Business24 Newspaper 16th April, 2021 by Business24 Online

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

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NO. B24 / 183 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

Inflation seen falling in April, but upside risk high

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Ministry

Gov’t to make appointments to tax appeals board by June By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

overnment will make appointments by June to the Independent Tax Appeals Board (ITAB), the new statutory body set up to adjudicate disputes between taxpayers and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). Cont’d on page 3

Govt working on regulator for housing sector By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

nalysts are predicting a fall in consumer inflation in April on the back of lower food inflation,

but warn that upside risk to especially non-food inflation remains high. After declining in January to 9.9 percent, inflation rose in February to 10.3 percent, above the upper band of the

ECONOMIC INDICATORS EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

POLICY RATE

14.5% 14.77%

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

11.4% OF GDP

AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

4.2% GHC 5.13

Cont’d on page 2 INTERNATIONAL MARKET

US$1 = GHC 5.7606

GHANA REFERENCE RATE PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE

central bank’s medium-term target of 8–10 percent, driven mainly by non-food prices, according to data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

overnment plans to set up a National Housing Authority to regulate and coordinate the supply side of the housing market, Works and Housing Minister Francis Asenso-Boakye has disclosed.

BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

CORN $/BUSHEL

$543.75

COCOA $/METRIC TON

$123.55

COFFEE $/POUND:

Cont’d on page 3

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Editorial / News

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Editorial

Housing regulator long overdue

he Minister of Works and Housing, Francis AsensoBoakye, has revealed government is planning on establishing the National Housing Authority to regulate and coordinate the supply side of the housing market. According to him, the regulator is expected to plan, develop and manage key developments in the country at very affordable rates in addition to being the regulator for the real estate and housing sector. There is no denying that the provision of decent housing for the general populace is one of the most fundamental issues that governments over the world have taken seriously. The Minister explained that the setting up of the NHA forms part

of a concerted policy direction from the government to bridge the current institutional gap in the sector to provide mass subsidised housing in the short to medium term. He added that the challenges confronting the local housing sector have made homeownership very complex and an expensive venture for most Ghanaians, a situation he attributed to the nation’s unpreparedness over the last few decades to the ills of urbanisation and population growth. With the current housing deficit estimated in excess of two million units, it has been projected that over 60 percent of Ghanaians need some form of government support to access

quality and decent housing. However, even with the government subsidies, about 35 percent of Ghanaians will still not be able to access decent homes. Government’s intervention in the housing market has been woeful and its oversight has been anything but remarkable leaving would-be homeowners and tenants at the whims of exploitative landlords. This paper is cautiously hopeful that government this housing regulator to be established would at least be given some necessary powers to be able to act tough and serve the interest of the general population.

Inflation seen falling in April, but upside risk high Continued from cover

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The March inflation rate stabilised at 10.3 percent. “We believe that the favourable base effect, which will work through the food inflation, will offset the upside risks to nonfood inflation in April and result in a decline in headline inflation for the month,” Courage Kingsley Martey, senior analyst with Databank Research, said in an interview with Business24. The Head of Price Statistics at the GSS, John Ajaho, also said in an interview, “Since December,

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Ghana’s inflation since April 2020

food inflation has been on a dip, and from this trend, all things being equal, we should expect another dip next month [April]. However, a rise would demand that government put in some policy measures to relieve consumers.” Non-food inflation continued to increase from 7.7 percent in January to 10 percent in March. The March rate was the highest annual rate of increase in prices of non-food items since July 2019, driven by housing costs, which recorded an inflation rate of 29 percent.

“With the prospect of higher ex-pump prices, upward adjustments in utility tariffs and higher taxes, there is an upside risk to non-food inflation which could push up the headline inflation—if food inflation does not decline sufficiently to offset the upside risks,” said Mr. Martey. “In effect, we remain cautious on the inflation outlook on account of the upside risks to non-food inflation.” Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana has forecast headline inflation to return to its target band in the second quarter of 2021.

