Business24 Newspaper 27 May 2022

NEWS FOR B U SINESS LEA DERS

BUSINESS24.COM.G H | FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Fast-rising Fintech bankingly closes successful investment round for US$11m //MORE ON PAGE 4

Parliament to approve TDB Charter …. access to longterm capital for infrastructural dev’t //MORE ON PAGE 3

GMB 2021 winner, Sarfoa launches Prisons Reform Project

By Eugene Davis //MORE ON PAGE 5

Speaker summons OforiAtta over covid funds

By Eugene Davis

President unveils ultramodern dredgers of Dredge Masters //MORE ON PAGE 3

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has asked the clerk of parliament to summon the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to the House over expenditure of Covid-19 funds that was approved last year.

Parliament in 2021 approved a request by the government for an additional $200m loan the World Bank for the Covid-19 Emergency Preparedness Plans 1 and 2 in 2020.

His directive follows a new request by the Finance Committee on a Financing Agreement between Government and the

European Investment Bank (EIB) for 75m euros for Covid-19 Health Response Ghana Project.

Ruling on the issue, the Speaker said “I see that there is the unwillingness of members to go with the committee until the monies that have been expended on covid-19 are accounted for, in principle from the contributions members are not against getting such “cheap” money but first account for what has been given to you before we go ahead to approve the cheap money. //MORE ON PAGE 2

2

|

THEBUSINESS24ONLINE.COM

News/Editorial

Promoting safe and regular migration in Ghana The menace of irregular and unsafe migration is a hanging albatross on the necks of most governments across the West African sub-region and Ghana is no exception. The rising rates of unemployment and unstable living conditions are a few of the reasons that keep the nation’s young and idle youth on the move in search of ‘greener pastures’ as they prefer to term it, but in most cases non-existent.

The absence of real-time and reliable data on irregular migration in Ghana, as is the case globally, also makes it difficult to quantify the harm of such irregular movements and for subsequent policy actions to tackle the situation.

WAKAWell by IOM X is an online platform, WAKAwell.info/Ghana, which provides reliable and tailored information on migration pathways for countries and information about local opportunities including education, professional training, business development and employment available in these communities.

As the official site for the IOM X project, it is

a web-based directory that serves as a guide to persons that may be seeking to migrate to other parts of West Africa for greener pastures, education, work and other approved reasons for migration.

The data generated from the Ghana project is published on the site within the context of providing access to broad-based knowledge and database that will enable people to make informed decisions on their migration aspirations across West Africa.

With several of the country’s perishing in their quest for greener pastures, the IOM X campaign will drive home the need for safe and regular migration whilst providing the needed guidance and informational support for migrants within the sub-region and beyond.

Speaker summons Ofori-Atta over covid funds continued from page 1

L im ite d Copyright @ 2019 Business24 Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Your subscription along with the support of businesses that advertise in Business24 -- makes an investment in journalism that is essential to keep the business community in Ghana wellinformed.

We value your support and loyalty.

Contact: editor@business24.com.gh Newsroom: 030 296 5315 Advertising / Sales: +233 24 212 2742

They are not happy and will not support government to go in for domestic loans because it will be more expensive, we are prepared to support government to go in for such cheap monies but kindly tell us how you have utilized what you have approved.

The people of Ghana have been blaming the executive arm of government for some of these things, I think it is parliament that should be blamed not executive, we have what it takes to make sure the right thing is done, parliament that is weak and reneging on its duties and functions, and so I will complete my submission by directing that the Ministry of Finance should appear before this House and account for all the monies that we have approved for the utilization for covid pandemic. It is only after that, that this motion may find expression again to approve or disapprove by this House,” Mr. Bagbin said.

The new financial request has been met with stiff opposition from the minority who have threatened to reject it when it is brought back to the House after it was stood down because the legislature was not properly constituted.

In Ghana, the first official cases of COVID-19 were reported on 12 March 2020. The Health Minister announced the nation’s first two confirmed cases in Accra. The two

cases were identified as people who had returned to the country from Norway and Turkey.

The government before the first case of COVID-19 in Ghana was confirmed, had proactively put together the GH¢560

million National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) for COVID-19 to manage and contain the spread of the virus and strengthen the national capacity for surveillance, diagnosis, and case management.

3

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Parliament to approve TDB Charter…. access to long-term capital for infrastructural dev’t

By Eugene Davis Parliament is expected to approve and ratify the Charter establishing the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB Charter) so as to enable Ghana become a Member-State.

This was contained in the Finance Committee report on the Request for Parliamentary Ratification of the Charter Establishing the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB Charter).

The report which went through all the stages of approval on Thursday, but stopped short of final resolution and had to be suspended due to the “House not being properly constituted”, Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh said on the floor.

According to the report, in arriving at the decision to join TDB, two options were considered by government of Ghana; firstly, to consider Ghana’s accession to TDB and secondly to maintain the status quo and decline the offer to join the TDB. Option one was informed by the expected benefits to be derived from the accession to the TDB. Ghana faces an annual infrastructure deficit of approximately US$5bn. It is expected

that the country will leverage on its accession to raise long term capital from TDB for infrastructure development. It will also improve access to cheaper long-term financing for infrastructure investment which is an important enabler for economic development.

Option two was to maintain the status quo and decline the offer to join TDB. When this option is followed, Ghana will not be a member of TDB and therefore would not benefit from its capacity.

Separate motorway contract from Charter The Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Governs Kwame Agbodza has asked the finance committee

to isolate the TDB charter from the motorway expansion contract.

Commenting on the motion during the debate stage, he insisted that the motorway contract should not have been captured in the TDB charter and requested for its removal.

He explained his concerns to Business24 in an interview after sitting on Thursday that “We are not against Ghana ratifying the charter at all and we encouraged government to do that, what we are concerned about is that ..in the report (page 6 of 8) that ratifies the charter, there is line that suggest that the bank or fund is interested in funding a US$600m Accra-Tema motorway, as far as I am concerned there is no contract for Accra-Tema motorway, what the minister signed on the 16th of December 2020 is an illegality, and I have called on the minister[roads and highways] to use clause 7 of that agreement to terminate it because they said three months after that if the contract does not come into effect, any of the parties can walk away without any legal or financial recourse.”

“The reason I am against it is that the contract is in breach of Article 185, when you read the details of that

contract, at the point of evaluating the bid, sole source bid, the engineers had cause to complain that the US$570m is 39percent above the engineers’ figure.

That amount of money can build 13 new district hospitals, 2,900 chps compound, so I am saying let’s separate the motorway contract from the ratification, let the ratification go, if in the future we do the right thing and fund the motorway.

But to prevent we have a legitimate contract with Mota-Engil Engenharia E Construcao Africa S.A., I insist we do not have that,” he added.

The Speaker subsequently in consultation with the plenary asked that the portion of the report containing TDB’s interest in participating in the financing of the US$600m Accra-Tema Motorway and Extensions project be expunged from the report.

TDB was established in 1985 as a multilateral,treaty based Development Financial Institution(DFI)with assets of over US$6bn and immunities and privileges like the African Development Bank(AfDB) and the World Bank Group.

President unveils ultra-modern dredgers of Dredge Masters President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has commissioned two ultra-modern IHC Beaver 50 dredgers and marine equipment of Dredge Masters Limited (DML), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies ( JGC).

Unveiling the dredging equipment at the parking yard of DML at Adjei Kojo in Ashaiman, Accra on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, the President said this new fleet of DML will not only help curb the yearly flooding in Accra but also improve marine lives.

He commended Dredge Masters for their continuous role in supporting his government’s quest to find a permanent fix, especially to the perennial flooding in parts of Accra.

He indicated that dredging companies have traditionally contributed to coastal protection.

