Business24 Newspaper 6 July 2022

Prudential Life appoints new Chief Executive Officer

Fidelity Bank records 32percent increase in profit

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W E D N E SDAY, J ULY 6 , 202 2

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Golden Tulip not sold, management debunks rumours | STORY ON PAGE 2

NEWS FOR B U SINESS LEA DERS

GNPC spends GH¢214m on projects, scholarships in 3 years | STORY ON PAGE 3

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News/Editorial

A green port is the way to go!

State ports operator, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, has lined up strategic alliances and initiatives that seek to protect the environment for human, plant and aquatic life in it’s operations.

Among the initiatives is a mass tree planting exercise that is intended to create a carbon sink in the port area in order to absorb the carbon emissions that emanate from direct port operations and ancillary operations.

Whilst ports will have different perspectives as to what ‘sustainable’ operations truly are, broadly there are new green technologies and low and zero-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels and powerintensive terminal equipment.

Globally, international maritime and shipping consortia is bringing together supply chain stakeholders to collectively reduce power

consumption and carbon emissions: The port authority has also begun the separation of plastic and paper waste for recycling while giving out wooden waste for re-use, with an initiative to embark on a reduction of waste generation as well as measures taken for waste segregation at the ports.

Port activities, being industrial in nature can pose risk to the environment and that is why the move towards a green port is the sustainable ports agenda and this would be successful with the collaboration of stakeholders.

The use of green of innovations in the ports could significantly play down the cost of doing business within the port community aside making the industry more sustainable and future-fit.

Golden Tulip not sold, management debunks rumours

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Majority shareholder of the Golden Tulip Hotels in Accra and Kumasi Ghana Libyan-Arab Holding Company (GLAHCO) says it has not sold the company’s franchise to any Lebanese company.

The company said it “has taken notice of circulation in the media alleging that a Lebanese company has purchased the whole franchise of the Golden Tulip Hotels in Accra and Kumasi owned by a joint venture between the government of Ghana and Libya.”

GLAHCO wishes to inform the general public that Golden Tulip Hotels have not been sold, therefore the said allegation or assertion is false,” the company said.

In giving more clarity to the issue, it said Golden Tulip Hotels was a joint venture between the Libyan government and the Ghana government with Ghana holding a minority stake of 40 per cent and the 60 per cent majority stake held by the Libyan government.

“The Golden Tulip brand was operated under a management contract with Louvre Hotels Group (LHG) of France.

The company gave indications of non-renewal of the agreement at the end of December 2021 citing recent changes in regulatory guidelines in their country of residence.”

The release further indicated that the Board of Directors as part of their mandate to make decisions

on the strategic direction of the company began the process of evaluating options for replacement of the management contract with a more improved terms of engagement that offered a better return on investment in the hotels and consequently increase value to its shareholders.

“Through this review process the leasing option was selected and in line with general procurement processes, companies were invited to present proposals for lease of the Golden

Tulip Hotels. Four companies from four different countries, namely Ghana, Tunisia, Nigeria and Lebanon expressed interest and sent through their proposals for consideration by the board.

After several months of deliberation, the board settled on Achour Holdings, operators of Grand Lancaster chain of hotels and subsequently secured the signing of a lease agreement with the company on May 18, 2022 pending fulfillment of preoperating conditions.”

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

GNPC spends GH¢214m on projects, scholarships in 3 years

By Eugene Davis

The Deputy Energy Minister, Willian Owuraku Aidoo has revealed that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Foundation spent US$7.4m equivalent of GH¢214m on activities and interventions from 2017 to 2020.

According to Mr.Owuraku Aidoo, the activities undertaken by the GNPC Foundation from 2017 to 2020 cover 341 infrastructure projects and scholarship awards.

Appearing before parliament house on Tuesday to answer a question posed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP, North Tongu) to provide a detailed list of beneficiaries of the GNPC Foundation’s activities and interventions with breakdown of the cost of each item from the period of 2017 to 2020.

He explained that for 2018 year, 106 activities were carried out and funded with GH¢47.9m equivalent of US$2.4m, while in 2019, 193 activities were undertaken at a cost of GH¢113m, equivalent of GH¢2.5m, and in year 2020, 42 activities were done at a cost of GH¢53m equivalent of US$2.4m, taking the total expenditure to

GH¢7.4m.

The minister in stated the projects that were executed including; artificial soccer turf, construction of borehole with hand pumps in the Central, Ashanti, Bono Ahafo region, construction of classroom block, construction of 160 bed 1 story dormitory at Takoradi school for the Deaf, construction of 80 bed capacity hostel, support for professional chairs for UMAT($250,000.00), provision of foreign scholarship, supply of 1000 mono-desk, support to HalfAssini Gov’t hospital to furnishing of accident unit, financial support

to Korle-Bu ICU. Others are support to Adansi North CHPS Compound for Medical Equipments, support FOCUS Orthopaedic hospital for medical equipments, construction of 12-unit facility at market, supply of furniture to GNPC classrooms, economic empowerment -support for rice project.

GNPC Foundation is the arm of the Sustainability Department which spearheads the Corporate Social Investment activities of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). The vision of the Foundation is “to impact lives”

through community engagements and interventions.

The overall objective is “to make GNPC more visible and socially responsible”. To achieve this objective, the Foundation’s activities are tailored around three main pillars: Education & Training – This pillar deals with awarding local/ foreign scholarships to brilliant but needy Ghanaian students in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) & special education, providing educational facility/ equipment support, technical & vocational training, and capacity/skill development to Ghanaian students and academic institutions.

Environment & Social Amenities – Interventions under this pillar covers water projects, health campaign & infrastructure, sanitation projects, and sports infrastructure development.

GNPC was established in 1983 by the GNPC Act, 1984 (PNDCL 64) and is party to every petroleum agreement. It holds the state’s interest on behalf of the Government of Ghana.

Prudential Life appoints new Chief Executive Officer Prudential Life Insurance Ghana, one of the leading insurers in the country, has appointed Dr Hazel Berrard Amuah as Chief Executive Officer.

She replaces Emmanuel Mokobi Aryee, who has been appointed Regional Chief Executive Officer for East, Central, West and Southern Africa, overseeing the company’s businesses in Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya and Uganda.

A release issued in Accra said: “Under her leadership, Dr Amuah will support Prudential Life Insurance Ghana to execute the next phase of strategic growth and innovation plan and we are confident that she will continue to grow the business to greater heights.”

The release said Dr Amuah had vast experience, having worked in a cross-section of business sectors including insurance, FMCG, energy and the financial sector.

Working experience She has worked in a number of countries in Central and West Africa, building a career in leadership, business and HR specialisation across all the HR practices.

She worked with GLICO Group as Group HR Director for a cross section of business units, among which included Life, General, Pensions, Healthcare, Capital and Properties.

Dr Amuah is a chartered insurer and a business leader with over 25 years of work experience.

The release added: “She is a Henley certified coach from the UK and has a cross cultural certification from the USA. She also holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Master’s degree in Bilingual Translation (French and English) and a Master’s degree in Organisational Development.

Former CEO On the former CEO, the release said before his appointment, Mr Aryee had led Prudential Life Insurance Ghana for eight years, growing a thriving business, moving it from number 16 to the fourth in terms of market share in 2020 and cultivated a vibrant agency from 21 agents in 2013 to over 1,500 agents in 2021.

It said he signed “five bancassurance partnerships with Fidelity Bank, SG Bank, Cal Bank, Zenith Bank and Standard Chartered Bank to bring our

services closer to bank customers and launched eight new products on the market to cater to Ghanaians’ evolving protection and wealth needs to help them make the most out of life.

The release said Prudential was intentional on ensuring that its African growth story was written by talented people who were the

true face of the continent.

“Africa is a continent of opportunity for Prudential and the company is committed to its long-term growth. Prudential continues to create opportunities for the best talent on the continent, while strengthening its operations and building a business that will serve for generations,” it added.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

Fidelity Bank records 32percent increase in profit FIDELITY Bank posted a profit before tax of GH¢505 million in 2021 as against the GH¢382 million recorded in 2020.

