Business24 Newspaper 31st January, 2022

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MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

BUSINESS24.COM.GH

Monday January 31, 2022

Earning salary only manages poverty – Paul Mante

NO. B24 / 299 | News for Business Leaders

Emirates restores flights to five African countries

See page 8

See page 12

Government bets on E-levy for job creation

By Benson Afful

By Eugene Davis

affulbenson@gmail.com

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ugendavis@gmail.com

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inance Minister Ken OforiAtta says government considers the E-levy as an essential tool that will increase government’s revenue to curb unemployment by investing in entrepreneurship, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure in the country.

“E-levy will increase our tax to GDP from around 13% to 16% and above, which would ensure that we have the revenues to sustainably invest in entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure,” Cont’d on page 2

SOEs given 3-week ultimatum to submit 2020 – 2021 financials

he Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has directed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with over 50percent government interest to submit their audited financials for the 2020 and 2021 operational years.

Head of National Accounts Directorate, Mac-Effort K. Adadey, who made the request at the 2022 Policy and Governance Forum,

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta says E-levy will increase our tax to GDP from around 13% to 16%

IES forecasts fuel increment in February

By Benson Afful

Cont’d on page 3

ICUMS: Ghana Link honoured for seamless trade facilitation at the ports

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

affulbenson@gmail.com

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nergy analysts Institute for Energy Security (IES) have predicted increase in prices of fuel at the pump, in spite of a suspension of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL).

hana Link Network Services Limited’s (GLNS) commitment to streamline trade facilitation processes at the country’s ports with the

Cont’d on page 3

Cont’d on page 11

Cont’d on page 2 Cont’d on page 2

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Editorial / News

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Editorial

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E-Levy: A bitter pill to swallow

overnment appears bent on implementing the controversial electronic levy—a special tax on momo and other forms of electronic transaction—despite the stiff opposition from some quarters, whose concerns are being championed by the Minority NDC. Finance Minister Ken OforiAtta says the non-passage of this levy could have dire consequences on the economy.

Much of government’s youth-centric interventions is directly linked to the successful implementation of the levy, which is seen as an essential tool that will increase revenue to curb unemployment by

investing in entrepreneurship, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure in the country.

The levy will also be the source of funding for state agencies that are pushing the nation’s digitalization and youth empowerment agenda such as the Data Protection Commission and the National Youth Authority.

“The E-levy will increase our tax to GDP from around 13percent to 16percent and above, which would ensure that we have the revenues to sustainably invest in entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure,” adding that the e-Levy also provides a means for all Ghanaians to help support their

country and grow this economy as compliant citizens, according to the minister.

Stakeholders in the financial sector, as well as telcos—initiators of mobile money—have come out emphatically to say that the disruptive levy will claw back the gains of digitalization and financial inclusion.

Efforts by the Finance Ministry to win over the Minority in the tussle over the levy, has hit another snag. Government had hoped to get the buy-in of the NDC MPs for the Bill to be passed, after telecommunication companies agreed to reduce their 1percent charge on transactions by 0.25percent.

Government bets on E-levy for job creation Continued from cover

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adding that the e-Levy also provides a means for all Ghanaians to help support their country and grow this economy as compliant citizens,” he said.

He said Ghana’s success in entrepreneurship would support the country to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and match the opportunities it presents.

“Africa in 2050 will have a $7-trillion combined GDP with $5.6 trillion in business opportunities by the year 2025.

In addition, consumer spending growth in Africa is projected to rise to $2.1 trillion by 2025 and $2.5 trillion by 2030.

According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, based on available data from the Ghana Statistical Service, 11.5 million people were considered economically active and of this number, 1.5 million people were unemployed.

The unemployment rate among the population 15 years and older was estimated as 13.4% and was higher for females (15.5%) than males (11.6%). Among the population 15-35 years, the unemployment rate was 19.7% and is even much higher for young adults 15-24 years (32.8%).

“Picture this, in 2020, there were slightly over 547,000 students enrolled in tertiary education. We can assume 100,000 of this cohort completed their education last year. Based on the unemployment stats for

young adults (15-24), we can estimate that of these 100,000 young people, about 32,000 are at home unemployed” he added.

The minister described the situation as "unacceptable," and disclosed that the government has responded with a plan with a clear goal: "to reap the benefits of our population dividend by building an entrepreneurial state."

According to him, building a sustainable entrepreneurial state can solve our youth unemployment issue through strengthening the links between education and job market stakeholders, providing access to finance, skills, and markets for young entrepreneurs, resourcing state institutions to support the ambitions of those who want to pursue enterprise and growing the capacity of the private sector to create jobs.

YouStart initiative The Minister for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, has assured the Ghanaian youth of the government’s continuous support through the YouStart initiative.

“For those with business ideas, we will provide you with the requisite support and guidance through the YouStart to grow and expand your businesses” Mr. Ofori-Atta said.

The YouStart initiative under the Ghana CARES programme, is being introduced to ease constraints for existing and aspiring young entrepreneurs.

Mr. Ofori-Atta made this known when he addressed the youth at the 73rd Annual New Year School Conference under the sessional topic: “Building a Sustainable Entrepreneurial State: Government's policy for harnessing our population dividend.”

He stated that the empowering the youth who were a driving force for change was a key component of the government's plan.

He emphasised that, the initiative would ensure that skills training becomes much better aligned with the needs of sectors as drivers of future productivity growth and socio-economic transformation.

YouStart initiative, as captured in the 2022 Annual Budget would support youthled enterprises with, soft loans of up to GH¢50,000 to help start-ups (in particular by young graduates and school leavers) and small businesses to expand, Starter packs (Soft loans tied to equipment acquisition) of up to GH¢50,000 for individuals and GH¢100,000 for associations and groups and a standardised loan package of between GH¢100,000 to GH¢400,000 at concessional rates for SMEs from financial institutions.

“To those who want to enter the private sector, we will leverage the CARES programme to ensure you have the skills, training, network, and credit to support the transition from the "classroom to the workplace".

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News

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

IES forecasts fuel increment in February Continued from cover The pending increases, according to the institute, comes on the back of an 8.52percent increase in the price of Brent crude, a 5.5percent rise in LPG price, a 6.23percent increase in price of Gasoline, and 9.86percent jump in Gasoil price; all on the international oil and fuel markets.

It further said the depreciation of the cedi against the US Dollar on the foreign exchange (Forex) market adds on to the factors that will push up the prices of the commodities on the local market.

“Should there be a reintroduction of the PSRL, the IES can project the prices of petrol and diesel sold by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) increasing by at least 25 Pesewas per litre,” the institute added.

The impending price increases could see all the major OMCs crossing the Gh¢7 per litre mark for Gasoil and Gasoline, moving

the price increases for both products over the past 6-months

beyond the 16percentage mark recorded at end January 2022, it

said.

SOEs given 3-week ultimatum to submit 2020 – 2021 financials Continued from cover organised by the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) in Accra, said the affected institutions have up to February 18 this year to make that data.

We want to validate it quickly and incorporate it into the consolidated national account for Ghana, that is due for submission to the Auditor-General by 31st March 2022.

Mac-Effort K. Adadey

If they don’t provide the data on time, it will be difficult for us to work and put the accounts together and meet the mandatory deadline of 31st March,” he explained.

Mr. Adadey said that the law requires SOEs to show financial stewardship, accountability and good governance, adding that financial resources are the most important to develop the nation.

“It is just right that periodically

we get the data and report on how we are faring on both at the entity level and at the national level, it is just out of order for an entity to utilize public money, public financial resources, public funds and refuse to submit the data for inclusion in the national account.

This will help us give the true picture of financial performance and position of the country to the world, so it is a very critical requirement,” he indicated.

