Business24 Newspaper 25 March 2022 by Business24 Online

NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

BUSINESS24.COM.GH | FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Japan Motors to start local production this month

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Women fight ‘bias’ in cocoa resource allocation BY EDWARD ADJEI FRIMPONG

Women engaged in cocoa production have said there is a growing discrimination against them in the allocation of resources in the sector. According to them, men are often favoured in the area of land acquisition, distribution of inputs and access to credit. The situation, they lamented, undermines the sustainability and growth of cocoa production in the country as well as threatening the livelihood of many women and dependents. Statistics from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) indicate that about 30 to 40 percent of the cocoa production workforce are women.

The women have therefore called for a paradigm shift to change the status quo so as to boost cocoa production and also make it an attractive venture for women, particularly the young females. The issue came up in Sunyani during the inauguration of Brong Ahafo Women Cooperative Cocoa Farming and Marketing Union (BAWCOF). The union is made up of 93 different groups with a total individual number of 5,784. They are scattered across cocoa production areas in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions. In an address, Ms Martha Addai,

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Develop a proposal to make museums, others profit-centres, Tourism Min. tells board BY EUGENE DAVIS

Will sanctioning Russia fuel financial contagion?

New Pension Scheme to support women: Peoples Pension Trust partner SCBF to offer service

The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, has asked newly sworn members of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) to develop a working proposal within six weeks aimed at exploring marketing and profitable strategies to revamp the consigned facilities. Museums, castles and forts have become a pale shadow of itself in the country which has rendered it unprofitable over the years.

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| EDITORIAL/NEWS

In AfCFTA lies the prospects of a fast-rising continent

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

ne obvious outcome of an integrated or single market for the continent is the promotion of manufacturing and agro-processing across Africa which will give significant impetus to the diversification agenda of most economies within the block. Africa is now charting a new course for its industrialisation and economic development, using the momentum of continental and regional integration. The AfCFTA is the start point of Africa’s long-term development strategy for transforming the continent into the global powerhouse of the future. By reshaping her small and fragmented markets to create one integrated market with large economies of scale and scope, the continent is in global trade broker. Currently, the countries of the continent survive mainly on exports of a very narrow range of primary commodities to traditional markets of the North while being heavily reliant on the import of capital goods. Experts and trade stakeholders have been apt about the prospects of the AfCFTA with the expected surge in jobs and wealth creation across the continent. Africa’s teeming unemployed youth have largely been described

as its ticking time bomb amid the recent spate of political insecurities across the subregion and it is only through such sustainable and forward-looking economic projects that we could offer the right levels of hope and focus to them. It is for this and many others that this paper shares in the assertions of Mr. Wamkele Mene that the offerings of the single continental market are enormous and farreaching and it behoves party states to put in place the right support systems and measures for it’s key trade actors, especially private sector businesses, so as to make the most out of this laudable project.

Women fight ‘bias’ in cocoa resource allocation Continued from page 1

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Chairperson of the Union alluded to the contribution of women in cocoa production and marketing, saying “the success story of the industry will be incomplete without acknowledging the invaluable contribution of women-from nursery to marketing.” She appealed to chiefs and farmland owners to defy “outmoded customs” and release lands to women who are equally capable of maximizing it to the benefit of all. Ms Addai also urged banks and financial institutions to tailor friendly credit schemes to assist female farmers among others. In an effort to keep the women economically active during lean seasons, the Union in collaboration with COCOBOD has trained members in additional livelihood initiatives. The activities include soap making, rice production and packaging, ginger processing and gari processing. Ms Addai announced that the woman were nurturing a dream of establishing a credit union to help deal with the financial needs of female actors in cocoa production. The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, acknowledged the contribution of women in cocoa production and national development, indicating that the role of women in the sector cannot be underestimated, thus the need for all to support their course. “The socioeconomic contribution

of women in the cocoa sector for national development cannot be underestimated. Research has over the years shown that the increasing population of women in cocoa farming has improved financial and resource management of the farming society. This is because, women are better managers of finances and resources. This has reflected on the welfare and upkeep of their families and society at large, “she said. The Minister entreated the farmers to adapt to scientific and improved agronomic practices to remain relevant, amid the devastating effects of climate change on cocoa farming. To that effect, she advised them to capitalize on numerous interventions by COCOBOD.

The Bono Regional Manager of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of COCOBOD, Emmanuel Dede Anochie, on his part said the management of COCOBOD has women affairs at heart due to the significant number of women involved in the sector coupled with their usefulness. To buttress his claims, he stated that majority of persons who have been trained in hand pollination were women. “Of the 10,000 persons that were recruited at the initial stage of the programme, over 5,000 of them were women. The women representation was increased in the subsequent recruitments.” The theme for the event was “The woman cocoa farmer: The engine of growth for national development. “

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Minority ‘not satisfied’ with E-levy engagement outcome BY EUGENE DAVIS

The minority in Parliament has said they will still not support the proposed electronic levy transaction bill (E-levy) in whatever shape or form and have asked government to engage further with stakeholders. According to the minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, they are still not satisfied with the outcome of the e-levy engagement despite government’s efforts to deepen stakeholder engagements. The Minister of Finance, Ken OforiAtta, at a press conference on the economy yesterday hinted that the e-levy is likely to be passed next week, however the minority says their stance has not changed. Government has already begun a series of town hall engagements aimed at explaining the importance of the E-levy to Ghanaians as well as taking feedback and inputs from relevant stakeholders on the levy. The government also said the feedback will inform it on the implementation of the levy. The E-levy is a new tax measure introduced by the government in the 2022 budget on basic transactions

related to digital payments and electronic platform transactions. A charge of 1.75% will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 on a daily basis. Addressing journalists at parliament after the Finance Minister’s address on Thursday, Mr. Iddrisu said “we have demanded that he engages further with stakeholders. We are still not satisfied with the outcome.” For him, Mr Ofori-Atta’s proffered solutions without parliamentary approval will be difficult to implement. “We do not find his proposed measures adequate enough,” Haruna Iddrisu told journalists in an interview after the minister’s briefing. “We need certainty and clarity. If you had an expenditure approval of GH¢145 billion, we expect that you tell us that I want to cut GH¢45 billion out of the GH¢145 [billion] and we know that this is your commitment. “Twenty percent of this, 10% of that, we are still not certain how much expenditure cut he intends to undertake. More importantly, he’s announced a number of revenue

measures.” The minority leader further stated that he is surprised by the seeming review of the 2022 budget statement by the finance minister outside the precincts of Parliament. “It is only proper that whatever measures he intends to take and will take will be brought before the august House for us to help him tighten and implement austerity measures to save an economy which is in dire straits,” he said. Meanwhile, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, in his press conference on reviving the economy accused the minority in parliament for partly contributing to the current economic woes. He said the minority’s lack of support for the E-levy scared investors and triggered the downgrade of Ghana’s economy by various international rating agencies. Addressing the public on the decisions taken by the government towards reviving the economy, the minister said the government did not anticipate the decision of the minority and so their decision not to support the levy threw its plans off-

balance. “[We didn’t expect] that parliament would approve government’s 2022 budget statement, appropriation, and its expenditure plans and then turn around to vote against one of the key revenue generation measures that were being introduced, the E-levy. The unyielding stance of the minority in Parliament against the levy gravely affected investor confidence in our capacity to implement our programs and settle our debts, triggering the downgrading by credit agencies and now leaving the cedi vulnerable as we cannot access the international capital market,” he said. The minister also said the war between Ukraine and Russia also disturbed its plans of recovery of the economy as it among other things led to an exponential increase in the cost of crude and food produce including wheat. He insisted that the government had put in place a detailed plan for reviving the economy after the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Develop a proposal to make museums, others profitcentres, Tourism Min. tells board

Tourism Minister (middle) is flanked by newly sworn members of GMMB

However, that inactivity is expected to change, given that the tourism minister has set his sights on having these colonial relics undergo a new lease of life. Addressing a ten-member board of the GMM during their inauguration in Accra on Wednesday, he stated “The GMMB has been a big sleeping giant in the past, potentials are very good but we have not executed the mandate effectively, we want a shift in paradigm, 65 or 70percent of all the forts and castles used during the

colonial rule can be found in Ghana, across Africa but we don’t use them well as a tourist attraction.” According to him, there are over 30 museums and castles in the country but since independence they have not been modernized and rehabilitated; “this is our first attempt to modernize them, our unique selling proposition in tourism is our forts and castles. Give me a proposal within six weeks -how do we turn this good resource into tourist attractions. By middle of May, give me a paper, then we have a

timeline, we should deliver” he told the board. The national museum, the minister says has been closed down for over seven years, but adds that it has been fixed, and expected to be opened soon by the President either in May or June. He bemoaned the lack of marketing strategy to attract people to these facilities from the corporate world, visitors and school children. Government has earmarked 1m tourists into the country this year

“if we have half of them going to the museum, can you imagine the amount of money we will make.” He also urged them to improve the forts and castles, stressing that they should look to generating tourists to these places. For domestic tourism, government is expecting 800,000 across Ghana, with an estimated receipt of US$2.3billion from tourism this year, as well as the creation of 150,000 jobs. The financial crisis facing the world including Ghana needs a lot of creativity; we need to be creative and innovative, if you bring back US$2.3bn you are shoring up the cedi, creating jobs for people, The Chairperson of the Board, Dr. Edith Dankwa expressed her commitment to the task, noting that together with her members they will “do our best to serve the nation.” She maintained that globally, the country should be able to be identified through its museums “we have so much potential to monetise our museums to turn things around, museums are moving from just telling history to predicting what the people of a nation would be in future -it will be our aim to turn things around to ensure that when we are no more, in the next 100 years, they will able to predict how people live in Ghana.”