“For us in Ghana, Dredge Masters has made significant contributions in this area, and the introduction today of the two ultra-modern IHC Beaver 50 dredgers means that Ghana, within the West African market, has her own indigenous company which can dredge to a depth of 16 metres,” he disclosed.

With this development, the President pointed out that Ghana will not need to look outside anymore when it comes to the dredging of dams, reservoirs, ports, harbours and land reclamation activities.

According to him, from 2017, his government has invested GHC450 million in various flood-control measures, all in an effort to end flooding in the capital city.

Climate change, he said, was already in Africa, noting that this was being witnessed in the unprecedented floods in West Africa, depletion of forests, vastly altered rain patterns that are threatening agriculture production and food security among others.

“All these are undermining Africa’s ability to grow and develop to bring prosperity to its people,” he said.

He reaffirmed that his administration was committed to creating an enabling environment not only for the private sector to survive but also to thrive.

President Akufo-Addo used the chance to charge all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to ensure regular desilting of drains and gutters within their jurisdictions to allow the free flow of water during the raining season.

In this regard, he urged them to lead in the demolition of all unauthorised structures built on waterways.

“Any MMDCE who fails to carry out this exercise across the country would be held accountable,” he sternly warned.

The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye,

in a brief remark, lauded DML’s contributions towards fighting flooding in Accra.

While admitting that flooding in Accra has become an annual ritual which continues to pose grave risks to lives and properties, he admonished Ghanaians to desist from practices that further compound the phenomenon.

“We remain committed to partnering with DML to address the flooding problem in Accra and other parts of the country,” he assured.

For his part, the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiama, announced that his ministry will seek a very strong collaboration with DML to develop the Volta Lake to inure to the benefit of the people of the region and the country as a whole.

In his welcome address, the Executive Chairman of the JGC, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, indicated that the IHC Beaver 50 is an ultra-modern dredging equipment, which is a top of the range equipment for dredging in the world.

He said these two beavers come to augment the already existing fleet of DML. “Dredge Masters Limited is introducing these Ultra- Modern IHC Built Cutter Suction Dredgers 5014/16 (Named Akua Boahenmaa and Abena Ayinfua) and associated Marine equipment which bring the capability of dredging up to 16 meters

deep and the capacity to carry out large scale reclamation.” ...The total investment by the company in all marine equipment stands at 54 million Euros,” he revealed.

The dredgers, he explained, can undertake mega projects at ports and harbours, reservoirs and dams, reclamation of lands from sea, environmental and climate change mitigation works and flood control.

According to Dr. Siaw Agyepong, Dredge Masters Limited started with the acquisition of four ultra-modern amphibious dredgers from Aquamec.

“These dredgers along with long boom excavators, barges and earth moving equipment dredged from Odaw Channel to the Korle lagoon (from Caprice to the sea) to restore hydrological capacity of the channel.

The fleet has been augmented with two more amphibious dredgers, long booms and other equipment over the years. Today, we have over 70 units of various dredging equipment,” he further disclosed.

He assured of his dredging company’s commitment to quality, sustainability, environmental protection and upholding high standards.

“The company is also fully committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in all its endeavours,” he added.

4

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Fast-rising Fintech bankingly closes successfuliInvestment round for US$11m Bankingly accelerates its growth with the culmination of a successful investment round for a total of $11 million USD. The round was led by Dalus Capital, and accompanied by IDB Lab, IDC Ventures, Athos Group, Kube Ventures, Grupo Finacess, iThink VC, Sonen Capital and Oikocredit. The new investors join existing ones that include, among others, Elevar Equity and Endeavor Catalyst.

Bankingly positions itself as a strategic partner of financial institutions for their digital transformation, focusing on the development of customer-facing applications and digital channels.

The company specifically looks to partner with cooperatives, microfinance institutions and small and medium banks from emerging markets, which have gained momentum in terms of financial inclusion from the technological wave of the postpandemic world.

Today, Bankingly has nearly 100 subscribed financial institutions in Latin America and Africa to its SaaS platform. This new round of investment will allow the company to expand into 25 new markets, deepen its presence in Latin America, boost development in Africa and facilitate entry into highpotential Asian markets.

A second pillar of its strategy for this year will be the expansion of its own offer and the start-up of a marketplace for commercial partner products that enhance the value of the existing SaaS platform that currently has more than 3.5 million users under contract, a number which is also growing rapidly.

Martín Naor, CEO and Founder of Bankingly, stated: “We created Bankingly with the vision of offering reliable and robust digital transformation tools at an affordable cost and a variable payment model that matches the institutional investment. In a few weeks, the digital channel will be fully operational, which will spur a revolutionary development in terms of what used to be a costly, long, and tedious process.

Our focus has always been the enhancement of personalized relationships with our clients and in this sense, we have managed to successfully replicate the experience offered by the physical world, adding the benefits of a digital channel.

This new round of investment allows us to access a virtuous circle of growth opportunities in the world of payment methods, remittances, and emerging

business models for financial institutions. Without a doubt, we are changing the industry and bringing premium digital services to a historically underserved customer segment. I am proud of the team; they have done an incredible job so far and I am excited about the clear path forward to the exceptional position we will undoubtedly build throughout 2022.”

Solomon Koomson, Business Development Manager for Ghana stated, ”Technology is quickly becoming the core of financial services globally and paving the way for smart and simple banking solutions. It has transformed the finance industry, and Bankingly is at the forefront of this change.

Through our mobile and web platforms, we are enabling financial health and inclusion in Africa. Today we have great innovative products included in our services such as: Digital Onboarding of clients, products

and cards, Digital Origination of Loans, a Fraud Monitoring solution that fortifies potential gateways into the digital world and a multi-channel transactional Chatbot that includes WhatsApp. This new round of investment marks an important milestone for the company, boosts the possibilities we have for expansion and materializes the growth we project for Ghana and all the African regions.”

Diego Serebrisky, Founding Managing Partner of Dalus Capital, stated: “At Dalus Capital we are tremendously excited about the opportunities that are ahead for Bankingly, which today is the leading global SaaS technology company focused on the digital transformation of financial institutions in emerging countries for customers. We are proud to support Bankingly in its growth and expansion as it is contributing to the financial inclusion of millions of people,

first in Latin America and Africa and soon in Southeast Asia.”

About Bankingly Founded in 2015, Bankingly is a fintech company with the vision of transforming the way in which financial institutions in emerging markets promote their digital channel and, therefore, facilitate the financial inclusion of millions of people around the world. The provision of technologies hosted in the cloud, with a SaaS business model, based on the number of active users that each institution achieves, allows Bankingly clients to adjust their costs to the benefits achieved. Through a brief, optimized implementation process with high functionality and cybersecurity standards, the Bankingly platform offers a mobile application, a transactional website, a chatbot and multiple other products. Today, more than 1,500,000 people from nearly 100 entities trust Bankingly’s technology.

5

| FEATURE

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

GMB 2021 winner, Sarfoa launches Prisons Reform Project

By Eugene Davis

The 2021 Ghana’s Most Beautiful winner, Benedicta Sarfoa Asamoah has launched her ‘Prisons Reform Project’(PRP) aimed at supporting persons in the correctional centers(prisons), bringing reformation through provision of requisite skills to make reintegration into the society easy.

The PRP which is under the “Safoa project” is her maiden social intervention to afford people the opportunity to be the ideal version of themselves to live optimally and contribute towards national development.

Speaking at a colourful launch of the event at the Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem Park at Manhyia in Kumasi in the Ashanti region, Ms. Asamoah said amidst all the

challenges in the prisons “there is overcrowding, inadequate equipment, tools, raw materials for these people to train with, but the Safoa project will seek to unlock all the dormant and relegated potentials that are hidden in our prison systems.”

She urged all stakeholders in the country to join forces to lend a hand to the prison service to ensure that the needed reforms are attained.