So far, 12 SoEs with 50percent government holdings have been included in the Consolidated Accounts of Ghana, according to the CAGD. They include Bui Power Authority, Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company Limited, Consolidated Bank Ghana, Electricity Company of Ghana, Ghana Commodity Exchange, Ghana Post Company Limited, Graphic Communications Group Limited, Venture Capital Trust Fund, SIC Life Company, PSC Tema Shipyard, Social Investment Fund and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund.

Seven companies below 50percent government holding also captured in the consolidated accounts are; Cocoa Processing Company Limited, Ghana Rubber Estates Limited, Intercity STC Company Limited, Metro Mass Transport Company, SIC Company, GCB Bank and Ghana

Oil Company Limited.

SOEs total revenue for 2020, according to their financial statement for 2020 was GHc10.3bn while they expended GHc14.9bn.

For the MMDAs whose data could not be obtained for validation, Mr. Adadey said: “We are working hard to reach out to them again to address all the challenges preventing them from submitting their data on time. We hope that this time around the performance will be better than the previous year.”

The Director General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Edward Boateng, expressed concern over some SEs inability to submit management and audited accounts for the 2020 fiscal year.

“It would interest us to know that a large proportion of SEs are yet to submit their management and audited accounts for the 2020 fiscal year, and some have not submitted accounts as far back as the 2017 fiscal year.

We cannot manage that which we cannot measure; the books have to be balanced if we are to achieve our goal of building an economic superhighway, else our vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid will continue to be a pipe dream. Specified entities should be the catalyst to help grow our economy,” he stressed.

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MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

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News

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

President tells SOEs to support SMEs to grow

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resident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged organisations in which the state has interest to involve indigenous micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their direct supply chain activities.

When practised continuously for the next five years, it would spur the growth of MSMEs, create more employment for young people and impact a lot of lives, he said.

President Akufo-Addo gave the charge when he opened this year’s policy and governance forum of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) in Accra on Friday.

The forum, which was organised by SIGA in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Enterprises, with support from the World Bank Group, was on the theme: “Improving the performance of specified entities; leadership and technology.”

President Akufo-Addo indicated that the nation had difficulties fashioning a comprehensive strategic approach to manage the sector of state-owned enterprises and other companies in which the state has interest, otherwise known as specified entities.

He noted that conflicting objectives, dispersed monitoring systems, the lack of transparency and weaklings of accountability had been symptomatic of the sector's underperformance.

Addressing challenges Since assuming office, the President said, his government had to spend a significant amount

of time addressing challenges inherited from the predecessors which almost crippled the specified entities.

He mentioned some of the challenges as legacy debts, low working capital, weak corporate governance structures, and a multiplicity of stakeholder policy directives with overlapping and conflicting objectives.

Others were dispersed monitoring systems, adding that the establishment of SIGA had helped to resolve some of the concerns, even though there was room for considerable improvement.

President Akufo-Addo said the theme highlighted the importance of two critical ingredients required to turn around the fortunes of specified entities in an era when the country was working to recover from the ravages of COVID-19.

He, however, expressed concern about the continued losses being made by some specified entities, pointing out that between 2018 and 2019, losses posted by specified entities

rose significantly by some 200 per cent with the Auditor General's report for 2020 making for difficult reading.

“Up till this time, government is doing its best to see to the rapid growth of the economy which must bring the phenomenon of posting losses to an end.”

“The late reporting and submitting of reports by specified entities leave a lot to be desired and undermine the efforts of the Controller and Accountant General in the presentation of a global picture for Ghana’s public finances. We have to turn over a new leaf,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.

He expressed the hope, however, that he would hear success stories by the next forum.

The President also charged the entities to minimise losses and improve performance, explaining that his decision to appoint a minister for public enterprises for the first time in the history of the nation to be responsible for organisations and enterprises in which the state had interest, was an reaffirmation of his

GCB Nkwanta Branch not affected by fire outbreak

commitment to ensure that the public enterprises sector was restricted to improve productivity and profitability.

He was confident that measures instituted in the monitoring of specified entities would lead to the transformation desired.

“The task for all of you gathered here, is for you to operate profitably and efficiently and by so doing expand your scope of operations so that you can employ many more people. Your leadership to this end is crucial,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.

His expectation and that of every Ghanaian was to see that SIGA worked in tandem with the respected specified entities and their boards to assist in moving the country to a situation beyond aid, the President said.

He further urged the board members and management of SIGA to be the watchdogs in ensuring that the institutions under their jurisdictions lived up to their mandate.

“There should be no reason why SIGA, which had as its collaborative institution embedded in almost all the critical sectors of the economy such as energy, mining, agriculture, financial and allied services, information and communications technology (ICT) and regulatory agencies, should be found wanting in the discharge of its mandate.

President Akufo-Addo, therefore, advised them to leave their respective entities in a better position than they came to meet them.

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n Sunday, January 30, 2022, there was fire outbreak at the adjourning property of GCB Bank Nkwanta branch in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region.

The fire which was detected at 11am was successfully extinguished by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) with the support of the security services and the community.

There was no casualty during and after the fire outbreak. Our Nkwanta branch of the Bank was not affected by the fire.

The Nkwanta branch of the Bank will open to business on Monday, January 31st , 2022.

We thank personnel of the GNFS and security agencies, the community and opinion leaders for the timely intervention and support.

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MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

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Energy

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

NPA boss visits Kenya’s Power and Petroleum Regulatory Authority

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r Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Leader Govt Officer of Nationwide Petroleum Authority (NPA), has launched into a operating discuss with to the Power and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) of Kenya.

The discuss with is to give a boost to NPA’s courting with peer regulators at the African continent and proportion studies for the mutual good thing about voters, a commentary made to be had to the Ghana Information Company has stated.

Dr Abdul-Hamid, in conjunction with some NPA Board and Control contributors, as a part of the discuss with, met Mr Daniel Kiptoo, EPRA Director-Common, and his workforce in Nairobi.

The 2 entities mentioned petroleum value deregulation coverage, LPG distribution,

making plans of petroleum product importation, exportation, gasoline adulteration, and fashionable enforcement strategies.

EPRA regulates all of the power sector and has oversight tasks over each the petroleum upstream and downstream sectors in addition to electrical energy and different

power technology assets in Kenya, together with renewable power.

Neighbouring nations akin to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo additionally import petroleum merchandise thru Kenya’s pipeline gadget.

Kenya operates an effective

community of petroleum product pipelines connecting its port town of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi and different counties within the nation.

A brand new and fashionable oil jetty with the capability to house as much as 4 vessels at a move is 95 in keeping with cent finished and in a position to be commissioned in March in Mombasa. It’s anticipated to deal with 20 occasions extra vessels than the present one.

As a part of the experiential learn about discuss with, the delegation will discuss with key petroleum amenities and establishments.

Teams to be met will come with the Oil Entrepreneurs who’re the primary importers and investors of petroleum merchandise within the nation.

Eni included in 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

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ni has been included for the first time in the Bloomberg GenderEquality Index (GEI), a modified market capitalization-weighted index that aims to track the performance of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting. The index, which included 418 companies across 45 countries and regions, measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership & talent pipeline, equal pay & gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand.

Eni obtained a total score of 75.7, which is above the average of the enterprises included globally, as well as in Italy and compared to the peers. In particular, the company ranked high in the areas of Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies, Equal Pay and Gender Pay Parity, and Inclusive Culture.

“We are proud to have been included in the index, an important recognition of the path undertaken by Eni to ensure the creation of an inclusive workplace, where gender equality is a key driver of innovation, growth and talent attraction. The areas in which we have excelled are the result of the policies, training activities and actions implemented, ranging from assessments to monitoring and tracking of tailored projects, shaped to encourage the creation

of a shared culture on gender equality across the company at a global level. At the same time, we are ready to take up the challenges still ahead on gender equality, which offer room for further improvements”, said Marwa El Hakim, Eni’s Head of Diversity & Inclusion.