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Japan Motors to start local production this month Japan Motors Trading Company says it has received approval to begin producing the all new ‘Built More’ Nissan Navara at the company’s new assembly plant in Tema. The company said Japan Motors went through “rigorous Nissan manufacturing quality standards validation process in February 2022.” it said that Nissan will commemorate the opening and start of production on March 29, 2022. Commenting, Nissan Africa managing director Mike Whitfield, says, “Nissan’s production standards are extremely high, so achieving formal approval to start production is an incredible feather in their cap and testament to the dedication of their entire team and the Nissan South Africa engineers who have been at their side throughout this process, first in Rosslyn and now in Tema. “I can truly say that I am as excited about this news as I was when the first all new Navara rolled off the production line in Rosslyn in June last year, opening the way for the Navara to be finally built in Africa. I would like to congratulate the team at Japan Motors,” he said According to the press release, the ‘Built of More’ Navara is one of the toughest vehicles ever produced by Nissan engineers. It was designed for Africa and built in Africa, it added. Nissan selected Japan Motors, one of its two long time Ghanaian sales companies along with Nissan Auto

Parts (APL), to be its manufacturing partner in 2020, the release said. This followed Nissan becoming the first mover in Ghana by signing a memorandum of understanding with the government in 2018 to support the development of the domestic automotive sector, it added. “The decision by Japan Motors to invest almost $9 million in this venture to create a 100 per cent wholly owned and staffed Ghanaian assembly plant was because we truly believe in the government’s vision to

create an automotive industry in this country, that can build cars made in Ghana for Africa,” Japan Motors managing director, Salem Kalmoni said. “We have built this factory to support this vision, to support our country, but also support ourselves as Ghanaians,” he added. The release indicates that when production starts in Tema, it will be the culmination of an 18-month long process in establishing the state-of-the-art 5000 sq.m factory,

which consists of four warehouses for the assembly and testing lines. The factory also has a special shower bay fed by an underground 180 cubic meter water tank and an outdoor test track with 12 noise and vibration testing bays to ensure every vehicle that leaves the plant is as good as any other Nissan Navara made anywhere else in the world. All of this, including a modern showroom and office block, is contained in a 22 407 sq.m site.

Real estate lessons relevant for 2022 and beyond By Chris Nii Abbosey

he onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 changed the dynamics of the very existence of mankind. Not only were the health of people affected, but the gamut of activities that constitutes everyday living were affected too. Several sectors of the global economy including Real Estate were also affected. Apart from food, health care and IT services which recorded a high demand from consumers, the other aspects of the economy saw a decline in demand. This was due to the restrictions that came with reducing the spread of the virus and restoring normalcy. The US Congressional Research Service’ report on Global Economic Effects of COVID-19 released in November 2021 indicated that the “pandemic has disrupted lives across all countries and communities and negatively affected global economic growth in 2020 beyond anything

experienced in nearly a century.” It added that estimates indicate the virus reduced global economic growth in 2020 to an annualized rate of around -3.2%, with a recovery of 5.9% projected for 2021. Global trade is estimated to have also fallen by 5.3% in 2020. These percentages run into billions of dollars in real terms. Nonetheless several reports indicate a rebound from the 2021 and beyond as the monetary policies employed to tackle the pandemic have shown positive signs. One may be wondering why a Real Estate professional is interested in the economic situation. This is because it brings light to what is happening in the Real Estate sector which is dependent on liquidity; thus people’s ability to have access to money and spend. Like many other countries across the globe, Ghana’s Real Estate Sector was also affected. These developments in the last two years also left in its track lessons that are useful for 2022 and beyond. Real Estate In Ghana is Still a Good Investment

The effect of the pandemic on the sector in Ghana was not as pronounced as it was elsewhere; like the US and other developed countries where the decline in the sector was huge. The variation may be due to the infant nature of the sector in Ghana. Landlords who had rented out housing and commercial properties continued to enjoy rent during the pandemic whereas other businesses lost out completely. I must admit however that some property owners deferred rent payment for their clients. Of course, deferred payment of rent is only a delay in payment and not loss of money. I know one landlord around Spintex Road who waived housing rents for a month or two. I am yet to hear of commercial property owners who waived rent. Although property purchases reduced due to restrictions and cash flow challenges from other business streams of potential buyers, it is important to note that it was a temporary situation. The good thing

about Real Estate is that it is not easily perishable and appreciates in value with time. In other words, the fact that many deals could not be closed during the pandemic does not mean an outright loss. Whereas Real Estate in City Centres reduced, especially commercial real estate, housing did quite well. Information from colleagues in periurban and city outskirts show that Real Estate (housing) was minimally affected, thus it did better than housing in city centres. Particularly so, as quite a number of people moved into work from home mode. For them, the pandemic was more of a blessing and reiterates the fact that it is a good time to start moving to outskirts and peri-urban centres where one can have the best of both worlds; access to good amenities, serenity, healthier and peaceful spaces and untapped opportunities. Stability The pandemic also confirmed the fact that property ownership is a good form of long-term investment that provides stability and economic

| F E AT U R E

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Continued from page 4

independence. If you have your own home and rent out other spaces or invest in the property market, either physically or through instruments, you get to benefit from a passive income and long-term financial security. Like we say in the Ghanaian parlance, “your money will be working for you 24/7.” Rent, Transport and Food takes a huge part of the Ghanaian’s expenditure. Many Ghanaians who break free economically, usually do so, when they are able to deal with the rent problem. It frees up money that helps to efficiently deal with transport and food, by multiplying the freed up rent expenditure. Let me break this down. Although the law bars property owners from taking more than six months’ rent advance, the reality is not the same. In most cases, the minimum rent advance one may pay is two years (24 months) for initial contract. It subsequently reverts to yearly after the initial payment expires. Thus, if one wants to remain a tenant of the particular property. For families who want a two-bedroom house, irrespective of the location in Accra, the initial payment can secure a land in communities adjoining Accra or in other regional capitals. In order not to find oneself in the vicious cycle of rent payment, it is important for young people to consider securing lands on the outskirts of city centres and build or work out a mortgage payment that secures you a home by the time your family grows into a full nest. It is the best stability you can ever get. This has the potential of giving you the financial independence you want. You can use the property and probably a loan from your salaried or business account to build another home and rent out. The proceeds of the rent services the loan; beyond which all subsequent rent become returns on investment. You can replicate this many times. It is not Too late to Break Free When people hear about the absolute cost of properties or even land, it deters them. Considering that the rent burden makes it impossible to perceive owning their own property and breaking free. It is normal for many first timers. However, if the pandemic has not taught anything at all, it exposed the vulnerability of tenants in Ghana. Many who lost their jobs or had their income reduced due to restrictions found it difficult to keep up with rent payments. While all that home or property owners had to do was at best defer rent payments. Thus, tenants still had to meet rent obligations even if it was delayed. I know families who had to move from two and three-bedroomhomes to hall and chamber homes. Others had to relocate from urban (city) centres to the outskirts and other regions to cut down on rent

payment. This relocation included businesses too. The lesson here is clear, that until you own the property it is difficult to break free. What one must do is to assess their income, their line of work and the kind of education and life they want for their children. Based on this, move to a smaller property and save the extra income over time to secure a land and be committed to the building project. In about five to ten years one can break that cycle. It sounds like a long time, but it is possible; and you will not be late. If your income level can help you to secure a mortgage, start now. Just do your due diligence and talk to the right people. CBC property has a team that is ready to help anyone that requires such an assistance. The point is that the experience you gain from the transition puts you in a good position to make more passive income by replicating the process faster after you completed your mortgage or building. Functional Properties Beats Them All The pandemic by its nature raised serious health and environmental concerns. Of course the health sector was exposed due to inadequate infrastructural, logistical, personnel and investment provision. The ripple effect also called for housing and commercial properties that were more functional in terms of space, ventilation, environmentally friendliness and modification flexibility. For a very long time many spaces had not taken these concerns very seriously despite the many expert advice. The pandemic forced the hand of property owners and users as well as governments to ensure these standards are complied with to avert a catastrophe. Today many property buyers and owners are concerned with how spacious a property is, how green it is and its multi-purpose nature. This means that new entrants in the

sector must consider all these in their plans to create more value from their property. Similarly, existing players must make adjustments to reflect this trend which is geared towards shaping the future of the Real Estate Industry. To stay ahead of the game, one must consider more than one way to use a property with the view of making more value even in the time of a pandemic or any unforeseen disruption in the normal way of life. Is it possible to turn your space into an isolation centre, hostel or event center and rent out when it becomes necessary or just give it out as a social investment for leverage in future? For many businesses the hybrid system, thus working from both the office setting and home is high on the table. Hence, home buyers are also considering how possible it is to work from home should the need be and hence will readily accept properties that provide such an opportunity. Modification in Transactions No one anticipated the pandemic nor its rippling effect like the way it did until it actually hit. Life and business was going on as usual; including Real Estate business. Many of the transactions between property owners and renters did not anticipate the pandemic and hence had no provisions to deal with that. That is to say, the sale and lease agreements did not fully determine what ought to be done during an uncertain economic situation like the pandemic presented. I am sure in some high risk industries like mining, oil and gas among others such clauses (force majeure) may be in effect. In the Real Estate sector in Ghana that was not the case for most transactions. Hence, as the lockdowns and other restrictions kicked in, many businesses had to close down or downsize or cut pays. This meant their inflows dwindled and hence had difficulties to fulfill their financial obligations

including rent. Some renters of both commercial and housing properties had to renegotiate with their prospective landlords but that was difficult to do, because that was not anticipated by the contracts they signed. Thus they had to either let go of the property or find the money to pay and hope that things will pick up. Some sacrificed their workers (pay cuts and downsizing) to keep their spaces. Others lost the business altogether after squeezing to pay the rent due to the unimpressive rebound of the business. This new challenge that the pandemic carried in its wake has called for the need to include some of these proactive clauses (force majeure) in new transactions to protect both the property owner and the renter. For instance, new agreements can include that should there be any unanticipated natural disaster that affects the economic situation, tenants could stop paying rent until the situation improves. This is different from insurance. Now, more than ever, new transactions must consider the worst-case scenario. Some of these scenarios to consider is Whether or not it is possible to end the transaction without any adverse effects should it become necessary? Whether or not rent can be deferred in case of unanticipated economic situation? How will a property owner still earn his or her due during or after an unanticipated economic situation? It is a complex situation, but lawyers and Real Estate Professionals are always happy to assist you should you call on them. The writer is the CEO of CBC Properties Limited, a member of Ghana Association of Real Estate Brokers (GAR) and Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA); Email: ceo@cbcghanaltd.com Cell: +233-20-422-5002