The wife of Asantehene, Lady Julia Osei Tutu, who was a guest of honour said the Ashanti region was excited about her victory and grateful for what she has done for Asanteman.

She also added that the project she has chosen was a good one, stressing that “prisoners belong to us and it is based on circumstances that they find themselves in prison.”

“Manhyia is behind you and we will do everything possible to support you, we will get Otumfuo Charity Foundation to talk to you and support you.”

The Director General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Isaac Kofi Egyir, was enthused about the partnership, maintaining “to have a contestant select a prison project is a rare choice many a

person would have opted for” He admitted that the situation at the prisons was not the best but added efforts through government has been made to tackle the overcrowding menace.

Mr.Egyir also noted that mindful of formal and nonformal education facilities for inmates, steps have been taken to have inmates enroll in various educational programmes, from tertiary to junior high.

According to him, 142 inmates are enrolled at the University of Cape Coast educational programmes and 397 inmates have been registered to write final exams by end of the year at various levels.

A special guest at the event, Mrs Irene Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, in an address stated that the prisons are plaqued with numerous challenges that needs to be resolved to ensure it does not become a burden in society.

According to her, most prisons are over populated, with sleeping conditions being a pitiable sight thereby compromising proper monitoring and control of prisoners.

To tackle some of these challenges, she proposed a number of strategies including

a housing system, enforcement of non-custodial sentences -probation, community service and the expansion of current infrastructure to house more inmates.

H.E Eliphas Barine, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Ghana called for total support for a “budding lady” and stated that her country will also be rallying behind her.

Francis Doku, the General Manager of TV3 commended Sarfoa for her choice of project and promised that his organization will always be on hand to support her.

“She has come this far and we will continue to support her in her implementation stage.”

The event attracted lots of donations from eminent persons including the Queenmother of the Ashanti kingdom, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, who donated GHc10,000 for the project.

Others include donations from Asantehene Secretariat, Dr.Kweku Oteng, Irene Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, her hometown chief, Regent for Akrokyere, Nana Kofi Berchie II and Akrokyere Hemaa,Nana Serwaa Bruwaah II, and old students of Yaa Asantewaa Girls among others

6

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

7

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

SMEs need an alternative capital market - Investment Banker The head of Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kobby Bentsi-Enchil, has advocated the development of an alternative capital market for small businesses to enable them raise adequate financing for business growth.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day West Africa Capital Market Conference (WACMaC) in Accra, on the topic: “Access to finance via cross-border listings on stock and fixed income exchange”, he said the intervention could be key in addressing the inadequacy of attractive instruments for small businesses in the West African sub-region.

“Small businesses are unable to list on local bourses due to inherent challenges. Small businesses are confronted with challenges such as corporate governance and compliance, perceived high credit risk, inadequate or incomplete business disclosures and unclear growth strategies.

However, providing options for second and third tier alternative market board listings with relaxed listing requirements, including entry barriers and disclosure requirements could be an incentive for local businesses to list on bourses,” he said.

Mr Bentsi-Enchil also elaborated on some of the reasons for the hesitancy of foreign capital inflow into domestic markets in West Africa.

He mentioned unattractive returns on investments, capital controls and convertibility risks, lack of robust continuing disclosure standards, limited access to current real time information and relative illiquidity in the secondary markets as some of the main reasons for the hesitancy in foreign capital inflow.

In addressing the challenges confronting West Africa’s capital markets, Mr Bentsi-Enchil advocated for collaboration among key stakeholders across the various countries.

According to him, “Collaboration and collaborative efforts are critical to improving access to finance. There has to be coordinated efforts between Ministries of Finance within jurisdictions to encourage potential issuers to pursue cross-border listings. Member countries should also consider increased collaboration on issuer solicitation, information sharing, regulation and reporting standards as well as concessions on fees and levies.”

“There is also the need for regional bourses to explore collaboration with multilateral institutions and global stock exchanges while engaging in consistent investor education to enumerate benefits of investing in cross border listing.

Also, leveraging the benefit of AfCFTA’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPPS) is one key tool that could facilitate regional integration,” he added.

The two-day conference is being organised by the West African Securities Regulators Association (WASRA).

WASRA is the regional body for Capital Market Regulators in West Africa with the mandate of facilitating cooperation and consultation among capital markets in the West African region.

The event, which is being held under the theme: “Deepening and strengthening the capital markets across West Africa through effective regulation”, brings together relevant stakeholders

and experts, including regulatory agencies, market operators, inter-regional economic bodies, academics, among others, to share experiences and deliberate on best practices to improve West Africa’s Capital Markets. WACMaC is a biennial event that seeks to

present the West African region, and indeed Africa as a whole, the opportunity to address important issues related to the orderly growth and development of the regional and continental capital markets.

Elon Musk’s net worth plummets again SpaceX and Tesla Inc chief executive Elon Musk’s net worth has dropped below US$200billion again.

Tesla’s share price fell 7% overnight knocking Musk’s net worth to a mere US$192.7bn.

Musk remains the world’s richest person even so and is still far ahead of space exploration rival and Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, who is second on the list with a net worth estimated at US$127.8bn.

Tesla was already on the slide after the S&P Global Ratings’ decision to drop it from its ESG index, a decision that wiped US$12bn from the tech billionaire’s net worth.

Musk’s fortune last fell below the US$200bn threshold in March, though a rally in the markets lifted saw it bounce to US$288bn on April 4, according to the wealth index.

On the same day, Musk announced he had acquired 9% of Twitter Inc and announced a takeover bid days later and eventually won board approval, but doubts have grown amid a tech stock rout that hit both companies’ share prices.

Musk said earlier this month the deal would be on hold until Twitter Inc published proof of the number of accounts controlled by bots, whereas Twitter says the purchase is proceeding normally.

8

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Celebrating Fairtrade impact: Fairtrade advocates for Living Income for farmers International Trade in the global south has traditionally been with key agricultural commodities such as cocoa, coffee, cashew among others. Whiles production cost involves a lot on the part of the farmers (purchase of approved inputs, application of fertilizers, equipment) as well as ensuring that production is sustainable and environmentally friendly, sometimes farmers do not get the right price for their produce to enable them meet their cost of production and earn decent incomes for their families.

This leads to a vicious cycle of poverty with many subsistence farmers living below the poverty line, thus affecting their standard of living.

As a global movement, Fairtrade advocates for fair prices for farmers and workers in order for them to meet their cost of production, as well as earn decent livelihoods to take care of their families. Through Fairtrade premiums, farmer cooperatives are able to come together to support initiatives that build their

interventions such as capacity building on good agricultural practices, environmental sustainability, income and product diversification as well as issues such as child protection and the promoting of the rights of agricultural workers in hired labour organisations.

Through its Living Income strategy which was developed in 2017, Fairtrade in partnership with its commercial partners has under taken several programmatic interventions that ensure that the root causes of poverty are addressed for smallholder farmers. The Living Wage strategy for hired labour workers also ensure decent wages for workers while also advocating for decent working conditions and the respect for rights of workers.

In 2020, Fairtrade published its first Living Income Progress Report which also outlined initiatives undertaken such as the introduction of farm records to build the entrepreneurial skills to improve farm profitability.

Through the roll- out of

Through Living Income projects with multiple commercial partners both in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, many farmers have received additional income, and have also benefitted from income diversification efforts outside the main crop season. Producers now venture in initiatives such as bee keeping, vegetable gardening, snail farming, rice farming, baking, beading, dress making, soap making among others.

Trainings received from Fairtrade has also enabled producers to also create Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) that have supported members in their personal situations and in medical emergencies. Through the establishment of these community savings and loans schemes, cooperatives offer low interest credit to members. Some cooperatives have furthered established formal savings and loans companies. Some producer organisations have also been able to give cash bonus to farmers for the payment of children school

communities and ensure the provision of essential amenities and social services to complement existing infrastructure.

