Business24 Newspaper 23rd April, 2021 by Business24 Online

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

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NO. B24 / 185 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

Covid economic toll worse than feared Oil companies owe US$2.1m in surface rentals By Benson Afful affulbenson@gmail.com

ome international oil companies (IOCs) have defaulted in the payment of surface rental fees to the state, accruing arrears to the tune of US$2.11m in 2020. Cont’d on page 3

A scene from the streets of Accra, where volunteers are distributing food and water to the underprivileged and homeless during the lockdown.

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

he toll of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy last year was worse than feared, Databank research economist Courage

Kingsley Martey has said following the release of provisional GDP data by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday. The economy grew by 0.4 percent in 2020, the data showed, below 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

obileMoney Limited (MML) , a wholly owned subsidiary of Scancom PLC announces the appointment of Mr. Eli Hini as its first Chief Executive Officer.

Cont’d on page 2 INTERNATIONAL MARKET

US$1 = GHC 5.7606

GHANA REFERENCE RATE PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE

government’s revised target of 0.9 percent and more optimistic forecasts by some market analysts. The 0.4 percent rate is the worst for the Ghanaian economy in 37 years.

Eli Hini appointed as first CEO of MobileMoney Ltd

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 23, 2021

Editorial

Cashless tax regime is the best way to go

here has been much talk about the need to ensure that there is convenience and ease in the payment of taxes and duties as a means of enhancing individual compliance to tax obligations. Much of the government’s digitalisation agenda has been to formalise the economy for the purpose of taxation to ensure that there is enough money in the national kitty for development. This is why the GRA’s decision to move tax and duty payments from cash-based to digital or electronic must be seen as a welcome and timely intervention. This introduction is a boost

for tax revenue mobilisation for both imports and domestic tax. Bureaucracies and long processes in the valuation and duty payment process are fertile grounds corruption as people may want to cut corners. We, therefore, commend the GRA for such digital innovations that could facilitate trade, undo corruption at the ports and block revenue leakages at the ports. We urge GRA to do adequate monitoring and evaluation of this directive to ensure that the new cashless system does not fail. It is a positive decision but how to make it workable and sustainable to achieve the

intended target must be a concern for the GRA and the taxpaying public. The GRA must resist any attempt by persons who benefit from a porous and cash-based system to derail the smooth implementation of the new directive but rather ensure that it is implemented to the letter. This move is line well with government’s digitalisation agenda and its successful implementation would serve as a blueprint for other government agencies. Much as the move must be commended, GRA must be proactive to ensure that the system’s downtime is brought down to the barest minimum.

Covid economic toll worse than feared Continued from cover

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Revisions to quarterly output figures showed a deeper contraction in the second and third quarters of last year than previously estimated and a notso-strong recovery in the last quarter. Year-on-year, real GDP growth rebounded to 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, after contracting at 5.9 percent and 3.2 percent in the second and third quarters respectively. The economy had expanded by 6.8 percent in the first quarter, before the arrival of the pandemic in the country. “The good news is that agriculture showed immense resilience, growing against the odds to hit its highest growth rate in four years,” said Mr. Martey, referring to a 7.4 percent expansion in agricultural output last year. “I strongly believe that this robust performance was crucial in preventing a continuous rise in food prices after the initial lockdown-induced spike in quarter two of 2020.” However, he added: “The bad news is that the extractive sector, the hospitality and the trade

sub-sectors ended the year in a recession. This impeded growth, because these are pillars of growth in their respective sectors. And their contraction could mean a higher level of unemployment and worsened standard of living than we initially estimated.” In addition to agriculture, the services sector also recorded a positive growth rate, with a 1.5 percent expansion. Industrial activity however contracted at 3.6 percent, led by mineral and oil production, which fell by 11 percent. As expected, the worst effects of the pandemic affected hotels

and restaurants’ output, which declined in real terms by 34.8 percent, reflecting the toll on the sector of border closures, social distancing orders and other movement restrictions that were imposed at the height of the pandemic. On the other hand, information and communication activity increased by 22.5 percent, together with public administration activity, which expanded by 7.3 percent amid a massive injection of fiscal stimulus by the government to cushion the impact of the crisis on households and businesses.

