Harmonise revenue streams from mineral royalties -Dr. Steve Manteaw
Dr. Steve Manteaw, co-Chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), has called for the coordination of revenue streams from mineral royalties that accrue to the various district for the economic develop ment.Government in 2018, instituted the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act,2018, aimed at establish ing a Fund to manage the equity interests of the Republic in mining companies, to receive mineral roy alties and other related income due the Republic from mining opera tions, to provide for the manage ment and investment of the assets of the Fund and for related matters. Prior to that, government realiz ing the increasing illegal small-scale mining practices have brought about a devastating effect on the environment which has impacted negatively on Ghanaians, particu larly those living in Mining Com munities, also instituted the Min erals Development Fund Act, 2016, (ACT 912) was passed on the 29th of March, 2016, specifically to ensure true improvement in the standard of living within Mining Communi ties across the country affected by miningFurtheroperations.bytheMIIF law, 20% of royalties collected across all miner al types goes to the Minerals Devel opment Fund (MDF), which is re sponsible for deploying it directly to traditional authorities and local government for the provision of developmental amenities; 2% goes into the operations of MIIF; 2.4% to GRA as a collecting agent; and 75.6% goes into investment activities. However, it is the restricted rev enue streams that Dr. Manteaw is advocating for a synchronization, he said “I would want to see a har monization of the revenue streams that accrue to the districts for eco nomic development, in developing
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“When the last tree dies, the last man dies” they say and truly so because flora and fauna preserve the environment and hence human life, and at a time that economies are grossly feeling the harsh outcomes of climate change, the need to preserve our environment and green resources have become even more critical. Aside the enviro-friendly outcomes, there is proven economic potential in the green economy, specifically the horticultural value chain. Recent statistics put proportions of the youth (15 to 35) that are unemployed and seeking work at 34.2percent. Unemployment is therefore considered by many to be the most critical issue affecting the country. It is trite to say that with the right national and individual orientation, policies, and drive, Ghana’s rich flora and fauna resources could provide millions of jobs to the country’s teeming youth. Stratcomm Africa is leading the charge to green Ghana for the varied purposes of beautification, wealth and job creation as well as a sustainable fight against climate change.
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This year’s theme “Growth Unleashed” preps the mind of young Ghanaians to burst forth and to grow beyond the norms to achieve a blooming environment.Theglobal horticulture market is estimated to be valued at USD 20.77 Billion as of 2021 and is projected to reach US$40.24bn by 2026 at a compound annual growth of 10.2percent whilst global flower and ornamental plants market was valued at US$475.6m in 2020 and is expected to reach US$725.4m by the end of 2027, growing annually at 6.3percent during 2021-2027.
Now in is tenth year, the annual Garden and Flower Show challenges and motivates the youth and businesses in the sector to aspire to grow and reach their full potential, in order to improve their livelihoods and impact society.
Harmonise revenue streams from mineral royalties -Dr. Steve Manteaw
“For us the question really is how can we start a conversation that says that local mining communities are entitled to say a Ghc100m a year, is the money going to them and if not what are the ways we can ensure it can be moved to them, so ultimately it is the development of the local communities that is at the heart of the conversation and we can at least maximise value from the extractive sector particularly gold mining.”
the medium term framework for all of the assemblies we need to bring everybody on board to have shared plan and in terms of financing we harmonise all the resources to be able to finance that project -so we don’t have a situation where the local management committee of the mining community development fund sits in the corner and identify projects that are not aligned with the medium term development framework of the district. Another fund I identified was the development foundations that has been set up by the mining companies, again you need to align expenditures of this foundations with the mediumterm plan, and it is in doing that, that we can be able to ensure spending efficiency at the local level” he told Business24 in an interview during a workshop on Mining Royalties and Local Community Development under the auspices of Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) in Accra on AccordingThursday.toDr. Manteaw, the concept of benefit sharing in the mining sector is not new, noting that it became necessary sometime back in 1999 when the communities started agitating for increased share of mining benefits because all they saw in the communities was shipment of minerals and in return nothing really to improve their livelihoods, so in response the government then under the late Prez. Rawlings instituted through an administrative process an arrangement that returned about 10percent of minerals royalties to host communities, there is another 10percent that goes to support the sustainability of the industry.Heexplained that in 2016 when a law was passed with the hope that it will deal with some of the challenges with the implementation of the previous arrangement rather, it created a parallel stream of revenue to the district which is 20percent of the minerals royalty and it is to pursue the same objective of the local economy development, “I thought that was unfortunate because you are increasing the bureaucratic cost of development at the local level.” “One that is managed by the assembly and a portion that is managed by a newly created local management committee, so I thought that was not efficient, but even that aside that arrangement comes with duplication of the risks of project because if the two nomenclatures; the assembly and the LMC for the MCDS do not work together then you could have a situation where projects could be duplicated so I thought that was not efficient enough.”
For Dr. Manteaw, within a short space of time, from 2017 to date, the mining community development scheme has been able to achieve so much more and reckons, “it makes sense to even hand over the functions of the OASL to MDF, this is because over this short period they have managed to create guidelines for the utilization of mineral royalties and they set up a protocol that require communities on their own to identify projects they want to fund with the mineral revenues and to submit proposals to the MDF Secretariat, these proposals are evaluated and when approved, monies are disbursed for the implementation of the project. Patrick Stephenson, Economic Advisor at NRGI indicated that rationale for the event was to highlight the challenges confronting these mining communities and fashion out strategies to tackle it.
Horticulture fast becoming the new job-making machine
Dr Brian Reuben, has called on politicians seeking to succeed President Muhamadu Buhari to put the interest of the over 200 million citizens above their ambition.
Citing a recent Economist report which states that Nigeria’s mega city, Lagos is the second worst city to live in, the AESG boss attributed it to leadership incompetence at all levels insisting that unless Nigerians elect a responsible leadership, a war-torn country might be better than Nigeria in just a few years. Politics at this time should not be about merely seizing power and maintaining political patronage. It should not be time to fulfil a lifelong ambition, it is a time to save Nigeria. It is not too late to drop selfish ambition for the sake of Nigeria and Nigerians knowing that eventually history will judge everyone.
