Business24 Newspaper 25 July 2022

M O NDAY, JU LY 25, 2022

NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

.COM.GH

GFIM: GCB overtakes Stanbic and controls 16.74% of market | STORY ON PAGE 3

MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW

Ofori-Atta announces recovery measures today

Bawumia cuts sod for first inland marine port In Northern Ghana | STORY ON PAGE 3

BY EUGENE DAVIS Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present the mid-year review of the budget statement and economic policy of the country and supplementary estimates for the 2022 financial year to Parliament today.

The review will be seeking to roll out measures to fast track the recovery of the country’s economy, aimed at helping

reduce the budget deficit, and restore investor confidence, sources close to finance ministry has told Business24.

Ken Ofori-Atta was scheduled to give an update on Ghana’s first-half revenue and expenditure targets on July 13, but it was deferred and has now been confirmed by Parliament’s Business Statement for the week ending July 28. | MORE ON PAGE 2

Ghana signs strategic development partnership with Kuwait | STORY ON PAGE 4

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THEBUSINESS24ONLINE.COM

News/Editorial

Horticulture fast becoming the new job-making machine “When the last tree dies, the last man dies” they say and truly so because flora and fauna preserve the environment and hence human life, and at a time that economies are grossly feeling the harsh outcomes of climate change, the need to preserve our environment and green resources have become even more critical.

Aside the enviro-friendly outcomes, there is proven economic potential in the green economy, specifically the horticultural value chain.

Recent statistics put proportions of the youth (15 to 35) that are unemployed and seeking work at 34.2percent. Unemployment is therefore considered by many to be the most critical issue affecting the country.

It is trite to say that with the right national and individual orientation, policies, and drive, Ghana’s rich flora and fauna resources could provide millions of jobs to the country’s teeming youth.

Stratcomm Africa is leading the charge to green

Ghana for the varied purposes of beautification, wealth and job creation as well as a sustainable fight against climate change.

Now in is tenth year, the annual Garden and Flower Show challenges and motivates the youth and businesses in the sector to aspire to grow and reach their full potential, in order to improve their livelihoods and impact society.

This year’s theme “Growth Unleashed” preps the mind of young Ghanaians to burst forth and to grow beyond the norms to achieve a blooming environment.

The global horticulture market is estimated to be valued at USD 20.77 Billion as of 2021 and is projected to reach US$40.24bn by 2026 at a compound annual growth of 10.2percent whilst global flower and ornamental plants market was valued at US$475.6m in 2020 and is expected to reach US$725.4m by the end of 2027, growing annually at 6.3percent during 2021-2027.

MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW

Ofori-Atta announces recovery measures today

BY EUGENE DAVIS | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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Ghana’s currency, the cedi depreciated against the US Dollar by 19.2percent from January to July, with the country’s total debt stock ending June 2022 reaching 393.4bn available statistics show.

The increase, analysts say can be linked to fresh loans, cedis’ depreciation and increases in the country’s interest cost.

Ghana, Africa’s second-biggest cocoa and gold producer, this month abandoned a policy decision not to seek assistance from the IMF and said it would ask the multilateral lender for as much as $1.5 billion to shore up its finances. An IMF delegation arrived in the country on July 6.

Minority wants Fin.Min sacked Meanwhile, the Minority in parliament has initiated a move to have Finance Minister Ken OforiAtta sacked from office.

They have since gathered over 100 signatures in the bid to put forward the vote of censure proceedings against the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

The Minority wants to invoke article 82 of the constitution, which provides for the elaborate procedure of removing a minister of state through proceedings in Parliament.

Already, there is a similar motion pending before the House against Health Minister Kwaku AgyemanManu.

Vote of Censure (Article 82) (1) Parliament may, by are solution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, pass a vote of censure on a Minister of State.

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

GFIM: GCB overtakes Stanbic and controls 16.74% of market GCB Bank has now overtaken Stanbic Bank with significant investments on the Ghana Stock Exchange Fixed Income Market (GFIM) in the first half of this year.

The second biggest bank in the country held 16.74% of the debt market, after acquiring ¢3.7 billion worth of debt instruments. The indigenous bank traded more volumes of debt instruments than any of the 23 banks.

Stanbic Bank decreased its holdings in the Government of Ghana securities to 13.41%, from about 20% at the beginning of the year. Its investments in government bonds stood at ¢3.5 billion.

Fidelity (12.06%), Access (11.16%) and Absa (10.53%) also maintained significant investments in government debt instruments.

Together, they controlled 34.1% of the Ghana Fixed Income Market.

From the trading results, one

could tell that some of the banks have reduced their holdings in the largely risk-free instruments, whilst others increased their stake.

Agricultural Development Bank, National Investment Bank and Omni BSIC which in the past did not have investments in the debt market now have invested some of their deposits in the fixed income market. Their percentage shares were 0.01%, 0.45% and 0.29% respectively.

Banks investments favours long-term debt instruments – BoG According to the Bank of Ghana’s May 2022 Monetary Policy Report, banks’ investment portfolio as of the end of April 2022 remained in favour of long-term debt instruments, a response to higher interest rates on the long-term instruments compared to rates on money market instruments.

The share of securities

increased to 78.4% in April 2022, from 71.6% in April 2021. The share of short-term bills in total investments, however, declined to 21.3%, from 28.1% during the same comparative period.

The share of bills may, however, increase as banks move to the

shorter end of the market to take advantage of the increased yields in that segment of the market following the recent hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).

The share of equity investments remained insignificant at 0.3%.

Bawumia cuts sod for first inland marine port In Northern Ghana Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has cut the sod for work to begin on the construction of the first Inland marine port in the northern parts of Ghana and an accompanying Industrial Park at Debre in the Savannah Region.

The multi modal transport corridor, known as the Trans-Volta Logistics Corridor, is being undertaken by LMI Holdings and involves the development of a system to transport containers and bulk cargo from the Port of Tema to Burkina Faso and other landlocked countries via the Volta Lake.

An additional port, to be constructed at the termination point of the Tema- Mpakadan railway line, will facilitate the embarkation and disembarkation of cargo from Tema and Debre. The Debre Inland Port is expected to contribute to the infrastructural development of Ghana with a positive domino effect on transportation, jobs creation, rural development, revenue generation and many other benefits.

The entire project is expected to be fully operational by 2025.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony on Friday, July 22, 2022 Vice President Bawumia underscored the importance of the project, especially for the movement of goods, cross border trade, and preservation of Ghana’s roads.

“Easing the congestion of clearing goods from Tema will be one of the main objectives for this port and industrial park. Using the Volta Lake, vessels will transport goods and

containers in transit to and from the Tema Port. These containers will be moved by rail to Akwamu-Korankye (Eastern region) and then loaded onto barges to the Debre Inland Port. In Debre, operating at its fullest capacity like Tema with all the attendant facilities, containers will be offloaded and put on trucks to continue their journey further into the sub region. All services such as customs, transits clearances will be provided as pertains to any international port.

Saving Ghana’s Roads”, “This $200 million inland marine port and the $250million Industrial Park will address a myriad of issues that continue to plague the movement of goods in Ghana and to our neighbours in the sub-region.

Most of the over 30,000 trucks, annually, moving goods to landlocked countries of the northern boundary of Ghana will be taken off the roads. The total monetised benefit for the intervention encompasses a reduction in generalised cost, comprising vehicle operating cost, travel time, carbon emission, reduction in transportation cost and reduction in post-harvest losses,” he stated.

The greater part of the inland transport in Ghana happens via lorries, with the road transport system taking up 96% of freight and 97% of passenger traffic.

This heavy reliance on roads for the transport of goods from theTema port to Ghana’s landlocked neighbours has had a punishing

effect on our roads, leading to shorter lifespans and concerns with safety.

“The investment in Inland ports offer superior logistics, the opportunity of large warehouses, proximity to rail and highways, ample truck parking, less traffic congestion, and economic incentives.

