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A collective climate action

Today, June 10, 2022, public and private sector institutions and all well meaning Ghanaians will partake in the president’s climate action initiative dubbed “Green Ghana” to plant tress across the length and breadth of this country.

The 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Day was launched on 1st March,2022 by the President of the Republic under the theme ‘’Mobilizing for a Greener Future’’ with a target to plant at least 20 million tree seedlings nationwide.

The Green Ghana Project is aimed at planting hard wood, which could be used for timber in 10-20 years. It is expected that this exercise will improve the vegetation and forest cover as over 80 percent of this cover has been destroyed by human activity, the minister said at last year’s tree planting exercise.

The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation has announced to plant orange trees, decorative palm trees, coconut trees, mango trees, pawpaw trees and more at its enclave as well as other premises of the various agencies.

The initiative forms part of the efforts by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) and the Forestry Commission to encourage Ghanaians to plant more trees to preserve and protect the country’s forest cover and the environment in general.

The effects of climate change are dire and consequential with rippling impact on every sphere of the economy as already being witnessed in the agrarian sector.

We urge the general public to join the Green Ghana initiative as we seek to restore the nation’s ever depleting vegetation, protect the environment and take the fight to climate change.

Government seeks public support ahead of YouStart launch

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According to Mr. Ofosu Nkansah, over $2 billion was spent on food imports and that was one of the reasons governments was keen to harness the youth potential in areas that could provide alternative solution to the food imports and build the local economy.

He disclosed that the YouStart Secretariat had received unique ideas and proposals from youth and stakeholder interactions across the regions and emphasized that this information was required for the effective operation of the programme.

Mr. Andrew Ameckson a Chief Accountant at the Ministry of Finance in his presentation indicated that, the YouStart programme was anticipated to create 1 million jobs, out of which 800,000 were expected to be direct jobs to the Ghanaian youth.

He further added that, the YouStart was a national programme and that eligible applicants would be given the opportunity and support to contribute their quota to the development of the country.

Mr. Ameckson further gave some facts and figures on the youth population in the country and stated that, the overall youth population in Ghana from 15 to 35 age range was 11.7 million and the youth unemployment rate was 19.7%, estimated to be 1,140,009. The unemployed females were 22.3% estimated to be 605,451 and unemployed males were 17.4% estimated to be 534,558.

Number of workers who lost their jobs and were seeking work were estimated to be 187,763, the presentation revealed.

He showed that, 50% of the Ghanaian youth estimated to be 5,872,229 were classified as under employed, this he explained, as working below one’s capacity and that was why the YouStart was extremely essential to ensure that there was enough capacity building to get the best of the teeming youth.

Ms. Patience Arko Boham, an official of the Ministry, also touched on the features, benefits and eligibility criteria of the YouStart programme. She said that applicants were supposed to have a verifiable digital address, have a Ghana Card and two weeks training to qualify for the programme.

She revealed that, the programme was aimed to target the youth between the ages of 18 and 40 years, and after due diligence of the applications, an amount of GHC 50,000 and GHC 100,000 with 4% interest rate payable within a period of three years would be given to individuals and groups as working capital.

Civil Society Organizations present at the meeting included Network for Empowered Youth for Development, SEND GHANA, Ghana Chamber for Youth Entrepreneurs, STAR-Ghana Foundation, Strategic Youth Network for Development.

Others were African Center for Economic Transformation, Centre for Community Livelihood Development, Youth Advocate Ghana, Ghana TVET Service

Implementing agencies under the YouStart programme which included NEIP, KPMG, Legacy and Legacy, representatives from the Ghana Association of Banks were present at the meeting.

Absa Bank is transforming the SME landscape in Ghana

Ghana gets $24.98m credit to begin assembling agriculture implements

Absa Bank has set out to undo the most critical issue facing traders and small businesses in Ghana today - access to finance.

There is no doubt about it; SMEs contribute over 80% to the country’s GDP growth. These businesses are the bedrock of economic stimulation, advancement and stability. Ghana’s history and its performance to date is in some way attributable to the enterprising resourcefulness of its SMEs – especially micro-traders, artisans and small set-ups.

However, unlike their counterparts in large institutions, multinationals and other corporate setups, access to finance continues to be a critical bottleneck. In cases where access to finance becomes available, the rates are extremely high and exorbitant, which affects the willingness to apply or access.

The situation gets trickier when for specific loans, the insistence on collaterals is enforced to cut off a section of these small business operators. Many advocates have called for a second look at the economic regime and relax complications to enable such businesses to thrive. The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), the mother body for most traders and retail businesses have often bemoaned the lack of flexibility in the financing regime and has called for government and the private sector to do something about it.

It is in this light, that Absa Bank Ghana partnered with the Mastercard foundation under the Young Africa Works (YAWS) scheme to fund and train 5,000 locally-owned businesses with the aim of creating 50,000 jobs in Ghana.

The 5-year (2020-2025) strategic partnership between Absa Bank Ghana and the Mastercard Foundation (MCF) has a goal to create dignified and fulfilling jobs for young men and women in Ghana. The project also supports MSMEs through capacity building, training and lending.

