Plans by Asante Gold Corporation to integrate the Chirano and Bibiani gold mines is steadily progressing, with a detailed study to capture potential synergies far advanced.
When completed, this is expected to save the company between $5.5 to $7 million per year.
The company noted that a principal initiative was the development of an access road to directly link the process plants, which are approximately 15 km apart.
This road, it said, would support shared services activities and would be developed further to become a mine haul road, so that ore could be treated where most appropriate.
“As previously disclosed, opportunities to reduce costs and improve our operations have been estimated to present savings of up to approximately $5.5 to $7 million per year,” it stated.
The company further noted that “Asante has established a Synergy Project Management Team, to deliver opportunities to share infrastructure and realise operational cost reductions.
“Implementation of actions to capture these opportunities has been started, including coordinated supply of principal consumable materials to the mine with identied commonality. To date, more than $1.5 million in annual cost reductions have been captured”.
The company also stated that it was
on course to meet its 400,000 ounces’ gold production target after recording a 20.7 per cent increase in average monthly gold production for November and December 2022, as compared with the prior two months.
The increases were recorded from its Bibiani and Chirano Gold Mines, all located in Ghana.
The company noted that it continued its record of no lost time from injuries, consolidated preliminary gold production of 23,760 and 24,180 ounces respectively for November and December; and completed nal US$30 million deferred payment, completing the Bibiani acquisition.
It also completed US$54 million in the rst and second tranche payments on the company’s gold forward sale agreement in October 2022 and January 2023 through the delivery of 16,249.60 and 14,113.51 ounces of gold, respectively.
The CEO of Asante Gold Corpora-
tion,
“over
“The signi cant production gains in November and December bode well for the achievement of our 400,000-ounce target from Bibiani and Chirano for the scal year ending January 31, 2024. Over the past ve months, we have made payments totalling US$83.6 million towards closing our Bibiani acquisition and repaying our gold forward sale agreement”.
Looking forward, he said the company would continue to capture the bene ts of owning these two nearby operating mines which incorporate a district scale land package with signi cant exploration potential.
He said value creation initiatives were proceeding across its business as it looked to make Asante one of the top mining companies in Africa.
The Chief of Sta , Madam Frema Akosua Opare, has asked heads of Speci ed Entities (SE’s) and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to prioritise the preparation of their respective management and audited accounts in a timely manner and mainstream appropriate implementation measures detailed in the 2021 Auditor-General’s report.
Her comments follow the Auditor-General's report on the accounts of Public Boards, Corporations, and other Statutory Institutions for the scal year ended 31 December 2021 highlighted operational and nancial irregularities caused by the Speci ed Entities' failure to adhere to controls in 2021.
Speaking at the presentation of the 2021 Audit Infractions Joint Report at the State Interests and Gover-
nance Authority (SIGA) o ce in Accra, she said “all SOEs are expected to mainstream appropriate implementation measures to carry out the recommendations detailed in this report.”
According to her, government
By Eugene Davis
expect all SOEs to ensure it: prioritises the preparation of their respective management and audited accounts in a timely manner, collaborate with SIGA and O ce of the Auditor-General to urgently clear the backlog of unaudited accounts by end of year, prepare
management responses to audit queries and red ags raised by auditors. Keep an updated Asset Register and land title registrations at all times.
She also urged management of Speci ed Entities to ensure it pays monitoring fees which she says was mandatory, as SIGA requires these funds to e ectively carry out its mandate.
The President in October 3, 2022 charged SIGA and the Auditor-General Department, to investigate the causes of infractions cited in the 2021 Audit Report, identify persons responsible, and to make recommendations as prescribed by law.
The Deputy Auditor- General, Mr. Godfred Addison, indicated that by
February 28, 2022, names of heads of SEs/SOs will be published in the newspapers if they fail to submit their audited accounts.
He blamed most of the infractions in the report as the inability to allow internal auditors to work freely as well as breach of procurement laws and lack of control systems.
“Internal auditors are not being allowed to work that is the reason, we meet infractions unresolved. Controls are not working; people get monies and they do not account for it and yet they keep getting more to work with.”
The Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, urged all heads of SEs/SOEs to commit to implement
the recommendations in order not for the e ort to go in vain, he also pointed out that not all the infractions in the report are as a result of corruption or stolen monies but non-compliance issues.
The Director General of SIGA, Amb. Edward Boateng, stated that the report highlighted lack of e ective supervision, monitoring and evaluation on the part of CEO’s, misapplication and misappropriations of funds in some instances, procurement irregularities and risk management.
Further, he recommended that people who are appointed to such high level should have training on the Public Financial Management Act and Public Procurement Act.
Amb. Boateng also disclosed the intent of his Authority to work with Governing Bodies of Speci ed Entities to develop asset revaluation policies and subsequently implement them to meet best accounting practices.
“I want to share with you SIGA's plan to collaborate with Speci ed Entities to embark on an asset revaluation exercise this year”, he said.
Also in attendance was the Minister for Public Enterprises, Hon. Joseph Cudjoe, Deputy Auditor General Mr. Godfred Addison, Mr. Frank Mante of the Public Procurement Authority, Mr. Mac-E ort Adadey of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, and Dr. Eric Oduro Osae of the Internal Audit Agency, amongst others.
O cer of UBA Ghana revealed that, “UBA Foundation believes that the future of Africa lies in its youths. For this reason, the Foundation has spent huge sums of money to actively facilitate educational projects and bridge the literacy gap on a Pan-African scale.”
Adding that, “In Ghana, UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition has grown to be one of the best initiatives that allows every student in Secondary School to exhibit their cognitive skills and potential while developing a positive work ethic with problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The National Essay Competition is one of our stunning initiatives to which we will forever pledge our full commitment.”
winners from the 2022 National Essay Competition at an award presentation ceremony held at Alisa Hotel in Accra.
The winners are Genevieve Budu of the Ghana International School, Kenrich Nii Nakai Nettey from Presbyterian Boys Secondary School, Legon and Cecilia Akye also from the Methodist Girls High School, Manfe. They received $5000, $3000 and $2,000 respectively as educational grants from the UBA Foundation. In addition,
ed items.
Speaking on behalf of the Minster of Education, Catherine Agyapomaa Appiah Pinkrah Director, General Administration at the Ministry of Education congratulated all the nalists and commended UBA for their immense contributions to Ghana’s education and commitment to enhance the writing skills of the youth. She used the opportunity to call on other private sector businesses to emu-
late the good example of UBA in ment’s key education reforms to transform teaching and learning under the Education Strategic Plan (ESP).
Mrs Ajuba Amihere Adu-Tutu, Programme O cer for Schools and Instructions Division at the Ghana Education Service (GES) said, GES will continue to pledge its support to the UBA essay competition as the importance of essay writing cannot be downplayed in education.
In his remarks, Chris O kulu, Man-
Genevieve Budu, winner of the National Essay Competition 2022 with full excitement expressed her gratitude to the entire team at UBA for organising the competition. The event was attended by management of UBA Ghana, Heads and representatives of participating schools, representatives from Ghana Education Service and Ministry of Education as well as the media.
Prior to the overall top three announcement, the ten nalists were selected from more than 400 entries. The rst topic was on Sports betting while the nal essay was on the topic “Illegal Mining (Galamsey) has become a menace in our country. What pragmatic measures should the government put in place
The attention of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has been drawn to the abuse/misuse of Nitrous Oxide gas at nightclubs and parties in the forms of balloons and canisters to induce euphoria and laughter. Nitrous Oxide gas is used as a propellent and a preservative in the food industry and a medical anesthetic analgesic.