It is estimated that each barge trip from the inland port, will take over 300 trucks off our roads. This monumental intervention will reap major savings on road maintenance.

It will reduce the incidences of fatal road accidents that we, unfortunately, too often read and hear about in the media.”

Dr Bawumia emphasized that industrial parks, such as the one at Debre, signal business readiness in any given context, serving production and manufacturing needs for mutually beneficial businesses and industries.

“The availability of subsidized service and infrastructure such as roads, electricity, energy, water supply, and telecommunication services is a competitive standpoint, attracting international and foreign investors.

For a growing economy, likes ours, Industrial Parks are a requirement for our industrialization. The Dawa Park by LMI and the Tema Free Zones Enclave are a testament to this”.

“As witnessed with the Tema Port and the attendant booming of factories and other economic activities, the opportunity for Debre’s holistic economic growth is about to take off. Debre’s geographic

positioning makes it significant for the Inland Port and the Industrial Park to be sited. The deep depth of the Volta Lake year-round offers allseasons availability for barges for transportation to and from Debre.

With the creation of auxiliary roads, linking Debre to other towns, it will become a hub that will attract other stakeholders in the ecosystem to set up other complementary facilities and businesses.”

Reiterating Government’s continued resolve to create an enabling environment and support for private sector investment, Dr Bawumia called on other organisations to emulate LMI Holdings. “Let me congratulate LMI Holdings for this impressive feat. As a company, LMI comes to this project with a plethora of experience in infrastructure development. With over $450 million in assets, this Ghanaian conglomerate has interests in construction, industrial utilities, property, and logistics. In the last 20 years, since LMI Holdings developed the Special Economic Zones, over $3.4 billion of foreign direct investment has been contributed to Ghana’s economy.”

Present at the ceremony were the Minister for Transport, Hon Kwaku Ofori Asiamah; Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon Samuel Abu Jinapor; Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Mr Michael Luguge; and representatives of the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

Ghana signs strategic development partnership with Kuwait Government has signed a strategic framework document with the State of Kuwait to support the country’s implementation of key initiatives under the COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support (Ghana CARES) programme.

The signing of the Aide Memoire, the first of a kind between the two countries will see the implementation of various programmes and projects under the Ghana CARES in agriculture, education, health, and entrepreneurship.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Ghana, while Mr. Thamer AlFailakawi, the Deputy Director of Operations West Africa, signed for the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

Through this development cooperation, the Kuwait Fund would provide Ghana with 20.0 million Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to USD70million) for financing of projects to produce poultry and rice, which would create more jobs for the youth.

There would be the construction of mechanized

irrigation canals and road access, as well as greenhouse estate with ancillary training facility for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Three new model Senior High Schools would be constructed in the Bono, Central and Western regions, while there would be the provision of laboratories for Research and Development, Science, Technology, and Innovation Directorate.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Ofori-Atta said, “This support could not have come at a better time. As you are aware, these areas the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is supporting are sectors that are of priority to the Government of Ghana, in terms of job creation.”

“As we have stressed, the CARES Revitalization & Transformation agenda is about national survival and security, just like our response to the COVID-19 pandemic itself; and it’s therefore, approached as such, with a resolute focus on implementation,” he added.

The Minister noted that the programme envisaged strong actions to improve the private sector environment and provide support to Ghanaian enterprises

in targeted sectors to accelerate competitive import substitution.

He reaffirmed the Government’s trust and confidence in the strategic partnership that existed between the Kuwait Fund and

the Aboadze-Volta Transition line project, Rural Electrification in the North, the Takoradi Thermal Power Project, as well as the Dome-Kitase road.

Al-Failakawi expressed

Ghana, indicating that the country appreciated the support carried through the Aide Memoire.

Mr. Ofori-Atta recounted earlier support provided by the Fund in Ghana’s development agenda, which he said had yielded positive results.

They include the completion of

happiness about the signing of the document and called for followup actions to be carried out so that the first loan could be signed by the first half of next year.

He concluded by inviting the Hon Minister to visit the Kuwait Fund at his convenience.

Emirates to operate additional flight to London Gatwick with third daily service Emirates will increase the frequency of its services to/from London Gatwick airport with the addition of a third daily flight, effective 27 July until 3 August 2022.

This third daily flight will help serve high demand from customers travelling to and from London this summer. It will also provide additional seats to accommodate Emirates passengers affected by capacity adjustments on flights from London Heathrow, which will be made to help ease operational pressures at the airport. Emirates’ customers impacted by capacity adjustments at London Heathrow will be contacted directly by the airline or their travel agent.

The airline is working closely with its travel partners to reaccommodate any impacted bookings and ensure smooth onward flight connections for customers to reach their planned destination.

The additional daily flight to

London Gatwick will be operated by a wide-body Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft offering seats in First, Business and Economy class. Flight EK011 and EK012 will operate to and out of London Gatwick in the morning.

Emirates is grateful for the

support of London Gatwick Airport, along other partners on the ground who have been working closely with the airline to secure sufficient ground handling resources to deal with the additional demand, and provide passengers with a smooth and

reliable journey.

Emirates will continue to operate its six daily flights to/from London Heathrow during this period, and its planned re-start of daily services to London Stansted will commence on 1 August.

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

Ghana over-exploiting its fish stock – Ghana Tuna Association Mr Richster Nii Armah Amarfio, the Secretary of the Ghana Tuna Association (GTA), says Ghana is over-exploiting its fish stock and needs a holistic approach to curb it.

Mr Amarfio, who is also a Fisheries Advocate, said the country had crossed the maximum sustainable yield, which indicates an over-exploitation of the fish

stock.

“This basically means we are losing our fish stock, so we have to find ways of reversing this to make sure we are sustainable.”

Mr Amarfio stated this during a Seminar at the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency.

The platform allowed state and non-state actors to address national issues.

The GTA Secretary said overcapacity was a major contributor to Ghana’s rapidly declining fish stock, adding that there were too many fishing activities going on in the country’s marine spaces, making it near impossible to recover the lost fish stock.

He expressed fear that the capacity would increase due to the open access fishing system Ghana was running in the absence of a functioning regulatory mechanism.

He, therefore, called for other interventions such as a pension scheme to complement the close season as that alone would not solve the overcapacity problem.

He explained that data from the last fisheries management plan, a World Bank project, Ghana had about 15,000 canoes against the 9,000 canoes as the limit needed in its waters, with 6,000 canoes in excess.

He said the country, in the past, had over 100 trawlers as compared to the proposition of 45. Currently, the country has agreed to 75 trawlers in its waters.

Mr Amarfio also reiterated calls

for a special pension scheme for old fishermen to provide them with a decent source of income during old age, which would facilitate their early retirement, resulting in a large number of them being sustainably removed from the sector.

He said alongside the pension, a deliberate educational policy for the youth in fishing communities should be initiated to absorb them into other vocations as a way to decrease the over-reliance on fishing activities in coastal communities.

“If I were a fisherman, and I have three children and each of them has five children, and we decide to all go into fishing, that is a lot from one family alone.

“One canoe may be too small for us, and we may need more; the more families may need to rely solely on fishing, the more the capacity increases, but if you provide the children with education and alternative vocations, they will not all have to come back into the industry,” he explained.

Source: GNA

Stanbic presents second batch of laptops to KNUST students Stanbic Bank Ghana has presented 50 laptops to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as part of the university’s Support One Needy Student, One Laptop (SONSOL) project, an initiative that aims to help brilliant but needy students.

Presenting the laptops to some students at a symbolic event in Kumasi, Kojo Akoi-Larbi, Manager, Communications at the bank said Stanbic is committed to efforts that support the wellbeing of the society. “Regarding the initiative for the brilliant and needy students, we could not but help with this wonderful initaitive. If we are able to empower our students, especially the female students, who are unable to afford a laptop, it’ll be in keeping with our brand focus on STEM education girls.

