Business24 Newspaper 25th January, 2021 by Business24 Online

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

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MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

NO. B24 / 150 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

COVID-19: Policy makers face uncertainties amid second wave

Freight forwarders see big boost from rail projects By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

resident of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) Eddy Akrong has intimated that ongoing works in the rail sector will be a huge boost to the freight forwarding business, as they will ease transactions at the port and save both time and cost. “Another exciting thing for us [freight forwarders] is the boost in the railway sector, especially the Tema-to-Mpakadan project as well as the Boankra Inland Port—which is now featuring prominently. Cont’d on page 3

Lands Ministerdesignate plans consultative forum to tackle galamsey By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor, Bank of Ghana

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

mid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, policy makers currently face uncertainties on how the economy will respond, Director of Research

and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana, Philip Abradu-Otoo, has said. Although the country’s economic growth has been projected by international ratings agency Moody’s to recover to 4 percent this year,

ECONOMIC INDICATORS EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

there are key challenges to the outlook, such as diminished fiscal space, government’s financing constraints as well as threats of the pandemic’s second wave, after a surge in infections since late December. Cont’d on page 2 INTERNATIONAL MARKET

USD$1 =GHC 5.7027

BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL

POLICY RATE

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

he Minister-designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, says when he is approved he intends to organise a national consultative forum to fashion out strategies to deal with the illegal mining (galamsey) menace.

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

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Editorial / News

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Editorial

Galamsey fight a sham!

resident Nana Akufo-Addo in his first term of office pledged to put an end to the galamsey menace destroying the country’s arable lands and vegetation cover. A moratorium on small scale mining was placed to rein in all activities of small-scale miners. Excavators were seized. An inter-ministerial task force was established to among other things ensure that directives issued by government were not flouted. But all these measures now appear to be window dressing if reports from some of these galamsey-prone areas are anything to go by. A recent news report by an Accra-based FM station uncovered how some

military personnel were allegedly giving protection to a company mining illegally. Even before the station would go out with its full report, the company goes to court to secure an injunction to forbid the station from broadcasting the report. Not that this means complicity but this kind of reportage are becoming one too many. While the Ghana Armed Forces may have indicated its readiness to investigate the incident, this would only amount to being a judge your own cause – and we may never find out the facts The President, who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces must, as a matter of priority, call for a thorough investigation not just into this

recent incident but into the brazenness with which some galamseyers are going about their practice. Not only are we losing our farmlands to the wanton destruction of these miners but our forests – some of which may be the source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people. We need a renewed commitment to the fight against illegal mining – one that is not a lip service. We cannot pretend to be business as usual. With Parliament set to vet the Lands and Natural Resources Ministerdesignate, Samuel Jinapor, the legislators must push for a commitment to reduce the devastation.

COVID-19: Policy makers face uncertainties amid second wave Continued from cover

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The country’s revenue to GDP ratio, which is below 20 percent, is a major concern for the economy given government’s huge expenditures amid the pandemic. “We need to brace ourselves for what lies ahead in the year 2021. I think the key question hanging on our neck is whether fiscal and monetary policies have enough room to be able to accommodate this new era we seem to be entering,” Mr. Abradu-Otoo said in an interview with Business24. “At this stage where the level of uncertainties seems to be very high, we would require more vigilance and coordinated activities, and we need to converge and confront this new challenge that is emerging,” he added. Some health experts have opined that although an immediate lockdown is not what the country needs to suppress the resurgence of coronavirus infections—with active cases about tripling since December—it would be appropriate for President Akufo-Addo to impose restrictions on movement.

Mr. Philip Abradu-Otoo, Director of Research and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana

The President, in his last national address on the pandemic, warned he would be forced to lock down parts of the country again should citizens continue to disregard the anti-virus protocols. “From where I sit, I see this year a little bit more complex than what I saw last year. There is no clarity on the way forward, because just when we thought that the COVID-19 pandemic was easing, then a second wave emerges. We don’t know how the economy is going to react to this second wave,” Mr. Abradu-Otoo said. “It’s too early yet in the year. We need a little bit more time to see what will happen in the first

quarter, and then use that as a basis to look ahead till the end of the year,” he added. The Research Director further noted that there is no intention currently of triggering another asset purchase programme by the central bank. He said the fact that the 2021 budget is yet to be presented to Parliament adds to the uncertainties this year. Some analysts say investors are keenly awaiting government’s fiscal policy direction as well measures to be taken to address the sustainability of the public debt stock.