“We are proud to recognize Eni and the other 417 companies included in the 2022 GEI for their commitment to transparency and setting a new standard in gender-related data reporting,” said Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg and Founding Chairman of the U.S. 30% Club.

“Even though the threshold for inclusion in the GEI has risen, the member list continues to grow. This is a testament that more companies are working to improve upon their genderrelated metrics, fostering more opportunity for diverse talent to succeed in their organizations.”

Eni submitted a social survey created by Bloomberg, in collaboration with subject matter experts globally. Those included on this year’s index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect disclosure and the achievement or adoption of bestin-class statistics and policies.

Member companies in the 2022 index represent a variety of sectors, including financials, technology and utilities, which

collectively have the highest company representation in the index.

Eni is committed to integrating a gender perspective in its internal and external processes, at both a national and international level, also through the implementation of assessments that take into account gender, to ensure that the activities are truly inclusive and that women are both beneficiaries and leaders of corporate initiatives. The company is involved in education projects with its stakeholders to spread the culture of women's empowerment and encourage

their access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers.

To strengthen the corporate culture on gender equality, Eni has also activated an internal training programme to raise awareness of unconscious biases in the workplace.

As part of its commitment on the theme, Eni signed in 2021 the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (WEP), a set of principles jointly established by the UN Global Compact and UN Women to support gender equality and women empowerment.

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News

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Earning salary only manages poverty – Paul Mante

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he Managing Director of EDC Investments Ltd, Paul Kofi Mante has advised salaried workers to invest and explore other streams of income in order to attain financial independence.

According to him, depending solely on monthly salary will only manage poverty and will never help one achieve financial independence to live a desired life.

“Traditionally, this has been the thinking, find a good education, find a good job with some secure benefit, work till you are 60 and get a good pension, this thinking belongs to the old school, it doesn’t work in the year 2022 and beyond.

“In the year 2022 and beyond, the new way of thinking is you have to manage personal finances so that you are able to create wealth but ultimately the reason why you are creating wealth is that you want to become financially independent, which simply means getting to that stage where you can sustain your desired lifestyle without salary,” Mr Mante said this on the Effective Living Series on Citi FM. Speaking on the theme ‘Rebuilding Wealth Through Financial Planning’, Mr Mante

added that “Salary is the medicine for managing poverty, it does not cure poverty, only an investment or business cures poverty. Not all of us can run a business but everybody can invest because if you don’t find a way to make your money work while you are sleeping, you will keep working at the time you must be sleeping.”

The MD for EDC Investments Ltd. also outlined five key areas that one must deliberately plan

around in 2022, which are; Retirement, Housing, Children’s Education, Giving back and the High Life.

Mr Mante also stated that the God Factor and appropriate information are the two key factors that can help one achieve financial independence and create wealth.

According to him, the God factor gives you the financial resources and attract the ideas

and opportunities, while having the appropriate information in the financial sector helps one to “manage, multiply and preserve what you have.”

Mr. Mante admonished students and young people yet to start work to seek financial literacy to properly put in place measures that will help them become financially independent before the age of retirement.

Vodafone Ghana Foundation holds STEM education workshop for kids of New Life Orphanage

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odafone Ghana Foundation, the charity arm of Vodafone Ghana, has held a STEM education workshop for kids of the New Life Orphanage at Nungua in the Krowor municipality of the Greater Accra region.

The training forms part of activities to mark this year’s International Day of Education

which seeks to highlight the most important transformations that have to be nurtured to realize everyone’s fundamental right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful future.

The kids were schooled on STEM, robotics, web development and coding to help steer technology transformation,

achieve digital literacy and break the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

Speaking at the event, Head of Vodafone Ghana Foundation, Reverend Amaris Nana Adjei Perbi, said his outfit will ensure that ICT centres are accessible to kids in the country.

“We are trying to establish an ICT centre here so that whenever we visit, we can garner the interest of the children. Every month, at the facilities that we visit, we collate the names of the kids and make sure that after the introductory lessons, they’ll also continue with other lessons that will help them to master the subject”, he said.

He added, “Today, many children have expressed interest in coding, web development, robotics and other sessions. We will follow up on them, provide the needed assistance and engage them further so that they can continue with whatever they have started.”

On his part, the Founder of the New Life Orphanage, Nii Afotey Botwe II, called for collaborative efforts to improve both the wellbeing and learning outcomes of the children.

“We are appealing for educational materials especially, textbooks. Because of the free education, we had to change the syllabus and when you visit some of our schools, there are no textbooks. We need books to enable the kids to study when they come home. Currently, we don’t have a computer lab and we have appealed to the team from Vodafone Ghana Foundation to come to our aid”, he said.

Birthday celebrants for January; Veteran Gospel musician, Madam Stella Aba Seal, Dental Surgeon, Dr Louisa Ansong Satekla, Beautician, Rebecca Donkor, Judge Louis Lamis of Kejetia Vs Makola fame and Minister Abena Ruthy engaged the kids in fun activities and pledged to help nurture and build their skills.

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Feature

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Using Artificial Intelligence for quick humanitarian response

nce upon a time, there was a pandemic outbreak; a deadly virus that threatened to kill many humans and had no cure was ravaging the world. You wonder why this article starts this way- well it is a story that is real but is being recounted as a folktale. This story also shows the power of collaboration and innovation in an information-driven age.

So, to continue with the story, the pandemic affected all nations, rich and poor. This prompted governments to institute strict lockdown measures to limit the spread of the virus, which was airborne. Some, therefore, had to roll out financial support schemes to support their poor and needy nationals. One developing country decided to adopt data science technology developed by a university in a developed country to tackle the problem of distributing help in the form of cash to poor citizens affected by the lockdown imposed due to the pandemic.

This was a major departure from how it was usually done in the past; previously field teams would have been dispatched to identify and register the poor citizens for the cash distribution to be carried out. In brief, the government based the classification of poverty-prone areas derived from poverty maps based on satellite imagery.

Satellite images were used to train a data science model to identify locations in the country as poor or wealthy areas. Features such as the materials used for roofing and road types (bitumen or dirt-road) were identifiable from the satellite images available. These features were used for classifying localities or communities as rich or poor. For instance, thatch roofs indicated poor communities and shiny or colored ones (characteristic of metal roofing materials) depicted wealthy ones. The model could then be used after training to predict poverty in locations that had not been visited before.

To complete the analysis, this information acquired through machine learning was then superposed on user phone records; how often did a user buy airtime or use mobile money to make transactions, and what were the volumes of such transactions?

Based on this combined analysis, financial help was sent to 30000 citizens within 2 weeks. Citizens who were in the informal economy

and who needed to move each day to make daily wages to take care of their families but whose movements were then restricted by the lockdown benefited from this. You wonder by now which country I am referring to. This does not matter; what matters is the fact that technology has been leveraged to produce a positive outcome within a short period.

The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence technology is becoming pervasive in this current era of a datadriven society. Some lessons can therefore be learned from this story for policy development on artificial intelligence research and application in Ghana and Africa at large.

1. Academia-industrygovernment partnership is required: In the story, there was a problem statement from the government; how could the poor citizens affected by the imposed lockdown be easily identified in the shortest possible time?

Through its search for a solution, it identified the work done by the University of Berkeley on poverty maps creation, using artificial intelligence. In this scenario, the problem was identified in one continent and the solution was found in another. This illustrates how solutions to societal problems can be solved with tight collaboration between academia, industry, and government. In the field of artificial intelligence, research is very much required and the best centres of excellence in the domain of research are the universities. For Ghana to make the most of artificial intelligence, its universities need to fill the research gap for the identification of local solutions to local problems. In Africa, some universities have taken the lead in this initiative; the

Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda for instance through its centre for artificial intelligence research has produced a lot of work in providing local solutions based on artificial intelligence in agriculture. The University of Cape Coast here in Ghana is also doing some great work in natural language processing (NLP). More is still needed to be done for global recognition as centres of excellence in the field of artificial intelligence research.