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Gov’t to make appointments to tax appeals board by June Continued from cover The board was created through the Revenue Administration (Amendment) Act 2020, which became law in October last year. One of its goals is to limit taxpayers’ recourse to the law courts to settle their tax disputes, as the board will be the first forum to hear appeals against contested decisions of the CommissionerGeneral of the GRA. Speaking at a virtual tax dialogue organised by the UKGhana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC), Head of the Tax Policy Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Daniel Nuer, said there was a delay in composing the board and its secretariat due to the elections and the subsequent process of constituting the new government. “We expect that within the first half of the year, the appointments

can be done and the secretariat can start setting up, so we all have the ease of looking at issues relating to decisions made by the GRA,” he added. The amended revenue administration law provides that

a person who is dissatisfied with a decision of the CommissionerGeneral of the GRA may within 30 days appeal against the decision to the ITAB. Prior to the amendment, a person dissatisfied with any tax

decision of the CommissionerGeneral could only seek redress through the courts. ITAB is expected to reduce tax litigation and improve taxpayer confidence in the revenue administration system.

Govt working on regulator for housing sector Continued from cover The Authority will also plan, develop and manage key developments in the country at very affordable rates aside from being the regulator for the real estate and housing sector. “A key determinant of the quality of life of every society or country depends largely on sound and efficient markets that provide decent homes for its people.

The setting up of the NHA forms part of a concerted policy direction from the government to bridge the current institutional gap in the sector to provide mass subsidised housing in the short to medium term,” he said at the maiden Home Ownership Series organised by Glitz Africa Living and supported by First National Bank. According to the minister, challenges confronting the local housing sector have made

homeownership very complex and an expensive venture for most Ghanaians, a situation he attributed to the nation’s unpreparedness over the last few decades to the ills of urbanisation and population growth. With the current housing deficit estimated in excess of two million units, it has been projected that over 60 percent of Ghanaians need some form of government support to access quality and decent housing.

However, even with the government subsidies, about 35 percent of Ghanaians will still not be able to access decent homes. “Unfortunately, this is the situation we find ourselves; interventions in the past have been piecemeal resulting in the country’s struggle with the housing deficit,” Mr. AsensoBoakye stated. The homeownership series brought together stakeholders in the construction and real estate sector to brainstorm and proffer workable solutions to the ageslong housing conundrum facing the country. According to the Executive Head of Home Loans, First National Bank, Kojo AddoKuffuor, great strides have been made in the area of improving access to affordable housing but he averred that a lot more could be done to tackle the situation. He said his outfit was ready to partner with the government in the implementation of the National Housing and Mortgage Fund in line with its agenda of facilitating increased access to decent housing in the country. He said: “For us, the business of housing has become more of a crusade. Bold moves have been made by government and the private sector in the delivery of affordable housing.”

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

News

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Mechanical Lloyd delists today from stock market By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

echanical Lloyd Plc will delist from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) today following the completion of the tender offer and settlement of all shareholders who tendered in their shares. The Company in a release said it will delist from stock market after trading on Friday, 16 April 2021. The delisting has been approved by the GSE. “The offer was for 16,900,487 ordinary shares at GHS0.10 per share. At the close of the Offer, a total of 165 shareholders tendered in 2,800,065 shares. Settlement (shares and cash) of the tendered

shares has occurred,” the company stated. The de-listing is in line with Mechanical Lloyd’s strategy to

review its business model and structures to re-position the Company going forward. The company has indicated

that the de-listing will not impact job security, day-to-day operations and relationships with stakeholders. Some market analysts have point out that continuous delisting of companies affects the sentiments of investor, giving that there are expectations for more companies to de-list on the market. Today’s delisting will place the total number of companies delisted from the bourse at seven over the past three years some voluntary, some enforced. This will reduce the number of companies listed on the bourse to 30. Currently, Mechanical Lloyd has a total of 50.10 million shares issued on the bourse, with a total market capitalisation of GH¢4.51 million.

SDG Investment Platform for Ghana goes live

he Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has joined the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) SDG Impact, and Global Investor for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, to outdoor the “SDG Investment Platform” tool that provides market intelligence on investment opportunities in Ghana and beyond. The soft-launch event officially set in motion, UNDP’s enterprising initiative to accelerate SDGaligned investments in the country and beyond. The launch in Ghana, was organized in concurrence with the global launch at the margin of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development and the SDG Investment Fair. The SDG Investment Platform offers insight, data, and impact measurement tools to both local and foreign investors, with the purpose of fast-tracking attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG investor Map, a key feature of the platform, provides market intelligence for private sector investors, by translating countrylevel SDG gaps and priorities into investment opportunities. Speaking at the event, the CEO of GIPC, Mr Yofi Grant stated that the Investment Platform aligns with the Centre’s objective to identify and promote investment opportunities in the country. “UNDP’s market intelligence