This represents a growth of 32 per cent and was revealed after the bank held its annual general meeting (AGM) virtually last week to review the performance of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2021.

“Within the period under review, the bank posted a strong growth in key financial metrics across its various business segments.

In addition to the record increase in PBT, the bank also recorded a revenue of GH¢1.1 billion, 14 per

cent above the 2021 figure,” the bank added.

According to the bank, the Board Chairman of Fidelity Bank Ghana, Edward Effah, who addressed the shareholders, stated that despite significant external and domestic challenges, the bank remained resilient, turning over a strong performance in 2021.

He further indicated that “this buoyant performance was largely underpinned by the allencompassing transformation journey which had seen Fidelity leverage cutting edge technology to enhance convenience and deliver superior customer experience

across its various touchpoints.”

Mr Effah stated that, “the group’s balance sheet remained robust with a significant year-on-year increase of 44 per cent to close the year at GH¢13.36 billion, an increase from GH¢9.28 billion in 2020. The growth was funded mainly from an increase in customer deposits and short-term borrowings that financed corresponding shortdated investments.”

“Looking ahead, I have great confidence in the future of our bank.

Regardless of market conditions, our focus will always remain on what has sustained Fidelity Bank over the last 15 years: our people, our culture, and above all, our response to the evolving needs of our clients.

“In doing so, we are wellpositioned to compete even better in the years ahead and to deliver higher, more sustainable returns for our shareholders and other stakeholders.”

The Managing Director of the bank, Julian Opuni, stated that, “2021 marked the bank’s 15 years of existence as a commercial bank.

“Fifteen years down the line, we are pleased with the successes we have chalked up over the years with support from all our stakeholders and we believe that we are well

positioned to continuously serve our customers better.”

He added that the bank’s ambition of becoming one of the top three banks in Ghana by 2024 was on course with a focus on some key areas to achieve this mandate: digital innovation, data insights, value chain optimisation, fit for future technology and talent optimisation.

Mr Opuni also stated that the bank’s transformation journey had already yielded some significant gains.

“Through the efforts of the transformation office, Fidelity achieved 113 per cent of its revenue target for the year and mobilised low-cost deposits in excess of GH¢240 million,” he said.

The bank reiterated the significant impact of its investments in digital innovations during the year under review in line with its transformation agenda.

Consequently, by the end of 2021, 89 per cent of all transactions were carried out via the bank’s digital channels.

“This impressive feat bears testament to Fidelity’s leadership in digital banking and its remarkable success in migrating customers onto digital platforms,” the bank said.

Invest more in Africa—Akinwumi Adesina urges keen Irish business community Since joining the African Development Bank Group as its 81st shareholder in 2020, Ireland has shown steadily increasing interest in strengthening its economic ties with Africa. That mission received a strong boost last week at the 7th Africa Ireland Economic Forum in Dublin, as African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina enjoined the Irish business community to invest more in Africa.

“If you are not investing in Africa, you’re not in business,” Adesina told his audience. “Foreign direct investment of Ireland in Africa was $572 million at the end of 2020 and represented only 0.05% of Ireland’s total net foreign direct,” Adesina said. “This is too low. Ireland should invest a lot more in Africa. Let’s set a target of 15% of Irish investments in Africa.”

The exhortation from Africa’s premier development finance institution’s chief was matched by the Irish authorities’ publicly expressed enthusiasm about Ireland-Africa cooperation. Speaking at the forum on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence Simon Coveney talked about Ireland’s deepening economic and cultural links with Africa. He noted the prospects for closer trading links with the continent, pointing out that trade between Ireland and Africa would likely reach €5 billion by 2025.

Receiving the Bank Group chief on Friday, Irish President Michael D. Higgins congratulated Adesina for his work on the recent establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.

“Nothing is more important than that,” said President Higgins. He spoke about his long-time interest in Africa and his

optimism for its economic advancement.

Discussing the looming global food crisis prompted by Russia’s war in Ukraine, President Higgins welcomed the preemptive steps the Bank had taken to ensure food security for the continent.

Describing their meeting, Adesina said: “President Higgins so warmly received me. He has a heart and passion for Africa. He told me: ‘You are doing such an incredible job for Africa with your leadership in running the African Development Bank. I am inspired by your vision.’”

Similar support for continued strong cooperation came from senior Irish officials with whom Adesina met during his visit, notably: Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora; John Hogan, Secretary General of the Department of Finance and Alternate Governor for Ireland at the African Development Bank Group; and Paul Ryan, Director of the department’s International Finance and Climate Division, which is responsible for managing Ireland’s shareholding in international financial institutions.

Adesina thanked the Irish government for joining the African Development

Bank and the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional lending arm, and he expressed appreciation for Ireland’s contribution—announced by Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister Coveney on Thursday—of €2 million to the African Development Bank for climate adaptation.

In an address to the forum on Thursday, the African Development Bank head held a packed conference hall captive as he spoke about the current African economic environment, the continent’s challenges, its many opportunities, and about the African Development Bank Group’s role as a “solutions bank,” a valued partner to its regional member countries, its international development partners, and to the international business community, whose investment he said was desirable. “You can count on the African Development Bank as a partner,” he stressed.

The Bank president was also interviewed(link is external) at the Institute of International European Affairs (IIEA) by Ambassador David Donoghue, Ireland’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Welcoming Adesina, he said: “Dr Adesina is often described as Africa’s Optimistin-Chief and is widely praised for his visionary leadership and passion for the transformation of Africa. Since he took over as President of the African Development Bank in 2015, the Bank has achieved the highest capital increase since its establishment in 1964.”

In his opening remarks, Paul Ryan said: “As well as being Africa’s Optimistin-Chief, I’d like to say to Dr. Adesina that he is also Ireland’s closest friend in the African Development Bank and in

the continent of Africa as well. He has been a fabulous partner for Ireland for the last couple of years, particularly since we joined the Bank in February of 2020. […] The response by the Bank— under the leadership of the President— to Covid and now to the Ukrainian war, has been absolutely exemplary. A lot of future-proofing kicking has been done in relation to food security, renewable energy, economic development, and it’s exactly in line with our developmesnt objectives. We are very happy to join the bank, very pleased with the level of engagement and really pleased with the work that the Bank has been doing in the continent.”

Ryan added that Adesina—“first elected President of the Bank in 2015 and unanimously re-elected for another fiveyear term in August of 2020”—is a bold reformer who completely transformed the agriculture sector in Nigeria as agriculture minister over four years, and that he has replicated that same success at the African Development Bank. “We are very happy with the President. Our fellow colleagues in the constituency are very happy. And more importantly, the wider membership in the continent of Africa are very happy.”

Adesina spoke about the work of the Bank—in particular the High 5 Strategic Priorities that he is credited with developing for the institution—and how he saw these priorities as the fulcrum for both transforming Africa and helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Adesina invited officials and private sector operatives to the next edition of the Bank’s Africa Investment Forum, taking place in Abidjan in November.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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Old Mutual plans expansion across Ghana Ghana for its consistency in providing the most innovative insurance products to its customers, while also contributing to the development of the insurance market.

Dr. Ofori also commended Old Mutual for being a compliant From left to right: Rita Boateng, Customer Experience & Marketing Executive, Old Mutual Ghana; Albert Oko Dagadu, Head of Technical, Old Mutual Ghana; Helen Amarquaye, Board Chair, Old Mutual Ghana; Dr. Justice Ofori, Commissioner of Insurance; business and meeting Seli Gbordzi, Head of Risk and Compliance, Old Mutual Ghana; Tavona Biza, Group CEO, Old Mutual Ghana; and Stella Jonah, Head of Supervision, NIC. the new minimum capital requirement for insurance businesses. He we have a whole lot of expertise.