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

Oil companies owe US$2.1m in surface rentals Continued from cover The amount represents a 34 percent increase over the arrears outstanding in 2019 of US$1.57m, according to the 2020 annual report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the country’s petroleum revenue management watchdog. PIAC, which monitors compliance by both state agencies and private parties with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), said the law regulates payment of surface rental fees by petroleum upstream companies as part of petroleum receipts due to the government. “The non-payment of this stream of income denies the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) the necessary funds for development projects,” the committee stated in its report. It charged the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to initiate action

to recover the arrears with appropriate interest, as provided for in the PRMA. Mr. Mark Agyemang, Technical Director of PIAC, said by law, overdue surface rental should

attract a 5 percent penalty starting from the date the rent was due. A representative of the GRA, speaking at the launch of the report, said four companies have refused to pay their surface

rentals since 2016, yet their petroleum agreements have not been terminated. According to him, the surface rental is imposed by the petroleum agreement between an oil company and the government, and such agreements do not give the GRA the power to enforce the payment. Though he agreed that there is a new Legislative Instrument (LI) that gives the GRA some powers of enforcement, this, he said, only took effect in 2019, before which the pre-existing Petroleum Tax Law did not impose any obligation on GRA to go after surface rental defaulters. Ghana generated US$666m from petroleum production activities in 2020, a decline from US$937m in 2019, largely due to the global pandemic, PIAC’s report showed. The country realised US$697,532 from surface rentals in 2020 as compared to US$1.1m in 2019.

Eli Hini appointed as first CEO of MobileMoney Ltd Continued from cover The appointment was made by the MML Board early this month indicating Eli’s responsibility to drive strategy, business development, innovation and relevant operations for MTN’s Mobile Money business. Prior to Eli’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer, he was the General Manager for MobileMoney Limited, a role he held for approximately five years. He was instrumental in setting up Mobile Money services in Ghana and growing the subscriber base, transaction volumes and value as well as revenue contribution. He also led the MTN Mobile Money business to receive ISO certification (ISO/IEC 12007: 2013 certification) in 2016 and the GSMA Mobile Money Certification in November 2019. Eli Hini is a Chartered Marketer with over 20 years’ experience and previously held leadership positions in Unilever Ghana Limited and Coca-Cola Bottling Company Limited. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from the Chartered

Institute of Marketing, UK. Commenting on the appointment, the Chief Executive Officer for MTN, Mr. Selorm Adadevoh congratulated Eli Hini for his leadership drive that has resulted in the success of Mobile Money. He said, “the appointment of Eli Hini as CEO of MML is an affirmation of his leadership, dedication and success over the years to bring Mobile Financial Services / FinTech this far despite several challenges along the way.” “We are proud of Eli Hini and what he has brought to the Mobile Money and FinTech industry in Ghana and Africa. After working on the Mobile Money project from its inception, we believe his appointment will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the FinTech industry”, he added. Mobile Money was launched by MTN in 2009 to enable customers undertake transactions such as Money Transfer and Airtime Purchase. After 11years of its implementation, MTN Mobile Money has several services on its platform most of which have been designed in collaboration with other service providers like the Banks, FinTechs, Insurance Companies, State Institutions and many more.

Mobile Money has chalked some significant successes since its inception. With less than 100,000 subscribers at the time of launch, MTN MoMo now has

17 million registered subscribers. MTN MoMo works with 19 partner banks (after the initial 9) and more than 200, 000 Agents across the country.