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Freight forwarders see big boost from rail projects Continued from cover “That will be a full utilisation of our intermodal transport system because the Volta Lake will be an inland waterway that will serve a purpose for what we do. If the railway line comes into play, then it will stand us in good stead,” Mr. Akrong told Business24 in an interview. Compared with a cargo truck that is able to move just one laden container at a time, the coach of a train can move about a thousand. Mr. Akrong said a functional rail system could facilitate the transport of large volumes of cargo and significantly improve the ease of doing business at the port. “Imagine that we had warehouses set up at Akosombo where bulk containers are unstuffed for the train badges to cart the goods to the northern part of the country. Aside improving the ease of doing business and cost at our ports, it will also put some big ease on our roads.” There are two big-ticket rail projects pertaining to the maritime logistics business that are currently ongoing in the

The Tema-Mpakadan rail project is one of several investments in the transport sector that holds huge prospects for the freight forwarding business.

country. The Tema-Mpakadan rail line is part of the 1,000km Ghana-Burkina Faso Railway Interconnectivity Project which will link Ghana to Burkina Faso. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries in

January 2017 in Ouagadougou to kickstart the project. There is also the US$330m Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal (BILT), originally christened Boankra Inland Port, which is an ultra-modern integrated logistics terminal consisting of a container service

yard (CSY), container freight station (CFS), reefer, warehouses, and a truck parking area. Mr. Akrong shared the view of other industry experts that with the Boankra project, “business will boom in the Ashanti Region and surrounding areas”.

Lands Minister-designate plans consultative forum to tackle galamsey Continued from cover The galamsey problem was one of President Akufo-Addo’s biggest challenges in his first term, one that many feel he failed at addressing despite the significant resources and efforts invested. Just last week, some soldiers were accused in press reports of providing cover for illegal miners degrading the forest of Manso in the Ashanti Region. The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has said it is investigating the matter. “When I get the opportunity, God willing, the strategy is simple. The president has been clear: he is not against mining, but he is keen to protect the environment, so we all have to agree to the laid-down rules,” said Mr. Jinapor in an interview with Business24. “I think we have to have a national consultative forum,

Samuel Abu Jinapor, MP Damongo constituency, is the President’s man to relaunch the anti-galamsey battle.

where the mining associations, chiefs, Parliament, the media, the ministry, and local communities will be present, for us to agree on the way forward. We then have to implement it without fear or favour,” he added. Illegal mining operations have caused detrimental

environmental effects in many communities across the country, including contamination of rivers and destruction of forests. Reports suggest there may be about 200,000 people engaged in galamsey, and according to some sources, nearly 3 million people rely on it for their livelihoods.

Currently, the Ghana Water Company is unable to produce water from some of its treatment plants because of the effects of illegal mining. Some experts have warned that Ghana risks importing water in the next 10 years if illegal mining is not stopped.

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

News

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

MiDA moves to resolve low voltage issues in parts of Accra

he Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has engaged the services of two companies to solve the low voltage and reduce the power outages experienced by an estimated 397,950 customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in parts of Accra and the Eastern Region. Similar works in the Achimota and Akuapim Mampong Districts have been completed, while those in the Dansoman and Kaneshie Districts will be completed in March this year. The work on the Kwabenya District is expected to be completed by the end of August 2021. The LV network improvement Project, referred to as the LV Bifurcation Project involves installing 350 new and higher capacity transformers, upgrading 1,000km of conductors, and also erecting over 16,000 wooden transmission poles across the five named ECG Districts to enhance electricity delivery in the beneficiary areas.