In this regard, more government support is needed. Government support does not necessarily have to come in the form of financial support; its involvement in the problem statement and adoption of the solutions provided by the local universities go a long way to further encourage innovation in these institutions.

2. Local collaboration is critical: In our story, the details of the financial ramifications of the solution development are not available but such a solution can likely come with a cost. With more local collaboration, a lot of solutions can be optimized in terms of cost to developing nations. We must bear in mind that every technology has a cost, as such importing innovative technologies, in the long run, is akin to the already existing trend of importation of finished products by developing economies.

It is no doubt that the Google AI research centre opened in Accra, Ghana was in the same spirit of deepening local collaboration.

3. Leverage on data to solve problems in novel ways: With the plethora of data now available, the sky only is the limit in terms of the solutions

that can be provided for the various societal problems facing humanity. However, this starts with clearly defining the problem to be solved and identifying how the existing data can be used to solve such a problem. In our story, the problem was one of quick response to a situation and the solution available was the use of satellite imagery without having to deploy field teams that could take a longer time and are also cost-intensive to collect the same data. To each problem there is a different solution. Sometimes, the wrong identification or statement of the problem contributes to getting stuck in finding the data-driven solution.

In conclusion, data science and artificial intelligence technologies can be applied to different sorts of problems once there is enough data to be exploited in the solution development. There are many use cases ranging from vaccination planning to humanitarian response, to disasters that can be implemented using satellite imagery data to speed up implementation.

The large amount of such data requires the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence techniques for an effective solution development. Local collaboration ensures that the solution development is done in the same context of the data collection and if done properly can reduce the risk of bias in model development.

Local collaboration is also beneficial in the cost management of solutions developed using artificial intelligence techniques.

Author: Yayra de Souza – Telecommunications Engineer, AI specialist (Member: Institute of ICT Professionals, Ghana) For comments, contact yayra. de.souza@gmail.com / Mobile : +233543758923

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Agribusiness

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Healthy soils for a healthy people and planet: FAO calls for reversal of soil degradation

…FAO’s Director-General addresses the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin

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eversing soil degradation is vital if we want to feed a growing global population, protect biodiversity and help address the planet’s climate crisis, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, today told a meeting of agriculture ministers in Berlin.

As much as 95 percent of global food production depends on soil. However, unsustainable agricultural practices, the overexploitation of natural resources and a growing population are putting increased pressure on our soils. A third of them are already degraded, and experts estimate that soil erosion could lead to a 10 percent loss in crop production by 2050.

After oceans, soils are the largest reservoirs of carbon and play a crucial role in mitigating and adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis. The degradation of the world's soils has already released up to 78 gigatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere (one gigatonne is equivalent to the mass of 10,000 fully loaded U.S. aircraft carriers). According to the Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration map, soils could sequester up to 2.05 petagrams of CO2 equivalent per year, thus offsetting as much as 34 percent of greenhouse gas emissions

from agricultural land.

Soils are full of life as well, holding an estimated 25% of global biodiversity.

“Our growing population requires more food that is nutritious and safe, free of contaminants and pathogens,” FAO’s Director-General told the gathering. “Countries must make stronger commitments towards sustainable soil management,” Qu added.

Over 70 agriculture ministers from around the globe were invited by their German colleague, Cem Ozdemir, to exchange thoughts and ideas at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), a conference that is held each year in Berlin.

Degradation reversal FAO’s latest State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture has already warned us that our agricultural systems – the interconnect complex web of soil, land and water - are at “breaking point.”

Soil erosion is the biggest threat. It is estimated that by 2050, soil erosion could lead to a 10 percent loss in crop production and remove 75 billion tons of soils.

Soil pollution is also an issue. It knows no borders

and compromises the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. The excessive or inappropriate use of agrochemicals is one cause of the problem. The global annual production of industrial chemicals has doubled since the beginning of the 21st century, to approximately 2.3 billion tonnes, and is projected to increase by 85 percent by the end of the decade.

Another challenge comes from salinization, which affects 160 million hectares of cropland worldwide and every year renders 1.5 million hectares unproductive.

Finally, there’s a lack of reliable data. Over 55 percent of surveyed Members of the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) lack adequate analytical capacities, including human resources, harmonization procedures and equipment.

In October, FAO launched the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils, a joint project involving 118 countries and hundreds of datacrunchers that allows experts to identify where sustainable soil management practices should be adopted and informs policy makers when dealing with climate change adaptation and irrigation projects.

More is needed.

According to FAO’s DirectorGeneral, countries must make stronger commitments, while instruments such as the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management, the World Soil Charter and the International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers can provide added impetus.

Greater investments particularly for supporting the adoption of sustainable soil management practices - and the recarbonization of soils are also a priority, along with land tenure security.

The Director-General welcomed the adoption of a joint communique’ by participants representing what he described as “a reflection of your commitment to healthy soils, including protecting agricultural land through tenure security,” and said FAO would help facilitate its implementation.

“FAO, including through the Global Soil partnership, is committed to healthy soils and to supporting sustainable soil management at all levels for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind,” Qu said.

11

News

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Dr K. K. Sarpong appointed Chancellor of UPSA

T

he Governing Council of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) has appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Company, (GNPC), Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong, as the new Chancellor of the University.

Dr. Sarpong’s appointment was communicated to the university community in a circular dated January 24, 2022, and signed by the Registrar, Dr. Koryoe AnimWright.

The circular said the decision was taken at the 82nd Meeting of the UPSA Governing Council held on Thursday, December 9, 2021.

“In filling the Chancellor role, the criteria and processes delineated in Section 14 of the University of Professional Studies Accra, Act, ACT 850 and Section 5.0 of the Statutes, were diligently followed,” the circular indicated.

“In addition to the criteria stated in the Act and Statutes, the University also considered

a personality that shares the University’s values, vision, goals, and ambitions and possesses

an affinity for its work [and] recognizes and celebrates the importance of higher education, has a distinguished public servant/ service record; and possesses proven fundraising skills and international connections.”

The UPSA Governing Council further considered other qualities like the ability to promote the university and its achievements, regionally, nationally, and internationally, as well as a proven mentorship and passion for social responsibility and community service and an excellent academic profile.

“We congratulate Dr. Sarpong on his appointment and proudly welcome him as UPSA’s Chancellor,” the circular concluded.

A formal installation ceremony will be held in the coming months.

ICUMS: Ghana Link honoured for seamless trade facilitation at the ports Continued from cover deployment of its Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), an end-to-end Customs valuation system, has been recognised by the World Customs Organisation and Ghana Customs.

At an event organised by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA Customs) to mark the 2022 World Customs Organisation (WCO) Day in Accra, a WCO Certificate of Merit was presented to Ghana Link, some personnel of Customs and other stakeholders who have contributed positively to the work of the authority.

In a special citation, GRA Customs thanked the services provider for the deployment of one of the best trade facilitation tools to help in the trade processes in Ghana.

"This is presented to you for creating an innovative, engaging and inspiring Customs and trade facilitation platform for Ghana's international trade process, by providing an end-to-end and a robust single window for Ghana's trade/cargo clearance ecosystem, " the citation signed by the Commissioner of Customs Col. Kwadwo Damoah (RTD) said.

Customs in its citation further stated that “your role and responsibilities in the deployment of the ICUMS as a tool for trade facilitation and revenue maximation will forever remain

etched in gold”.

Mr. Raymond Amaglo the Director of Operations at Ghana Link who together with the Director of HR Madam Cynthia Ahinkurah received the citation and WCO certificate of appreciation, thanked Customs for the recognition.

Commenting on the recognition, Mr. Amaglo said it was heartwarming receiving such an award from the very institution for whom the system belongs.