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

News

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

GRA goes cashless at ports By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

ffective July 1, all taxes and duties on shipments shall be paid directly into the bank accounts of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) through cashless means, such as bank transfers, mobile money, Swift or other electronic channels, with GRA officers banned from receiving cash payments, a circular from the nation’s tax collector has said. According to the circular, the GRA will also stop accepting personal and corporate cheques for payment of taxes and custom duties from June this year, whilst domestic tax payments are also set to go fully digital. In line with the directive, existing cheques that have been received already for the payment of taxes and duties will be processed, but no new cheques will be accepted after the stipulated date, the circular added. The circular to staff of the GRA,

Commissioner-General of the GRA, Ammisshaddai Owusu-Amoah, is leading a wide-ranging reform of the tax authority’s operations to increase revenue mobilisation.

signed by its CommissionerGeneral, Ammisshaddai OwusuAmoah, explained that the move formed part of efforts to bring

convenience to the payment of duties and taxes to enhance revenue mobilisation. “These milestones have been

set in view of GRA’s efforts to enhance revenue mobilisation and the drive towards ease of payments for taxpayers through a cashless system of operation,” the circular said. It added: “Where it becomes necessary for cheques to be issued for payments that are spread over a number of months, such cheques must be supported by a bank guarantee.” Domestic tax payments by various methods through the ghana.gov platform and all participating banks will also commence on May 1. These new steps by the GRA are the latest action from government to improve the ease and cost of doing business whilst blocking avenues for revenue leakage at the country’s ports. Previous interventions have seen the introduction of the paperless port regime and implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), which is an end-to-end technology for customs valuation and trade facilitation.

Zoomlion donates buses in support of ‘Let’s Make Accra Work’ project

oomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), the waste management company, has donated two brand new Toyota Hiace buses to the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council in support of the “Let’s Make Accra Work” initiative. The buses are intended to facilitate the work of the Coordinating Council, as it moves to restore order and cleanliness to the capital city under the “Let’s Make Accra Work” project being championed by Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister. Handing over the two 13-seater buses, the Managing Director of Zoomlion, Mrs. Gloria Anti, said the donation was a demonstration of the company’s commitment to a clean, green and healthy environment. “The ‘Let’s Make Accra Work’ initiative is laudable, and we believe with support like this, Accra will eventually become the cleanest city in Africa,” she added. Receiving the buses, Mr. Quartey thanked Zoomlion for the donation and assured that the

buses would be used to pursue the “Let’s Make Accra Work” agenda. “As part of my vision for the ministry, I engaged the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Siaw Agyepong, on how we can tackle sanitation in the region. I also appealed to him

for buses to ease our movement on the field,” said Mr. Quartey. He added that following the appeal, Dr. Agyepong assured that the buses would be delivered within a week, but was actually able to fulfil the promise in two days. The Regional Minister encouraged other companies to follow the example of Zoomlion

by donating towards the initiative. He equally commended Converge, an advertising company, which helped design the logo of the project. “We will also require the media to partner us in this exercise by helping to educate and sensitise the public to making Accra clean,” he urged.

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

Feature

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

AfCFTA offers massive economic opportunities for Africa, --- but there is still much work to be done

By Bobby Madhav, FNB Head of Trade & Structured Trade and Commodity Finance

2 April 2021: The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement came into effect on the 1st of January 2021. A total of 54 of Africa’s 55 countries have agreed, in principle, to participate in the agreement, and 41 have submitted their tariff offers. However, to date, only 34 countries have officially signed it and four have ratified it. In principle, a total of 15 countries need to ratify the agreement in order to enable its full enforcement on the continent. If successfully implemented, this will be the largest free trade area agreement in the world. Hopefully this will soon be the case, because the opportunities that AfCFTA presents for all African countries, particularly after the devastating impact of Covid-19 on trade in most regions, should not be underestimated. The proportion of trade in Europe that takes place intracontinentally is around 60%. In contrast, Africa’s intracontinental trade currently sits around the 17% mark. The United Nations has predicted that, on the back of the successful implementation of AfCFTA, that figure could rise to as much as 53%. When you consider that the value of trade between SADC countries alone is currently around $35 billion, the potential for this fare larger free trade area agreement to comprehensively transform trade in Africa is clear