As part of implementing its capacity building mandate, YAWS will assign Business Development Service (BDS) providers to these individual SMEs to identify the gaps in their business operations and proffer bespoke training and solutions in addressing them. After the training, these businesses would be further assessed for lending purposes in order to ensure the sustainability of their establishments.

The other day in Accra, in front of over 350 members of GUTA, Absa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the executives of GUTA, outlining in great detail the terms of the partnership, including the nature of businesses that qualify to access loans under the YAWS scheme.

Absa bank has even gone above its call of duty to defray a lot of associated costs that affect businesses when they access loans in Ghana. For example, the MOU allows businesses under GUTA to access loans of up to GHC500,000 without collateral and GHC1,000,000 without collateral to women-owned businesses, with an additional 1% discount for all eligible businesses.

“What Absa Bank has done is a welcome gesture in government’s drive to empower and sustain these businesses in advancing the country’ economic growth. I want to urge the traders and business folk gathered here to focus on how to carefully manage the returns on your business in order to ensure sustainability and continuity. Let us refrain from unnecessary spending on perishable items and instead reinvest in the business,’ said Deputy Minister, Honorable Nana Ama Dokuah, who was the special guest of honour at the MOU signing ceremony.

The faces of the traders at the ceremony reflected a high sense of optimism and excitement about the prospect of seeing their businesses transform with the partnership. To add to the energy in the room, videos of former loan recipients sharing testimonies of their transformation were shared on the screens by Absa Bank. These videos did a lot in reinforcing the viability of the partnership and a call to action.

Commenting on the collaboration with GUTA, Managing Director, Abena Osei-Poku, with excitement in her voice, highlighted what the association with GUTA means for the bank.

“I hope that by the end of this session and the signing of the MOU, you will be left in no doubt about Absa’s commitment to stand beside you, in ensuring that your success and growth are guaranteed, making you ready to participate fully in the huge opportunity that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) presents. We hope to use this avenue to firmly entrench our position as the go-to bank for all your needs and expectations.”

So, whether you are a microlevel business operator or fall in the category of a medium-sized business in Ghana, you need not be burdened by the inadequate access to funds for expansion and diversification. The Absa – Mastercard Foundation partnership falls right into the heart of your specific need and is the panacea for overcoming the future challenges in the sector.

Ghana is expected to start the assembling of agricultural implements to support smallholder farmers, improve and diversify the agriculture sector and create jobs for many Ghanaians.

The Government through the Finance Ministry signed an US$24.98 million credit facility with the Government of India, represented by the Exim Bank of India for the establishment of an assembly plant at Esieninpong in the Ashanti Region.

The amount would be used for the building of the structure for the assembling plant, supply of knockdowns and fabrication of agric implements.

The construction and installation of plants and machinery and other civil works are expected to be completed in 18 months for the assembling of tractors, backhoe loaders, power tillers, power reapers, power pumps, and paddy threshers in the country.

About 4,500 tractors, 600 backhoe loaders, 6,000-disc harrow and ploughs, 3,000 power tillers are expected to be assembled in the country annually.

It is expected that the products will be exported to neighbouring African countries to generate income for Ghana.

This would support agricultural mechanisation, reduce the importation of foreign goods, and lessen inflationary and exchange rate pressures, and help create more jobs in the agric value chain to reduce poverty.

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister, signed on behalf of the Government of Ghana, while Mr Selver Kumar, Resident Representative, Exim Bank, India, signed for the Government of India.

In his remarks, Mr Ofori-Atta said the project was in line with Government’s initiatives to formalise the Ghanaian economy and improve the agriculture sector, diversify the country’s manufacturing base, and overhaul its development agenda. “Ultimately, the project is expected to significantly transform Ghana’s agriculture sector, create jobs, raise incomes, reduce malnutrition, and help accelerate economic growth,” he said.

He said the agreement marked another significant milestone in advancing bilateral economic relations between Ghana and India and reaffirmed their mutual commitment and determination to broaden and deepen their bilateral cooperation.

Mr Ankrah added that the provision of the assembling plants in the country would be a major contributing factor to the success of the Government’s flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme.

“The assembling plant will boost the mechanisation agenda of Government and reduce the importation of goods from foreign countries, which in the long run will help to reduce the pressure on major trading foreign currencies such as the dollar,” he said.

Mr Kumar also emphasised on the contribution of the project to the Ghanaian economy, noting that it would help create more jobs particularly for the youth and be a game changer for the people and the economy.

Mr Soral of Action Construction Equipment Ltd said that while most of the knockdown implements would be brought from India for the start of the project, it would include some local content with time.

“Initially, it will be an assembling plant, but gradually, it will become a 100 percent manufacturing plant that will manufacture each component of the item,” he told the Ghana News Agency.

Meanwhile, five Ghanaians from MoFA are to be given on-the-job training on the assembling plants in India, with India taking care of the cost involved, in addition to the provision of technical support for 12 months to the country.