Business24 Newspaper 15 April 2022

Top beverage companies awarded at Ghana Beverage Awards 2021 amidst glitz & glamour.

04 NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

BUSINESS24.COM.G H | FRIDAY, AP RIL 15 , 202 2

Meet Kuukua Adams, The business redesign expert, moulding values one business at a time

By Nana Akua Frimpomaa Amofa Undoubtedly, entrepreneurship remains critical to Africa’s transformation and development. According to a June 2021 African Development Bank White Paper, on Entrepreneurship and Free Trade: Africa’s Catalysts for a New Era of Economic Prosperity, indicates that entrepreneurship must be at the heart of efforts to transform Africa’s economic prospects. It further posits that the right interventions, infrastructure and systems could open the door for entrepreneurs to help scale up businesses.

With a burgeoning youth population of innovators, creatives and young, dynamic entrepreneurs as well, enormous opportunities on the continent, Africa is well positioned to become one of the leading economies globally.

In fact, 7 out of 10 fast growing economies are from Africa. A huge chunk of it is as a result of entrepreneurship and innovation.

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Surging food prices push inflation to 12-year high

By Sani Abdul-Rahman

P

rices that consumers pay for everyday items climbed in March to their highest levels in more than 12 years as supply chain disruptions induced by the war in Ukraine sent food, fuel and fertilizer prices soaring.

The Consumer Price Index surged 19.4% from a year earlier, outstripping expectations of many economists.

The latest price rise is the highest since August 2009, exceeding the 15.7% increase recorded in February 2022.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $43 billion 02

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THEBUSINESS24ONLINE.COM

News/Editorial

Let’s walk the talk in the fight against ‘saiko’ A EJF research on the saiko trade in 2017 indicated that saiko alone took around 100,000 tonnes of fish, worth over US$ 50 million when sold at the landing site. The practice of saiko, which is illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, is costing Ghanaians millions of dollars annually, and threatening coastal livelihoods.

‘Saiko’ is a severely destructive form of illegal fishing, where trawlers target the staple catch of canoe fishers and sell it back to local communities at a profit. It is one disturbing challenge of the fisheries sector that steals jobs, threatens food security and endangers Ghana’s economy.

The continual abuses of the state’s marine resources are destroying Ghana’s fisheries, ruining lives and livelihoods, and breaking national laws, and there is the urgent need for stakeholder action on this menace.

Ghana still needs an immediate and effective enforcement of its fisheries laws as the illegality continues to cause havoc along the fisheries value

chain despite the numerous legislations that’ve been enacted to curtail the problem.

Perhaps, we will need some tougher sanctions for perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others and prove that this government means to stop saiko.

There have been several interventions from both national and regional actors in the fisheries space in the fight against saiko. While a strong crackdown last year has stopped the landings of saiko canoes, there is now evidence that the trade may be taking a different form.

Under this new method, saiko catches – including juvenile fish – are being landed directly by trawlers at Tema port and brought to communities by road, undercutting small-scale fishers, according to EFJ. We cannot give up now neither can we relent on our quest to secure the nation’s marine resources and the livelihoods that depend on them and the time to act is now!

Tesla CEO Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $43 billion Tesla CEO Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter, saying the social media platform he has criticized for not living up to free speech principles needs to be transformed as a private company.

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Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, currently the company’s biggest shareholder, has proposed buying the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own at $54.20 per share, an offer worth more than $43 billion.

Musk called that price his best and final offer, although he provided no details on financing. The offer is nonbinding and subject to financing and other conditions.

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

Twitter said it has received Musk’s offer and will decide whether it is in the best interests of shareholders to accept or continue to operate as a publicly traded company.

Analyst Daniel Ives of Wedbush said in a client note that he believes “this soap opera will end with Musk owning Twitter after this aggressive hostile takeover of the company.”

He thinks it would be hard for any other bidders or consortium to come forward and said Twitter’s board will likely be forced to accept Musk’s offer

or start a process to sell the company.

Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group’s suite of mutual funds and ETFs controls more Twitter shares.

The billionaire has been a vocal critic of Twitter in recent weeks, mostly over his belief that it falls short on free speech principles. The social media platform has angered followers of Donald Trump and other far-right political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating its content standards on violence, hate or harmful misinformation. Musk also has a history of his own tweets causing legal problems.

After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he not own more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock, according to a filing. But he said five days later that he’d declined.

He didn’t explain why, but the decision coincided with a barrage of now-deleted tweets from Musk

proposing major changes to the company, such as dropping ads — its chief source of revenue — and transforming its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.

Musk left a few clues on Twitter about his thinking, such as by “liking” a tweet that summarized the events as Musk going from “largest shareholder for Free Speech” to being “told to play nice and not speak freely.”

Musk’s 81 million Twitter followers make him one of the most popular figures on the platform, rivaling pop stars like Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga. But his prolific tweeting has sometimes gotten him into trouble with the SEC and others.

Musk and Tesla in 2018 agreed to pay $40 million in civil fines and for Musk to have his tweets approved by a corporate lawyer after he tweeted about having the money to take Tesla private at $420 per share. That didn’t happen, but the tweet caused Tesla’s stock price to jump. Musk’s latest trouble with the SEC could be his delay in notifying regulators of his growing stake in Twitter.

Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” and has said he doesn’t think Twitter is living up to free speech principles — an opinion shared by followers of Donald Trump and a number of other right-wing political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating Twitter content rules.

Shares of Twitter jumped 11% before the market open. The stock is still down from its 52-week high of about $73. Shares of Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer that Musk heads, slipped about 0.9%.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

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Meet Kuukua Adams, The business redesign expert, moulding values one business at a time starts from page 1

Despite its potential, many entrepreneurs, early-stage brands and startups are faced with various challenges including, lack of access to funding, limited distribution channels, and right structures and processes. The first few years of every business are very crucial, and for many, they do not have the requisite structures to streamline their processes as well as implement systems to ensure business continuity and growth. Inspired by this problem, Kuukua Adams founded Clay Consult in 2016.

When her 9 to 5 was at the brink of collapse, she had two options; look for another 9 to 5 or venture into entrepreneurship. She chose the latter within a niche marketproviding SMEs and startups with the requisite structures, processes and systems to help them scale their businesses. On why she ventured into such a niche market, Kuukua explains that there were little to no firms offering business restructuring services. The few that offered similar services charged very high fees. “Start-ups, SMEs have very great ideas but have no idea how to run a sustainable business. Most business owners are not aware of the hurdles that they must jump especially with how tough it is to run a business in Ghana. Clay had its fair share of experiences in

starting a business and overcame them as time went on. This alone gave us the opportunity to leverage on our experiences to properly guide business owners.”

What began as simple business idea to help businesses with seamless bookkeeping and filing processes has morphed into Clay Group a business process reengineering firm and a one stop hub providing 360 business solutions to SMEs and startups.

Over the past 5 years, Clay Group has helped over 40 businesses scale their operations across various sectors including, tech, FMCG, manufacturing, education, construction, financial services, hospitality, media & entertainment among others by providing tailor-made, 360 robust business process reengineering products and services including Internal Audit, Business Restructuring, Human Capital Development, Financial Advisory, Accounting, Inventory Management, Bookkeeping, Small Business Tax, Corporate Training, Business Consulting, Business Operations & Strategy Operations Management, Payroll Administration among others.

Clay currently employs a team of 6 vibrant, committed, resilient, goal-oriented individuals who are all contributing to building Clay’s success story.

Despite its successes, Kuukua notes there have been challenges.

“During the early years, our main challenge was capital raising.

Investors were not sure of Clay’s business idea so we never received any investment opportunities. As the visionary of the company, I had no saved capital as I started Clay out of spontaneity for fear of being unemployed. Another challenge was getting people to understand why they needed a third party to rip their business apart and reshape. It was very tough. Finding the right team and fit for the business was also very challenging.” She also admits another hurdle was fixing clients business challenges while Clay was also a growing business.