An estimated 397,950 customers in the five ECG Districts, namely; Kaneshie, Dansoman, Achimota, Akuapim Mampong and Kwabenya will directly benefit from the Project, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States of America, as part of the US$308milion Ghana Power Compact Program. When completed, it is expected

that customers in the beneficiary Districts will experience a significant reduction in the power outages that occur in their communities due to overloaded transformers and substandard conductors. According to Mr. Roland Osei Nyarko, the LV Bifurcation Project Manager at MiDA, “besides improving general access to electricity and enhancing the

quality of power supply, the interventions will also strengthen and support the operating environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. This will ultimately contribute to improved incomes, enhance job opportunities and sustain poverty reduction.” The LV Bifurcation Project is one of four Sub-Project Activities that make up the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) Project under the Power Compact Program.

50 Tamale shea-based cosmetic processors trained on labeling and standard compliance

ifty small and medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) engaged in shea-based cosmetic processing in the northern cluster have undergone capacitybuilding training on labeling and standard compliance in the Tamale Metropolis. The training was organised by the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) with funding support from the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) - Ghana which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nation’s Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The training in collaboration with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) through the WACOMP - Ghana Sub -Contracting Matching Scheme is the second of its kind, geared toward increasing the quality of the shea-based cosmetics products that are marketed for local and international consumption. Charles Kwame Sackey, Chief Technical Advisor of WACOMP-

Ghana said the sub-contracting matching scheme in support of the training is to help ensure the cosmetic producers understand the registration process and related requirements by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) as they seek to grow their domestic market share and export their products to the international market. “This will, in turn, strengthen the export competitiveness

of local producers through enhanced value-addition, low carbon emission, sustainable production and processing, and an increased access to regional and international markets,” he said. Mr. Sackey also reminded the SMEs of the opportunity the African Free Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers and why they must always produce to meet the required quality standards. Mr. Prince Nunoo, Project

Manager of Global Shea Alliance (GSA) said the alliance will continue to support shea -based SMEs to be sustainable and reiterated that the collaboration between WACOMP-Ghana and GSA will continue to help scale up businesses in Ghana. Mr. Martin Kusi, the Northern Regional Director of the FDA commended the organizers for the initiative, stating that poor labeling and packaging represents one of the biggest challenges for shea-processing SMEs in the region, as it affects the marketability of their products. “Most of the local entrepreneurs are seen producing ineffective labels without batch numbers, manufacturing dates, location address and other relevant details. This makes it difficult for GSA management to certify the products for the market,” he said. Mr. Charles Kuranchie, Chief Quality Assurance officer at the GSA, stressed that it is an offense to put products on the market without preapproval by the FDA and GSA. He added that there are severe legal repercussions for breaching this directive.

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Fitch upgrades UBA Ghana’s long-term IDR to ‘B’; Outlook Stable

itch Ratings has upgraded United Bank for Africa (Ghana) Limited’s LongTerm Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B’ from ‘B-’ and Viability Rating (VR) to ‘b’ from ‘b-’. The Outlook on the Long-Term IDR is Stable. A full list of rating actions is below. The upgrade reflects the strengthening of the bank’s capitalisation and leverage, as reflected in the increase in its tangible common equity/ tangible assets ratio to 26% at end-9M20, from 18% at end-2019, notwithstanding heightened operating environment risks from the global pandemic. Key rating drivers IDRs AND VR UBA Ghana’s IDRs are driven by its standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by its VR. The ratings reflect the concentration of the bank’s operations in the volatile Ghanaian operating environment, extremely high levels of impaired loans and company profile weaknesses. In addition, the ratings consider the bank’s comfortable, and strengthened, capital position,

MD/CEO, Olalekan Balogun

underpinned by its strong profitability, and solid liquidity position. The Ghanaian economy has fared comparatively well in the face of the pandemic and Fitch expects real GDP growth of 2% in 2020, recovering to 5% in 2021. UBA Ghana’s company profile is weakened by limited business model stability, as reflected in high earnings volatility and sizeable shifts in balance sheet composition. UBA Ghana has small market shares of assets and customers deposits (2% and 3%,

respectively, at end-9M20) but its franchise benefits from being a subsidiary of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA Plc; B/Stable), a pan-African banking group. We expect the bank’s market shares to increase moderately over the next two years as management pursues an ambitious growth strategy. UBA Ghana’s impaired loans (Stage 3 loans under IFRS 9) ratio (42% at end-9M20) is exceptionally high, reflecting exposure to several bulk oil distribution companies (downstream oil

