Business24 Newspaper 9th October, 2020 by Business24 Online

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

NO. B24 / 111 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Audit report on Saglemi housing project ready

Gov’t engages lenders over PPAs renegotiation

• report handed to CID • ex-officials invited for questioning

By Benson AFFUL affulbenson@gmail.com

overnment has directly engaged lenders of independent power producers (IPPs) as part of efforts to renegotiate IPPs’ current power purchase agreements (PPAs), and has also offered to refinance IPPs’ outstanding debts at a discount through a designated energy fund. Cont’d on page 3

UNECA analysis shows AfCFTA gains for Ghana By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

Samuel Atta Akyea says the police have started questioning officials involved in the Saglemi housing project.

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

overnment has handed over the audit report of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) on the Saglemi Housing project to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for

recommendations, Minister for Works and Housing Samuel Atta Akyea has said. The Ministry of Works and Housing in June this year engaged the services of the GhIS to review the state of the Saglemi Housing Project, including taking inventory of the stock of materials on site.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

POLICY RATE

The minister had accused the former Works and Housing Minister under the Mahama administration, Collins Dauda, of varying the contract terms of the project after parliamentary approval, which was illegal.

BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL

14.5%

NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS

GHANA REFERENCE RATE

15.12%

GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

11.4% OF GDP

PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

0.9% GHC 5.13

Cont’d on page 3

Cont’d on page 2 INTERNATIONAL MARKET

USD$1 =GHC 5.7027

United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) assessment of the expected impact of goods-trade liberalisation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) treaty shows significant economic gains for the continent, with strong potential to promote industrialisation.

CORN $/BUSHEL COCOA $/METRIC TON COFFEE $/POUND:

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NEWS/EDITORIAL Editorial / News

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2020 FRIDAY OCTOBER 14 9, 2020

EDITORIAL Editorial

Pay before boarding order needs a rethink

Wash your hands 2

Cover your cough 3

Put the Saglemi debacle to bed The new directive for all passengers to pay for their COVID-19 test online before their is no International doubt that arrivalhere at Kotoka inability to purAirportGhana’s has been meet with resentment by airlines and sue large scale housing passengers. development projects has left a timeworse-off when passengers are its At citizens and at the still coming to terms with the mercy US$150of � exploitative GHC 900� landlords. mandatory payment test upon That is for notCOVID-19 to say successive arrival at KIA, the new directive governments have not made efhas generated more debate. forts – but the truth is, a numPassengers travelling to Ghana ber of these projects have failed will from Tuesday, September 15 to the right numbers or bedeliver required to make online payments for the mandatory were built at outrageous costs C O Vmakes I D - 1 9them t e s not t aaffordable. t Ko to k a that International Airport prior to Projects that are able to geta boarding of their flight, off d i rthe e c ground t i v e bare y usually F r o n t still ier H e a l t h C a r e � t h e c o m p a ny borne or are neglected by succontracted to carry out the ceeding governments without a antigen test at KIA--to all airlines care for citizens who need these on Friday has revealed. houses B y the t h emost. new directive, “Passengers are requiredprojects to show These abandoned proof of payment to airlines as a are littered across the country and more painful are those that don’t deliver value for consumers.

condition for boarding of flights country� s COVID-19 testing to KIA.” regime.

T h e of new d i re c t ive , prohas One such housing however, been described by jects in recent times which airlines as detrimental to has the brought than renewed more effortsquestions to stimulate demand for air Saglemi travel, given that answers is the housing cash payments remains the project. predominant mode of payment of travelers. the project, forManagers most Ghanaian which commenced under who the An airline operator previous Democratic wishes to National remain anonymous, told Business24 that “The cost is Congress (NDC) administration, already too high and now this have been in the news for varynew policy is also going to be ing inai m preasons l e m e n –t eincluding d . T h e rthe e a re hundreds of Ghanaian traders bility to deliver value for money. who travel to buy to retail This paper is goods excited that in the country. those involved in the deal are “Most of them don� t carry any being made to answer for to their electronic payment cards be respective able to payroles. online. They should have the flexibility pay cash According to the toWorks and when they arrive.” Housing Minister, Samuel Ataa The his Consumer Protection Kyea, predecessor Collins Agency � CPA� has also raised Dauda the terms the critical varied questions aboutof the project evenhigh after parliamentary relatively cost of the approval. It is said that although the contractor was paid close to

The CPA�for s Chief Executive US$200m the construction Officer, Kofi Kapito, said in as of 5,000 units, only much as thehousing government want to about imported 1,000 werecases built. of the curb respiratory disease, it surroundmust not The controversies burden the passenger but charge ing Saglemi is not the first to be what is enough to cover their associated with government’s cost and not to profit from the passenger. desire to house its people via affordable housingAfrica and it and may you cer“Look around see that what is paid in Ghana for tainly not be the last. the test is the highest. Why This paper would like to call should that be� ” on Police Criminal InvestigaHe also raised questions about tions the Department which why Noguchi(CID) Memorial is not taking over investigations Institute for Medical Research of the University of Ghana, was not to do a thorough job especially made to handle the testing for a given that we the politreasonable feeare butin rather a ical season where contract given to apoliticians foreign company to get do away what with Noguchi could easily a lot could adequately handle. of things. Business24 wouldthis like country to urge Either ways, a flexible approach that allows needs to resolve thispay shameful passengers to either online Saglemi before it dreams or cash ondeal arrival. up any other project to house its people.