Old Mutual Ghana, a subsidiary stated that plans are in the works We have also been in the Ghanian of pan-African investment, to train industry participants on market for 10 years and for us it savings, insurance, and banking how to properly comply with is making sure that we use our group, Old Mutual, has said it the new Insurance Act of 2021. expertise to create more scale and plans within the next five years is The New Act, which replaces the bring more people on board,” she to expand its footprint across the Insurance Act, 2006 (724), serves said. industry and Ghana. as the legal instrument for the She also stated that the According to Helen Amerley regulation and supervision of the organization is constantly keeping Amarquaye, Board Chair of Old insurance market. up with current trends in order Mutual Ghana, this forms part He stated that the new Act is to be competitive in emerging of the organization’s effort to rich in content, thus the need to markets. improve financial inclusion as educate industry players on its “The insurance sector is well as contribute to the growth implementation and ultimately and development of the insurance constantly evolving so we have protect policy and ensure that had bancassurance and also the industry. they get the right products and influx of insure-tech which means Speaking after the company derive value for money. the use of technology to make paid a courtesy call on the “We also want to work on the insurance more accessible to a leadership of the National new Act. We are going to take wider audience and that is what Insurance Commission (NIC), the industry through the Act and we are we want to make sure that the industry’s regulator, Ms. let them know what is new and we are part of it,” she added.

Amarquaye said: “Our focus is what should be expected from Commissioner for the National to get scaled and expand across the Act so that they can be guided the country. We are a company Insurance Commission, Dr. accordingly. They have copies but Justice Ofori praised Old Mutual focused on financial inclusion and

normally people won’t get time to read so we are going to have some training for them so that they can appreciate it and also abide by what it says,” he said.

Albert Oko Dagadu, Head of Technical at Old Mutual Ghana, reiterated that Old Mutual’s goal is aligned with the commission’s goal of providing clients with the right product at the right price.

“It was interesting to hear the commissioner mention that top of their priority is protecting policy holders and ensuring that they get the right products and derive value for money. And at Old Mutual, one key metric is ensuring that our policy holders get value for money and since I have been with Old Mutual, the value for money is very apparent,” he said.

He stated that Old Mutual’s goal is to introduce new products, and as a strategic drive, pushing annuity sales.

“The objective is to ensure that annuitants and retirees especially have a guaranteed income for life and do not have to worry about their future income when they retire and that’s one main objectives of Old Mutual life to ensure our policy holders get the value they require on our products,” Mr. Dagadu explained.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

Mobile voice, data subscription figures dip in April THE country’s total mobile voice penetration dropped to 41,305,059 at the end of April this year.

This represents a 134.14 per cent penetration, having decreased from 41,481,767 as of the end of March 2022.

A report from the National Communications Authority (NCA) on June 28 revealed that the percentage decrease between March and April was 0.43 per cent.

MTN’s voice subscriber figures for April was 25,882,040. This represents a percentage increase of 1.26 per cent over the March figure of 25,558,928.

MTN’s market share for the month under review stood at 62.66 per cent, making it the most dominant player in the highly competitive industry.

Glo’s voice subscriptions increased from 786,963 as at the end of March 2022 to 815,143 at the end of April 2022, representing a percentage increase of 3.58 per cent.

Its market share for the month under review was 1.97 per cent.

Still among the two telecommunications companies to record a loss in voice subscriber

numbers, Vodafone Ghana’s mobile voice subscribers decreased from 7,732,622 as at the end of March 2022 to 7,543,728 as at the end of April 2022.

That represented a percentage decrease of 2.44 per cent. However, it sustained its spot as the second biggest in the telecommunication industry with 18.26 per cent market share for 2022.

AirtelTigo saw its voice subscribers decreased from 7,403,254 as at the end of March 2022 to 7,064,148 as at the end of April 2022.

That indicated a percentage decrease of 4.58 per cent. Its market share for the month under review was 17.10 per cent as compared to 17.85 per cent in March 2022.

Market statistics for data Mobile Data penetration figures also dipped marginally from 23,692,581 subscribers at the end of March 23,668,464 to April.

This puts Ghana’s data

penetration rate at 76.86 per cent.

MTN realised an increase in 133,694 subscriber numbers at the end of April with a total figure of 17,053,206 as against 16,919,512 recorded in March.

The company now has a market share of 72.05 per cent as of the end of the month under review.

From a subscriber base of 335,470 at the end of March 2022, GLO witnessed an increase in April to record 324,687 subscribers. In percentage terms, the company’s mobile data market share now stands at 1.37 per cent.

Vodafone’s mobile data subscriber base decreased by a whopping 64,733 subscribers in the period under review, a phenomenon which translated into a market share of 12.71 per cent. From the March subscriber figure of 3,072,144, Vodafone’s data subscriber base dropped to 3,007,411 as at the end of April.

AirtelTigo’s subscriber base at the end of April also went down to 3,283,160 as compared to the March 2014 figure of 3,365,455. Its market share for the month stood at 13.87 per cent.

MTN inducted into Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Hall of fame MTN Ghana has been inducted into the Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Hall of Fame, at the 4th Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Awards held at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra.

In addition, MTN Ghana won six other awards bringing the total number of awards won to seven.

This year’s award was held under the theme “Driving Excellence in Procurement and Supply Chain Management.

The awards won were: Supplier Development Company of the Year; Excellence in Procurement and Supply Chain in Telecoms and IT; Innovative Use of Technology in Procurement and Supply Chain; Hall of Fame – MTN Ghana; Excellence in Procurement and Supply Chain Telecoms Team of the Year –Gold; Africa Top 50 Procurement and Supply Chain Leader-Patrick Afari; Industry Personality of the Year -Patrick Afari.

The awards won were in recognition of MTN’s excellence and consistency in managing its Procurement and Supply Chain processes and ensuring end to end procurement and supply chain management.

The General Manager for Supply Chain Management and General Services, Patrick Afari won two

personality Awards. He was adjudged Industry Personality of the Year and was also named among the top 50 Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders in Africa for the second time.

Other MTN operating countries and an Executive at the MTN Group were also recognized at the event. Dirk Karl, Group Executive for Procurement & Supply Chain Management received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Procurement and Supply Chain. MTN Nigeria received two awards for Excellence in Procurement and Supply Chain Compliance and Excellence in Procurement and Supply Chain Team of the Year.

Leading the team to receive the

awards, Patrick Afari, thanked the organizers for the recognition. He dedicated the awards to all staff and suppliers of MTN Ghana. He made a commitment to ensure MTN continues to employ the best practices in Procurement and Supply Chain Management.

Commenting on the awards, Selorm Adadevoh, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana congratulated the Procurement Team for their professionalism and strict adherence to best practices in their field of work. He congratulated Patrick for his exemplary leadership which culminated in the team winning many awards over the years.

“I wish to commend Patrick for

being adjudged Industry Personality of the Year and named among the top 50 Procurement leaders in Africa for the second time. I am pleased that his hard work and dedication to excellence have been recognized.

Congratulations to our colleagues in MTN Nigeria as well for winning two awards and to Dirk Karl for his lifetime achievement award”, he concluded.

MTN Ghana has won a total of 15 awards since its participation in the Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Award from 2018 to date. MTN has consistently been adjudged Excellence in Procurement and Supply Chain - Telecom and Procurement and Supply Chain Team of the Year (Gold) category for four consecutive times.

The Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Awards reward excellence in the procurement and supply chain ecosystem, innovation, transformative players, and practitioners who exemplify integrity and excellence in procurement and supply chain.

It celebrates leading professionals that have raised the standards of the industry, led with exemplary leadership skills, and promoted and sustained the growth of their businesses and various organisations.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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Ghanaian diplomat commends Yango’s contribution to digital ride-hailing sector Ghana’s ambassador to Russia and career diplomat Oheneba Dr. Lesley Opoku-Ware, has applauded ride-hailing services provider Yango for their significant contribution to the country’s digital transport system.

In her recent interaction with Mr. Anton Zykov, Director for International Policy and Government Relations of Yango, Ambassador Lesley OpokuWare congratulated Yango on its investments in Ghana including the recent launch of the service in her native Kumasi.

The meeting further explored other possible areas of cooperation with Yango which included postal delivery, haulage services, and the introduction of electric cars among others.

She emphasized the importance of technology and in particular, the artificial intelligence module.

“I am convinced that we can go further in our collaboration with Yango, Ghana among other African countries, has relatively

advanced digital infrastructure and a youthful population,” she indicated.