In West Africa, the success story of Fairtrade producer organisations is like that of the many Fairtrade producers all over the world. With a total of 324 producer organisations, representing over 300,000 farmers and workers, Fairtrade has been able to strengthen farmer organisations to be viable business entities through

the Living Income strategy, Fairtrade and its commercial partners together with producer organisations have introduced projects that help to strengthen these organisations, whiles also committing to increased volumes and market opportunities for their produce. Projects such as the West Africa Cocoa Programme have helped farmer cooperatives build strong systems in the areas of governance, internal management systems and financial management.

fees and hiring of labour etc.

Through country networks such as the Fair Trade Ghana Network and the Ivorian Fair Trade Network, the principles and movement for change continues with member organisations. Speaking on the impact of Fairtrade, the President of Fair Trade Ghana Network, Mrs. Florence Blankson outlined the important role the network has played in helping members secure market opportunities for exporting their products, as well

as the learning opportunities that exchange visits to partner network countries within Africa had brought to the individual cooperatives and organisations that form part of the Ghana network. She further added that over the years, Fair Trade Ghana Network had partnered with organisations such as Commerce Equitable de France (CEF) – Fair Trade France, Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF), Fairtrade Africa and Shared Interest.

Through Fairtrade, the members of the Fair Trade Ghana Network have also received sponsorships to attend international trade shows, conferences, workshops and seminars such as the 2018 World Cocoa Conference in Berlin, Germany and the 2018 Fairtrade Africa Convention in Kenya.

Members have also benefitted from various capacity building programmes such as learning visits to the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG). There have also been Business Development training programmes organised for the network in funded by Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund; training on Advocacy work to address producers concerns on low producer prices; as well as capacity building on Business Organisation & Management and Biodiversity.

On his part, Edward Akapire, Head of Region, Fairtrade Africa West Africa Region, commented on the important role Fairtrade Africa has played in building the capacity of individual farmers and the national Fair Trade networks in order to empower farmers to address some of the challenges relating to sustainability and trade. “Fairtrade has improved the income and living conditions of farmers and workers and we continue to advocate for Fair Trade as an alternative to the conventional international trade”.

Fairtrade continues to support farmers and workers to be resilient whiles ensuring partnerships with key stakeholders in the trade and agricultural industry.

Fairtrade strongly supports the LID implementation by the governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire and continues to encourage its commercial partners to fully support the initiative to improve the income of cocoa Farmers.

9

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

IOM Ghana launch campaign to help youth make informed migration-related decisions The International Organization for Migration (IOM) with young people, local authorities and with support from the Migration Information Centre in Sunyani, have launched the “WAKAWell, Fa Kwan Pa So” Campaign in Sunyani yesterday.

The campaign aims at preventing exploitation associated with irregular migration by empowering young people in the Bono and Bono East regions to make informed migration-related decisions.

In Ghana, young people aged 15-25 often find themselves at a crossroads wherein they must decide whether to migrate, and if so, how they should do it. This is a key moment in their lives where the actions they take will have substantive consequences.

An IOM study conducted in the cities of Techiman and Sunyani, in October 2021, revealed that 19% of people are aware of the risks of irregular migration but still believe that migrating is the ‘only way to improve their lives’. Regarding the source of information, the study revealed that 3 out of 4 respondents aged 15-35 use social media for

information on migration, among them, 98 per cent use WhatsApp and 88 per cent use Facebook not knowing whether the information is accurate or not. This shows a gap in access to accurate and trustworthy information (both online and in-person) on how to migrate abroad regularly and

migration experiences and individual definitions of success.

The videos were created as a result of participatory workshops that brought together 16 young people from Sunyani (Bono region), Techiman (Bono East region) and nearby communities to actively shape the design of the

what the available opportunities are at home are.

To address this, WAKAWell Fa Kwan Pa So campaign by IOM X ( IOM X is IOM’s campaign to encourage safe migration and public action to stop exploitation and human trafficking.) includes a series of videos highlighting

campaign.

“I foresee this campaign to have great impact on the lives of young people. Knowing there are opportunities here in Ghana we can take advantage of, I believe will reduce the urge to embark on irregular migration. I am happy that this campaign is being

shaped by young people like myself for other young people in the region,” said Victor Gyabaah, a teacher and a participant of the workshop.

WAKAWell by IOM X also features an online platform, WAKAwell. info/Ghana, which provides reliable and tailored information on migration pathways for countries and information about local opportunities including education, professional training, business development and employment available in these communities.

“For us, at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the youth is key to many of our interventions. We work together with our partners to empower young people to make well-informed migration choices.

Through our interventions we have seen a lot of young people embark on dangerous journeys – in search for better opportunities elsewhere. Today, WakaWell is here and we hope the young people in these communities take advantage of it and visit the website for safe migration options,” said Ms Abibatou Wane, IOM Ghana Chief of Mission.

AngloGold Ashanti begins financial literacy awareness program for women in Obuasi

By Sampson Manu It has become difficult to fathom an equal world without empowering women with equal social and economic opportunities. Making women financially literate is one of the most important areas.

AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has taken it upon itself to educate women in its operational areas in basic financial management to boost the financial performance of their businesses and enhance entrepreneurship in Obuasi.

According to Mavis Nana Yaa Kyei, the Social Development and Gender Superintendent of AngloGold Ashanti, strengthening the competencies of women in all sectors of the economy was critical to ensure inclusive development agenda and making the communities where AGA operate better off.

Speaking at the sidelines of the end of a 2-day financial literacy training for the first cohort of 60 women in Obuasi, she said the mining company sees women as a group who needs to be empowered in the quest of

ensuring attaining equity in all spheres.

She emphasized that the training program is targeted at empowering over 400 women for the year 2022 the knowledge of managing their finances and taking the right financial decisions as far as their businesses are concerned. “ Once you want to empower women, you just don’t have to empower them socially but economically to enable them make definitive decisions about their finances to ensure sustainable business growth “.

She revealed that the company through it Enterprise

Development and Skills Development Program realized that out of the 200 application received less than 20 % were women with limited Documentation on basic knowledge regarding their inflows and outflows which had denied some the opportunity to be part of the Business Development Program organised by AGAG and implemented by Invest in Africa , the company decided to step in to bridge the gap by giving women training to build their banking and book keeping skills.

Mrs.Kyei affirmed that the program will run on a monthly basis and will capture areas such as, Financial Planning and Financial decision making for micro/small business, Manual Book-Keeping ,Calculation skillsusing calculator for transactions, Building a positive banking habit

and Knowledge on the types of Accounts available to microbusinesses (savings, current, fixed deposit).

Madam Vivian Elsie Obeng, a participant of the program lauded AngloGold Ashanti for the program. She disclosed that the program has been an eye opener and will enable her to depart from her old ways of doing business without keeping proper records of her Finances. “ it has always been my aim as a distributor of bottled water to work with big institutions like AGA. With the knowledge gained in bookkeeping and how to invest for the future, I will be well placed to work with them hopefully”. She added with a big smile.

Madam Cynthia Mba who is physically challenged also talked about the impact of the training program.

She admonished women in Obuasi, regardless of their situation to take advantage of the program to boost their knowledge of managing the inflows and outflows of their businesses effectively.

10

| FEATURE

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Promoting innovation in Ghana’s Fintech industry; Israel partners with Ghana for inclusive growth

By Juliana Yorke Have you imagined a world where tomorrow is already here? Have you thought of the most simple, efficient and safer way of managing your finances, investing in cryptocurrency, paying your monthly bills or even supporting a social or cultural project?

Then let me introduce you to one country that is currently leading the way with an established and thriving ecosystem - Israel, the Startup Nation.

Israel is where the next big thing in the dynamic fintech world is being developed.