tool is closely aligned with the mandate of GIPC. The SDG Investor Map is a concrete and comprehensive set of information that helps us to identify investment opportunities that we can promote in support of the Government’s vision. The implementation of the SDG Investor Map follows exactly the approach we take at GIPC. This will support our efforts in facilitating an attractive investment framework and advocating for investors’ concerns in policymaking”, Mr Grant remarked. He said the GIPC will continue working with UNDP to facilitate sector focused investments, and that, the Centre counts on the power of the SDG Investor Platform to make Ghanaian opportunities available to international audiences. The standardized 8-step approach of the investor map, will ensure that business community is directed to country-specific investment prospects based on policy priorities, developmental needs, and investment potential as it highlights these opportunities and their expected SDG-impact. This valuable investor toolkit also gives intel on local market conditions, in addition to a gross evaluation of the entrepreneurial environment. With Ghana’s SDG financing gap estimated at $43 billion per year, the investment platform avails the means to correct the shortfalls, and create a conducive

investment climate to drive the country’s development agenda. The platform has also been identified as an exciting prospect to assuage GIPC’s efforts in raising 100 Billion Cedis through investments as envisaged in the country’s Coronavirus Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Programme (Ghana CARES). Already, the SDG Investor Map has pointed out Investment Opportunty Areas (IOAs) within five identified priority sectors in Ghana – Agriculture, Infrastructure, Communications, Healthcare and Consumer Goods – where the private sector can explore. Notable among these IOAs are; construction of affordable housing, provision of internet hotspots for rural areas,

digitalization of healthacare delivery, and scaling up aquaculture. “We will go deeper in each of the 5 sectors so that we go beyond the provision of market and sector intelligence to actual money invested in Ghana. It is our hope, especially in this Decade of Action, that the SDG Investor Maps will accelerate investments needed to progress towards the achievement of the 2030 goals”, said the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana, Silke Hollander. The Platform outlines actionable frameworks for investors to leverage IOAs, through assessment of business environment, market demand, and possible sources of capital or support.

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

News

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Ghana still lower-middle income economy -- Finance Ministry

he Ministry of Finance says Ghana continues to be categorised as a ‘Lower-Middle Income Economy’ based on widely-recognised classification of the World Bank and the United Nations. The Ministry, in a statement by its Public Relations Unit, said publications in the media that Ghana had been downgraded as a low income country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in accordance with its latest Fiscal Monitor, was incorrect because the IMF Fiscal Monitor did not classify countries by income levels. It said the IMF instead analysed latest public finance developments, updated mediumterm fiscal projections, and assessed policies to put public finances on a sustainable footing. The statement said the groupings of economies presented in the Fiscal Monitor’s Methodological and Statistical

Appendix served an analytical purpose only. “In this appendix, Ghana is conveniently categorised as a ‘Low-Income Developing Country (LIDC)’ like other lower-middle income economies such as Côte d’ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria and others,” it said. The statement said Ghana’s classification in the recent IMF Fiscal Monitor did not change

and there was nothing like the country being downgraded. Government had put in measures including the GH₵100 billion ‘Ghana CARES Obaatanpa’ programme to provide fiscal stimulus to drive growth and economic transformation post Covid-19 pandemic, it said. The country was projected to maintain a positive economic growth of 0.9 percent in 2020,

representing one of the few “pockets of resilience” on the continent, the statement said. In 2021 and over the medium term, the Government expected GDP growth to average five per cent with the deficit to decline to under five per cent by 2024, it said. The Ministry reassured citizens that Ghana was still classified as a Lower-Middle Income Country and was unfortunate that the media houses, which published the news, did not contact the Ministry for verification, neither did they contact the offices of the World Bank and/or the IMF in Ghana for confirmation. “Public misinformation of this magnitude has serious implications for the international investor community, especially coming on the heels of a major and successful Eurobond issuance two weeks ago,” it added. GNA

EU Election Observer Mission presents report to Parliament By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

he European Union (EU) Election Observer Mission has presented its final report on the 2020 elections to the chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Bryan Acheampong, in Accra. According to the mission’s Chief Observer, Javier Nart, who led the delegation to see Mr. Acheampong, the elections were organised in an efficient, transparent, free and fair, as well as in a competitive manner. He said the Electoral Commission (EC) completed technical preparations for the elections in a timely manner, adding that the observers assessed the EC’s national, regional and district structures as competent, well-resourced and transparent. However, he pointed out a few shortcomings that needed to be addressed in future. Some of these were concerns about how the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) is generally appointed. The mission advised that the process be properly looked into, saying that the appointments mechanism, whereby all seven EC members are selected by the

Javier Nart, the Chief Observer of the mission, presents the report to Bryan Acheampong, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament.