"We dedicate this award to all the stakeholders who have in no small way contributed to this feat being chalked across board since the roll of this end-to-end e-Customs management and trade facilitation system across the country," he added.

According to him Ghana Link will not rest on their oars but continue to work even harder to ensure the gains made are not only sustained but progressively improved upon.

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, whose speech was read on his behalf, charged the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to put in more efforts to increase revenue at the ports to bolster government’s quest to significantly improve Ghana’s tax to GDP, from 13percent to 20percent by 2024.

“Notwithstanding the successes chalked, I am confident that there is more that GRA and Customs Division in particular

Mr. Raymond Amaglo, Director of Operations – left and the Director of HR Madam Cynthia Ahinkurah—Right

can do to further enhance its level of efficiency, whiles reducing revenue leakages at the ports to its barest minimum. Towards these efforts, the ministry believes that it will add on significantly in improving Ghana’s tax to GDP ratio from the current 13% to 20% by 2024”.

He assured the Customs Division of government's upmost support to achieve its goals.

Col Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd), the Commissioner, Customs Division of GRA, who also read the speech of the Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, said over the years, digital technology had evolved rapidly, and Customs could now tap into data from other government agencies, commercially available databases, and open-source information platforms such as digitized global public records and multilingual news sources.

He said the extent to which data could be used effectively depended on various factors surrounding data ethics, including privacy, commercial secrecy, and legal issues regarding

the use of data by customs and tax administrations and the importance assigned to innovation in public administrations.

Dr Mikuriya said to build data ecosystems or consolidate existing ones, the following enabling actions such as establishing formal data governance to ensure the relevance, accuracy, and timeliness of data and making use of the standards developed by the WCO and other institutions regarding data format and data exchange.

The International Customs Day celebration was under the theme “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem.”

The International Customs Day Celebration, is observed worldwide by the Customs community on 26th January every year.

In Ghana, the august occasion saw dignitaries from government, former personnel of the Customs Division of the GRA and stakeholders in attendance.

12

Aviation

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Emirates restores flights to five African countries

E

mirates will resume passenger operations between Dubai and five African countries starting from 29 January, offering customers more choice, superior value and enhanced connectivity to and through Dubai.

The significant restoration of services will include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar El Salaam, Tanzania; Nairobi, Kenya; Harare, Zimbabwe; Emirates’ three South African gateways Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

Customers flying in and out of Emirates’ African gateways can safely connect to Dubai and to an array of onwards connections to Europe, Middle East, the Americas, West Asia and Australasia.

South Africa: Flights between Dubai and South Africa will operate as a daily flight to and from Johannesburg, effective 29 January and double daily services from 1 February. Flights to and from Cape Town and Durban will operate daily from 1 February.

Emirates flight EK 761 departs Dubai at 0440hrs, arriving in Johannesburg at 1055hrs. EK 762 departs Johannesburg at 1325hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2345hrs.

The second daily flight, EK 763, departs Dubai at 1005hrs, arriving in Johannesburg at 1630hrs.

The return flight, EK 764, leaves Johannesburg at 1850hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0505hrs the next day.

EK 772 from Dubai to Cape Town departs at 0355hrs, arriving in Cape Town at 1145hrs. EK 771 leaves Cape Town at 1825hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0555hrs the next day. EK 775 departs Dubai

at 1035hrs, arriving in Durban at 1705hrs, and EK 776 takes off from Durban at 1900hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0515hrs the next day.

Kenya: Emirates will operate 10 weekly flights to Nairobi from 29 January. EK 719 and 720 will operate on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, taking off from Dubai at 0935hrs and arriving in Nairobi at 1345hrs, in turn leaving Nairobi at 1530hrs, and landing in Dubai at 2130hrs.

EK 721 and 722 will fly on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with EK 721 taking off from Dubai at 0210hrs, arriving in Nairobi at 0620hrs. EK 722 will leave Nairobi at 2355hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0555hrs.

Ethiopia: Emirates flights to Addis Ababa will operate daily from 30 January, with EK 723 taking off from Dubai at 0925hrs, arriving in Addis Ababa at 1240hrs. EK 724 leaves Addis Ababa at 1505hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2015hrs.

Tanzania: Emirates will operate to Dar Es Salaam with five flights a week from 30 January. EK 725 will take off from Dubai at 0930hrs, arriving in Dar Es Salaam at 1355hrs. EK 726 will leave Dar Es Salaam at 1525hrs, landing in Dubai at 2150hrs.

Zimbabwe: Emirates will operate to Harare with six weekly flights linked to its Lusaka service from 30 January. EK 713 leaves Dubai at 0920 hrs, with a stop in Lusaka, and arrives in Harare at 1700hrs. EK 714 takes off from Harare at 1845hrs, stopping in Lusaka, and continuing on to Dubai to arrive at 0625hrs the next day.

All passengers travelling from Emirates’ African network with Dubai as their final destination require a 48 hour PCR test.

Passengers must present a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility, and validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected. Upon arrival in Dubai, passengers will undergo an additional Covid-19 PCR test and remain in self quarantine until the results of the test are received.

Passengers travelling from these destinations and transiting in Dubai are required to follow the rules and requirements of their final destination.

For more information on entry requirements for international visitors to Dubai visit: - https:// www.emirates.com/ae/english/ h e l p/c o v i d - 1 9/d u b a i - t r av e l requirements/tourists/ All flights can be booked on emirates.com, with OTAs and via travel agents.

Since it safely resumed tourism activity in July 2020, Dubai remains one of the world's most popular holiday destinations, especially during the winter season. The city is open for international business and leisure visitors. From sun-soaked beaches and heritage activities to world class hospitality and leisure facilities, Dubai offers a variety of world-class experiences. It was one of the world's first cities to obtain Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) – which endorses Dubai's comprehensive and effective measures to ensure

guest health and safety.

Dubai is currently hosting the world for Expo 2020, until March 2022. Through the theme of Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, Expo 2020 Dubai aims to inspire people by showcasing the best examples of collaboration, innovation and cooperation from around the world. Its programme is packed with experiences to suit all ages and interests, including a rich line-up of themed weeks, entertainment, and edutainment.

Art and culture fans as well as food and technology enthusiasts can explore exhibits, workshops, performances, live shows and more.

Flexibility and Assurance: Emirates continues to lead the industry with innovative products and services and recently took its customer care initiatives further with even more generous and flexible booking policies, which have been extended to 31 May 2022, Covid-19 medical travel insurance, and is helping loyal customers retain their miles and tier status.

Health and safety: Keeping the health and wellbeing of its passengers as top priority, Emirates has introduced a comprehensive set of safety measures at every step of the customer journey. The airline has also recently introduced contactless technology and scaled up its digital verification capabilities to provide its customers even more opportunities to utilise the IATA Travel Pass, which can now be used across 50 airports served by Emirates.

13

News

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

DPO Group partners Mastercard to help businesses accept digital payments

D

PO Group has partnered with Mastercard to enable thousands of businesses in Ghana offer their customers greater choice and convenience by pivoting online and accepting digital payments.

Through the collaboration, DPO will leverage Mastercard’s digital payments technology to enable merchants to safely, seamlessly and securely accept a wide range of digital payment methods including mobile money and via e-wallets – both locally and from abroad – in the currency of their choice.

The collaboration will help small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are critical to the growth of the economy, and international companies to process payments via a simple integration to a single platform, equipped with strong protection against online fraud and support for refunds, chargebacks and more. They will also have access to the DPO store, an e-commerce plug and play solution available in more than 20 countries in which DPO operates.

As part of the partnership, DPO and Mastercard will also provide training for Ghanaian

firms and entrepreneurs on how to maximise business growth and manage risk with smart use of digital payments.