– and it could easily be worth trillions of dollars. The most obvious positive impact of AfCFTA is that it will likely be a significant catalyst of trade between African countries, while at the same time creating the opportunity for participating countries to retain much of their forex flows within the continent. The resulting surplus currency will deliver positive knockon benefits for all Africans, effectively enabling some 1.3 billion people to become more integrally involved in moving Africa along its much-needed sustainable growth path. Importantly, the value of such intra-continental trade extends far beyond the buying and selling of goods. An effective AfCFTA agreement will also drive significant transfer of knowledge, skills and expertise across the continent. Vital manufacturing and beneficiation capability, and activity, could increase massively and the transport sector should get a significant shot in the arm as well. What’s more, such increased trade between countries in Africa will almost certainly create more efficient value chains, have a stabilizing effect on the price volatility that has thus far characterized much of Africa’s trade activity, and build a far more competitive environment overall. Finally, the ability to create greater diversification of goods in each country will also reduce dependencies on single commodities that have long characterised many African

countries’ economies. The free trade agreement should also have significantly positive consequences for SMMEs throughout Africa, in that it will help to create a solid platform for smaller businesses to participate in, and benefit from, heightened intra-continental trade. Of course, the full implementation of AfCFTA is likely to take many years and will require the full buy-in and support of businesses and governments across Africa. There are a number of key components that need to fall into place in order to create the momentum needed to successfully implement the free trade area in the coming years. For one, the overall theme of industrialisation required to realise many of the potential benefits will only happen if all African countries work together, as a united front on the continent, in order to raise standards and create new manufacturing industries. The commitment of all participating countries to stay true to the agreement is also crucial. This is a very real risk given that reducing tariffs has the effect of also lowering earnings. And while higher levels of internal trade and increased taxes should offset this, the ability of individual governments to balance these revenue streams, rather than giving into the temptation of increasing import tariffs or looking for other external revenue streams is key to the sustainable success of AfCFTA as a whole.

An intensive focus on largescale, continent-wide digitisation is another key success factor. Integrated digital trade platforms are non-negotiable, as are digitized customs tariff codes and technologically advanced customs, excise and border control systems. Clogged border posts due to archaic systems and processes will be a recipe for disaster. Another fundamental success requirement is the ability of African countries to leverage AfCFTA to continue attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Intra continental trade is not a silver bullet solution to Africa’s economic challenges. FDI is still an essential cornerstone of sustainable economic development. Countries on the continent will therefore need to urgently address any hindrances to such foreign investment and do their utmost to create a more investor-friendly environment. While, as mentioned, the overall bedding down of such an agreement will take years, it certainly need not take that long for the benefits to flow through to participating countries. Growth in trade, skills, learning and efficiencies can, and should, begin to be seen in a relatively short space of time. And with a shared vision, honest and transparent leadership and effective collaboration, AfCFTA has the potential to be a turning point for Africa that could see it transformed into the global economic powerhouse we all know it can be.

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

Feature

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

What three economists taught us about currency regimes

By Jeffrey Frankel

ll three made important contributions on a variety of topics, and coined memorable terms that remain in use, though not always in their originally intended sense. More specifically, all three played a role in the ongoing debate about optimal currency arrangements. Each was unhappy with the system of market-determined floating exchange rates and proposed reforms. Should central banks fix exchange rates, or even abandon independent currencies entirely, as the members of the eurozone have done? Or should they do something else? Williamson led the “something else” camp. He advocated intermediate exchange-rate regimes that provide more flexibility than fixed rates but more stability than free-floating rates. One, the “crawling peg,” a term that he coined, proved especially popular in Latin America in the 1980s and early 1990s. Under this arrangement, countries decide to live with inflation by undertaking monthly mini-devaluations that keep their producers price-competitive internationally. Williamson also championed another intermediate regime, the target zone, under which countries keep their exchange rates within pre-specified bands. He repeatedly updated his proposals to apply the target zone even to the dollar, euro, yen, and other major currencies. But these arrangements were most popular among emerging markets. Many mixed and matched Williamson’s proposals – falling under the rubric of basket, band, and crawl (BBC) – as Botswana and Singapore still do today. Williamson was most famous for coining the expression