Tech companies making a difference in Africa
Let’s
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 | FEATURE 3
Africa has long been touted as the continent with the most growth potential when it comes to tech and innovation. Many African countries are building their own equivalents of Silicon Valley and tech companies from all across the world have been setting up offices and launching themselves into markets across the continent. And in addition to growing their customer bases, these companies are also committing to making affecting change in Africa. Here’s how. They are Investing in communities and equipping people to become entrepreneurs Last year Airbnb announced a three-year commitment to South Africa to address barriers to becoming a tourism entrepreneur, and to help rebuild a more inclusive and resilient domestic tourism economy. The commitment focuses on infrastructure, training and investment and builds on Airbnb’s 2017 USD $1 million commitment in Africa to boost community-led tourism projects, and the Africa Academy, which has trained more than 300 Hosts. As part of this commitment, Airbnb announced its partnership with the University of Johannesburg School of Tourism and Hospitality to expand the Airbnb Academy programme to at least 1000 students over the next three years. They are assisting in developing quality journalists and newsrooms Over the years, Google, perhaps the biggest tech giant in the world, has been doing its fair share for small businesses, content creators and business owners across Africa. And just recently the company announced that five South African recipients have been selected as part of Google’s News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge. The GNI Innovation Challenge is aimed at helping the journalism industry thrive in the digital era. Their projects are among 34 chosen from 17 countries, to receive a share of $3.2 million in funding.The recipients, among them 21 journalists and publishers from 10 countries in Africa, were selected for their work in promoting diversity, equality, and inclusion in the journalism industry. The GNI Innovation Challenge is part of Google’s $300 million commitment to helping journalism thrive in the digital era and has seen news innovators step forward with many exciting initiatives demonstrating new thinking. Companies are nurturing talent from a young age “At Huawei South Africa, we have long been committed to cultivating ICT talent and discovering new ways to harness technological innovation to advance sustainability,”says Vanashree Govender, Media and Communications Manager for Huawei South Africa. “Last year, we launched our Tech4Good Global Competition as part of our Seeds for the Future talent development programme, which exposes learners to courses on the latest technologies like 5G, Cloud, AI and IoT. The Tech4Good competition gets students to think about how to use technology to address social and environmental issues. Through this programme, participants boost their creativity, hone their entrepreneurship skills, and develop a sense of social responsibility. This is a fun team effort, with coaching by Huawei experts and world-renowned social impact leaders”. Huawei also runs a Tech4All program globally in which Huawei works with partners to create real change through connecting the unconnected, empowering underserved communities and protecting the planet. In South Africa, Huawei’s DigiSchool project in partnership with operator rain and educational non-profit organisation Click Foundation, has connected over 100 urban and rural primary schools to the internet using 5G technology. They are building the right skills through access to digital media education Today, there are local entrepreneurs in fields as diverse as fashion, healthcare, and decor who have proven that with more equal access to the digital marketing ecosystem, it’s possible to expand regionally and internationally. In order for that to happen at scale, they also need the requisite skills to market themselves online in the markets they want to reach. At the very least, those entrepreneurs should have easy access to people with those skills. It’s important to note here, that these aren’t just fundamental digital marketing skills, but ones that relate to the specifics of marketing on the world’s leading digital advertising platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, and Spotify where people across the globe spend most of their time online. With the right types of messages, these platforms are the most effective places to reach new customers across a broad range of “Thismarkets.is something that we’re passionate about, and recently, Ad Dynamo by Aleph launched a free Digital Ad Expert programme for young people in Nigeria and Ghana, which aims to educate, certify and connect thousands of Africans with the digital skills needed to succeed in a rapidly digitising economy. While it’s entirely possible that someone with the right degree of determination and curiosity could develop those skills on their own, it’s critical that more and more resources are accessible to build them up at scale,” says Elyse Estrada, Global Chief Marketing Office, Aleph Group. This is crucial to ensuring that markets such as Ghana and Nigeria aren’t just growth targets for international companies, but incubators for a new generation of entrepreneurs capable of competing on a global level themselves. They are creating access for everyone MFS Africa, the continent’s largest omnichannel payment gateway, believes in a “borderless world” in which everyone has access. Their comprehensive digital networks link 320 million mobile wallets, enabling cross-border payments remittance firms, financial service providers, and worldwide merchants. MFS Africa CEO and Founder, Dare Okoudjo believes that interoperability is crucial in allowing customers of different mobile financial services providers to interact with each other. This can be done by making direct payments from the mobile money account of one provider to the mobile money account of another provider. To do this, MFS Africa acquired Global Technology Partners (GTP) recently, broadening its bank and fintech base and supplying tokenisation in the mobile money space by connecting with established card ecosystems like Visa and Mastercard. The ultimate objective is to give millions of mobile money users on the continent access to the global digital economy and new possibilities. For its partners, these new capabilities enable scalability, security, and new markets and consumers as technology innovation continues to penetrate and reshape societies. give the giant of Africa a chance to rise
Nigeria is passing through difficult times is now well understood. “This therefore is not a time to misplace priorities. Those asking for the votes must be mindful that their actions will eventually be judged by history. Nigeria is at its all-time low, this is not a time to run for office just to fulfil personal ambition. Leading the most populous black nation at this time requires someone who is not just intellectually sound but physically strong as well. It is wrong to play politics with the future of a country as important as Nigeria, it is unconscionable to sit on a TV camera and tell lies and defend lies just for the sake of getting into elective office or retaining power. These politicians should look at Nigeria and Nigerians with some kindness and know that Nigeria cannot survive one more month of incompetence,” Dr Reuben said. On the current state of the country, Dr Reuben said the government must rise to the challenge and provide leadership that works.
“For many years the ‘giant of Africa’ has been a slumbering giant, the 2023 general elections is our chance to get this precious country back on track,” he said. Nigeria is currently facing pressing economic and security issues. Thousands has been killed
peopleismeasurablemonths.universities35%,unemploymentaretheseveralTerrorists/Bandits,bykidnappedassecuritysituation“ManyNigeriansstrugglingtoeat,rateisataboutinflationrateisat18%,publichavebeenshutforThesearerealissues.Lessbutnotlessprofoundthesappingofconfidencebytheintheirgovernment.That
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 20224 Absa Bank Ghana’s commitment to the environment remains one of the strengths of the company’s strategy in the country. Beyond establishing an undisputed leadership in financial performance and sustainability, the bank’s dedication to addressing key issues related to the environment, health and education, is an example of what a modern bank must stand for. Recently, bank colleagues from various units across the country, embarked on an extensive tree planting campaign to support climate change and the Ghana government’s Green Agenda. The Green Ghana Agenda initiative was introduced by the government last year, to alleviate the high rate of rainforest loss in the country. Several organisations and groups, including Absa, responded to the call and over 5 million trees were planted nationwide last year. This year, thanks to a partnership with the Forestry Commission, Absa has planted 10,000 seedlings with the support of 1,000 employees across the bank. The planting activity, which has now become an annual affair, is titled “Green Care Initiative” and aligns with the bank’s purpose of playing an impactful role in society.Commenting, Director of Marketing and Corporate Relations at Absa Bank, Nana Essilfuah Boison said: “We all want a world that is safe, easy to live in and very sustainable. of supporting a society that enhances the work we do, both for our clients and customers. Planting trees has become very important, especially in our world today, where matters of the environment, social and governance (ESG) are a concern for all. We are proud of our colleague volunteers who always show energy and willingness to be part of our various community initiatives. It speaks to our purpose of bringing possibilities to Thelife.” Green Care Initiative was launched by the bank last year to create opportunities for employees to volunteer and contribute to activities that support the environment and issues of climate change. our constitutional dispensation which hinders our progress and is making it possible for duty bearers to manipulate the system to their interest and subtly opine that that is what the statute prescribes. It is the architecture of the legal regime which has created an endemic and bad administrative and procedural system in the country; and that is our bane. The system in its current form and framework lends itself to manipulative acceptable legal and procedural practices in the country.Thedevelopmental challenges by and large have been the same over the years because they are facilitated by the same legal and administrative systems.
AndHow?how does the system setup, facilitate these developmental challenges? The present system of governance preaches separation of powers, while at the same time permitting the appointment of at least 50 per cent of the executive from the legislature. It allows for open-ended appointments into the judiciary and the seat of government. The system permits subjective discretionary tax waivers within our revenue mobilisation space, which is applied for personal and group interest apparently as the norm, instead of the exception. It also accepts the creation of any number of ministries and the appointment of any number of ministers and deputy ministers, including appointments onto boards and as heads of public institutions.Thesystem further permits for the creation of any number of regions and municipalities and districts by the political class.