Dr. Opoku-Ware also commended Yango on the digitalization of tax collections which had enabled the informal sector to be covered and thus helped in the widening of the tax net.

After taking a test-ride, the ambassador expressed satisfaction with the Yango selfdriving car innovative tech which is already used for robotaxi and autonomous delivery services.

Oheneba Dr. Lesley Akyaa Opoku-Ware assumed duty in Russia in 2017 and has concurrent accreditation to other countries like Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Moldova.

Following its successful operations in Accra, the company looks set to expand to other parts of the country targeting the Ashanti regional capital which has a population of nearly four million and an ever-growing need

for transport services.

Yango app incorporates artificial intelligence that allows the driver, regardless of his geographical position, to select the shortest route. The app also

includes an SOS feature that reassures the customer about safety whilst every driver is rated to offer the best service to users of the service.

NNPC, Sahara JV to boost LPG supply with jetties across West Africa

By Patric Paintsil WAGL Energy Limited, a joint venture business operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Sahara Group, is set to develop and construct jetties across West African countries to boost the supply and penetration of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the sub-region.

Emmanuel Ubani, Managing Director, WAGL Energy Limited said discussions were already at advanced stages for the first in the lot. He said the move was part of the several efforts by the company to take advantage of the opportunities in the energy transition space, adding that WAGL had embarked on developing infrastructure to take beneficial advantage in the emerging energy transition era.

While acknowledging growing LPG demand in Africa, Ubani, advised that more strategic policies and investments are required to further promote and deepen the product’s utilisation in rural communities in the continent.

According to him, for LPG to increase to a significant or dominant market position in

Sub-Saharan African countries, an enabling environment for the sector must be put in place. He listed the elements that make up the enabling environment as infrastructure -liquefaction and regasification plants, gas

distribution, pipelines and/or gas distribution trucks, cylinder distribution and/or segmented local distribution to individual houses and industries.

He said, “All parts of the value chain must be in place and

functional, that is, a distribution system to enable feasible access for the users must exist, a ready and vibrant market network and most importantly, acceptable and accommodating uses of the alternative energy source.

Ensuring this requires both public and private investments at a level that allows for economies of scale, supporting in making the sector commercially viable.

Sufficient attention on policy and strategic level, with clear responsibility allocation and appropriate regulation of the sector, is required.”

Ubani said nations seeking to lead energy transition across the continent would need to massively de-risk and promote more private sector investment, a step he described as very critical.

“Governments need to do a great job at providing an enabling environment for the sector to thrive. They need to take advantage of the abundance and competitiveness of renewables and also support systemic innovation, especially as it affects the changing energy mix,” Ubani advised.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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Skills and education mismatch keeps women in Ghana & Senegal from accessing good jobs Young women in Ghana and Senegal face barriers in the world of work due to social prejudices, a lack of access to the right education and resources, limited opportunities for career advancement, unfavorable workplace conditions, and ineffective government policies, according to a new report by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The report, “Barriers to Young Women’s Employment in the Future World of Work in Ghana & Senegal”, examines the obstacles to young women’s employment in the future world of work in Ghana and Senegal and proposes corrective actions to minimize inequalities and strengthen young women’s skills for tomorrow’s work environment.

Although the employment-to-

population ratio for women in sub-Saharan Africa is relatively high at 57%, most of these women operate in the informal sector and have limited access to the labor market.

This study was conducted in Ghana and Senegal and covers three sectors: agriculture, tourism and hospitality, and business process outsourcing (BPO). It highlights a persistent mismatch between education and the skills required for the future world of work; whereby educational systems are consistently producing graduates who are illequipped for the labor market, particularly in the ICT sector and for professions that require technical or vocational skills.

This is affecting the way women transition into the world of work, not just in Ghana and Senegal but across Africa.

“There are more girls and

women in schools in Africa today than ever before, but we are failing to teach them what they need to know to succeed and thrive in the world of work,” said Mona Iddrisu, Head, Youth Employment and Skills at the African Center for Economic Transformation.

“We must improve learning environments for girls and young women so that they can gain the required skills, in particular digital skills, to reach their full potential, while at the same time making workplaces more flexible and welcoming for all workers, especially women.

This is an imperative for African countries.”

Research in the study points to the four recommendations that policy makers and citizens in Ghana, Senegal, and other African countries can take on board immediately. One, improve

enrollment and retention in school by building modern schools and education centers that will equip girls with employable skills fit for the future of work. Two, encourage parents to reduce the unequal domestic burden on girls. Three, enhance the school-to-work transition by providing career guidance and mentoring for girls as well as access to digital training programs and internships.

Four, pass and implement laws and policies against gender discrimination in the workplace, and encourage gender diversity at all levels in businesses.

Access the full report “Barriers to Young Women’s Employment in the Future World of Work in Ghana & Senegal” at acetforafrica. org and engage with ACET on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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| FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative to roll out 12 new digital water schemes …The solar-powered, digitised water systems will provide access to clean water to over 100,000 people in underserved rural Ghana Following the success of its innovative smart tech clean water pilot in Abomosu, Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative (GWI) announced that it is developing 12 additional sites in collaboration with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to give over 100,000 people across rural Ghana access to clean water by the end of 2023.

The Ghana Water Initiative (GWI), a project by SafeWater, a strategic business unit within Grundfos, aims to reach one million people in underserved communities in Ghana with clean water by 2026, providing drinking water that is both safe and easily accessible, from a reliable source that is sustainable and efficiently run.

In 2019, GWI installed seven centrally located, solar-powered, digital AQTaps (water ATMs) to serve the first pilot community in Abomosu village, located in Atiwa West District, Eastern region of Ghana, in partnership with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency and the Atiwa West District Assembly. The innovative, ‘smart water’ ATMs by Grundfos allow the user to manage their usage, and access treated, potable water using a pre-paid card, topped up via mobile money, from a source that is reliable and accessible 24/7, all year round.

Today, safe running water is available throughout the community, pumped from a 90m borehole 1.5km from the village to a 120m³ water tank. Over 8,000 local residents now have reliable access to clean water for the first time, including 262 smart household water connections going directly into residents’ homes.

Anise Sacranie, SafeWater’s Senior Partnership Development Manager commented: “We have demonstrated that this model is successful, so working closely with the CWSA, the next step is to take the model to scale, encouraging private sector engagement and entrepreneurship to establish financially sustainable, highquality water services to underserved communities across Ghana.

We are about to finalise our next project (in Otoase) which is a completely new build and are on track to have a total of 13 projects running by the end of next year, including Abomosu, giving over 100,000 people access to clean drinking water within the next 18 months.”

Xorlali Yao-Kuma Kpodo, Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative’s Engagement Manager said, “Over

8 million people in Ghana still do not have access to safe, drinkable water because the current water supply in many areas is inefficient and untreated and therefore unsafe to drink when it flows.

Since the start of the Abomosu pilot initiative 2 years ago, the feedback from local residents has been overwhelmingly positive so we are excited to be moving to the next phase, providing clean water to more underserved rural areas.”

GWI’s approach to improving water access is to refurbish existing CWSA systems or establish new infrastructure where no system exists, providing water to both households, public standpipes and refillable water dispensers.

curriculum for water system operations and maintenance to ensure skills are transferred to local staff for ongoing maintenance of the project in the future.

About SafeWater: SafeWater is a strategic business unit in Grundfos (a global water technology company committed to pioneering solutions to the world’s water and climate challenges and improving the quality of life for people). SafeWater creates a lasting impact by transforming underserved communities through commercially viable and sustainable smart water solutions.

SafeWater is working towards

private water service providers, service partners, industries, energy service providers, banks and financing institutions, investors and governments.

SafeWater predominately operates in East and West Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East – and often in remote locations.

About Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative (GWI) Ghana Water Initiative (GWI) kicked off in March 2019 as a local initiative to test commercially viable business models for delivering clean water access to underserved communities in Ghana, and to establish the framework to take the final model

The clear blue dots show the household connections, and the bigger dark blue dots show the AQTaps in Abomosu. All data is being monitored, evaluated and analysed to improve the processes and workflow The Abomosu project involved upgrading an existing system that had fallen into disrepair, requiring two new boreholes, piping, and treatment system, as well as the Grundfos AQ Taps (water ATMs).