In a press statement, signed by the CEO, Ms.Delese Mimi Darko, the
Authority has cautioned the public that the misuse of Nitrous Oxide gas is extremely hazardous and includes risks of low blood pressure, heart attack and anaemia. Abusers of Nitrous Oxide gas are also prone to the risk of su ocating and loss of consciousness.
Long-term recreational use(abuse) of Nitrous Oxide gas could also compromise the immune system,
mental and neurological disorders (hand and foot numbness and limb spasms), depression and incontinence
The release further noted that the FDA strongly admonishes nightclubs, pubs and party organizers to desist from the inappropriate use of Nitrous Oxide gas in their facilities.
“The public is hereby urged to promptly report to the Authority on
the abuse of Nitrous Oxide gas.” the release captured.
The Authority is collaborating with other relevant stakeholder agencies to address the emerging safety concerns. In the meantime, the FDA assures the public of its commitment in ensuring public health and safety through continuous public education, engagement and sensitization of the public on the risks of substances of abuse.
Management of the Ghana Export –Import Bank (GEXIM) on Thursday, 19th January 2023, hosted a business delegation from Malta.
Ms. Rosemary Beryl Archer, the Deputy Chief Executive O cer responsible for Banking, on behalf of the Chief Executive O cer, Mr. Lawrence Agyinsam, received the delegation.
The Business delegation from Malta, consisting of representatives of Malta’s Economic Development Agency, Malta Enterprise and some Maltese Businesses were hosted at the Bank’s headquarters at the Africa Trade House in Accra.
Ms. Antoinette Cefai, responsible for Outreach and Internationalisation at the Business Development
and Growth Unit of Malta Enterprise led the delegation
Receiving the delegation, Ms. Rosemary Beryl Archer highlighted the Bank’s mandate to serve as a key engine in the development of Ghana’s export trade, facilitate cross border trade and make Ghana a pillar in regional and continental trade in addition to facilitating the transformation of Ghana’s economy into an export one.
“As a Development and Policy Bank, we are supporting the Government of Ghana’s quest for a feasible and sustainable export led economy. Over the years, we have nancially supported several Ghanaian businesses in various capacities as well as developing trade between Ghanaian and
foreign businesses. We have assisted some Ghanaian businesses to make overseas investments and eliminated critical market failures in the Ghanaian economy to make Ghana competitive in the global marketplace”, she added.
On her part, Ms. Antoinette Cefai, indicated that Malta is a stable democracy, which is very welcoming to an innovative mind-set with an open business-centric commercial community that stands tall as an European Union member state, with a proven record of economic success.
She further expressed their appreciation to the Bank’s Executive Management for hosting them and discussing with the team avenues of possible collaboration between
The Director of Health at the Shai Osudoku District, Reverend Dr Ebenezer Asiamah and the medical o cers at the Ayikuma CHPs compound near Dodowa in Shai Osudoku district have expressed massive delight at an imminent improvement in the health care delivery at the CHPs facility particularly in the eld of maternity health care.
The extensive delight is in lieu of the receipt of a state of the art Philips iU22 ultrasound scan machine that o ers the best image quality possible through xMatrix transducers with the best aspects of single-crystal and 4D transducers.
Swiss nationals, Andreas Frick and his wife, Gritz Frick presented the
modern Ultra scan machine to the Ayikuma CHPs compound near Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku district, through their friends in Ghana, Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Afriyie, director of Communications at the Youth Employment Agency and a presenter at Metro TV and Michael Amfo Afriyie, CEO of Riva Swiss Hospital at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region).
Malta Enterprise, GEXIM, clients of GEXIM and other Ghanaian businesses to develop trade between the two countries.
Other members of the Maltese Delegation included Christopher Busuttil Delbridge, Managing Director of Evolve, Keith Vassallo and Solaman El Khazmi, Directors of Associated Equipment, and Scott Francis, Chief Technology O cer of TrustSTamp.
The GEXIM team that hosted the Delegation included Head of the Advisory Department, Mr. Frank Obeng, Senior Manager at the Corporate A airs Department, Mr. Emmanuel Essil e - Conduah and Assistant Manager, Corporate A airs and International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney.
ByThe donation was in ful llment of a pledge the Fricks made to o cials of the health center on their tourism visit to Ghana early last year. They had been impressed by the community healthcare nature of the CHPs compound but were concerned about the lack of requisite equipment especially in the area of maternal healthcare where the community members needed it most and as such
promised to support the Centre through their friends in Ghana.
True to their words, Andreas Frick and his wife Gritz both of who live and work in the health sector in Switzerland made do with their words and delegated their local representative to undertake the gesture on their behalf.
Speaking at a brief ceremony to
hand over the machine to the CHPs compound on behalf of the Fricks, Mr.Emmanuel Kwasi Afriyie said the Swiss nationals had been warmly welcomed by the Mr Kenneth Nartey, a senior Research O cer in the Shai Osudoku District and his colleagues to the Shai hills, and as part of the tour took them to some facilities since they were in the health sector. According to him, they were touched and pledged
their widows might to support mostly pregnant women in the communities.
"This gesture by Andreas and his wife is a signi cant contribution and a ful llment of their pledge, which they hope will make a great impact at this facility." Mr Afriyie told journalists.
The District Director, Health Services at Shai Osudoku Rev. Dr Ebenezer Asiamah expressed his gratitude for the donation and indicated that the facility has been losing out on patients especially pregnant women because it does not have a modern scan machine. He was hopeful that this will bring life to the center and reduce the burden of antenatal health care on the Shai Osudoku District Hospital. Dr Asiamah said the district was looking forward to express their appreciation in person in the near future to the Fricks. "We are very grateful and we look forward to getting more ", he said.
The midwife in charge of the Ayikuma CHPs compound Madam Wilhemina Dadebo and the entire sta were highly elated at the receipt of this machine and promised to keep it with utmost care and standard of maintenance to ensure
that it lasts enough to serve a lot more people.
Mr Kenneth Nartey, a senior Research O cer in the Shai Osudoku District speaking to the media promised that with the donation of this machine, they are all encouraged to support the CHPs compound to improve healthcare delivery in Ayikuma and the adjoining communities.
The donation saw Dr Solomon Narh-bana, Senior Research O cer at the District, Isaac Tetteh, District Director of the Youth Employment Agency, Eugene Kwabena Davis, Research O cer at the Parliament of Ghana, O cials from NHIA amongst others.
The Philips iU22 is a premium shared service ultrasound machine that o ers the best image quality possible through xMatrix transducers that o er the best aspects of single-crystal and 4D transducers. It also o ers the top of the line image quality and features available for Radiology, OB/GYN, Cardiac, Vascular and even specialty imaging like MSK, Pediatric, and Elastography. The iU22 has been replaced by the Epiq 5, but still maintains top of the line image quality.
ly enhance the world of work. We are proud to announce and celebrate this year's group of leading people-oriented employers: the Top Employers
“We are honoured to be recognised as a Top Employer for Ghana and Africa, 2023 by Top Employers Institute,” said Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, Vodafone Ghana's Director of Human Resources. “It is a testament to our commitment to creating a positive and inclusive working environment for our employees. We believe that investing in our people is not only the right thing to do, but it also drives the success of our organisation.”