Legal regime challenges development
InCompensationaddition,our governance structure and operational machinery has allowed for the arms of government to mutually agree to determine and approve their own compensation packages.TheConstitution itself further makes room for sweeping excessive executive powers to the extent that the political class can appoint numerous personal and special assistants and advisors at all levels of the political pyramid. These, among others, portray our constitutional burden as a nation. It is simply the legal text and architecture that has created this inherently manipulative environment in the country. It appears that the system has been fashioned to facilitate personal and group capture of governance and administrative levers in the country; and has also created an apparent situation whereby duty bearers, who are beneficiaries of the system, are the same people to decide whether or not changes should be made to the constitutional order. We have an environment where citizens worship elected officers instead of elected officers listening to citizens and doing what is right. It appears that the Constitution was crafted in a form of hegemony to benefit and shield a particular segment. ASystemproblematic legally structured system cannot be rectified without re-ordering it. The re-shaping must begin with correcting the said problematic legal framework underpinning the unsatisfactory system. It is thus imperative that something is done about it to prevent this continuous quagmire. There have been countless opinions and calls for constitutional reforms to remedy the current problematic system over the years. It even culminated into a Constitutional Review Commission, the report of which has fallen on the blind side of governments. There appears to be a very compelling necessity and basis now than ever for statute and structural reviews and reforms in the country and leadership must just do the needful. And let it not be that the duty bearers have developed cold feet towards this obvious necessity and numerous calls from the governed for constitutional reforms because of their collective gain and interests per the present legal and administrative architecture in the country. The writer is with the Registrar’s Department, KNUST, Kumasi. E-mail: akuufare.reg@knust.edu.gh
Absa Bank plants 10,000 trees in support of climate change
| FEATURE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 | NEWS 5
EcologicalOrientationand Ethical Issues Competitor Orientation Launching the awards ceremony, the National President of CIMG, Dr. Kasser Tee, urged organisations “to refrain from cutting marketing budgets in hard times, as effective deployment of marketing communications is necessary for stimulating demand for their products.”Dr.Kasser Tee added that organisations must re-examine their marketing mix elements and ensure an optimal blend for organisational success. He explains that “in the same way that you cannot do without products, or pricing, or distribution, so must you not cut promotion or marketing communications budget. You must however spend in critical areas, using the most critical, influential and most cost-effective media vehicles. You must differentiate your corporate and product brands to enable them stand out in the midst of intense competition and low consumption.” He further encouraged all corporate organisations “to pay attention to some of the very key pillars of marketing that guarantee effective performance, by way of growing market shares, revenues and profits in these difficult times.”
For 32 years, CIMG has consistently held the Annual National Marketing Performance Awards with the upcoming one being the 33rd edition. Nominations for the awards categories are still open till Friday, August 12, 2022. MTN Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerating socio-economic development in Ghana through significant social investments and honoring its regulatory MTN Ghana In the first half of 2022 contributed 29.6% of its total revenue, amounting to approximately GHS1.4 billion in direct and indirect taxes, and payments to governmental Agencies. This figure was disclosed in MTN Ghana’s half year Financial Results for 2022. The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh said, “MTN Ghana is poised to bolster recovery and deliver on its ambition 2025 strategy boosting socioeconomic growth through innovative digital technologies. Our collective socio-economic development remains of utmost priority to us as a business and we will continue to play our part in fostering sustainable growth by building strategic partnerships and creating shared value for all”. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, characterized by rising inflation, increased fuel cost, pressure on the exchange rate as well as other external challenges, MTN Ghana demonstrated resilience, posting a pre-tax profit of GHS 2.7 billion. Mobile Voice subscription increased by 11.6% to 27.8 million while active data subscribers increased by 15.1% to 13.1 million. Active Mobile Money (MoMo) users improved by 11.0% to 11.7 million and service revenue grew by ¬ 28.9% to GHS4.7 billion. ¬ Key infrastructure developments carried out by MTN Ghana Foundation as part of its CSI activities in the first half of the year included the commissioning of a library for the people of Denkyira Buabenso, continuation of works on the STEM Robotics Lab for Mamfe Girls’ School and the 60-bed neonatal centre for the Keta Municipal Hospital. Although the outlook for the economy remains uncertain and volatile, MTN remains committed to executing its Ambition 2025 Strategy to drive growth and efficiencies in doing business.
CIMG launches 33rd annual National Marketing Performance Awards
MTN set to bolster economic growth through strategic partnerships
The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG), has launched the 33rd CIMG Annual National Marketing Performance Awards, which was held at the Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra. The event took a hybrid form with virtual and in-person attendees. In his welcome address, the Registrar of the CIMG, Mr. Kwabena Agyekum said, “The success of these awards has gone beyond the event itself. Many businesses have now redeveloped their corporate strategies and significantly changed their business operating models, enabling them to be marketing-oriented by meeting the key requirements of market focus, integrated marketing, long term profitability, and customer and competitor orientation.” In his opening remarks, the National Vice-President of CIMG and Chairman of the Awards Planning and Selection Committee, Mr. Theodore Osae, lauded the CIMG for its historic accomplishments in previous awards“Thereceremonies.isnodenying that the scheme has incredibly evolved into what could be considered Ghana’s benchmark awards scheme. As we take delight in the successes achieved by our awards, I wish to boldly say that the CIMG takes pride in the several landmark accomplishments, which have greatly contributed towards improvements in organisational and professional performances, and especially, for practicing Marketers,” Mr. Osae said. Being mindful of these achievements, the Institute has resolved to keep the stakes as high and as relevant as possible so that the standards, by which CIMG assesses individual and corporate performances, are not compromised.Theinstitute, for the past few years, has adopted the online system of completing the awards questionnaire by nominees as well as online assessment for the judges, who are chosen from various sectors of the corporate world. This set up has made it easy for CIMG to continue to drive a rigorous process whilst maintaining its stringent standards. The Awards cover six major competitive areas, namely: Hall of Fame, Personality, Media and Marketing Communications organisations, Business organisations, Products, and Notfor-Profit organisations. There is a non-competitive award category known as the CIMG President’s Special awards which are given to noticeable female and male achievers in any endeavour, or a business entity or product or service that has positively contributed to national progress. Mr Osae indicated that “the judges and assessors for the year’s event will devote time and attention to ensure the success of the 33rd CIMG Awards, as it represents Ghana’s benchmark awards ceremony.” The criteria for selecting the winners and benchmarking their performance will include: 1. Marketing Metrics including awareness, numeric distribution (where appropriate) and others 2. Marketing Innovation 3. Technological Innovation 4. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) 5. Social Impact 6. Contribution to National Development 7. Public Image 8. Success in the Market Place 9. Market Share 10. Customer Service
The Giving Capsules: Scientists Track Newly Identified Virus as China Sounds Alarm for the “Langya Virus” found in the Shandong & Henan Provinces of China. Beware!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022| NEWS6
By Baptista S. Gebu (Mrs.)