“Washington Consensus” in 1989, to describe ten economic development policies that he judged had the support of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and US administrations. But he lost control of his own invention. Williamson had explicitly excluded one item from his policy list: the liberalization of financial controls to allow the free movement of capital. Yet, most of those who subsequently used the phrase “Washington Consensus,” typically to attack perceived “neoliberalism,” have assumed that it was included. Unlike Williamson, Richard Cooper favored fixed exchange rates. In 1984, he predicted that business would eventually find the high volatility of floating rates “intolerable,” and proposed “the creation of a common currency for all of the industrial democracies,” beginning with the United States, Europe, and Japan. Cooper emphasized that his plan was only a long-term vision. But the political appetite for giving up this degree of national sovereignty is even more miniscule now than it was when he proposed his recipe. In academia, Cooper started the field of international macroeconomic interdependence and cooperation. He also put his ideas into practice, serving as US under secretary of state for economic affairs in President Jimmy Carter’s administration and playing an active role at the 1978 Bonn Summit of G7 leaders. There, Germany, Japan, and the US agreed to act as locomotives, simultaneously pulling the rest of the world economy out of stagnation. At this time, Cooper gave the world the term “locomotive theory,” referring to coordinated fiscal expansion across countries. Mundell also favored fixed

exchange rates. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1999 for two contributions regarding their pros and cons, relative to floating rates. One was the 1962-63 Mundell-Fleming model, which was far ahead of its time in assuming high crossborder financial integration. A key finding was that monetary policy attains high power to influence income if a country’s exchange rate floats, but loses power if the exchange rate is fixed. The Nobel committee also highlighted Mundell’s 1961 article, “A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas” (OCAs), in which he observed that there was no reason why national political boundaries should necessarily coincide with the boundaries between independent currencies. Mundell is often called the intellectual father of two big and consequential ideas: supplyside economics and a common European currency. The two movements were very different. But both were associated with a relatively unconditional belief in restoring exchange-rate stability. As Paul Krugman has pointed out, it is essential to distinguish between Mundell’s work before and after 1971, the year that the Bretton Woods system of pegged exchange rates broke down and Mundell left the University of Chicago. His post-1971 ideas were broad-brush, and at odds with those in his earlier writings. Mundell’s fundamental change of worldview was most likely due to a new belief that the prices of goods and services were so flexible as to equilibrate markets automatically, regardless of currency policy. From Mundell’s post-1971 viewpoint, others misused his OCA concept. Many American economists liked his framework for assessing the advantages and disadvantages of a common

currency, but argued that European countries did not meet the OCA criteria. They found that most individual European economies generally needed monetary autonomy more than, say, the 50 US states did, because European countries’ business cycles were relatively uncorrelated, and their unemployed workers were generally unable to adjust to shocks by moving to where the jobs were.1 Mundell’s first choice was a single global currency. His second choice was currency union within Europe. Having originated the OCA criteria, he felt entitled to say whether proposed unions qualified. But subsequent events seem to confirm others’ warnings that even Europe, let alone the entire world, is too large to qualify. As of 2021, freely floating exchange rates suit most large countries better than Mundell, Cooper, and Williamson thought. But at the same time, some smaller economies do well with firmly fixed exchange rates. At least half of the world’s countries fall in between. But in most cases, their intermediate exchange-rate regimes don’t obey such well-defined rules as Williamson’s BBC scheme. For example, many larger emerging markets, including South Korea, India, and China, pursue systematic managed floats. As we mourn the passing of these three giants, one recalls famous Keynes admonition: “Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” That may be so, but it is no less true that the influence of powerful ideas can exceed what their originators foresaw.