This remarkable achievement re-afrms Vodafone as a leader in exceptional HR policies and outstanding working conditions and highlights the organisation's dedication to a better world of work through excellent people practices, even during uncertain economic times.
er in Ghana ve years ago and in the four subsequent years thereafter as Top Employer in Ghana and Africa.
Each year, the Top Employers Institute identi es organisations that
HR domains and 20 topics, including People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Diversity & Inclusion, and Wellbeing.
Top Employers Institute CEO David
exceptional performance from the certi ed Top Employers 2023. These employers have always demonstrated that they care for the development and well-being of their people. By doing so, they collective-
Top Employers Institute is the global authority on recognising excellence in People Practices. Through the Top Employers Institute Certi cation Programme, participating companies can be validated, certi ed, and recognised as an employer of choice. Established over 30 years ago, Top Employers Institute has certi ed 2,053 organisations in 121 countries/regions. These certi ed Top Employers positively impact the lives of over 9.5 million employees globally.
BOD’s investments held at the various banks to pay its customers who may not agree with the decision to rollover the Cocoa bills.
The BoG, in a release, noted that while Cocoa bills, like the Bank of Ghana bills, were designed as instruments to be held just by nancial institutions, unfortunately some
six-month Cocoa bill to raise fund to cover the maturing obligation failed.
COCOBOD’s investments with them to pay such clients is, therefore, to help reduce the cash ow challenges on the retail holders.
The release, however, noted that the nancial Institutions have agreed to roll over their cocoa bills investments after an attempt by the Bank of Ghana to reissue a new
On Thursday, January 19, a six-month Cocoa bill with face value of GH¢940.42 million matured and the central bank went through the usual process to reissue on behalf of COCOBOD, a new Cocoa bill to raise funds to pay the matured bills. Unfortunately, this auction failed and was severely undersubscribed, resulting in a shortfall of GH¢ 855.42million.
There were media reports that COCOBOD had failed to honour its Cocoa bills obligations and had rolled over the bills without even informing
investors.
But after a meeting held on Friday, January 20 among the banks, COCOBOD and Bank of Ghana, it was agreed that all institutional investors will roll over their maturing cocoa bill for Tender 6155.
“COCOBOD has assured us that the outlook for the 2023 crop season is good and Cocoa purchasing are ahead of last year.
“We, therefore, expect that this short-term cash ow challenges facing COCOBOD will be resolved soon to enable it meet its obligations to investors,” the release noted.
tion passed on to some customer accounts as a result of transactions initiated on binance.com, a cryptocurrency exchange.
The bank explained that it had series of engagements with it gateway partners and the outcomes con rmed the bank’s position on the settlement of the transactions on Binance.
The Head of Retail Banking, Akweley Laryea, explained that customer complaints on the foreign exchange adjustments and their e ects on account balances necessitated further investigations in the transactions.
“Reviewing the details of customer complaints required that we quickly engage with our payment gateway partners to con rm the nature of these transactions and the complexi-
ties of the settlements which involved international merchants outside Ghana,” she said.
These customers transacted in Ghana cedis and that is how they paid for the transactions. The process however required a multi-currency settlement, and we are still engaging our partners to resolve this amicably, she added. She said as an interim measure, all FNB Visa debit cards will be disabled for transactions on binance.com until the bank realigns the settlement processes with all stakeholders.
“For now, our cards will not be enabled for crypto exchange and related transactions. We entreat our customers to abreast with the terms and conditions on our accounts,” she said.
SIC Brokerage Limited has appointed Evelyn Duke as the Acting Group Managing Director of the company.
She replaces Eno Ofori-Atta, who resigned from the Group as the Group Managing Director on December 31, 2022.
A statement issued by the Ghana
Stock Exchange (GSE) in Accra on Monday, January 23, and copied to Graphic Business said Mrs Duke’s appointment took e ect from December 6, 2022.
"SIC Brokerage announces for the information of the general investing public that the Board of Directors of the company have appointed Mrs.
Duke as the Acting Group Managing Director of SIC Financial Services Ltd and SIC Brokerage Ltd, e ective December 6, 2022.
"She replaces Mrs. Eno Ofori-Atta, who resigned from the Group as the Group Managing Director on December 31, 2022," it said.
burden of exponentially increasing cost. The nancial sector has a crucial role to play in directing capital towards adaptation and creating the proof points to demonstrate that investing in adaptation can be a commercially viable attractive proposition for the private sector.”
Failure to invest the bare minimum needed to withstand projected climate damage could cost emerging markets hundreds of billions in climate damages and lost GDP growth this decade, according to a new study by Standard Chartered.
2030, these markets could face projected damages and lost GDP growth of USD377 billion: over 12 times that amount.
The projection assumes that the world succeeds in limiting temperature rises to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement. In a 3.5°C scenario the estimated minimum investment required more than doubles to USD62 billion and potential losses escalate dramatically if the investment is not made.
Examples of climate adaptation projects include the creation of coastal barrier protection solutions for areas vulnerable to ooding, the development of drought-resistant crops and early-warning systems against pending natural disasters.
India to bene t the most from adaptation investment Among the 10 markets in the study, India is projected to bene t the most from adaptation investment. The market would require an estimated USD11billion to prevent
India 10.6 billion 135.5 billion
China 8.1 billion 111.9 billion
Indonesia 4 billion 39 billion
UAE 2.7 billion 31.5 billion
Nigeria 1.5 billion 19.9 billion
Bangladesh 1.2 billion 11.6 billion
Egypt 900 million 8.6 billion
Vietnam 600 million 8.9 billion
Pakistan 600 million 7.6 billion
Kenya 200 million 2.2 billion
Even if the world’s nations manage to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, measures to adapt to climate change must be pursued alongside the global decarbonisation agenda, with the banking sector having a critical role to play in unlocking nance.
The USD30billion investment required for adaptation represents
only slightly more than 0.1 per cent of combined annual GDP of the 10 markets in the study and much less than the estimated USD95 trillion
tion to net zero using mitigation measures, as outlined in Standard
The Adaptation Economy also surveyed 150 bankers, investors and asset managers and found that, currently, just 0.4% of the capital held by respondents is allocated to adaptation in emerging markets
However, 59% of respondents plan to increase their adaptation investments over the next 12 months. And on average, adaptation nancing is expected to rise from 0.8% of global assets in 2022 to 1.4% by 2030.
Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability O cer, Standard Chartered, said: “This report makes it clear that irrespective of e orts to keep global warming as close to 1.5C as possible we are going to have to incorporate climate-warming e ects into our systems and adapt to its reality.”
“All nations will need to adapt to climate change by building more resilient agriculture, industry and infrastructure, but the need is greatest in emerging and fast-developing economies with a disproportionate risk of exposure to the negative e ects of rising temperatures and extreme weather.”
“We must urgently recognise that adaptation is a shared necessity, and as our Adaptation Economy research so e ectively highlights, inaction creates a shared societal
The Adaptation Economy, which investigates the need for climate adaptation investment in 10 markets – including China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan – reveals that, without investing a minimum of USD30 billion in adaptation by 2030, these markets could face projected damages and lost GDP growth of USD377 billion: over 12 times that amount.
The projection assumes that the world succeeds in limiting temperature rises to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement. In a 3.5°C scenario the estimated minimum investment required more than doubles to USD62 billion and potential losses escalate dramatically if the investment is not made.
