Business24 Newspaper 23 September 2022

By Abena Osei-Poku, Managing

The Executive Director of Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, says it is important for the country to explore the opportunity in ethanol production as alternative to fossil fuels in the energy transition mix in order to remain relevant in the market.Heasked

“Can you imagine Ghana developing a technology that generates electricity cheaper, than conventional energy that the world may need that automatically opens up a global market for us and we have to participate in that space.

If you check our carbon footprints about 50percent of that is coming from the use of food fuel and also from burning bushes in our context. If Ghana were to eliminate the use of wood cooking in the next five years, we automatically become net zero because we would halve our carbon footprint.”

Speaking at the launch of a report on ‘Promoting Ethanol as a Clean Cooking Alternative in Ghana’, he said “Ethanol produces a very important switching mechanism for us, which can create jobs. It provides easy access for other markets to be explored and we need to optimized the uptake of ethanol for cooking purposes and also incentivize its production, beyond this we seeking to engage academia, research institutions to look at the alternatives for generating ethanol in country to make it cheaper.

Horticulture fast becoming the new job-making machine

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

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

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

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

Stratcomm Africa is leading the charge to green

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

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

This year’s theme “Growth Unleashed” preps the mind of young Ghanaians to burst forth and to grow beyond the norms to achieve a blooming environment.Theglobal horticulture market is estimated to be valued at USD 20.77 Billion as of 2021 and is projected to reach US$40.24bn by 2026 at a compound annual growth of 10.2percent whilst global flower and ornamental plants market was valued at US$475.6m in 2020 and is expected to reach US$725.4m by the end of 2027, growing annually at 6.3percent during 2021-2027.

ACEP boss makes a case for ethanol in energy transition mix

By Eugene Davis

Mr. Boakye indicated that it is time to move away from fossil fuels into cleaner alternatives given that technological advancement has become the order of the day, which is competing against fossil fuel.“There is aggressive uptake in technology that we have to pay attention to, if we are not able to examine our position and participate in that technology space, we are going to remain in theFurther,market.he stated that before the oil is produced, it requires an investment of US$4.7bn to build the installations and infrastructure to be able to produce the oil; “that technology is not owned by us, so the oil that you think belongs to you, you have to front load US$4.7bn of that benefit into another economy.”

Ghana has made close to US$7bn since its production of oil 12 years

ago, but the total output is in excess of US$20bn, he noted.

“It tells you that the owners of technology are the ones benefiting more from the resources you produce, so the conversation has to be crisp and concise about what the future holds for us if the transition happens faster than we think, would we remain in the market and still buy technology or fuel source to sustain our economy.Ifweare able to substitute import of LPG which runs into about US$100m a year that could be an incentive for local production of these alternatives and keep the money in Ghana for ourThedevelopment.”reporthighlighted the significance of adopting cleaner energy, revealing that the average price of LPG increased from GHS 3.17 per kg in January 2017 to about GHS 11.5 per kg as of March 2022,

affected mainly by rising crude oil prices and currency depreciation.

“Therefore, an alternative fuel source is opportune to complement the efforts of other clean fuels and accelerate Ghana’s drive towards universal access to clean cooking fuels.

The study examined consumer behaviours towards using ethanol-based cookstoves and fuels in Ghana. The results are based on a pilot study in two periurban localities in Ghana – Ningo Prampram District and Akuapem NorthEthanolMunicipality.oralcohol-based fuels are either liquid or gel and do not produce smoke since they undergo complete combustion. Ethanol-based stoves and fuels have proven to be resilient technologies that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” The report captured.

Realising the impacts of the use of solid biofuels, governments, development partners, NGOs,and other institutions have reiterated the call for using cleaner fuels for cooking.Thesecalls have led to various technologies that either manage wood fuel utilisation or switch entirely to other cleaner technologies. However, the world continues to fall short of meeting the targets of ensuring universal access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking.

It is estimated that, at the current pace, only 72% of the global population will have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies by 2030.

What I told the Ghana Employers Association

By Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director, Absa Bank Ghana

I had the privilege of delivering the keynote address at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Employers Association on Thursday September 15, 2022. It was a heavily attended session, featuring representatives from all the institutions in Ghana (both public and private), Norway’s Ambassador to Ghana, Ingrid Mollestad and the Deputy Minister for Employment, Hon. Bright Wereko Brobbey.

The event was around the theme of sustaining businesses amidst macroeconomic challenges. It was a theme I found prescient, given the situation with most global economies following the COVID-19 pandemic and other attendant economic challenges in the past twoHereyears.are the key points of my message:Today, across the world, the business landscape has transformed. The pandemic has turned history on its head and has reminded business leaders to grow sustainably. A PwC Pulse Survey of Executive views on business found that nearly 70% of business leaders globally believed that COVID-19 will turn from a pandemic to an endemic in 2022 with complex challenges ahead. Another recent survey conducted by the Africa Business Panel on the African business environment had some interesting observations:

• About two-thirds of the companies said they were struggling but will survive.

• Of all the professionals drawn from across the countries in Africa, South African companies appeared the least optimistic.

• However, in Ghana, there was sunny optimism. Only 3 per cent of Ghanaian participants were concerned the company they worked for will collapse; which demonstrated the great resilience, faith and adaptability of the Ghanaian

However,employee.the question remains: How do we sustain our business in the midst of macroeconomic challenges?

Solutions:

Adversity is nothing new for us Employers. However, there’s a huge difference between running and sustaining a business during an economic downturn. Let me start by saying: I don’t have all the answers. But having led the successful and arguably the biggest transformation of a brand and business ownership in the country, followed by running a business through the pandemic—and having seen so many of my customers do the same—I do have some insights

into what we can do to weather this storm.

It all starts with Leadership:

As businesses navigate this temporary blip:

• Don’t be “the ostrich” – who preserves the status quo, and just hopes for the best

• Nor “the bull in the China shop” – who blindly cuts expenses across the board

• Rather be “the fox” - use the downturn to make your business more effective so that when the operating environment improves, you’ll be in an even better position to grow sustainably taking advantage of emerging trends and new opportunities.

As leaders in challenging times, let’s assume best intentions and support our employees as humans. Be patient and have a listening ear and be willing to do the work. Leading from the front lines is one of the strongest ways to show your team the work they do matters. Get involved on the shop floor, not just with marketing & sales teams but operations and other supporting functions. Operate with integrity, put in the time to do the right things and do things right. Your legacy goes beyond a crisis period.

Create a business continuity planIf the pandemic or economic challenges taught us nothing at all, at least we now know enough to keep an eye on our business continuity plans. A carefully thought-out business continuity plan will make coping in a crisis easier. It will also enable you to minimize disruption to your business and customers. It is a way of proving to customers, investors and all stakeholders that your business is robust enough to cope with unforeseen circumstances or anything that might occur unplanned.

Prioritize your customers

Focus on creating something that truly adds value for your customers. Figure out their challenges, draw closer to them and take even better care of them. This improves your chance of keeping existing clients and building loyalty. The key here is to provide excellent customer service or after sales service. You can also keep them happy by running loyalty or customer incentive programmes. Happy customers can also help you diversify your business by referrals - introducing new clients or help you recognize new opportunities that could help you diversify to new markets or products and services.