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

| GLOBAL ECONOMY

Will sanctioning Russia fuel financial contagion? By Hippolyte Fofack

he unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia – which some have dubbed economic weapons of mass destruction – have globalized the Ukraine crisis, exacerbating market uncertainty and potentially derailing the post-pandemic recovery. Across Europe and elsewhere, growth forecasts for 2022 have been revised down sharply. Beyond dampening output and causing already high inflation to spike further, these sanctions are heightening the risk of a financial crisis. Today’s increasingly complex global financial system amplifies this danger, because the magnitude of derivatives markets and the codependency of supply chains and payment chains make contagion more likely. Stagflation was already a looming global threat, and the war in Ukraine has further increased the danger. The world, still grappling with the fallout from the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic, now faces its third policy-induced economic crisis in quick succession. The pandemic-related downturn, which disrupted supply chains and exacerbated inflationary pressures, was a crisis of necessity, because containment measures were the price paid to stem the spread of COVID-19 as best we could. But the impending growth slowdown and potential stagflation triggered by sanctioning Russia would – like the Sino-American trade war – be a policy-induced economic crisis of choice. One lesson from the US-China trade war is that increased interdependence in the era of globalization makes it extremely difficult to implement targeted economic sanctions – from trade barriers and tariffs to restrictions on financial transactions – without causing unintended consequences for countries not directly involved in the dispute. Two such effects are especially relevant to the Russia-Ukraine conflict: indirect “collateral damage” affecting third-party countries, and “boomerang” effects on the states imposing the penalties. Collateral damage usually results from trade destruction or diversion and increasing disruptions to justin-time global supply chains. For example, the International Monetary Fund estimates that supply-chain problems triggered by the US-China tariff war and exacerbated by the pandemic slashed world output by half a percentage point and raised inflation by around a full percentage point in 2021. The larger the economies imposing sanctions are, the greater the collateral damage is likely to be. Low- and middleincome countries, which depend heavily on trade for growth, invariably suffer the most, because they lack the economic infrastructure or capacity to capitalize on the distortionary effects of sanctions or on the opportunities arising from the short-term reordering of supply chains. Most entered the pandemic with limited fiscal space, reflecting the sharp reduction of global demand caused by the US-China

trade war. In some ways, the imposition of sanctions on Russia is affecting poorer countries more severely than either the trade war or COVID-19 containment measures did. In particular, sharply reduced access to essential products is raising the specter of a global food crisis and pushing the prices of most commodities, including oil, to their highest levels in a decade – thereby also raising long-term inflation expectations. While higher commodity prices may herald a fiscal bonanza for oil exporters, they create serious macroeconomic management challenges for low- and middle-income countries in particular. Most are net importers of oil and must also contend with the growing risks of social unrest from rising food insecurity and, in some cases, hyperinflation. The boomerang effects of economic sanctions can be just as significant. Again, an evaluation of the US-China trade war is instructive. In addition to the steep decline in US exports to China (and a similar decline in US imports from China), research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Columbia University found that US firms lost at least $1.7 trillion in stock value because of the imposition of US tariffs on Chinese imports. US households also were affected as prices and exchange rates did not adjust automatically to shield consumers. For China, the boomerang effects of the trade conflict accelerated the economy’s slowdown, raising the possibility of a hard landing. Chinese officials are targeting GDP growth of about 5.5% this year – the slowest pace in decades, with the exception of the pandemic-related deceleration in 2020. This could have significant negative spillover effects for the rest of the world, and especially for developing countries, most of which count China as their largest trading partner. In the Ukraine crisis, European economies that depend heavily on Russian energy have sought to mitigate the boomerang effects of sanctions by not extending the measures to Russia’s hydrocarbon exports or Russian

banks involved in the energy trade. But several European firms in other key industries with direct exposure to Russia will be significantly affected. In the transport and logistics sectors, several financially sound companies could face bankruptcy if the stringent and wide-ranging sanctions remain in place for a prolonged period. Even in the short term, the sanctions against Russia have caused substantial collateral damage, with mounting price pressures increasing many economies’ internal and external vulnerability. Concurrently, and ironically, the commodity-market rally that the sanctions have fueled is sustaining the flow of cash to Russia from Europe to cover the continent’s essential energy imports. A new bout of supply-chain disruption is already stirring inflationary pressures, further weakening the post-pandemic recovery and raising the risk of stagflation in Europe. Simultaneously, sanctioning Russia threatens to worsen the debt crisis and could set the stage for a longer-lasting financial crisis. The risk of contagion will be exacerbated greatly if credit default swaps are not settled seamlessly in the event of Russian bond defaults, or if the sanctions herald a large-scale reallocation of public assets to hedge against the globalization of political risks. The ongoing struggle for geopolitical supremacy means that powerful states will increasingly be tempted to use economic sanctions to advance their strategic goals. In an economically and financially interdependent world, such measures will make policyinduced economic crises more frequent, and all countries will suffer the consequences. One of the main challenges facing the world in the coming decade will be to ensure that no country’s geopolitical interests supersede the quest for global prosperity. Unless we succeed, the risks of globalization may come to outweigh the benefits. Diplomacy, undoubtedly, remains a better alternative to economic weapons of mass destruction.

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Ghana Beverage Awards postponed to April 8 The sixth edition of Ghana Beverage Awards (GBA) initially scheduled to come off this Friday March 25 at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Accra has been postponed to Friday, April 8, 2022. Commenting, Chief Executive Officer for Global Media Alliance, Ernest Boateng expressed his apologies to the stakeholders and participating beverage companies while assuring them of his outfit’s commitment to a stellar event in due time. “We are very much aware of the enthusiasm and excitement with which participating beverage companies and the general public were awaiting this year’s GBA which was set to come off in a few days. With the last two-year editions being held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were hopeful of bringing beverage enthusiast together once again to fraternize and celebrate ingenuity and diligence in our beverage space. Unfortunately, it has become necessary we postpone the event to a later date due to unforeseen circumstances. We deeply regret any inconvenience caused.” He added, “We have come far as a brand with you our patrons solidly behind us over the years; for this we are grateful and at this point, we crave nothing but your understanding and support.” GBA 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). Its media partners are: Citi FM, Happy FM, YFM, Akonoba FM, Neesim FM Bolga Neesim FM Tamale, eTV Ghana, Net 2 TV, Oman FM, Mx24, Business and Financial Times, Daily Guide and Ghanaweb.

Acquiring soft skills is critical when pursuing a career in tech–Vodafone Director Angela Mensah-Poku, the Director of Digital and Commercial Operations at Vodafone Ghana, has urged young people who wish to excel in tech to blend hard and soft skills. Angela gave this advice at a thoughtprovoking discussion hosted by MEST Africa as part of activities to mark the 2022 Women’s History Month. The theme was “Making Career Moves in Tech”. “One thing that I have realised, especially in Tech, is that there isn’t enough focus on soft skills. So, being customer-centric, innovative, passionate, collaborative, dynamic, and able to pivot quickly is key. If you have a beautiful marriage between the hard skills, emotional intelligence, and human aspects of technology in what you do, you will always differentiate yourself, “she said. She added, “Striking that wonderful balance between hard skills and soft skills is critical. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or you want to move into a big organization, bring your humanity to whatever you do and work on your emotional intelligence, collaboration, inquisitiveness, and other critical soft skills.” According to Angela, Vodafone Ghana is interested in soft skills as well, since it enables the technology

communications company to innovate constantly and improve customer experience. She gave an example of how Vodafone’s Robotics Squad can collaborate effectively with other teams to develop tools and products that address customers’ needs. She further urged participants to be curious, confident, and take advantage of every opportunity. “Be confident and put yourself out there. What is the worst that can ever happen? No one ever got fired for asking a question, having an idea, or putting their hands up for something. I take advantage of every single opportunity, and this has been a running theme for my career,” she said. Angela encouraged young girls thinking of pursuing a career in tech to embrace challenges and give their best. “There is no substitute for hard work, whether you are male or female. I think that the work environment is also changing, and women are getting more support. Be creative and inquisitive, and I guarantee you will attract females and males who share your values and will be there for you when times get tough.”