COVID-19: Banks deferred GH¢3bn in loan repayments CONTINUED FROM COVER

that the desired outcomes are outbreak had transformed their team structures to the new way of achieved and the economy operations, the bank chiefs working in order to maximise brought back on track.” responded that the immediate efficiencies of digital banking, Mr. Awuah� remarks were response was to enforce remote and ensure less-paper operations Continued from scover reinforced by majority of the top working while realigning workers� and requirements for social roles. distancing. In the long run, these bank executives According to who the responded minister, measures may result in possible While the majority, 69 percent, to the survey. The respondents although the contractor was of respondents indicated that layoffs for some whose jobs advised of Ghana paid closetheto Bank US$200m for theto remote working will become a become automated,” the report increase stakeholder consultation construction of 5,000 housing permanent option going forward, said. in order to propose more units, only about 1,000 were there was general consensus that Commenting on the findings of beneficial policies. built. the new norm will ultimately lead the survey, which was on the This, they will help Speaking to said, the media at to the shedding of workers whose theme “The new normal� banks� estimate the timelines and extent response to COVID-19”, PwC� s Parliament House in Accra, Mr. jobs have become automated. to which the policies of the Country Senior Partner, Vish “ M o s t b a n k s i n t e n d t o Atta Akyea stated: “Government regulator will remain available. permanently incorporate remote Ashiagbor, cautioned that for has S o mnot e rabandoned e s p o n d e n Saglemi; t s s i m pitl y working as an option available to workers that survive the digital is taintedthat with embezzlement— thought there was the need staff based on their roles. 12.5� of p ro g re s s i o n , t hey h ave to there is no dispute it. for detailed guidelinesabout from the to Akyea remain banks confirmed that they have upgrade It came their after skills Mr. Atta The GhIS hasand come outofwith a advice. government Bank Ghana relevant. already begun and will continue said government will had said at a press conference conclusive report to the effect on the implement ation of toHe realign the job contractor roles and work find a credible to that his ministry was awaiting measures put in to curbThe the that Saglemi is place a rip-off. impact of pandemic. amount ofthe money that has been continue the project, stressing advice from the Attorneyblown is over US$100m, but the that his ministry is pushing hard General on the way forward for In their view, clear guidance housing structures there this do to ensure that Saglemi is not the project, which was initiated was missing, andover though under the John Mahama-led c o umeasure l d b e up s h ator ethe d d u r i n g abandoned. not monies In May 2019, the Attorney- administration. stakeholder consultation, they they have collected.” General and Minister for Justice, The original contract signed could not fully embed the new On bringing persons policies in operational strategy culpable to book for the alleged Gloria Akuffo, recommended under the former administration without a detailed documented malfeasance, he revealed that to the Works and Housing was supposed to deliver some directive. several officials involved in the Minister to refer the alleged 5,000 affordable housing units Saglemi to WITH Ghanaians ADVERTISE USat a total project project had been invited by the malfeasance in the Post-pandemic banking to 024 cost US$200m. However, the TEL: +233 212of2742 police for questioning, adding Affordable Housing project the appropriate authorities contract was revised to deliver that once the CID concludes its When asked by the audit firm and 1,502 affordable houses at the www.thebusiness24online.net work, it will forward the docket for criminal investigations about how the pandemic� s prosecution. same cost. to the Attorney-General for

Audit report on Saglemi housing project ready Wear a mask Brought to you by

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Gov’t engages lenders over PPAs renegotiation Continued from cover The PPA renegotiations are being done as part of the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP), a five-year reform plan aimed at restoring the financial sustainability of Ghana’s energy sector. Since 2019, the government has been holding talks with about 12 IPPs in a bid to convert their PPAs, which are based on takeor-pay arrangements, to more favourable terms. In doing so, the government says it believes the lenders of IPPs have a crucial role to play in alleviating the debilitating financial strains on itself arising from the unbalanced legacy energy sector contracts. “Government urges lenders to take a sensible and pragmatic approach and urgently consider

the refinancing proposals in order to conclude negotiations as quickly as possible. “Globally, financial institutions are having to reconsider their positions in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on national economies, including triggering defaults and credit downgrades,” a statement from the Finance Ministry said. The government has bemoaned the situation where it paid nearly US$1bn for unused power in the last two years due to excess electricity contracted on a take-or-pay basis with IPPs. Take-or-pay power generation contracts are common in the energy industry and oblige the off-taker (government, in this case) to pay for power supplied by the producer irrespective of available demand.

Government has already secured an agreement with two IPPs—CENIT Energy and Cenpower—in the past couple of weeks to adjust their current PPAs in order to realise cost savings. While CENIT Energy agreed to amend its PPA to a tolling structure, Cenpower has agreed to switch to natural gas as primary fuel, a move government says will deliver substantial cost savings, estimated at US$3bn, over the remaining term of the PPA. Finance Minister Ken OforiAtta said government welcomes Cenpower’s commitment to Ghana and recognises Cenpower’s conversion to gas as a significant step in helping regenerate the country’s energy sector. “In recent weeks, there has

been increased momentum under the ESRP Consultation Process towards resolving some extremely challenging legacy issues inherited from the previous administration. “We encourage all other IPPs to engage constructively with the government negotiating team to conclude negotiations as soon as possible. IPPs have a vested interest and a significant role to play in providing a stable energy supply as well as ensuring a fair, balanced and sustainable energy sector for the people of Ghana “As ever, this government is committed to building a competitive and dynamic energy sector, where private investments can thrive and the interests of the Ghanaian people and businesses continue to flourish,” Mr. OforiAtta said.