GWI staff work with local teams to maintain the new system and are developing a vocational

Grundfos’ ambition of reaching 300 million people in 2030 with access to drinking water. It collaborates closely with some of the world’s leading humanitarian and development aid organisations, as well as private water service providers, and partners with local distributors,

to scale. GWI is being managed by a local project team working out of the Grundfos Ghana offices in Accra. GWI aims to provide sustainable clean water that is accessible, reliable and efficient to one million Ghanaians by 2026 by rolling out successfully tested business models across Ghana.

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| NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

GIFEC to set up 200 ICT labs this year GIFEC Administrator The Administrator (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Mr. Prince Ofosu Sefah, has reiterated that 200 more ICT labs will be established this year, as part of its Cyberlabs Programme.

He said this when he inspected selected Cyberlabs, Community ICT Centres (CICs) and Rural Telephony Sites, and engaged key stakeholders of the Fund in the Western Region.

The Administrator, together with a Technical Support Team, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Amenfi Central – Mr. P.H. Amponteng and Mr. Lord Nana Tandoh – Municipal Chief Executive of Amenfi West Municipality, visited the newlyconstructed Community ICT Centres (CICs), new Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Cell Sites and an existing Cyberlab at Manso Amenfi and Amuni.

He indicated that equipment will soon be deployed to the new CICs for their operationalisation, and reiterated the need to establish Municipal/District multi-stakeholder Management Committees to manage and maintain the ICT centres, to continue to benefit the people of the community.

He also mentioned that some of the CICs will facilitate the training of over 10,000 citizens this year, as part of GIFEC’s ICT Capacity

Building and Skills Development Programme.

He admonished the communities to develop a solid maintenance culture, supported by a similarly improving culture at GIFEC, to ensure the people continue to benefit from these resources for a longer time.

Mr. Sefah also inspected Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project Sites at Amuni and Nkakaa, both in the Amenfi Central District.

The project is being implemented by GIFEC on behalf of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, under the leadership of Hon. Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP and Sector Minister), as part of Government’s unprecedented $200 million Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, which started in 2020 and slated to be

completed in 2023, and which is to build 2,016 Rural Network Sites.

The project has built about half of the planned 2,016 Sites so far.

He highlighted the uniqueness of the Nkakaa Site, which uses Aerial Fibre technology, a solution used in communities with difficult topography, and is being deployed in five (5) communities within the Western and Western North Regions, in order to overcome technical constraints that had hitherto made it impossible for these communities to get cell phone Network Access.

Mr. Sefah also paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Amuni, Nana Twumasi Ampaw, who communicated his utmost appreciation to GIFEC for its intervention and encouraged more engagements for an enhanced relationship between the community and GIFEC. There,

Mr. Sefah responded to reports of unstable electricity in the area with a promise to get back with a possible solar-powered solution.

He also promised to explore adding another site in the area, to improve the quality of the Network.

Earlier on, on July 1st, in Takoradi, Mr. Sefah engaged Skyy Power 93.5 FM to share more with listeners across the Region on what does, including the organisation’s increased projects and activities because of unprecedented investments of this government in digitalising the country.

His visit to the Western Region forms part of his tour of GIFEC Project Sites across the country to inspect and engage with key stakeholders.

He had recently visited the Central and Ashanti Regions.

CIMG rewards outstanding candidates for exceptional performance in maiden PMQ Examinations The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) has honoured outstanding candidates from its maiden Professional Marketing Qualifications (PMQ) examinations.

The candidates were awarded for their impressive performance at a short ceremony in Accra.

The candidates, who have worked tirelessly and diligently to attain professional qualifications, received both single subject honours and rewards for completing specific pathways.

In all, 13 examinees were awarded for excellence and topping their various classes.

In his opening statement, the Consulting Director of Education, Adam Sulley, referred to the achievement as “the icing on the cake” for the deserving candidates after a long journey to the maiden exams.

“I think this is the time to pay attention to these products we are

presenting today. It is good to get them into industry and integrate them properly,” he stated.

The candidates received certificates and different book prizes from EPP Book Services which be supported with marketing books for the various subject areas that the honourees excelled in.

A medical professional, Dr Bright Kyei Wiredu, emerged as the overall best student in Selling and Sales Management.

The most coveted awardee of the evening was Daniel Nomo, who swept awards and a plethora of book prizes from EPP Books Services.

He emerged as the best student in Strategic Marketing Management, Integrated Marketing Communications, Strategic Marketing in Practice and the overall best student in Pathway 5.

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| NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

Tullow Ghana awards KNK contract to Petrofac as part of transformation project Tullow Ghana Limited (Tullow), operator of the offshore Jubilee and TEN fields, has awarded a 5-year contract to Petrofac Ghana (Petrofac) to support operations and maintenance activities on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah (KNK).

Petrofac is the largest amongst a number of companies, all of which

are either indigenous Ghanaian firms or local joint ventures, which will assume the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the KNK FPSO following the expiry of Tullow’s contract with MODEC Production Services Ghana JV Ltd (MODEC) which ended on 30th June 2022.

Tullow as the field operator remains accountable for the safe and reliable operations in Jubilee including the KNK FPSO. The transition of the management of the KNK, prompted by the expiry of the MODEC contract forms part of Tullow’s long-term vision to become a top quartile production company in terms of safe operations, emissions control, increased reliability, and cost efficiency.

The transition is expected to deliver improved safety performance, reduced operating costs and sustained production efficiency.

Commenting on the new partnership with Petrofac, Tullow Chief Executive Officer, Rahul Dhir said: “this new partnership with Petrofac will leverage Petrofac’s years of experience in operating onshore and offshore facilities and will deliver improved operations on

KNK. In particular, Petrofac’s experience in workforce training will be key in helping Tullow develop Ghanaian talent in leadership roles in the management of Ghana’s offshore facilities. As we embark on this change, I want to thank MODEC for the support they have provided us over the last twelve years.”

Nick Shorten, Chief Operating Officer for Petrofac’s Asset Solutions business said: “I’m delighted that we are continuing to grow our presence in Africa with valued long-term partner Tullow Oil. We bring our considerable global FPSO experience to Ghana, also putting us in a good position to support other similar facilities in the region.

Petrofac has been in North Africa for more than two decades and now we are building our presence across the continent, growing local jobs, developing local skills and collaborating with local partners.”

Tullow and MODEC worked on a smooth transition of O&M services and achieved a seamless transition on 1 July 2022.

| FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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So, you have your data in the cloud, what if it rains?

Cloud computing is one of the most controversial, misunderstood yet ingenious technologies to have existed.

Thanks to some misconceptions and myths, many are unclear on exactly what this technology is all about. I have met several people who still think physical servers hosting services and data it among the clouds – literally.

Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services (including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, intelligence etc.) over the internet. These services are divided into three main categories: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS). A cloud can be private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the internet like AWS, Azure, Dropbox, Gmail etc. A private cloud on the other hand offers services either over the Internet or a private internal(proprietary) network and to only select users instead of the public. A popular deployment model also is a combination of public and private clouds. This is known as the Hybrid model. An organization can have a missioncritical service hosted on their internal or on-premises cloud while keeping the front end on public clouds.

If you are using Microsoft Office 365 or Gmail for email, Apple cloud, Google photos/ drive, or Dropbox for storage, congratulations! You are a proud consumer of cloud computing.

It is called cloud because we mostly do not know where the data sits. Even if we knew which data centre the data is hosted, we hardly know which particular server is doing us the honours.

Cloud, therefore, represents that “unknown” element.

Like every other commodity, large scale implementation or production makes a unit cheaper to purchase. The same applies to cloud computing. One of the benefits of this technology is the leverage on economies of scale.

A start-up company with limited resources can access computing power almost immediately, paying just the right amount for what they use, scale up and down depending on their usage and compete with global powers without any capital investment in data centres. With cloud computing, service hosting can be multiplied across several data centres in different geographical locations to provide true redundancy ensuring business continuity and agility.