Support your colleagues/ employees

As employers, we must build

morale and motivation by clearly communicating with our staff on what is happening within the operating environment and its impact on our business. It is important to be mindful of the language being used. Language is the vehicle for processing thought and how we come across to our employees will be the difference between creating unnecessary panic or establishing reassurance.

Some organizations may need to reduce staff strength or hours. e.g., you could ask some of your fulltime staff to work part time for a period. You might have to change, or even freeze your hiring plans during an economic downturn, but that doesn’t mean you have to halt your growth. If you do need to let some staff go to save money, make sure you understand your contractual obligations for ending employment.Youshould also conduct skills assessment, identify the gaps needed to make them future fit and train/retrain your employees to equip them for the journey ahead. Remember you still need operational excellence during a downturn, so build “The Team” not just the A* players. The best outcome sits in collective wisdom. Sharpen your ways of working Cut the bureaucracy or red tape. When things are going well, employers might not notice inefficiencies. I’ve seen how hard it can be to stay lean as you grow. Processes can become bloated, policies can get convoluted, and you might end up talking about work more than doing the work in a season like this. Encourage your team to be doers not hearers only. Next, businesses must learn to be nimble and agile in challenging times. Learn to switch your strategy around and make it more technology inclusive. Innovation would help you adapt to changing market conditions and stay ahead of your competitors. As part of this process, you should review if using technology will increase efficiency, reduce costs and make your business more competitive. Automation can help fill the gaps. Automation can also free up your existing team to take care of customers. I came across a company’s values that said, “Don’t be a robot, build the robot.”. 74% of businesses surveyed in a 2021 survey said that automation helped them feel prepared to handle unexpected crises.

Collaboration

When there’s economic uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to support your partners and rely on them to support you too. Internally, the different departments within

your organization must not work as silos. Using an external lens, networking can be useful to understand how other businesses are coping and reducing your risks. Consider forming alliances with other business, for example, by offering complementary services.

Conclusion

As I said in the beginning, adversity is nothing new for employers and leaders. It might have been the pandemic in 2020 or the macroeconomic instability today. The future could present other challenges. We must continuously plan, learn to put in the right risk measures and continuity programmes and form a regular habit of meeting to discuss and monitor the readiness of the plan. Habitual planning and anticipation and adequate mitigation measures will put us in a good place to deal with the unexpected if it shows up.

So dear business leaders, I will end with a paraphrased statement from the American Sailing website: “When there is economic uncertainty, truly good employers are never the ones screaming and throwing tantrums, they are the ones figuring things out while customers and shareholders are allowed to scream and throw tantrums.” Nevertheless, beyond being calm under duress, the best employers are usually just calm in general. It’s a disposition that serves nearly every catastrophic situation and excellent business leaders know it. To be calm is to be clear of mind and clarity is an enormous advantage when leading a business through challenging times. As employers, our role is to absorb the heat and transmit clarity to our employees. The calmness can then be harnessed into powerful tools:

Wrap up:

• It starts with leadership

• Create a business continuity plan

• Prioritize your customers

• Support your colleagues/ employees/staff

• Sharpen your ways of working

• And collaborate [internally & externally], build partnerships and network.

Remember! Don’t be the ostrich, nor “the bull in the China shop.” Rather be “the fox” - use the downturn to make your business more effective so when the operating environment improves, you’ll be in an even better position to grow sustainably

The writer is Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana Limited.

Slamm Foundation, the CSR arm of Slamm Technologies, an IT firm that offers IT Support, Career Services, and Corporate IT Training, has launched Nimde3, a free IT training mobile application that aims at providing on-demand IT lessons to individuals across the world but more specifically in Ghana and Africa via several local languages.Thelaunch of the app follows Slamm Foundation’s pledge some two years ago to train one million Ghanaians and Africans in a range of topics including: cybersecurity, IT fundamentals, social media, and PC repair to position them take advantage of the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Executive Director of Slamm Foundation, Francisca Boateng said the app will offer a wide variety of lessons to users.

“The app is available to everyone and can be downloaded both on the IOS and the Play store. We have classes from basic, intermediate and advanced levels and these classes can be taken in different languages ranging from, Akan, Dagbani, Ewe, Hausa, English, Spanish, French, Igbo and Yoruba. Anyone that falls under these categories and languages can access it or even in any language

they prefer and learn basic IT training,” she said.

She revealed that more languages will be introduced to increase participation adding that an audio version will also be introduced to serve the purpose of people who would prefer to listen to these courses in their preferred languages.“Astime goes on, we seek to introduce more languages in order to increase the reach of people that can have access to the app. We are also coming up with an audio version whereby users would not need to go through the normal activity but just listen and can also share across with their friends and family,” she said.

Speaking as the Special Guest for the launch, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Education, Sheila Naah Boamah commended the management of Slamm Technologies and the foundation for their continuous effort in promoting digital inclusiveness stressing that such an initiative is important as it will help to reduce the gap that there is in digital literacy.“This is a very good start, to have lessons in various local languages and I must commend management for this initiative. It is a corporate

social responsibility, and the ministry can never do it all by itself, so when other collaborators and other partners come on board, it helps to bridge the gap in digital and IT literacy.

The Ministry is always interested in such initiatives because it helps in driving the overall goal of digital inclusiveness. What they are doing is different as you can see, they are attempting to use the local language to reach out to everybody both the young and old, and to everyone within the formal and informal sectors. This will try to reduce the gap because people will go there to pick up information that would help to empower themselves,” she said.The App’s developer, Elikplim Baani, said the application is created in a user-friendly manner with easy access allowing users to navigate to learn their registered courses without hesitation.

“The app is easier to use and navigate. Once the app is downloaded, you can easily access it by selecting whatever language you prefer and then you log in your details then you can start with the classes, and that is from the basic to the intermediate then to the advanced level,” he said.

He said users can also choose

to change the languages in which they prefer to learn even after registering with an initial language.

“So the app is also designed in a way that even if you register in Ewe and you take a basic course or class, it is easier to change your language to maybe Daagbani or Spanish to continue with your class or course, it is that easy and accessible,” he added.Headded that the app has also been created to give users the opportunity to recommend and make suggestions to the app developer for further addition.

“There is a section that also gives users the opportunity to write down their suggestions and what they think can be done to improve the apps, so more like a review of the app but this gives you the opportunity to suggest and recommend on how easy you are able to access the app and what can be done to improve it and I must say that these suggestions and recommendations would be used,” he said.

The event was also attended by Gunner Hamlyn, the American Embassy’s Economic Advisor, tech industry players, and the media.

Ghana Exim Bank hosts special edition of “Tuesday Market” on Sept 20TH

Come Tuesday 20th September 2022, all roads will lead to the carpark of the World Trade Centre in Accra, where the Ghana Exim Bank will be hosting a special edition of its popular Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Fair dubbed “Tuesday Market”.

The fair, which is scheduled to start from 8:00am and end at 10pm, will witness several additions. In addition to the exhibition of quality and affordable Made - In - Ghana products, there will be the much anticipated, MiGparty; authentic Ghanaian live band music with grills, local beverages and food.