companies) that have struggled to service their debt due to delayed payments from the government. However, the loan book represents a small proportion of total assets (29% at end-9M20), with much of the balance being Ghanaian government securities (B/Stable). The bank’s small loan book and limited exposure to vulnerable sectors outside its already-impaired loans has helped to insulate asset quality from the economic implications of the pandemic. Nonetheless, single-borrower credit concentration at the bank is high, with the 20 largest exposures (funded and unfunded) equivalent to a high percentage of total equity at end9M20, exposing asset quality to the default of large borrowers. Specific coverage of impaired loans (53% at end-9M20) is only modest, reflecting expectations of recoveries on the bank’s largest impaired loan (equal to 32% of gross loans, or 78% of impaired loans, at end-9M20). However, realisation of these recoveries has experienced significant delays and resolution of the exposure is uncertain, leaving the possibility that further loan impairment charges (LICs) will be required.

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

The end of liberal diplomacy

By Shlomo Ben-Ami

n December 11, thenPresident Donald Trump proclaimed that the United States would recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, an apparent reward for the country’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. The move was swiftly condemned as a blatant violation of diplomatic norms. But, with his facile approach to protracted conflicts, Trump inadvertently made an important point: the emperor – the prevailing diplomatic approach – has no clothes. To be sure, Trump has himself stood naked on the world stage, as when he claimed to have reached a breakthrough with North Korea or touted his administration’s implausible Middle East “peace proposal.” But none of his predecessors – in the US or elsewhere – resolved these conflicts either, despite adhering to revered diplomatic norms. Those norms are inextricably linked to the liberal world order that emerged after World War II. The “responsibility to protect” (R2P) doctrine – the world’s commitment, adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity – exemplifies this liberal diplomacy. But, in the last couple of decades, it has been all downhill for this vision. In Libya – the first case where the UN Security Council authorized a military intervention based on R2P – UN envoys come and go, but the country’s future is decided by foreign powers acting unilaterally. And, with the Security Council deadlocked, R2P hasn’t been invoked to justifty military intervention since, despite several notable mass atrocities perpetrated by people’s own

governments. The repeated failure of the UN’s collective security system can be partly attributed to the decline of the liberal world order itself. Long before Trump, America had become increasingly reluctant to act as the order’s guarantor (in Libya, President Barack Obama vowed that the US would “lead from behind”). Add to this Russia’s aggressive revisionism, China’s abandonment of its “peaceful rise,” and the European Union’s preoccupation with its own survival. But many of the world’s biggest diplomatic challenges – from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the dispute over Western Sahara – predate these factors. Even at its peak, liberal diplomacy could not resolve them, not least because it too often treated statecraft as an expressive art, detached from an ever-changing reality. Consider the fight over Western Sahara – Africa’s longest-running territorial dispute. In 1975, with Spain poised to cede control of the territory, the International Court of Justice rejected Morocco’s claim to it, and ruled that the local people, the Sahrawis, were entitled to self-determination. But Morocco quickly invaded and annexed the territory. Since then, the situation has changed drastically. Western Sahara is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, with only about 70,000 inhabitants in 1975, and perhaps 550,000 today, living in an area half the size of Spain. Two-thirds of the population are Moroccans, many having moved there after annexation. In this context, the case for Western Sahara’s selfdetermination is dubious. A more appropriate approach, which reflects the reality on the ground, is to grant Western Sahara autonomy within the Kingdom of Morocco – exactly the plan endorsed by Trump. (In 2013, Obama backed the same