President for an indefinite tenure without consultation with the opposition, is not inclusive and does not build confidence. The mission’s report also

flagged the high filing fees paid by candidates as a matter of concern, and also bemoaned the constantly increasing costs of and unlimited spending on

election campaigns in Ghana. “There are no limits on contributions or on spending, resulting in a lack of transparency and accountability around political and campaign funding. The EC did not enforce parties’ compliance with legal requirements on financial reporting. This further limits public scrutiny and transparency of political and campaign finance.” “These recommendations are proposals for consideration by the Ghanaian people. They are suggestions aimed at improving future electoral processes and strengthening Ghana’s democracy, but it is up to the authorities and wider civil society to decide on their implementation,” said Mr. Nart. Mr. Acheampong thanked the team and commended them for their work. “I like the fact that the Union admits that the 2020 elections were efficient, free, fair, transparent and competitive,” he said. He also assured the delegation that the report would be presented to the Speaker of Parliament, while a workshop would be organised to discuss the report and how best to implement the recommendations.

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Speech

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Address by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, at the inaugural session of Raisina Dialogue 2021

his edition of Raisina dialogue, India’s premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community, takes place at a watershed moment in human history. A global pandemic has been ravaging the world for over a year. The last such Global pandemic was a century ago. Although Humanity has faced many infectious diseases since then, the world today is underprepared to handle the Covid-19 pandemic. Our scientists, researchers and industry have answered some questions. What is the virus? How does it spread? How can we slow it down? How do we make a vaccine? How do we administer vaccine at a scale and with speed? To these and many other such questions many solutions have emerged. And no doubt many more are yet to come. But as global thinkers and leaders we must ask ourselves some more questions. For over a year now, the best minds of our societies have been engaged in battling this pandemic. All the governments of the world at all levels are trying to contain and control this pandemic. Why did it come to this? Is it perhaps because in the race of economic development the concern for welfare of humanity has been left behind.

Is it perhaps because in the age of competition, the spirit of cooperation has been forgotten. The answer to such questions can be found in our recent past. Friends the horrors of the first and second World War compelled the emergence of a new world order. After the end of the second world war, over the next few decades many structures and institutions were created but under the shadow of the two wars they were aimed at answering only one question, how to prevent the Third World War? Today, I submit to you that this was the wrong question, as a result all the steps taken were like treating a patient symptoms without addressing the underlying causes. Or to put it differently, all the steps taken were to prevent the last war not the next one. In fact while humanity has not faced the Third World War, the threat of violence has not reduced in people’s lives. With a number of proxy wars and unending terror attacks, the prospect of violence is ever present. So, what would have been the right question? They could have included: Why do we have famines and hunger? Why do we have poverty? Or most fundamentally Why can’t we cooperate to address problems that threaten the entire Humanity? I’m sure that if our thinking has been along such lines, very different solutions would have emerged. Friends! It is not too late even now.

The mistakes and misdeeds of the past seven decades need not constrain our thinking for the future. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented us an opportunity to reshape the world order, to reorient our thinking. We must create systems that addresses the problems of today and challenges of tomorrow. And we must think of the entire humanity and not merely of those who are on our side of the borders. Humanity as a whole must be at the center of our thinking and action. Friends! During this pandemic, in our own humble way, within our own limited resources, we in India have tried to walk the talk. We have tried to protect our own 1.3 billion citizens from the pandemic. At the same time we have also tried to support the pandemic response efforts of others. In our neighborhood, we have encouraged our coordinated regional response to the crisis. Last year we shared medicines and protective equipment with over a hundred and fifty countries. We understand fully, that mankind will not defeat the pandemic unless all of us, everywhere, regardless of the color of our passports, come out of it. That is why, this year despite many constraints, we have supplied vaccine to over 80 countries. We know that the supplies have been modest. We know that the demands are huge. We know that it will be a long time before the entire humanity can be vaccinated. At the same time we also know that hope matters. It matters as much to the