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

| ICT

IIPGH Donates Computers to Ve-Golokwati RC Primary School to improve ICT Literacy

Digital literacy has become so important in the 21st century and is applied in manufacturing, services, and other industries. It is, therefore, necessary to create a level playing field for every child, whether in the cosmopolitan cities or remote rural areas, to access tools such as computers that will help them acquire practical digital skills. While some young people in the cities are fortunate to get access to some of these tools, most children in the towns and villages face this huge digital divide where basic tools like computers are not available in schools for digital skills education. To contribute towards solving this equipment deficit in rural schools, the Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) as part of its 5thanniversary celebration donated 10 desktop computers to Ve-Golokwati RC primary school in the Afadzato South District of the Volta Region on Tuesday 8th March 2022. The donation was made at a brief ceremony in the presence of the cheerful and visibly excited pupils of the school. The computers were received by the Headmistress of the school Madam Theodora Akosua Awumey in the presence of the Afadzato South Ghana Education Service (GES) District Director, Dr. Esther A. Yeboah-Adzimah; Assemblyman for Ve-Golokwati, Mr. Evans Edem Gaka; School Management Committee Chairman, Mr. Augustine Komla Eloh; the GES training officer of the district, Madam Henrietta Sindy Adiko and teachers from Ve-Golokwati RC primary school. After presenting the computers and their accessories, the Executive Director of the Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana, Mr. David Gowu, admonished the students and the staff to take care of the desktops so when IIPGH returns, more computers will be added to the ones donated. Mr. Gowu added the institute will be back with some of its professionals in the ICT industry to support the staff and students put the

computers donated to good use by providing ICT training in areas such as coding. “We want these children to learn how to create games, animations, design objects in 3D, develop websites and other creative things using the computer so they can develop their skills” the Executive Director of IIPGH emphasized. Mr. Gowu was accompanied by the Director of Operations of IIPGH, Mr. Richard Kafui Amanfu, Director of Administration of the Institute Madam Gifty Mottey, and other volunteers from the institute. The GES District Director, Dr. YeboahAdzimah, on behalf of the management and the school, thanked IIPGH for the kind gesture. She indicated the institute is now a friend of the district and looking forward to more collaborations to promote ICT education in the district. “We are grateful to the institute of ICT

professionals Ghana for the donation, but like the proverbial Oliver Twist, we are asking for more so other schools in the district can also benefit,” she added. The Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana, which was established 5 years ago by a group of technology professionals in Ghana, supports students and professionals with ICT capacity-building programs. With over 2,000 professionals, businesses, and students in the ICT sector in Ghana, the institute runs ICT education programs for kids dubbed “Early Start”. The initiative focuses on introducing children as young as 6 years to coding or computer programming skills. This initiative, instituted by IIPGH in 2018, has seen over 10,000 students predominantly pre-tertiary students (primary to secondary) benefiting from the coding program. These students have acquired relevant 21st-century digital skills that will prepare them for their place of work. Most of the beneficiaries of this initiative are students in the urban areas or cities so as IIPGH turns 5, the coding and other ICT skills development programs are being extended to rural communities to bridge the gap and get children in the suburban, deprived and underserved communities to benefit from emerging technologies skills development programs. To achieve this aim, the institute organized a series of awareness training sessions dubbed “Coding Caravan” in various communities in 2021 to assess the needs of the students and other stakeholders. One thing identified during the awareness sessions and workshops was the lack of computers for the students to have practical lessons. IIPGH, therefore, acquired used but fully functional computers from Heco Systems Ltd at highly discounted rates to be donated to pilot schools in this category of communities. Heco Systems Ltd operates the LaptopRent-Ghana.com

brand where they rent laptops, tablets, and other devices to organizations for workshops, training, and conferences. Unlike in the past where individuals or organizations donate computers or other ICT devices and the beneficiary schools or institutions struggle to put them into good use, the program being run by the Institute of ICT Professionals will ensure that volunteers from IIPGH periodically visit the beneficiary schools and support the teachers and other instructors to use the computers to teach some of the practical ICT training modules such as coding. In doing this, the institute will assess if the donations serve the intended purpose. In addition, IIPGH will make a case for other partners to donate more equipment or technology education devices as they could see the results of what was initially donated. The donations were not limited to the deprived school. The Institute also donated two (2) desktop computers to the Afadzato South Office of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to support them in effectively carrying out their administrative work. Dr. YeboahAdzimah received the donations on behalf of the district office. She once again expressed her gratitude to the management and the team of professionals from IIPGH. Afadzato South was created in 2012, which makes it a new district that needs administrative and logistical support in the areas of education, healthcare, among others to serve the local communities. IIPGH, therefore, donated some of its computers to the GES office of the district as part of its support towards achieving this goal. About IIPGH The Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) is a professional association that is made up of professionals in various domains of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) practice. The Institute is a connector of ICT professionals from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), educational institutions,

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

corporate organizations, startups, investors, and civil society organizations to create a vibrant ICT ecosystem. This is carried out by mobilizing all ICT professionals, students, and businesses under one professional association/body to positively influence policy, development, standardization, and delivery of ICT across Ghana and beyond. The institute also aims to train and certify professionals, provide opportunities through networking, educate the public, and lead in technology advocacy. Our vision is to become the most reliable partner in ICT development in Ghana and beyond. The Academy division of IIPGH is focused on providing ICT skills training, continuous professional development, and other forms of capacity building to support the digital transformation agenda of the country. So far, together with our partners, IIPGH Academy has trained over 10,000 people in digital skills, various computer programming languages, web technologies, data science, and cybersecurity. The organization comprising professionals across all the domains of ICT leverage on the rich experience of its members in both domestic and international ICT markets to deliver projects to organizations in the Information and Communications Technology industry. We aim to use the expertise of our professionals to build the ICT capacity of other professional and corporate organizations. Author: David Gowu, Executive Director, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana For Comments, contact david. gowu@iipgh.org / +233242773762

| MARITIME

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

CIMG gets new governing council

n eleven-member Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) was, on Monday, inaugurated into office for a three-year term. The event took place at the conference room of the Ministry of Education, where the sector minister, who also doubles as Honourable Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe Constituency, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum administered an Oath of Office and Oath of Secrecy to the new council members. In his opening remarks at the inauguration, the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, intimated that marketing had a critical role to play in the socioeconomic development of the country and, as such, its value must not be taken for granted. Dr Osei Adutwum said: “There should be a new paradigm shift, that would put marketing at the centre of the country’s development agenda

to propel growth, as the role of marketing is so critical to national development”. In view of the above, the Minister informed the new Council that “With the Senior High School Curriculum being worked on, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NACCA) will be consulting you to really get Marketing inputs to be incorporated in it”. This, he indicated, will be a practical way to deepen marketing theory and equip students at all levels with the proper understanding of marketing and how marketing will help them build and manage successful business after school. He charged the council to work at deepening the relevance of marketing in Ghana. In his acceptance remarks, the National President of CIMG, Dr Daniel Kasser Tee, promised that the new Council will, among other things, uphold the good values of the institute at all times. “We will endeavour to ensure that

CIMG is governed and managed in accordance with sound corporate governance practices for improved performance,” he assured. He also pledged the services of CIMG to public and civil service organisations that require marketing support, declaring that “our readiness to help market nation Ghana remains unflinchingly strong as we open our doors to any MMDA and the larger public services to support them improve performance efficiency.” Dr Kasser Tee commended H. E. the President of the republic and the Minister for his ministry’s untiring efforts at getting Act 1021 passed and assented to in record time. He enumerated some of the success stories of CIMG, since the Bill was passed into Law. On research, Dr Kasser Tee said: “CIMG has successfully conducted a customer satisfaction and loyalty study, the outcome of which led to the launch of Ghana’s first Customer

Satisfaction Index for the banking industry of Ghana, under the blessing of the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Association of Banks. The second report is expected to the released later in the year, which will cover 4 industries.” He further indicated that plans were far advanced for CIMG to introduce a novel Regional Brand Index report for Ghana. Data, he said, will be collected across the nation for the study, which has a great potential to further market Ghana to the wider world in the areas of Tourism, Culture, Governance, Peace and Security, Investment potentials, Natural Environment and Natural resources, Trade, etc. “We mounted the first examinations of the professional marketing qualifications in December last year and released the results in February 2022. It has been a huge success story, with excellent pass rates at the intermediate stages. It is our hope that similar performances would be recorded, when our students take their exams at the strategic levels in June and December this year, which will enable us to award the Professional Marketer Certificate for the first time in Ghana”, added Dr Tee. Concluding his remarks, the National President urged everyone, both marketing and non-marketing professionals, to work together to ensure that the marketing philosophy permeates every sphere of life, particularly, within the public and civil service architecture of Ghana. Also at the ceremony was a Patron and Fellow, and one time President of CIMG, Professor Stephen Adei, who reminded the Marketers that: “As you all know, Marketing is not propaganda, good marketing requires you all to help communicate the good sides of your products, corporate institutions and the nation Ghana at large. You must not allow non-marketing people to destroy brands on the back of propaganda”. He, therefore, urged the council to work hard to uplift the image of CIMG and Ghana, as a nation brand. Members of the new council are the National President, Dr Daniel Kasser Tee, the National VicePresident, Mr Theodore Osae, the National Secretary, Mr Franklin Sowa, and the National Treasurer, Mr Alfred Boyan forming the National Executive team. The other members of the new council are Ms Ama Amoah, Mrs Hilda Peasah, Mr Kwasi Kyere, the Registrar/CEO of CIMG, Mr Kwabena Agyekum, the immediate past president of CIMG, Mr Kojo Mattah, a representative of the Ministry of Education, Ms Angela Affran and a representative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Kofi Addo.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Transport Ministry, ECOZOIL educate boat owners, passengers In Eastern Region