approach in a joint statement with Morocco’s King Muhammed VI.) Securing political control of an occupied territory by changing its demography is nothing new. Some 600,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank, alongside 2,750,000 Palestinians. Iran has been repopulating vast areas of Syria with Shia Muslims. Nearly 46 years after Turkey invaded Northern Cyprus, settlers from mainland Turkey comprise about half the territory’s population. Such behavior should never be endorsed. But pretending it is not happening will not help, either. When actors are in a protracted state of diplomatic limbo, disregard for the actual balance of power or the duration of the conflict perpetuates a fait accompli favoring the stronger side. This is as true of the Morocco-Western Sahara dispute as it is about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where infatuation with the deceptive two-state paradigm has made peace all but impossible. In fact, when Arab states have rejected deals with Israel, they have usually ended up with less. The Palestinians did this on at least two occasions. Likewise, Syria is worse off for rejecting Israel’s offer in 2000 to return the Golan Heights: In 2019, the Trump administration officially recognized Israeli sovereignty. While Trump’s move was unjustifiable under international law (even if one believes Israel was justified in its use of force during the Six-Day War in 1967), there is no denying that the prolonged failure of liberal diplomacy made it possible. And it is part of a larger pattern of unilateral annexations. For example, the recent eruption of the decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh ended with a Russia-brokered deal that legitimized Azerbaijan’s annexation of a significant amount of territory. Russian peacekeeping

forces were dispatched to enforce the deal. The UN was nowhere to be found. Trump has much to answer for, diplomatically and otherwise. But the fact is that the diplomatic norms he disregarded weren’t producing results in many of the world’s longest-running conflicts. And, as reckless as his actions often were, they could well bring about progress on seemingly intractable conflicts – most notably, the century-old ArabIsraeli conflict. After all, because of Trump, Morocco, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan have joined Egypt and Jordan in normalizing relations with Israel. (Trump offered Indonesia billions of dollars in aid to do the same, but the country rejected the deal.) Trump also brokered peace among Arab rivals in the Gulf seeking to counter Qatar’s deepening relations with Iran and Turkey. While President Joe Biden is right to reject many aspects of Trump’s toxic presidency, he would do well to safeguard its few achievements. But for liberal diplomacy to be revived, a reinvigorated transatlantic alliance – with a far more cohesive EU acquiring the hard power it now lacks – is vitally important. About the author

Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister, is Vice President of the Toledo International Center for Peace. He is the author of Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

News

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

MTN Ghana Foundation empowers youth in mobile phone repairs

TN Ghana Foundation has commissioned the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Project (YEEP) at Nsawam which saw 50 beneficiaries graduate with certificates in mobile phone repairs. The project which was a partnership between the MTN Ghana Foundation and Plan International aimed at empowering young people with employable skills needed to help reduce youth employment rates in the Nsawam area. Experts in mobile phone repairs were engaged to train the youth in introduction to mobile phone technology, basic customer service, front end repairs, repair and rectification of faults of mobile phones. They were also trained on how to maintain a safe and secure work environment. At the end of the training programme, the beneficiaries comprising 36 young men and 14 women were each provided with equipment and kiosks to start their own mobile phone repair ventures within Nsawam and its environs. Speaking at the inauguration, a

board member of the MTN Ghana Foundation Mrs. Nabilla Williams said “Despite the good intentions of government and the private sector, youth unemployment is a major source of concern. This is why, this project is really important and timely. The training and equipping of these youth to engage in mobile phone repairs is certainly a fantastic project which we all have to embrace. She said “Based on this, the MTN Ghana Foundation has committed GHc445,000 to support the training of 100 young women and men in Nsawam and Suhum. The first 50 beneficiaries are passing out today with skills in mobile phone repairs.” On her part, the IT Manager of Plan International, Madam Maud Tsagli, expressed her gratitude to MTN Ghana Foundation for accepting to partner them to implement the project. She said “equipping the youth with entrepreneurial skills and employment aims at fulfilling the SDG goal 8.” The Municipal Chief Executive for Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly, Isaac Kwadjo Buabeng

who was the special guest of honor thanked MTN Ghana Foundation for coming on board to empower the youth in his municipality. He also encouraged the beneficiaries to put the skills and knowledge acquired to good use by not only seeing it as a source of income avenue but as an avenue to create employment for others in their various communities. The representative who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries

expressed their profound gratitude to MTN Ghana Foundation for coming to their aid with such novel training. Since the inception of the MTN Ghana Foundation in 2007, the Foundation has implemented over 154 major projects in areas of health, education and economic empowerment at a total cost of USD 15million. These projects are estimated to have impacted over 4 million people.