The fourth industrial revolution demands the use of digital skills and tools, and we hope to help these students so be part the new way of life. It is especially pressing that we empower our female

students to be at the table in the virtual world,” he said.

He added: “This support is part of our Dream Catcherss project to encourage female students to embrace STEM programmes at school. For a brand that believes in finding new ways to make dreams possible, we hope that this support would be the foundtaion for our students to catch their dreams and help others in the future.

Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, in her address welcomed the kind gesture of the various institutions that came on board to help with the initiative. She stated the importance of the project to the initiative, tailored to give the brilliant but needy students a fair share of access to technology studies and also enhance the quality teaching and learning of science and technology.

The SONSOL project is an initiative of the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, which aims at supporting needy student with laptops to help them pursue their university

education. Stanbic Bank Ghana, as part of its commitment to make dreams possible-through high impact interventions including

education-for the people of Ghana, pledged to donate 200 laptops over a period of 4 years in support of the project.

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

Ghana’s Parliament ranked first on Open Parliament index Ghana has been adjudged the country with the best Parliament according to the Africa Open Parliament Index (OPI).

The Index was launched under the auspices of the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica) and the Africa Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations Network (APMON).

The Index which has assessed the openness of Parliaments in Africa was launched on Wednesday, 20th July 2022, in Accra – Ghana under the distinguished patronage of the RT. Hon. Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin.

The Africa OPI is a joint effort with the APMON Working Group, which is made up of renowned parliamentary monitoring organizations in Africa namely, Mzalendo Trust (Kenya), Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Parliamentary Monitoring Group (South Africa), Africa Parliamentary Press Network (APPN), and the Pan African Parliament Civil Society Forum which is coordinated by the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria. It also received technical support from Directorio Legislativo, an Argentina-based organization

which co-founded the Latin America Legislative Transparency Index and Network about a decade ago.

The Open Parliament Index (OPI) which uses the three criteria of Open Parliament: Transparency, Civic Participation and Public Accountability, to assess Parliaments across Africa would be subsequently released every two years.

This criterion has been chosen considering the standards of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the Principles of Parliamentary Openness and the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) Indicators for Democratic Parliaments.

The Index will enable civil society to work together with national and regional parliaments to identify systemic challenges to achieving parliamentary openness and to cocreate reforms that will strengthen the capacity of parliaments to enhance their openness.

The rationale for the Index includes: Provide minimum standards to assess the level of parliamentary openness across African national and regional legislative institutions.

Empower parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) and Parliaments to monitor the level of progress in enhancing the principles of open parliament; Document parliamentary best practices towards supporting parliaments to be more open; and Leverage the partnership between civil society and parliaments to co-create parliamentary reforms, policies and action plans that strengthen institutions of parliaments to effectively perform their role of oversight, law-making and representation.

Dr. Amanda Coffie, Board Member of the Parliamentary Network Africa, indicated in her opening remarks that Due to the increasing concerns of instability and popular authoritarianism (military coups) across West Africa, Parliaments’ role has become more critical to maintaining democratic governance and ensuring that there is peace and stability across the subregion. She however emphasized that, this cannot be achieved with weak and opaque Parliaments.

“The more Parliaments are open, the better the trust that citizens have in governments to provide equal opportunities and

environment to sustain the political, social and economic development, while maintaining stability within a nation,” she said while adding that it was the reason the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica) together with the African Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations Network (APMON) created the Africa Open Parliament Index (Africa OPI).

The Rt. Hon. Speaker, Alban Sumana Bagbin, in a speech read on his behalf by the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, pledged his support for the initiative which would help shape Parliamentary democracy on the continent while ensuring that Parliaments are open and accountable to the people on behalf of whom they are working.

According to the Executive Director of PNAfrica, Sammy Obeng, “what does not get measured does not get done” and therefore the introduction of the Open Parliament Index, “would help track the progress of African Parliaments which form the backbone of thriving democracies and offer assistance where there may be shortfalls.”

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

“You can’t transform economies with just brick and mortar” Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated his conviction in the indispensable role technology plays in the transformation of economies in the 21st Century.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana Electronic Pharmacy Platform (ePharmacy) - Africa’s first nationalscale ePharmacy in Accra on Monday, the Vice President, who has been credited with Ghana’s on-going digital transformation drive, highlighted the value of the global digital economy, adding that countries that do not embrace it, will be left behind.

“According to the data, the global digital economy is valued at $11.5 trillion (15.5% of GDP). Global cocoa market on the other hand is valued at S12.6 billion,” Dr. Bawumia said, to buttress his point on the need for a developing economy such as Ghana to prioritize digitalization for economic growth.

Dr. Bawumia said, some people are of the view that economic development can only be achieved through brick and mortar, but he disagreed, stressing that economic transformation cannot be achieved by just brick and mortar, but by adopting technology and putting in place systems.

“You cannot transform an economy with just brick and mortar. You can only transform an economy with ideas, with systems and with institutions.” Dr. Bawumia said.

“This is why we are focusing on these ideas, systems and institutions.”

The Vice President laughed off and labelled claims he has stopped economic issues and focusing on digitalization of the economy as ignorant, adding that those who make these claims do not know the inseparable linkage between digitalization and modern economies.

“People will say oh you’re not doing economics. But your economy cannot function in the 21st Century if you don’t have the systems and institutions. That is why we are focusing on building all of these systems; the digital platforms as we go forward in the 21st Century,” the Vice President said, adding that the country’s on-going digitalization drive, has significantly boosted efficiency and revenue at some digitalized government agencies, and also restricting many corrupt practices.

“Our interest as government in digitalization stems from the fact that the 4th Industrial Revolution is a digital revolution. Digitalization helps us to reduce bureaucracy and corruption in the delivery of public services, increases efficiency, reduces the cost of doing business and makes life easier for Ghanaians by solving problems through the use of digital platforms,” he said.

Dr. Bawumia said, inspite of all these, government’s digitalization

drive, is confronted by “people with the minds of impossibilities” who have doubted every digital innovation the government has initiated.

He listed a number of these innovations, which when he announced, such people said he was lying, but they have since been implemented and are being used by Ghanaians.

“There are, however, many, who refuse to understand the importance of digitalization to our economic transformation. Therefore, they will mock any new innovation.

They mocked the digital address system, they mocked the mobile money interoperability because they did not understand when we said that when we bring mobile money interoperability, every adult Ghanaian would be able to have a bank account. Today, with mobile money interoperability, 90% of adult Ghanaians have at least either a mobile money account or a bank account and the two are interoperable, they are basically working like the same, so we have achieved that objective.”

“They do not realise that through the Ghanacard, we have been able to increase the proportion of Ghanaians with Tax Identification Numbers from 4% when we cane into office to 85% to.”

“People did not understand why the Ghanacard, certified by ICAO, could be used as a travel document

and they mocked the idea. Today, it is a reality and our diasporans can use the Ghanacard and travel to Ghana without a visa.”

“People did not believe when we launched Ghana Pay, to make Ghana the first country in the world to have a bank-wide mobile money wallet.

Usually it is the telcos who issue mobile money wallet.”

“People could not understand how zipline medical drone service could be used to deliver medical supplies to save lives. They tried to convince people that drones were to be used for taking pictures of women in bathrooms. Today, as we speak, Ghana has the largest drone delivery service in the world.”

“Unfortunately, for people of governments that try to lead our country to a new level, they are confronted with a mindset that only sees impossibilies; a mindset that refuses to believe that an African country like Ghana can lead the world in implementing digital technolgy.

“This is why I enjoy proving the skeptics wrong all the time. Usually when I say we are going to do this, they say he is lying. And when it comes, they keep quiet. Ultimately, we must all remember that you cannot transform an economy with just brick and mortar. You can only transform an economy with ideas, systems and institutions. Not just brick and mortar.”

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

Why exceptional service delivery requires team effort Quite recently, I came across an “unbelievable-facts” excerpt on Facebook which recounted how a Ritz-Carlton waiter in Dubai overheard a gentleman telling his wife who was a wheelchair user that, it was a shame they could not get down to the beach.