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

International

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

Democratic Republic of Congo seeks US$4bn reparations

he Democratic Republic of Congo is seeking more than $4bn in damages from Uganda, whose military spent five years in conflict in the neighbouring country. The International Court of Justice is holding reparations hearings this week in the longrunning dispute between the DRC and Uganda over compensation following a conflict between 1998-2003. In 2005, the court ruled in favour of the DRC, saying Uganda’s military intervention was of “such magnitude and duration that was considered to be a grave violation” of the United Nations Charter. Paul-Crispin Kakhozi BinBulongo, DRC’s representative, told the court “the harm suffered by my country as a result of Uganda’s actions has been colossal in magnitude”. He said: “As we pointed out in 2005, the unlawful acts committed by Uganda against the DRC have taken the lives of many of our soldiers, deeply and lastingly affected their infrastructure and environment,

bruised its civilian population and exhausted its economy and natural resources.” After two failed Ugandan appeals in 2011, the two nations had to discuss potential reparations, but negotiations stalled in 2015. In May 2015, the Democratic Republic of the Congo submitted a request asking for the court to determine the amount of reparation owed by Uganda and following numerous delays the hearing began this week. Kakhozi Bin-Bulongo said: “The DRC has carried out these negotiations within these guidelines. Unfortunately, Uganda has never acted in the same mind.” He told the court that Uganda only proposed $25m in damages to the Democratic Republic of Congo during negotiations. However, Uganda also demanded $4m from the DRC in return for repair works to the Ugandan embassy in the Congolese capital Kinshasa. Kakhozi Bin-Bulongo added that the sum of reparations sought by DRC were not excessive

Kinshasa, DRC

or arbitrary and is considerably less than the $50bn received by Iraq following the 2003 conflict with a US-led coalition. He said: “The rigorous method that we followed had the effect on the contrary, to underestimate,

and certainly not to exaggerate, the reparation owed by Uganda.” Uganda will present its case and its reparation demands later in the week. Publicfinancefocus.org

Nigerian state sets up anti-corruption commission

oliticians in Nigeria’s major financial centre have set up an anti-corruption agency to investigate officials and contractors suspected of misusing public funds. The governor of Lagos state, home to the country’s largest city, signed the bill on Monday and will set up the commission in the coming days. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the move is important to ensure citizens receive quality services. “We believe that this law will not only ensure the accountability of public funds but also promote dialogue among public officers to keep the trust of the people in the discharge of their duties in line with transparency,” he said. “The anti-corruption commission will ensure that all approved activities are implemented in accordance with budgetary allocation.” The agency will work alongside similar departments in the police and federal government, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the country’s main anti-graft organisation. It will have the power to prosecute officials and

Lagos, Nigeria

contractors found to have engaged in corruption. Sanwo-Olu was elected in 2019, and he said the law “gives credence” to promises he made when he took office. “When we came in, we said we would be accountable and

responsible in the appropriation of the state’s resources,” he said. “We want to stand in front of the citizens to give account of how public funds are spent.” Nigeria faces problems with endemic corruption; it ranks in the bottom fifth of countries in

Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index –.149 out of 180. A 2012 review found the federal government had lost more than $400bn of oil revenue since independence in 1960.

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

News

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

AG-STUD empowers youth to seize opportunities in agricultural value chain

outh studying agriculture in the various tertiary institutions across the country have been empowered under the Agricultural Student’s Career Guidance and Mentorship Dialogue Bootcamp (AG-STUD), to appreciate the various opportunities within the agricultural value chain. The bootcamp is an Agribooster and capacity building initiative, intentionally designed to empower the Ghanaian youth in a futuristic way that also feed into the country’s agricultural objective of achieving food security, while providing sustainable employment. Speaking at the opening of the 4th AG-STUD, on the theme, “we have enabled and established the agri-youth! Time to scaleup them-up to feed Ghana”, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa said. “Through the bootcamp, we have trained and mentored about 600 students directly and about 20,000 students indirectly.