Experience secured connection with the new Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+

cross the globe, we rely on our smartphones more than ever, which is why protecting sensitive information is more important than ever. This is the very experience users can find in the new Samsung Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+, with secured connection, as well as keeping sensitive data in a more convenient and personalized way. Galaxy S21 is secured by Samsung Knox Vault, Samsung’s own proprietary chipset level (SoC) security platform. By adding tamper-resistant secure memory to our secure processor, Samsung Knox Vault enables S21 to add a new layer of protection. Galaxy S21 also introduces a new tool to protect and monitor your privacy. You can safely remove location metadata from photos before sharing. With Galaxy S21’s all-new Private Share function, you can also control who gets access to the content you send, and how long it’s available – so you can share content worry-free. Galaxy S21 delivers nextgeneration performance and

seamlessly connects you to the Galaxy Ecosystem to give you more flexibility, no matter your routine, so you can do more with confidence. The Galaxy S21 features the latest and most advanced smartphone chipset yet in a Galaxy for greater speed, energy efficiency, and advanced computing capabilities to support 5G connectivity and on-device

AI. Galaxy S21 packs all the power you need to process photos, record 8K videos, enjoy a cloud gaming marathon and make the perfect video clips. Galaxy S21 is designed to be used with other Galaxy devices and with SmartThings Find, it can help you quickly and easily locate your compatible Galaxy devices even when they’re offline. Whether you left your device

in another room, under the seat of your car or in a completely different city, SmartThings Find will send you in the right direction. You can now locate non-connected devices, with Samsung’s new Galaxy SmartTag Bluetooth locator. Simply attach a SmartTag to your keys, a bag or even your pet’s collar and you can use SmartThings Find to find the item or your pet.

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Feature

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Best practice tips when using Zoom

he coronavirus lockdown has introduced millions of people overnight to the wonders of Zoom. Video conferencing platforms have now become part of everyday normal life for home workers and selfisolators everywhere. Whether it is for business calls or family quiz nights, Zoom has been utilized by most people. But like every social situation, it comes with its own etiquette, and for those who are still novice in this area there are pitfalls aplenty. Having a great communications tool means you’re only half-way to achieving optimal collaboration within your company. We have put together some simple ideas about how to handle yourself on your remote meeting, whether it’s Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, (other video providers are available). 1. Always remember to look at the camera – This can take a bit of getting used to since you want to look at the other participants faces, but it is very important to try to look at the camera when you’re talking. It is still important to gauge reactions by looking at the screen, but alternating that with looking at the camera makes the audience feel like you’re really talking to them. 2. Turn up early! - Getting yourself there on time and organized is just as important as if you had to factor in your travel time to the office or meeting. Some people like to set themselves an alarm as it is very

easy to lose track of time and find you’ve missed the meeting start time. 3. Have some meeting notes prepared- Have a list of talking points to keep the conversation flowing. If an agenda has been shared prior to the meeting, ensure you have set yourself some time to read through this and to make notes before the call. 4. Treat is with importanceRemember to treat virtual meetings with the same level of importance as if you were meeting people face to face. 5. Use the mute Button-Even if you can find a quite space, use the mute button when you join a call or when others are talking. This can stop any background noises, but that can interrupt the flow of the speaker. This is especially important if you are working from home with a young family in the room next door, or a barking dog. 6. Hands up - Zoom has a facility where you can “put your hand up” if you would like to speak. You can find this option under participants on the system. 7. Use the messaging feature Make use of the instant messaging feature on Zoom. This feature allows you to ask questions or comment on something while the other person is speaking. This means you will not be interrupting anyone and can return to the comment later. You can also send

private messages to individuals or one message to the whole group.

help you when meeting remotely with your colleagues.

8. Sharing your screen - Do not be afraid to share your screen. If you are speaking, and if you’re talking about a specific document feel free to share your screen with everyone else. This can ensure you fully collaborate and talk through what you’re reading or looking at.