UNECA analysis shows AfCFTA gains for Ghana Continued from cover According to the assessment, AfCFTA modalities on goods trade will lead to an increase in GDP of all African countries, with a projected growth of between 0.35 percent (US$28bn) and 0.54 percent (US$44bn) in Africa’s GDP in the year 2040 relative to the baseline without AfCFTA in place. Ghana’s GDP in 2040 will be between 0.29 percent (US$450m) and 0.31 percent (US$510m) higher than the baseline without AfCFTA, the assessment estimated. The assessment also tipped the country’s exports in 2040 to increase by between 1.7 percent and 2.0 percent, equivalent to US$867m and US$1bn respectively, relative to the baseline situation. With AfCFTA, the continent’s exports in 2040 will be higher by between 1.5 percent (US$40bn) and 2.2 percent (US$56bn), depending on the ambition of the liberalisation reform. The welfare of the continent will increase slightly, the assessment showed, due largely

UNECA’s Joseph Atta-Mensah says the benefits of the AfCFTA on the continent would be realised only if its reforms are effectively implemented.

to the significant expansion expected in intra-African trade. Ghana’s welfare is expected to increase by between 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent compared to the baseline. Tariff revenue will however experience shortfalls ranging between 7.1 percent and 8.4 percent for Ghana and 6.5 percent and 9.9percent for the continent, depending on the ambition of the liberalisation. Joseph Atta-Mensah, Principal Policy Advisor at the Macroeconomic and Governance Division of UNECA, who disclosed these findings at a hybrid business conference organised by the Chamber of

Commerce and Industry France Ghana (CCIFG) in Accra, stressed that the expected benefits would only materialise if the AfCFTA reforms are effectively implemented. “Strong emphasis must be placed on education and skills development in Africa to ensure that the adequate workforce is available, especially in industrial sectors,” he said. The role of the private sector to harness trade for Africa’s development must not be overlooked; it is the private sector that trades, innovates and generates most jobs, he added. The AfCFTA initiative will launch a single market for Africa

in which member countries will liberalise up to 90 percent of their goods trade over a fiveyear period. Trading is expected to start in January 2021, after it was postponed from July 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative is expected to boost intra-Africa trade, which is presently low, and increase the continent’s industrialisation. Ziad Hamoui, National President of the tradefocused advocacy organisation Borderless Alliance and a cospeaker at the conference, said the AfCFTA will catalyse the continent’s integration efforts but warned that its implementation must be inclusive. “Africa needs to enhance the business environment, build local capacity for skills and production, and make manufacturing more competitive,” he said. It also needs “more public-private collaboration to align policy priorities with what people really want, including youth and women traders.”

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala makes final shortlist for WTO top job

he selection of a new director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is entering its final stage. The final two - from an initial list of eight candidates - are Nigeria’s former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee. Both are female which means that if members of the WTO can coalesce around one them in the final stages of selection, it will be the first time the job has been taken by a woman. Ms Okonjo-Iweala and Ms Yoo both have political and international experience and both were students at American universities. Ms Okonjo-Iweala, who also has US nationality, has had two spells as finance minister and a short stint as foreign minister in Nigeria. Much of her career was spent as an economist at the World Bank. She eventually rose to the position of managing director, essentially second in command at the institution. She has been an unsuccessful candidate for the top job at the bank. She is currently chair of the board of the international

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

vaccines alliance, Gavi. She has not spent her career immersed in the details of trade policy as some other candidates did. But her work as a development economist and finance minister means she has often had to deal with international trade. She describes trade as “a mission and a passion”. Ms Okonjo-Iweala would be the first African to be director general of the WTO.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Ms Yoo is much more of a trade specialist. Her statement to the WTO’s general council hinted at a literal lifetime in the area - she said she was born the same year that South Korea acceded to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which became one of the key elements of the WTO’s rule book.

COVID-19: SSA’s recovery will require massive investment—World Bank By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

t a time when growth in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to fall to -3.3 percent in 2020, the World Bank has said that the road to recovery from the novel coronavirus will require massive investments across countries, as well as financial support from the international community. The bank, in its recent Africa Pulse report, a bi-annual economic analysis of subSaharan Africa, recommended that countries need to reconstitute their fiscal space to finance programmes that can stimulate recovery, improve debt management, and fight corruption. It also stated that activity among non-resource-intensive countries, such as Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, is anticipated to slow but not contract. This will be supported by relatively more robust growth

Albert Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist, Africa Regions

in the agriculture sector. The World Bank further suggested that a desired road to recovery should be one that delivers jobs and economic transformation, which are the keys to sustained, inclusive, and resilient growth. “Ultimately, sustained recovery will depend on how fast

African countries prioritise policy actions and investments that address the challenge of creating more, better, and inclusive jobs. These policy priorities, in turn, operate through three critical and interrelated channels: digital transformation, sectoral reallocation, and spatial integration,” the bank said.