“Tuesday Market” is a platform created by GEXIM for its clients and producers of Made-In-Ghana products not only to showcase their products but also serves as a one stop shop for the general public to purchase anything locally manufactured, from nicely

packaged food items, cosmetic products, garments and textiles, leather products and many more.

In preparing Ghanaian SMEs for export, it is important to build their capacities and add value to their products. “Tuesday Market” provides the platform to help them with the right packaging, appropriate branding, the requisite marketing, as well as receive financial and advisory support in order to scale up and also meet international standards.Ms.Rosemary Beryl Archer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Exim Bank responsible for Banking assured the general public of high quality products at affordable prices to be on offer at the exhibition. According to her, the products to be exhibited will include packaged jollof rice, waakye, gravy mix, groundnut soup, food spices, gari mix, shea

butter, peanut and peanut butter, charcoal, koobi powder, salted fish paste, nkate cake, roasted cashew, peanuts, and granola bars.

She further encouraged the general public to support the initiative and buy locally made items to create more jobs for Ghanaians.

FBN Bank sponsors Captain’s Prize Golf Tournament

For the second year running, FBNBank will be sponsoring a golf tournament at the Bok Nam Kim Golf Club. The first being the FBNBank@25 Golf Tournament last year. This Saturday, 24 September 2022, the Bank will be welcoming golfers to the Bok Nam Kim Club for the Captain’s Prize Golf Tournament.

The Bok Nam Kim Captain’s Prize Golf Tournament is open to amateur golfers from across the country and it promises to be an exciting opportunity for the golfers who will be offered a taste of good competition in addition to FBNBank’s Premium Banking proposition. In all over one hundred golfers are expected to compete for honours over the 18hole lush green course at the Bok Nam Kim Golf Club with more than that number likely to be present as spectators. Altogether, both golfers and enthusiasts will be treated to a good time on Saturday.Commenting on the Bank’s support for the Tournament, FBNBank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Victor Yaw Asante said, “our partnership with the Bok Nam Kim Golf Club has entered its second year

and promises to offer another exciting opportunity to golfers and our customers to tap into what the Club offers and what the FBNBank’s Premium Banking proposition delivers. At the end of the day, we expect to have golfers who would be looking forward to another competition come next year after a challenging and thrilling tournament on Saturday. We also look forward to all those who are present to have a taste of our Premium Banking; which is a great lifestyle with priority

service, comfort, security, luxury and access to financial advisory services as the key benefits to customers. Our Premium Banking proposition is based on our promise to place our customers first and it remains a great example of our commitment to always deliver our gold standard of value and FBNBank’sexcellence.”Premium Banking is an invitation only banking experience that allows the Bank to reward its discerning customers as they do business with the

Bank. Once a customer is invited to Premium Banking, he or she is granted access to the Premium Banking Lounge in some of the Bank’s branches and is entitled to a host of banking privileges and the highest standards of quality service. The Premium Banking member is also assigned a dedicated Relationship Manager to cater to his or her banking needs.FBNBank has been operating in Ghana for the past 26 years within which the bank has remained focused on putting its customers first. This, it has sought to do through the rich value and excellence of what the Bank contributes to the relationship with its stakeholders, particularly the customers. FBNBank Ghana is a member of the First Bank of Nigeria Limited Group which is renowned for its great customer service and general stakeholder engagement garnered over its 128 years of operation. FBNBank Ghana has 22 branches and two agencies across the country with over 500 staff. FBNBank offers universal banking services to individuals and businesses in Ghana.

Orange prepares for Ivory Coast 5G rollout with lab

Orange has introduced a collaborative 5G laboratory at Abidjan in Ivory Coast, as part of efforts to prepare local businesses and adjacent industries.

It is in preparation for the rollout of 5G in the country, scheduled for next year.

The laboratory incorporates interactive service and support offerings from orange’s partners, including vendors Huawei, Nokia, andOrangeZTE.

Ivory Coast CEO, Mamadou Bamba, stated that the

laboratory reflects the company’s “historic commitment to digital inclusion”, with the presence of on-site industry specialists providing guidance for companies looking to use the facility, in turn deepening the “value in the local ecosystem”.A5Gdemonstration area has been established to seek out future innovations enabled by the technology.TheIvory Coast site adds to Orange’s growing 5G laboratory portfolio, taking its total to 15 in the EMEA region.

Vodafone, TotalEnergies partner to provide free Wi-Fi to customers at service stations

Vodafone Ghana has partnered with TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC to provide Wi-Fi for customers who visit service stations, lube bays, restaurants, and its newly launched electric vehicle (EV) charging docks. The Wi-Fi internet access is free for TotalEnergies customers on all networks.Basedon

Vodafone Ghana’s Enterprise Wi-Fi service, the partnership underscores the company’s commitment to reaching more customers with fast, accessible, and reliable wireless internet solutions.

Vodafone Ghana’s internet solution will keep customers reliably connected anytime they visit TotalEnergies service stations. It also facilitates employee efficiency and productivity, as they can work from anywhere on the business premises.Speaking on this collaboration, the Director of the Enterprise Business Unit at Vodafone Ghana, Tawa Bolarin, said the initiative will allow Vodafone Ghana to expand internet connectivity to its customers no matter where they find themselves.

“We are leveraging this partnership to enhance the customer experience in internet connectivity. In recent times, more people are working remotely, sometimes multitasking at different locations. As a company whose hallmark has been to drive the nation’s digital transformation, we are excited to extend Wi-Fi access to Ghanaians through our partnership with

TotalEnergies.”Tawalauded TotalEnergies’ innovation and revealed that customers can expect the service at many more locations in the coming months. “We are particularly excited to partner with TotalEnergies to launch this service, which offers free Wi-Fi powered by Vodafone Ghana at selected TotalEnergies Service Stations. This site is the first of many—there will be three additional sites in Accra and Kumasi by the end of 2022,” she announced.“ForVodafone Ghana, this is another milestone in our digital transformation journey. We are proud to partner with Total Energies in this venture,” she concluded.Managing Director of TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC, Mr Olufemi Babajide, stated that partnership with the private and public sectors is crucial for accelerating change and promoting innovation and new technologies. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the various institutions that have helped in making this possible,”

Vodafone Ghana’s Enterprise Wi-Fi is a wireless internet solution that businesses can use to keep their customers and employees connected at their premises. Its features include Quota Management, Rich Analytics Dashboards, Social Media Integration, SMS and Email Integration, and more.

Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has announced Google Pay, a mobile payment service, developed by Google, as a payment method on Flutterwave.

As part of this collaboration, Google Pay will serve as an additional payment option for merchants on Flutterwave for business. This collaboration will offer safe and seamless payments, as well as convenient checkout experiences for customers.

A release issued by the company said “Google Pay is a safe, simple, and helpful way to make contactless payments in store, and also payments in apps and on theUsersweb.store their cards for Google Pay in Google Wallet, a digital wallet app that is available on supported Android smartphones, tablets or watches,” it added.