The waiter promptly informed maintenance about the conversation he had overheard and by the next afternoon, the hotel had built a wooden walkway that led down to the beach to a tent that was set up for the couple to have dinner in.

All this happened because a waiter ‘overheard’ a customer he was serving. Of course, it would have cost them money to build the walkway, but it wouldn’t compare to the cost of sending off an unfulfilled customer who had the impression that, there were parts of the hotel which were inaccessible to persons with disabilities.

In today’s terms, could you imagine the reviews that the client would have given the hotel on trip advisor?

This-not-so-little incident that happened at the Ritz-Carlton got me asking a lot of questions.

The first being, is customer service the responsibility of the front line only? The answer was quick and clear. No, it is not! Yes,

it took a person at the frontline to overhear a conversation, but he needed maintenance to fulfill the action. Maintenance would also have required assistance from Procurement, who would have needed budge approval from Finance to engage. Very often, organizations overlook the fact that it takes the whole team working together to ensure that service delivery experience is spectacular.

When the ‘head’ is rotten or detached from the service experience, important information such as ‘overheard’ conversations do not get acted on. Frontline team members can work with confidence and a smile when they have the assurance that the support staff is available to help deliver to customers.

What happens at the front line is a reflection of the leadership and support functions of the organization. How management treats their people, how internal departments relate to each other and how matters concerning our customers’ needs are addressed, all impact the service experience.

Customer service begins long before the consumer of the service meets our organization.

There are people who would check reviews and ratings before they engage. This means, should

there be an adverse service review out there, it would shape and form the perceptions of prospective customers before they engage. It is therefore important as a service organization to ensure every client encounter is exceptional as there is no telling when an unsatisfied client would lead the service encounter process.

Here are a few pointers that can help any organization drive their exceptional customer service agenda: 1. Empower your people – This should cut across the cross section of the organization.

An empowered team is not afraid to go the extra-mile to delight customers.

2. Reward exceptional actions and celebrate milestones This would serve as a source encouragement to other team members 3. Train, train, and train again! - We need to learn to unlearn and learn again to be better at what we do.

Training needs not be only formal. Informal training, on-the-job training, real life experiences etc. are all essential in building an exception customer service track record.

4. Understand your clients. -

Know who you are serving, understand them and make a conscious effort to meet their expectation.

5. Be open to feedback from your clients, and take the information received from them seriously.

6. Do not take customer complaints for granted.

Understanding why the ball was dropped and how you prevent it from happening in future only makes you better.

7. Customer service should not be a preserve for the front line only. Internal engagements also require the same amount of customer etiquette – there is always a customer at the end of the line. It is therefore important to handle requests and queries from colleagues with the same amount of urgency and courtesy.

Clearly, delivering a stellar client experience requires the effort of the whole organization.

It is not a preserve of the front line! #LetsWinTogether!

By Ama Amissah Wujangi, Brand and Marketing Manager, Stanbic Bank

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MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

UN and World Bank explore developing the sovereign green bond market in Africa The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Bank co-organized on July 19, 2022, a virtual workshop on the development of the Green, Social and Sustainable (GSS) sovereign bond market in Africa.

Innovative financing solutions are needed for countries across Africa to achieve their ambitious climate investment goals and meet the Paris Agreement commitments.

In the context of prudent debt management, GSS bonds can constitute a central part of the financing strategy for sovereigns and subnational entities to fund both mitigation and adaptation investments.

Hanan Morsy, ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary, said, “ahead of this year’s COP27 held in Egypt, Africa faces a mixed landscape for achieving climate ambitions and NDCs. We urgently need the 100 billion USD per annum promise to be realized, while we need a new financing target which will mobilize the trillions needed.

GSS bonds play a critical role in tapping into resources at the international capital markets to unleash the potential of the green and blue economy in Africa.

ECA is supporting member states under various initiatives, such as the Great Blue Wall, the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility, and debt-for-nature swaps, to graduate from the aid dependencies by leveraging market-based innovative finance instruments.

Global issuances of GSS debt

reached $1.6 trillion in 2021. This was more than double the level in 2020, evidencing the surge in investor interest. However, Africa is not yet taking full advantage of the market.

“Less than 50 thematic bonds have ever been issued across Africa, and just five of these were from a sovereign. Sustainable finance, combined with sound debt management, represents a strategic way to raise the needed funds to respond to the pandemic in a way that also is resilient.

Unlocking the potential for sovereign GSS bonds in Africa can only be achieved by clarifying market expectations and overcoming the knowledge gap.

The World Bank, in coordination with ECA, is working on a capacitybuilding program to support clients in the region that will shed light on the opportunities of GSS market development.” said Jorge Familiar, World Bank Vice President, and Treasurer.

Jean-Paul Adam, Director, Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management Division at ECA, said “Africa faces multiple challenges posed by the COVID19 pandemic, climate change, and the recent Ukraine crisis.

While the ability to mobilize predictable grant resources from traditional concessional finance remains a crucial element in dealing with those challenges, the private sector can also play a conducive role to bridge the financing gaps. Currently, Africa is paying more than twice the price than countries with similar

macroeconomic fundamentals.

There is a need to provide Africa with affordable and stable sustainable financing, as sustainable finance markets are critical to addressing ‘Africa’s ambitions and achieving Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda.”

There is very strong interest from potential sovereign issuers of GSS bonds. In a recent World Bank Treasury survey of emerging market debt management offices (DMOs) and international investors across all regions, over 75 percent of DMOs intend to issue GSS bonds.

These DMOs saw strong potential benefits of tapping the GSS bond market to diversify the investor base, signal a commitment to sustainability, build a local market to motivate private sector issuers, and attract international investors.

International investors highlighted several reasons for their interest in thematic bonds, including achieving ESG impact, developing the thematic bond market, diversifying their portfolios, and serving their investors’ and shareholders’ direct business interests.

The surveys show strong alignment between issuers and investors that thematic bonds can be essential instruments to finance the vast investments required to meet NDC and SDG ambitions.

“There is a great potential opportunity for sovereigns to tap investor demand for GSS assets both internationally and domestically. However, there

are challenges that DMOs cited in issuing GSS bonds, including understanding the principles and standards for GSS bonds, the cost and intricacies of the issuance process, and difficulty identifying eligible expenditures and projects. At the moment, there are strong headwinds for emerging markets in the capital markets, but this may allow time to prepare and build capacity when the time is right to issue GSS bonds”, said James Seward, Senior Financial Officer at the World Bank Treasury.

During the workshop, technical experts discussed the importance of building awareness and exploring the potential issuance of GSS bonds in Africa by sovereign issuers or subnational entities. The panel focused on practical experiences in issuing GSS bonds, the challenges, and solutions for developing successful GSS bond programs.

The panelists also discussed new market trends such as the inflation-linked green bond issuance from France and the Colombia local currency twin green bond issuance.

Finally, participants shared on-the-ground experiences and lessons from the recent Egypt green bond and Benin SDG bond and the plans for future issuances by panel participants.

The World Bank and ECA thanked all the participants for their contribution and involvement during the workshop.

| FEATURE

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

11

Sri Lanka’s Next Test

By Priyanka Krishnamoorthy

In a win for democracy, mass protests in Sri Lanka recently led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. A strongman who won popularity for overseeing the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009 (while his older brother, Mahinda, was president), Gotabaya was elected in November 2019 and promised to safeguard national security and deliver prosperity. He failed miserably.

Despite allegations of corruption, war crimes, and attacks on journalists, the Rajapaksa government had a powerful mandate, which was reinforced nine months later when the brothers’ party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (the Sri Lanka People’s Front), won a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Yet during his short tenure, the Rajapaksas drove the country into bankruptcy, food insecurity, and spiraling inflation.