She started her career in trade, she said, in the year the WTO was born, 1995. She has been involved in some of South Korea’s key trade negotiations in that period, including with China and the US. She makes a point of her “deep knowledge and insight into the details of various areas of trade agreements”. BBC The bank also suggested shifting resources toward non-traditional economic sectors with higher productivity, lower volatility, and greater value addition, as well as fully leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which will equally be critical. “Fostering the reallocation of resources from less to more efficient job-creating locations through enhanced rural-urban and inland-coastal connectivity will be key to creating jobs and economic transformation,” the bank advised. Ghana’s Recovery Plan Government launched the GH¢100bn COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (CARES) Programme, which is aimed at mitigating the impact of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of Ghanaians, and to ensure that the country quickly emerges from the pandemic with a stronger and more resilient economy. According to the government, 70 percent of the funds for the CARES Programme will come from the private sector, both local and foreign, with the remainder to be provided by the state.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

G-Money, Eliho partner to digitise cocoa payments

CB Bank Limited, Ghana’s largest and first indigenous bank has partnered Eliho Ghana Ltd. to facilitate the transfer and receipt of funds in the cocoa farming and purchasing ecosystem, using the G-Money platform. The G-Money/Eliho partnership is an outcome of the bank’s interest in providing financial inclusion for the partially banked and unbanked population of the country and to provide smooth financial operation support for Eliho and other supply chain networks and partners. The G-Money platform will also enable Eliho to pay purchasing clerks (PCs) with virtual funds transferred onto their mobile wallets whilst the PCs will be able to transfer the value of each farmer’s cocoa sales real time onto their mobile wallets. G-Money is telco-agnostic mobile money service that enables both customers and noncustomers of GCB to transact using e-value received on their phones. Eliho Ghana Ltd., in collaboration with Touton SA, which has been a trading partner of Ghana Cocoa Board for over 50 years and for the past two years have designed a comprehensive sustainable sourcing model where farmers in their supply chain have access to Rural Service Centers (RSCs) that serve as one-stop-shop

at the district level. This enables them to nurture a network of youth entrepreneurs called Cocoa Tech to deliver critical and essential services at the community level including access to Finance among others. The Eliho/Touton initiative has facilitated the onboarding of district managers, purchasing clerks and small holder farmers onto digital platforms for the digitisation of their financial transactions, which has been made possible by GCB’s G-Money services. With this partnership all cocoa farmers producing for purchase by Purchasing Clerks (PCs) have the singular convenience of receiving payment for their

produce via mobile transfer. This is a very exciting time for Eliho and its farmers as the service goes to significantly reduce the risk of loss of funds and eliminates the risk of theft resulting from carrying physical cash, along the value chain. In this particular partnership Eliho has access to the service by both the Web portal and the use of a mobile handset. Managing Director of Eliho, Mr. Nicholas Kumah, at the official signing ceremony, stated that the G-Money digital platform will provide great relief to the supply chain through the secured consolidated cocoa district managers account, ensuring the real time availability of monies to purchasing clerks.

“’This enhances transparency, accountability, traceability and security. This platform will also reduce financial misappropriation due to the shortened time in converting released cash into cocoa and sold back to COCOBOD,” he said. Deputy Managing Director of Finance, GCB, Socrates Afram, expressed his excitement about the partnership as the service would ensure availability, access, and the smooth transfer and payment of funds. He described the G-Money platform as fast, secure, efficient and reliable for all users, adding that it would offer convenience for all stakeholders in the cocoa supply chain.

Twellium Industrial awarded ISO and HACCP certifications, unveils from Twellium to be returned treatment plant to the environment in a good

everage giant, Twellium Industrial Company Limited has received certifications from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) to affirm its conformity to worldclass standards of safe and premium quality. Twellium Industrial Ghana got certified after passing more than twenty thousand standards to help increase productivity by minimizing errors, waste and safeguarding consumers’ safety. Presenting the certifications to Twellium, a representative from SGS Ghana, a Swiss multinational which provides inspection, verification, testing and certification, Okai Mensah congratulated Twellium for joining the table of companies credited with worldwide quality standards “The ISO and HACCP are an attestation that Twellium has an effective system in place and is committed to enhancing its

condition. Mr. Ajami hinted that the waste treatment plant was set up to protect the health of staff, and nearby residents.

systems and processes. As one of the few companies in Ghana to have achieved this height, it also reinforces their commitment to improved efficiencies in line with best standards”. Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for Twellium, Ali Ajami receiving the certifications said: “Seeing that safety is our main priority, the certifications from ISO and HACCP are here to ensure premium quality and international standards for our consumers while following

the required mandatory HACCP programs as an effective approach to food safety and protecting public health”. He urged consumers of the brand to patronize made in Ghana products in order to embrace domestication and support national policies aimed at protecting local industries. In a related development, Twellium has unveiled a thousand metre-cube Effluent Treatment Plant to recycle sewage and water

“Aside from recycling waste water for domestic use, the plant will be responsible for reducing pollution caused by industrial fumes, preventing land pollution by eliminating dumping and protecting the environment from hazardous chemical materials” he said. Twellium Industrial Company was incorporated in Ghana in September 2013, to kick start the production of 4 key franchised products. These include Rush Energy drink, Original American Cola, Planet Range and Bubble Up lemon lime. While the company specializes in the production of irresistible non-alcoholic beverages, it also prides itself in its flagship product, Verna Mineral Water, for its clean, tasty and refreshing appeal, as confirmed by target market and consumers.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Feature