The release further noted that with this collaboration, Google Pay users in supported countries across the world can pay businesses on Flutterwave across Africa.Itsaid with an average

transaction completion time of three minutes, this integration is slated to reduce cart abandonment rate for businesses on Flutterwave. How it works

1. Get on a Flutterwavesupported website

2. Select what you want to pay for

3. Fill the order form

4. Select Pay with Google Pay as your payment method

5. Complete the payment with your Google Pay details.

To get paid via Google Pay, Flutterwave merchants must manually opt-in on their dashboard.TheFounder and CEO of Flutterwave, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, said, “The continued and rapid growth of Flutterwave is due to our commitment to building a platform with simplified payments for everyone.

The GooglePay payment option will attract more international customers and increase the current success rates for businesses on Flutterwave,” he said in the release.

According to him, integrating with Google pay will allow users across the globe to participate in the booming e-commerce

ecosystem in Africa. It will enable us to further fulfill our promise of creating endless possibilities for all”.

Flutterwave enables Google Pay for African UniversitybusinessesofGhanagraduate students demand payment of bursaries

The University of Ghana branch of the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana has expressed its displeasure with the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat and the government for the delay in paying graduate students’ bursaries since 2019.

“Research is an important tool for national development. As graduate students, whose major preoccupation is research, we dedicate our time to finding solutions to the plethora of challenges that confront society,” Ms Christiana Adu, President of the University of Ghana GRASAG, said in a statement.

“This we do with all dedication and diligence in pursuit of the development of our nation,” she stated. “It is somewhat surprising that a government that believes in education and is determined to turn the fortunes of this country post-COVID-19 pandemic has not prioritised our academic research work.”She said the association had observed with “great concern the lack of urgency by the government and the Ghana

Scholarships Secretariat in paying the bursaries of our members.”

According to her, the government had ignored multiple appeals by their mother association, GRASAG National, to ensure the payment of overdue bursaries to certain students in the 2019/2020 academic year, as well as payment for the 2020/2021 bursary and registration for the 2021/2022

academic years.

“The 2020/2021 academic year ended with no commitment from the government to pay bursaries due graduate students,” she added.She said many graduate students were unable to complete their thesis due to the nondisbursement of the bursaries, which was hampering the flow of

academic work.

Ms Adu also said the Association had contacted the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat and had called on the Minister for Education to seek his intervention for the payment of the bursaries, but all of their attempts failed, and the bursaries remained unpaid.

She added, “We are still urging the government and the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat to expedite payment of our bursaries inSheearnest.”alsocalled for an upward adjustment in their bursaries from the present level of GHS 420 for each student pursuing a master’s degree, saying: “This amount is woefully inadequate and insignificant under the current economic circumstances to fund academic research.”

However, while asking the government to send payments into their accounts by Thursday, September 22, 2022, she stated that if the government continued with its current posture, “we may advise ourselves in a manner most appropriate and lawful.”

Societe Generale Innov8 Hub hosts MEST Express Investor Mixer

Societe Generale Ghana PLC’s Innov8 Hub hosted the MEST Express Investor Workshop and Mixer as part of its ongoing efforts to foster more intimate relationships with the FinTech and Innovation Ecosystem.

MEST Express is an accelerator that helps early and growth stage startups in Ghana become investmentLaunchedready.inlate 2020, the program is part of a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation to scale MEST’s impact and empower more young people and entrepreneurs across Ghana.

MEST is a pan-African software and entrepreneurship training program, seed fund, and incubator helping to launch technology startups across the continent.

The event took place at the SG Ghana Innov8 Hub located at

the Bank’s Head Office building and consisted of a workshop for startups focused on fundraising, investor relations and valuation.

The session concluded with a mixer to give founders an opportunity to meet and network withTheinvestors.workshop was led by Ashwin Ravichandran - MEST Africa Portfolio Advisor, on real life experience on investor relations.Thesession was followed by an Introduction to Valuation: Practical Tools & Methods by Dina Hammond and Thelma Kodowu – Co-Founders of Invest Pro Advisors Present were startups from the MEST community, including, AFRICA GOODNEST; an e-commerce and logistics platform helping transform the way consumers buy value-added

agricultural products from Africa; DIGITAL HEALTH ACCESS: A health education and consultation platform that connects healthcare professionals and providers to users; FLUID FINANCE: Fluid empowers banks to finance lowincome farmers at scale.

The breakthrough offline technology enables farmers to access digital financial identities, cashless credits, and educational content to increase crop yield and financial literacy.

SHAQ EXPRESS: Shaq Express seeks to provide a connected digital experience between vendors and customers by providing a seamless platform that allows vendors and shops to sell and gives the convenience to customers to shop from one point to SOMMALIFE:another.

software technology to create value for smallholder farmers and the stakeholders who engage them.We connect smallholder shea producers to international markets, resource them to become agents of environmental conservation and provide easy to use technological tools for manufacturers to track their impact.TINY REUSERS: facilitates the sale of new and preloved baby and maternity items through an e-commerce platform.

The SG Ghana Innov8 Hub launched in 2021 is a centre that helps to foster and facilitate the development and growth of ideas and innovation in collaboration with players in the Ghanaian Fintech & Innovation ecosystem.

Leveraging

Making net-zero pledges count

By Catherine McKenna

Walking down a Toronto Street recently I saw an ad touting a fossil-fuel company’s net-zero credentials. But to see such beliefstraining claims, I would not even need to leave my house.

According to a study by the Guardian and InfluenceMap, such ads are all over Google. Ads for oil giant Shell, for example, appeared on 86% of searches for “net zero,” with many promoting the company’s pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Are corporations finally waking up to the urgency of the climate crisis, or is this just more greenwashing?

One thing is certain: the climate crisis is escalating fast. California is enduring record-breaking heat waves. A third of Pakistan is under water. China is suffering a withering drought, which may have global ramifications. And that is just what is happening right now. From cold snaps in Texas to wildfires in Europe, climate change has become impossible to ignore.Climate

action has come a long way since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015. Notably, net-zero has gone mainstream, with some 90% of global GDP now covered by netzero targets. And it is not just governments that have adopted them; many of the world’s biggest companies have done so, too, motivated by a combination of business interest, investor expectations, and consumer pressure.Butifcorporations – including

even fossil-fuel companies – are now “climate leaders,” fully and loudly committed to the net-zero cause, why are emissions still rising? A look at the history of climate action reveals the answer.

Over the last 20 years, a diverse array of climate initiatives has sought to persuade businesses and investors to accept the idea of setting climate-related targets, cutting emissions, and then setting even more ambitious targets. These initiatives have had one thing in common: all have been voluntary.

As anyone who has ever broken a New Year’s resolution knows firsthand, a promise made is not always a promise kept. If someone says they will achieve net-zero, how can we be sure that they are taking the steps needed to deliver? Right now, we can’t.

This has enabled “climate coasting,” with companies marketing themselves as environmentally conscious while continuing with business as usual, or close to it. In fact, as it stands, only one in three corporate netzero plans cover the company’s full carbon footprint, including that of its supply chain. And not one of the world’s biggest corporate polluters has fully explained how it plans to achieve net-zero emissions.

As United Nations SecretaryGeneral António Guterres recently put it, “The world is in a race against time, and we cannot afford slow movers, fake movers, or any form of greenwashing.”