Examples of climate adaptation projects include the creation of coastal barrier protection solutions for areas vulnerable to ooding, the development of drought-resistant crops and early-warning systems against pending natural disasters.
India to bene t the most from adaptation investment
Among the 10 markets in the study, India is projected to bene t the most from adaptation investment. The market would require an estimated USD11billion to prevent climate damages and lost growth of USD135.5 billion in a 1.5°C warming scenario – equal to a thirteen-to-one return for the Indian economy of investment in climate adaptation.
Meanwhile, China could avoid an estimated cost of USD112 billion by investing just USD8 billion. And Kenya could avoid costs of an estimated USD2 billion by investing USD200 million in adaptation.
Africa as well as progress on regional integration.
The 55th Session of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM2023) will be held from March 15-21, 2023, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Session, a statutory meeting of the ECA, will review the state of economic and social development in
CoM 2023 will be convened under the theme, ‘Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities.’ It will be attended by African ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, representatives of member States, entities of the United Nations system, pan-African nancial institutions, African academic and research institutions, development
Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities
partners and intergovernmental organizations.
A preparatory meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will precede the 55th Session followed by the ministerial segment of the Conference which will deliberate on the development agenda of Africa on the back of a raft of economic and political challenges facing the continent.
Despite high growth rates in the past two decades, which have reduced poverty levels in Africa with the share of the population living in extreme poverty decreasing from 55 to 35 percent between
2000 and 2019, 667 million people still live in extreme poverty in 2022.
ECA’s Acting Executive Secretary, Antonio Pedro, said global shocks are turning millions of vulnerable people into the continent’s new poor, reversing decades of progress, citing that the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed an additional 55 million Africans below the poverty line.
Mr. Pedro said even when growth rates were high in Africa, everyone did not bene t equally. For example, between 2004 and 2019, the top 10 percent of wage earners received about 75 per cent of total income. High inequality, along with high levels of poverty, creates a
vicious cycle in which structural bottlenecks persist, rendering the population in Africa perennially vulnerable to both economic and non-economic shocks.
“The ability of African countries to e ectively tackle poverty and inequality is now severely constrained given declining economic growth, narrowing scal space, rising debt, commodity shocks and tightening global nancial conditions,” said Mr. Pedro, adding that, “The risk of missing the poverty and inequality targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the African Union, is higher than it has ever been before.”
The 55th Session of the Commission aims to renew focus and action on reducing poverty, inequality and other factors that have left the African population continuously vulnerable to these scourges.
Mr. Pedro urged that recovery e orts must be pro-poor and inclusive, with a view to fostering a new social contract that o ers equal opportunity for all.
Considerable opportunities to reach these goals exist on the continent and beyond, including through activities carried out under the African Continental Free Trade Area, green investments, digital transformation, and reforms to the global nancial architecture, he said.
passenger.
"This is what I have. Someone also gave it to me. If you don't like, I don't know what to do," explained a bus conductor.
I guess many might have encountered same or witnessed similar happenings in one way or the other. The condition of the Ghana currency in public circles and market places is very worrying.
These are monies government, through the Bank of Ghana (BoG), spend huge sums of cash to print. How long would the Ghana Cedi, especially the notes, su er poor handling? New notes are printed, and in no time, they are so old, weak and unpleasant to handle.
Gradually, the GH¢1 and GH¢2 notes are being replaced with coins. The GH¢5, GH¢10, GH¢20, GH¢50, GH¢100 and GH¢200 would only be in notes.
The very group of people who mishandled the one and two-cedi
what the matter is: the GH¢5, GH¢10, GH¢20, GH¢50, GH¢100 and GH¢200 notes will also su er poor handling in the custody of bus conductors, hawkers, traders and the general public.
One beautiful national attitude was exhibited by Japan in the Qatar World Cup tournament. Anytime Japan (spectators) went to the stadium, they picked rubbish after a match. Even when they lost the game or their country was not playing that day, they voluntarily kept the stadium spick and span. What a national training!
From the inference made, can't we, as a nation, start training ourselves in similar way, so as to protect our national currency notes? The central bank spends a lot of money in printing moneyboth the coins and notes.
Electronic means of transactions
drivers who purchase fuel and pay electronically rather than in cash.
Advantage should be taken of our educational system. Since many people are in our schools - from pre-school to tertiary, proper ways of handling money should be added to Financial Literacy training.
The Education Ministry, through the Ghana Education Service, may encourage schools to patronise electronic means for collection of their funds to reduce cash handling.
The BoG should roll-out initiatives to partner with the religious bodies to educate their members, since they gather hundreds and thousands of them from Friday to Sunday.
The culture of using purse and wallet should be cultivated and practiced by leaders, to serve as example to the citizenry.
The "respect" accorded foreign currencies like dollar, pound, and
Bus conductors, hawkers and traders should be enforced to use aprons with pockets, bags or big purses where electronic transactions are not available or possible and cash is received.
Churches should educate their members to use envelopes and o ering bags or baskets for cash collections.
Folding and pressing monies hard in the hands should be discouraged. Failure to take pragmatic measures now would soon see the GH¢100 and GH¢200 Cedi notes in bad state as the GH¢1.00 and GH¢ 2.00 notes. Save the Ghana Cedi today!
Child Worker & Courtesy Coach, Accra.
E-mail:amoakoseyrichard90@gmail.com A
Banks are holding out for better terms in a domestic bond-exchange program aimed at easing the government’s debt-service burden. This is according to Bloomberg. No bank will make a pro t in 2022 if they accept the new bonds o ered under the exchange, and some face collapse, according to two people familiar with ongoing talks between the government and lenders, who asked not to be identi ed because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
Ghana is restructuring most of its public debt, estimated at ¢467 billion ($39.2 billion) as at the end of September 2022, to qualify for a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Local bondholders have been asked to voluntarily exchange ¢137.3 billion of debt for new bonds that will pay zero interest in 2023 and less than existing securities in ensuing years. The repayment of principal for the new bonds won’t start until 2027 and ends in 2038, under current terms. Banks are negotiating for principal repayments to start by 2026 and end around 2033, the people said.
Banks, which own about a third of the existing securities, will make losses on the di erence between the net present value of their
current holdings and the new bonds, the people said. They will have to make provision for the losses in their books to satisfy accounting standards, they said.
While the Bank of Ghana set the risk-weight of new bonds at zero percent for capital adequacy ratio calculations, auditors have disagreed, calling for full provision, the people said.
The Ghana Association of Banks, which declined to comment on the terms under negotiation, got approval from the Ghana Stock Exchange for members to delay ling 2022 nancial statements by a month to April 30, 2023, it said in a statement Thursday.
A nance ministry spokesperson declined to comment.
Citigroup Inc. estimates net-pres ent-value losses for bondholders of as much as 77% in 2023, it said in a January 4, 2023 note to clients.
Ghana is “con dent” it will reach an agreement with banks and close its debt exchange o er on Jan. 31, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said in an interview with Accra-based Joy News late Thursday. He also said the zero-coupon in 2023 was being reconsidered.
The government is targeting 80% participation in the domestic debt swap program. It’s also engaging
with bilateral creditors through the Paris Club to reach a restructuring deal by the end of February, and it’s in separate talks with holders of external debt to restructure eurobonds.
Over the next month, Ghana aims to make enough progress to go to the IMF Executive Board in March to secure a nal approval for its program, Ofori-Atta said. The coun-
try seeks to lower its public debt from an IMF estimate of 105% of gross domestic product in 2022 to 55% by 2028.