As part of a nationwide programme to protect lives on Ghana’s water bodies, boat owners and passengers at Akateng in the Upper Manya Krobo of the Eastern Region have been senistised on various safety protocols. Among the safety measures include avoiding overloading, wearing of life jackets and also keeping the boats and canoes tidy at all times. Additionally, the boat owners and commuters were also given free life jackets. The programme is an initiative of the government through the Ministry of Transport in partnership with ZOIL (ECOZOIL), one of the subsidiaries of the Jospong Group of Companies ( JGC). It is equally aimed at cleaning the country’s landing sites and its surrounding communities. Addressing the media, the General Manager (GM) of ZOIL, Mrs. Abitha Odame-Nyanteh, expressed her

outfit’s delight in collaborating with the government to undertake this project. “Aside from protecting lives of commuters on the Volta Lake, we also assist in training individuals to set up control units to monitor various activities of the clean-up exercise on the landing sites,” she added. This, she explained, will help create job avenues and also reduce the unemployment rate in the country. “This project is not only for Akateng but a national exercise. And I pray it helps reduce the incidence of accidents on our water bodies to protect precious lives of Ghanaians,” she expressed. According to her, the core mission of the JGC which ZOIL is a member is to improve lives of Ghanaians. She was hopeful that the programme after its completion

would yield positive impacts in helping to “save lives on our water bodies.” The National Coordinator for Volta Lake Transport Safety Project, Mrs. Yaa Oforiwaa, explained that the programme was necessitated by safety concerns on the Volta Lake. “Following concerns of safety on our Volta Late, the Ministry of Transport partnered ZOIL to undertake this project of massive clean-up exercise on the country’s landing sites, and also educate the inhabitants around the landing sites as well as boat operators across the country,” she said. She said the landing sites on the Volta Lake have become so untidy, a situation that was posing health risks to residents. “It is along this reason that the Ministry of Transport partnered ZOIL to undertake this all important exercise. And in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal Six (Clean Water and Sanitation), it is required that we give our valuable Ghanaians access to healthy and quality water and also improve the sanitation of our various communities and Ghana as a whole,” she indicated. She, therefore, entreated residents around water bodies to change their attitudes, cautioning them to refrain from dumping refuse into the lake. “For all you know, the lake rejects this dumped refuse, posing a lot of health threats,” she noted. She was upbeat that the ongoing public education will promote safety on the Volta Lake. “This is because we have provided

them with logistics like life jackets to protect lives on the lake,” she disclosed. “Also, in order to sustain this exercise, a group of people have been trained to be monitoring always. This is not a one-off exercise but a continuous one which will be carried out nationwide,” she assured. Mrs. Oforiwaa stated that the public education was also to educate people to appreciate the essence of maintaining a serene environment. Some boat owners who spoke to the media were excited about the programme. Mr. Nartey Quainoo, a Boat Inspector and an owner, was full of praise for the partnership between the Ministry of Transport and ECOZOIL to protect lives on the Volta Lake. “We will take the education serious, and I as a boat inspector and an owner will ensure that henceforth, there will be no overloading of passengers on the boats to avoid accidents on the lake. I will also ensure that all my passengers have life jackets on,” he gave a firm assurance. Madam Juliana Odi, a market woman who also spoke to the media, commended ECOZOIL for the donation of the life jackets. “We as market women use the boat regularly for our trading business. And in fact getting life jackets is a real headache. We are, therefore, grateful for the donation of life jackets by ECOZOIL. It will go a long way to save lives of commuters,” she expressed.

New Pension Scheme to support women: Peoples Pension Trust partner SCBF to offer service Peoples Pension Trust (PPT), in partnership with the Swiss Capacity Building Facility (SCBF), a publicprivate development platform, has introduced a new programme to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day. Known as “Scaling Gender-Focused Financial Resilience (SGFR)”, it will support informal, marginalised, and excluded female workers and entrepreneurs to secure their future through micro-pensions. In a release issued by the company, it said the new programme would catalyse participation in pensions that would allow women to contribute small payments for longterm savings, and have access to 50 per cent of their contributions for

immediate needs if necessary. It said the programme is targeted to reach 100,000 new customers; 60 per cent active female savers would be accomplished through a partnership with women-based organisations to improve outreach and leveraging technology-based solutions to increase financial literacy and understanding of the benefits of long-term savings. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SCBF, Sitara Merchant, said: “Innovating financial inclusion is at the core of our work. By expanding financial inclusion, we build resilience to protect living standards, advance economic empowerment to increase income and asset building, and improve current and future

generations’ living standards.” “The SGFR Programme fully aligns with our ambitions, focusing on our key demographic, women. Furthermore, we know that working with the private sector, specifically innovative technology providers, is critical, and that the work of such partners can be more effective when complemented with public-sector and philanthropic frameworks and partnerships, core to this intervention.” The CEO of People’s Pension Trust, Saqib Nazir, said: “Our business model is based on addressing the main factors for their exclusion by developing innovative, flexible and digitally driven pension products to improve accessibility even to no-

internet areas.” “From a commercial perspective, women are a critical demographic that tends to outperform their male peers on contributions and savings. However, they represent a lower percentage of our overall client base.” He said partnership with SBCF would allow PPT to better reach women through the development of gender-focused technology solutions and partnerships that support this year’s International Women’s Day theme to ‘BreaktheBias’ with a more inclusive approach to reaching women; from a positioning and financial literacy perspective.

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

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Climate justice requires women’s leadership

he world is well aware that the climate crisis is one of the main stumbling blocks to sustainable development. And yet, despite the dramatic evidence of the lethal consequences of climate change, and despite possessing the knowledge, technologies, and resources to fix it, we continue on the same highcarbon path that threatens our survival. We also know that climate stabilization depends on a whole-of-society response, and thus on all citizens’ equal and fair participation in governance. That has not happened, either: Women have been underrepresented in climate decisionmaking. And while this trend has slowly been reversed, much more needs to be done to advance a gender-sensitive response to climate change. Three imperatives stand out: women’s leadership, indigenous rights, and education. Efforts to improve gender parity in climate governance have been ongoing for nearly a decade. In 2014, delegates to COP20 adopted the Lima Work Programme on Gender to encourage the inclusion of more women in climate-change negotiations. But five years later, at COP25 in Madrid, 60% of government delegates and 73% of heads and deputy heads of delegations were men. This imbalance led to the adoption of the Enhanced Lima Work Programme and Action Plan on Gender. Under the enhanced plan, the parties to global climate talks pledged to appoint and provide support for national gender and climate-change focal points for climate negotiations, and for project implementation and monitoring. Even so, from 2019 to 2021, women occupied only 33% of all leadership positions in climate-change negotiations and expert

mechanisms. But efforts to include women in these discussions continue. The final agreement issued at the close of last November’s COP26 in Glasgow included gender equality and women’s leadership as central components of climate policy and action strategies. This represents clear recognition that the transition to net zero will be possible only through active citizenship, with women playing a vital role. Women are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, but they are also important agents of change. Giving women a seat at the decision-making table and using a gender lens to shape low-carbon development strategies will go a long way toward making progress on efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The transition to carbon neutrality requires a radical change in production systems and consumption patterns across all sectors. Women must be part of the process to develop effective policies. The task is daunting, but there are examples to follow. Costa Rica, for one, has set a clear path toward net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. Since 2014, more than 98% of the energy generated in Costa Rica has come from renewable sources. And in 2021, the country was awarded the Earthshot Prize for its conservation model, according to which local citizens are paid to preserve and restore natural ecosystems, including rainforests. Costa Rica’s success can be attributed largely to the commitment of its citizens to sustainable development and the involvement of indigenous and rural women in climate adaptation, knowledge production, and efforts to strengthen resilience.

Indigenous and rural women in particular are the most vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation. The inclusion of these women in creating sustainable practices is thus central to ensuring the effectiveness of climaterelated decisions. Initiatives such as Club de Madrid’s Shared Societies approach emphasize that indigenous communities have the right to be involved in these discussions, and acknowledge that local communities are more likely to support and implement conservation plans when they are fully invested in their development. Education is also a crucial component of inclusive climate decision-making. In 2021, UNESCO called for environmental education to be a core curriculum component in all countries by 2025. The Berlin Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development states that environmental education must be available to girls and boys alike from an early age to ensure that future generations have sufficient knowledge to respond to climate change. Emphasizing gender equality and non-discrimination in access to climate knowledge and skills will boost the ability of young people to effect change. The recent all-male “CEO lunch” convened at the Munich Security Conference shows that women are still missing from the highest levels of global decision-making. Yet women’s leadership is needed to respond effectively to shared global challenges. Without the active and meaningful participation of women and girls in local, national, and global climate strategies, a carbon-neutral future will remain out of reach. Project syndicate

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Ghana-Netherlands political consultations: Deepening bilateral relations

BY JAMES AMOH JUNIOR he Netherland and Ghana have enjoyed many years of cordial diplomatic relations since 1701 and throughout the political changes in Ghana to date. The Netherlands became one of Ghana’s most important development partners benefiting from the Dutch government’s loans and grants for healthcare, education, the environment, gender advocacy, good governance, budget support, and technical assistance critical for Ghana’s economic growth. Ghana’s impressive economic performance coupled with the transformation to a middle-income economy status, necessitated the Dutch government’s policy shift from aid to trade, with the two countries working together to achieve sustainable economic development for Ghana, while phasing out Official Development Aid (ODA). This new Dutch policy is in line with the “Ghana Beyond Aid” Policy initiative of the Government of Ghana, and seeks to harness effectively, Ghana’s own resources to finance its development and economic growth, whilst minimising or eliminating the country’s reliance on ODA. Ghana-Netherlands Trade/ Implementation of the EPA Ghana and Netherland trade is conducted within the framework of the Ghana-European Union Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (IEPA). The Netherlands remains an important trading partner for Ghana within the EU. Trade between the two countries is relatively significant and stood at $1.37 million in 2019. Cumulatively, trade between the two countries between 2010-2019 amounts to $17 billion with Ghana enjoying a balance of trade surplus since 2016. Top exports from Ghana to Netherlands in 2019 are Cocoa Beans (37.6 per cent), Cocoa Butter (21.7 per cent), Crude Petroleum (14.8 per cent), Cocoa Paste (7.84 per cent), Cocoa Powder (5.68 per cent). On the other hand, imports from the EU to Ghana in 2019 comprised of Poultry Meat (16.7 per cent), Refined Petroleum (12.5 per cent). Packaged Medicaments (10.6 per cent), Margarine (4.72 per cent), Excavation machinery (3.15 per cent). The Netherland’s Investments in Ghana Data from the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPC) shows significant amount of Dutch investment in Ghana since 1994. In 2017, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from Netherlands alone was $2.5 billion whiles cumulative FDIs from 1994 to 2017 totalled $4.177 billion. The Investments comprising of 224 business enterprises and projects in various sectors, including both general and export trade, liaison, manufacturing,