When you say yes to your job and all other things, remember to say yes to your keeping a healthy immunity too. Storms make trees take deeper root. Protect your immunity. Keeping a healthy immunity should be your number one focus in moments now that the world is warned of seeing more diseases with increased exploitation of wildlife and climate change. Eating natural healthy home cooked meals will do you better now than resulting to packaged, processed and other unhealthy meals. Deprogram yourself from the lie that processed and packaged foods can replace home naturally cooked meals. Usually, the longer the shelf life of these packaged food, the shorter your life-span. If the food comes from a plant (the earth), eat it; if it is manufactured from a plant (a machine) avoid it if you can. Be agile.According to report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Scientists are tracking a new, animal-derived virus in China that has infected at least 35 people as at date. The novel Langya henipavirus (LayV) was found in the Shandong and Henan provinces. The virus, named Langya henipavirus or LayV, was found thanks to an early detection system for feverish people with a recent history of exposure to animals in China. The patients -mainly farmers -- also reported fatigue, cough, loss of appetite and aches, with several developing blood-cell abnormalities and signs of liver and kidney damage. All are alive the report indicated. There was no evidence they had been in close contact or had a common exposure history, suggesting human infection may be random, the researchers said. Further investigation is needed to better understand the infection, according to the researchers from Beijing, Singapore and Australia. Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control said it is paying attention to the report, and plans to start screening for the virus. The scientists said LayV was found in 27% of shrews tested, suggesting the mole-like mammals may be “natural reservoirs” for the virus. About 5% of dogs and 2% of goats also tested positive for it the report indicated. LayV is a type of henipavirus, a category of zoonotic viruses which can jump from animals to humans. Zoonotic viruses are very common but have attracted more attention since the start of the Covid pandemic. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said scientists estimate that three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals. The United Nations had previously warned the world will see more of such diseases with increased exploitation of wildlife and climate change. Some zoonotic viruses can be potentially fatal to humans. These include the Nipah virus which has periodic outbreaks among animals and humans in Asia, and the Hendra virus which was first detected in horses in Australia. Here is what the report said; “The Hendra virus and the Nipah virus, which belong to the genus henipavirus in the family Paramyxoviridae, are known to infect humans and cause fatal disease; however, other related henipaviruses have been detected in bats, rodents, and shrews. During sentinel surveillance of febrile patients with a recent history of animal exposure in eastern China, a phylogenetically distinct henipavirus, named Langya henipavirus (LayV), was identified in a throat swab sample from one patient by means of metagenomic analysis and subsequent virus isolation. The genome of LayV is composed of 18,402 nucleotides with a genome organization that is identical to that of other henipaviruses. LayV is most phylogenetically related to Mojiang henipavirus, which was discovered in southern China.Subsequent investigation identified 35 patients with acute LayV infection in the Shandong and Henan provinces of China, among whom 26 were infected with LayV only (no other pathogens were present). These 26 patients presented with fever (100% of the patients), fatigue (54%), cough (50%), anorexia (50%), myalgia (46%), nausea (38%), headache (35%), and vomiting (35%), accompanied by abnormalities of thrombocytopenia (35%), leukopenia (54%), and impaired liver (35%) and kidney (8%) function. A serosurvey of domestic animals detected seropositivity in goats (3 of 168 [2%]) and dogs (4 of 79 [5%]). Among 25 species of wild small animals surveyed, LayV RNA was predominantly detected in shrews (71 of 262 [27%]), a finding that suggests that the shrew may be a natural reservoir of LayV. Although the current study does not fulfill Koch’s postulates, the following findings from the patients with acute LayV infection suggest that LayV was the cause of febrile illness: LayV was the only potential pathogen detected in 26 of the 35 patients (74%) with acute LayV infection; in paired serum samples that were obtained from 14 patients during the acute and convalescent phases of infection, the IgG titers in 86% of the convalescent-phase samples were 4 times as high as those in the acute-phase samples; viremia was associated with acute LayV infection; and the patients with pneumonia had higher viral loads than those without pneumonia (mean [ SD] log10transformed copies per milliliter, 7.64 0.98 vs. 4.52 1.13). Although human-to-human transmission has been reported for the Nipah virus, we found no obvious spatial or temporal aggregation of human cases or the assigned haplotypes on the basis of three common single-nucleotide polymorphisms. There was no close contact or common exposure history among the patients, which suggests that the infection in the human population may be sporadic. Contact tracing of 9 patients with 15 close-contact family members revealed no close-contact LayV transmission, but our sample size was too small to determine the status of humanto-human transmission for LayV. The potential cross-reaction with Mojiang virus should be assessed to improve serologic testing” the report indicated.
Baptista is an influencer and the Executive Director of ProHumane Afrique International a non-profit focused on healthy living advocacy. You can follow this conversation on our social media pages Facebook / LinkedIn/ Twitter / Instagram: ProHumane Afrique International. Call or WhatsApp: +233(0)262213313. Follow the hashtag #BeHumane #thegivingcapsules
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 | NEWS 7
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 20228 | NEWS
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo re-echoed similar sentiments in November 2017 and promised to implement what was in his party’s manifesto. Private tertiary education
Free ThereSHSis little doubt that free SHS has opened access to thousands of Ghanaian children, who ordinarily would not have received secondary education. But there is a financial consequence to it, something the state appears to be struggling with. Since September 2017, the government has spent GH¢7.6 billion on financing the free SHS, this includes US$390 (GH¢ 2.4 million) out of the $1.5-billion bond borrowed for the educational sector.When the government launched the policy in 2017, it was with good intent. Unfortunately, good intentions without financial strength courts disaster. Overtime, the challenges of the policy have manifested in many forms, including congestion, which has forced the government to start running a shift system, known as the double track system. MoreReviewthan five years after the implementation of this policy, one would have thought that the government would think of a review.Areview does not mean cancellation. I wouldn’t want to go into the politics of it. A review can also mean allowing a greater private sector participation than we’re doing now. I’m a strong believer in allowing the private sector to lead every aspect of our economy. Some years gone by, missions educated us. The footprints of these mission schools are all over the country. They were private initiatives that spurred the development of our humanHowever,capital. in 1954, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), led by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, took over the schools, placing their administration and management under state control. The state intervention was because of managerial and resource deficits of the churches at the time. Today, the missions have expressed their willingness to retake that Coincidentallyrole. in 2014, six decades after the takeover, the Christian Council of Ghana indicated that its member churches had the financial and managerial muscle to take over theirLongschools.before that, Dr Mary Grant, a former Minister of Education in the Rawlings administration, had recommended a return of the schools to the missions. During the dedication of the St Paul’s Lutheran School in Accra on September 17, 1999, she rallied the government to hand over mission schools in the country to the churches.Beingthe head of Lutheran Mission at the time, I recalled her saying, “there is something special about mission schools, which got lost when the government took over the schools. However, presently, things are different, so they should be given back to them to instil moral uprightness and discipline in students”. Almost 23 years on, we are still debating the possibility of empowering the missions to drive education in Ghana.
Government’s education burden: Why private sector is antidote
A standstill! That is the description of the state of Ghana’s first and second cycle educational system a few weeks ago, when teachers in basic schools and senior high schools (SHS) refused to go the classroom over their cost-of-living allowance (COLA). Then, there was the food shortages in senior high schools (SHS) that drew attention to the dire food security situation in SHSs across the country. The heads of public SHSs, with almost empty food baskets in their kitchens, either threatened to shut down schools or begged parents for food. Some reports were that some of the school heads decided to have a backdoor arrangement with parents to contribute GH¢1,000 to feed their children. That was not all. Extra-curricular activities, including sports and the National Science and Maths Quiz, were suspended because of food shortage. All these mishaps were because of the burden on the state. The government is struggling to cope with shrinking expenditure in the face of the current economic crises.
The challenges at the tertiary level are no different. Currently, lecture halls and residential facilities in public universities are overstretched while more than 400,000 students who complete SHS annually compete for space. Many aren’t admitted because of these and many other challenges. But private universities offer a great window of opportunity for increased access to tertiary education.Currently, public universities continue to compete with their private counterparts, even for mature students. This competition is unfair and unnecessary because many public universities are not even able to accommodate the thousands of undergraduate applications they receive annually. Instead of competing with private universities for these mature students, wouldn’t it be better to encourage public universities to concentrate on post-graduate education to provide quality researchers and lecturers to feed private universities as well? While the National Accreditation Board (NAB) requires PhD as the entry point for university faculty, the reality on the ground is that the country is not producing enough PhD holders to fill our classrooms.GETFundPrivateuniversities also deserve allocation of proceeds from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) in order to increase access to university education in the country. But that is not what private universities are asking for now, although presidents J.A Kufuor, Prof. J.E.A. Mills and John Mahama offered some of these incentives by supporting private universities with logistics, including, buses, computers and books.The greatest need today is the scrapping of taxes that are inimical to the development of private universities, while putting enormous pressure on their developmental plans. Ghana’s transformational agenda requires well-resourced human capital. The only way to do that is to involve the private sector –Ghana’s education entrepreneurs have shown, even outside Ghana, that they have the capacity, given the right motivation.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 | FEATURE 9
The writer is the Chancellor, Wisconsin International University College/Immediate past PresidentGeneral of the West Africa Nobles Forum
By Dr Paul Kofi Fynn
• Cultural and entertainment activities, including a session with Annie Rauwerda who runs the Depths of Wikipedia social media accounts, musical and dance performances, cultural festivals, and more. Interested participants are welcome to review the full conference program and register for Wikimania.