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Social engineering: The greatest catalyst for successful cyber attacks By Sherrif Issah

ocial Engineering (SE) is the process of deceiving an individual or a group of people to take a certain action(s) or disclose sensitive information in favour of the perpetrator. According to Atkins and Huang (2013), SE is the exploitation of human psychological weaknesses by scammers to attack innocent individuals. SE can either occur in-person (face-to-face), via phone calls (vishing), emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or social media platforms. According to Abass (2018), Social Engineers utilize diverse mechanisms in sharing malicious software in obtaining information, defraud, or gain unauthorized access to information systems. The main motivation of Social Engineers is to obtain sensitive information, install malware, financially defraud victims, or have specific actions taken in their favour. According to EY (2018), 550 million emails were sent out by a single phishing campaign during the 1st quarter of 2018. SE has become the number one top cyber threat to organizations. Over 90 percent of successful hacks and data breaches are as a result of phishing (Cybersecurity Ventures, 2019). SE generally involves less investment and low technology to be successful,

hence perpetrators are enthused to use this medium to achieve their malicious goals. In the study of Atkins & Huang (2013), the top 3 triggers used in phishing emails to raise the attention of the recipients “were: alert, warning, attention; verification of account; and invalid login attempts”. They further stated that the top 3 persuasion techniques used in phishing emails were authority, politeness, and urgency. Also, the top three triggers used in advance fee e-mails to raise the attention of recipients were: Nigeria 419 funds, business proposal & winning of lottery. The use of authoritative and emotional persuasions by Social Engineers is able to convince victims to lose concentration on SE attacks. The attitude of believing what people say continues to expose users to SE attacks. According to Flores (2016), the following factors significantly influence employees’ resilience to SE: trust, risky behaviors, general information security awareness, security and computer knowledge, intention, and target-related information. He mentions that national culture has a substantial effect on the information security behavior of employees and determines their SE security behaviors. In the study of Sheng et al (2010), 90% of persons who click on phishing links will proceed

to share information with the perpetrator(s). 57% of people who had previously received antiphishing training fell for 40% of phishing during the roleplay, whilst people who had not received previous anti-phishing training fell for 60% of phishing. They conclude that men are less vulnerable to phishing attacks than women because men have more technical knowledge and training than women. Individuals from the ages of 18 to 25 are also more vulnerable to phishing attacks because, they are less educated and trained, have fewer years in Internet usage, and are not risk-averse. Also, participants who received training fell for 28% of phishing messages after the training. This suggests, education is essential to combat phishing, but it is not the ultimate solution. There are several ways to protect ourselves against all forms of SE attacks. The following non-technical and cost-effective measures; can help prevent and reduce SE attacks. • Continuous awareness is the cheapest and the most effective way of combating SE attacks. Irrespective of the expensive technical tools and controls implemented by organizations, lack of continuous staff awareness can totally ruin all the colossal investments made in securing information. • Extreme caution should be taken before opening e-mails

or messages from senders you do not know. • Extreme caution should be taken when clicking on links in e-mail, social media, or text messages unless you are convinced about it. • Do not respond to suspected messages either through e-mail, social media, SMS, or phone calls. • Beware of whom you share information with, either face to face or electronically. • Organizations need to formulate, implement, and strictly enforce information security policies with emphasis on SE. • At the national level, enacting and enforcing stringent laws or regulations against SE can also help fight the menace. To ensure the fight against SE is successfully won, it is extremely important to understand SE and map up strategies to secure information in various spheres: personal, organizational, national, and international levels. The literature reviewed in this article, and the non-technical and cost-effective recommendations provided can help achieve this to a very large extent.

Author: Sherrif Issah – IT GRC Consultant | PCI-QSA | Trainer @ Digital Jewels Ltd | Member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana. For comments, contact author mysherrif@gmail.com | Mobile: +233243835912

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

New interactive registry for data controllers launched By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

he Data Protection Commission (DPC) has launched a new digital registration software for data control and processing businesses operating in the country as part of efforts to enhance transparency in the handling of data to facilitate the nation’s digital transformation agenda. The new software codenamed “DP-RegSys” will serve as a registry for data handling firms and fulfills the commission’s core objective of increasing data transparency and building trust among data controllers and those whose data they hold. The interactive system allows registrants to upload photos, videos and other documents as evidence of their accountability to their data subjects as well as the commission—which will also now be able to share letters and messages with the firms on the registry. It is also able to generate arrears invoice for incorporated businesses and established

Ms. Patricia Adusei-Poku is Executive Director of the Data Protection Commission

entities that process personal data for enhanced revenue generation. Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, launching the software on Thursday in Accra, indicated that there is the need to safeguard the data that are churned onto the digital space as more transactions move online due to the coronavirus

pandemic. “As more of our interactions move online, it is vital that we safeguard the data that is generated, that we put out there, and handle it in a secure manner. In our emerging borderless, digitised economy, international cooperation, safe transborder processing of data and digital identification of people using

appropriate tools and technology is critical,” she said. As part of the launch, the minister granted six-month amnesty to allow defaulting data controllers to register with the DPC and pay just the current years amount due; waiving all applicable arrears. “All entities which fail to regularise their operations with the DPC during this amnesty period will face the full brunt of the law after 31st March 2021,” she cautioned. Executive Director of the Commission, Patricia AduseiPoku, was necessitated by certain actions that made it difficult for her outfit to deliver on their core mandate including the noncompliance of data controllers to basic registration requirements. “We see this software as a very important gamechanger because it will enable us to deliver on the requirements of the law but address some practicalities that were becoming a hindrance to our operations. Today, we are using technology and leveraging other expertise in the ecosystem to fully deliver on our requirements; which is to bring data protection controllers on our radar to be able to make the accountable,” she told journalists.