Considered a world power due to their expertise and entrepreneurial spirit, the Israeli innovation in the world of fintech is being developed to make lives easier, more sophisticated and safer.

The high demand for digital financial services encourages investors to significantly increase their investments in Israeli fintech companies.

Over 40 multinational financial companies such as Dutch Bank, Barclays, Citibank, HSBC, Paypal, Visa among others have chosen Israel as their Research and Development centres. This is because, the Israeli fintech ecosystem is created out of the desire to think outside the box.

It also provides a compact ecosystem where everything is in close proximity – be it financial companies, banks, R&D centres, leading academic accelerators, investors and entrepreneurs.

Additionally, Israel’s Ministry of Economy gives incentives to support the fintech ecosystem to compete in the global market.

Israel’s fintech portfolio has more than 750 startups and companies including over a dozen fintech unicorns in sectors such as payments, insurtech, lending, banking and more.

In Findexable’s 2021 Global Fintech Rankings, Israel ranked in the top three countries for fintech, behind only the US and UK. Tel

Aviv was no less impressive, ranking fifth in the fintech hub rankings.

Amongst the cutting-edge fintech offerings coming out of Israel are solutions for payments, back-office operations, antifraud, insurtech, personal finance, lending and financing, and trading and investing, international monetary transfer and currency exchange; personal finance management; lending and financing; anti-fraud, risk and compliance; enterprise solutions; payments; and trading and investing.

The fintech sector in Ghana is evolving at an admirable rate as well. Today, one can think of taking loans, making payments, crowd sourcing and managing financial assets from a mobile phone. Among the reasons for this growth is a high mobile connection rate (130% in 2020), growing internet penetration rate (48% in 2020) and above average numeracy skills.

It is also worthy to mention the critical role that telecommunication companies play in the fintech ecosystem in Ghana. In the last decade, they have served as the bedrock for most payments systems in the fintech space popularly known as mobile money. In the first quarter of 2021, mobile money transactions outstripped cheques

by GHC 232 billion. Focusing on digitalization as a tool for growth, government through the Bank of Ghana has setup an office to oversee the growth of fintech and innovation in Ghana’s financial service delivery.

Despite the growth and success stories, Ghana’s fintech sector still battles generally with increasing fraudulent activities and cybercrimes. There is also the issue of high interest rates and credit scoring remains a challenge. With Israel being a global leader in innovation and fintech, and Ghana being a leader in mobile wallet usage as

well as a regional fintech hub; collaboration between Israeli and Ghanaian fintechs holds much potential for further innovation, scale-up, creative solutions and broader market reach.

This is why the Israel Trade and Economic Mission to Ghana in collaboration with IT Consortium, and Zeepay have teamed up to host the first Ghana-Israel Fintech Summit. The GhanaIsrael Fintech Summit will bring together key stakeholders in the Ghanaian fintech space to deliberate on positioning the sector as an engine of inclusive growth and development for all.

It is envisioned that the summit will strengthen the relationship between Ghanaian and Israeli fintech ecosystem by creating a platform for participants to deliberate and engage the brightest minds in the fintech industry in Ghana and Israel.

The summit will include the participation of leading Israeli fintech and cyber companies, leading Ghanaian fintech and related companies, government stakeholders and regulators, and senior industry professionals.

The Ghana-Israel Fintech Summit will discuss topics in financial service delivery such as

antifraud, risk and compliance technologies; lending and financing technologies, trading and investment technologies.

The summit will take place from 1 to 2 June 2022 under the theme “Innovation in Financial Services Delivery.” It will include panel conversations, workshops and business-to-business meetings.

The Israel Trade and Economic mission in Ghana promotes, enhance and facilitate trade, investment and industrial R&D between Ghana and Israel.

The Trade Mission’s work is divided into several segments, including Agricultural technology, cyber, fin-tech & insure-tech, health, high tech telecommunications and water technologies among others.

The Trade and Economic mission works to develop strategic bilateral partnerships and valuable collaboration prospects between companies in both countries. For more information or to register to participate visit gifsummit.com or contact Maame Yaa Amoah: yaa.amoah@ israeltrade.gov.il The writer is the Communication & Press Coordinator at the Embassy of Israel in Accra.

11

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Ghana Exim Bank CEO meets New Prez, Board Chair of US Exim A team from Ghana Exim Bank (GEXIM), led by its Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Agyinsam, has met with representatives of the Exim Bank of the United States of America led by its new President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Reta Jo Lewis.

12th May 2022.

The meeting afforded the two teams the opportunity to explore ways of deepening their existing relationship as well as identifying ways of building synergy and possible collaboration in areas of mutual interest and benefit.

memorandum of understanding signed by the two banks in 2019.

The President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the US Exim also expressed their preparedness and willingness to collaborate with GEXIM on projects aimed at ensuring healthy lives and

The meeting took place on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 on the sidelines of the 2022 Spring Meeting of the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers (Berne Union) held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 8th May to

At the meeting, the two teams committed to drawing a framework to operationalise an existing agreement for a USD300 million guarantee to be provided by the United States Exim Bank after reviewing the existing

wellbeing of people.

After the meeting, the CEO of GEXIM, Lawrence Agyinsam, expressed his appreciation to the President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the US Exim Bank for prioritising the meeting with

his team and their commitment to deepening their relation with GEXIM. “It has been a very important and insightful meeting with the team from the US Exim Bank led by the President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Reta Jo Lewis. It indicates the importance the US team attached to this meeting and I am very confident of more engagements between us going forward to ensure most of the things we have discussed today will be implemented. This will also help us in our drive in championing the development of Ghana’s export trade and also facilitate cross border trade”, he added.

The President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Reta Jo Lewis congratulated the management of GEXIM for its bold initiatives to facilitate the transformation of Ghana’s economy into an exportled one. She further commended GEXIM for supporting the elimination of critical market failures in the Ghanaian economy to make Ghana competitive in the global marketplace.

Other members of the GEXIM team at the meeting were Sammy Nana Osei Bonsu, a Board Member, Rosemary Beryl Archer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer responsible for Business and Banking and Anthony Kofi Dwumah, Head of Guarantees.

Ghana Gas hands over CHPS Compound to Bomeng Community A newly equipped CommunityBased Health Planning and Services (CHPS) facility has been handed over to the Bomeng community in the Sekyere Kumawu District and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The health facility, valued at an estimated amount of millions of cedis, would serve the people in the community who had been faced with moving to other health facilities Like Juaben government hospital, Effiduasi government hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to receive medical care.

Baffour Owusu Ansah, Chief of Mampong Botaase and a member of the board at Ghana Gas noted that the handing over of the CHPS facility formed part of their commitment to promoting the concept of human security

where everyone could live in dignity without fear through the protection and empowerment of individuals.

The Ghana Gas board member entreated the officials of the facility to ensure a culture of maintenance so that the community can ask for more projects from Ghana Gas. The Assistant Manager for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in charge of projects, Mr Anyimah Edomgbole said it was the usual gesture Ghana Gas has been giving to communities which need help.

The Health Director in the Sekyere Kumawu District, Lawrence Adinku used the platform to appeal to other stakeholders to come to their aid since the health directorate is going through a lot of challenges.

12

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Ghana, Others Sign US$69.88m Renewable Energy Agreement

The government and development partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and the Swiss Government Federation have signed a $69.88 million grant agreement to increase access to clean and reliable electricity services and low carbon socio-economic development.

The agreement which falls under the Scaling-up Renewable.

Energy Programme (SREP) will see about 6,890 households, 6,001 Small and Medium-sized

Enterprises (SMEs) and 6,890 public buildings connected to electricity.

About 1,350 schools and 500 health centres would also benefit from the project, which would include the design, engineering, supply, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of mini grids and standalone systems.

It is to also help reduce public sector electricity debt as well as bills for SMEs and households, while supporting the implementation of environmental, climate and social

management plans of the country.