Since Ghana launched its exchange program on December 4, 2022, there’s been pushback from several investor groups, resulting in three deadline extensions so far. The government has set up a 15 billion cedi fund to support the banking sector.
Burkina Faso, that desert landlocked west African country located in the Sahel, might be facing its thornest path to unpredictable political situation. With an approximately 22 million population, majority impoverished largely due to misplaced state planning by the previous political leaders, Burkina Faso has been severely a ected by the rise of militant terrorist attacks since the mid-2010s.
Burkina Faso is not alone. Across the Sahel region, neighbours feared the jihadist insurgency might spread further down from Burkina Faso to coastal neighbours including Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin. Nigeria is already consistently ghting Boko Haram and other militant groups.
According to several media reports, Burkina Faso point-blank accused France for not done enough to tackle an Islamist insurgency. The prolonged insecurity resulted into political instability and military takeovers in January 2022 and September 2022 in the country.
The reports further said Burkina Faso has allegedly made an agreement with Russia's Wagner Group in which the shadowy mercenary
out t will help the west African country deal with surging jihadi violence in exchange for a mine. Russia is broadening its geography of military diplomacy covering poor African countries and especially fragile states that need its military assistance. It has, during its past two decades of raising its economic in uence and ght French neo-colonial tendencies, bartered military equipment to have complete access into mineral resources in Central African Republic, Guinea, Mali and Chad. There are similar cases in Sudan and Libya.
Last year, it su ered two military coups, heavily condemned by the regional bloc (Economic Community of West African States), and the continental organization (African Union). Both the ECOWAS and AU withdrew Burkina Faso's membership and further imposed some restrictions on the country for its military unconstitutional ascension to political power.
The ECOWAS and AU have also expressed collective concerns about any use of private mercenary forces, instead of well-constituted regional forces approved by region-
al blocs, as a means to address con icts in Africa.
During the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit held December 13-15 in Washington, the White House did not invite Sudan, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso because they are currently suspended by the African Union following coups and counter coups in Africa. These countries are simply not in good standing with the Africa Union.
Reports indicated that the United States has dropped Burkina Faso from its African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The main reason is that United States operates within the framework of protocols of the African Union, and thus Burkina Faso is no longer and logically qualied for the AGOA trade preference program. The United States' Trade O ce said Burkina Faso had failed to meet the requirements of the AGOA statute.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides sub-Saharan African nations with duty-free access to the United States if they meet certain eligibility requirements, such as eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment and making
progress toward political pluralism. Frustrations over the government's inability to curb an insurgency spurred two military coups in Burkina Faso in 2022. Late December, Burkina Faso's military government ordered Barbara Manzi, who is a senior United Nations o cial, to leave the country, a decision that was contested by the United Nations. Burkinabe Ministry of Foreign A airs, however, reacted to the decision by repeating a November statement saying the timetable for a return to democracy had not changed. It had committed to returning to constitutional rule in 24 months in a July agreement with the West African regional bloc ECOWAS. Burkina Faso is one of the world's poorest countries. It is agricultural, but said to have been mining copper, iron, manganese, gold and phosphates. Despite its political crisis, Burkina Faso utterly refused to observe the protocols of the ECOWAS and African Union. And the United States shows readiness to cooperate with African partners within the protocol principles and the framework of the African Union's Agenda 2063.
The State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) is awaiting approval from Cabinet on the listing of selected state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have the potential of making pro t on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Amb. Edward Boateng, the Director-General of SIGA, announced this at an Editors’ Forum last Thursday at the authority’s o ce in Accra.
“We have made our recommendation to cabinet, so we waiting for the decision of cabinet, I think once they come up with the approval, we can make that public, we are working very closely with the Ghana Stock Exchange.
It is important to all of us that we use that cheaper source of funding to push some of these entities forward.”
The Authority, he said, would also facilitate e orts for the SOEs to secure local and international partnerships with prospective investors towards making them nancially viable, pro table and enable them pay dividends to government.
Mr. Boateng said SIGA, although created about three years ago, was working to secure its mandate and
also position it as e cient and excellent entity, and demands same from entities under its watch.
Further, he indicated that the e ciency with which some SOEs are working will translate in this year’s Attorney-General’s report with fewer infractions being recorded ; “ I have every conviction that this year, 2023 Auditor-General’s report may be one of the best in the country because the infractions are going to reduce and nobody wants to come and sit in front of SIGA for the tough questions.”
The maiden SIGA Editors’ Forum was themed “Understanding the Role of SIGA”, the forum is an initiative of SIGA is intended to strengthen the existing relationship between the Authority and the media and provide the public with accurate information by way of data, facts, statistics and new developments.
Mr. Boateng lauded the role of the media in nation-building and stressed their importance as key stakeholders in disseminating information and educating the public on activities of Speci ed Entities.
He said SIGA was established to oversee government interests in the Speci ed Entities to ensure they
operate pro tably and e ciently.
“We are therefore poised to make a change to support His Excellency the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s vision for Speci ed entities to contribute 30% to Ghana’s GDP. In light of this, our stakeholders and Ghanaians must be
informed of the numerous programmes and initiatives that our Speci ed Entities are implementing to help the country's socioeconomic development. As a result, we will need your understanding and support to communicate our progress, challenges, and success stories to the public,"
The current economic hardship in the country is expected to have far reaching consequences for the entire country, industry, organizations and individuals.
Ultimately, the impact on the individual will be manifested in the behavior, attitude and the outlook of the employee at the workplace.
At the corporate level, the impact will be felt by the individual worker, who will react in several ways with obvious impact on productivity.
Economic crisis has been de ned as: “a period of social change or instability that evokes feelings of fear, panic and danger amongst organizational members”. Such a situation will obviously draw negative reaction from stakeholders at the enterprise level, through industry to the national level.
Drawing upon this de nition, we will like to highlight HR’s role in o ering strategic interventions which can diminish such feelings among workers as HR works in helping to lead and manage individual and organizational change. In times of fear in whom will a worker place his trust? Of course, a rational being will ultimately resort to God; but before then, he will do a self-introspection, examine available opportunities as well as threats. The worker will also examine his strengths and weaknesses. He will then turn his attention to the established systems, including the legal framework, his terms of employment contract as well as the industrial climate.
In this write-up we will seek to focus on the individual employee at the workplace, the class he is identied with and his expected reaction to the crisis and what the HR Practitioner will have to do to mitigate the impact of the negative tendencies in order to make the most of the situation.
Generally speaking, workers may be grouped into four categories, particularly in the face of crisis, namely the Engaged, the Disengaged, Distracted and the Disgruntled. Let us examine these categories one after the other.
The Engaged, the desired class of workers, are those who have a high stake in the business and hold on to hope for better times ahead despite current challenges. To them, no condition is permanent as this phase in the history of the company will pass. They are disposed towards nding better ways of doing things and saving cost. They are the organizational citizens (old soldiers) who will bend over backwards to move the company forward despite obvious challenges. They exert positive energy at all times and seek to work on other workers to turn around the fortunes of the company.
The Disengaged are those whose commitment to the system has been undermined or waned by reason of their age and nearness to retirement. In terms of energy they appear drained; the spirit is willing
but the body is weak. They exhibit the following characteristics:
• High Sense of Loyalty
• Good Institutional Memory
• Pride in the Company Brand
• Prepared to serve as brand ambassadors
• Willingness to work on projects
• Scatter-brained
• Physically present but mentally absent
In the circumstance, they cannot wait to leave even though unsure of life after retirement.