Arguably, cloud computing

provides better security than on-premises hosting of services.

Statistically, most of the data breaches on cloud infrastructure are mainly due to the negligence of some administrators as opposed to the compromise of the cloud infrastructure itself.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of on-premises hosting which is often saddled with weak security and constant compromises through vulnerable systems and lagged security. With the right mix of people, technology and processes, cloud computing provides one of the best security for any infrastructure.

If cloud computing is this secured, why then is there so much talk and uncertainty about its adoption? Cloud is like choosing a motorcycle over a car, the least mistake is unforgivable.

Consumption of cloud services can be likened to when we eat at restaurants, we are hardly certain of the ingredients and hygienic conditions of the kitchen, but we trust the food is wholesome.

There are genuine concerns every organization should worry about when deciding to adopt cloud technology. Yes, the cloud provides some very generous benefits that we should take advantage of, but the risks are also real to be considered.

For any organization considering the cloud, a cloud strategy must be drawn up.

Gartner has come up with a very interesting decision framework that can be used to evaluate the benefits and challenges of a cloud approach for specific application scenarios. This can be adopted to decide whether the service under consideration is cloud worthy.

Their approach is to consider how high the benefits or rewards that the cloud could offer versus the potential downsides or dangers of using cloud services.

The four outcomes are either to consider a private cloud, embrace a public cloud, experiment or avoid the cloud completely.

I think cloud concerns are more about privacy than security. It is important to distinguish between the two, especially when discussing cloud computing. You can have solid security without privacy not the other way round. There is no privacy without security.

Privacy includes the laws and regulations requiring organizations to protect customer data while security encompasses the technical processes,

technology, and policies to protect that data.

So many organizations today use Microsoft’s Office 365 email suite for instance. All the organization’s communication is hosted somewhere in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Greenland or perhaps the moon we don’t know for sure. If the staff of these cloud service companies access our data, we will have no idea; we only trust they have enough policies and controls to reduce this risk. If a fellow cloud tenant finds a way to exploit a vulnerability within the hosting infrastructure and access our data, we will have absolutely no idea. How true data disposal happens when an entity decides to discontinue the use of a cloud service. Whereas an on-premises hard disk can be physically destroyed, the same cannot be done with data stored on the cloud. There will be remnants of the data stored somewhere by the provider.

The situation becomes even more critical when personally Identifiable Information (PII) of a country’s citizens is hosted in another jurisdiction. Countries with the bilateral agreement may quickly have a fallout. If that happens what happens to the data that sits with this other country. Now we are talking about a matter of national security. A cloud service provider (CSP) can be subpoenaed to hand over data belonging to entities of the opposing country for further intelligence gathering. Imagine portions of services being rendered by critical entities are run on the cloud, hosted by a now hostile country. Assuming Ukraine hosts critical services in Russia or vice versa, I am pretty sure these services are going to be shut down right from the start of the conflict.

You find the European Union using GDPR to regulate and

reduce the risk of lack of privacy irrespective of the jurisdiction the service is rendered from. The key question though is, can smaller countries or those without a strong union exert the same international power to cater for its data in the name of national security?

In Ghana, for instance, we are trying to support several businesses to digitize and go global. This requires being innovative while maintaining costs at the minimum due to limited capital. Should we, therefore, use regulation to limit the kind of data that can be stored in the cloud despite the numerous benefits of cloud computing?

Whether we like it or not, cloud computing is here to stay, and businesses need these innovative and breakthrough technologies to survive and scale.

Should we perhaps empower entities like the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) to create Amazon-like datacentres to host data locally?

This way, companies can derive the benefits of the cloud while reducing the risks affecting privacy. Should we be deliberate about which countries can host our data when we go cloud?

Without such alternatives, it will be practically impossible to restrict the use of the cloud for missioncritical services or even for storing and processing personally identifiable information given that almost every service requires the collection of the same.

Cloud computing is inevitable if we want to be nimble, agile, and innovative. Going cloud provides enormous benefits to organizations and it should be on the agenda of every entity. But, what if it rains?

Albert Yirenchi Head, Information Security Stanbic Bank Ghana

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| COMMENT/ANALYSIS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

IMF and Ghana-lesson drawing EPISODE 1

Why did Ghana Opt for Financial Assistance in 2014?

Ghana has been a member of the IMF since September, 1957 and has benefitted from several technical and financial assistance from the Fund. Notable IMF programmes Ghana has benefitted from include the Stand-By Agreement (SBA) in 1966, the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1983, the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) in 1989, the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative which was rolled out in collaboration with the WB in 2002. In 2009, Ghana again benefitted from the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) from the Fund.

Ghana’s macroeconomic performance over the recent years has been mixed. After recording a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 14 percent in 2011 largely driven by inflows from the oil and gas, GDP growth declined drastically to 4 percent in 2014 amidst huge public debt and Balance of Payment (BoP) deficit. At a Benchmark revenue projection of US$93.34 a barrel for 2014, crude oil prices declined to US$82 a barrel in September 2014 and further below US$ 40 per barrel which caused a revenue shortfall. The 91-day Treasury bill rate increased to 25.5 percent

in September 2014 compared to 21.59 percent the previous year.

As at the end of December 2013, inflation rate stood at 13.5 percent.

This increased to 17 percent in 2014.

On currency volatility, the cedi depreciated by 31.19 percent against the US dollar in the first nine months of 2014, compared to 4.12 percent recorded same period in 2013. Furthermore, on sectoral analysis, Industry sector growth declined from 7.3 percent in 2013 to 4.6 percent in 2014. Similar decline in Services sector was recorded; it grew at 4.59 percent in 2014 as compared to 9.6 percent in 2013. In the Agriculture sector, growth recovered marginally from 5.2 percent in 2013 to 5.3 percent in 2014. The economic headwinds aforementioned accounted for a bailout request from Ghana to address the risks to the country’s medium term economic prospects in August 2014.

On 3rd April, 2015, IMF’s Executive Board approved a three-year arrangement under the ECF for Ghana in an amount equivalent to Special Drawing Right (SDR) 664.20 million (180% of quota or about US$918 million) in support of Ghana’s medium-

term economic reform.

Was the 2014 request for a bailout entirely self-inflicted?

NO!!

Apart from fiscal indiscipline.

• There were external shocks as well. Crude oil prices crushed. In fact, crude oil prices plunged to a low of US$45.0 per barrel compared to a bench mark revenue projection of US$99.38 per barrel in the 2015 Budget.

• Again, there was disruption in gas supply for two-anda-half years and there was simultaneous fall in cocoa and gold prices.

• The disruption in gas supply and the low level of water in the Bui, Akosombo and Kpong dams due to climate change continued to pose power supply challenges, reduction in generation capacity and recurring power outages.

• Non-disbursement of programme grants from Ghana’s development partners.

Is the 2022 request for a bailout entirely self-inflicted?

NO!!

Apart from fiscal indiscipline.

• The Covid-19 pandemic and • The Russia-Ukraine War have

caused economic headwinds to the Ghanaian economy.

How can Ghana build a resilient economy to withstand external shocks?

• Enhance domestic revenue mobilization. Tax to GDP ratio is currently at 12%.

• Rationalize expenditure.

The 2022 budget deficit is estimated at GH¢ 37 billion. It could be higher with some revenue lines underperforming while expenditure balloons.

• Promote import substitution industrialization.

Continue with policies such as the 1D1F, PFJ policies etc.

• Promote export led industrialization.

• Pass tax exemption bill into law.

• Treat corruption and procurement breaches as an economic policy.

• Promulgate a long-term development plan where successive governments will adhere to it.

BY: Emmanuel AmoahDarkwah Economist/ Partner @ C-KADD Global e.amoahdarkwah@gmail.com

| NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

15

Declining fish stocks: Watchdogs worry over approval of two more trawlers Some civil society organisations (CSOs) who are working to secure safe, sustainable, and equitable fisheries in Ghana are seeking clarification on the potential authorisation of two industrial trawlers in Ghanaian waters.

