving needs of its customers. This collaboration with PAPSS represents a signicant step in achieving these goals.

OmniBSIC Bank

OmniBSIC Bank is a fully- edged universal bank that traces its roots to a merger between the erstwhile OmniBank and Sahel Sahara Bank. The merger was spurned by the banking sector consolidation programmes introduced by the Bank of Ghana (BOG) in 2017, through several directives including the increment of the minimum capital requirement almost fourfold.

The union between the banks is one of the most successful mergers in the nancial services industry. It can be described as synergistic since both banks shared similarities in business models, values, and customer experience and were both committed to o ering exceptional customer service in Ghana's banking industry. This milestone was achieved through the collaborative e ort of shareholders, directors, management, and the sta who showed a willingness to embrace change to become bigger and better in the banking industry.

OmniBSIC has reinforced its corporate governance structures and invested in its infrastructure to align with BOG's Corporate Governance and other regulatory directives. The bank is dedicated to maintaining the highest level of integrity, transparency, and accountability in all operations, thereby creating a reliable framework for clients to conduct their banking activities with us. With our headquarters at Atlantic Tower, Airport City, and an extensive network of forty (40) branches across Ghana, OmniBSIC provides a complete range of products, services, and digital o erings tailored to the needs of our Corporate, SME, and individual customers while supporting the communities in which we operate. In our commitment to creating excellent banking experiences for our customers every day, the bank continues to invest in technology and employee development.

PAPSS

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System – PAPSS is a centralized Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the e cient ow of money securely across African borders, minimizing risk and contributing to nan- cial integration across the regions. PAPSS works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks and licensed payment service providers across the region can connect as ‘Participants’.

Afreximbank and the African Union (“AU”) launched the PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Further, in its thirteenth (13th) extraordinary session, held on the December 5, 2020, the assembly of African Union recommitted and instructed the Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to nalize among others, work on the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS). The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU, further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent.

Request for Expressions of Interest – Minerals Process Plant Electrical, Instrumentation and Communications Construction

(For Firms Strictly Incorporated in Ghana with Exclusive Ghanaian Directors and Shareholders )

Newmont Africa , a subsidiary of Newmont Corporation (the world's largest gold mining company ) and operator of the Ahafo South and Akyem mines, is requesting Expressions of Interest (EOI) from eligible, capable, and suitably quali ed companies for the provision of electrical, instrumentation and communications (EI & C ) c onstruction s ervices for a m inerals p rocess p lant for its Ahafo North Project The Project is located in the Ahafo Region of Ghana, near Afrisipakrom, approximately 20km S outh -east of Sunyani.

General

(For Firms Strictly Incorporated in Ghana with Exclusive Ghanaian Directors and Shareholders)

(For Firms Strictly Incorporated in Ghana with Exclusive Ghanaian Directors and Shareholders)

T he scope of the s ervices includes electrical, instrumentation and communications (EI & C) c onstruction and installation services for the minerals process plant and associated infrastructure The process plant includes primary crushing, live stockpile, semi autogenous grinding (SAG), ball milling , pebble crushing), pre -leach thickening, carbon -in -leach (CIL) circuit, elution circuit, gold smelting facility, tailings disposal pumping system , and all associated reagent, water and air services

The non -process infrastructure scope includes EI & C installation for o ces, workshops, warehouses, bulk fuel storage and distribution facility, mine workshop , and other mine maintenance facilities

The Project is to be executed over a 1 5 -month period and will cover the following:

High Voltage (HV), Low Voltage (LV), instrument ation and communications cabling installation (150 km of cable)

Cable terminations including cable glanding and lugging.

Cable supports / ladder installation (4 km of cable ladder)

Instrumentation installation

Electrical equipment installatio n – includes installation of free -issued outdoor motor control cabinets ( MCCs ) for remote pumping stations, eld control panels, remote IO panels, eld instrument junction boxes, brackets, xings, and cable supports 8 o free -issued prefabr icated switch room buildings – work includes t ie -in, testing and pre -commissioning

5 o d istribution transformers – installation, termination and testing of HV and LV power, and earth cabling

Mechanical equipment – EI & C installation, testing and pre -commissioning of all mechanical equipment installed by others

Electrical eld devices installation.

Lighting and small power installation , testing and pre -commissioning of distribution boards, general area lighting , general p ower o utlets (GPO) an d three phase outlets.

Earthing installation including ladder, structural and equipment bonding.

I nstallation of underground buried EI & C services

Testing and pre -commissioning

Minimum Criteria

Interested o rganizations must demonstrate that they can meet the following minimum criteria:

Company is registered with the relevant regulatory and professional bodies. This includes but is not limited to the Ghana Minerals Commission We require all appropriate company documentation to meet this requirement

Capability statement and proven records of successfully providing similar previous minerals process plant EI & C construction services within the mining industry We require an experience statement with veri able references for the last three projects to support this capabilit y

References provided must include customer organization name, customer name/contract number, date contract was awarded, contract reference with brief description, country/location, value of contract , and date contract was completed

Details t hat demonstrate the company has current capacity and capability to perform the EI & C construction services in addition to oth er current projects and any projects tendered but yet to be awarded I nformation to include labour, equipment , and temporary facilities resources available within the company

Financial strength and ability to provide uninterrupted EI & C construction s ervices for a minimum of two years We require supporting document ation to demonstrate this capability including the company’s turnover in the last two years, pre -tax pro t (or los s) for the past two years, net worth / shareholders’ funds (or net liabilities) at the date of the latest accounts , present cash/credit position , and the company’s normal means of funding major contract works

Full compliance with all applicable health , safety, environmental, and any other relevant and/or applicable standards We require health and safety management plan, and environmental management plan to suppor t this capability

Provide safety and environmental performance records for the past ve years, indicating workplace injury, disease, and envir onmental incident statistics Details must include year, period of record, hours worked, fatalities, rst aid i njuries, medically treated injuries, restricted work injuries, days lost , and lost time injury rate per 200,000 man -hours worked.

Robust quality management system (Quality Assurance/Quality Control – QA/QC) to e ectively execute the EI & C construction services. Well de ned company structure and veri able evidence of competency of employees.

Please express your interest by submitting an e -mail to AhafoNorthTenderBox@Newmont com indicating the name of your company, contact person , and telephone details You shou ld also include all the requisite documents demonstrating your ability to comply with the above minimum criteria.

All e xpression s of interest should be accompanied by a formal letter on the interested service provider’s letterhead (submitted to the above e -mail address), with subject “A HN _RFI -1 7 00 -2023 – Electrical, Instrumentation and Communications Constru ction Services ” by close of business (5:00 p m GMT) on Wednesday , 13 th June , 2023