These failures she added had taught them to do better.

For Kuukua, success means being able to help clients make great strides in their business from where they used to be.

Clay started with no funding from investors but today, it helps businesses position themselves for investment opportunities helping them scale their operations. On major highlights Kuukua Clay says, “seeing an idea turn into reality, allowing myself to build capacity and develop myself and the team has been our major highlights.

We have grown through this.

We pitch better than before

and have understood that our offerings are moulding businesses tremendously.” Her only regret is downplaying her abilities and waiting too long to start such a life altering experience. On major lessons she has learnt on the journey, she explains that change is gradual. “You cannot get up and impose systems and procedures in businesses without firstly understanding the businesses journey. You must learn to appreciate their mess and gradually clean up. Again, I have gained a lot of knowledge from working with businesses from so many industries. The exposure alone has helped me with finding solutions to every business problem-whether it is an issue of finding the right fit, documenting processes or assisting with cash management.”

Kuukua believes three four key factors can help business owners run sustainable businesses in Ghana – resilience and grit to withstand any setbacks and challenges, mental acuity, progressive thinking and discipline to help you stay focused on the goals you’ve set.

Appreciating the importance of organic growth as setbacks teach us to do better and honesty.

A good reputation she says goes a long way than instant gratification.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

Complicated market: Russia-Ukraine war, inflationary trends, reasons for optimism

By Emmanuel Tenge Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its military strikes on the latter has brought about uncertainties that are bad for markets.

Ukraine is not a NATO member and there would be few pretexts on which any foreign power could intervene to support it. Aggressive sanctions and global condemnation are likely responses.

In relation to how this impacts the investments globally, sanctions are already causing challenges around the world, seeming almost as damaging to the West and the developing world, as to Russia.

There is the potential for the conflict to spread, but the outcomes are difficult to model.

Russia and Ukraine are large commodity producers.

If significant production is hampered, or if sanctions severely reduce the supply of key materials, commodity prices and inflation may impact countries across the globe, as it is being experienced now.

Commodities to keep an eye on

are oil, wheat and neon, but oil is the biggest one, because Russia supplies 40 per cent of Europe’s natural gas and more than 20 per cent of their crude oil.

Globally, they are a large producer of both. Imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas will likely require developed markets, notably Europe, to endure significant energy price increases.

Strategic reserve releases may help steady markets, and rig counts in the US have been rising, but sanctions on Russian energy production will be painful for everyone involved.

Ukraine and Russia are two of the largest wheat exporters prices have been rising in response to the conflict and any sanctions or damage to port/rail infrastructure could cause these processes to remain high.

The US is well positioned to handle this kind of situation; being a net exporter of most grains, but globally, any pressure on food prices is generally negative to all.

Finally, Russia is one of the

largest global suppliers of neon, a by-product of their steel production.

Neon is used in semiconductor manufacturing, an area where global supply has already been tight.

Most large Western semiconductor companies started to protect their supply chains for neon after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. So this may not be as impactful for some of the larger producers.

However, rising neon prices may eventually bleed through to semiconductor prices, as smaller

companies who did not protect their supply chains get squeezed and price hikes work their way through the supply chains.

All of these factors point to the potential for inflation to remain elevated for a longer period in the US, and around the world.

The pressures will remain supply side driven and “transitory” but it is inflation nonetheless.

Should this come to pass, it will put the Federal Reserve in a tough spot.

Emmanuel Tenge. Journalist, GBC. E-mail: emmanueltenge@ yahoo.com

Top beverage companies awarded at Ghana Beverage Awards 2021 amidst glitz & glamour.

It was a night of bliss when various stakeholders of the Ghanaian Beverage Industry converged at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra to witness the sixth edition of the prestigious Ghana Beverages Awards (GBA).

The awards scheme, a brainchild of integrated marketing and communications company, Global Media Alliance, is aimed at rewarding excellence in Ghana’s Beverage industry whiles providing an avenue for stakeholders and key players of the Ghanaian Beverage Industry to network and deliberate on issues for the industry’s advancement.

Speaking at the event, Chief Executive Executive Officer for Global Media Alliance, Ernest Boateng, commended

the beverage industry for their contribution to national development while re-iterating the scheme’s commitment to supporting the industry.

“The beverage industry is a key driver in the development and sustenance of the nation’s economy. It is a huge revenue generating industry, which supports the country in employment creation, service delivery and more. Cognisant of this fact, it is always our delight to provide an avenue as this which gives room for interaction, and networking among enthusiasts of Ghana’s Beverage industry at the same time providing the opportunity for key industry players and stakeholders to share ideas relevant for the growth of their industry,” he said.

The Deputy Minister for Trade and industry, Honourable Michael Okyere Baafi, on his part, assured the beverage industry of government’s support and commended players in the beverage industry for their numerous interventions aimed at giving back to the communities in which they operate.

“In the face of all the economic difficulties all of which could stall the hard work of the beverage industry, we acknowledge the strong will of our stakeholders to remain in business.

The Government of Ghana, fully aware of the heavy blow the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt the beverage industry, is committed to demonstrating its support for all Small & Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES) in the industry through the appropriate policies and incentives,” he said.

He added that, “The beverage industry has consistently demonstrated a sense of responsibility by giving back to the society within which it operates.

It is heartwarming to observe that our producers are not only extracting but also caring for the environment and the residents of the communities in which they operate.”

GBA 2021 is organized under the theme “Inspiring Excellence in Ghana’s Beverage Industry”.

In a lead up to the event, an industry tour was organized to allow the awards committee familiarize themselves with the practices of participating beverage-manufacturing companies. Similarly, there was the institution of a beverage segment on our partner media stations to create some buzz around the event whiles feeding Ghanaians with interesting insights on the favourite beverage brands.

Ghana Beverage Awards is proudly supported by the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG), Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), Food Research Institute (FRI) under CSIR, Perception Management International (PMI),Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).

It’s media partners are Citi FM, Happy FM, YFM, Akonoba FM, Neesim FM Bolga, Neesim FM Tamale, eTV Ghana, Net 2 TV, Mx24, Oman FM, Business and Financial Times, Daily Guide and Ghanaweb.

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Surging food prices push inflation to 12-year high starts from page 1 The latest price rise is the highest since August 2009, exceeding the 15.7% increase recorded in February 2022.

Food inflation rose to 22.4% from 17.4% in February, while non-food price-growth jumped to 17% from 14.5% within the same period.

“We are not surprised with the rate of increase as the war in Ukraine is beginning to impact economies worldwide, especially those in direct trade relations like Ghana” Dr Kojo Poku, Researcher at the Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana said.

Last month, the Bank of Ghana’s monetary policy committee hiked its benchmark interest rates by 2.5% to 17%, raising the cost of borrowing as part of measures to tame inflation without stifling growth.

This was followed by a raft of austerity measures including spending cuts and further tax policies by the government to improve fiscal performance and engender investor confidence.

“Based on the drivers of inflation for March, we do not expect the central bank to raise its policy rate further, Dr Poku said. “We forecast price pressures to ease by mid-May when the monetary policy committee convenes,” he added.

FAO Director-General opens Africa Regional Conference amid worsening hunger crisis Meeting Africa’s overlapping challenges and realizing its enormous potential both require extraordinary efforts and new ways of working together, Director-General QU Dongyu said today as he opened the 32nd Session of the Regional Conference for Africa (ARC32) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The regional conference, held until April 14 in Equatorial Guinea’s capital of Malabo and online, places the spotlight on the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 and its efforts to transform agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable through the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life for all, leaving no one behind.

The ministerial meeting is taking place as the continent’s aim of ending hunger by 2025, as well as FAO’s efforts to support Members achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, face an unprecedented confluence of obstacles.