According to the CSOs, the concern has arisen following the circulation of a letter purportedly detailing a request by DUMA Farms and Fisheries Ltd. that the vessels SHUN FENG 906 and SHUN FENG 907 are granted licences pending approval by the Fisheries Minister and the Ghana Maritime Authority.

“Collectively, we are gravely concerned at the prospect of additional capacity being added to the trawl sector, given that populations of several vital species in Ghana’s waters are already on the brink of collapse.

These include small pelagics such as sardinella and chub mackerel, which are the lifeblood of coastal communities across the country - providing vital food

and livelihood security to millions nationwide.

The worsening ecological and humanitarian crises across Ghana’s coastline are inextricably linked to the presence of poorly regulated foreign industrial trawlers, who have frequently been recorded capturing non-target species, making incursions into fishing zones reserved for canoes and using illegal gears to reduce the selectivity of catch,” they said.

They believed that to grant two additional licences would be in direct contradiction to the approved draft of the Marine Fisheries Management Plan 20222026 (MFMP), in which a threeyear moratorium on new-entrants to the trawl sector has been proposed in recognition of the overfishing crisis that currently characterises the fishery.

As a group of stakeholders, many of whom have participated tirelessly in the process of drafting this plan, we wish to make clear that a breach of the

proposed moratorium would strike a considerable blow to the trust that is so vital in the design and implementation of effective fisheries governance, the group said.

“Furthermore, it is our understanding that due to issues with documentation, the two vessels have been temporarily refused access to the port of Tema.

We urge the Minister, if she has not done so already, to undertake a thorough due diligence process including on issues of ownership, flagging behaviours and previous licence acquisitions,” they added.

They said it is their belief that the nationality of the beneficial owners may fall outside of Ghana, which would constitute a breach of Section 47(1) of the Ghanaian Fisheries Act, 2002.

For the avoidance of doubt, Section 47(1) stipulates that: “a local industrial or semi-industrial fishing vessel is a fishing vessel (a) Owned or controlled by a citizen, the government, or owned or

controlled by a company or partnership registered by law in the Republic which has its principal place of business in the Republic and the share of which is beneficially owned wholly by the Government, a citizen, a public corporation established by law in the Republic or a combination of any of them”.

Considering the above, we are respectfully requesting clarification with regards to the prospective licensing of these two vessels. Furthermore, we implore the Honourable Minister and her colleagues to abide by pledges made in the MFMP to prevent the continued exploitation of Ghana’s precious natural resources, thereby showing their determination in the fight to protect marine ecosystems and the coastal communities who rely so heavily on them, the group said.

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| ADVERT

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

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| FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

Capital markets regulation is Stronger, but some gaps still must be closed

By Tobias Adrian and Jay Surti Countries have made substantial progress toward implementing capital markets regulatory reform, but important gaps remain and new challenges have raised the bar.

Capital markets are like engines that help power the global economy: they perform best with regular tune-ups. In this spirit, the major regulatory overhaul following the global financial crisis was aimed at shoring up key segments, from over-the-counter derivatives to investment funds and market infrastructure, closing fault lines revealed by the crisis.

But now, even after historic enhancements in recent years, countries still need to keep pushing to lower risks and strengthen the tools to manage future crises, and ultimately to reduce fluctuations tied to economic cycles.

So, to better gauge progress on reforms to market regulation and what further gains are needed, our latest research surveys IMF financial sector assessment programs in several countries over the past seven years.

These regular reviews tracked risks, vulnerabilities, and arrangements for market oversight and crisis management, with a focus on safety nets to manage any potential failures of major firms.

They also looked at the resilience of central counterparties, the entities that function as buyer to every seller and seller to every buyer to guarantee performance of open contracts, which have grown in prominence under

derivatives-clearing reforms.

The reviews also examined the vulnerability of asset managers like money market funds and bond funds, and whether trading venues beyond traditional exchanges are adequately regulated.

Making progress One main reason we see a need for greater reform even after the significant progress seen in recent years is that it has been accompanied by rapid growth of financial services firms that don’t have banking licenses or take deposits, such as insurers, mutual funds, and exchanges.

Nonbank financial intermediation, as it’s known, has grown to represent almost half of the assets of the global financial system, thereby playing a much bigger role in the global economy . Regulators must better ensure that its vulnerabilities and business models don’t amplify future shocks to markets and financial stability. Applied to the asset management sector, a key priority is to broaden the range of liquidity management tools that are available to investment funds managers.

Another priority for regulators is to reinforce financial safety nets and crisis-management arrangements, while a third is to strengthen early warning capabilities, for example, through enhanced stress-testing tools and capacities.

Emerging issues Issues like these are challenging on their own, but securities regulators can’t limit themselves

to just implementing the capital markets reform agenda that followed the global financial crisis. Rather, their priorities must also evolve and broaden in-step with the financial systems they safeguard.

That’s especially true in capital markets, where cyber resilience, fintech, and climate change are key emerging issues.

Trading venues are a focus for cybersecurity, as both supervisors and market participants aim to boost their technological and operational resilience to minimize potential market disruptions. And fintech’s promise also involves risks stemming from crypto assets and decentralized finance.

Regulators also must be vigilant amid the shift away from benchmarks like the London Interbank Offered Rate to new references for interest rate swaps and other key financial contracts. Finally, the impact of climate change will need to be appropriately reflected in financial statements, valuations, and issuer disclosures on which investors depend.

Appropriate perimeter A key priority highlighted by this wide-ranging, future work program is ensuring the adequacy of the financial regulation perimeter so that it covers all the relevant actors, activities, and instruments.

Our financial-sector assessments are still uncovering important shortcomings despite all of progress that has been made since the global financial crisis began a decade and a half ago.

Some countries, for example, appear to have regulatory gaps for asset management firms. Also, policymakers need to consider more explicitly which derivatives to regulate as part of efforts to manage risks from commodity, climate, emissions, and other carbon-related instruments.

This array of challenges raises concern given the insufficient resources for supervisors even in some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated markets—a finding IMF financial sector assessments confirm.

Post-crisis reforms implied a significant expansion of the regulatory perimeter and raised expectations of supervision needed to assess and mitigate risk, but securities regulators rarely saw a commensurate increase in resources.

Emerging challenges like new market technology and a broadening of the regulatory perimeter make it important for regulators to have a wider range of specialist expertise and to ensure that their supervisory techniques and technology keep pace. Strained resources in some jurisdictions are compounded by a lack of operational independence for authorities, which limits their ability to effectively supervise and respond to risks.

Therefore, we must keep prioritizing our push to make further progress on these key aspects of the institutional and regulatory framework underpinning capital markets.

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| MARKET REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING - JULY 1, 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

20.66%

Inflation for February, 2022

27.6%

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 strengthened for the second consecutive week on the back of gains by 2 counters. The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) gained 38.17 points (+1.52%) to close at 2,545.48 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) loss of 8.74%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) also gained 6.64 points (+0.31%) to close at 2,176.97 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) gain of 1.17%.

Market capitalization inched up by 5.19% to close the week at GH¢64,841.21 million, from GH¢61,643.87 million at the close of the previous week. This reflects YTD increase of 0.54%.

Trading activity recorded a total of 5,819,658 shares valued at GH¢6,556,541 changing hands, compared with 8,475,595 shares, valued at GH¢9,046,592 in the preceding week.

MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for the week, accounting, for 98.89% and 78.99% of volume and value of shares traded respectively.

The market ended the week with 2 advancers and 2 laggards as indicated on the table below.

THE CURRENCY MARKET The Cedi weakened against the USD for the week. It traded at GH¢7.2345/$, compared with GH¢7.2150/$ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.27% and 16.98% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 0.07% a year ago.

The Cedi strengthened against the GBP for the week.

It traded at GH¢8.7136/£, compared with GH¢8.8683/£ at week open, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 1.78% and 6.73% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 0.95% a year ago.

The Cedi also strengthened against the Euro for the week. It traded at GH¢7.5218/€, compared with GH¢7.6162/€ at week open, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 1.26% and 9.22% respectively.

This compares with YTD appreciation of 3.43% a year ago.