Celebrating 60 years of Nigerian Independence!!!

ai Wine Café with the support of the Ghana Nigeria Business Council celebrated 60 years of Nigeria’s Independence at their new location in Osu, Accra. Patrons including CEO’s and Senior Executives of some of Ghana’s leading Nigerian and Ghanaian owned Banks and Insurance companies, as well as Government officials and Executive members of Nigerian associations graced the event. Guests were treated to all things Naija with the Nigerian signature beverage, “Chapman” being served as the welcome drink and array of delicacies including peppered snail, suya kebab, peppered gizzard and more. Marinated with a live band performing Nigerian afrobeat tunes and closing the evening with a DJ playing all our favourite Naija tunes. “Nigeria are our brothers, we borrow a lot from their culture and lifestyle and this was a perfect opportunity to celebrate Nigerians and further emphasize our desire to ensure all Nigerians feel welcomed and confident that we shall overcome any troubled

waters,” stated Executive Secretary to the GNBC and owner of Sai Wine Ms Nadia TakyiwaaMensah. Reginald Laryea, Chairman of GNBC said that: “We were very happy to support Sai Wine

Café with this event as we felt it had the best intentions and was timely. Key objectives were met, preparing the grounds for us to re-introduce and relaunch our organisation in the coming month’”

With over 100 attendees including Nigerians and Ghanaians - the successful Evening was a reminder of a strong and longstanding relationship Ghana and Nigeria represent and uphold.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Feature

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

To lock down or not to lock down?

By Peter Singer

or the past three months, this metropolitan area of nearly five million people, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, has been under one of the world’s tightest lockdowns. You may leave home only if shopping for essential items, meeting medical needs, providing care, taking up to two hours of daily exercise, and going to work if it is impossible to work from home. Travel of more than five kilometers (3.1 miles) from home, or across the boundary of the metropolitan area, is prohibited. Police hand out heavy fines to violators. The Victorian government ordered the lockdown on July 5, after a day in which the state, which has a population of 6.7 million, recorded 191 new COVID-19 cases – the state’s highest daily total since the pandemic began. The outbreak peaked at 723 new cases on July 30 and then began to fall. By October 4, the 14-day moving average had dropped to 12. At the time of writing, the state has had over 20,000 cases and 800 deaths. All the other Australian states together have had fewer than 7,000 cases and under one hundred deaths, making it possible to hope that Australia could eliminate the virus, as neighboring New Zealand has come close to doing. No major political party opposes the lockdown. Organized protest rallies were sparsely attended, perhaps because police warned protesters that they could be fined – and many were. Protesting is not one of the permissible reasons for leaving home. When faced with a highly contagious disease that puts vulnerable people at risk, few Victorians are moved by abstract calls for “freedom” coming

mostly from younger people who are at lower risk. Most accept that the lockdown is necessary because it saves lives. And the steep decline in the number of new cases and deaths during the lockdown suggests that it does prevent deaths from COVID-19. But that is only part of the picture. In the United Kingdom last month, 32 scientists signed a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson pointing to the significant harms that lockdowns cause – harms that, they suggest, may exceed the benefits. The scientists cite an estimate from Cancer Research UK that the lockdown has led to two million delayed cancer screenings, tests, or treatments, which could cost as many as 60,000 lives – more than the UK’s 42,000 COVID-19 deaths so far. Cancer is only one cause of death that the lockdown is likely to increase; there are likely to be many others. But without a lockdown, the number of deaths from COVID-19 could end up being many times greater than the present toll. There are also other ways in which the lockdown saves lives. In Australia, for example, it appears to have virtually eliminated deaths from seasonal flu, saving about 400 lives in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period last year. A group of researchers led by Olga Yakusheva, a University of Michigan economist, has sought to estimate the net number of lives saved (or lost) by pandemicmitigating policies in the US in 2020. The team finds that these public-health measures saved between 913,762 and 2,046,322 lives, but also could result in an “indirect collateral loss” of 84,000 to 514,800 lives, implying 398,962 to 1,962,322 net lives saved. That is a wide range, but still clearly a positive outcome. Yakusheva and her coauthors seek to avoid contentious ethical

issues by taking into account nothing but the number of lives saved or lost. That avoids three key issues that a more adequate assessment of the costs and benefits of lockdowns should face. First, an adequate assessment would not disregard the difference between dying at 90 and at 20, 30, or 40. As I have contended previously, we should be counting years of life lost or saved, not simply lives. Second, as Michael Plant and I argued earlier this year, the impact of lockdowns on quality of life matters, too. Lockdowns cause widespread unemployment, for example, and that sharply reduces life satisfaction. Difficult as quality of life is to measure and quantify, a proper accounting of the costs and benefits of lockdown cannot just wave it away. Third, and perhaps most important of all, we must consider the impact of lockdowns on people who even in normal times are struggling to meet their and their families’ basic needs. Governments of countries where many people live in or on the edge of extreme poverty have particularly strong reasons to avoid lockdowns, but governments of developed countries also ought not disregard altogether the fact that a recession in the advanced economies jeopardizes the very survival of people in other countries. Until this year, extreme poverty had been dropping steadily for the past 20 years. So far in 2020, it has risen by 37 million people. How much of that is caused by lockdowns, rather than by the virus itself, is difficult to say, but the part played by lockdowns would surely be significant. According to Henrietta Fore, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, at the height of the pandemic, 192 countries had closed schools,

leaving 1.6 billion children without in-person learning. For many, learning remotely would not have been a possibility. At least 24 million children were projected to have left school permanently. For many girls, that is likely to mean early marriage instead of the prospect of a career. The New York Times recently reported that school closures, combined with the economic hardship caused by the lockdowns, have caused a big increase in child labor in lowincome countries. Even if lockdowns do save lives in the countries that institute them, that isn’t sufficient to show that it is the right path for a government to take. About the author Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and founder of the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save. His books include Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), Rethinking Life and Death, The Point of View of the Universe, co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, The Most Good You Can Do, Famine, Affluence, and Morality, One World Now, Ethics in the Real World, and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction, also with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek. In 2013, he was named the world’s third “most influential contemporary thinker” by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Feature