These are the problems the HighLevel Expert Group on Net-Zero Emissions Commitments, which I chair, is meant to solve. We are an independent, diverse group of experts determined to provide science-based recommendations for achieving the goal so many governments and companies haveOurembraced.workisjust beginning, but three things are already clear. First, a pledge without a plan is meaningless. Companies need to align their business strategies with their commitments, take ambitious action, and start delivering progress immediately. And this does not mean fudging the numbers with questionable offsets; the only credible way to achieve net-zero is to slash emissions.Tosupport this effort, the HighLevel Expert Group will define what it will take to achieve netzero emissions. This includes establishing clear criteria for credible net-zero plans that account for issues of equity and climate justice. Regional and sectoral standard-setters can then adopt our criteria, thereby ensuring consistency and comparability.Second,voluntary schemes are not enough. We don’t need New Year’s resolutions; we need new business plans. Regulation will be essential here, both to ensure that voluntary climate roadmaps are replaced by mandatory strategies and to level the playing field. A central objective of the High-

Level Expert Group is to map the neededFinally,regulations.accountability is essential. When companies, banks, investors, cities, and regions make net-zero commitments, we must be able to trust them. Fair rules of engagement will help. But governments, corporations, and financiers must also embrace radical transparency. Progress will be easy to spot: investment in clean energy will supersede investment in fossil fuels, and emissions will fall.

Already, our expert group has engaged more than 800 groups, met with thousands of people, and received almost 300 submissions detailing how net-zero commitments can be improved – a clear indication of how keen stakeholders are to get this right. Success would not only give us a shot at stabilizing the climate; it would bring vast economic opportunities. According to McKinsey, growing demand for net-zero offerings could generate more than $12 trillion in sales annually by 2030.

Last year, I left politics to dedicate my time to the two things that mattered most to me: my kids and climate change. The two priorities are deeply interconnected. If we are to avoid a future where our children are buying “net-zero” bacon between floods and fires, we must close the gap between the promises we hear and the action we need.

The sting of climate risk is in the tails

By Mark Cliff

Scientists have longed warned that climate change will adversely affect weather patterns and living conditions around the world. These warnings are now turning into a painful reality. Worse, the range of possible outcomes has proven to be increasingly “fattailed”: extreme weather events such as heatwaves, severe storms, and floods are more likely than normal statistical distributions wouldNonepredict.ofthis bodes well for future political stability or economic prosperity. Our best hope is that the sharp sting in these tails will goad us into the necessary remedial action before things get even worse. But will it?

The public is increasingly aware that global warming is leading to more volatile weather. There have been record-setting heatwaves around the world this year, not just in India – where temperatures reached 49.2° Celsius (120.5°F) –but also in places like the United Kingdom (40.2°C). France and China are experiencing their worst droughts on record, and four consecutive years of failed rainy seasons in eastern Africa have put more than 50 million people at risk of “acute food insecurity.” Meanwhile, devastating storms and floods have hit Madagascar, Australia, the United States, Germany, Bangladesh, and South Africa.These events are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and enormous economic and

financial damage each year, making weather volatility an increasingly important factor in risk assessment. Whereas temperature increases of 0.5°C here or there are barely perceptible, droughts, floods, and other short-term weather fluctuations can wreak deadly havoc.Moreover,

extreme weather events can cause changes that last far beyond the immediate shock and damage, especially when they accelerate developments that might otherwise have taken many years. Scientists are increasingly worried about “tipping points” – such as the melting of polar ice sheets – that would carry us across thresholds of irreversible change. That could create damaging feedback loops between interconnected climate risks, all of which would spill over into the real economy, driving defaults, job losses that disproportionately harm disadvantaged communities, and political turmoil.

Aside from the damage to the physical environment, extreme weather may therefore trigger abrupt and sometimes permanent shifts in social attitudes and public policy. When people start losing their homes, livelihoods, or even their lives, politicians must respond.Surprisingly, while we are all acutely conscious of extreme weather, forecasters still widely overlook its role in accelerating

structural changes. Mainstream climate scientists and economists tend to focus on the longer-term effects of climate change brought about by global warming, with an emphasis on scenarios involving global average temperature increases in the range of only 1.5°C-2°C – the targets enshrined in the Paris climate agreement. And even in higher-temperature scenarios, it is assumed that the effects – on sea levels and agricultural output, for example – will accumulate only gradually, implying that the ultimate reckoning is several decades away.But a recent paper – “Climate Endgame: Exploring Catastrophic Climate Change Scenarios” –shows that this conventional scenario analysis gravely understates the long-term risks, because it fails to give the more extreme climate outcomes (the fat tails) the attention they deserve.

As the statistician Nassim Taleb has pointed out in the context of financial markets, conventional models struggle to handle the consequences of fat-tail events, creating a dangerous blind spot in theirHigheroutlook.temperature pathways would unleash what the authors call the “four horsemen” of the climate endgame: famine and malnutrition, extreme weather, conflict, and vector-borne diseases. It does not take much imagination to see how this herd of apocalyptic harbingers might

create social and political chaos, especially when they are all galloping together – as is already the case today with the global food crisis, a new war in Europe, and the ongoing pandemic. Worse, the mention of the second horseman suggests that the more immediate risks of climate change are still being underplayed. After all, extreme weather is also a driver of the other three horsemen, making it arguably the mostWeatherimportant.shocks cause suffering that grabs society’s attention far more than abstract (though no less warranted) warnings of long-term doom. Polls show that support for climate action is greater for those who have personally experienced extreme weather. Although the current upsurge in inflation means that people are less enthusiastic about measures that would hurt their own finances, the growing incidence of disasters is shrinking the minority that remains skeptical of climate change or climate policies altogether.

In this way, the fat tails of the weather – rather than the fat tails of long-term climate change – are far more likely to prompt action within the shorter time horizons that preoccupy politicians and business. Let us hope that as the stings from these tails become ever more common and painful, they will spur us to sustain the policies necessary to keep the climate horses in their stable.

Fly Emirates to Dubai and enjoy free tickets to the Museum of the Future, one of Dubai’s most famous landmarks

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has launched an exciting new offer for holidaymakers planning a trip to Dubai between 22 September and 8 December 2022. From today, all Emirates customers can now enjoy a complimentary ticket to the Museum of the Future – one of the city’s most famous landmarks.

Starting today, this special offer is valid for all tickets to Dubai purchased using code MFUTURE until 2 October 2022. The offer is available on bookings made on emirates.com, Emirates Call centre or via participating travel agents, for travel from 22 September 2022 until 8 December 2022 in any cabin class.* You can also take home more souvenirs from your trip with one extra piece of baggage allowance on your return journey from Dubai.**

The complimentary ticket to The Museum of the Future entitles travellers to one admission during the working hours of the museum and must be booked on

museumofthefuture.ae against a redemption code sent by Emirates prior to the planned visit and used latest by 15 December 2022.*

The Museum of the Future is the star attraction everyone’s talking about in Dubai, and are welcoming all ages to see, touch and shape our shared future.

Inside an incredible building that’s been dubbed one of the most beautiful in the world, you can explore the future 50 years from now in an incredibly immersive and sensory experience.