On top of the climate crisis, longstanding regional conflicts and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, now in its third year, a severe drought is tightening its grip on East Africa.

Most recently, the war in Ukraine is severely limiting the supply of wheat to Egypt and nearby countries, pushing up bread prices in the north

of the continent.

The number of people going hungry in Sub-Saharan Africa is on the rise again after years of decline.

According to the latest numbers available, 282 million people on the continent, or over one-fifth of the population, don’t have enough food, representing a rise of 46 million from 2019.

“Like the tall ceiba tree on the flag of Equatorial Guinea, we too must stand tall in facing Africa’s many complex challenges,” Qu told delegates in his opening statement.

This year’s regional conference is hosted by the Government of Equatorial Guinea. It brings together agriculture ministers and other government officials from more than 50 African countries, along with civil society groups, the private sector, development partners and observer member countries.

The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, said the conference was taking place at a critical time for the region’s economy and that there was an urgent need to transform our agrifood systems in a sustainable way.

Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment at the African Union Commission also addressed the opening day of the conference, which

is FAO’s highest governing body in Africa.

FAO’s initiatives in Africa FAO is working on multiple fronts to help transform Africa’s agrifood systems, which Qu says can play a central role in meeting the challenges of poverty, hunger, the climate crisis.

FAO’s flagship initiatives include the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which 27 African countries have already joined so far, the One Country One Priority Product initiative, which is helping countries develop their value chain of special agro-products in ways that are inclusive, profitable, and environmentally sustainable, and the 1,000 Digital Villages initiative, which places digitalization at the core of rural transformation and prosperity and is being piloted in seven African

countries.

The Director-General also highlighted the desert locust control operations in eastern Africa as an example of quick and effective action on the ground, together with partners, under FAO’s technical leadership.

“Africa has great potential for change and prosperity due to its rich natural resources and its large pool of innovative young people,” Qu said.

“You are here today as key leaders to drive this change. Let us be tall and strong like the ceiba tree, and continue to work together efficiently, effectively and coherently, and in a more innovative way for The Africa We Want!”

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

General Trust vows to remain focus on pension business General Trust, a corporate trustee under the auspices of the National Pension Regulatory Authority, has assured its clients of a strict focus on pension business to ensure excellent delivery.

Speaking to the media in an

interview, the Chief Executive Officer of General Trust, Mr. David Ofori, hinted that “despite the fact that the journey has been a difficult one, we still believe and we will continue to do our possible best in the space. Yes, it’s

been a very good journey and an exciting one of course”.

He continued that “General Trust has remained focused over the last 10 years, saying “our focus has strictly been on the pension business. We are pension administrators and pension trustees and we have basically stayed with that. So, outside of that, our team has also been a very workable team. In this building, we make sure that the team works together and we have what we call process folds that we use in every aspect that we do. We tie into every area of our business and allows the whole team to work together”.

The Board Chairman of the General Trust, Mr. Kofi AduMensah, said the company has since its inception in 2012 has kept focus on doing what their scheme members expect; ensuring integrity in their service delivery.

“We have over the years built a good working relationship with our appointed fund custodians, asset managers, scheme trustees

and scheme auditors. We have worked and pledge to continue to work towards keeping our operations well streamlined and efficient to enable us achieve trustworthiness at all times, he added.

He said though the private pension industry may be relatively young, it is his desire that more Ghanaians in both the informal and formal sectors sign up to it to enjoy their retirement more comfortably.

We should encourage people and educate them on pensions at every opportunity we get. It is a necessity and I will be the first to it loudest, he said.

Licensed by the National Pension Regulatory Authority, GENTRUST operate as a pension fund trustee and pension fund administrator and its keen on serving the needs of corporate bodies, individuals and ultimately placing Ghanaians in a very comfortable position after years of hard work.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

Obuasi Municipal Assembly supports farmers with 1000 coconut seedlings The Obuasi Municipal Assembly led by the Municipal Chief Executive Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah has distributed about 1000 coconut seedlings to 19 farmers in the Municipality to help increase coconut production.

This was after the Assembly had already distributed 40,000 oil palm and citrus seedlings to farmers in the Municipality.

The seedings which were given in gratis were in line with the government’s Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) initiative aimed at promoting rural economic growth to improve household incomes of rural farmers through the provision of certified improved seedlings, extension services, business support and regulatory mechanisms.

The PERD initiative is also aimed at creating a sustainable raw material base for industries.

The Municipal Chief Executive who handed over the seedlings to the beneficiary farmers said the Assembly recognises the importance of the PERD program hence it has committed resources

into it to make sure farmers in Obuasi benefit from the program. “ We know the importance of this program so we made sure we resourced the Agric Department to get the coconut, grow and distribute the seedlings. We also made sure farmer groups were formed and sensitized on the modalities covering the programme”.

The MCE seized the opportunity to encourage residents especially the Youth who are interested in venturing into coconut production to liaise with the Agric Department.

He also mentioned that Obuasi

though is widely known for its rich gold resource, it has huge agricultural prospects which has resulted in farmers from Obuasi winning national laurels in Agriculture.

OBUASI MAKES REMARKABLE PROGRESS IN 1D1F Hon. ElijahAdansi-Bonah also mentioned that a Citrus processing factory under the Enable Youth Program of the One District One Factory is completed.

He said the contractors of the project will soon handover the facility for work to begin.

He again mentioned that LEAPAP, an Obuasi based

company has since been supported to start oil palm processing factory, “ I encourage investors to take advantage of the abundance of raw materials here to establish factories in Obuasi “.

Mr. Raphael Atta Peprah, The Municipal Director of Food and Agriculture, said this is only the first batch of beneficiaries.

More farmers have been lined up to receive the free coconut seedlings, which were funded by the assembly at a cost of GH₵ 15,000.00.

He encouraged the beneficiaries to take good care of the seedlings and ensure that their respective plantations are well established in order that the good intentions behind the program are realised.

He further advised the farmers to report any incidence of pests and diseases to the Department of Agriculture for effect control.

Mr. Mohammed Appiah, a beneficiary thanked the Assembly for the effort to assist farmers and advised his colleagues to take advantage of the program to improve their livelihoods.

AGA Community Trust Fund offers scholarship to 120 tertiary students

The AGA-Obuasi Community Trust Fund has since 2019/2020 academic year disbursed a total of GHS180,000.00 in tertiary education grants to support 120 brilliant but needy students in the Mine operational areas.

This was revealed at a short ceremony in Obuasi to announce scholarships to the third batch of 40 beneficiary students. A total of 80 continuing students had already benefited from the first and second disbursements.

Dubbed the Tertiary Education Grant scheme and initiated in 2019, it is expected to enhance access to tertiary education and reduce dropout rate from Senior High School to the tertiary level within the Mine catchment area.

So far, 42 students from the Obuasi Municipality have benefited from the scheme whiles 30 tertiary students from the Obuasi East District are also beneficiaries. Again 24 students each from the Amansie Central District and Adansi North District have also been awarded scholarships from the scheme.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah who also serves as the Steering Committee Chairman of the AGA Community Trust Fund mentioned that the scheme this time had to focus more on students who are pursuing Mine related courses in tertiary institutions.

“Hither to, most of the

beneficiaries were students from the training colleges but the Steering Committee decided to also consider more of the students who are doing Mining related courses so that they can have a future in the mine after graduation “.

He called for collaboration between Anglogold Ashanti and the people of Obuasi. He said it is only through collaboration between the Mine and the people in its operational area that Obuasi can develop.

Honorable Adansi-Bonah advised the 40 outdoored beneficiaries who were made up of 22 males and 18 females, to take their studies seriously and be good ambassadors of the Scholarship scheme and Obuasi in general.

Nana Owi-Asamoah, Dunsinasehene of Fomena who represented the Adansihene thanked the AGA Community Trust Fund for prioritising education. He appealed to them to extend the scheme to those pursuing Masters level and Doctoral level education.