Minister of Finance Ken OforiAtta, signed the agreement with Dr Akinwumi Akin Adesina, President of the AfDB Group and Dominique Paravicini, AfDB’s Governor for Switzerland.

Mr Ofori-Atta, said the project: “Dovetails fittingly into an urgent global agenda and demonstrates our country’s commitment to enhance the economic and social viability of low carbon investments.

It is also in support of the country’s commitment to create new energy-efficient markets and stave-off a future energy crisis by achieving energy sufficiency.

On his part, Dr Adesina noted that the project would support Ghana in meeting its renewable energy requirement on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and build a resilient economy.

“This project will increase access to clean and reliable electricity services and support low carbon socio- economic development of Ghana. It will directly support Ghana’s efforts

in building resilience to socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Mr Paravicini, said that the signing of the agreement showed Switzerland’s continuous support to bring sustainable and affordable electricity to households and businesses.

SREP would be implemented between 2022 and 2025, under three components; the first would comprise of the development of 38 mini grids and standalone solar PV systems for 2,000 SMEs, 1,350 schools, 500 health centres, and 400 communities.

The second component, which is net metering, aims at upscaling existing project to about 12,000 units of roof- mounted net-metered solar PV systems to reduce public sector electricity debt and bills for SMEs and households.

The final component would be the supervision of works including operating cost for SREP Project Implementation Unit, Distribution Utility, and the implementation of environmental, climate and social management plans.

Obuasi MCE rallies support for government’s YouStart Programme

By Sampson Manu Ahead of the launch of the YouStart programme by Government in July, the Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah has thrown his weight behind the program and has called for public support for it.

Speaking at a community durbar organised by the Obuasi Municipal Assembly at Nkamprom a suburb of Obuasi, Mr. Adansi-Bonah, said the YouStart programme will provide a perfect opportunity to address youth unemployment and also unearth potentials in the youth to create jobs for themselves.

He said given the high rate of unemployment in the country, Government had to be very innovative in order to address the challenge hence the introduction of the YouStart programme. He said currently there are 700,000 people on government payroll which has put a lot of burden on Government finances. “This has prompted Government to intervene to empower the youth to venture into business to also

create jobs for others”.

He promised to lead a campaign to encourage the youth to embrace the programme and access the facilities the programme will provide.

He seized the opportunity to admonish Ghanaians to accept the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) which he said will provide financial support for the YouStart programme.

The YouStart programme seeks to support young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training and technical skills to enable them to start, build and grow their own businesses.

The initiative targets young people and students between 18 and 35 years who have brilliant business ideas and viable businesses and support them to nurture, grow and expand their businesses and job creation opportunities.

Government, through the YouStart programme, intends to build an entrepreneurial nation by providing some of the key enablers that make entrepreneurship a success.

It includes access to finance and markets, mentorship, strategic partnership and digital linkages, technical assistance and business

advisory support service.

State-of-the-arts recreational center The MCE whiles interacting with the Chief and people of Nkamprom revealed that work will soon begin on a State-ofthe-arts Recreational center in Obuasi. The center which will be the first in Obuasi will provide a safe, affordable and welcoming recreational facilities.

He again assured the people that the Assembly has in its plans to construct CHPS compound, school and construct proper drains for the people of Nkamprom.

13

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Republic Bank: We’re building strong African brand Republic Bank (Ghana) PLC is a subsidiary of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) of Trinidad & Tobago.

Republic Bank is a leading universal banking institution in Ghana and arguably the most diversified financial institution.

As a one-stop financial institution, our services include corporate, commercial and retail banking; investment banking; mortgage banking, custody

services, trust management and microfinance.

We understand that banking is not a repeat purchase of our services by our customers, but a development process where we provide services by appreciating our customers’ needs and building deeper and more effective customer relationships.

Having this as the thrust of our business, we provide innovative products that cut across our

varied customer base.

Our parent company, RFHL, is the largest and most profitable independent bank in the Englishspeaking Caribbean, having served the region for over 180 years.

As of the end of the 2021 financial year, the total asset of the group stood at USD$16.5 billion.

RFHL has played a significant role in the oil and gas sector development in Trinidad and Tobago, particularly in developing local content.

Republic Bank, a bank built with African blood, flourishing at the coast of the Caribbean, dreamt of coming back to Africa. The dream is to establish and build an African brand.

We took the bold step in 2012 when Republic Bank formed a strategic partnership with the then HFC Bank, and by 2018 we had firmly established our presence in Ghana by rebranding to Republic Bank.

Like other groups in Trinidad and Tobago, Africans have left an indelible mark on our society, contributing to the rich cultural diversity and shaping our nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

It is our love for Africanism that accounted for the adoption and maintenance of the African

Union Square, popularly known as AU Square, located at the Independence Avenue, Ridge in Accra. The refurbished AU Square was inaugurated on Friday, January 28, 2022.

One of the objectives of the AU is to “promote peace, security and stability on the continent”.

Among its principles is “peaceful resolution of conflicts among member States of the union through such appropriate means as may be decided upon by the assembly”.

Like the African Union, our vision as a bank is “to establish an African presence headquartered in Ghana”.

“No better place for Republic Court to be situated than near the iconic Africa Union Square.

Whenever we look across the street, we just do not see AU Square, we see hope, our African dream. And in pursuit of this dream, we have adopted the AU Square for greening, maintenance and beautification,” Mr Farid Antar said.

Republic Bank takes pride in its rich African origin and, therefore, seeks to expand it wings not only in Ghana but also in other African countries, with Ghana being the head office of the African territories.

Lands Ministry demands transaction information on Achimota Forest lands The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has requested for information from the Lands Commission, Forestry Commission and the Owoo family on all transactions affecting the 1,185 acres of land acquired by the State in 1927.

The Minister also wants information on the State’s constitution of a Forest Reserve in 1930 under the name Achimota Firewood Plantation Forest Reserve.

A statement issued by the Lands Ministry on Thursday noted that the request follows the Minister’s resolve to act on any improper acquisition of public lands, including the Achimota Forest Lands, regardless of how they were acquired.

The Office of the Special

Prosecutor has commenced investigations into a suspected case of corruption against the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly referred to as Sir John, a former Chief Executive of Forestry Commission, with regard to his alleged acquisition of lands within the Achimota Forest and the Sakumono Ramsar site.

A statement signed and issued by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, said the late Sir John will be investigated alongside other persons regarding the suspected unlawful acquisition of properties.

Per the statement, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources will play a key part in the investigations hence has been directed by the Special Prosecutor to “fully cooperate with the OSP in the investigations.”

14

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Accessing Finance In West Africa Needs Collaborative Efforts Head of Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kobby Bentsi-Enchil, has called on West African countries to embrace collaboration and consultative efforts to improve access to finance in the subregion. He said this at the opening of the West Africa Capital Market Conference (WACMaC) at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

Speaking on the topic “Access to finance via cross-border listings on stock and fixed income exchange,” Kobby Bentsi-Enchil said across capital markets in West Africa, the challenges facing cross-border listings are basic and this requires uniform standards to address them. “The challenges across the capital markets are fundamentally the same, marked by lack of uniformity of standards, lack of market depth and currency fungibility issues. Also, lack of harmonization in regulation across markets regarding financial

reporting, prospectus disclosures, corporate governance, rating considerations and free float and valuation requirements are critical challenges the must be tackled head on,” he noted.

He also elaborated on some of the reasons for the hesitancy of foreign capital inflow into domestic markets in West Africa.

He mentioned unattractive returns on investments, capital controls and convertibility risks, lack of robust continuing disclosure standards, limited access to current real time information and relative illiquidity in the secondary markets as some of the main reasons for the hesitancy in foreign capital inflow.