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Africa’s fateful shoice By Carlos Lopes

he International Monetary Fund predicts that COVID-19 could set Sub-Saharan Africa back by a decade in per capita GDP terms, which means that staging a strong recovery from the crisis will be critical. But African leaders must choose wisely among the available policy options. If investments made today merely set the stage for future environmental and economic crises, the region will find itself back where it started. Africa’s energy sector is at the center of this strategic calculus. Clean, modern energy could fuel the region’s economic growth and accelerate the expansion of electricity into rural areas, because renewables have already become cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Over the past decade, the cost of solar photovoltaics and onshore wind fell by 81% and 46%, respectively. In the African context, energy from new renewable facilities is already less expensive than even energy from coal. And shifting to renewables would allow African countries that are currently dependent on imported fossil fuels to achieve greater energy independence. Renewables are already the fastest-growing source of jobs in several African countries. A concentrated solar facility recently built in Morocco created more than 1,600 jobs per year during construction, and is now expected to maintain some 200 jobs during its first 25 years of operation – not to mention the hundreds of additional jobs that will be supported indirectly. Off-grid forms of renewable energy also can bolster public health. In Kenya, where only 19% of health facilities have reliable electricity, rural clinics are improving their capacity by installing solar panels. Investing more in such practical solutions will pay off both in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis and for decades to come. By contrast, poorly directed energy investments could further destabilize the region’s economies and exacerbate public-health problems. Globally, 42% of coal-fired power plants are losing money, and this year’s oilprice collapse has underscored the danger of relying on fossilfuel revenues to drive economic growth. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, oil-exporting countries could lose up to $65 billion in revenues this year. Fossil-fuel use also causes health problems, not least through air pollution, which has increased by 36% in Africa since 1990. According to 2013 study, air pollution killed an estimated 250,000 people on the continent in that year alone. And more recent research suggests that

poor air quality leaves people more susceptible to respiratory infections such as COVID-19. Public, environmental, and economic health are thus intersecting issues, which means that African countries will have to build greater resilience in all sectors – not just energy. In most cases, this can be done by working with nature and investing in green infrastructure. For example, restoring degraded landscapes can support ecosystems, improve rural livelihoods, and strengthen food security, which has become an urgent concern now that African farmers are bearing the triple burden of COVID-19, locust outbreaks, and climate change. Investments to improve the health of rural landscapes would lay the foundation for addressing all of these converging risks. By some estimates, every $1 invested in land restoration can provide up to $30 in benefits. Globally, developing sustainable food and land-use systems represent a business opportunity worth up to $2.3 trillion, and could create 70 million jobs by 2030. Recognizing this potential, farmers in Niger have restored around five million hectares of land since the early 1990s. But just imagine what investing in green solutions at a much larger scale could do for Africa, where so many young people in rural areas struggle to find opportunities. To be sure, green-recovery strategies require upfront investment, which raises the question of financing large down payments and capital outlays. While more than $10 trillion is being spent to soften the blow from COVID-19, the bulk of it has been confined to the world’s major economies. Yet when it comes to achieving a full and lasting recovery, all our fates are intertwined. Advanced economies must recognize that it is in their own interest to show solidarity with Africa. While the G20 has agreed to suspend debt repayments for

developing countries until the end of the year, that will not be enough. African countries will need at least two years of breathing room just to address the lasting effects of the pandemic. Multilateral organizations should be exploring additional forms of support, such as a social protection fund for the developing world. Meanwhile, abolishing fossilfuel subsidies – the source of more than $400 billion in waste each year – would allow national governments in Africa and elsewhere to free up public resources for fighting the pandemic and investing in a green recovery. And with oil prices so low, the usual political risks of doing so are minimal. Seizing the moment, Nigeria recently announced that it will end its expensive gasoline subsidy; and a number of other fossil-fuelproducing countries are seeking to diversify their economies away from dependence on hydrocarbons. As a complementary policy, carbon-pricing programs could generate even more revenues. Some 79 countries or subnational governments already have, or will soon have, carbon-pricing systems. Covering over 20% of global emissions, these schemes generated $45 billion in revenues in 2019 alone. A carbon price need not be regressive. In South Africa and a growing number of other countries, the system is being designed explicitly to benefit the poor. Before the pandemic struck, 2020 was supposed to be a year when the international community took concerted action to reduce greenhousegas emissions and protect biodiversity. Now, these issues have been shown to be more important than ever. Under the 2015 Paris climate accord, all signatory governments are committed to strengthening their emissions-reduction plans every five years, and of the 105 countries that have publicly done

so for the 2020 deadline, 44 are in Africa. That is a promising sign. A growing body of research shows that climate-conscious investments and infrastructure also improve lives and livelihoods. For example, the International Energy Agency recently released a COVID-19 Sustainable Recovery Plan that could boost annual global economic growth by 1.1%, while saving or creating nine million jobs per year. The IEA finds that $1 million invested in energy efficiency, clean urban transportation, or solar PV can create more than twice as many jobs as investing $1 million in coal or gas power. And research from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate shows that bold green investments made today could deliver 65 million new jobs by 2030, with returns accruing immediately. Clearly, any viable postpandemic recovery plan must also be a climate plan. But, to translate such plans into action, we will need renewed cooperation and a shared sense of urgency among all countries. Africa has arrived at a critical juncture. How he region’s countries respond to today’s crisis will determine whether they can withstand the next one. Rather than locking in the dirty, inefficient economies of the past, governments must start devising plans to “build back better.” We in Africa can secure a future in which our children breathe freely, our hospitals have reliable clean electricity, our farmers prosper, and our economies compete globally. But much will depend on the decisions we make now and in the coming months. About the author Carlos Lopes, Professor at the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, is a member of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Markets