citizens of the richest countries as it does to the less fortunate. And so we will continue to share our experiences, our expertise and also our resources with the entire Humanity in the fight against the pandemic. Friends! As we gather virtually at the Raisina dialogue this year, I call upon you to emerge as a powerful voice for a human centric approach, As how said elsewhere while we may be used to having Plan A and plan B, there is no Planet B, only planet Earth. And so we must remember that we hold this planet merely as trustees for our future Generations. I will leave you with that thought and wish you very productive discussions over the next few days. Before I conclude, I wish to thank all the dignitaries who are adding their voices to these deliberations. My special thanks to Their Excellency’s the President of Rwanda and the Prime Minister of Denmark for their valuable presence in this session of the dialogue. I also wish to thank my friend the Prime Minister of Australia and the President of the European Council who will be joining the dialogue later. Last but not the least my immense gratitude and heartiest congratulations to all the organizations. They have done fantastic work in putting together this year’s Raisina dialogue despite all kinds of challenges. Thank you. New Delhi April 13, 2021

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

International

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Pressure mounts over $2.34bn IMF loan to Kenya

n 3 April the country’s treasury announced an agreement with the fund to help scale up its Covid-19 response, particularly targeting healthcare spending. Within a few days, a petition in protest against the move had gathered 230,000 signatures. “Previous loans to the Kenyan

government have not been prudently utilised and have often ended up in mega corruption scandals,” the petition claimed. “However, these scams have not dissuaded the ruling Jubilee government from its unbridled appetite for huge debt.” The petition went on to claim Kenyans are “choking” under

heavy taxes, high prices for basics such as fuel and “nothing to show for the previous loans”. Cabinet secretary for the National Treasury Ukur Yatani later issued a statement defending the recent loan. He pointed out that it was interest-free, and will “not only strengthen our response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but also help us reduce our debt vulnerabilities through a revenue-driven fiscal

consolidation”. In an interview with Kenyan publication The Star, he said concessional loans are the best way he has of financing budget deficits, and without it he would have had to cut spending on investment and social programmes. He was today called before a parliamentary committee meeting to answer the public’ concerns. Announcing the deal, the IMF said Kenya’s debt level, which sits at about 70% of GDP, remains sustainable, although it is at “high risk of debt distress”. The programme includes measures to broaden the tax base by introducing new levies on company revenue and digital services, as well as removing exemptions to VAT. It also aims to reduce expenditure in areas that do not foster economic growth, along with other policies aimed at increasing transparency in public spending.

Turkish central bank keeps interest rate steady

he first meeting of Turkey’s monetary policy committee since president Recip Tayyip Erdogan sacked his previous central bank governor has frozen the country’s benchmark interest rate. Last month, Erdogan fired Naci Ağbal, a former finance minister, who had raised the rate by a total of 8.75 percentage points to 19% since being appointed late last year. Although this week’s meeting of the committee did not cut that rate, it removed a reference included in previous statements to further moves to increase the rate. In an analysis note, John Hardy, head of FX Strategy at Saxo Bank, said it was “not a surprise to see the reference to further ratetightening removed from the prior statement”. Elsewhere in the bank’s release, it said that demand and cost factors, supply constraints in some sectors, and high levels of inflation expectations “continue to pose risks to the pricing behavior and inflation outlook”. It said that the MPC would “continue to use decisively all available instruments in pursuit of the primary objective of price stability. However, analysts said that the language in the release suggested

that the committee was looking to cut the interest rate in future. The statement said the policy rate “will continue to be determined at a level above inflation to maintain a strong disinflationary effect until strong indicators point to a permanent fall in inflation and the mediumterm 5% target is reached”. William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics said that “the language also suggests that they are looking for opportunities to

lower interest rates,” according to Reuters. Erdogan believes higher interest rates cause inflation, in contrast to orthodox beliefs about monetary policy. After Ağbal was fired, Turkey’s currency fell by about 9% against the dollar in one day. He has been replaced by Şahap Kavcıoğlu, a banker and former member of the country’s Grand National Assembly who has written columns for progovernment publication Yeni

Şafak. Earlier this month, he wrote for the daily: “In order to prevent the pandemic from adversely affecting the year 2021, we should aim for permanent growth, abandon tight monetary policy and realise investment and export-oriented growth that provides employment. “For this, we need to give up the interest rate increase so that loan costs, which directly affect investment and production costs, are at a reasonable level.”