The Distracted like the Disengaged do not have con dence in the system and tend to be on a continuous lookout for better opportunities elsewhere. They are thus engaged in a process of job search within the industry and even beyond. Depending on their background, the job search may not be limited to local jobs but also international appointments. They are also not sure whether to go into private business/self- employment or stay in formal employment.
The Disgruntled are a shade worse than the disengaged as they are aggrieved by one event or the other in the course of their employment with the organization. They will naturally exhibit the following characteristics:
• Sense of Despair
• Betrayal
• Disconnection
• Disappointment
• Loss of Loyalty
• High propensity to Sabotage
• Disposition towards Disrespecting Rules and Authority
In the circumstance, punctuality and attendance will su er as the worker at the slightest opportunity will nd an excuse for not attending work. Naturally, the worker will be prone to all manner of stress- related illnesses. There will therefore, be a call for HR to put in place measures to reassure workers of better times ahead especially after the crisis.
The economic crisis, with a tendency to shrink budgets will exacerbate the sense of discrimination and will cause them to exhibit tendencies of sabotage and non-conformance. They will attend work late and close early. They will use company resources for personal gain without counting the cost.
Brazen disregard for authority will be their hallmark. They are often the long-serving ones among the workforce and have a sense of entitlement. They insist that they should have a better share of whatever is available because of their long service which has been overlooked by Management.
HR’s Response
HR will have to work on each class of workers to move them from the undesirable quadrants (Disengaged, Distracted and the Disgruntled) to the desired (Engaged). In the alternative, ways will have to be found to let go the undesirables. Let us look at the various ways in which
HR will tackle the problem of disengagement.
•
The one instrument that gives meaning to HR Management is Performance Management which essentially seeks to align the individual’s work objectives and vision to that of the corporate vision. It involves setting performance targets and making resources and systems available to the worker to deliver his mandate. It is a system for setting up the worker to succeed.
At the end of it all, the worker will be rewarded for a good job done or be sanctioned for non-performance. In the extreme situation, the worker may lose his job for non-performance. The disengaged, the disgruntled and the distracted may be whipped into line by a robust and e ective performance management system regardless the harsh economic crisis.
• Performance Counselling
A natural fallout from performance management is counselling for non-performers. In that process, the worker’s attention is drawn to his weaknesses and ways of reversing the trend and improving performance. Regardless of the category a worker falls into, the counselling session will serve as a wake-up call for him to shape up or shape out. This may take the form of a Performance Improvement Program.
Performance Counselling is, however, not limited to non-performers. Good performers may be taken through Career Counselling wherein the worker will be exposed to a process of knowing and understanding himself and the world of work in order to make career choices in order to realize career ambitions. Thus regardless of the category a worker falls into, counselling will work to instill in him a positive attitude and a sense of purpose.
• Psychological Therapy Workers with undesirable traits may have to be referred to Industrial Psychologists for examination and advice or treatment. HR may commence the process with self-administered psychometric tests, including the Myers Briggs type indicator, Assessment Centre, the DISC Personality Test and the Change Style Indicator (CSI – Centre for Creative Leadership) just to mention a few.
In extreme cases, the Disengaged and the Disgruntled may be referred to Psychiatrics for examination and treatment.
It is important to note that stress-related illnesses could be traceable to breaches of the psychological contracts between the employer and employee as a result of the economic crisis.
In the face of shrinking business opportunities and job losses, HR may want to make multi-skilling an
integral part of the Training Program of companies. That way workers can become versatile and take on multiple tasks in order to keep their jobs. This may confuse approved career plans for sta , but it will be better than a redundancy.
With improved technology and Arti cial Intelligence, HR may want to introduce a exible work model that supports a blend of in-o ce, remote and on-the-go arrangement to enable workers operate from home and o -site locations without compromising productivity.
The issue of regular attendance and productivity will not be a priority as workers would not need to put in physical appearance on daily basis. Cost may be saved in terms of o ce space, transportation, electricity and centralized computerized systems.
The economic crisis will naturally lead to organizations right/down-sizing or in the alternative placing employees on short-term contracts as against long-term permanent employment contracts. This will be a more preferable option than a complete loss of jobs by job holders
HR may in the circumstance consider establishing ratios among the following identi able classes of workers: I. Permanent II. Contract III. Temporary IV. Casual V. Outsourced
This will be on account of the real likelihood of organizations resorting to cost saving and the fore-costing of their operations for purposes of e ciency. In the process, the Employee Value Proposition will be greatly a ected.
The one thing that will preoccupy the attention of HR will be the declaration of redundancies as a result of loss of business and the share of the market. Though simple and clearly laid out in the Labour Act, 2003, Act 651 the exercise will require a lot of planning, including the determination of numbers, the selection criteria, the formula for calculating benets, union buy-in, and the initiation of mitigation measures.
Arrangements with outplacement companies will be a primary pre-occupation for HR as victims of redundancies will expect some form of support from their employers in linking them up for alternative jobs.
Economic crisis with the attendant job losses will place an obligation on HR to continuously expose employees to retirement planning be it early retirement or compulsory. Such programs will have as part of the highlights the following:
a. Personal Financial Planning
b. Business Planning and Accounting
c. Investment Opportunities
h.
s
e. Sole Proprietorships/Partnerships f. Taxation and Tax Avoidance
g. The National Pension Scheme
i. Health Related Issues after Retirement j. Job Search and Preparation of CVs
We set out in this write-up to examine the impact of the current
economic hardship on organizations with particular emphasis on the employee at the workplace. For purposes of analysis we categorized employees into four groups, one being the desirable and the others not desirable. The response of HR to each class with a view to moving them into the desired quadrant has
been discussed and suggestions made.
It is expected that HR Practitioners will take a cue from some of the suggestions and do the needful while we wait for a return to normalcy.
The EU regularly exports large quantities of poultry meat to West African countries. These exports have been criticized for harming importing countries in West Africa and exacerbating poverty there.
The reason: Cheap imports depress the local price of chicken, making life di cult for local smallholders.
Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Göttingen have now used the example of Ghana to calculate the e ects that would result if the country were to signi cantly increase its import tari s for poultry meat or even stop imports completely. The result: Prices would indeed rise domestically, but most local households would not bene t. The study has been published in the journal Food Security.
The EU mainly exports chicken parts in large quantities to various West African countries, including Ghana. "The topic is much discussed when it comes to poverty, international trade and Europe's role for the agricultural sector in Africa," says Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim of
the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn.
He and his team used nationally representative data from about 14,000 households in all regions of Ghana in their current study. They combined this micro data of production and consumption with a trade model. The approach is new in this context: "Such a combination of micro and macro data has not been used before to study the e ects of poultry imports on di erent populations in West African countries," says Matin Qaim. Previous case studies focused primarily on poultry producers.
The researchers calculated what the e ects would be if Ghana were to signi cantly increase its import tari s for poultry meat or even stop imports completely. The result: Domestic prices would, in fact, rise. If imports were stopped, local producers would get over a third more for selling their chicken—though most households in
"This is because prices for consumers would also increase, and there are signi cantly more consumers than poultry producers," explains lead author Isabel Knößlsdorfer of the University of Göttingen. On the producer side, another factor is that many smallholder households produce poultry primarily for their own consumption, so they are less a ected by prices.