Gotabaya announced his candidacy just days after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, promising a strong response to terrorism. In the months that followed, newspapers’ and radio stations’ frenzied coverage heightened people’s fear of Muslims (who comprise 10% of the population), and attacks on them increased. Gotabaya capitalized on this environment, portraying himself as a defender of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority who would transform Sri Lanka into a Singapore of the Indian Ocean. The clergy, media, military, political elites, and local business tycoons all adopted the same rhetoric, tying their

fortunes to his.

The Buddhist clergy, for example, continuously reaffirmed their trust in Gotabaya throughout his presidency. In return, he established a Buddhist Advisory Council of notable monks to help guide his policy decisions. Even in January of this year, as families began rationing food, and as the central bank sold its remaining gold reserves to pay back an international bond, the Buddhist establishment spoke up for Gotabaya, arguing that he was still the only leader who could save the country.

By March, hospitals were reporting shortages of essential medicines, and two elderly men died while queuing for gasoline.

Unable to pay for fuel to produce electricity, the government instituted rolling blackouts that culminated in 13-hour power cuts at the height of a suffocating heat wave. That was the final straw.

Protesters stormed the streets and demanded the Rajapaksas’ resignations.

The political class responded by playing musical chairs within the Cabinet of Ministers, while demonstrators occupied the area surrounding the Presidential Secretariat. The space that Rajapaksa had set aside as an “agitation area” – a move heavily criticized for limiting people’s freedom of assembly – was renamed “GotaGoGama” (“Gota Go Village”). The GGG became the home of the Aragalaya (struggle) against the government, which has now raided the site and arrested protest leaders.

The Aragalaya has been unusual in that it welcomed

Sri Lankans from all ethnic backgrounds. In April, protesters outside the Presidential Secretariat included activists from the Muslim community – a direct rejection of the chauvinist sentiment Gotabaya had stoked.

Demonstrators also cooked a mixture of water and rice (kanji) to commemorate Tamil civilians who died during the last stages of the war, when indiscriminate shelling made it impossible for them to secure other food.

The Aragalaya thus became a place where people lived out the alternative to the Rajapaksa brand of politics. The protesters celebrated unity amid diversity, demonstrating that hope comes not from leaders but from the power of people.

But does this solidarity reflect a mere marriage of convenience? Just two and a half years ago, many of the current anti-government protesters endorsed the Rajapaksas’ brand of majoritarian politics. Today, they complain that Parliament is full of cheats and liars. Yet it is they who voted for the charlatans in free and fair elections.

The Rajapaksas were given a mandate despite their wellknown record of corruption, authoritarianism, and violence.

The protests began not when the family stole public funds or trampled on minority rights, but when Sinhalese were called “extremists and terrorists” just for demanding food.

The institutions that underwrote Gotabaya’s power have now lost credibility.

Businesses and others who aligned with the Rajapaksas are

being shamed on social media, and any elite Buddhist clergy who dare to show up at protests are lambasted. The military and the police, once praised for their service, are now seen as vehicles of state repression, and major media organizations have been condemned for whipping up antiminority sentiment.

The question now is what will fill the vacuum. Sri Lankans have a rare opportunity to build a new identity based on this struggle for dignity. After being tear-gassed and battered by the police, Sinhalese protesters have caught a glimpse of the violence and mistreatment that Tamils have suffered. After watching their businesses collapse from lack of electricity, they now have a sense of what Muslims feel when their businesses are torched by angry mobs. And after feeling the effects of sharply rising inflation, all households now recognize that plantation workers cannot live on $3 per day.

In each case, the SinhalaBuddhist majority has been given a window onto the decades of deprivation suffered by minorities. Sinhala Buddhists are connecting with their inner Tamils and Muslims. But only by building on this shared trauma can Sri Lankans transform resentment against the Rajapaksas into a new social contract. By renegotiating our communal bonds and relationships, we can construct a new collective identity. That means rejecting majoritarianism and corruption, and embracing our shared struggle for a free and prosperous future.

12

| NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

UG, Nestle Ghana renew partnership to enhance research and food innovation The University of Ghana (UG) and Nestlé Ghana Limited have renewed a partnership agreement targeted at enhancing research, innovation, and development with a particular focus on food security.

The partnership is also expected to strengthen the innovation ecosystem by supporting emerging students and providing them with practical learning

opportunities in food innovation.

The agreement was signed on Thursday, July 21 at a brief ceremony held at the Great Hall of the University.

Speaking on behalf of the ViceChancellor, Professor Gordon Awandare, Pro Vice-Chancellor in charge of Students and Academic Affairs expressed excitement at the partnership, saying that it was in line with the University’s vision

of becoming research-intensive and producing graduates with skills relevant to the job market.

“One of the strategic priorities of the university is to increase industry partnership and as global giant, we are proud that you have chosen to partner with us in a comprehensive manner… another strategic priority is increasing graduate training and I see that it is a major focus of this.

As a university, we are trying to be researchintensive,” he said.

Prof.

Awandare also called for other corporate organizations to partner with universities in the training of students.

“We often hear colleagues from industry decrying the fact that universities train students that are not fit for purpose and these industries are doing nothing about it. We have to work together to train these students,” he remarked.

“This idea that somehow our graduates are not fit

for purpose is not really true. It is because industry is not coming on board so that we mould the students to fit the purpose,” Prof.

Awandare continued.

Also speaking at the signing, R&D Program manager of Nestle, Celine Worth, described the partnership with the University as very crucial, especially as industry players continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

“We have to relate to the fact that today humanity is facing unprecedented challenges. We have been through the COVID times and now we have the war that has consequences globally and in the food industry, this is putting a lot of pressure on us. The only solution is that we are pulling together resources, knowledge and build together,” she indicated.

She mentioned that the collaboration equally gives Nestle an opportunity to “learn from you and become fit for purpose ourselves.”

The partnership forms part of Nestlé’s ambition to help 10 million young people worldwide access economic opportunities by 2030 as part of the global “Nestlé needs Youth” initiative.

Ghanaian businesses to visit The Netherlands to explore business opportunities between the two countries

At least 200 investors, companies and entrepreneurs would have the opportunity to visit The Netherlands to discuss business opportunities from September 28-30, 2022, at this year’s Netherland-Ghana Business fair; themed: “Our Digital Future: Ghana beyond 2022”.

The venue for the fair is The Netherlands (The Hague), with the special guest of honour being the Vice President, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, who will be delivering a keynote address on; digitalization and its prospects for foreign investors, and businesses.

There will also be, workshops, matchmaking and visitation to some companies and networking cocktails on various days of the fair.

This years’ objective is to bridge the gap between Dutch investors and businesses and Ghanaian Businesses as well as provide an opportunity to know more about the changing trends in ecommerce, digitalization, data censoring and knowing the latest products and services in the business technology industry.

Representatives of authorities from both countries will have the opportunity to discuss Netherland-Ghana partnerships, trade and investments.

Opportunities for both businessto-government and business-tobusiness meetings and matchings will take place during the period.

The annual event of Netherlands-Ghana Business Fair will be carried out under the

auspices of AfroEuro Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of Ghana in the Netherlands, Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). Its goal is to create an atmosphere of partnerships and networks for many investors bilaterally and globally from the Netherlands.

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the last two events were held virtually through an online conference with delegates from Ghana and Netherlands via zoom.

Notwithstanding the challenges, this year’s event will be held again in The Netherlands to host attendance of participants, stakeholders, and partners. The event seeks to target Dutch, Ghanaian businessmen and investors who are looking for expansion opportunities, knowledge partners, suppliers and buyers.

The Ghana trade delegation will comprise companies, business leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals and experts from various sectors (Agriculture, Housing and Real Estate Development, Digital (ICT),

Water management, Sustainable businesses, Waste management, Made in Ghana goods Etc.) Ghana which is home to the administrative headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), gateway to West Africa and largely Sub-Sahara Africa, has great value and opportunities to offer Dutch Investors and companies which would lead to successful partnerships and further deepening the economic cooperation between Ghana and The Netherlands.