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Feature

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Scrum: the new way to manage your IT - and other- projects

CRUM has quickly become the new standard way to do IT projects. In this article, the authors explain the way SCRUM differs from traditional methods of project management like PRINCE 2 or PMP and why it may help you as a business owner to achieve your goals. Traditional project management demands detailed upfront planning for a complete project. There is a lot of attention to fixing the scope, in terms of the end product, delivery date, and budget. These parameters must be managed and reported, often in bulky documents to bureaucratic committees. Whereas SCRUM encourages data-based, iterative decision making in which the primary focus is on delivering products that satisfy customer requirements. To deliver the greatest amount of value in the shortest amount of time, SCRUM promotes prioritization and time-boxing over fixing the scope, cost, and schedule of an entire project. Important features of SCRUM are self-management and crossfunctionality, which allow the individuals who are actually doing the work to estimate and take ownership of tasks. There has always been a lot of “pride” with people who were doing projects in PMP or PRINCE 2, but in reality, there were many problems, in particular in IT projects. In a lot of projects, the scope seems to be clear in the beginning, but as time goes on, there are either new insights or

new external developments that require a change. In such cases, classical project management is too slow and inflexible because it requires time-consuming decision-making. In the end, the project either does not meet the expectations of the end-users or has exceeded its timelines and budgets excessively. Everyone is disappointed. In classic project management, a lot of roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, and processes are being put in place to help the project advance (monitoring, change management, etc.). This looks solid, but it is not only slowing down the pace of the work (you have to wait for another board meeting before you can continue). It also gives people the entitlement to stick to their own responsibilities only, rather than taking charge of the total project result. One can always refer management to another team member to be blamed for the problems. SCRUM, on the contrary, acknowledges that most problems are messy, and realities are always changing. It tries to be productive and creative in such a context, AGILE SO TO SPEAK. At the same time, it wants to deliver products of the highest possible value. In 2000, SCRUM inventors Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland were so frustrated about costly and failing IT projects, that they created the SCRUM guide as an alternative. So, SCRUM is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams, and organizations

generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems. SCRUM as a concept originates in Rugby as the frequent gettogether of a team to restart the match after an incident. The SCRUM guide elaborates on that principle with accountabilities, events, artefacts, and the rules that bind them together. Although SCRUM may be unsuitable for certain projects (like the construction of a power plant where everything needs to be planned upfront) you may want to explore the possible advantages for your business such as faster delivery, higher customer satisfaction, or happy personnel. Learning SCRUM is not difficult: an interactive course of a few days may get you started (various institutes like Maxim Nyansa IT Solutions in Accra, provide incompany training with optional certification exams). But the practice is harder than it seems because SCRUM profoundly changes the way people in the organization interact. We see that organizations that actually benefit from SCRUM are those who have actively engaged the management as well as the SCRUM teams in the introduction of the concept. Everyone needs to be involved. For the managers, this is most difficult. They are used to having control of an entire team, but in SCRUM the team gets most of the responsibilities. In the beginning, it may be scary to let go of certain things, but often it turns out to be an advantage that the team

members all bring in their talents and ideas and take charge of the result. And of course, any change in the way you work will evoke a certain level of fear and resistance. SCRUM is no exception in that, you must have the courage to embrace change. However, you will soon find out that your employees will enjoy their work more and be more productive. If you think this article is appealing to you, you may give it a try starting with a pilot in one of your projects or teams after a short practical training. But if you believe that SCRUM is still a bridge too far for your organization, note that the approach can also be used in your personal life or for your personal development. For example, you can use SCRUM techniques to set your personal goals for your week, your year, or for your personal development. Then, use other SCRUM tools to plan your actions, to monitor, evaluate and continuously improve yourself. Author: Diana van der Stelt is a social entrepreneur outsourcing SCRUM teams to the Netherlands at Trinity Software Center in Kumasi and the Co-founder of Maxim Nyansa IT solutions, an IT training center in Accra | Member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana. Elvin Assiam, agile SCRUM trainer and consultant with Maxim Nyansa IT solutions For comments, contact dianavanderstelt@ trinitysoftwarecenter.com