tourism, and other related services. Ms. Martine Van Hoogstraten, Deputy Director, Sub-Sahara Africa Department, The Netherlands, said Ghana and the Netherlands had had a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) enforced since 1st July 1991, and proposed a review of the BIT in line with the current national and global economic realities. Ghana recorded favourable balance of trade from 2016 to 2019 with a trade surplus of $406 million dollars in 2018. This favourable position could be attributed to the increase in the export of Ghana’s Crude Oil to the Netherlands. In 2019, Ghana recorded a positive trade balance of $734.8 million with estimated exports of $966.3 million to the Netherlands – a figure which decreased to $759.7 million in 2020. Netherlands exports to Ghana increased from $231.5 million in 2019 to $876.5 million in 2020, recording a surplus of $116.8 million. Ghana-Netherlands Development Cooperation Development Cooperation between the two countries is mostly focused on technology, knowledge, market access and a strong position on the world market. The specific sectors are water, health, and agriculture. In 2016, the Dutch government announced that its development budget for Ghana would be reduced in the next few years because the country is on an economic growth path to self-reliance. The Netherlands, since 2020, halted development aid to such five countries including Ghana. Netherland’s support to Ghana also targets Private Sector development, trade, promotion, and investments. The Netherlands continues to support innovative and sustainable initiatives to help farmers improve production methods and increase their access to markets, with further support to Ghana through various grants for the private sector. Proposed Areas for Cooperation As part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the GhanaNetherlands Political Cooperation, Support for Ghana’s Industrial transformation Agenda would be an area of focus to industrilise the country. Ms Hoogstraten said Ghana would need Netherland’s support in the implementation of its Industrial Transformation Agenda through investment and technical support in the following areas: One-District One-Factory Initiative, Development of Strategic Anchor Industries, SME Development. With the development of Small and Medium Enterprises, Ghana will be interested in promoting competitiveness of the Ghanaian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through technology transfer. Under the proposed areas of cooperation, support will be advanced to the Ghana Enterprises Agency to implement the MSME Policy to take advantage of the preferential markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Ghana-EU EPA. The Deputy Director, Sub-Sahara Africa Department, said the Cooperation would support the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), support for the National AfCFTA Coordination Office, support to

implement the National AfCFTA Policy Framework and implementation plan as well as capacity building and training. As part of the cooperation, an adoption of the Joint Business Council Model would promote and provide tailor-made solutions to Ghana and its bilateral partners. It is proposed that special focus should be on attracting investment into critical Government’s industrial anchor industries while new financing and business models are introduced to enhance better participation by Dutch and Ghana private sector. Aside that, Ghana will also seek Netherland’s support to accelerate its post-COVID-19 recovery under Government’s COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (CARES) Programme. Also, Ms Hoogstraten said: “For the Netherlands, I would like to stress very importantly our membership of the EU; we work in the framework of the EU, and we want to play a significant role, making the EU stronger, greener, and safer. That is a way Ghana can work with us and that we can help the country in the framework of Ghana-EU relations.” Signing of MoU Ghana and the Netherlands have institutionalised Political Dialogue, to among other objectives, take stock of their cooperation to assess how it is mutually benefiting the two countries. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Political Consultations has, therefore, been signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ghana and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands aimed to establish a mechanism for regular political consultations on bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest. The pact also aims to consolidate Ghana’s relations with the Netherlands with a view of enhancing several mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation that positively impact its peoples and the two countries and also give both countries the opportunity to expand discussions on variety of issues and to address challenges that may exist. The first edition of the Ghana-Netherlands Political Dialogue, convened with participants from the Foreign Ministries of the two countries as well as relevant national stakeholders of Ghanaian Ministries, Departments and Agencies and representatives of concerned institutions in the Netherlands, discuss issues of mutual interest in Defence and Security, Migration and Development, Trade and Investment, the benefits of the AfCFTA, Agriculture, Science and Technology as well as Environment and Climate Change and Human Rights. The discussions also touched on issues relating to Education, Culture and Training as well as Cooperation within the United Nations (UN) System. Ms Hoogstraten, before signing the MoU on behalf of Netherlands, said “I am very excited to hear that there is more room for Dutch investments in Ghana. This is something we are happy to know and a conversation worth having. We want to continue our good and long-standing bilateral relations.” Mr Ramses Cleland, Chief Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI) who signed the MoU on behalf of Ghana, in an earlier

speech read on his behalf by Mrs Hannah Nyarko, Coordinating Director, Political and Economic, MFARI, said Ghana-Netherlands bilateral cooperation concentrated on sectors of mutual interest, selected based on the interest of the Dutch private sector and on relevance for the development of Ghana. Within that framework, he said, the Dutch government selected sectors such as water, health, and agriculture, where Dutch companies had a lot to offer in terms of technology, knowledge, market access and a strong position on the world market. Nonetheless, Mr Cleland said the Netherlands was shifting its development cooperation with Ghana from ”Aid” to trade and investment in line with the country’s programme of ”Ghana Beyond Aid” and stressed that “building a Ghana Beyond Aid was not a repudiation of aid.” He said as Ghana pursued its “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda, based on boosting trade, the country would like to continue to rely on the support of Netherlands for the implementation of Ghana’s flagship programmes for industrial transformation including the One-District One-Factory Initiative. “Development of strategic anchor industries such as vehicle assembly, manufacturing of machinery and machine components, pharmaceuticals, textiles and garments, integrated aluminium industry, iron and steel, industrial chemicals, oil palm, industrial starch and downstream petrochemical industry,” he said should be prioritised. He mentioned the Agenda 111 initiative which aims at creating 111 health facilities in Ghana to ensure that Ghanaians nationwide have access to quality healthcare services, as an initiative to be focused in the cooperation. Ghana, the Chief Director of the MFARI, noted, saw the Netherlands as a very important country in Europe, with an excellent democratic credentials and a vibrant economy and that more companies from the Netherlands should be interested in trading and investing in Ghana. “In fact, I am aware that there are already Dutch companies in the Tema enclave including Koudijs Animal Nutrition, which is into the production of animal feed,” he added. Conclusion Over the years, cooperation between Ghana and Netherlands have traversed different sectors, including trade and investment. Ghana’s exports to, the Netherlands are primary and semi-finished goods, which include Cocoa beans, Cocoa butter, Cocoa paste, Crude Petroleum, Cocoa Powder, among others. Whereas imports from the Netherlands include Refined Petroleum, Poultry meat, Excavation Machinery and Packaged Medicaments, among others. With Ghana and the Netherlands having maintained their diplomatic relations since 1701, which had enabled the two countries to develop a common history and interconnecting cultures, resulting in our shared values, it is hoped that the signing of the MoU on Political Consultations would further deepen the even stronger bilateral ties between the two countries for the ultimate development of Ghana. Source: GNA

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Africa’s rural communities will be the hardest hit by plastic pollution BY JOSHUA AMPONSEM, FOUNDER OF THE GREEN AFRICA YOUTH ORGANISATION AND AFRI-PLASTICS CHALLENGE JUDGE

lastic waste in Africa is not just an urban issue, but also a rural one. Rural communities are almost always heavily dependent on natural resources, such as water and arable land, to make a living. These resources are being irrevocably contaminated with plastic waste, the impact of which is often underestimated. Sub-Saharan Africa produces over 17 million tonnes of waste annually, with only 12% of plastic waste being recycled. The rest finds its way into landfills, streets and waterways. In rural areas, much of the plastic waste is burnt, largely because most rural areas have no rubbish collection or recycling facilities available. Plastic disposed of in this way releases toxins into the environment, killing life on land and in water, and contaminating previously fertile land. Most governments in Africa do not have the resources to police this behaviour but do acknowledge the issue and are often very willing to collaborate to find relevant solutions. The biggest challenge facing Africa is the fact that for millions, putting food on the table for their families is their single biggest concern. This has been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic with many people losing their source of income. We need to work together to demonstrate the extent of the risk, as it will have an impact on the livelihoods of farmers and other informal workers – as well as the overall value chain keeping economies alive. With the population growing and the middle class expanding, plastic waste will soon become Africa’s biggest risk, coupled with the overall climate change crisis facing the continent. As the waste volumes increase, individuals have seen opportunities to collect waste and sell it to recyclers. While this may make a dent in the waste problem, it raises questions around dignity, health and safety. Many of these waste pickers are women and young girls, who venture into unsafe areas and pick through waste without protective clothing. Africans have started to take up the challenge to clean up their communities. In rural Ghana, communities have long reused discarded plastic containers; for example, reusing them as packaging for cleaning supplies for sale, storage of oil and other non-consumable products. In Rwanda, the government has mandated a monthly clean up called Umuganda – a national holiday acknowledged on the last Saturday of every month. This has received global praise for the incredible impact it has made, and instilled a real sense of ‘community’. However, the reality is that this initiative is not the norm. To address a rural plastic waste crisis

before it drives communities into poverty and urbanisation, we need innovators, influencers and industry to educate and enable people to embrace the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ mindset. Across Africa, innovators are focusing their efforts on addressing the plastic waste crisis. The Afri-Plastics Challenge, which is currently underway, has identified numerous initiatives working to combat waste in new ways. For example, the Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE) in Lagos State, Nigeria, is a buyback initiative that aims to empower women and the youth through collection and recycling of plastic waste. Mega Gas in Kenya converts unsorted plastic waste into clean and affordable cooking gas through a patented process, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Full Development Agency (FDA) is recycling plastic waste into products, including paving tiles for parking lots, sidewalks and gardens in the city of Bukavu. In the West African nation of Togo, Green Industry Plast collects, sorts and recycles plastic waste into building materials, tables, benches and plastic objects. These organised efforts take plastic waste and reuse a great deal further, but ultimately recycling is not enough: we need a two-fold approach, looking at both how to reduce waste, and what to do with existing waste. It is crucial that the plastic deluge is addressed at its source. These efforts could not have come at a better time. United Nations negotiators meeting at UNEA 5.2 have agreed on a roadmap for a global plastic treaty that would address plastic production and design, according to a draft resolution, which is a major step to agreeing an ambitious deal. A draft resolution, entitled “End plastic pollution: Towards an internationally legally binding instrument”, states that the treaty should address “the full life cycle of plastic”,