“All interested participants, individuals and prospective business owners and companies who wish to take part in The Netherlands-Ghana Business Fair 2022 are cordially invited and welcome to register online www. forumbizgh.com or call +233(0)20960-3093 or email: info@ forumbizgh.com for registration details, participation and further clarification,” a statement issued by the organisers said.

Upplause Consulting is the representative agency in Ghana coordinating the registration and selection processes.

13

| FEATURE

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

Will Europe’s new TPI be an ATM?

By Willem H. Buiter It has finally arrived. The European Central Bank has launched a Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI) to prevent monetary policy fragmentation within the eurozone. Announced just after the ECB Governing Council’s July 21 meeting, the TPI has overshadowed the news that the ECB will raise its policy rate by 50 basis points, which is more than expected but less than the macroeconomic situation and the price stability mandate demand.

According to the ECB’s press release, the TPI “will be an addition to the Governing Council’s toolkit and can be activated to counter unwarranted, disorderly market dynamics that pose a serious threat to the transmission of monetary policy across the euro area.” If certain pre-established criteria are met, “the Eurosystem will be able to make secondary market purchases of securities issued in jurisdictions experiencing a deterioration in financing conditions not warranted by country-specific fundamentals, to counter risks to the transmission mechanism.”

I can see the economic case for creating a facility to act as a market maker of last resort, or rather as a buyer of last resort when market liquidity is materially impaired in sovereign debt markets (and in systemically important private securities markets). Financial markets can be fickle and unreliable. They are complex, non-linear systems that can swing chaotically from irrational exuberance to unwarranted despondency.

Self-validating bouts of fear and panic can cause market liquidity to dry up. In a world of multiple equilibria, even technically efficient financial markets can generate undesirable price bubbles, resulting in selffulfilling debt crises and defaults.

The question is not whether it

is desirable to have an emergency asset-purchase facility managed by the central bank – the only entity in the eurozone with infinitely deep pockets for eurodenominated debt absorption.

But why would the ECB create the TPI when it already has a perfectly adequate alternative: the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program?

The answer is not very encouraging for those who worry about fiscal capture in the eurozone. The fiscal conditions attached to the OMT are much more robust than those applied to the TPI. With the TPI in place, member-state governments might now risk sovereign default rather than submit to the OMT’s conditions. Moreover, the TPI also has other features that could make it preferable to the OMT. To be sure, both OMT and TPI purchases are open-ended, in principle, and both the OMT and the TPI permit the ECB to purchase sub-investment grade (say, Greek) debt. Under both facilities, the Eurosystem accepts the same (pari passu) treatment as private or other creditors.

But the liquidity created through the OMT must be fully sterilized by the ECB to limit the effect on the euro’s exchange rate, whereas the TPI is somewhat more flexible.

As long as the ECB commits not to leave a persistent mark on the overall Eurosystem balance sheet – and thus on the monetary-policy stance – the TPI can purchase a wider range of assets. For example, it may purchase securities with remaining maturities of 1-10 years, while the OMT is limited to remaining maturities of 1-3 years; and, unlike the OMT, the TPI may purchase private securities.

The OMT also requires that a sovereign have bond-market access (or that it be on track to regain access) before its debt qualifies for purchase in the

secondary market. Presumably, “market access” here means access to primary-market issuance. But this is clearly a flaw of the program, considering that a borrower’s funding needs (and the social efficiency gains from OMT sovereign-debt purchases) will be highest when it has lost market access.

In any case, the OMT imposes rigorous eligibility conditions: “A necessary condition for OMT is strict and effective conditionality attached to an appropriate European Financial Stability Facility/European Stability Mechanism (EFSF/ESM) programme. Such programmes can take the form of a full EFSF/ ESM macroeconomic adjustment programme or a precautionary programme (Enhanced Conditions Credit Line), provided that they include the possibility of EFSF/ESM primary market purchases. The involvement of the [International Monetary Fund] shall also be sought for the design of the country-specific conditionality and the monitoring of such a programme.”

By contrast, the TPI’s eligibility requirements do not mention the IMF or the need for conformity with an appropriate EFSF/ESM program. Instead, it has just three main criteria.

First, the member-state government must be in compliance with the EU fiscal framework, meaning that it is not subject to an excessive-deficit procedure and has not failed to take effective action in response to an EU Council recommendation.

Second, the government must exhibit an absence of severe macroeconomic imbalances, meaning that it is not subject to an excessive-imbalance procedure and has not failed to act on an EU Council recommendation. And, third, it must demonstrate fiscal sustainability, based on debt-

sustainability analyses by the European Commission, the ESM, and the IMF, among others.

The problem with these conditions is that they are easily fudged. And now that Italy’s rare episode of fiscal stability has ended, following the resignation of the prime minister, former ECB President Mario Draghi, I fear that TPI purchases of Italian sovereign debt will not even wait until the country’s election in September.

Moreover, there is already a long list of other eurozone member states that are likely to request TPI support, including Greece (despite the impressive 18year average maturity of its public debt), Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, and Cyprus. After all, riskfree interest rates are normalizing, sovereign risk is being priced more aggressively, and Europe is heading into recession. As inflation comes down, nominal GDP growth will weaken further.

Widespread political paralysis will prevent the necessary fiscal tightening. Faced with the choice between debt restructuring and TPI access, the ECB will activate the TPI. European leaders seeking to adapt to these new conditions should be mindful of why the OMT has never been activated since its creation in September 2012. One factor has been the credibility of the ECB’s leadership, exemplified

by Draghi’s famous statement, in July 2012, that “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.”

But another reason is that fiscally fragile eurozone governments have been reluctant to submit to the OMT’s eligibility conditions. The TPI offers superior financial support with minimal conditionality. Guess which one will prevail.

14

| FEATURE

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

E-levy: Insights from Afrobarometer survey round 9

The 2022 National Budget showed the extremely difficult fiscal situation government faced.

The projected budget deficit was GHS¢37 billion, inclusive of the almost GH¢7 billion government was counting on from the new tax Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) it was introducing.

Without the projected E-levy revenue, the deficit was going to be GH¢44 billion. Based on these projections, I understood why the government, working with its extremely slim parliamentary majority, did everything possible to pass the E-levy despite the intense opposition it faced both from within parliament and outside of parliament.

Opposition to E-levy On July 13, 2022, with the first public release of round nine of the Afrobarometer survey, a very clear picture of citizens’ opposition to the E-levy emerged.

From the survey, sixty-seven per cent strongly disapproved of the E-levy, with an additional seven per cent saying they disapproved.

In total, seven out of ten opposed

supporters disapproved while 84 per cent of self-described NDC supporters disapproved • Across the geographic divide, 72 per cent of rural dwellers disapproved, while 76 per cent of urban dwellers disapproved • Across the sixteen regions, disapproval ranged from a low of 53 percent to a high of 90 per cent This level of disapproval would seem to send signals to the government to rethink the E-levy or perhaps discard the idea altogether.

The clearest indication that government was still going to forge ahead in fully implementing the E-levy was contained in one of the frequently answered questions (FAQs) put out by the Ministry of Finance when the decision to seek a bailout from the IMF was announced.

In Point 11 of that document, the response to the question: “Will government terminate the E-levy because IMF will give Ghana money?” was an emphatic

in its implementation.

Challenges If the government is truly committed to fi nding out why the implementation of the E-levy has faced challenges, here are some of the important signals it needs to be aware of as expressed in Afrobarometer Round 9 by Ghanaians.

1. Almost eight out of 10 (76 percent) strongly agreed/ agreed with the statement that “The e-levy is a bad idea because it means that more tax burden will be put on the poor and on ordinary citizens.”

2. When the e-levy was first announced, government through various pronouncements by officials and sympathisers touted the development benefits of the new tax.

In addition, several regional town hall meetings were held to further promote the tax.

Nonetheless, in the survey, only nine per cent said they were very confident that government would

revenue as a very important goal.