The Cedi meanwhile weakened against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢5.5918/C$ but closed at GH¢5.6016/C$, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.17% and 15.35% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 2.97% a year ago.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

19

| MARKET REVIEW

BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK Payback Period: The term payback period refers to the amount of time it takes to recover the cost of an investment. Simply put, it is the length of time an investment reaches a breakeven point.

Source: https: //www.investopedia.com/terms/p/ paybackperiod.asp

ABOUT CIDAN

COMMODITY MARKET Crude Oil declined as concerns over slowing economic growth have outweighed a further tightening of supply.

Brent futures traded at US$111.63 a barrel on Friday, compared to US$113.12 at week open. This reflects a w/w loss and YTD gain of 1.32% and 43.52% respectively.

Gold prices fell following a tax hike on gold imports

by Indian authorities to support the rupee. Gold settled at US$1,801.50, from US$1,828.90 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD losses of 1.50 % and 1.48% respectively.

Prices of Cocoa declined for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,265.00 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,441.50 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD losses of 7.23% and 10.12% respectively.

INTERNTIONAL COMMODITIES PRICES

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET Government raised a sum of GH¢827.53 million for the week across the 91-Day and 182-Day Treasury Bills. This compared with GH¢1,441.07 million raised in the previous week.

The 91-Day Bill settled at 25.88% p.a from 25.64% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 26.57% p.a from 26.40% 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

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022

COVID-19 drives global surge in use of digital payments The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred financial inclusion – driving a large increase in digital payments amid the global expansion of formal financial services. This expansion created new economic opportunities, narrowing the gender gap in account ownership, and building resilience at the household level to better manage financial shocks, according to the Global Findex 2021 database.

As of 2021, 76% of adults globally now have an account at a bank, other financial institution, or with a mobile money provider, up from 68% in 2017 and 51% in 2011. Importantly, growth in account ownership was evenly distributed across many more countries. While in previous Findex surveys over the last decade much of the growth was concentrated in India and China, this year’s survey found that the percentage of account ownership increased by double digits in 34 countries since 2017.

The pandemic has also led to an increased use of digital payments. In low and middle-income economies (excluding China), over 40% of adults who made merchant in-store or online payments using a card, phone, or the internet did so for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

The same was true for more than a third of adults in all low- and middleincome economies who paid a utility bill directly from a formal account.

In India, more than 80 million adults made their first digital merchant payment after the start of the pandemic, while in China over 100 million adults did.

Two-thirds of adults worldwide now make or receive a digital payment, with the share in developing economies grew from 35% in 2014 to 57% in 2021.

In developing economies, 71% have an account at a bank, other financial institution, or with a mobile money provider, up from 63% in 2017 and 42% in 2011. Mobile money accounts drove a huge increase in financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The digital revolution has catalyzed increases in the access and use of financial services across the world, transforming ways in which people make and receive payments, borrow, and save,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “Creating an enabling policy environment, promoting the digitalization of payments, and further broadening access to formal accounts and financial services among women and the poor are some of the policy priorities to mitigate the reversals in development from the ongoing overlapping crises.”

For the first time since the Global Findex database was started in 2011, the survey found that the gender gap

in account ownership has narrowed, helping women have more privacy, security, and control over their money. The gap narrowed from 7 to 4 percentage points globally and from 9 to 6 percentage points in low- and middle-income countries, since the last survey round in 2017.

About 36% of adults in developing economies now receive a wage or government payment, a payment for the sale of agricultural products, or a domestic remittance payment into an account. The data suggests that receiving a payment into an account instead of cash can kickstart people’s use of the formal financial system – when people receive digital payments, 83% used their accounts to also make digital payments. Almost two-thirds used their account for cash management, while about 40% used it to save – further growing the financial ecosystem.

Despite the advances, many adults around the world still lack a reliable source of emergency money. Only about half of adults in low- and middle-income economies said they could access extra money during an emergency with little or no difficulty, and they commonly turn to unreliable sources of finance, including family and friends.

“The world has a crucial opportunity to build a more inclusive and resilient economy and provide a gateway to prosperity for billions of people,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the supporters of the Global Findex database. “By investing in digital public infrastructure and technologies for payment and ID systems and updating regulations to foster innovation and protect consumers, governments can build on the progress reported in the Findex and expand access to financial services for all who need them.”

In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the lack of an identity document remains an important barrier holding back mobile money account ownership for 30% of adults with no account suggesting an opportunity for investing in accessible and trusted identification systems. Over 80 million adults with no account still receive government payments in cash – digitalizing some of these payments could be cheaper and reduce corruption. Increasing account ownership and usage will require trust in financial service providers, confidence to use financial products, tailored product design, and a strong and enforced consumer protection framework.

The Global Findex database, which surveyed how people in 123 economies use financial services throughout

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

2021, is produced by the World Bank every three years in collaboration with Gallup, Inc. Regional Overviews: Global Findex 2021 Regional Overviews EAP In East Asia and the Pacific, financial inclusion is a two-part story of what is happening in China versus the other economies of the region. In China, 89% of adults have an account, and 82% of adults used it to make digital merchant payments. In the rest of the region, 59% of adults have an account and 23% of adults made digital merchant payments—54% of which did so for the first time after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Double-digit increases in account ownership were achieved in Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand, while the gender gap across the region remains low, at 3 percentage points, but the gap between poor and rich adults is 10 percentage points.

ECA In Europe and Central Asia, account ownership increased by 13 percentage points since 2017 to reach 78% of adults. Digital payments usage is robust, as about three-quarters of adults used an account to make or receive a digital payment. COVID-19 drove further usage for the 10% of adults who made a digital merchant payment for the first time during the pandemic. Digital technology could further increase account use for the 80 million banked adults that continued to make merchant payments only in cash, including 20 million banked adults in Russia and 19 million banked adults in Türkiye, the region’s two largest economies.

LAC Latin America and the Caribbean saw an 18 percentage -point increase in account ownership since 2017, the largest of any developing world region, resulting in 73% of adults having an account. Digital payments play a key role, as 40% of adults paid a merchant digitally, including 14% of adults who did so for the first time during the pandemic. COVID-19 furthermore drove digital adoption for the 15% of adults who made their first utility bill payment directly from their account for the first time during the pandemic—more than twice the developing country average.

Opportunities for even greater use of digital payments remain given that 150 million banked adults made merchant payments only in cash, including more than 50 million banked adults in Brazil and 16 million banked adults in Colombia.

MENA The Middle East and North Africa

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region has made progress reducing the gender gap in account ownership from 17 percentage points in 2017 to 13 percentage points—42% of women now have an account compared to 54% of men. Opportunities abound to increase account ownership broadly by digitalizing payments currently made in cash, including payments for agricultural products and private sector wages (about 20 million adults with no account in the region received private sector wages in cash, including 10 million in the Arab Republic of Egypt). Shifting people to formal modes of savings is another opportunity given that about 14 million adults with no account in region—including 7 million women— saved using semiformal methods.

SA In South Asia, 68% of adults have an account, a share that has not changed since 2017, though there is wide variation across the region. In India and Sri Lanka, for example, 78% and 89% of adults, respectively, have an account. Account usage has grown, however, driven by digital payments, as 34% of adults used their account to make or receive a payment, up from 28% in 2017. Digital payments present an opportunity to increase both account ownership and usage, given the continued dominance of cash— even among account owners—to make merchant payments.

SSA In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile money adoption continued to rise, such that 33% of adults now have a mobile money account—a share three times larger than the 10% global average. Although mobile money services were originally designed to allow people to send remittances to friends and family living elsewhere within the country, adoption and usage have spread beyond those origins, such that 3-out-of-4 mobile account owners in 2021 made or received at least one payment that was not person-to-person and 15% of adults used their mobile money account to save. Opportunities to increase account ownership in the region include digitalizing cash payments for the 65 million adults with no account receiving payments for agricultural products, and expanding mobile phone ownership, as lack of a phone is cited as a barrier to mobile money account adoption. Adults in the region worry more about paying school fees than adults in other regions, suggesting opportunities for policy or products to enable education-oriented savings.