Again, he said, based on the sensitive role played by medical

officers, he admonished the Steering committee to consider expanding the Scholarship scheme to cover those in the medical field.

Emmanuel Baidoo, the Senior Manager Sustainability Anglogold Ashanti who had his speech read on his behalf said the Trust Fund exist to make investments in a way that contributes meaningfully to community development, aligns with the priorities of communities and local government. He said this will lead to a healthy relationship between Anglogold Ashanti and the communities.

He reiterated AGA’s commitment to support the communities which it operates to make sure they become better off whiles the company exist and is in operation.

The ceremony to disburse the scholarship comes on the heels of a sod cutting ceremony held by the Community Trust Fund about a month ago, to construct 2-Unit KG blocks for Binsere and Dokyiwa communities as well as Drilling of boreholes at New Biakoyeden, Wioso and Bidiem Communities.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

Do Aluminium cooking pots cause cardiovascular disorders?

Cooking pots and other kitchen utensils made of aluminium have been a common household commodity for ages, especially in our part of the world.

A recent report online on the subject matter has, however, sounded caution to the general public on the use of these aluminium cooking pots due to a myriad of reasons.

The report, by Occupational Knowledge International (OK International), a non-profit environmental organisation based in San Francisco, and published locally, is titled: “Metal exposure from source materials for artisanal aluminium cookware”.

Their findings indicate alarming levels of lead and other metal exposure from cookware, popularly known as aluminium cooking pots or ‘dadesen’ in Ghana.

We take a critical look at Nonstick cookware in general as they contain a man-made chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA or C8.

According to the American Cancer Society (2020), “PFOA has the potential to be a health concern because it can stay in the environment and in the human body for long periods of time.

Studies further have found that PFOA is present worldwide at very low levels in just about everyone’s blood.”

Animal studies have also presented a link between PFOA exposure and cancer development.

According to a 2017 report by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “In laboratory animals given large amounts, PFOA can affect growth and development, reproduction and injure the liver.”

Thus, in addition to cancer concerns, there are some other highly serious health repercussions including liver damage, infertility and delays in growth and development that could result from PFOA exposure.

Aluminium?

According to the Health Library (2020), aluminium toxicity occurs when a person ingests or breathes high levels of aluminium into the body.

A retrospective scientific report led by Aguilar et al. (2008) found that aluminium is naturally occurring in most foods, including fruits, vegetables, meats, fish,

grains and dairy products.

The report also found that some of the aluminium we consume comes from processed food additives, such as preservatives, colouring agents, anti-caking agents and thickeners.

The interesting thing is that another retrospective study by Saiyed & Yokel, (2005) and one prospective study by Sato et al.

(2014) found that commercially produced foods containing food additives may contain more aluminium than home-cooked food.

Aluminium cooking pots?

Most of your aluminium intake comes from food (Soni et al. 2001; Bassioni et al. 2012).

This notwithstanding, studies have affirmed that aluminium foils, cooking utensils and containers can leach aluminium into our food (Soni et al. 2001; Bassioni et al. 2012).

Aluminium foils may also increase the aluminium content of your diet. The amount of aluminium that passes into your food when you cook with aluminium foils, for instance, is affected by a number of things such as: • Temperature: Cooking at higher temperatures • Foods: Cooking with acidic foods, such as tomatoes, cabbage and rhubarb • Certain ingredients: Using salts and spices in your cooking However, the amount that permeates your food when cooking can vary. For example, one study by Turhan (2006) found that cooking red meat in aluminium foils could increase its

aluminium content by between 89 per cent and 378 per cent.

This creates concern in a prospective study by Bassioni et al. (2012), which found regular use of aluminium foils in cooking to be harmful to health.

However, another study by Willhite et al. (2014) also found no strong evidence linking the use of aluminium foil with an increased risk of disease.

Health risks too much aluminium It is newsworthy to note that the daily intake of aluminium through food and cooking is

regarded as safe.

This is supported by one study

by Krewski et al., (2007), which found that healthy people can efficiently excrete the small amounts of aluminium the body absorbs. High levels of aluminium have been found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

A study by Soni et al., (2001) failed to establish any causation between high aluminium intake as the cause of the disease.

Reducing exposure to aluminium when cooking Aluminium cannot be completely removed from our diet. We can, however, reduce the risk of exposure.

In 2011, The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reached a consensus that levels below 2 mg per 2.2 pounds (1 kg) body weight per week are unlikely to cause health problems.

Also, The European Food Safety Authority employs a more conservative estimate of 1 mg per 2.2 pounds (1 kg) body weight per week.

Interestingly, studies by Greger, (1992) and Cuciureanu et al. (2000) have affirmed that we consume far less than these notable organisations considered as the safe threshold.

The following recommendations can avert your risk of aluminium exposure: • Avoid high-heat cooking: Foods should be cooked at lower temperatures whenever possible.

• Use less aluminium foils: Reduce your use of aluminium foils for cooking, especially if cooking with acidic foods such as tomatoes or lemons.

• Use non-aluminium utensils such as glass, cast iron, stainless steel, Copper or porcelain dishes and utensils. There are also “Green cookware” which you can consider using.

• Avoid mixing aluminium foils and acidic foods: Liukkonen-Lilja & Piepponen (1992) study recommends not exposing aluminium foils or cookware to acidic foods such as tomato sauce or rhubarb.

The writers are the President, Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology (NUCHMT)/African Naturopathic Foundation & Lawrencia Aggrey-Bluwey, PhD student, University of Ghana Business School. E-mail: collegeofholistic medicine@ gmail.com.

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| NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

Huawei launches LEAP programme to develop ICT skills of 100k people in sub-Saharan Africa

Huawei has launched its LEAP digital skills development programme. Announced at its ICT Competition Awards Ceremony, LEAP aims to help advance the ICT skills of more than 100 000 people across the Sub-Saharan Africa region within three years.

LEAP which is an acronym for Leadership, Employability, Advancement and Possibility, is aimed at fostering strong digital leadership and a skilled ICT workforce, building a digital talent pool, and promoting digital literacy among citizens. It includes a wide range of activities spanning from ICT training and certification courses, government digital capacity building and ICT skills competitions.

Launching the LEAP programme, Huawei Southern Africa President, Leo Chen stressed the importance of ICT skills transfer and talent development and underlined Huawei’s consistent emphasis on it.

“Digitization is deeply rooted in people. Because we digitize for people and by people. When roots are deep, there is no need to fear the wind,” he said. “Through the programme, we strive to cultivate more youth leaders in ICT, who can explore more possibilities for themselves, their families, community and ultimately their nations.”

Over the past two decades, Huawei has helped advance the ICT skills of more than 80 000 people across the region. In doing so, it has helped increase youth employability and bridge the gender gap in the ICT industry.

Huawei itself is an employer of choice in the region. Its subsidiaries in 9 Sub-Saharan African countries earned the Top Employer seal in 2021.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ms. Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, South African Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, said “It takes you, as the LEAP, Seeds For the Future and Huawei ICT Academy Program participants to leapfrog us into the future. Covid 19 took us into the digital era, but we should not need a pandemic to do this for us in the future, we need to be deliberate and intentional to leapfrog our countries. We need innovation, we need to support local innovators, and we need to promote our own platforms throughout the continent to reach scale and develop our economies.

We are only bigger when our market is bigger, and we must walk together.”

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Tanzania, Prof Eliamani Sadoyeka stressed that the power of ICT should never be underestimated. “ICT has given us almost equal access to knowledge.

Once a young mind is connected, a girl from the village in Africa will have the same access to knowledge as a boy in Copenhagen,” he said.

He also touched on the fact that Africa’s future is in the hands of its youth population and urged the students to take full advantage of every learning opportunity. He commended Huawei for its ICT Academy which is giving young people the platform and skills in the latest technologies as well as giving them the opportunity to live up to their fullest potential.