Disadvantages for most households In their analysis, the researchers also distinguished between poor and less poor households in urban and rural areas. "We show that all of these groups would be worse o on average without poultry imports than with the imports. Poor households would eat 80% less chicken if imports were stopped," says Isabel Knößlsdorfer. Demand for poultry meat is rising sharply in many African countries and cannot be met by domestic production alone, she explains. These basic ndings can also be applied to other importing countries in West Africa. "Our
agricultural trade can have important positive development e ects for West Africa," Knößlsdorfer emphasizes.
"A reduction in meat consumption in Europe would be entirely desirable for sustainability reasons, but in Africa the situation is di erent. Meat consumption is still very low in most African countries, so the cheap availability through imports improves the local supply and nutrition situation with proteins and other important nutrients," says Matin Qaim, a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area Sustainable Futures and Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob at the University of Bonn.
"Of course, local agriculture in Africa also needs to be strengthened and promoted, however, striving for local self-su ciency does not make sense for all products," Qaim says. While a few households su ered from cheap imports, many more households bene ted. According to the team, it makes more political sense to target disadvantaged households instead of imposing general
Establishment of Private Business
Payments under the Scheme
knowledge and remain relevant”, she emphasized.
She further admonished women not to wait around, rather be more proactive and assertive. “It is a well-known fact that women underestimate themselves all the time. On the other hand, men grab opportunities even if they feel they are not ready and this makes a huge di erence”, she added.
The successful event, which attracted hundreds of young women from across the nation’s capital and beyond, provided a platform for women to share their real life experiences and discuss solutions to challenges women are confronted with.
+),%!(-&%!./%001/%!/%012%0!-3! 1$2%%#$2)3.)45$67'8%)72.,$'9):'.;%),3)$'6%2)6.,2$2%,)$',2%)73., 96.=2$6.=)6.59',63.'$()%,$'6.%>)?62$$')@23.2):27'<2),"2)56$%,)4 $',2%),"6%)(2'$A)965,6.=)6,%):2.7"<'$;)*+B):'%6%)C36.,%),3)*D>+ @23.2)93%,)GDE)35)6,%)H'9#2)'='6.%,),"2)&399'$)6.)+/++A)'.&)6%) *IA/I/>)4..#'9)6.59',63.)%3'$2&),3)J0>G+E)6.)K3H2<:2$>)L9%2F"2$ 6.59',63.)6%)2H2.)<3$2)$'<C'.,>)N"'.'8%)6.59',63.)"6,)')$273$&) "6="2%,)6.),"2)F3$9&A)9'%,)<3.,">)O.59',63.)"'%):22.)':3H2),"2)72.,$'9):
Ms. Eunice Golloh, the President and Founder of Impact Wave Initiative, a women community driven non-pro t organization, has charged women to continue upgrading themselves in order to equip themselves to challenge the status quo and make a meaningful contribution to national development.
She made the call when her organization hosted its maiden “Impact Conference 2022” on Thursday 22nd December 2022 at the Holiday Hotel in Accra. It was a deep conservation about women empowering one another, looking out for each other and building synergies amongst themselves for growth.
In her welcome address, she said, “knowledge is an important currency today and there are several ways of acquiring knowledge now. With convenient online options to enhance skills and earn new certi cations, it is important for women to make sure that they remain ahead of the curve. This is one of the ways to ensure that people come to you for your expert
The distinguished panellists and speakers at the event included Ms. Ablah Dzifa Gomashie, former Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Ghana, Ms. Abigail Nikoi, a Business Development Professional and Marketer, Ms. Pearl Laryea, a Pastor and Entrepreneur and Ms. Cordelia Ama Selormey, a Media & Communications Consultant. Ms. Selina Bentoom, the Executive Director for African Foundation for Premature Babies & Neonatal Care (AFPNC), excellently moderated the event.
72696.=)35)*/E)%6.72)?2C,2<:2$)+/+*A)5#296.=)')7#$$2.7()'.&)&2:
,"2)P'.;)35)N"'.'),3)$'6%2)6.,2$2%,)$',2%),3)+QE)9'%,)(2'$>)R25 '='6.%,)&2C$276
Impact Wave Initiative is dedicated to assisting young women build themselves to their best potential through mentorship, workshops, and physical development. Its vision is to change the concept and mindset of today’s women to change the narrative.
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
7)-/)!8%)&%/!)0!$9/:*!;)3&!.)/%0!7-<%/-)!=>?!91,:99& !"2)K'6$')F2';2.2&)'='6.%,),"2)&399'$A),$'&6.=)',)QB+)5$3<)QJD) 53993F6.=)')=$'&#'9)C67;)#C)6.)ST)&2<'.&>)!"2)M3$ 273.3<(),3)=$3F)',)')%93F2$)$',2),"'.)C$2H63#%9()53$27'%,A)C$2& 2UC'.%63.),"6%)(2'$)73<C'$2&),3)'.)2'$962$)2%,6<',2)35)0>*E>)!" 73.,6.#2&)F2';.2%%)6.),"2)73#.,$(8%)369)%27,3$A)F"67")"'%):22. ',,'7;%)'.&),"25,A)92'&6.=),3)C$3,63.)%"#,&3F.%)'.&)7#$,'696 ,';2)'&H'.,'=2)35)9'%,)(2'$8%)292H',2&)369)C$672%>)M6,")7$#&2)C
%27#$6,()6%%#2%)C2$%6%,6.=A),"2)73#.,$(8%)369)C$3,63.)3#,933
M2)2UC27,)ST)&2<'.&),3)5#$,"2$)F2';2.),"2)K'6$')6.),"2).2'$),2$
Huawei Ghana has donated two set of ultramodern intelligent video conferencing equipment to support the activities of the Ministry of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration.
The donation which took place at the Ministry of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 comes as part of e orts to boost the ICT capacity of the Ministry and help facilitate e ective remote communication between the Ministry, its stakeholders and international organizations.
Speaking during the brief donation ceremony, the Director of Government and Public A airs at Huawei Ghana, Mrs. Jenny Zhou, thanked the Minister for continuously supporting the operations of Huawei in Ghana.
According to her, the donation of the two Huawei Idea Hubs (intelli-
gent video conferencing equipment) is to help the Ministry and its stakeholders carry out its missions e ciently across the globe under both normal and crisis situations.
The Minister of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, thanked Huawei for their support and generosity indicating that the equipment which has come in a timely manner will be put to good use as it will aid with virtual meetings and make communication more convenient.
She also thanked Huawei for supporting the digital transformation agenda of the Government of Ghana since its establishment in the country.
“Huawei is very entrenched in Ghana and we are happy you are here. Following Covid-19, it has now become the norm for many meetings to be held virtually. This is to say that this state-of-the-art equip-
help us greatly especially for our virtual meetings and for e ective interaction with our missions abroad. “The equipment will be put to good use and handled well as this will take us a long way in ensuring that we represent Ghana and the Ministry well. I would like to say that we are very grateful to Huawei, for the
Mrs. Jenny Zhou thanked the Minister for her warm reception and indicated that Huawei as a responsible corporate citizen stay committed to working closely with the Ghanaian government, to promote the development of its ICT infrastructure and help improve the lives of citizens.