In addressing these challenges that confront West Africa’s capital markets, Bensti-Enchil advocated for collaboration among key stakeholders across the various countries. According to him, “Collaboration and collaborative efforts are critical

to improving access to finance.

There must be coordinated efforts between Ministries of Finance within jurisdictions to encourage potential issuers to pursue cross-border listings.

Member countries should also consider increased collaboration on issuer solicitation, information sharing, regulation and reporting standards as well as concessions on fees and levies.”

“There is also the need for regional bourses to explore collaboration with multilateral institutions and global stock exchanges while engaging in consistent investor education to enumerate benefits of investing in cross border listing.

Also, leveraging the benefit of AfCFTA’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPPS) is one key tool that could facilitate regional integration,” he added.

The two-day conference is being organized by the West African Securities Regulators

Association (WASRA). WASRA is the regional body for Capital Market Regulators in West Africa with the mandate of facilitating cooperation and consultation among capital markets in the West African region. The event, which is being held under the theme “Deepening and strengthening the capital markets across West Africa through effective regulation”, brings together relevant stakeholders and experts including regulatory agencies, market operators, inter-regional economic bodies, academics, etc., to share experiences and deliberate on best practices to improve West Africa’s Capital Markets.

WACMaC is a biennial event that seeks to present the West African region and indeed Africa as a whole the opportunity to address important issues related to the orderly growth and development of the regional and continental capital markets.

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

| ADVERT

15

16

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

17

| NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Accra floods: Real issues

By William Yeboah

Inundation of Accra by flood has bec¬¬ome a major concern. It seems, however, that our attempts to address it have been targeted wrongly at removing the effects of the problem.

In essence, we have misplaced cause and effect in the attempt to alleviate the problem.

At the risk of understating some of the issues, I attempt a catalogue of some of the real issues of the floods: Increase in runoff vs unexpanded drain capacity The major storm drains in Accra have seen very little or no capacity expansion/modernisation since the 1960s.

These drains were designed when Accra ended at Airport Residential Area. There was no East Legon, North Legon, West Legon, Ashongman and many such newly build-up places.

All these new settlements were grasslands described as the coastal plains. Runoff was minimal because percolation was rife.

Today, hitherto uninhabited places are massive brick and mortar or “concrete jungles” with all sorts of roofs and pavements ranging from bitumen, pavement blocks and ceramic tiles, which displace large volumes of rainwater.

The Airport City, Villagio apartments and Accra Shopping Mall are all recent developments.

A lot of buildings are springing up behind the GULF house – an area which otherwise served as a receptacle for rainwater from the Aburi mountains.

All those lands that served as a buffer between the Accra Airport and East Legon have been developed. The Adentan Aviation reserve is already being developed.

How can we expect the existing drains to perform efficiently in the wake of these massive developments?

Runoff is expected to increase at a higher rate. In the wake of the unexpanded capacities of our storm drains, we can only expect floods because we are displacing more water than our storm drains can accommodate.

The consequence is flooding, especially downstream.

This situation is exacerbated by the unbridled redevelopment activities in places that I call “Accra Proper” such as Osu, Asylum Down, Adabraka, Cantonments, Labone, Labadi and other such places in the capital.

Every little space is being covered. Gardens of homes are being turned into massive

apartment and commercial buildings without the least attempt to modernise the drainage system.

It has been estimated that the present system is able to resist pressure up to only 100mm of rain in Accra.

We should expect the floods to appear anytime Accra hits the 100mm plus mark given the prevailing circumstances – unless the process is halted by some drastic action.

Uncoordinated minor drainage system/bad design I have had occasions to wonder whether the hydrological department of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH) exists.

There are minor drains (gutters) that end up nowhere – no planned discharge point. There are drains that are covered up to a point and then opened at the other end.

What exactly are these designs expected to achieve and is there anybody in charge or supervising these works?

Drainage systems in the past were integrated and linked somehow. They formed a network.

What we see today is a completely disjointed drainage facility.

The worrying aspect of this phenomenon is that the little resources available end up being wasted through uncoordinated drainage construction and poor designs.

The systems are, therefore, not able to perform their core function of draining the city as expected. This is the reason for water entering the rooms of lowlying communities.

Institutional lapses/ unplanned settlements Most of the new settlements in Accra are hardly planned.

Unplanned settlements mean unplanned drainage systems where runoff finds its own course to the sea/lagoons or lakes.

Institutions such as the District Assemblies (DA), Survey Department and the Town and Country Planning Department have not worked to ensure that settlements are properly planned and integrated into existing settlements downstream.

Activities of landowners have had a debilitating effect on proper layouts and functional block plans.

Chiefs sell land without recourse to Town and Country Planning. Surveyors demarcate plots without recourse to the city plans while DAs issue “Yellow Jackets” without reference to land title.

The IGF aspect of permit issuance has been placed above professional ethics of issuing building permits.

City authorities lack capacity and will to enforce building rules and regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) role is hardly noticeable as buildings and fuel stations are sited on lagoons and river basins respectively.

Developers do not conform to building codes. The entire physical planning process in Ghana is totally compromised.

Unplanned settlement generates floodwaters. Wellplanned settlements are, however, hardly insulated.

Uncontrolled sprawl of capital I am not too sure whether the mayor himself would be able to tell the geographical limits of Accra. Failure of the planning and regulatory institutions to deliver on their mandate has meant that the city continues to sprawl.

The net effect is spatial disorganisation which has the potential to create flooding downstream. This is the major source of the silt that we continue to de-silt at great cost. We have made too much space bare.

Waste generation/ disposal in city Until the larger issue of effective planning is resolved, the sanitation challenge will continue to live with us. Let me use the Cantonments road (Oxford Street in Osu) to illustrate.

In the early 1970s, that street had just two supermarkets: the Cans Bakery and the Modern Bakery. There was also Palmer’s Kiosk which later became Diamon Supermarket.

Today, what used to be Cedar House on that same road has been replaced with Koala Shopping Centre. The house next door which belonged to a Lebanese family (and later turned to FIFO/ KADMUS Electricals) is now occupied by the huge Agyeiwaa Building.

The other side of the road is no different. Massive transformation has taken place and continues to take place on that side as well.

It is surprising, however, that the road width remains the same.

So does the drainage system.

The gutters are the same small old shallow gutters that used to be there in the 70s, despite the massive population and traffic influx to the area as a result of these developments.

Today, the gutter in front of Frankie’s spills over and the stench from the waste water flowing on the road is unbearable.

The sanitation issue on that street can be attributed to inaction on the part of the Department of Urban Roads (DUR), EPA, Town and Country Planning and Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

It is the failure of these agencies to act which generates the filth.

Such massive transformation of land use must be accompanied by commiserate infrastructure.

How do we expect these shallow drains to accommodate waste water from the SSNIT Hospital or Frankie’s? Where do all those trading on the pavement urinate or defecate? Drains would definitely be choked!

Growing up, milk was packed in paper bags. I saw shopping bags made of paper in the Ringway GNTC. Cascade ice creams and Fan Kiss were in paper pouches.

The meat cottage wrapped meat in plain paper. They were biodegradable. Where did these black plastic bags come from?

They are all over.

The biggest danger is that it is gradually infiltrating the countryside. I was shocked at the level of plastic pollution in the Brong Ahafo Region in a recent trip to Nkoranza via Ejura.

Our farmlands are under threat of plastic pollution – a serious potential danger to agriculture! Our institutions must begin to work: the Food and Drugs Authority/ Ghana Standard Authority/Ghana Institute of Packaging/ Institute of Applied Science (UG). We should endeavour to develop cheap biodegradable packaging material.

Let us tackle the causes of the sanitation challenge and stop targeting the effects. It will not resolve the issue. We would be wasting too many resources than otherwise necessary.