Dr. John Chrysestom Muyingo, Ugandan State Minister for Higher Education of Ministry of Education and Sports stated, “We partnered with Huawei on initiatives like the Seeds For the Future, the ICT Competitions through the Huawei ICT

Academies established in Uganda and over the years we have always made it a point to play an active role in the implementation of the digital upskilling initiatives in higher education institutions, including universities, across the country. We welcome this partnership, and we are committed to strengthening this relationship.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni tweeted about the event on Sunday, congratulating the Ugandan team from Makerere University and recognizing Huawei’s efforts in local digital talent development saying he looked forward “to its expansion to include more of our youth”.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred the digital adoption across Africa. This increases the demand for more digital skills and talent. According to a World Bank, study on Digital Skills in SubSaharan Africa, over 230 million jobs in sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030.

That makes programmes like LEAP even more critical. The Huawei ICT Competition is one of the important components of Huawei’s talent development efforts.

More than 15 000 students from over 200 universities and colleges from Sub-Saharan Africa participated in the 2021-2022 Huawei ICT Competition. From the 48 competing teams, Nigerian and Kenyan teams won first prize in the regional final. Teams from Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania claimed second prize.

“Huawei’s ICT Competition has provided students like me with a network of industry trainers, instructors, and learning tools, allowing us to obtain a competitive advantage and engage with other students on a global stage,” said

Ashtone Onyango, a member of the winning Kenyan team. “This is crucial for students as it not only helps them enhance their abilities but also increases their job market competitiveness.”

The South African team which reached the top ten of the 2021 Huawei Global Tech4Good Competition for designing an intrusion detection system that uses wireless and cloud technologies to curb rhino poaching was honored with a Top Performance Prize.

“My proudest moment was learning that out of the 117 teams from around the world who participated in the Tech4Good challenge, we were part of the top 10 and the only team from the African continent,” said Siyabonga Shandu, who was part of the South Africa intrusion detection system team. “It goes to show we have the capacity and capabilities to create, innovate and build real African solutions to African problems.”

The Huawei ICT competition has grown into the biggest competition of its kind in Africa and across the globe. It offers a global stage for students to showcase and practice their ICT knowledge and skills. Over the past 5 years, 80 000 university students from Africa registered for the competition, and more than 20 teams entered the global finals.

The LEAP programme will be rolled out based on the company’s investment in the region and will see more than 1 200 instructors facilitate 3 000 ICT courses. It will also fund a number of facilities including training centers, hardware installation bases, innovation hubs, mirror labs, and ICT academies. Huawei currently has ICT academies at more than 300 universities and colleges in the region.

At the ceremony, Leo Chen also called for close collaboration between government, industry, and academia to create an ecosystem that everyone can contribute to and benefit from.

The Huawei 2021 Excellent Global Talent Ecosystem Partner Award was presented to the South African Public Colleges Organisation (SAPCO). Kenyatta University and Ahmadu Bello University were awarded the Best Performance Academy of Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa ICT Competition 2021-2022.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

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‘Employing disabled people makes business sense’ The CEO of Crystal Lake, Patricia Safo, has urged businesses to consider employing persons with disability which she reckons will go a long way to boost productivity when they are well trained.

Ms.Safo adds that having an inclusive policy of getting persons with disability in an organization makes it versatile and positive.

She subsequently encouraged corporate Ghana to “look at it carefully and try it -they do need to be trained and you do need to learn sign language to be able to communicate with them, but once you are able to get over that hurdle, they are very productive group of people” According to Ms.Safo, she want firms to change their recruitment policies after government research showed employers’ attitudes were a barrier to disabled people.

She also indicated that it is time to break the myth about the complexities of employing disabled people.

Speaking with the press after an event to mark the one year passing of her father, Daniel Osei Safo at Mampong-Akuapem, she said “we noticed over the years that actually employing some people from this community[school of deaf ] was actually not a disadvantage so long as you could train them, they could actually add productivity within an organization, so as business owner you look at workforce that can increase your productivity so you can increase your bottomline, and sometimes you employ people who don’t do that, but our experience has shown that if you give these people the right

with to promote agribusiness, so that is why we are here to mark the first anniversary of the passing of Mr.D.O.Safo.”

The Safo family also used the occasion to institute an agriculture award scheme to reward the best student in honour of their father and to mark the one-year anniversary of his death.

The Headmaster of the Demonstration School for the Deaf, Satum Ametewee, exhibited some sense of appreciation to the Safo family. He however, suggested that business owners should consider engaging the services of people with such condition.

“These are children who are basically deaf, they use sign language and they are so hardworking that if you engage them because they use sign language, they would have to stop signing to do the work, so their concentration is basically on the work, so you get to see that they are much more focused on what they are doing than we the regular people. So, when you employ them, they do so well.” set of skills they are definitely able to add positively to the organization’s output.”

The late Daniel Yaw Osei Safo, Chairman of Combined Farmers Limited, was the first Ghanaian agribusiness to engage persons with hearing impairment in his farming business.

For one of her daughter’s Patricia Safo, the occasion could not have been a memorable one, she stated “The reason for the day is to mark the one year passing of Mr.D.O.Safo, who started working

with the people with such condition in this community, he loved them, he had the foresight to include them in his workforce when most people did not understand.

They actually contributed to the growth of his pineapple business.

So they learnt to grow pineapple very well and they did a good job, with the example created by D.O.Safo, other organisations like Blue Skies also followed suit.

They are a group of people that we have to try and work closely

Patricia Safo and mother presents an award to one of the deaf students

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| NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

Ministry of Tourism,Arts & Culture partners Akwaaba UK to execute “Destination Ghana”

By Emmanuel Tenge International Business Solutions Expert and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Akwaaba UK, a renowned Ghanaian International Event and Marketing Communications Company, Mr. Dennis Tawiah has revealed his company’s readiness and willingness to partner and support the government of Ghana’s effort to attract more tourists and investment to Ghana.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo earlier this month launched “Destination Ghana” in the United Kingdom, a campaign aimed at attracting tourists from the United Kingdom, Europe and the rest of the world to Ghana annually.

The campaign is under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Ghana High Commission UK, the Ghana Tourism Authority and is aimed at building on the success of Ghana’s “Year of Return ‘’ campaign which attracted many people from the diaspora to Ghana.

In addition, the goal of the initiative is to kick-start a comprehensive stakeholder,

trade and consumer engagement to highlight the vast tourist attractions and investment opportunities in Ghana, thereby placing the spotlight on Ghana.

According to Mr. Dennis Tawiah, his outfit Akwaaaba UK is poised to support the agenda of the government in projecting and marketing the tourism potential of the country to the rest of the world and welcomes interested organisations and individuals to invest in the growing hospitality industry.

“The plan of the government is to promote Ghana tourism and make Ghana the number one tourist destination on the continent as well as promoting

the sound business climate of the country. We at Akwaaaba UK are determined to support the government to make this a reality”, he stated.

He added that Ghana has a rich cultural heritage and has gained the reputation of being the place to do business in Africa and the place to have an enjoyable break especially in December when Akwaaba UK organises several exciting events annually.

“Our December in Ghana events demonstrates our commitment in making Ghana a destination of tourism and this initiative would further encourage us to do more considering the target of one million tourists annually”, he

said.

Some dignitaries that attended the launch of “Destination Ghana” included Ghana’s Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, H.E. Papa Owusu Ankomah.

Others were Mr Akwasi Agyemang CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, H.E Harriet Thompson, British High Commissioner to Ghana, Baroness Hoey of Lylehill and Rathlin, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ghana, Mr Pierre Laporte and World Bank Country Representative for Ghana.