Through AG-STUD, business clubs have been set up in about 10 institutions where students have come up with agribusiness ideas, grown them and nurtured them into real businesses.” She added: “About 14 individuals have also nurtured their individual ideas and are now operating these businesses on their own.” This year, the 5-day bootcamp is going to be more practical in order to empower students, agribusinesses and participants with knowledge in best farming practices, particularly, in line with fertilizer application and appropriate use of inputs, farm management, agribusiness knowledge, industry innovations, and other competence based training sessions, that are critical to mitigate fallouts and accelerate the agri-youth to be more resilient and positioned to support feed their communities and Ghana as a whole. “We shall also build their capacity in business plan development, presentations on

Participants at the opening of the 4th AG-STUD

the latest trends, outlooks, and innovations in agriculture.” This year, the additional six schools that joined the list of participating schools included, Kwadaso Agric College, Damango Agric College, Wenchi Agric College, Asuanzi Farm Institute, Fair River, Ohaw Agric College, Agric department of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Agric department of University

of Ghana, Central University, University of Cape Coast, Ghana Christian university college, All Nations University and University of Energy and Natural Resources. “Our growing list of schools is a clear indication of the positive socio-economic impacts the program is having on participants and we are therefore committed to ensuring that this year, our youth are equipped to feed the nation going forward,” she said.

World Bank financing for COVID-19 vaccine rollout reaches US$2billion

he World Bank has announced that it has reached US$2 billion in approved financing for the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for 17 developing countries. This financing is part of the US$12 billion envelope over 24 months for developing countries to acquire and deploy vaccines and strengthen their vaccination systems. For poorer countries financing is on grant or highly concessional terms. The Bank expects to support 50 countries with US$4 billion financing for COVID-19 vaccines by mid-year. The US$2 billion funding is supporting COVID-19 vaccination in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Honduras, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Tajikistan, and Tunisia. “Access to vaccines is key to altering the course of the pandemic and helping countries move toward a resilient recovery,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “Our programs are helping developing countries respond to the health emergency and have financing available for vaccines.

As the world attempts to carry out the largest vaccination effort in history, we have stressed the need for countries with excess vaccine supplies to release them as soon as possible, and for financing commitments to COVAX to be encashed.” The Bank’s vaccine finance package is designed to be flexible. It can be used by countries to procure doses through COVAX or other sources. It can also finance other key deployment and health system strengthening activities, such as medical supplies, personal protective equipment, vaccine cold-chains, training health workers, data- and information

systems and communications and outreach campaigns to key stakeholders which are key to ensure vaccination acceptance. The Bank has aligned its eligibility criteria of COVID 19 vaccines with the revised eligibility criteria of COVAX and other Multilateral partners. Additionally, IFC, the Bank’s private sector development arm, has a US$4 billion health platform to increase the supply and local production of personal protective equipment in developing countries and unlock medical supply bottlenecks in emerging markets, particularly in medical equipment and vaccines.

The Bank is working with governments and partners (UNICEF, the Global Fund, WHO, and GAVI) to assess the readiness of over 140 developing countries to deploy vaccines. Initial findings show that while 85% of countries have developed national vaccination plans, only 30% have plans to train the number of vaccinators needed and 27% have put public engagement strategies in place to address vaccine hesitancy. “To get a vaccine into someone’s arm, there is a whole system of interdependent actions that needs to function properly,” said Axel van Trotsenburg,  World Bank Managing Director of Operations. “We are working together with the international community and partners to accelerate the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines are a key element in how we return to school, to work, and to growth.” Since the beginning of the crisis, the World Bank Group approved $108.6 billion to help countries fight the health, economic and social consequences of the pandemic. The Bank is assisting over 100 countries with COVID-19 health emergency projects reaching 70% of the world population