4. When asked in the survey whether the introduction of the e-levy would result in a) continued use of electronic financial transactions or b) avoidance of the use of electronic financial transactions, Ghanaians were closely divided. Forty-seven per cent said they would continue to use electronic financial transactions while 49 per cent said they would stop or avoid using such transactions.

Hope In response to the newly introduced tax and citizens’ reaction to it, various suggestions on the issue from economists I respect, have ranged from completely scrapping the tax to reducing the rate and cedi threshold at which the tax kicks in. In spite of these responses, the government remains undeterred in its pursuit of revenue from the E-levy despite the backlash.

I am, therefore, inclined to believe that the government was banking on the fact that the Ghanaian’s reliance on the use of

the E-levy.

The extent of the disapproval was strong with all demographic groups showing a lack of support for the new tax. The breakdown below provides a few examples: • Across gender lines, 73 per cent of men disapproved while 75 per cent of women disapproved • Across party lines, 56 per cent of self-described NPP

“NO”. Point 11 also noted the possibility of the IMF encouraging government to “investigate the factors hindering the success of the e—levy (including by providing technical assistance if needed) and come out with strategies to improve it.” Despite these responses and earlier held stakeholder engagements on the E-levy, government continues to face opposition from the citizen

fulfil its pledge to use the revenue generated to fund development.

An additional 15 per cent said they were somewhat confident.

Majority of Ghanaians (75 per cent) were either not very confident or not confident at all.

3. When presented with a number of goals about the country’s tax and revenue system, only four out of 10 representing 40 per cent saw raising more tax

electronic financial transaction was inelastic (will use electronic financial transactions no matter what) and, therefore, the latter would accommodate the E-levy.

At the end of the day, whatever the government does, I hope it takes important signals from round nine of the Afrobarometer survey in its decision-making on the way forward regarding the Electronic Transfer Levy.

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

| FEATURE

15

16

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| FEATURE

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

17

Life of litany of lies

By Prosper Andre Batinge On July 7, 2022, Mr Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, reluctantly announced his resignation.

“Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative leader today, continuing as UK prime minister until autumn …” The BBC informed the world.

Mr Johnson’s departure has been the wish of some who openly expressed their relief on hearing the news of his decision to decamp from Downing Street.

Mr Johnson survived a vote of no confidence not too long ago in the British parliament.

A known liar, Mr Johnson’s fate is testament that when it comes to ethics, the law of gravity often applies to all, eventually.

The litany of lies that is the signature of Mr Johnson’s life caused his disgraceful departure from office at this critical time when Britain and the world needs focus from Number 10 Downing Street.

Litany of lies Mr Johnson lies in trivial matters.

In 2002, The New York Times wanted Mr Johnson’s photograph for a story. Mr Johnson arranged with an employee of the Spectator magazine, where he worked at the time, to impersonate him.

The attempted mischief was to mislead the Times to publish the wrong photo and be embarrassed.

Mr Johnson also lies in nontrivial matters. When Mr Johnson decided to run for office as an

MP, he promised the editor of the Spectator that he would stop editing for the magazine once elected.

He also told his constituents that he would give up his job at the Spectator to focus on his parliamentary work. He reneged on both promises.

Some had high hopes that the grace of the high office of prime minister would purge Mr Johnson of his life of lying.

Partygate broke their hopes and, probably, their hearts as well.

Partygate refers to the drinking parties that Mr Johnson secretly attended, sometimes late into the night, while the rest of Britain was mourning and under one of the strictest lockdowns.

Mr Johnson lied there were no parties when there were 16 parties. Mr Johnson lied that he was not involved in these parties when photographic evidence showed him in active attendance.

Mr Johnson lied that partygoer complied with COVID-19 restrictions when the police fined them for non-compliance. And finally, Mr Johnson lied that his team ill-advised him to attend these parties.

The final lie that broke Mr Johnson’s back was another party involving his appointee, Mr Chris Pincher. In his position, Mr Pincher was charged with overseeing the Conservative party’s discipline and welfare.

Mr Pincher is accused of groping two men at a party while drunk. Mr Johnson lied he knew about Mr Pincher’s past sexual impropriety before appointing him.

British exceptionalism Great Britain has historically viewed itself as an exceptional caste set apart from others. Great Britain, albeit not the only one, colonised vast areas of the world in the past, including Ghana with multiple aims, among them to civilise these colonies.

Magisterial scholars from Great Britain write so proudly, almost arrogantly, about the virtues of the United Kingdom and its people, palpably wishing that the social and political virtues aplenty in Britain were present in other places, as to dispel the darkness of these distant lands and erode the ignorance of their barbarous cultures.

Albert Venn Dicey, a British political theorist, is often credited with coining and articulating the term: rule of law (though the term predates him to Aristotle, arguably to even Plato). Dicey is one such British subject who thinks so highly of Great Britain among the comity of nations.

In his magnus opus, The Introduction to the Law of the Constitution, Dicey thinks of the rule of law as peculiarly unique to Great Britain and notably absent in other places.

Though Dicey fails to define the

rule of law, he pinions the term down to three essential elements.

These three features may be distilled into the view that the law, not man, is supreme, and even the elite and the powerful such as Mr Johnson is subject to the law.

But Boris Johnson has made Britain’s claim to exceptionalism, especially its status as the bellwether of the rule of law, a joke through his life of litany of lies, both petty and big.

Tragically, Mr Johnson’s tenancy at Number 10 Downing Street is fading when the world so badly needs the steady hand of Britain to help steer the global ship skillfully through the Russian Ukraine war, rising food prices, recovery from the pandemic, and, of course, a planet that is increasingly turning into a steaming oven.

Britain has denied the world another Winston Churchill when it was opportune and critical to have a Churchill “attend to the stuff that matters.”

But more tragically – and to the credit of the British people – leaders like Mr Johnson who abound elsewhere remain at post, waiting out their term in office.

The British people are exceptional after all as Dicey claims. Probably.

The writer is a lawyer/doctoral fellow at Fordham Law School, N.Y., USA. E-mail: pbatinge@ fordham.edu

18

| MARKET REVIEW

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING - JULY 15, 2022 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS Q3, 2021 GDP Growth

3.3%

Average GDP Growth for 2021

3.3%

2022 Projected GDP Growth

5.5%

BoG Policy Rate

19.0%

Weekly Interbank Interest Rate

21.15%

Inflation for February, 2022

29.8%

End Period Inflation Target – 2022

8.0%

Budget Deficit (% GDP) – Dec, 2021

2.6%

2022 Budget Deficit Target (%GDP)

7.4%

Public Debt (billion GH¢) – Dec, 2021

391.9%

Debt to GDP Ratio – Dec, 2021

78.0%

STOCK MARKET REVIEW The Ghana Stock Exchange weakened for the second consecutive week on the back of price declines by 3 counters. The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) lost 74.41 points (-2.93%) to close at 2,464.13 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) loss of 11.66%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) on the other hand remained flat to close at 2,163.03 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) gain of 0.52%.

Market capitalization dropped by 1.33% to close the week at GH¢63,748.50 million, from GH¢64,609.70 million at the close of the previous week. This reflects YTD decrease of 1.16%.

Trading activity recorded a total of 60,044,310 shares valued at GH¢54,548,444.78 changing hands, compared with 1,870,896 shares, valued at GH¢1,822,836.80 in the preceding week.

MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for the week, accounting, for 99.68% and 91.89% of volume and value of shares traded respectively.

The market ended the week with no advancer and 3 laggards as indicated on the table below.

THE CURRENCY MARKET The Cedi continued its downward trend against the USD for the week. It traded at GH¢7.3845/$, compared with GH¢7.3045/$ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 1.08% and 18.67% respectively.

This compares with YTD depreciation of 0.63% a year ago.

The Cedi however strenghtened against the GBP for the week. It traded at GH¢8.7577/£, compared with GH¢8.7946/£ at week open, reflecting w/w gain and YTD loss of 0.42% and 7.20% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 1.47% a year ago.