For information about Destination Ghana and Tourism in Ghana visit our website www. akwaabauk.com and www. visitghana.com Ghana is Open and Ready! #visitghana #seeghana #eatghana #wearghana #tasteofghana #gatewaytoafrica #ukgcc

Ghana/ Brazil trade in 2020 realises $267m The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) says despite the pandemic and its associated constraints, trade between Ghana and Brazil in 2020 amounted to approximately $267million.

Mr Yaw Amoateng Afriyie, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, said according to records, the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Brazil to Ghana since 1994 was valued at approximately $334million.

Mr Afriyie was speaking at the third Brazilian Multi-Sectoral Trade Mission to Ghana organised

by CECIEx and Apex Brasil, through the Brazilian Suppliers Project with support from Sao Paulo Chamber of Commerce and The Embassy of Brazil in Accra.

The three-day Trade Mission aimed at bringing Brazilian companies into direct contact with potential Ghanaian companies and hosted buyers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Republic of Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe and Togo.

The Mission targeted importers, distributors, wholesalers, local businesses, and Government agencies to discuss and explore possibilities of mutually beneficial trade relationships.

Targeted sectors include Food & Beverage, Cosmetics & Personal Care, Home & Construction, Furniture, Safety & Health, Logistics & Trading, Machines and Equipment for micro and agroindustries from different sectors and Retail.

Mr Afriyie said Brazil was also a significant source of FDI particularly in the building and construction industry, which had received the most FDl, adding that Brazil was one of Ghana’s most important trading partners.

He said this year’s mission to Ghana was particularly encouraging to the business and trading relationship both countries sought to solidify.

The Deputy CEO said as the global economy recovered from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was now facing a precarious geopolitical future with ramifications for economies such as that of Ghana’s.

“In that vein, GIPC’s strategic focus for 2022 and beyond seeks to develop partnerships, strategic initiatives and pursue reforms, to support private sector growth and the jobs agenda,” he added.

He said missions like that were critical because they offered opportunities to explore and

build a network of agents, buyers, suppliers, and contacts for mutual benefit.

The Deputy CEO said Ghana saw Brazil as a strategic market that offered tremendous expertise, scale, and scope for Ghanaian business.

He said at the same time, Brazilian companies offered the country know-how, products, expertise, and a competitive advantage in sectors, including agriculture, construction, and manufacturing.

Mr Afriyie, therefore, charged the Ghanaian companies to diversity their global vendors and partners by taking advantage of some of the prospects that the Brazilian mission brought to Ghana He said as the Centre continued strengthening the country’s business and trade relationship, “we must be guided by mutually beneficial agreements and not lopsided contracts and investments that create jobs and development in both countries.”

The Deputy CEO said GIPC would continue to encourage investment from Brazil, and count on their support in further deepening the relationship.

He urged the Brazilian Mission

to view Ghana as an essential commercial springboard under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, a trade area of enormous potential with 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of about US$3trillion and growing, with abounding trade, export, and investment prospects.

He said a growing Ghana offered investment opportunities in several sectors for Brazilian companies, including Agribusiness, Manufacturing Healthcare, Textiles and Garments, Education and Construction.

Mr Afriyie reiterated the Government’s and GIPC’s commitment to fostering an enabling environment for businesses.

Madam Maria Elisa De Luna, the Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, commended the Government’s approach towards combating the Coronavirus pandemic.

She said Ghana had always been a market for Brazilian products, adding that there was the need for investment in the country’s economy, because the country was stable and ready for investment.

GNA

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| COMMENT/ANALYSIS

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

Never let your circumstances define you – GCB Digital & Marketing Chief The Chief Digital and Marketing Officer (CDMO) of GCB Bank PLC, Mr Eric Abeku Coffie, has advised the youth and the future leaders not to allow the past and negative circumstances to influence their future.

Speaking at a forum of youth and future leaders at the University of Ghana, Legon, he advised them to always strive to be a better version of who they were in the past and move on in life.

Dubbed the Success Africa Forum, Mr Coffie, said, “your mistakes should not define you but rather make you a better person.

The forum is organised by the Leadership Enterprise Conference (LEC) Group, the event affords young people in the various tertiary institutions the avenue to be mentored by influential people in business and other aspects of society.

This year’s summits and conferences will be taking place in seven tertiary institutions across the country.

A Chevening Scholar and an alumnus of the University of Ghana, Mr Coffie speaking on the topic, “Igniting Dreams,” urged

the youth to follow their dreams and passion in life.

He noted that the world is changing quickly, urging the youth to “learn as much as you can and keep learning.”

He said, “Your Degree or Resume should not define who you are. The titles on your CV is not important. Create your own label that defines who you are and apply yourself to what you do and do it well.”

Mr Coffie advised the youth not to throw away their past experiences and challenge themselves to be better than they are today.

“You see, there is nothing more inspiring than listening to someone whose story resonates so much with yours at such an opportune time when you need it to build a strong foundation,” he said.

Most people in life, need just a fraction of such an inspiring story to lift their spirits and propel them to the next level and the participants at Saturday’s event were the most fortunate.

Raised in the middle of the famous Makola market and right behind Derby Avenue, he

attended the Aggrey Memorial Secondary School where he was the Senior Prefect. He proceeded to the University of Ghana for his first degree and later had the opportunity to study at the University of Leeds as a Chevening scholar.

Eric graduated and went on to achieve greater heights in his career and personal life; working with several multinationals across sub-Saharan Africa and travelling the world in various capacities.

After experiencing the best of the world, his desire to serve God which never waned was made manifest when he responded to the call of God while working in Kenya and today, he is a proud Minister of the gospel at the Lighthouse Church.

The President of LEC Group, Mr Albert Prempeh Kusi, explained that the organisation is focusing on empowering the next generation of African leaders and entrepreneurs with quality and life transforming information, aimed at assisting them to make informed decisions about their lives

NPAP requests for $9.75bn investment to radically reduce plastic pollution The Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) has published a National Plastic Financing Roadmap to fast track the recommendations of the National Action Roadmap launched in December 2021.

This strategic document aims to attract capital investments of $9.75 billion to fill the existing financing gap in the plastics value chain to enable Ghana to achieve a radical reduction in plastic pollution by 2040.

Speaking at the virtual launch event, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, Mr. Solomon Asamoah, highlighted the excellent work of the financing task force, saying the launch marked a significant milestone in Ghana’s commitment to tackling the plastic pollution crisis. He further called for continued collaboration among stakeholders across the plastics value chain.

“The public and private sectors, civil society, and government need to work together to tackle plastic pollution.

Working

together is necessary to unlock sustainable financing for activities across the full plastics value chain that facilitate the transition to a circular plastics economy. We will only bring about drastic change by focusing on these solutions and driving their implementation.”

The Strategic Advisor to the Ghana NPAP, Ms. Heather Troutman, said the financing roadmap aims to serve as a compass to the private, public, and civil society sectors as the country embarks on the real work of committing to action.

“The financing roadmap is the starting point for shaping a vibrant market economy for recycled plastics, facilitating economies of scale operations

that have a tangible impact on plastic pollution levels of natural marine environments while simultaneously de-risking the investments needed to bring these industries alive.”

With per capita consumption of plastics growing at 3.4% per annum and poor waste management, Ghana faces a significant plastics pollution crisis.

The Ghana NPAP National Action Roadmap estimates that between 2020 and 2040, operating costs of $5.39 billion for the realistic scenario and $6.42 billion (including expenditure on non-plastic waste) for the ambitious scenario are likely to be required to achieve the desired pollution reduction outcomes.

The Financing Roadmap is key to unlocking the required financing by creating enabling policy and financial instruments to scale up activities across the plastic value chain.

The financing roadmap outlines 12 recommendations categorised under three themes, thus the government interventions required to create financial incentives and enabling policies, financial institution collaborations necessary to develop sustainable financing instruments, and the sufficient scaling of upstream and downstream activities to make the sector investable.