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

EQUITY MARKET â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3RD QUARTER REVIEW AND OUTLOOK FOR 4TH QUARTER 5th October, 2020

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

Feature

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020

The robot shop worker controlled by a faraway human

n a quiet aisle of a small supermarket in Tokyo, a robot dutifully goes about its work. Reaching down, it grabs yet another bottle of a flavoured drink that humans like, lifts it and places it on the shelf of a refrigerated unit. Then the next one. People come and go. It looks like a well-integrated autonomous mechanical worker, but that is something of an illusion. This robot doesn’t have a mind of its own. Several miles away, a human worker is controlling its every movement remotely and watching via a virtual reality (VR) headset that provides a robot’s eye view. This is the work of Japanese firm Telexistence, whose Model-T robot is designed to allow people to do physical labour in supermarkets and other locations from the comfort of their own homes. In this case, the robot is working at a FamilyMart shop in Tokyo. Eventually, it will handle more than just drinks bottles - rice balls, bento boxes and sandwiches should all be within its grasp. The Model-T is a “human avatar” says Yuichiro Hikosaka, board director at Telexistence. “You can go anywhere without moving yourself,” he says. The

concept is called telerobotics or teleoperation, and it has been dramatized in dystopian scifi films such as Surrogates and Sleep Dealer. Remote-controlled bomb disposal robots have been around for decades but teleoperated devices are now doing more than ever before - including delivering food to people’s homes in the Covid-19 era. Mr Hikosaka points out that Japan, with its ageing population, is currently facing a labour shortage - particularly with regard to low-income jobs. He argues that this could be partly solved through deploying thousands of robots in locations where physical work occasionally needs to be carried out, and allowing companies to remote-hire people in order to operate the robot when needed. “It’s maybe a ten-minute job,” he explains. “First of all, work in Tokyo but then ten minutes later you can work in Hokkaido.” Workers would log on to an online marketplace, choose tasks they want to do and then don their VR headset to transport themselves, virtually, to work. The idea may be especially appealing right now, suggests Mr Hikosaka, because workers don’t have to come in to physical contact with

other people - reducing their risk of catching or spreading Covid-19. There are snags the firm has yet to overcome, though. For one thing, the Model-T doesn’t move nearly as quickly as a human supermarket worker. And the VR headset can cause dizziness or nausea for people especially if they wear it for prolonged periods. Mr Hikosaka says he and his colleagues are working on solutions to these problems. But, really, the main hurdle is getting supermarkets to buy in to the technology at scale, which is necessary to reduce the cost of manufacturing each robot. Mr Hikosaka doesn’t hide his firm’s ambitions. He notes that there are tens of thousands of small supermarket shops scattered around Japan, most of which are owned by one of three companies. A deal with just one of these firms to supply thousands of branches could catapult Telexistence’s technology into the mainstream. “If they like it, boom,” says Mr Hikosaka. The hype may not be shared by everyone, however. Carl Frey, who directs the Future of Work programme at the Oxford Martin School, says he struggles to see the benefit of teleoperated robots in most scenarios. And when it comes to handling and moving objects in shops or warehouses, he says robots are

a very long way from matching human skills. “The reason for that is that robotic hands are not as dextrous as human hands,” he explains. “We can pick up just about any object and manipulate it. “We know what pressure to apply, how not to break objects and so on.” Telexistence’s robots can be fitted with pressure sensors and suction devices, notes Mr Hikosaka, but time will tell if the three-fingered hands on the Model-T are reliable enough for daily work in the real world. The costs of paying humans to operate robots may make them less attractive prospects for most businesses in the short term, says Dr Frey. In the longer term, he adds, autonomous robots could make such technology redundant and threaten swathes of jobs currently done by humans. In one much-discussed 2013 paper, he and a colleague estimated that 47% of US jobs could be lost to automation. At present, Mr Hikosaka says Telexistence wants to land somewhere in between, with the Model-T robots gradually becoming partially automated but still controlled at a high level by human beings. Instead of deftly managing every movement of the robot, for instance, a human operator might simply select the next item to be picked up and moved - the Model-T would then do those steps automatically. The robots could be trained to do this, Mr Hikosaka suggests, after they have spent years gathering data on how humans carefully manipulate the robotic hands in order to get a good grip on specific objects. In a way, workers would be training the devices that might partially replace them in the future. Ultimately, teleoperated devices will likely lead to greater levels of automation and fewer jobs being available for human workers in certain low-paid industries, says Dr Frey. It’s true that the list of jobs that were once manual but which are now done by machines with just a small amount of human oversight, or none at all, grows ever longer. “When these robots are good enough, you don’t necessarily want them to be remotecontrolled, you want them to be automatic,” he says. “That’s when you cut out the workers.” BBC

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2020