Sika Mpε Dede, the maxim by the President has quickly metamorphosed into many things. From t-shirts to music and now, a book. The masterpiece authored by Certi ed Financial Fitness Coach; Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko & Certi ed Professional Trainer (CPT); Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh is an eye-opener on many salient money conversations. Launched at the WestLionCo premises on the 25th of November 2022, it was well attended by patrons who thronged the place. Preceding the book launch was the Start-up Dialogue which saw experts in their various elds such as Ethel Anne Komlaga of Enterprise Bureau, Peter Kwadwo Asare of Center for Financial Literacy Education (CFLE Africa), Paul Frimpong of WestLionCo and Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh of Role Model Africa headlining the
event.
Ethel Anne Komlaga who spoke on Entrepreneurship and Funding expounded the need for entrepreneurship in these uncertain economic crises. She explained the need for each entrepreneur to discover their makeup and use that to their advantage. She gave wonderful insights on how to position oneself for funding. In her words, “there is a lot of money for funding”. All one needs to do is to identify the many sources of funds available.
Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko, Executive Director for the Center for Financial Literacy Education (CFLE Africa) and co-author of Sika Mpε Dede engaged participants with priceless nuggets on nancial planning. He broke down the complexities of money and the need for everyone to be nancially independent. He said, “everyone
must know the 5Ms of money. The Meaning of money, The Making of money, How to Manage it, How to Multiply and Move it”. He believes these pillars shape one’s nancial trajectory.
Paul Frimpong of WestLionCo spoke on investments. Explaining the intricate details of investments especially in these times, he gave a detailed breakdown of the everyday nancial jargons hurled at us by the experts. He explained that, “risk is closely tied to investment”. He asked all potential investors to read more before making any investment decisions.
The climax of the session enchanted participants with a delivery by co-author of the masterpiece, Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh sharing his perspective on the all-important subject of juggling between a day job and a side hustle. Broaching the topic which has become a favorite of many, both in the formal and informal sector, the IAPPD Certied Professional Trainer (CPT) engaged participants on the need for side hustles to become much more than something we do for survival. “We need to run our
businesses so well that they function with e ective systems and process, he highlighted. Mr. Agyeman-Prempeh emphasized the need for entrepreneurs to disintegrate themselves understand all aspects of the business but very importantly trust and work with team mates and partners as that serves as a catalyst for the growth of the business.
The event rounded up with the launch of what is potentially a bestseller ‘Sika Mpε Dede’. The book speaks on the many silent topics regarding money and its usage in our society and the world at large. A great companion to the student confused about money to the trader who seeks to make the most of his money to the investor who is in a dilemma on what to do in these times.
Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko and Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh’s ‘Sika Mpε Dede’ is a light for all in these challenging nancial times.
Published by Lumière Creatif, the book is available on Amazon, Sayda, Booknook and Selar.
January 13, 2023
Q3, 2021 GDP Growth 3 3%
Average GDP Growth for 2021 3 3%
2022 Projected GDP Growth 3 7%
BoG Policy Rate 22 0%
Weekly Interbank Interest Rate 22 05% 33 9% 28 5% 5 0% 6 6% 393 4% 78 3%
The Ghana Stock Exchange closed lower for the second consecutive week on the back of price declines by 7 counters The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) lost 8 49 year-to-date (YTD) loss of 10 38%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) also lost 5 52 points (-0 27%) to
Market capitalization declined by 0 13% to close the YTD decrease of 0 15%. preceding week
MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for traded respec tively The market ended with no advancer and decliners as indica le below
The Cedi continued its downward trend against the USD for the week It traded at GH¢8 2897/$, compared
YTD depreciations of 0 40% and 27 55% respec tively ago
The Cedi however strengthened against the GBP
YTD depreciation of 1 24% and 14 08% respec tively This
The Cedi also strengthened against the Euro for ago
The Cedi again strengthened against the Canadian
TD depreciation of 1 52% a year ago
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration, held a meeting with Dr Ian Borg, Malta’s Minister of Foreign and European A airs and Trade, after which the MoUs were signed.
Madam Botchwey and Dr Borg signed the Ghana–Malta Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC), while Mr Mustapha Ussif, the Minister of Youth and Sports, signed the MoU on Sports and Youth Development.
The MoU on Fisheries was signed by Mr Moses Anim, the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, while that of Academic Cooperation between the Mediterranean Academy of Ghana and Malta Friday signed four Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on Cooperation, Sports and Youth Development, Fisheries and Education in Accra to improve Maltese assistance to these sectors and enhance their activities.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration, held a meeting with Dr Ian Borg, Malta’s Minister of Foreign and European A airs and Trade, after which the MoUs were signed.
Madam Botchwey and Dr Borg signed the Ghana–Malta Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC), while Mr Mustapha Ussif, the Minister of Youth and Sports, signed the MoU on Sports and
Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on Cooperation, Sports and Youth Development, Fisheries and Education in Accra to improve Maltese assistance to these sectors and enhance their activities.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration, held a meeting with Dr Ian Borg, Malta’s Minister of Foreign and European A airs and Trade, after which the MoUs were signed.
Madam Botchwey and Dr Borg signed the Ghana–Malta Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC), while Mr Mustapha Ussif, the Minister of Youth and Sports, signed the MoU on Sports and Youth Development.
The MoU on Fisheries was signed by Mr Moses Anim, the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, while that of Academic Cooperation between the Mediterranean Academy of Ghana and Malta Friday signed four Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on Cooperation, Sports and Youth Development, Fisheries and Education in Accra to improve Maltese assistance to these sectors and enhance their activities.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign A airs and Regional Integration, held a meeting with Dr Ian Borg, Malta’s Minister of Foreign and European A airs and Trade, after which the
opment.
The MoU on Fisheries was signed by Mr Moses Anim, the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, while that of Academic Cooperation between the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta and the Legon Centre for International A airs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana, was signed by Professor Emmanuel Debrah, Director, LECIAD.
Madam Botchwey noted that Ghana treasured the strong relations between the two countries, a relation that dates back to the early 1970s.
She recounted the numerous bilateral cooperations including the visit to Accra by the then Maltese President, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca in 2017, which was reciprocated in 2019 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
She said Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, and Nana Otuo Siriboe II, the Chairman of the Council of State, were in Malta for a visit.
Madam Botchwey said those high-level visits saw the signing of agreements and MOUs on Bilateral Cooperation, Avoidance of Double Taxations, and Visa Wavers for diplomatic and service passports. She lauded Dr Borg on the commissioning of Malta’s High Commission building in Accra, which solidi es Malta’s presence in Ghana and also commended him for leading
50-member business delegation to
Linking the private sectors of the two countries was extremely important because they needed to see very tangible results of their cooperation in terms of economics and trade investment ties, to make Ghana and Maltese relations visible, Madam Botchwey said.
“We want your businesses to see Ghana not just as a market of 31 million people but a Ghana that is a steppingstone into the West African market, which is over 300 million,” she noted.
“And also, to see Ghana, even more as that stepping stone into the 1.3 billion market of the (Africa) Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Touching on the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation, Ghana’s Foreign Minister said appending their signatures meant that they were endorsing the work of the Commission for implementation.
She said Ghana was working towards opening direct air transport between Accra and Valletta, the capital of Malta, and expressed gratitude to Malta for providing scholarships to Ghanaian students and donating vaccines to Ghana.
Madam Botchwey congratulated Malta for being part of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member and where members would be working together to make the world a better place.
Dr Borg, on his part, commended Ghana’s democratic credentials and for being a shining example in the Sub-region.
He said Malta opened her rst Embassy in Sub-Saharan Africa in Accra because Ghana was the most politically stable country in the region.