In developing the Financing Roadmap, the NPAP convened key government ministries, local and international financial institutions, development partners, and various industry players across the plastics value chain to develop actionable recommendations to unlock financing in the plastics sector by leveraging insights and recommendations set out in the National Action Roadmap.

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| NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

VP Bawumia launches National Youth Volunteers Programme A national programme to evoke the spirit of volunteerism, civic responsibility and rekindle the spirit of nationalism in Ghana’s youth has been launched by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

Under the auspices of the National Youth Authority (NYA), the National Youth Volunteers Programme is designed to ignite the spirit of selflessness and volunteerism amongst young people in Ghana and encourage youth participation in national development through voluntary activities.

The Programme will coordinate volunteer activities in the country and seeks to implement thirteen Modules with the objective of developing active citizens, foster national cohesion and create opportunities for skills development among young people.

Officials of the National Youth Authority say the NYVP is envisaged to empower over 100,000 young people across the country in the next five years with the period of engagement expected to last between one and twelve months. Young persons between the ages of 18-35 years will have the opportunity to volunteer in areas such as Agriculture,

Education, Health, Infrastructure, Afforestation, Community SelfHelp Programme, Science, Research and Technology, among others.

Performing the launch at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi on Monday, 11 April 2022 Vice President Bawumia said by providing a coordinated framework for streamlining volunteerism activities, the NYVP will provide an avenue for the young Ghanaian person to contribute their quota to national development by fixing the problems right from their communities to the national level.

“This Programme will therefore create a generation of Ghanaian political and thought leaders, traditional and religious leaders, entrepreneurs, and people of all professions and trades who can envision the grand agenda for Ghana and work hard to address the structural challenges that impede our journey to our glorious destination.

“The diversity of the modules under the Programme will ensure that no able and willing youth, regardless of their gender, level of education, social or economic status, religion, or any other, is denied the opportunity to serve their country and to develop their

creative potential. There are 13 modules; at least one will be of interest to you.

“I am particularly excited about the prospects of the Science, Research, and Technology module, which is slated for later implementation. This will permit gifted young Ghanaians to leverage new technologies to provide lasting solutions to the myriad challenges in communities across the country.”

To further prepare Ghanaian youth for the future, government is investing heavily in Education, evidenced by the assurance of universal access to inclusive and equitable education through the sustained implementation of the Free Senior High School Policy and the upscaling of Technical and Vocational Education Training under the TVET Strategic Plan, Dr Bawumia stated.

Furthermore, Government has rolled out a number of initiatives to equip graduates with the needed skills required for the job market in the future, including an ongoing stakeholder engagement for skills revitalization in several sectors of the economy such as in the banking and tourism sectors.

In the Tourism, Arts and Culture sector, the target is to train and certify 10,000 persons on specific

tourism and hospitality skills by 2023.

“There is ongoing construction and modernization of all National Vocational training Institutes (NVTIs) and Opportunity Industrialization Centers (OIC).

So far, 17 Technical and Vocational Institutes across the country are being upgraded and modernized.”

“The YouStart initiative which will support young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills, and mentoring to launch and operate their own businesses, is also expected to take off soon,” he added.

Commending management and staff of the National Youth Authority, led by Pius Hadzide and assisted by Nelson Owusu Ansah and Akosua Manu, for the “hard work that has resulted in the roll out of this laudable programme,” Vice President Bawumia urged all stakeholders to ensure its success.

“We have before us an opportunity to change the narrative of what the Ghanaian youth is about and in doing so change the narrative around our country and our continent. We must not let this opportunity to engage our youth in useful, productive volunteering that will have long-lasting personal and national impacts pass us by.”

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

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FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

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| FEATURE

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

CIMAF Ghana, KTU to train 1400 artisans across country The Kumasi Technical University has initiated a program to train 1,400 Ghanaian artisans within the informal sector with modern technology to enhance their skills within the construction industry, with support from CIMAF Ghana Limited.

The training which is aimed at supporting the government’s effort to enhance the skills of Ghanaian artisans throughout the country would last for a period of three months starting May 2022.

The first phase of the training would involve five batches of 200 artisans each, selected from all the regions across the country.

The Vice-Chancellor of Kumasi Technical University Prof OseiWusu Achaw in a statement expressed appreciation to the CIMAF Ghana Ltd for the initiative.

He observed that, “Industry is the direct beneficiary of products

of this technical university and yet it hardly gets such partnership.

We appreciate CIMAF Group for this initiative and we will urge others to follow suit”.

Technical Director of CIMAF Ghana Limited, Mr Berzouki Abdel Karim, spoke about the essence of the training: “the training initiative is a step further to boost the skills of artisans with formal training on the proper application in the construction industry.”

He expressed his excitement about the partnership with the Kumasi Technical University which is also a boost to the government’s efforts to make TVET the engine of growth.

Mr Abdel Karim added that the training would feature males as the current practising artisans are males, making the males dominate the programme.

He again indicated that besides enhancing the employability of the trainees, the training would also provide job opportunities to the teaming unemployed youth in the country.

He added that CIMAF Ghana, being the first to introduce 5 grades of cement to revamp the once-neglected grading system

in the country, was pleased that other cement manufactures had followed their lead to produce various grades of the product for the market.

Meanwhile, the trainees, on their graduation would be awarded certificates to attest to the new skills they have acquired.

Kwehu Paragliding Festival – Ghana presents first pilot to fly passengers For the first time in the history of the Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival a Ghanaian Tandem pilot, Mr Jonathan Quaye, will be among the 12 pilots to fly passengers during the festival.

He, among 11 other foreign national pilots, would fly passenger from the Odweanoma mountings in Atibie, Kwahu, from April 14 to April 18, 2022.

Mr Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi, Deputy Head, Corporate Affairs, Ghana Tourism Authority said the other

11 pilots, include Ed Stein -USA, Chuck Smith-USA, Blake Pelton -USA, Cherie Silvera -USA, Tim Meehan – USA, Marc TheissenGermany, Hagen Muhlich -Germany, Kabisch Raymond Chase -USA, Jorge Reategui – Peru, Eduardo Reategui -Peru and Lionel Mury– Switzerland.

He said the festival which resurfaced after two years of inactivity due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic had become a key highlight of the

Easter Festival and had gained international recognition.

Mr Kusi noted that over the years it had been organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), in collaboration with the various Assemblies in Kwahu East, West and South and the Kwahu Traditional Authority and this year’s was no different.

“Other activities earmarked for the festival include Hot Air

Balloon, the Kwahu Marathon, a food Bazaar, Kwahu Dwaso, Pool Parties, Musical Concerts, Church Service,” he added.

He noted that the proposed fee for a paragliding flight this year is GH¢550 inclusive of an Antigen Test for passengers before they would be allowed to fly.

Mr Kusi assured patrons that the Kwahu Easter Guide, which seeks to provide information about the various events and activities and other vital information about Kwahu Easter had been published and would be made available in due course.

He urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the festival, to have fun, meet family and friends as well as new people and socialize after the long break due to the COVID-19.

GNA

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| MARKET REVIEW

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING - APRIL 8, 2022 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS Q3, 2021 GDP Growth

6.6%

Average GDP Growth for 2021

5.3%

2022 Projected GDP Growth

5.8%

BoG Policy Rate

17.0%

Weekly Interbank Interest Rate

16.38%

Inflation for February, 2022

15.7%

End Period Inflation Target – 2022

8.0%

Budget Deficit (% GDP) – Dec, 2021

9.7%

2022 Budget Deficit Target (%GDP)

7.4%

Public Debt (billion GH¢) – Dec, 2021

351.8

Debt to GDP Ratio – Dec, 2021

80.1%

STOCK MARKET REVIEW The Ghana Stock Exchange weakened for the week on the back of price declines by 3 counters. The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) lost 49.20 points (-1.79%) to close at 2,693.65 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) loss of 3.43%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) however, gained 39.22 points (+1.80%) to close at 2,214.18 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) gain of 2.90%.