» Guillaume Paumier, Principal Program Manager, Wikimedia Foundation (moderator) » Dr. Nkem E. Osuigwe, Director of Human Capacity Development and Training for the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) » Olga Paredes, a Wikimedian in Bolivia working toward knowledge equity
» Lydia Pintscher, Product Manager, Wikidata
• Sessions evaluating the impact of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects on the wider world, including in relation to human rights, climate issues, and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Wikimania 2022: The festival edition brings together Wikipedia volunteers around the world for virtual and in person celebrations of free knowledge
• Discussions centered on knowledge gaps in Wikimedia projects, led by volunteer groups like Wiki Vibrance, Women in Red, and Arabic Wikimedia communities.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 202210 | FEATURE
Wikimania 2022 highlights: • The Wikimedian of the Year awards, led by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. The award recognizes exceptional volunteers in the movement across seven categories.
Every year, hundreds of Wikimedians - the volunteers who make Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects possible - come together to celebrate free knowledge at the annual Wikimania global conference.Nowinits 17th edition, the conference looks different this year than it has in the past. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shape global convenings, Wikimania 2022 is, for the first time, a hybrid event with opportunities for participants to come together virtually and in person through more than 40 events around the world. Taking place from 11-14 August, this year’s conference is co-organized by Wikimedia volunteers and the Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit that supports Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. The conference program includes over 120 sessions on a wide range of global topics, including the annual Wikimedian of the Year awards, presented by Wikipedia Founder, Jimmy Wales. The awards highlight volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their contributions to Wikimedia projects and the wider free knowledge movement. The conference was designed with global inclusion at the forefront, including a time-zone friendly program, simultaneous live translation of sessions into 13 languages, and thousands of attendees expected to join from around the world, with a majority expected to be newcomers to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects.“This year’s Wikimania will be a celebration of the depth and diversity of our global communities,” said Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. “Wikimedia projects offer access to reliable information across more languages than any other platform or movement in the world. Wikimania is an opportunity to recognize this work and to continue building - not only imagining - a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.”Thetheme of this year’s conference is the “festival edition.” After more than two years of isolation and uncertainty amidst the global pandemic, this year’s Wikimania is meant to spark levity, fun, and joy. The theme encourages Wikimedians to foster closer connections with one another and celebrate what the free knowledge movement can achieve next. Saturday, 13 August, is the day of the conference which will highlight programming from across the African continent at a time zone suitable for those in the region. Key highlights of the programming include a South African traditional dance festival, a celebration of Africa through the cultural heritage of the Igbo tribe of Nigeria, a session highlighting youth participation, including African youth, in the Wikimedia movement, a discussion on the strides Nigerian volunteers have taken to address climate issues through Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, and a look back at African Libraries’ Week. Alongside the virtual program, there will be over 40 in-person events taking place all over the world, organized by local Wikimedia affiliate groups. These events include watch parties of the virtual conference, meetups, a Wiki World’s Fair, hackathons, edit-a-thons, and cultural celebrations.
Venus Lui, Wikipedia volunteer and a member of the 2022 Wikimania Core Organizing Team said, “I look forward to four days that strengthen and celebrate our growing scope of content and community of volunteer editors. It will also be an opportunity to dig into the many projects the community is working on to make free knowledge more accessible and available than ever before - including the latest ways that we are evolving our technology and our programs to bridge knowledge gaps.”
• A panel session discussing examples of knowledge as a service and knowledge equity, the two pillars of the strategic direction to guide the future of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. Panelists include: » Maryana Iskander, CEO, Wikimedia Foundation (moderator)
• Sneak-peeks and new technology improvements like the forthcoming changes to the desktop version of Wikipedia, improvements to Wikipedia’s mobile interfaces, and Wikifunctions, the newest Wikimedia project.
• Evaluations and lessons learned from collaborations between Wikimedians and cultural institutions like the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative and the African Libraries Week, produced with the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA)
Curbing commodity-market speculation
By Jayati Ghosh
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 11| FEATURE
Primary commodity prices have been on a roller-coaster ride for the past year, and especially for the past six months. In the futures markets, crude oil prices rose by 39% in the month from February 8 to March 8, 2022, from $89 per barrel to $124 per barrel, and then fell by 23% in the following month to $95 per barrel. The price climbed again, to $122 per barrel, on June 8, but had declined to $88 per barrel on August 4 – below the level of early February.Globalprices of wheat futures have exhibited similar volatility. The price of soft red winter wheat soared from $332 per metric ton in January to $672 per ton in April, but by June had fallen to $380 – still about 50% higher than a year ago, but well below this spring’s crazy peaks. These dramatic price movements were not triggered by changes in real output and demand. Blaming big commodityprice spikes on supply shortages caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine does not capture the full truth. In particular, the large increases in Big Oil and agribusiness firms’ profit margins indicate that they raised prices of energy and food, respectively, well beyond any level that could be justified by their own cost increases. But frantic speculative activity, mainly by financial companies like hedge funds that dominate trading, has made matters much worse, as I have noted elsewhere. For example, a study by Kabir Agarwal, Thin Lei Win, and Margot Gibbs found that investment funds have been hyperactive in the Paris wheat market. These funds’ share of long positions in wheat futures increased from 23% in May 2018 to as much as 72% in April 2022, and remained above 50% in May 2022. Another recent study found that trading volumes at the European Union natural gas market’s primary gaspricing hub, the Title Transfer Facility, increased steadily over the past decade from 14 times actual gas consumption in 2011 to more than 114 times in 2020. The chaos that such speculation can cause was evident in March this year, when a dramatic spike in nickel prices forced the London Metal Exchange to suspend trading and cancel all deals. Over-the-counter (OTC) trades that occur outside the regulated exchange were held partly responsible, and the LME will now require all traders to report their OTC positions on all physically delivered metals each week.But prices in other commodity derivatives markets remain highly volatile, as hedge funds and other financial firms rush out as rapidly as they piled in. This matters hugely because food, fuel, and basic metals are essential for production and for life itself. Commodity-price volatility affects living standards and the ability to produce goods and services, and is contributing to the stagflation and hunger now stalking most low- and middle-income countries. Some stabilization and regulation of these prices is therefore essential – and not only to curb inflation. So, why are these swings allowed to occur? Policymakers obviously are aware of the implications of frenetic financial activity in markets for essential commodities. Something similar happened in 2007-09, when oil and food prices first rose sharply and then declined to earlier levels in the space of 18 months, causing economic devastation. After that experience and in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, both the United States (through the Dodd-Frank Act) and the EU sought to regulate commodity derivatives to some extent. Ideally, the regulations should have prevented speculation by ensuring that all trading occurs on regulated exchanges, not on an OTC basis, and in a transparent manner with full information about the actual players and their bids. Furthermore, exchanges should allow only those with a direct operational interest in commodities to trade them. (For example, an airline company should be permitted to operate in the futures market for aviation fuel, but a hedge fund should not.) And market participants should adhere to limits on the positions that they can hold, depending on their real use, need, or production of that commodity. US and EU regulations matter most, because these markets largely determine global commodity prices. But the earlier regulatory changes did not go far enough, and have since been wateredExistingdown.EU rules help to prevent market abuse on official exchanges by limiting individual traders’ positions, but they still allow OTC commodity trading, enabling excessive speculation to continue. The US prohibits OTC trading in most commodities, but financial agents can still enter the market through proxies. And position limits have been kept so high that they do not prevent large bids from influencing prices. As a result, financial speculation in essential commodities can still play havoc with people’s lives and livelihoods. Fortunately, there are signs that regulators are taking notice. At a recent G20 meeting in Indonesia, Klaas Knot, the chair of the Financial Stability Board (a grouping of central bankers, finance ministers, and regulators from G20 countries) called for close monitoring of speculative activity. “The centrality of key energy, metals, and food commodities to the functioning of the global economy,” Knot said, “means that any disruptions to the financing of producers or traders in these markets could have an outsized impact.” But mere monitoring will not be enough. The regulatory measures needed to restrict commodity-market speculation are obvious, so the lack of prompt action is striking. It suggests that regulators and policymakers are still putting financial interests above everything else, regardless of the cost to everyone else.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 202212 | FEATURE
The Sangu Delle Foundation (SDF) presented the former Chief Operating Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) with a Leadership Award in Job Creation during its inaugural fundraising gala held at Kempinski Hotel in Accra on July 31,This2022.was given in recognition of her extensive work in the technology industry, entrepreneurship ecosystem, and public sector in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, USA, and Israel that led to job creation largely for the youth. The award particularly lauds Ms. Addo’s work in Ghana’s public sector – GIPC specifically –where she championed investments into the country to drive economic development and job creation. In her speech as the keynote speaker, Ms. Addo remarked that, “while there is no silver-bullet that will solve the challenge of youth employment, a number of actions can, and should be taken to ensure that young Ghanaians are well-prepared for work—and that the work that they engage in yields substantially higher incomes than evident today.” She also reiterated her commitment to continually contribute her quota in furthering Ghana’s economic development and job creation agenda, in whatever capacity she holds. Other recipients of SDF Awards were: Founder of Ashesi University, Patrick Awuah, who received an SDF Award for Education; and CEO of Mental Health Authority, Dr Akwasi Osei, and the Co-Founder and Director of Health and Wellbeing International, Nana Ama AdomBoakye who also received SDF Awards for Mental Health. The Sangu Delle Foundation (SDF) was founded in 2022 as a succeeding umbrella organization for Dr. Sangu Delle’s philanthropic activities. This succeeds the CleanACWA project which operated for 15 years and impacted over 200,000 people. With an initial endowment of $1 million and a pledge to ultimately grow this endowment to $10 million in the coming years, the SDF will focus on three core pillars; Job Creation, Health, and Education. To achieve its objectives, the organization will allocate 50% of its resources toward projects in Nandom (Upper West Region), 30% to the rest of Ghana and 20 to projects in other African countries.