Eran Feinstein, CEO of DPO Group, said, “Ghana is an exciting market for digital payments and innovation, and we’re delighted to launch our advanced payment solutions to offer entrepreneurs smooth and secure payment services. We are grateful to our strategic partner Mastercard for their support. Together we look forward to supporting businesses as they grow and reach new customers.”

DPO’s Head of Business Development and Country

Manager for Ghana, Manasseh Narh added: “We are thrilled to launch our partnership in Ghana.

We know our products can support the ambition and growth goals of Ghanaian businesses of all sizes, and we look forward to partnering with them to offer secure payment technology in a rapidly growing digital payments marketplace.”

This collaboration plays a role in advancing Mastercard’s worldwide commitment to financial inclusion to bring a total of one billion people, and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025.

“We recognise the overwhelming pressure that business owners are currently facing and are committed to supporting them as they adapt to meet ever evolving customer needs. This collaboration has the potential to empower every business with the tools they need to take their operations online and be more competitive in the ever expanding digital economy,” said Bossman Kwapong, Country Director, Ghana, Mastercard.

E-Commerce has seen significant growth in Ghana in recent years, with the value of digital transactions increasing by 120% between February 2020 and February 2021. The adoption and use of Mobile Money has been central to this growth, and DPO’s payments platform supports this payment method alongside traditional currencies and payment methods.

DPO Group was acquired by Network International in 2021 in a landmark deal for the African payments space. It continues to operate under the same brand in existing territories, and will be launching a new payment solution, ‘DPO Pay’ for businesses across Africa and other territories.

Vice-President, US Secretary of State confer

T

he Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and the US Secretary of State, Mr Antony J. Blinken, have held bilateral talks on deepening ties and strengthening the existing cooperation between Ghana and the US. The meeting, which took place at the US State Department in Washington, DC, focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines, as well as the security situation in the West African subregion.

Present at the meeting was the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Ms Molly Phee.

The meeting formed part of the Vice-President’s itinerary in the US, after he had attended the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting as President Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo’s representative.

Mr Blinken commended Ghana for its efforts towards global and regional security, as well as efforts to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He expressed the hope that

what Ghana had done in the past would help in finding a solution to the security situation in the Sahel and West Africa.

“It is great to consult Ghana as a key partner on global and regional security and deepening economic ties for post-COVID-19 recovery and growth,” he said.

Dr Bawumia, Mr Blinken and Ms Phee also discussed COVID-19 vaccine supply and stressed the need for it to be a priority.

They also agreed that it

was important to develop and enhance manufacturing capabilities, as well as adapt and prepare for future outbreaks.

Last Wednesday, Dr Bawumia met with the Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Antonio Guterres, after the UNSC meeting in New York.

Discussions centred on helping to develop the vaccine manufacturing capabilities for Africa, the pockets of violent conflicts and how Ghana could

play a role in bringing about stability in Africa, particularly the West African subregion.

The two men also discussed Ghana’s digitalisation agenda, which Mr Guterres said fitted into the UN’s global digital compact strategy from 2021 to 2023, which was to promote digital inclusion and set milestones for connecting everyone on Earth to the Internet, including all schools.

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MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

15

Feature

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Knowing our way around trends and the #new normal is very important for business survival and our sustainability

T

he maiden edition of the Future of Work Conference 2021 (FOWC), organized

by FoReal HR Services the apex future of work firm, to foster dialogue and the exchange of knowledge on a variety of future of work issues and challenges facing Africa has ended successful. This virtual conference was organized under the theme, “solving the right problems the right ways with the right tools at the right time” The conference call for papers ended with the virtual conference taking place between November 25 and 26, 2021. This conference sought to present the future today to help us stand tall among our competitors as business entities or professionals. As work continues to evolve, trends will originate and go. The future of work which was thought to be very far is fast approaching. It is inevitable to ignore the concept of the future of work; as a result most organizations have already embraced these developments, while others are lagging far behind.

It’s a known fact that change takes time, and every organization and industry is different. Of course, this present challenges, but many organizations also see it as a wonderful opportunity to create positive change and to start building purpose-driven organizations that priorities people and planet alongside profit (PPP).

Knowing our way around trends and the #new normal is very important for business survival and our own sustainability. Solving business problems and challenges the right way today with the right tools and at the right time will propel our businesses for success.

The conference commenced by creating awareness about the future workplace and the new normal. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Yousrey ElSharkawi of Egypt - the C.E.O of HOC and the chairman of the Egyptian African Business Association (EABA) who applauded the success, hard work, tenacity and continuous commitment to excellence of FoReal HR Services over the period of their existence providing Future of work talks across the continent to educate and prepare businesses and professionals for the future workplace. He advised participants to consider this relevant and timely discussion beyond the conference as they adapt to changing eco-systems and prepare ahead for the future

workplace today.

Submitted papers and presentation themes were linked to the future of work dialogue and the overall theme of the conference. Of particular interest was on research gaps identified.

The conference showcased twenty (20) Future of Work topics and speakers representing 11 countries across the globe to include- Ghana, Egypt, India, Nigeria, United Kingdom, South Africa, Pakistan, Gambia and Senegal.

Over 100 participants joined in from across 19 countries including United States, Unites Arab Emirate, Côte d’lvoire, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, China, India, Nigeria, United Kingdom, South Africa, Zimbabwe, France, Pakistan, Gambia and Senegal.

The conference recorded 71 participants during the opening ceremony on the first day.

The conference ended with a call on government, policy

makers, stakeholders, businesses, professionals, individuals and social groups and associations to consider researching into the future workplace, adjusting to changing trends considering changing their status quo, providing value addition and upgrading support as well as considering the future workplace today by making plans to harness potentials ahead of time. Thinking the end from the beginning will be a great approach to addressing issues affecting the global workforce.

Topics where centered around the future of tourism and travel, management, oil and gas, finance, insurance, startups, traditional medicine, digitization and the modern economy, media solutions, volunteerism as well as the future of jobs, positive peace building, women in the world of work, the legal framework of the law, the emotional intelligent leader, scholars transition to work, covid-19 - mobile phone and travel insurance, the new

and odd normal for the future work place, and future of work research gaps among others.

FoReal HR Services is registered consulting firm in Ghana. Our consultants have worked on some of the best projects and continue to support exciting and relevant initiatives in Ghana and globally and are committed to supporting you succeed internationally because we know and understand what it takes to make you sustainable and succeed in a competitive market or industry. We give you wings and reason to fly higher in pursuits of your mission, vision and value. FoReal HR Services offers cutting edge, hands-on and relevant HR consultancy services. Building your team of an efficient & effective workforce is our business. Why not outsource those other human resource management duties and concentrate on your core business.

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MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

17

Featuer

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Why the NFT market will collapse

By Patrick Reinmoeller, Karl Schmedders

I

n March 2021, the auction house Christie’s sold a JPEG file created by the artist Beeple for $69.3 million, a record for a digital artwork. The ownership of the “original” JPEG – entitled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” – was secured as a non-fungible token, or NFT. The sale made headlines, and NFTs have since become red-hot.

Investors poured $27 billion into the market in 2021, and Meta, Facebook’s renamed parent company, now reportedly plans to allow users to create and sell NFTs. There’s just one problem: the NFT market will eventually collapse, for any of a host of reasons.

In essence, an NFT is a tradeable code attached to metadata, such as an image. A secure network of computers records the sale on a digital ledger (a blockchain), giving the buyer proof of both authenticity and ownership.

NFTs are typically paid for with the Ethereum cryptocurrency, and – perhaps more importantly – stored using the Ethereum blockchain. By combining the desire to own art with modern technology, NFTs are the perfect asset for newly wealthy members of the Silicon Valley set and their train of acolytes in finance, entertainment, and the broader retail-investor community.

But, like other markets driven by exuberance, impulse purchases, and hype, the fast-moving and speculative NFT market could burn many investors. The current frenzy invites comparisons with the Dutch tulip mania from 1634 until 1637, when some bulbs fetched extremely high prices before the exuberance dissipated and the bubble collapsed.