Market capitalization declined marginally by 0.03% to close the week at GH¢64,011.45 million, from GH¢64,029.79 million at the close of the previous week.

This reflects YTD decrease of 0.75%.

Trading activity recorded a total of 3,626,127 shares valued at GH¢3,602,157 changing hands, compared with 83,028,224 shares, valued at GH¢88,889,722.36 in the preceding week.

MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for the week, accounting for 57.84% and 58.50% of volume and value of shares traded respectively .

The market ended the week with 3 advancers and 3 decliners as indicated on the table below.

THE CURRENCY MARKET The Cedi recorded no change against the USD for the week. It remained flat at GH¢7.1120/$ reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.00% and 15.55% respectively.

This compares with YTD appreciation of 0.54% a year ago.

The Cedi however advanced against the GBP for the week. It traded at GH¢9.2663/£, compared with GH¢9.3278/£ at week open, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 0.66% and 12.29% respectively.

This compares with YTD depreciation of 0.10% a year ago.

The Cedi also strengthened against the Euro for the week. It traded at GH¢7.7338/€, compared with GH¢7.8217/€ at week open, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 1.14% and 11.71% respectively.

This compares with YTD appreciation of 3.74% a year ago.

The Cedi again appreciated against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢5.7019/C$ but closed at GH¢5.6526/C$, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 0.87% and 16.12% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 0.75% a year ago.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET Government raised a sum of GH¢1,155.11 million for the week across the 91-Day, 182-Day , 364 Day Treasury bills as well as the 3 Year Bond. This compared with GH¢463.65 million raised in the previous week.

The 91-Day Bill settled at 15.74% p.a., from 14.85% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 15.93% p.a., from 15.46% p.a. last week. The 364-Day Treasury Bill on the other hand settled at 18.28% p.a., from 17.11% p.a. recorded previously. The 3-Year Bond meanwhile settled at 20.85% p.a., up from 20.50% previously.

The table and graph below highlight primary market yields at close of the week.

19

| MARKET REVIEW

COMMODITY MARKET

BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK

Crude Oil prices settled lower on Friday after consuming countries agreed to release a total of 240 million barrels of oil from emergency stocks. Brent futures traded at US$102.78 a barrel on Friday, compared to US$107.53 at week open. This reflects w/w loss and YTD gain of 4.42% and 34.14% respectively.

Gold prices rose as concerns over rising costs and the Ukraine crisis bolstered its appeal as an inflation hedge and a safe haven, but the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive policy stance limited gains. Gold settled at US$1,945.60 from US$1,929.20 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD appreciations of 0.85% and 6.40% respectively.

Prices of Cocoa advanced for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,620.00 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,562.00 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD appreciations of 2.26% and 3.97% respectively.

Foreign Exchange Reserves: Foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by a central bank in foreign currencies. These reserves are used to back liabilities and influence monetary policy. It includes any foreign money held by a central bank, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.

INTERNTIONAL COMMODITIES PRICES

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/ foreign-exchange-reserves.asp

ABOUT CIDAN CIDAN Investments Limited is an investment and fund management company licensed by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

RESEARCH TEAM Name: Ernest Tannor Email:etannor@cidaninvestments.com Tel:+233 (0) 20 881 8957 Name: Audrey Asiedua Wiafe Email:aaudrey@cidaninvestments.com Tel:+233 (0) 57 840 2700 Name: Moses Nana Osei-Yeboah Email:moyeboah@cidaninvestments.com Tel:+233 (0) 24 499 0069

CORPORATE INFORMATION CIDAN Investments Limited CIDAN House Plot No. 169 Block 6 Haatso, North Legon – Accra Tel: +233 (0) 26171 7001/ 26 300 3917 Fax: +233 (0)30 254 4351 Email: info@cidaninvestmens.com Website: www.cidaninvestments.com Disclaimer The contents of this report have been prepared to provide you with general information only. Information provided on and available from this report does not constitute any investment recommendation.

The information contained herein has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed.

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NO. B24/317 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022

AirtelTigo and ISCC Ghana undertake Sickle Cell screening at Ajumako-Mando Traditional Area

AirtelTigo in collaboration with the International Sickle Cell Centre (ISCC), Ghana, undertook a sickle-cell disease sensitization and screening exercise at the Ajumako- Mando Traditional Area in Ajumako over the weekend.

This is in support of measures being taken to raise awareness on sickle-cell disease (SCD) in Ghana and to improve the lives of people living with the disease.

Speaking during the sensitization and screening exercise, the Head of Brand and Communication at AirtelTigo, Nancy Assor Asiedu-Amrado said, “Approximately 18,000 children are born each year in Ghana with sickle cell disease (SCD), an inherited blood disorder. Through our corporate social initiative, AirtelTigo Touching Lives, we are pleased to collaborate with ISCC

to promote sickle cell education and embark on today’s screening in the Ajumako-Mando traditional area.

This indeed marks the beginning of a great collaborative effort on tackling sickle-cell disease in Ghana. As we endeavour to deliver the best and quality telecommunication service in Ghana, we are also driven by our mantra of making life simple for

our customers through social investments that create value for the society in which we operate.”

Addressing the community, Dr. Mary Ansong, Founder and President of the ISCC, thanked the community members for welcoming the team and showing interest in SCD. She stated that, “One of the major problems in tackling the morbidity and mortality rate of sickle-cell disease in Ghana and Africa is the lack of awareness of the condition and the needed interventions to save lives. It is therefore important for Ghana to implement a universal newborn screening program as well as the screening of the entire population for the sickle-cell gene. This is because early detection helps institute the needed measures that allow people living with the disease to enjoy a fuller and healthier life.”

Dr. Mary applauded AirtelTigo, Sysmex West & Central Africa, and Wesley Methodist Church for coming on board to support ISCC during the SCD screening and to help raise awareness in Ghana.

The community members expressed their massive appreciation to the ISCC, AirtelTigo, and their partners for the kind gesture towards their well-being.

Eni announces new discoveries in the Western Desert of Egypt Eni announces new oil and gas discoveries in the Meleiha concessions, in Egypt’s Western Desert, for approximately 8,500 barrels/day of oil equivalent.

These new discoveries have already been connected and tied into production, in line with the infrastructure-led exploration strategy, allowing to maximize exploration opportunities nearby existing infrastructures.

The results were obtained through Nada E Deep 1X well, which encountered 60m of net hydrocarbon pay in the Cretaceous-Jurassic Alam El Bueib & Khatatba formations,

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Meleiha SE Deep 1X well, which found 30m of net hydrocarbon pay in the Cretaceous-Jurassic sands of the Matruh & Khatatba formations, and Emry Deep 21 well, which encountered 35m of net hydrocarbon pay in the massive cretaceous sandstones of Alam El Bueib. These results, added to the discoveries of 2021 for total of 8 exploration wells, give a 75% of success rate, confirming the potential of the area. Other exploration activities in the concession are ongoing with promising indications.

With these discoveries, Eni, through AGIBA, a JV between

Eni and EGPC, continues to pursue successfully its near field strategy in the mature basin of the Western Desert, aimed at maximizing production by containing development costs and minimizing time to market.

In addition, Eni renews its commitment in the Western Desert with the recent acquisition of two exploration blocks with the planning in 2022 of a new high-resolution 3D seismic survey in the Meleiha concession, also aimed at investigating the gas potential of the area, in line with the energy transition goals.

Eni has been present in Egypt

EDITOR: BENSON AFFUL editor@business24.com.gh | +233 545 516 133.

since 1954, where it operates through the subsidiary IEOC. The company is currently the leading producer in the country with an equity production of around 360,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. In line with the net-zero strategy by 2050, Eni is engaged in a series of initiatives aimed at decarbonizing the Egyptian energy sector, including the development of CCS plants, renewable energy plants, agro feedstock for bio refining and others.