The writer is a Development Consultant. E-mail: pbatinge@ fordham.edu

18

| MARKET REVIEW

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING - MAY 20, 2022 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS Q3, 2021 GDP Growth

7.0%

Average GDP Growth for 2021

5.4%

2022 Projected GDP Growth

5.5%

BoG Policy Rate

19.0%

Weekly Interbank Interest Rate

18.86%

Inflation for February, 2022

23.6%

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 week on the back of gains in share prices of 4 counters.

The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) gained 2.37 points (+0.09%) to close at 2,564.20 points, reflecting yearto-date (YTD) loss of 8.07%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) also gained 4.11 points (+0.19%) to close at 2,210.43 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) gain of 2.72%.

Market capitalization inched up by 0.05% to close the week at GH¢62,540.50 million, from GH¢62,508.52 million at the close of the previous week. This reflects YTD decrease of 3.03%.

Trading activity registered a total of 1,667,473 shares valued at GH¢3,918,729.40 changing hands, compared with 631,248,142 shares, valued at GH¢580,516,363.55 in the preceding week.

MTN dominated volume of trades for the week, accounting for 57.93% of trades whiles New Gold dominated value of trades, accounting for 60.42% of shares traded respectively.

The market ended the week with 4 leaders and 1 laggards as indicated on the table below.

THE CURRENCY MARKET The Cedi marginally depreciated against the USD for the week. It traded at GH¢7.1323/$, compared with GH¢7.1163/$ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.22% and 15.79% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 0.50% a year ago.

The Cedi depreciated against the GBP for the first time after gains in four consecutive weeks. It traded at GH¢8.8979/£, compared with GH¢8.7022/£ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciation of 2.20% and 8.66% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 3.03% a year ago.

The Cedi also lost against the Euro for the week.

It traded at GH¢7.5276/€, compared with GH¢7.4001/€ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciation of 1.69% and 9.29% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 1.12% a year ago.

The Cedi further depreciated against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢5.4975/C$ but closed at GH¢5.5558/C$, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciation of 1.05% and 14.65% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 4.76% a year ago.

source: Bank of Ghana

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

19

| MARKET REVIEW

BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK

COMMODITY MARKET Crude oil prices settled slightly higher for the week as a planned European Union ban on Russian oil and easing of COVID-19 lockdowns in China countered concerns that slowing economic growth will hurt demand. Brent futures traded at US$112.55 a barrel on Friday, compared to US$111.55 at week open. This reflects w/w loss and YTD gains of 0.90% and 44.70% respectively.

Gold prices rose to a one-week high as the U.S. dollar receded from two-decade highs, reviving demand for safe-haven bullion. Gold settled at US$1,842.10, from US$1,808.20 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD gains of 1.87% and 0.74% respectively.

Prices of Cocoa declined for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,429.00 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,483.00 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD losses of 2.17% and 3.61% respectively.

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET Government raised a sum of GH¢1,292.10 million for the week across the 91-Day, 182-Day and 3-Year Fixed Rate Bond. This compared with GH¢1,248.67 million raised in the previous week.

The 91-Day Bill settled at 19.08% p.a from 18.23% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 20.76% p.a from 19.26% p.a. last week. The 3-Year FXR Bond settled at 25.00% p.a from 20.85% p.a at last issue.

The table and graph below highlight primary market yields at close of the week.

Capital Flight: Capital flight is a large-scale exodus of financial assets and capital from a nation due to events such as political or economic instability, currency devaluation or the imposition of capital controls.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/ capitalflight.asp

ABOUT CIDAN 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 INTERNTIONAL COMMODITIES PRICES

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.

WWW.BUSINESS24.COM.GH

|

NO. B24/317 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022

Don’t bet on a soft landing

By Nouriel Roubini

In 2021, the big debate about the outlook for the global economy focused on whether the rising inflation in the United States and other advanced economies was transitory or persistent. Key central banks and most Wall Street researchers were on “Team Transitory.” They attributed the problem to base effects and temporary supply bottlenecks, implying that the high inflation rate would rapidly fall back to central banks’ 2% target range.

Meanwhile, “Team Persistent” – led

by Lawrence H. Summers of Harvard University, Mohamed A. El-Erian of Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge, and other economists – argued that inflation would remain high, because the economy was overheating from excessive aggregate demand. That demand was driven by three forces: persistently loose monetary policies, excessively stimulative fiscal policies, and a rapid accumulation of household savings during the pandemic, which led to pent-up demand once economies reopened.

I, too, was on Team Persistent.

But I argued that, in addition to excessive aggregate demand, several negative aggregate supply shocks were contributing to rising inflation – indeed, to stagflation (reduced growth alongside higher inflation).

The initial response to COVID-19 had led to lockdowns, which caused major disruptions to global supply chains and reduced the supply of workers

(creating a very tight labor market in the US). Then came two additional supply shocks this year: Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, which has driven up commodity prices (energy, industrial metals, food, fertilizers), and China’s “zero-COVID” response to the Omicron variant, which has led to another round of supply-chain bottlenecks.

We now know that Team Persistent won the 2021 inflation debate. With inflation surging close to double digits, the US Federal Reserve and other central banks have conceded that the problem is not transitory, and that it must be urgently addressed by tightening monetary policy.

That has spurred another big debate: whether economic policymakers can engineer a “soft landing” for the global economy. The Fed and other central banks contend that they will be able to raise their policy rates by just enough to pull the inflation rate down to their 2% target without causing a recession.

But I and many other economists doubt that this Goldilocks scenario – an economy that is neither too hot nor too cold – can be achieved. The degree of monetary-policy tightening that is needed will inevitably cause a hard landing, in the form of a recession and higher unemployment.

Because stagflationary shocks both reduce growth and increase inflation, they confront central banks with a dilemma. If their highest priority is to fight inflation and

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

prevent a dangerous de-anchoring of inflation expectations (a wageprice spiral), they must phase out their unconventional expansionary policies and raise policy rates at a pace that would likely cause a hard landing. But if their top priority is to sustain growth and employment, they would need to normalize policy more slowly and risk unhinging inflation expectations, setting the stage for persistent above-target inflation.

A soft-landing scenario therefore looks like wishful thinking. By now, the increase in inflation is persistent enough that only a serious policy tightening can bring it back within the target range. Taking previous highinflation episodes as the baseline, I put the probability of a hard landing within two years at more than 60%.

But there is a third possible scenario. Monetary policymakers are talking tough nowadays about fighting inflation to head off the risk of it spinning out of control. But that doesn’t mean they won’t eventually wimp out and allow the inflation rate to rise above target. Since hitting the target most likely requires a hard landing, they could end up raising rates and then getting cold feet once that scenario becomes more likely.

Moreover, because there is so much private and public debt in the system (348% of GDP globally), interest-rate hikes could trigger a further sharp downturn in bond, stock, and credit markets, giving central banks yet

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

another reason to backpedal.

Simply put, the effort to fight inflation could easily crash the economy, the markets, or both.

Already, central banks’ modest amount of tightening has shaken financial markets, with key equity indices near bear territory (a 20% decline from recent peaks), bond yields rising higher, and credit spreads widening. Yet if central banks wimp out now, the outcome will resemble the stagflationary 1970s, when a recession was accompanied by high inflation and de-anchored inflation expectations.

Which scenario is most likely?

It all depends on a combination of uncertain factors, including the persistence of the wage-price spiral; the level to which policy rates must rise to rein in inflation (by creating slack in goods and labor markets); and central banks’ willingness to inflict short-term pain to hit their inflation targets. Moreover, it remains to be seen what course the war in Ukraine will take, and what effect that will have on commodity prices. And the same goes for China’s zero-COVID policy, with its effect on supply chains, and for the current correction in financial markets.

The historical evidence shows that a soft landing is highly improbable.

That leaves either a hard landing and a return to lower inflation, or a stagflationary scenario. Either way, a recession in the next two years is likely.