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

Feature

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021

The digital revolution is eating its young

By Mark Esposito, Landry Signé And Nicholas Davis

s massive online platforms have given rise to numerous virtual marketplaces, a gap has opened between the real and the digital economy. And by driving more people than ever online in search of goods, services, and employment, the coronavirus pandemic is widening it. The risk now is that a new digital industrial complex will hamper market efficiency by imposing rents on real-economy players whose daily operations depend on technology. The premise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is that the tangible and intangible elements of today’s economy can coexist and create new productive synergies. The tangible side of the economy provides the infrastructure upon which automation, manufacturing, and complex trade networks rest, and intangibles – logistics, communication, and other software and Big Data applications – allow for these processes to achieve optimal efficiency. More to the point, the tangible economy is a prerequisite for the intangible economy. Through digitalization, tangibles can become intangibles and then overcome traditional limitations on scale and value creation. While heavily transactional and capitalintensive, this process hitherto has been a positive mechanism for growth, providing some equity of opportunities for small and large countries alike. But this standard account of the 4IR omits the recent decoupling

of the digital and real sectors of the economy. Digitally native companies that benefited from the suspension of traditional factors of production have been growing even faster than they did before COVID-19. By the beginning of September 2020, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple’s share prices had more than doubled since the start of the pandemic, with Apple becoming the first company ever to achieve a $2 trillion valuation. And while shares of Netflix and Alphabet (Google) – the other socalled FAANG firms – hadn’t quite doubled, they were nonetheless trading at or near all-time highs. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil, the S&P 500’s oldest member and a former icon of the tangible economy, was driven out of the index by Apple’s decision to split its stock. Those who own and run the tech giants are making ever more money while the rest of the world continues to experience economic devastation. With real-economy assets being positioned far below digital financial assets, a K-shaped corporate recovery has emerged. Digital firms can grow apparently without limit, whereas others’ growth remains circumscribed by the finite conditions under which they operate. This trend is not only challenging neoliberal assumptions about the creation of value; it is also pushing us toward a scenario in which government policies to redistribute value will no longer be plausible options. To be sure, governments and some within the private sector have proposed remedies, such as a tax on digital assets, while proponents of a laissez-

faire approach continue to insist that any form of government intervention will merely introduce more market distortions. But neither camp has offered enough evidence for its preferred policy. We suggest three other solutions. First, government grants and subsidies can be used to promote technological diffusion, and to close the technology gap between platforms and small and medium enterprises. Rather than expecting the market to provide equitable access to technologies like artificial intelligence, governments can fund programs that reach smaller firms directly, such as through tax write-offs or other measures (as already happens with incentives for consumers to buy environmentally friendly cars). While such outlays would increase public debt in the short term, these costs would be offset by the higher productivity that would come with a more balanced distribution of economic power. Second, we should be working toward a more agile, multistakeholder model of innovation, so that concerns about inclusion and representation are addressed without curtailing the pace of technological advance. The goal, here, should be to reduce the tensions between winners and losers across the platform economy’s new value chains. Several existing cases have demonstrated that proper representation of stakeholder interests enables policymakers to mitigate the harms and adverse unintended consequences of new technologies without sacrificing

speed or flexibility. Third, it is time to start identifying appropriate areas for “digital protectionism.” Just as some countries use trade tariffs to support nascent local production, digital tariffs could be used to foster local innovation ecosystems. This would not work everywhere. But in places that have reached some threshold of technological adoption and diffusion, such policies could encourage grassroots solutions, creating new communitybased approaches to managing how technology is designed, deployed, and funded. The post-pandemic world will be characterized by a limping economy, a generalized fear for the future, and a growing realization of all the ways that economic life has changed. Under the right conditions, technological diffusion, multistakeholder innovation, and digital protectionism could reduce people’s dependence on the multinationals that have been shaping the terms of technology for their own benefit, and with little consideration for the needs or values of specific communities. We are facing an acute crisis of technological opportunity and access, owing to an invasive business model that has proven incapable of supporting equity and inclusion. The stakes are high, and the market won’t fix the problem. There are ways to ensure that the digital revolution benefits the many, not just the few; but they will require that we rethink how we pursue innovation and create value in the twenty-first century.

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Opinion

FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021