The Cedi lost grounds to the Euro for the week. It traded at GH¢7.4499/€, compared with GH¢7.4421/€ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciation of 0.10% and 8.35% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 3.18% a year ago.

The Cedi also weakened against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢5.6454/C$ but closed at GH¢5.6671/C$, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.38% and 16.33% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 1.66% a year ago.

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

19

| MARKET REVIEW

BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK Shell Bank: Shell bank means a bank that has no physical presence in the country in which it is incorporated and licensed, and which is unaffiliated with a regulated financial group that is subject to effective consolidated supervision.

Source: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/glossary/s-t/

ABOUT CIDAN

COMMODITY MARKET Crude Oil prices declined for the week on the back of fears that further hefty interest rate hikes, primarily by the Federal Reserve, will severely hit global economic growth and thus oil demand. Brent futures traded at US$99.63 a barrel on Friday, compared to US$107.02 at week open. This reflects a w/w loss and YTD gain of 6.91% and 28.09% respectively.

Gold prices fell with expectations growing that the U.S. Federal Reserve could hike interest rates more aggressively this month to fight red-hot inflation. Gold settled at US$1,699.75, from US$1,742.30 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD losses of 2.44% and 7.05% respectively.

Prices of Cocoa also dropped for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,267.00 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,269.00 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD losses of 0.09% and 10.04% respectively.

INTERNTIONAL COMMODITIES PRICES GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET Government raised a sum of GH¢1,150.89 million for the week across the 91-Day and 182-Day Treasury Bills.

This compared with GH¢1,321.84 million raised in the previous week.

The 91-Day Bill settled at 25.96% p.a from 25.89% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 27.46% p.a from 26.55% p.a. last week. The table and graph below highlight primary market yields at close of the week.

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

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

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

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

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NO. B24/317 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2022

| GLOBAL ECONOMY

World Bank responds to overlapping crises with nearly $115bn in financing in fiscal year 2022 In its just-completed fiscal year 2022 (FY22), the World Bank Group responded with unprecedented scale to overlapping global crises, providing advice and financing in response to the sharpest economic slowdown in eight decades, rising inflation, deepening food insecurity, war and fragility, and the continued negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid these devastating crises, the World Bank Group deployed a record $114.9 billion in FY22 ( July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022). Commitments during FY22 were informed by our knowledge work and helped countries address rising food prices, manage refugee flows, bolster health preparedness, maintain private sector trade, and support efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, among others, benefitting especially the poor and most vulnerable.

“Developing countries are facing multiple challenges—from war to surging food and energy prices—which deepen inequality and lead to reversals in development gains,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “The World Bank Group has responded with urgency, scale, and impact. We have committed consecutive surges of financing, analytical support, and policy advice, first in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now to address the food crisis, the war in Ukraine, and its spillover effects.”

The World Bank (IBRD and IDA) committed $70.8 billion in assistance in FY22, its highest ever level of commitments, nearly 70% higher than the pre-crisis average of commitments from FY13 to FY19. That figure included $33.1 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in support to middle-income countries as well as a few higher-income countries and $37.7 billion in grants and zero- or low-interest loans to the world’s poorest countries from the International Development Association (IDA). IDA commitments to countries facing fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) reached $16.2 billion, accounting for 43% of IDA’s total commitments in FY22.

To meet the increased demand for funding during FY22, the World Bank fully used all remaining resources from the IDA19 replenishment. As a result, the IDA20 replenishment was advanced by a year, providing $93 billion of continued support for poor countries through June 2025. IBRD was also able to increase resources, drawing on a crisis buffer arranged in the capital increase in 2018 to surge its financing.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, total World Bank Group financing has reached $272 billion, including $52.6 billion in the last quarter of FY22. For the 15 months from April 2022 to June 2023, financing is expected to reach $170 billion.

An important component of this funding will be devoted to food security, including social protection and projects in agriculture, nutrition, water, and irrigation. The World Bank has made available around $30 billion over these 15 months as part of a comprehensive, global response to the ongoing food security crisis, some $12 billion of which will be new lending, informed by our substantial data and analytical work on food and nutrition systems.

Since April 1, the World Bank delivered 32 foodcrisis related operations and committed $5.3 billion

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

in this area.

The World Bank continued to rapidly increase its climate financing in FY22, in line with the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) for 2021-2025, which aims to commit 35% of Bank Group financing to climate, on average, with at least 50% of World Bank climate finance supporting adaptation. The World Bank’s climate finance totaled a record $26 billion (37% of commitments) in FY22, an 83% increase from $14.2 billion in FY19. At $12.8 billion, the FY22 adaptation share reached 49%, just shy of the 50% target, and an all-time high dollar amount.

As part of the CCAP, the World Bank Group has

begun publishing Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs), new core diagnostic reports that integrate climate change and development considerations and help countries prioritize the most impactful actions that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost adaptation. Reports on Türkiye and Vietnam have been published, with over 20 more nearing completion and expected in coming months.

The World Bank continued to focus on COVID-19 during FY22, with pandemic response financing reaching $72.8 billion between April 2020 and June 2022, including $37.6 billion and $35.1 billion in IBRD and IDA commitments, respectively. As of June 30,

World Bank Group Commitments (in U.S. billions)

FY20

FY21

FY22*

IBRD IDA IFC Long Term Finance (Own Account) Mobilization Short Term Finance

TOTAL (excluding short-term finance, mobilization, and RETFs)

28.5 30.4 28.4 11.1 10.8 6.5 4.2 3.6 74.0

30.5 36.1 31.5 12.5 10.8 8.2 5.0 6.4 84.3

33.1 37.7 32.8 12.6 10.6 9.7 4.9 6.4 88.2

TOTAL (including short-term finance, mobilization, and RETFs)

94.9

109.7

114.9

MIGA Recipient-Executed Trust Funds (RETFs)

Preliminary and unaudited numbers as of July 14. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

2022, the World Bank has approved $10.1 billion in financing for vaccine acquisition and deployment in 78 countries, of which $4.6 billion is for 42 countries in Africa. Over 600 million doses have been contracted with approved Bank financing, of which over 430 million have been delivered. The Bank is also setting up a financial intermediary fund to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middleincome countries. With over $1 billion in financial commitments already announced, the fund will bring additional, dedicated resources for PPR, incentivize countries to increase investments, enhance coordination among partners, and serve as a platform for advocacy.

Progress was also made in efforts to fully incorporate women in economies. An unprecedented 90% of the World Bank’s FY22 operations are helping to close gender gaps, well above corporate commitments.

The World Bank and IFC continued to mobilize private capital through bond markets in FY22. IBRD raised approximately $41 billion, and IDA raised approximately $10 billion from investors in capital markets, to finance sustainable development activities.

IFC issued just over $9 billion in bonds for private sector development and job creation in emerging markets. IBRD, IDA and IFC are rated AAA/Aaa. The World Bank Group plays a critical role in building and enabling the private sector in developing countries.

IFC had a record year in FY22 with commitments reaching an all-time high of $32.8 billion, including

PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS24 LTD. TEL: 030 296 5297, 030 296 5315.

$12.6 billion of commitments for IFC’s own account, of which $3.5 billion went to IDA countries and fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS). As banks cut back on trade finance, IFC stepped in to keep importexport businesses going, committing a record $9.7 billion in trade finance, almost 70% of which was in IDA countries and FCS. Climate finance was also an area of continued strong performance for IFC, with volumes reaching $4.4 billion, topping previous records and reaching 35% of own-account commitments. Since the onset of the pandemic, IFC has committed $21.2 billion in 147 COVID-response projects. COVIDrelated long-term commitments for IFC’s own account reached $5.4 billion in FY22.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), whose mandate is to drive impactful foreign direct investment to developing countries, issued $4.9 billion in new guarantees, of which 32% was in IDA countries, 12% was in FCS countries, and 28% supported climate finance.