Sangu Delle Foundation honours Nana Dufie Addo, with leadership award in job creation in Africa
By Mabel Delassie Awuku
MPS invests in employees LEAN EMPLOYEE TRAINING 2ND QUARTER EMPLOYEE AWARDS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 13| NEWS In a bid to continuously enhancing the level of services to its customers and drive productivity, Meridian Port Services Ltd (MPS) has held a series of training sessions for staff. The trainings form a part of the Company’s Integrated Management System which is committed to improve skills of employees.Thecurrent focus is in upgrading the skills of employees in all aspects of its operations. Management therefore rolled out relevant skills training programs for all staff. Each Department has since received training related to requirements of their areas of work in addition to general training tailored towards reskilling for all staff.
The Quality Management Team on the completion of their Lead Auditor training remarked echoed that “The ability to properly audit MPS’ Integrated management system certification has a key impact on the company’s productivity as it ensures that trainings are aligned to the company’s strategy and policy direction.”Following the launch of the LEAN Training Program that commenced with a management leadership session, 194 staff members have been taken through the first level of Lean Training. Staff are generally intrigued by the LEAN tools which are aimed at reducing waste and improving quality control. These trainings are not only excellent for the workplace but also useful in the personal development of the worker.Ismail Denwar, a Database Administrator with the IT Department described the experience as one that offers the opportunity to continuously improve, change mindsets related to problem solving and add value to “I’moneself.glad and privileged to be part of the LEAN training program (at MPS) where my team and I applied some lean techniques in defining and solving problems and communicating our findings; everyone’s perspective was well received and accelerated the processes of solving problems; I can say we are evolving to an army of problem solvers. I look forward to more sessions. In recognizing the contribution of employees and further boost workers’ morale the 2022 2nd quarter employee awards were held on Friday, 5th August 2022. In all 9 employees from various departments who distinguished themselves in their respective roles were honoured by the Senior Management Team lead by Curtiss Dakpogan the COO of MPS. The Human Resource Manager, Mr. Ibrahim Abu said “It is pleasing to hear and know that the employees see the value addition that the training programs bring. Our aim is to grow a healthy, safe, and highly skilled workforce while providing the best level of customer service to our stakeholders.”Headded that there were several trainings scheduled for the rest of the year for a well-rounded workforce.“Wehave planned leadership trainings in the next quarter designed and customised to suit our company’s style of work by equipping managers and team leads with the right organisational leadership skills to meet industry standards for long term success”. Meridian Port Services Limited (MPS) as a leading Container Terminal / Port in the Sub-Saharan Region recognizes that to meet requirements of our stakeholders, there is the need to deliver our services in a safe, timely, efficient, and competitive manner considering industry quality and environmental standards. MPS is thus devoted to satisfying the needs of our clients, monitoring and evaluating organizational performance at all levels to ensure continuous improvement.
Follow @IslandVibesAfrica and @morganheritage across all social media platforms to get dates, venues, ticket sales, artist line-ups and more. Business Loans For all your business loans, visit any of our 114 branches ationwide or talk to us on 0302-216000 TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY l: +233 (0)302 21 6000www.cbg.com.ghcbgbankltd
The mission of the partnership between Morgan Heritage and RAVE is to act as the spark and ignition point to bring performers, labels, promoters, and fans together to revive and scale the live touring circuit across the continent. For more Information, please visit our website: www.theislandvibestour.
Grammy award-winning reggae band Morgan Heritage announces their first full-scale African tour
comFor the full list of dates:
The Versatile 3x Grammy Award-winning Reggae group, Morgan Heritage will perform their legendary hits and new material as they embark on their first full-scale African tour. This historic and record-breaking tour titled the “Island Vibes Africa Tour” kicks off on October 2 in Johannesburg, South Africa and will take the acclaimed performers to several nations across West, Central, East and Southern Africa over an 8-week period.The tour produced and managed by RAVE, a PanAfrican live events mavericks, and Morgan Heritage’s CTBC Music Group, a GRAMMY Awardwinning entertainment company, will be bringing the vibe and verve of the Caribbean to blend perfectly with the celebrated sounds, colour and vibe of each country stop. Combined with world class production, seamless electronic ticketing, RFID cashless trade experience, bolstered by comprehensive health and safety protocols for large public events. Whilst on the road, Morgan Heritage will look to discover, interact, and collaborate with some of the freshest and biggest talents in each country to produce a collaborative album as they immerse themselves into the rich and diverse soundscapes of Africa. Morgan Heritage commented that: “Africa has always been home to us, which clearly shows in the immense support we have enjoyed over the years from the continent. This tour is our gift to our brothers and sisters at home. We look forward to entertaining every single fan in every country as we continue to strengthen the shared bonds between Africa and theDespiteCaribbean.”the challenges sometimes associated with executing big ticket events across certain parts of the continent, logistics and infrastructure gaps, including varying health and safety guidelines, RAVE’s wealth of experience will help promoters to overcome and navigate any of such complexities to enable them to create epic fan moments Ruddy Kwakye, Executive Producer for the tour and Chief Executive Officer of RAVE commented “We look to systematize, scale, and sustain the Live Entertainment ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa through, innovative partnership modelling, technology resourcing and high production values; this tour will allow us to do that and deliver memorable experiences for the fans”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 202214 | FEATURE
From great moderation to great stagflation
The world economy is undergoing a radical regime shift. The decades-long Great Moderation is over. Coming after the stagflation (high inflation and severe recessions) of the 1970s and early 1980s, the Great Moderation was characterized by low inflation in advanced economies; relatively stable and robust economic growth, with short and shallow recessions; low and falling bond yields (and thus positive returns on bonds), owing to the secular fall in inflation; and sharply rising values of risky assets such as US and global equities. This extended period of low inflation is usually explained by central banks’ move to credible inflation-targeting policies after the loose monetary policies of the 1970s, and governments’ adherence to relatively conservative fiscal policies (with meaningful stimulus coming only during recessions). But, more important than demand-side policies were the many positive supply shocks, which increased potential growth and reduced production costs, thus keeping inflation in check. During the post-Cold War era of hyper-globalization, China, Russia, and other emergingmarket economies became more integrated in the world economy, supplying it with lowcost goods, services, energy, and commodities. Large-scale migration from the Global South to the North kept a lid on wages in advanced economies, technological innovations reduced the costs of producing many goods and services, and relative geopolitical stability allowed for an efficient allocation of production to the least-costly locations without worries about investment security. But the Great Moderation started to crack during the 2008 global financial crisis and then during the 2020 COVID-19 recession. In both cases, inflation initially remained low given demand shocks, and loose monetary, fiscal, and credit policies prevented deflation from setting in. But now inflation is back, rising sharply, especially over the past year, owing to a mix of both demand and supply factors.Onthe supply side, the backlash against hyper-globalization has been gaining momentum, creating opportunities for populist, nativist, and protectionist politicians. Public anger over stark income and wealth inequalities also has been building, leading to more policies to support workers and the “left behind.” However wellintentioned, these policies are now contributing to a dangerous spiral of wage-price inflation Making matters worse, renewed protectionism (from both the left and the right) has restricted trade and the movement of capital. Political tensions (both within and between countries) are driving a process of reshoring (and “friend-shoring”). Political resistance to immigration has curtailed the global movement of people, putting additional upward pressure on wages.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 15| FEATURE