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

Feature

FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2021

SCRUM, how it helps you to work online with your team

epending on where you live in the world, about a year ago your company may have decided to move most of its workers online. For a lot of managers, this was a scary moment. Will my personnel perform when they are not in my office together? This article explains how SCRUM can help you manage these issues. For us, the authors of this article, there were no such worries when the pandemic started. We already had ample experience working remotely in international SCRUM teams, using cloudbased computer applications, both in our international NGO with volunteers in 7 different countries, and our software company in Kumasi (www. t r i n i t y s o f t w a r e c e n t e r. c o m ) working remotely in teams with colleagues in the Netherlands every hour of the day. We have been using collaboration tools and videoconferencing for the last 5 years and all our archives are stored online, accessible for our teams from everywhere on any (mobile) device. This sounds like a technological solution, but in fact, it is not. We have experienced that adopting the agile way of working and introducing the SCRUM framework into our organizations has helped us to work internationally and therefore remotely too. Our team members are professionals who are happy to work with us as they get a lot of responsibilities, but they are not left alone but helped by an entire team. Everyone’s opinion counts while expectations are also high, as we are expecting fast delivery

and readiness to a changing environment. When you manage a project with SCRUM, you use short iteration cycles where communication in the team is especially important. Of course, quality communication is still the best when you are meeting each other face to face physically. An important part of communication is still non-verbal, like body expressions and the environment a person is working in. Just this week, one of us met in person with some team members in Kumasi who had joined the company during the pandemic during the year. It was a funny experience, as some of them looked quite different from their online version and made a different impression. SCRUM is a framework that has various protocols to allow a team to work fast in short iterations of a certain product, and these prove to work very well to manage teamwork remotely: - Sprints and their planning and wrap up: a project will be divided into short tracks or “sprints” of several weeks with a detailed list of deliverables and those who work on it. At the end of every sprint, the results are shown to stakeholders in a demo meeting by the team. This allows for a clear view of the progress of a project and gives a platform for feedback long before the final delivery of the entire project. - Daily standups - every day meeting 15 minutes with the team to check what everyone has been doing, what they are planning today, and if there are any impediments. When

everyone speaks openly and is ready to contribute, any problem occurring can be dealt with quickly. - Online planning boards such as TRELLO allow a transparent online tracking of the progress of all parts of the work as contributions of the various team members. Everyone is able to see who works on what and how far that task has been completed. - Finally, sprint retrospectives are evaluation sessions after every sprint, where a team sits down together to look back and see what parts of the work and collaboration may be improved in the next sprint. This allows a team to continuously improve itself and critically look at the share of each team member in the joint success. You may think that a team with a joint responsibility is a soft and fluid way of working where people can hide away from their personal production responsibility in a “free rider” behavior, but that is not so with SCRUM. The short iterations, and tasks clearly assigned to a specific individual, will quickly show that one team member is “staying behind” on the planning board. This transparency helps the team to share the work in a fair way - a young team member who is still learning will be given a lighter task. But lazy people will face the truth quickly as they are being valued on their performance, not for on “staying in the office”. Opportunities for young Africans to work outside without leaving

Professionals who have been working remotely for a year are craving for a time in the office with their colleagues. But they - and their superiors alike - also are equally convinced that it will not be advisable to return to the traditional way of working. In many organizations, HR policies are now being changed, allowing employees to work remotely on a full-time or part-time basis. This has opened unexpected opportunities for young African professionals who were previously excluded from the job market in Europe or the US. It is now no longer necessary to obtain a visa to live outside. You can work for an international company comfortably from your home in Ghana. Our software company in Kumasi has indeed been able to double its numbers in the last 6 months while using SCRUM, as European companies no longer find it necessary for their personnel to be in the office. Part of the SCRUM team may as well be in West Africa! 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 d i a n a v a n d e r s t e l t @ trinitysoftwarecenter.com

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