Authored by: BforB Ghana | Networking Clubs

9. Tidy up - Remember to take care, what is in the background of where you are sitting. You do not want to be that person that the whole group can see their uncleaned breakfast table full of mugs and bowls, or a coffee table full of empty cans, or even your dirty clothing in the laundry area. There is a virtual background feature on Zoom that can work very well, but it is important to try and test this feature prior to any meetings. 10. Stay aware of yourself Refrain from private behavior – i.e. scratching your feet, picking your nose. Do not forget everyone can see you. 11. Touchup - And last but not least for those vein people, Zoom has a Touchup My Appearance feature. This is a great little tip to make you look a bit more glowing and for those people who are enjoying not having to do full make-up and hair every day. We are still in very surreal times and the way we communicate for work has changed. We hope these best practice tips for Zoom will

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MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Feature

MONDAY JANUARY 25, 2021

Leading through a crisis – Advice from top leaders

Media release

usiness leaders, including MTN South Africa CEO Godfrey Motsa, shared their advice to lead effectively during these unprecedented times at the online 2020 USB Business Breakfast event that was hosted by the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) recently. Motsa said he is a big believer in never wasting a good crisis. “Every cloud has a silver lining so even though things are tough today, I do believe if we keep our heads down and do the right things, we will emerge stronger as a company, as a country, as humanity.” He said leaders are faced with rising infection rates among staff and customers, economic recession and job losses, the lockdown impact on business operations, and the impact on society’s anxiety and stress levels. “These are really difficult times but the more we learn about the coronavirus, the more we encourage each other, and it’s become much easier for me to lead the organisation and to keep our teams excited and motivated,” he said. Guidelines for leaders during the pandemic Motsa shared guidelines on business leadership that he is using during the Covid-19 pandemic and which he plans on using going forward. “These guidelines are not complicated

but it requires a lot of work, a lot of focus and a lot of honest leadership,” he said. They are: • Empathy: Show love and compassionate leadership for employees. Listen with curiosity and purpose. • Focus on financial sustainability: As much as businesses exist to not only make money, if they do not make money, they are no longer sustainable. Keep your eyes on the main prize – making sure you satisfy your main financial stakeholders. • Accelerate strategic engagements: During this period and moving forward, strategic engagement would be key for business models to be sustainable as an entity, and even as a country. • Invest in yourself: Equally important is to look after yourself because a positive mindset also begets positive actions. When you are in the forefront leading people it’s really important to inspire them with positivity. Key competencies required during a crisis Prof Piet Naudé, Director of USB, said leadership matters during a crisis and listed social, sympathetic, interpretative and futuring competencies as key abilities to have. “What happens in a crisis is that people draw back into safe spaces of their

environment because the crisis threatens us and our natural intonation. “What happens on an organisational level is you get what we call atomism, which means instead of being a culture of cooperation and social cohesion, you get an atomistic culture where all people are extremely busy but the links between them are very weak if existing at all because you’re busy with your own survival,” he said. “This creates a dramatic drop in the social capital of an organisation. This is an absolutely crucial element in a crisis to try as best as you can to restore and maintain an adequate level of social capital,” he said. Naudé added that a disruptive phase disorientates leaders. “I’ve noticed in times of crisis you get a very interesting mix of emotions that are displayed by people and people respond differently. A leader must firstly be mature enough to demonstrate her or his vulnerability and communicate that as a form of sympathetic competency,” he said. He added that decisiveness and interpretative competency is another key skill to have during a crisis. “A leader needs to do a critical assessment of the situation immediately. You have to interpret your own environment, but you also have to be sharp enough to interpret the context in which your business or organisation function. Then you must act quickly. “Lastly, a crisis drops a curtain in front of the eyes of

the organisation and it pushes you back into the immediacy of the now. What a leader need is an imaginative competency to look past this collapsed presence and see further. Leaders must keep their imaginative capabilities alive. If you have a very strong vision and mission it will probably, in most cases, withstand the crisis,” he said. Leading with humanity Khatija Saley, founder and director of Generative Conversations, said the Covid-19 pandemic is a humanitarian crisis. “When the crisis hit, we stumbled, and I think we all went into a place of vulnerability. “There was a paradox through the conversations that I heard. People talked about being energised and seeing opportunity while others talked about feeling anxious and fearful. One of the deep insights I got from working with the team was this thing about being comfortable with discomfort; to embrace and understand uncertainty and recognising that we don’t have control over a lot of things,” she said. A full recording of the event is available on USB’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube. com/ CONTACT DETAILS Dr Marietjie van der Merwe USB Representative Marie@ globalnatives.com +230 606 2341 / +230 5 701 1362

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