The NFT market will likely

suffer a similar fate – but not, as some might think, because of environmental concerns. To be sure, NFTs consume considerable amounts of energy, because cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin are “mined” using networks of computers with a large carbon footprint – one that grows with every transaction. But when it comes to understanding what will bring down the NFT market, climate impact is a red herring. The real problem is that the current NFT boom is built on a foundation of sand.

Start with the problem of infinite supply. NFTs offer ownership of a digital asset, but not the right to prevent others from using its digital copies.

Part of the reason why wealthy investors are prepared to pay tens of millions of dollars (or more) for traditional physical artworks by the likes of Rembrandt, van Gogh, or Monet is that the number of masterpieces is finite; the artists are long dead and cannot produce new artworks. NFT copies, on the other hand, could become a commodity.

Moreover, as with all things digital, there is no difference in appearance between an original JPEG file sold for $69.3 million, and a copy downloaded for free online. In theory, the supply of legally usable copies of NFTs is infinite, potentially overwhelming demand for them and causing prices to collapse.

Because the blockchain is unable to store the actual underlying digital asset, someone buying an NFT is buying a link to the digital artwork, not the artwork itself.

Although buyers gain copyright to the link, the transaction costs related to monitoring the infinite online venues for displaying NFTs, identifying illegitimate use, and pursuing and prosecuting infringement make it nearly

impossible to enforce the copyright or deter misuse. This strongly limits monetization of the asset.

Another risk is that NFTs are being made and sold with infant technologies – blockchains and cryptocurrencies. There currently are multiple competing standards regarding how to generate, safeguard, distribute, and certify NFTs, including ERC721, ERC-998, ERC-1155, flow and non-flow standards, and Tezos’s FA2. The resulting uncertainty as to how ownership certification will be guaranteed in perpetuity endangers the value of the assets and even their ownership.

In fact, the value of NFTs may evaporate if the next wave of more advanced technologies that supersedes crypto or blockchain is incompatible with secure NFT ownership. Firms that deal in NFTs today may not be around tomorrow, muddying ownership claims.

The price volatility of the cryptocurrencies underpinning the NFT market is a central issue as well. NFT prices tend to move in tandem with cryptocurrency prices. When crypto tanked in 2018, so did the nascent market for NFTs. The psychology of buying luxury goods also will likely put downward pressure on NFT prices. Most luxury products are so-called Veblen goods, with limited utility beyond enabling owners to advertise their wealth.

For that reason, they often generate large profits for sellers.

NFTs enable buyers to broadcast their wealth mostly through the high price they paid, but only if they receive a positive reaction from their peers. If such expenditure does not resonate with this audience, the investor might as well burn cash to light a cigarette.

Because owning an NFT does not prevent others from displaying the same assets and signaling ownership, these tokens hardly serve as effective indicators of unique spending power. And many NFT buyers remain anonymous anyway, because the blockchain ensures that knowledge regarding ownership is limited.

Finally, changing macroeconomic conditions could negatively affect the prices of alternative assets such as NFTs and traditional artworks. In the past two decades, the number of billionaires worldwide has increased more than fivefold, and available income ready to be invested in alternative asset classes has ballooned as a result.

The COVID-19 pandemic has so far reinforced this trend. Much of the vast economic stimulus injected by central banks went into financial markets, further boosting the net worth of the super-rich.

But investor attention can be fleeting. After the 2008 global financial crisis, sales of art and other luxury products declined by almost 40%. With central banks now starting to tighten monetary policy in an effort to rein in inflation, new and untested asset classes are likely to be punished harder than more reliable ones. And the hugely volatile NFT market, based on digital currencies with nothing to back them up, is hardly a safe haven.

Ultimately, NFT prices will suffer a large, permanent decline.

They remain high for now and may continue to increase for some time, but the crash will come. Investors who think they can time the market are welcome to try, but their optimism will likely prove misplaced.

18

IES Energy Analysis

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Prices of LPG, diesel and petrol to experience another jump at the pump PRICE PER METRIC TONNE (US$)

INTERNATIONAL GASOLINE PRICE (PLATTS) TREND: AUG 2021 - JAN 2022 900.00 800.00

726.15 722.75 720.53 735.50

837.77 818.21 786.61 776.36

700.00

685.68 701.63

774.94

823.25

600.00 500.00 400.00 300.00 200.00 100.00 0.00

Aug 2021 PW1

Aug 2021 PW2

Sep 2021 PW1

Sep 2021 PW2

Oct 2021 PW1

Oct 2021 PW2

Nov 2021 PW1

Nov 2021 PW2

Dec 2021 PW1

Dec 2021 PW2

Jan 2022 PW1

Jan 2022 PW2

SOURCE: IES 2022 CONSTRUCT Review of January 2022 second pricing-window Prices of fuel at local pumps increased within the period under review in response to rising international oil and fuel prices, and the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against the greenback.

Over the last two weeks, prices of Gasoline (Petrol) and Gasoil (Diesel) rose by roughly 3% from Gh¢6.70 a litre on average terms at most pumps to reach Gh¢6.94 per litre. The current national average price for Gasoline is pegged at Gh¢6.90 per litre, while that of Gasoil stands at Gh¢6.98.

For the Pricing-window, the IES Market-scan picked Benab Oil, Dukes Oil, Star Oil, Reliance, Goodness Oil and Westport as the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) with the least-priced fuel on the local market.

On the upside, some OMCs including Puma Energy, Ready, Total, EV were spotted selling Gasoil above Gh¢7.00 per litre for the first time.

World Oil Market Price of international benchmark Brent rose within the period, pushing prices to an average of $87.16 per barrel, representing an increment of 8.52% from the previous window's average price of $80.30 per barrel.

Within the last two weeks,

Brent crude price touched $90 a barrel, occasioned by the low Cushing and distillate inventories, combined with the supply jitters in Europe. The stalemate of Russia-Ukraine, and falling Russian seaborne crude imports from the Baltics also affected supply, particularly into Europe.

However, prices fell back to $89 before the market closed for that day.

Oil prices on the international market hit the highest level since 2014 as inventories at the Cushing hub in the United States of America sunk by another million barrels on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 as recorded by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The reduced inventories represent the lowest point since 2012 as inventories fell by more than 30% below the five-year average.

On the Russia-Ukraine tensions, fears remain that sanctions on Russia could cause a shortage of crude oil and natural gas, causing some stir among commodity market traders in recent days.

Finally, the upward pressure in this oil price scenario is Russia’s exports from its Baltic Sea ports, which are set to drop next month to the lowest level in five months.

The concern held by traders is that Russia is unable to ramp up crude oil output as much as its OPEC+ agreement has allowed.

Price of the refined products such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Gasoline and Gasoil

monitored on Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) global Platts platform however experienced significant increments within the period under assessment.

The current price increases is extending the gains being recorded on the market over the past six months, with Gasoline in particular recording a rise of 13.37% since August 2021.

In the last two weeks, the price of Gasoline increased by $48.31 per metric tonne (6.23%) from its earlier price of $774.94 per metric tonne. The price of Gasoil rose sharply by 9.86%, adding $68.61 per metric tonne, to end the two-week session at $764.61 per metric tonne. Also the price of LPG on the international fuel market recorded a significant jump of $41.44 to close trading at $792.11 per metric tonne.

Local Forex The IES Economic Desk’s data captured from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market shows that the Ghanaian Cedi depreciated marginally against the U.S. Dollar by 0.2% on average terms in the first pricing window of January 2022 to trade at Gh¢6.285 to the greenback, from the previous window’s rate of Gh¢6.262 to the international currency.

IES PROJECTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2022 FIRST

PRICING-WINDOW Over the next two weeks, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees the prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Diesel, and Petrol recording yet another jump at the pump, in spite of a suspension of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL).