Fly into space, explore the wonders of nature, and get closer to the technology that will change the way we live. Kids will love being Future Heroes and taking on challenge missions to create a brighter tomorrow.

Explore more of Dubai with Emirates

Emirates has safely restarted operations to more than 130 destinations, across six continents and currently operates seven (7) flights per week from the Accra to

Dubai.Whether seeking a city break, a beach getaway, a relaxing retreat, a unique desert experience, or a stopover, there is something for every traveller when visiting Dubai. From sun-soaked beaches and heritage activities to worldclass hospitality and leisure facilities, Dubai offers a variety of world-class experiences.

• Dubai Experience: Customers can now browse, create and book their own customised itineraries including flights, hotel stay, visits to key attractions, and other dining and leisure experiences in Dubai and the UAE, through Emirates’ Dubai Experience platform, and enjoy even more unique benefits.

• Emirates Holidays: Customers can book their holiday to Dubai through Emirates Holidays. All Emirates Holidays include flexible booking options.

Whilst for even more peace of mind, Emirates Holidays’ dedicated 24/7 On Holiday Service team will be there to support holidaymakers for every moment that they’re away.

• Skywards partners: Members of Emirates’ awardwinning loyalty programme, Skywards, can earn Miles on everyday spends at retail outlets in the UAE, and redeem these Miles for reward tickets, upgrades, as well as tickets for concerts and sports events. Learn more about Emirates

Skywards here:

agents.agentsEmiratespurchasedemirates.com.Forskywards/.emirates.com/gh/english/https://www.moreinformation,visitTicketscanbeonemirates.com,SalesOffice,viatravelorthroughonlinetravel

MTN Ghana celebrates Global Appreciation Week with Sim registration exercise

As part of the 2022 Global Appreciation Week, MTN Ghana embarked on a drive to appreciate its customers and reaffirm its commitment to deliver a distinct customer service.

Global appreciation week is a week that is set aside for MTN employees to show appreciation to each person’s contribution to the company’s performance.

in Ghana. Customers were registered in the comfort of their homes and offices. In addition to SIM registration, staff interacted with customers and addressed their concerns. The CEO of MTN also sent SMS messages to MTN customers. The rest of the days focused on appreciating exceptional team members and individuals whilst the final

want to thank all our customers for their support over the years. We appreciate your loyalty and we have you at heart. Therefore, we have dedicated our customer appreciation week to serve you in your comfort zone by bringing the SIM registration exercise to your doorsteps. We are undertaking this exercise across the country to ensure that every customer can

yet started the process to link their Ghana card with USSD *404# or use the MTN web

weekonSIMcustomersbiometricthethecapture.ourmtn.com.ghhttps://simregistrationportal.portalbeforetheycometotouchpointsforthebiometricCustomerscancompleteregistrationbyeithervisitingnearestservicecentreforthecapture.Alternatively,candownloadtheRegistrationSelfServiceappgoogleplaytocompletetheTheCustomerappreciationwasmarkedinall19MTN

Ursula touts business opportunities in Ghana to Canada investors

Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula OwusuEkuful, has told all diasporans, other nationals and Canadian organisations to take charge of the several business opportunities in Ghana and direct their investments into the country.

The Minister who described Ghana as the “land of golden opportunities” said, there are several opportunities available which makes a better investment destination of choice than its counterparts on the continent.

According to her, organisations in Canada should make it their priority to partner Ghanaian firms, some of whom she said already have footprints on the continent, to export goods and services across Africa and beyond.

The Ablekuma West lawmaker made this known when she was speaking at the Ghana-Canadian Investment Summit (GCIS) in Toronto, Canada, organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) designed specifically to engage the Ghanaian Diaspora in order to attract long-term investments and partnerships for Ghana’s“Ghanadevelopment.isthesecond most visited country on the African continent

for African diasporans in Canada. This means that there are several investment opportunities in Ghana for the African diaspora, and as it stands, we have just scratched the surface. Ghana’s investment climate is favorable, provides for an enabling environment that is suitable for investment in ICT, especially with several companies around the world rushing in to set up their businesses in Ghana. I want to entreat you all diasporans, other nationals and Canadian organisations to come to Ghana and invest in the land of golden opportunities” she said.

She reteritated the point for the Ghana-Canada relationship to develop to higher heights for progress and sustainable development to be sustained.

“Ghana has had cordial relations with Canada spanning over six decades. Over the years, the bond has been strengthened through our shared values, commonwealth and diplomatic camaraderie and bilateral trade. As fate would have it, the two countries even share a common National Day of July 1. Ghana has been a strategic partner with a substantial number of Ghanaian professionals and businesses in Canada keenly

contributing to developing Canada’s economy” she added.

The GCIS brought together delegates from the international investor community, especially from Canada, venture capitalists, private equity fund managers, among others.

The participants discussed and explored viable investment opportunities within various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

There were also collaborations with the Diaspora, Canadian investors and local entrepreneurs

and the creation of awareness of the potential of Diaspora Direct Investment and the need to increase trade between Ghana and Canada.Alsopresent at the Summit were a number of state officials, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shelly Ayorkor Botcwey, the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Dr Awal Ibrahim Mohammed, GIPC boss, Yofi Grant and other well-known dignitaries.

MTN Business campaign shows how it gets #businessdonebetter

MTN Ghana has launched a brand campaign profiling MTN Business – the ICT leader in Africa, which aims to be a trusted partner to businesses in their digital evolution and ultimately achieve #BusinessDoneBetter across the continent.“Weunderstand that growing a business is hard. Business leaders are juggling many priorities and often cannot attend to them all,” said MTN Ghana, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Mr Samuel Addo. “MTN Business’s role is to assist them do the things that make an impact and support their growth, helping them get it done better.”

MTN Business provides the tools to shift small, medium and large enterprises and multinational corporations and those in the public sector to being modern, connected and digital. These include Mobile as well as Fixed and ICT converged services i.e. managed network services; cloud services; unified communications; security solutions; and Internet of Things (IoT).

Mr. Samuel Addo, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, said the plan was

for MTN Business to become the empowering, leading ICT expert providing value to enterprise clients. Among our customer base, we already have more than Three thousand (3,000) enterprises who

are instrumental in contributing to Ghana’s economic growth.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh said MTN Business also had a key role to play in realising the MTN Group’s Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress: “Building the largest and most valuable platforms is one of Ambition 2025’s four strategic

increasing by 26.8%* in constant currency terms to R9.9 billion. This was driven largely by MTN Business growth in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Ghana’s Enterprise growth was 44.9% for H1 2022 and a revenue of R331m.

African enterprises have a valuable role to play in addressing the continent’s most pressing challenges by providing muchneeded jobs, products and services. World Bank data shows that SMEs contribute up to 60% of all employment and as much as 40% of the GDP in emerging economies. This makes them the cornerstone of most economies in Africa.

“We want to be the business enabler of choice in Ghana, meeting the communication and ICT demands of business clients throughout the country,” said Mr Samuel Addo, Chief Enterprise Business officer. “With a customercentric approach to providing cutting-edge services, we are doing this by leveraging our brand and advanced network as well our strong customer base of top companies across sub-Saharan Africa.”