meaning production and design, as well as waste. Most efforts across Africa are still in the plastic waste management phase because waste is highly visible. Too few are focusing on how to reduce the amount of plastic in use before the waste problem emerges. This means influencing consumer demand and consumption as well as product package innovations is the crucial next step to being successful in tackling plastic waste. It is up to community leaders, African influencers and the captains of industry to promote a ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ mindset. Industry need not wait for changing consumer demand to step up: manufacturers must proactively develop environmentally friendly alternatives to single-use plastic. The issue arises about job losses, and this highlights the need for the public and private sectors to find innovative solutions while retaining jobs and fuelling growth with new opportunities. In Ghana, water is typically sold in plastic sachets in the streets. People prefer to carry reusable water bottles, but there are seldom taps available where they can refill their bottles. As such, they must resort to buying the sachets. There is a simple solution: portable water tanks can be installed across key locations so that people can refill their own reusable water bottles. It is about changing perceptions and implementing easy-to-use solutions that are practical for individual markets. Africa has a young and vibrant population made up of innovators capable of overcoming the plastic waste issue and broader climate change challenges. Initiatives such as the Afri-Plastics Challenge is critical to constantly reminding people about the negative impact plastic waste is having on their cities and rural communities. We need to focus beyond waste management and start changing consumer attitudes and put pressure on both the public and private sectors to play their part.

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

TOURISM

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park must be more than a tourist attraction…adding a learning centre may not be a bad idea Part 1

he man Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to independence. There have been many arguments as to whether he should be acknowledged as Ghana’s founder or others must equally be acknowledged thus a Founder’s Day. Whatever the argument may be the role he played in Ghana’s history cannot be swept under the carpet. He did indeed play a very imperative role in Ghana’s history and the youth must be taught his history and legacies into much details. There are many things about him that may be unknow to many. I suggest the time allocated for the tour of the Memorial Park be expanded to tell the whole story because of the limited time allocated currently doesn’t do so. A conference room must be built aimed at allowing tourists to have enough time where this whole story of Ghana’s first president will be told. This could serve as a motivation to the youth to also impact a sense of nationalism, patriotism and dedication to the Ghana course. Social media is taking away the time of the youth and are not learning and reading enough as expected and if they are not taught about Ghana’s great men, it may get worse than we expect. On Independence Day, I asked my 7-yearold daughter what independence meant to her. I also asked her what she knew about Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Well, I was not too pleased with her answers. Children are taught about Jesus Christ and his great works every Saturday and Sunday at church, yet there is no mention of Ghana’s great men because religion is not about nationalism.

The little exposure they have is what is taught in school which may be found in only one subject. We need to find a way of letting our young ones know the detail stories of Kwame Nkrumah, the other members of the big six and all the many great men and women of Ghana who helped build this nation up until now. As the saying goes “if you don’t where you came from you may not know where you are going” This statement may be very true and applicable to this current generation and those yet unborn. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah reminds us that “for this end Africa needs a new type of citizen, a dedicated modest, honest and informed man. A man submerges self in service to the nation and mankind. A man who abhors greed and detest vanity. A new type of man whose humility is his strength and whose integrity is his greatness”. In his famous independence speech, he again reminds us to change our attitude, our minds, we must realize that from now on, we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people. In putting this article together, i came across a thesis entitled Kwame Nkrumah: An intellectual Biography Witten by Ama Barbara Biney. She did an extensive research work which highlighted many unknown facts about him. I would like to reproduce portion of this research work for all and sundry. Although Nkrumah was born in 1909 in the small relatively poor village of Nkroful

in the Nzima region of the south west of the Gold Coast, his mother was determined that he receive an education. It appears she had an early influence on his view of life and attitude towards education.1 Of Nkrumah’s father, little is known, except that according to Nkrumah, he was “a man of strong character” and polygamous. It was during his period in primary school that he came under the influence of a German Roman Catholic priest, George Fischer, who converted both mother and son to Catholicism and paid for Nkrumah’s primary education.3 Nkrumah wrote: “In those days I took my religion seriously and was very often to be found serving at Mass. As I grew older, however, the strict discipline of Roman Catholicism stifled me. It was not that I became any less religious but rather that I sought freedom in the worship of and communion with my God, for my God is a very personal God and can only be reached direct.” In his 1957 Autobiography, Nkrumah declared: “I am a non-denominational Christian and a Marxist Socialist and I have not found any contradiction between the two.” However, between the ages of approximately six and seventeen, Roman Catholicism shaped his beliefs and conduct. Around the age of seventeen, Francis Nkrumah, as he was known, was a pupil- teacher for one year at a school in Half-Assini and was noticed by the Principal of the Government Training College who visited the school in 1926. This opportunity became a life-changing one as he came into contact with Dr James Kwegyir Aggrey, assistant vice-principal of the Government Training College. Of Aggrey, Nkrumah wrote: “To me he seemed the most remarkable man that I had ever met and I had the deepest affection for him. He possessed intense vitality and enthusiasm and a most infectious laugh that seemed to bubble up from his heart, and he was a very great orator. It was through him that my nationalism was first aroused.” Although Nkrumah was not formally taught by Aggrey, he “drew much inspiration and encouragement from his Sunday evening sermons.” In fact, in one of Nkrumah’s classes when the tutor continued to divide Africa’s ethnic groups, Nkrumah expressed his disapproval and interrupted with the words: “You’re wrong: Dr. Aggrey has told us that all Africans are one.” According to Nkrumah, in discussions with students Aggrey would attack Marcus Garvey’s principle of “Africa for Africans.” Nkrumah agreed with Aggrey on cooperation between black and white people but had reservations. He argued: “I could not, even at that time, accept this idea of Aggrey’s as being practicable, for I

| TOURISM

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park must be more than a tourist attraction…adding a learning centre may not be a bad idea Part 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

maintained that such harmony can only exist when the black race is treated as equal to the white race; that only a free and independent people - a people with a government of their own - can claim equality, racial or otherwise, with another people.” This difference of opinion between Nkrumah and his mentor is important as it indicates the beginnings of independent intellectual growth on Nkrumah’s part. These were perhaps the embryonic forms of Nkrumah’s nationalist convictions. He believed in the oneness of African people. Yet, his belief in racial equality was based on the inalienable principles of freedom and self-determination for all peoples. He therefore went one step further than Aggrey in demanding political independence for African people. Nkrumah’s independence of thought remained with him throughout his life. It was integral to the development of what later became a pragmatic political outlook, which was not confined to rigid political theories. Aggrey’s sudden death in 1927 affected Nkrumah deeply. Nevertheless, he continued with his studies at the Training College. Despite his serious academic attitude, he also made time for amateur dramatics, Asafo dancing, sport and “tribal drumming.” Whilst at the Training College his withdrawal from Catholicism increased. His irregular attendance at Church was swiftly brought to the attention of the Bishop, who summoned him. Nkrumah explained himself but continued to adhere to his inner religious convictions. Thereafter he discontinued attending mass, but maintained a respectful hourly silence in the dormitory. At this early stage of Nkrumah’s life, his refusal

to attend mass indicated a strong character rejecting conformity even under the pressure of established spiritual authority. He did not relent and his irregular attendance did not disqualify him from subsequently being elected Prefect. In this role he helped establish the Aggrey Students’ Society, founded in April 1928, in memory of the Vice- Principal. As a debating forum, the society was an important training ground through which Nkrumah and his colleagues acquired oratorical skills. Nkrumah recorded his period at Achimota to be his “happiest” for it was a time during which he read at leisure and engaged in intellectual debate with colleagues. At the age of twenty, he was employed as a primary school teacher at a Catholic school at Elmina. A year later, in 1931, he was promoted head teacher of another Catholic school at Axim. During his spare time, he helped set up the Nzima Literature Society. It was through the Society that he met another individual, Mr. S. R. Wood, Secretary of the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), who was to have a huge impact on his political thinking.18 According to Nkrumah it was Mr. S. R. Wood who introduced him to politics through their long discussions. Wood strongly encouraged him to travel to the USA to continue his studies at Lincoln University and wrote a letter of reference for him encouragement to travel to the USA may have also come from Aggrey. According to Nkrumah, “It was because of my great admiration for Aggrey, both as a man and as a scholar, that I first formed the idea of furthering my studies in the United States of America.” It is also very likely that Nkrumah’s meetings with the Nigerian publisher Nnamdi Azikiwe further inspired him to travel to the USA to pursue his studies. “Zik,” as he was more popularly known, was a graduate of Lincoln University and a nationalist. In 1930, Nkrumah moved from Axim to the Roman Catholic Seminary at Amissano near Elrnina. At St. Theresa Catholic seminary, Nkrumah “regained the religious fervor” to the extent of

seriously considering becoming a member of the Jesuit order. What caused the strengthening of his religious convictions is intriguing. Yet this deep religious calling was in tension with “the old desire to be up and going, to further my education and to proceed to America in order to do this, got the better of me and I felt that the walls of the seminary would enclose me if I didn’t take action. “Nkrumah acknowledged that other significant influences on his nationalist thinking were the ideas expressed in The African Morning Post edited by Nnamdi Azikiwe. The Sierra Leonean agitator I. T. A. Wallace Johnson was a contributor to the paper and it was his famous article entitled ‘Has the African a God?’ In the Autobiography, Nkrumah maintained that this article served to arouse Gold Coast nationalism. In a defiant style the article asserted the right of Africans to determine their own destiny and denounced the hypocrisy of European civilization Nkrumah’s determination to travel to the USA was realized with the assistance of a generous uncle in Lagos who funded his passage together with his own thrift in saving.