National-security and strategic considerations have further restricted flows of technology, data, and information. And new labor and environmental standards, important as they may be, are hampering both trade and newThisconstruction.balkanization of the global economy is deeply stagflationary, and it is coinciding with demographic aging, not just in developed countries, but also in large emerging economies such as China. Because young people tend to produce and save, whereas older people spend down their savings, this trend also is stagflationary. The same is true of today’s geopolitical turmoil. Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the West’s response to it, has disrupted the trade of energy, food, fertilizers, industrial metals, and other commodities. The Western decoupling from China is accelerating across all dimensions of trade (goods, services, capital, labor, technology, data, and information). Other strategic rivals to the West may soon add to the havoc. Iran crossing the nuclear-weapons threshold would likely provoke military strikes by Israel or even the United States, triggering a massive oil shock; and North Korea is still regularly rattling its nuclear saber. Now that the US dollar has been fully weaponized for strategic and national-security purposes, its position as the main global reserve currency may begin to decline, and a weaker dollar would of course add to the inflationary pressures. A frictionless world trading system requires a frictionless financial system. But sweeping primary and secondary sanctions have thrown sand in this well-oiled machine, massively increasing the transaction costs of trade. On top of it all, climate change, too, is stagflationary. Droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and other disasters are increasingly disrupting economic activity and threatening harvests (thus driving up food prices). At the same time, demands for decarbonization have led to underinvestment in fossil-fuel capacity before investment in renewables has reached the point where they can make up the difference. Today’s large energy-price spikes were thusPandemicsinevitable. will also be a persistent threat, lending further momentum to protectionist policies as countries rush to hoard critical supplies of food, medicines, and other essential goods. After two and a half years of COVID-19, we now have monkeypox. And owing to human encroachments on fragile ecosystems and the melting of Siberian permafrost, we may soon be dealing with dangerous viruses and bacteria that have been locked away for millennia. Finally, cyberwarfare remains an underappreciated threat to economic activity and even public safety. Firms and governments will either face more stagflationary disruptions to production, or they will have to spend a fortune on cybersecurity. Either way, costs will rise. On the demand side, loose and unconventional monetary, fiscal, and credit policies have become not a bug but rather a feature of the new regime. Between today’s surging stocks of private and public debts (as a share of GDP) and the huge unfunded liabilities of pay-as-you-go social-security and health systems, both the private and public sectors face growing financial risks. Central banks are thus locked in a “debt trap”: any attempt to normalize monetary policy will cause debt-servicing burdens to spike, leading to massive insolvencies, cascading financial crises, and fallout in the real economy. With governments unable to reduce high debts and deficits by spending less or raising revenues, those that can borrow in their own currency will increasingly resort to the “inflation tax”: relying on unexpected price growth to wipe out long-term nominal liabilities at fixed rates. Thus, as in the 1970s, persistent and repeated negative supply shocks will combine with loose monetary, fiscal, and credit policies to produce stagflation. Moreover, high debt ratios will create the conditions for stagflationary debt crises. During the Great Stagflation, both components of any traditional asset portfolio – long-term bonds and US and global equities – will suffer, potentially incurring massive losses.
By Nouriel Roubini
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 202216 | ADVERT
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 17| NEWS
Non-profit Foundation supports Ejisu Roman Catholic
In the quest to eliminate random and frequent departures by students from the school grounds to use washroom facilities in neighboring houses and unsanitary locations, the Antwi Mensah and Family Foundation has cut sod to build two (2) modern washroom facilities to serve the Kindergarten, Primary and Junior High School pupils of the Ejisu Roman Catholic school in the Ashanti Region.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Ejisu, Samuel Oduro Frimpong lauded the Foundation for coming to the aid of the school. He mentioned that the NPP Government remains committed to improving the quality of teaching and learning in basic schools, and, as a result has opened the doors for individuals or organisations who share in the vision of the Government to work together to improve education in Ghana.Referencing the President’s inaugural speech in 2017, the MCE said the “ Let’s be Citizens and not Spectators “ mantra of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was a call to energize Ghanaians to play active role by supporting Government to develop the country. The Ejisu Municipal Director of Education Kwabena Owusu also praised the Antwi Mensah and Family Foundation for the initiative.Hesaid, “I think this gesture could not have come at a better time. We are all witnesses to the sanitation challenges of the school which has really affected teaching and learning. I cannot hide my joy anymore “ He said the over GH500,000 facility will serve the over 1200 pupils of the school and will ensure that it is properly maintained when it is completed. By Sampson Manu
The two facilities contain a total of 16 (sixteen) Water Closet (WC) stalls – 5 (five) stalls in the kindergarten building and 11 (eleven) stalls in the Primary and JHS building. The stalls are subdivided into female students, male students, and staff. The kindergarten building has a common shower for the male and female students, and the female section of the Primary and JHS building has a changing room for the older female students. Situated in the heart of Ejisu, this will be the first time the school with a population of 1,200 will have access to a Water Closet (WC) toilet facility since its establishment more than 80 years ago. Dr. Kofi Antwi Mensah, the CoChairperson of the Foundation and an old student of the school, at the ceremony said they realised that the school was in dire need of a reliable and clean toilet facility on the school grounds to enhance teaching and learning. He said though the school has played a major role in shaping the lives of a lot of people who passed through the school, it faces infrastructural challenges, as many of its buildings are in deplorable state. “It is unfortunate that the school has not received any major renovations in a very long time. This doesn’t bode well for a school which has produced a lot of influential people in the society”.According to the CoChairperson, the facility was going to improve the hygienic condition of the school and the environment as a whole. He also added that washroom facilities are the first of projects lined up by the foundation to build for the school. He said after touring the entire school, and listening to the school authorities, they have resolved to give a facelift to the other structures of the school and possibly put up a computer lab and improve the existing science laboratories.
The Cedi again weakened against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢5.9388/C$ but closed at GH¢6.1811/C$, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 3.92% and 23.29% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 2.18% a year ago.