The pending increases comes on the back of an 8.52% increase in the price of Brent crude, a 5.5% rise in LPG price, a 6.23% increase in price of Gasoline, and 9.86% jump in Gasoil price; all on the international oil and fuel markets. Further depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against the US Dollar on the foreign exchange (Forex) market adds on to the factors that will push up the prices of the commodities on the local market.

Should there be a reintroduction of the PSRL, the IES can project the prices of Petrol and Diesel sold by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) increasing by at least 25 Pesewas per litre.

The impending price increases could see all the major OMCs crossing the Gh¢7 per litre mark for Gasoil and Gasoline, moving the price increases for both products over the past 6-months beyond the 16 percentage mark recorded at end January 2022.

19

ICT

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

Op-Ed: Setting a new standard for smartphones in our changing world

By: Dr. TM Roh, President & Head of MX Business, Samsung Electronics

W

hen I look around me, I’m astounded by how much innovation exists in our world today. Yet I am most excited about the evolution of the smartphone. This single device gave way to new digital industries – to remote work, schooling, entertainment and fitness – and the ability to capture, explore and communicate with anyone, anywhere with the touch of a finger.

The smartphone is a portal to infinite progress. And at Samsung, we have never taken that for granted.

It’s not enough for mobile innovation to just evolve with the world. We have to be a step ahead, so our technology can help transform the way we experience everything around us and make our lives easier.

That’s why we constantly push ourselves to break the rules of what a smartphone can do.

Breaking the Rules to Start the Next Chapter in Smartphone History

In 2011, the Galaxy Note merged the convenience and portability of smartphones with the expansive screen and notepadlike functionality of tablets. Some balked at the 5.3-inch display — considered enormous then — but Note created a legacy where a large display is now the standard.

The S Pen also surprised everyone.

It empowered people to bridge creativity with productivity – whenever inspiration struck, they could quickly write down their ideas and thoughts in Samsung Notes.

In 2019, we dared to redefine smartphones once again. We launched our Galaxy Z Fold Series and brought an entirely new form factor to the mobile industry.

Our cutting-edge foldable design changed how people used their phones. With Flex Mode, video calls are hands-free and easier.

And multitasking with multiple windows are also a breeze, as your phone becomes tablet-sized in the blink of an eye. Once again, the industry took notice and foldables became the next big thing.

Innovating by Listening to

Consumers and Taking Note In a sea of smartphone sameness and iterative updates, our ambition remains firm: to detect the signals that transformation is stirring – by listening to your feedback – and continue to deliver mobile experiences that empower us all to evolve.

We know many of you were surprised when Samsung didn’t release a new Galaxy Note last year. You loved the creativity and efficiency of the Galaxy Note series, which enabled you to switch from gaming nirvana to high-octane productivity in the blink of an eye. You embraced the S Pen, which some say rivals putting ink to paper. And we haven’t forgotten about these experiences you love.

Catalyzing the Next Evolution of Galaxy For years, Samsung has converted the skeptics who thought our ideas were impossible. Whether it’s a screen that’s too big, a stylus no one knew they needed or a pro-grade

camera that could truly bring mobile photography out of the dark.

With every fresh evolution of Samsung Galaxy devices, we have introduced features that enhance the mobile category. And we’re about to rewrite the rules of industry once again.

At Unpacked in February 2022, we’ll introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created. The next generation of Galaxy S is here, bringing together the greatest experiences of our Samsung Galaxy into one ultimate device.

With it, you will own the night – taking incredible and captivating photos and videos. You will also dominate the day with power, speed and unique new tools.

You will enjoy cutting edgeinnovations made possible thanks to the smartest Galaxy experience yet. All while feeling good about being part of the most sustainable Galaxy ecosystem. And, yes, you will help Samsung rewrite the future of smartphones once again.

Get ready for the ultimate Ultra experience.

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BUSINESS24.COM.GH MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

NO. B24 / 299 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

MONDAY MAY 3, 2021

MONDAY JANUARY 31, 2022

The necessary rise of Africa's health tech

By Stephen Ogweno

A

frica’s health systems suffer from serious inefficiencies. Countries across the continent struggle with disruptions in medical equipment and drug supply chains, last-mile health-services delivery, medical data analysis and storage, and financing.

But innovations in telemedicine, drones, big data analytics, wearables, and information management have brought the possibility of effective, affordable solutions into view, promising to improve overall health outcomes.

In recent years, African health tech has recorded impressive growth. More than 40 healthtech start-ups on the continent received series A funding in 2020 alone. Recently launched firms cover a range of healthrelated fields, including genetic sequencing, drug procurement, and health literacy.

The growth opportunities are enormous. But for healthtech companies to thrive, entrepreneurs must study past successes and failures to determine what works and what does not in the African context.

Wisepill, established in 2007, is one of African health tech’s earliest success stories. The South African company developed a storage container that alerts users via their mobile device when they

Published by Business24 Ltd. Nii Asoyii Street, Mempeasem East Legon-Accra, Ghana.

forget to take their medication.

It also notifies doctors or researchers when a pill is taken.

Multiple studies in South Africa and Uganda showed that Wisepill improved rates of adherence to medication regimens to more than 90%.

Wisepill succeeded because it stayed focused on the problem it wanted to solve. The story of Meditell, a Nigerian healthtech start-up that also hoped to improve medication compliance, is a more cautionary tale.

Meditell’s founders developed software that would send text messages from hospitals to patients to remind them to take their medicine. To attract interest in the product, the founders engaged in complex negotiations with insurance systems and pharmaceutical companies.

As Meditell tried to modify its product to meet demands from these potential clients, it moved further away from its initial goal and ultimately failed.

But it is possible for African health-tech firms to scale up if they start small, grow slowly, and respond to the clients they have. District Health Information Software (DHIS), which manages health data, began recording patient information on its platform in three small districts in South Africa. As interest in the platform grew, DHIS programmers worked to expand its features and Tel: 030 296 5297 | 030 296 5315 Editor: Benson Afful editor@business24.com.gh +233 545 516 133

improve its usability in different contexts. Today, the platform has been adopted in 73 countries.

African health-tech entrepreneurs have demonstrated an impressive talent for making the most of the resources available to them. Internet connectivity was not widespread in the mid2000s, when the founders of Frontline SMS wanted to improve communication between community health workers and hospital staff. Adapting to infrastructure constraints, they developed a program to pass information via simple textmessage technology, which also could be used to send images of blood samples taken with a basic camera phone, thereby allowing patients to be diagnosed without going to a clinic.

Less than a generation later, those constraints on African health-tech firms are rapidly disappearing. Today, Africa has one of the world’s fastest-growing mobile- and internet-penetration rates. And the response to COVID-19 has spurred innovation – and investment – in the sector.

Health tech in Africa attracted more funding in 2020 than ever before.

African health-tech start-ups can grow quickly because the continent’s health-care systems often face similar challenges. A project that is successful in one country can easily be replicated business24.com.gh

in many more. For example, the telehealth pioneer mPharma, founded in Ghana, recently received funding to set up 100 virtual clinics in seven new markets.

To encourage this kind of innovation and growth, African governments must develop and sustain policies that encourage health-tech innovation. Above all, that means providing developers with the clear rules and stable operating environment they need to attract “patient” capital. And health ministries should use their platforms to amplify the work that is being done.

For their part, start-up founders must identify gaps and shortcomings that can be solved with new technologies. And to attract users and the support of governments, African health-tech firms inevitably must focus on solutions that make health tech accessible and affordable, and continually work to improve the benefits to users.

The future of health care in Africa depends on innovation.

The adoption of new technology can create opportunities to improve health literacy and access to care for all Africans.

The pandemic was a catalyst for growth in health tech on the continent. Now entrepreneurs and government must sustain the momentum.