Nominations open for 5th Ghana Business Awards

After successfully planning and executing four previous awards, amidst pomp and pageantry, Globe Productions Limited, organizers of the Ghana Business Awards have opened nominations for the fifth anniversary of the awards.

The event which would be preceded by a business summit and exhibition will be climaxed with the awards night and dinner at the Gold Coast Kempinski Hotel on Friday, October 27, 2022.

Considered a benchmark of excellence, the event has been arguably the biggest and most prestigious gathering of businesses and business owners in Ghana.

Categories

Some of the award categories that promise to be the toast of the night are the awards for Company of the Year, Personality of the Year, CEO of the Year and Entrepreneur of the ThemedYear.

“Promoting Investment in Ghana and Africa,” and supervised by a team of technical experts (Awarding Board) and

independent consultants, the award categories are modelled to recognise industry players and businesses that have stood out, and made significant contributions to the business sector and the economy at large.

Criteria

The criteria for shortlisting successful nominees’ would be based on some selected key performance indicators (KPIs) in the standards of excellence, including information technology, innovation, competitive pricing and healthy practices.

The awards are being organised in partnership with the World Leader Summit, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Institute of Directors (IoD), with support from the Graphic Communications Group Limited and Media General seeks to promote business excellence nationally and internationally, and as well as provide an unparalleled opportunity for networking among

industry players.

It would recognise and reward excellence across all sectors of industry in Ghana and provide the platform for individuals and companies that played significant roles in the growth and development of the business sector.

Summit and Exhibition

Explaining the summit and exhibition part of the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Globe Productions, Mr Latif Abubakar said the awards would be preceded by a business summit that would bring together selected industry experts and players to deliberate on issues affecting the business sector and recommend workable solutions to deal with them.

He said the summit would also promote open dialogue between relevant stakeholders in the public and private sectors on adopting the right strategies to promote investment in Ghana, stimulate economic recovery, and to ensure a future of hope and shared prosperity for all Ghanaians.

On exhibition, the Globe

Productions CEO explained that there would be stands available at the event centre for businesses to exhibit their product and services to guests at the summit and awards. This he said was aimed at bringing goods and services offered by the exhibitors closer to their clients and customers.

“We are not just rewarding excellence but bringing products and services close to you,” he said.

In attendance will be the Ministers of Trade and Industry, and Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyeremateng and Dr Awal Mohammed with support from the Spanish Ambassadors to Ghana, Mr Javier Gutiérrez.

Nominations for this year’s awards are open till Tuesday, September 27, 2022. To nominate, visit furtherAlternatively,at/npr36com/nomination-entrywww.ghanabusinessawards.orshorturl.tosubmitanentry.call0571900900fordetails.

Ghana Free Zones Authority calls for research into coconut products

Michael Oquaye Jnr, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA), has called for research into the development of coconut products for value addition and maximum earnings for the country.

He said Ghana could increase its global share of the coconut industry through research into the commodity as a source of food, fuel andThemedicine.former High Commissioner of Ghana to India, Dr Oquaye Jnr, said: “I will encourage all the organisations in the sector to do more research and development that can be commercialised and used locally and for export.”

Speaking at the second edition of the International Coconut Festival Ghana, which was organised by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the African Coconut Group, he indicated that the GFZA

was committed to the coconut

sector.“GFZA focuses on export led industrialisation and we wish to assure all businesses willing to export more than 70 per cent of their products to come to Freezones for the monetary and non-monetary incentives,” he said.

Mr Sampson Abankwah, Head of the Greater Accra Regional Ministry Office for Trade and Industry, speaking on behalf of the sector Minister, Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, said the Ministry was committed to growing the sector through industrialisation.

An agenda of industrialisation within the sector, he said was geared towards reducing unemployment, improving balance of trade, and creating a self-reliant notion amid disruption of global supply chain due to COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

“It is, therefore, the hope of the Ministry that we continue to strengthen existing institutional synergies and use every available opportunity to promote coconut production,” he said.

He also called for networking among players to create the needed exposure for SMEs in the industry to Mrthrive.Samuel Dentu, Deputy Director in Charge of Operations and Finance at the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), said the Authority in 2017 launched the Coconut revitalisation programme to revamp the then ailing Coconut industry and to improve the supply capacity of the value chain.

The intervention, which he noted was in line with the mandate to develop, facilitate and promote Ghana’s export through product and market diversification, had yielded positive results as the 2021

Non-Traditional Export (NTE) performance showed that Coconut raked in $11.44 million with coconut oil generating $7 million in export revenue.“These represented an increase of 132 per cent and 133 per cent respectively over the 2020 figures,” heGEPA,said. he said was working in line with the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) to ensure that the country could earn about $2.8 billion from semiprocessed to processed coconut annually by 2030.

The festival seeks to facilitate market links within the coconut value chain, boost local trade among players in tourism, hospitality and art and creative industries and create direct and indirect jobs for economic empowerment.

GNA

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING - SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS

Q3, 2021 GDP Growth 3.3%

Average GDP Growth for 2021 3.3%

2022 Projected GDP Growth 3.7%

BoG Policy Rate 22.0%

Weekly Interbank Interest Rate 22.05%

Inflation for February, 2022 33.9%

End Period Inflation Target – 2022 28.5%

Budget Deficit (% GDP) – Dec, 2021 5.0%

2022 Budget Deficit Target (%GDP) 6.6%

Public Debt (billion GH¢) – Dec, 2021 393.4%

Debt to GDP Ratio – Dec, 2021 78.3%

STOCK MARKET REVIEW

The Ghana Stock Exchange closed lower for the second consecutive week on the back of price declines by 7 counters. The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) lost 8.49 points (-0.34%) to close at 2,499.90 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) loss of 10.38%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) also lost 5.52 points (-0.27%) to close at 2,073.33 points, reflecting YTD loss of 3.65%.

Market capitalization declined by 0.13% to close the week at GH¢64,401.07 million, from GH¢64,482.54 million at the close of the previous week. This reflects YTD decrease of 0.15%.

Trading activity recorded a total of 11,666,517 shares valued at GH¢12,084,263.04 changing hands, compared with 3,030,863 shares, valued at GH¢7,592,049.55 in the preceding week.

MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for the week, accounting for 75.25% and 66.11% of shares traded respectively.

The market ended the week with no advancer and 2 decliners as indicated on the table below.

THE CURRENCY MARKET

The Cedi continued its downward trend against the USD for the week. It traded at GH¢8.2897/$, compared with GH¢8.2565/$ at week open, reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.40% and 27.55% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 1.64% a year ago.The Cedi however strengthened against the GBP for the week. It traded at GH¢9.4586/£, compared with GH¢9.5759/£ at week open, reflecting w/w gain and YTD depreciation of 1.24% and 14.08% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 2.36% a year ago.

The Cedi also strengthened against the Euro for the week. It traded at GH¢8.2966/€, compared with GH¢8.3020/€ at week open, reflecting w/w gain and YTD depreciation of 0.06% and 17.70% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 2.67% a year ago.The Cedi again strengthened against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢6.3360/C$ but closed at GH¢6.2441/C$, reflecting w/w gain and YTD depreciation of 1.47% and 24.06% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 1.52% a year ago.