Philip Gebu is a Tourism Lecturer/Trainer. He is the C.E.O of FoReal Destinations Ltd, a Tourism Destinations Management and Marketing Company based in Ghana and with partners in many other countries. Please contact Philip with your comments and suggestions. Write to forealdestinations@gmail.com / info@forealdestinations.com. Visit our website at www.forealdestinations.com or call or WhatsApp +233(0)244295901/0264295901.Visist our social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: FoReal Destinations

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

SIMS investor update: Don’t press the panic button; the dust will settle BY LAWRENCIA ASANTE, SENIOR RESEARCH AND EQUITY ANALYST, STANBIC INVESTMENT

Management Services The recent unrest between Russia and Ukraine has unnerved investors, sparking significant selloffs across asset classes in favor of safe-haven assets. The ongoing geopolitical conflict, poses a risk to an already dimmed global growth forecast, casting a spillover effect on the financial markets. This, coupled with interest rate hike expectations in developed markets, has seen capital outflow from frontier and emerging markets, exerting pressure on their respective currencies and yields. In Ghana, the cedi has experienced a dramatic decline (-14.63% YTD), undermined by negative investor sentiment and increased speculative activity. Demand for the dollar by corporate and offshore investors

have surged amid the Bank of Ghana intervention on both the spot and forward markets. Market data for 8th March depicted sustained FX demand with Central Bank auctioning ~US$75 million on the FX forward market against total bids of ~US$296.75 from offshore and corporate clients. In prior years, the Eurobond inflows during the first quarter, cushioned the currency from such steep declines. However, the current global interest rate trends and Ghana’s deteriorating fiscal position have made the Eurobond option unfavorable. The key concern for investors is the impact of a weak Cedi on their portfolios and possible hedging opportunities available on the market. Outlook Notwithstanding the inherent global risk and Ghana’s fiscal position, we view the recent plunge in the Cedi

as short-lived. We expect the Cedi to stabilize once global certainty is restored as Ghana’s short-term liquidity risks are sufficiently contained by the strong forex reserve buffer of ~US$9.7 billion (4 months of import cover). Additionally, expected forex inflows from the IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) receipts and various loan syndications during the year will potentially curb the recent currency depreciation. We perceive the recent uncertainties in the market as transitory and encourage investors to focus on the medium-term outlook. We urge domestic investors seeking longterm sustainable returns to remain invested in their current holdings as market stabilization is imminent on the back of both fiscal and monetary interventions being rolled out. Comparatively, Stanbic collective investment schemes have delivered

attractive returns despite market volatilities. Historical data depicts Stanbic Income Fund Trust has delivered an average return of 18.4% above the 1-year GOG bond return of 16.7% over the last 5-years. The geopolitical tension is however very fluid, hence concerned investors may consider adding risk hedging assets such as the New Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to their portfolios. Traditionally, Gold has been a safe haven in volatile markets given its inverse correlation to traditional asset classes. Investors with near-term forex liability may hold hard currency to mitigate further potential currency losses. We believe cedi assets such as the Stanbic Income Fund Trust and Stanbic Cash Trust Fund will continue to provide sustainable returns to clients over a 1 year period and beyond.

Tech: Bandwagon on back-lash? New technologies which are cheaper, faster and better have emerged in recent times, giving many the confidence of a brighter future. The comfort, speed and innovative solutions these new technologies offer make them indispensable. Electronic “E” and “smart” are prefixes to almost all activities in recent times, portraying technology’s play in human life. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology and G5 are examples of these modern technologies that are changing our world in remarkable ways. The expanding scope of technology will definitely bring about certain anxieties, looking at the overwhelming change that they unleash. Most of these anxieties are centred on smart-phones and social media. The thinking that technology might be doing more harm than good is not new. Trap For any given technology, its drawback is what attracts attention first. However, more focus on these drawbacks means denying humanity access to the long-term benefits these technologies offer. Technology unleashes the forces of creative destruction, so it is only natural that it leads to such anxieties. On the other hand, the effort to avoid the short-term cost associated with new technologies can place

humanity in what Carl Benedict, an Oxford academic, termed the “technology trap,” a situation where people become hesitant to apply technology as they emerge. Choice The challenge now is how to deal with the cost that technology use imposes on us. The back-lash is even a necessary

step which can help in framing how society comes to terms with innovations and imposes policies and regulations that limit their destructive potential, accommodate change or strike a trade-off (for example, between the convenience of ride-hailing and the protection of gig workers). Individuals, countries and the

entire global society have a choice to make with regard to the use of emerging technologies in this modern generation. What would be your choice in this regard? Director of Programmes, Institute of Current Affairs and Diplomacy, E-mail: Lawmat2014@gmail.com

MONDAY, FEBRAURY 14, 2022

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NO. B24 / 314 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

NEWS

2022 Galaxy A Series: Awesome Mobile Experiences Open to More People Samsung has announced Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G to deliver a complete package of the latest Galaxy innovations, offering a holistic mobile experience. Powered by a brand-new processor, coupled with Galaxy’s signature AI camera, expansive and smooth display, and two-day battery life, the new Galaxy A series features 5G connectivity, defense-grade security, an eco-conscious, stylish and slim design, and advanced connected experiences. Plus, both devices support continuous One UI and Android OS upgrades and security updates to ensure the user mobile experience is always awesome. “We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the positive impact mobile technology can have on their lives,” said Lucas Lee, Managing Director of Samsung Ghana. “With the latest Galaxy A series release, we’re making it easier than ever to enjoy Galaxy’s advanced, innovative mobile experience.” Capture an Awesome Shot in Any Situation Whether creating content or sharing it with friends, Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G offer an advanced, next-level camera experience, packed with many of the powerful

and fun features from the Galaxy S series. Galaxy A53 5G’s quad-camera system features a 64MP OIS Camera with VDIS technology that takes crisp and steady shots every time. Meanwhile, a high-resolution 32MP front camera delivers great selfies and clear video call experiences. Fueled by a brand new 5nm processor, the new Galaxy A series’ innovative AI-powered camera makes every image look awesome – even in low lighting. Maximise Viewing Experiences Anywhere, Anytime In the past, a sunny day could make it hard to see what’s on a smartphone screen, but the new Galaxy A series’ intelligent algorithm ensures the display comes through in vivid detail, even outside. Galaxy A53 5G’s expansive 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display also offers a 120Hz refresh rate for an immersive experience while Galaxy A33 5G features a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Plus, the new Galaxy A series is now equipped with up to two-day battery life and 25W Super-Fast Charging – so viewing, streaming and more can last longer. Beautiful, Durable, Purposeful Design

The new Galaxy A series is expertly crafted to be fashionable, functional, and sustainable. The device’s slim bezel creates a smooth, stylish look and Ambient Edge design seamlessly blends the camera with the body of the phone. Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G feature the tough Corning®

Gorilla® Glass 5 and IP67 water and dust resistance, providing enhanced durability and peace of mind. Beyond materials, the longevity of the new A series is extended. Both devices guarantee up to four generations of One UI and Android OS upgrades and up to five years of security updates. These features allow users to access the latest software and security to maximize the smartphone lifecycle. The Connected Galaxy Experience, Secure and at Your Fingertips The new Galaxy A series ensures data and information stay protected, secured by the defense-grade Samsung Knox. When storing private photos, notes and apps, Secure Folder offers users an encrypted, digital safe, so only they can access its contents. Using Private Share, users can control exactly who has access to files and for how long. Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G will also include the new Samsung Wallet, a convenient and protected place to safely store everything from boarding passes to credit cards. Availability Galaxy A53 5G will be available in selected markets from 17 March 2022, and galaxy A33 5G will be available from April 2022.

All sets for Africa Economic Summit on 30th March in Lagos The Africa Economic Summit Group is bringing senior decision makers in government and businesses from around Africa together for the 2022 edition of Africa Economic Summit at the Four Points by Sheraton Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria which is slated for 30th March, 2022. Africa Economic Summit is a highlevel assemblage of thought leaders to discuss issues and frame solutions to the economic problems affecting Africa. Through keynotes, round table discussions and theme-focused strategic sessions with distinguished thought leaders and subject matter experts we will discuss critical issues to help business and political leaders gain clarity on issues of prime importance and harvest the finest of thoughts by Africans and

the friends of Africa in addressing the economic issues in Africa from an African perspective. The Africa Economic Summit also offers participants the chance to forge a path forward to necessary solutions on issues affecting the world with ambitious African leadership. This summit will close with a release of a white paper on coordinated actions that governments and institutions should commit to and implement for the improvement of the economy of Africa, strengthening the competitiveness of African companies, addressing security challenges among others. “History shows that value shifts are always triggered by a new story. The current state of the world has given a rare chance to Africa to rewrite

the story of Africa. But to do that, governments of African nations need the boldness to review and challenge the current models which drive government and private sector actions in Africa” says Dr Brian Reuben, the Founder and President of Africa Economic Summit Group, United Kingdom. Speakers and Panelist expected at the event includes Dr McDan McKorley - Chairman, McDan Group, Ghana, Engr Gbenga Komolafe - CEO, Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission, Hon Dumelang Saleshando - Opposition Leader, Parliament of Botswana, Dr Dominic Oduro-Antwi - President, Global Africa Trade Advisory Chamber, Nigerian Presidential Aspirant a former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group

(NESG),Dr. Sam Ohuabunwa, Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe - Founder, Tekedia Institute, USA, Professor Gregory Ibe - Founder, Gregory University Uturu Nigeria, Mr. El Shahat El Ghatwary - Commissioner, Egypt Customs Authority, Engr Justice Derefaka Technical Adviser on Gas Business to the Hon Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Nigeria, Hon. Dr Joan M. Kiema-Ngunnzi - Minister of Trade and Industrialization, Government Of Embu, Kenya and Dr Brian Reuben, the founder of Africa Economic Summit Group, United Kingdom among other senior leaders from around Africa. To participate in this summit please visit www. africaeconomicsummit.co.uk to register

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