The Cedi also weakened against the GBP for the week. It traded at GH¢9.6341/£, compared with GH¢9.2642/£ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD loss of 3.84% and 15.64% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 2.41% a year ago. The Cedi also lost against the Euro for the week. It traded at GH¢8.1243/€, compared with GH¢7.7658/€ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 4.41% and 15.95% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 3.22% a year ago.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 202218 | MARKET REVIEW WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING - AUGUST 5, 2022 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS STOCK MARKET REVIEW THE CURRENCY MARKET Q3, 2021 GDP Growth 3.3% Average GDP Growth for 2021 3.3% 2022 Projected GDP Growth 3.7% BoG Policy Rate 19.0% Weekly Interbank Interest Rate 21.88% Inflation for February, 2022 29.8% End Period Inflation Target – 2022 28.5% Budget Deficit (% GDP) – Dec, 2021 5.0% 2022 Budget Deficit Target (%GDP) 6.6% Public Debt (billion GH¢) – Dec, 2021 393.4% Debt to GDP Ratio – Dec, 2021 78.3%
The Ghana Stock Exchange weakened for the week on the back of price declines by 4 counters. The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) lost 122.33 points (-4.86%) to close at 2,396.52 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) loss of 14.08%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) also lost 10.68 points (-0.51%) to close at 2,092.90 points, reflecting YTD loss of 2.74%. Market capitalization declined by 2.42% to close the week at GH¢62,827.57 million, from GH¢64,383.34 million at the close of the previous week. This reflects YTD decrease of 2.59%. Trading activity recorded a total of 66,164,780 shares valued at GH¢50,649,299.41 changing hands, compared with 314,961 shares, valued at GH¢3,231,680.95 in the preceding week. MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for the week, accounting for 99.29% and 97.66% of total volume and value of shares traded respectively. The market ended the week with 3 advancers and 4 decliners as indicated on the table below. The Cedi plummeted against the USD for the week. It traded at GH¢8.0001/$, compared with GH¢7.6120/$ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 4.85% and 24.92% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 1.03% a year ago.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 19| MARKET REVIEW GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET COMMODITY MARKET BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK
Government raised a sum of GH¢1,301.71 million for the week across the 91-Day, 182-Day and 364-Day Treasury Bills. This compared with GH¢1,083.55 million raised in the previous week. The 91-Day Bill settled at 27.04% p.a from 26.71% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 28.51% p.a from 28.26% p.a. last week. The 364-Day Bill settled at 28.40% from 27.85% at last issue.The table and graph below highlight primary market yields at close of the week. Crude oil prices retreated for the week after a July U.S. jobs report raised expectations of continued aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve, potentially weighing on growth in the world’s largest consumer of crude. Brent futures traded at US$94.92 a barrel on Friday, compared to US$110.01 at week open. This reflects a w/w loss and YTD gain of 13.72% and 22.04% respectively.Goldprices edged higher for the week, after a rally in the U.S. dollar appeared to have paused. Gold settled at US$1,791.20, from US$1,781.80 last week, reflecting w/w gain and YTD loss of 0.53% and 2.05% respectively. Prices of Cocoa declined for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,305.00 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,323.00 last week, reflecting w/w gain and YTD loss of 1.35% and 7.82% respectively.
Cyclical Stock: Cyclical Stocks are publicly traded securities characterized by share prices that fluctuate along with the prevailing macroeconomic conditions and business cycles. Source: knowledge/cyclical-stocks/https://www.wallstreetprep.com/ ABOUT CORPORATERESEARCHCIDANTEAMINFORMATION CIDAN Investments Limited is an investment and fund management company licensed by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA). Name: Ernest Email:etannor@cidaninvestments.comTannor 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 Tel:+233Email:moyeboah@cidaninvestments.com(0)244990069 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. Your subscription along with the support of businesses that advertise in Business24 -- makes an investment in journalism that is essential to keep the business community in Ghana wellWeinformed.value your support and loyalty. +233AdvertisingNewsroom:editor@business24.com.ghContact:0302965315/Sales:242122742 Copyright @ 2019 Business24 Limited. All Rights Reserved. Limited
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Samsung unveils Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4, its most versatile devices
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WWW.BUSINESS24.COM.GH | NO. B24/317 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022
Samsung has announced the next generation of ground-breaking foldable smartphones: Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4. Both devices feature customisable form factors, tailored experiences, and upgraded performance. Now in its fourth generation, Galaxy Z series continues to break from convention to deliver new, impactful interactions that enhance everyday life. “Samsung Galaxy foldables are built on the foundation of our openness philosophy, enabling new possibilities with complete customisation both inside and out. Created in collaboration with our world-class partners, the next foldable devices offer unparalleled mobile experiences that meet the needs of our most dynamic users,” said Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung“ThroughElectronics.our unwavering focus, excitement for the foldables continues to grow. We’ve successfully transformed this category from a radical project to a mainstream device line-up and enjoyed by people worldwide.”Asatestament to Samsung’s dedication to superior craftsmanship, every component in both form factors has been thoroughly analysed to deliver a truly optimised experience to ensure that every consumer has a device to fit their needs. The Galaxy Z Flip4 builds on the success of Samsung’s iconic form factor, adding key features, including an upgraded camera experience, a larger battery and expanded customisation, while maintaining its ultra-compact design. The Galaxy Z Fold4 opens up new possibilities for users by delivering Samsung’s most comprehensive smartphone experience to-date, offering shapeshifting design, immersive displays and PC-like multitasking features, in addition to advanced camera technology and powerful mobile processors.GalaxyZ Flip4, the Ultimate Selfexpression Tool Inside and Out The Galaxy Z Flip4 enhances our users’ favourite features, making it the ultimate tool for self-expression. Its compact clamshell design offers unique experiences, so you can shoot hands-free video or capture full group selfies at various angles by partially folding Z Flip4 to activate FlexCam.Galaxy Z Fold4, a Multi-Tasking Powerhouse with Ultimate PerformanceTheGalaxy Z Fold4 is the result of Samsung Galaxy’s enduring smartphone innovation and our most powerful smartphone yet. Z Fold4 combines Samsung’s collective mobile technology expertise to create a device with increased functionality whether opened, closed, or in Flex mode.Multitasking on Z Fold4 is easier than ever, so users can get more done on the move. The new Taskbar provides a layout similar to your PC, offering access to your favourite and recent apps. Multitasking is also more intuitive, thanks to new swipe gestures. Instantly switch full-screen apps to pop-up windows or split your screen in half for more ways to multitask.Samsung continues its barrierdefying innovation journey to deliver the level of durability consumers expect, both in and out. With our Armour Aluminium frames and hinge cover along with exclusive Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus®+ on the Cover Screen and rear glass, Z Flip4 and Z Fold4 are our toughest foldables ever. Galaxy Buds2 Pro, Premium Design with the Ultimate Listening ExperienceJoiningthe Galaxy Z series are Galaxy Buds2 Pro - Samsung’s new top-of-the-line earbuds that provide Samsung’s most immersive wireless audio experience with a new, compact design, and seamless connectivity that is perfect for any aspect of your everyday life. The new Buds2 Pro allows users to escape into their own world and simultaneously stay connected to theirSincelife.the launch of the Galaxy S22 series, Samsung has incorporated recycled materials not just in our packaging, but also in the hardware of our new products. These are the first steps in our Galaxy for the Planet initiative, which includes our continued incorporation of recycled plastics and the creation of new materials in partnership with sustainability partners. Galaxy Z Flip4 complements users’ styles with premium designs in legacy colours: Bora Purple and Graphite, and new colours: Pink Gold and Blue. The Galaxy Z Fold4 and Standing Cover with Pen case are offered in refined colours that include GreyGreen, Beige and Phantom Black. The Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4 will be available for preorder in Ghana from 22nd August. Customers who pre-order either Galaxy Z Flip4 or Galaxy Z Fold4 will receive one complimentary year of Samsung Care+, delivering protection against drops or cracked screens with Samsung expert support in 51 countries, Galaxy Buds2, a Clear Cover with Ring for the Galaxy Z Flip4 or a Standing Cover with S Pen for Galaxy Fold4 and customers will also enjoy 3 months of ad-free music listening with Spotify Premium. 030 296 5297, 030 296 5315.545 516
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