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET

Government raised a sum of GH¢1,929.78 million for the week across the 91-Day, 182-Day and 364-Day Treasury Bills. This compared with GH¢2,226.45 million raised in the previous week.

The 91-Day Bill settled at 29.91% p.a from 29.48% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 31.14% p.a from 30.05% p.a. last week. The 364-Day Bill settled at 30.47% from 30.03% at last issue. The table and graph below highlight primary market yields at close of the week.

Crude Oil prices edged lower on the week pressured by expectations of weaker global demand and by US dollar strength ahead of possible large increases to interest rates, though supply worries limited the decline. Brent futures traded at US$91.10 a barrel on Friday, compared with US$92.84 at week open. This reflects w/w loss and YTD gain of 1.87% and 17.13% respectively.

Gold prices dropped on the back of expectations of more sharp interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, coupled with a stronger dollar. Gold settled at US$1,668.15, from US$1,728.60 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD losses of 3.50% and 8.77% respectively.

Prices of Cocoa also declined for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,354.50 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,360.00 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD loss of 0,23% and 6.57% respectively.

COMMODITY INTERNTIONALMARKETCOMMODITIES

PRICES

BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK

Money Manaer: A money manager is a person or financial firm that manages the securities portfolio of an individual or institutional investor. Typically, a money manager employs people with various expertise ranging from research and selection of investment options to monitoring the assets and deciding when to sell them.

In return for a fee, the money manager has the fiduciary duty to choose and manage investments prudently for clients, including developing an appropriate investment strategy and buying and selling securities to meet those goals. A money manager may also be known as a “portfolio manager,” “asset manager,” or “investment manager”.

Source: moneymanager.asphttps://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/

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

Email:moyeboah@cidaninvestments.comName:Tel:+233Email:aaudrey@cidaninvestments.comName:Tel:+233Email:etannor@cidaninvestments.comTannor(0)208818957AudreyAsieduaWiafe(0)578402700MosesNanaOsei-Yeboah

Name: Ernest

Tel:+233 (0) 24 499 0069

ABOUT CORPORATERESEARCHCIDANTEAMINFORMATION

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: Website:info@cidaninvestmens.comwww.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.

Copyright @ 2019 Business24 Limited. All Rights Reserved. Limited

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 wellWeinformed.value your support and loyalty.

+233AdvertisingNewsroom:editor@business24.com.ghContact:0302965315/Sales:242122742

UPSA lecturer honoured at 2022 Emerald Literati Awards

A LECTURER at the Department of Banking and Finance of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Michael Insaidoo, has received global recognition for Outstanding Paper in the 2022 Emerald Literati Awards.The Emerald Literati Awards, active for 30 years, is a global award which celebrates and rewards the outstanding contributions of authors and reviewers to scholarly research.

His research paper, “Stock market performance and COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a developing economy,” published in the Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, was elected the most impressive piece of work by the Editorial Board of Emerald Publishing.TheOutstanding Paper Awards have been the backbone of the Emerald Literati Awards for Excellence, acknowledging scholarly research that creates impact and generates real change beyond academia.

In the award-winning article, Mr Insaidoo and his co-authors assessed the impact of the novel COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of the Ghana stock market using daily time series data from January 2 2015 to October 13, 2020. The paper employed the exponential

8.23 per cent. The paper highlighted policy implications in the light of the findings.MrInsaidoo is an economist and a lecturer at the UPSA’s Department of Banking and Finance. He has over 10 years of experience in teaching and research, as well as Prioradministration. to joining UPSA, he had whoorganisations.andandbanking,forwarding,spanningexperienceprofessionalextensivefreightprintingadvertising,civilsocietyMrInsaidoo,hailsfrom

Economics of Development from the International Institute of Social Studies, which is part of Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Ghana and a product of St. Augustine’s College in Cape Coast.

He teaches Economics and quantitative-related courses at UPSA, and has been the course lead for many of these courses.

Mr Insaidoo’s research focuses on financial crisis, financial economics, financial markets, development economics, and energy economics.

generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) model in its analysis.

The study revealed, among other findings, that the pandemic had occasioned an increase in the Ghana stock market returns volatility by

Saltpond in the Central Region, is a PhD in Economics candidate at the University of Cape Coast.

He is the recipient of the prestigious Dutch government’s Nuffic scholarship under which he completed a Master of Arts in

His research works have appeared in various internationally ranked journals and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for a number of journals published by Elsevier, Taylor & Francis and Wiley.

He has also conducted collaborative studies with institutions such as the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), based in Kenya.

Venture Capital Fund, Injaro signs GH¢25m agreement to support SMEs

Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) has signed agreement with Injaro Investment Advisors Limited (Injaro) as part of efforts to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.Under the agreement, VCTF has committed $25 million to Injaro under its special equity fund dubbed Injaro Ghana Venture Capital Fund (IGVCF), meant to support more viable SMEs in the country.

The money is part of the $150 million equity fund being put together by IGVC.

The proposed 10-year fund will be targeting eight small and medium enterprises in food and agriculture, inclusive financial services, healthcare, education, manufacturing and industrial services.The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Venture Capital Fund, Yaw Owusu-Brempong, signed on behalf of VCTF while the Managing Director (MD) of Injaro, Jerry Parkes, appended his signature for the Injaro Investment Advisors.

The GH¢150 million equity fund is being raised from resources such as local pension funds and international

investors.Speaking at the signing ceremony in Accra, Mr Parkes observed that the fund was expected to inject between GH¢10 million and GH¢15 million per investment.“Thestart-ups we are targeting are not early-stage businesses but those that have demonstrated a track record of success, revenue, and proven business model.

“And our capital will be aimed at helping small businesses to scale up, grow and become more profitable in order to make a meaningful impact in the society.

“It is a 10-year fund with a target size of GH¢150 million but we are willing to go up to GH¢200 million if we are oversubscribed,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Venture Capital Fund, Yaw Owusu-Brempong, said the agreement between the two parties was the first investment under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).

He said this was a very momentous event for the Trust Fund, and more importantly for the venture capital ecosystem in the country.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance for considering the Trust Fund as a beneficiary under the GETP.

“The funding from this project has recapitalised the Trust Fund with an amount of $40 million.

“I am very happy today because I know that I am committing to this fund and will never default on capital calls from the fund manager because the funds are available,” he said.

He also used the opportunity to congratulate the board and executive of Injaro Investment

Advisors, fund managers of Injaro Ghana Venture Capital Fund (IGVCF) for being the first to benefit from the Strategic Industries Fund (SI Fund).

He said the IGVCF was leveraging funding from the pensions industry for the transformation of small and medium enterprises, especially viable young enterprises.

VCTF’s role

The Head of Financial Market and Innovation at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Benjamin Torsah-Klu, said the VCTF played a key role in the development of the economy.

This, he said, was done through promotion of innovation, improving capacity of businesses and creating jobs via the various employment

opportunities.Hesaidthe VCTF had undergone restructuring after which the World Bank Group under the GETP had recapitalised it with $40 million to enable it to fund more viable startups.“The move is to help revive the trust fund and strengthen it to provide funding for investors for the transformation of SMEs,” he said.