Buisness24 Newspaper, Sept. 14, 2020

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NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

Moody’s sees improved outlook for E&P sector earnings

BY BENSON AFFUL AFFULBENSON@GMAIL.COM

Ratings agency Moody’s says the outlook for the global oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) sector has been changed from negative to stable, with earnings set to recover slowly into 2021.

Moody’s said industry earnings are expected to slowly rise over the next 12 to 18 months on the back of slightly higher oil prices, while natural gas producers will continue to benefit from the reduced supply.

See Page 2 More

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

‘No payment, no entry’ comes into effect Tuesday

BY NII ANNERQUAYE ABBEY

C

ommercial banks deferred a little over GH¢3bn in loan repayments for customers as they battled the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ghana Bankers Association has said.

The Deputy Chief Executive of the Association, John Awuah, in remarks captured in the PwC 2020 Ghana Banking Survey report, said the banks had to go to the aid of customers who had been negatively impacted by the pandemic.

“A total of over GH¢3bn which should have been received by banks as loan repayments between March and June 2020 was not received as a result of the restructuring and reprofiling of loans to customers,” Mr. Awuah said.

Commenting on loans disbursed during the period, the Deputy CEO stated that an amount of GH¢3.6bn was approved and disbursed to customers, whereas GH¢1.1bn of drawdowns was allowed on existing legacy committed lines and GH¢2bn of new lines committed and made available during this uncertain period.

While Mr. Awuah praised banks’ response to the pandemic, he argued that the regulator could have engaged banks on some of the decisions introduced at the onset of the virus.

“The banking industry has kept faith with the regulator and the central government in ensuring the economy at large sails through this pandemic with minimal negative impact. We continue to engage our stakeholders for more guidelines and clarity on some of the already announced initiatives so that the desired outcomes are achieved and the economybrought back on track.”

Passengers travelling to Ghana will from Tuesday, September 15 be required to pay online for the mandatory COVID-19 test at Kotoka International Airport prior to boarding of their flight, a directive by Frontier HealthCare— the company in-charge of the antigen test at the KIA—circulated to all airlines on Friday has revealed.

By the new directive, “Passengers are required to show proof of payment to airlines as a condition for boarding of flights to KIA.” More See Page 2

More See Page 2

INTERNATIONAL MARKET

ECONOMIC INDICATORS *EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

Business24 Limited.

Copyright @ 2020 All Rights Reserved.

Tel: +233 030 296 5297 Editor@thebusiness24online.net

BY DOMINICK ANDOH KOFI.PRA@GMAIL.COM

USD$1 =GHC 5.6734*

BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL

*POLICY RATE

14.5%*

NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS

GHANA REFERENCE RATE

15.12%

GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

11.4 % OF GDP

PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

0.9% GHc 5.13*

CORN $/BUSHEL

43.22 1.79 1,842.40 329.50

COCOA $/METRIC TON

1,562.00

COFFEE $/POUND:

$109.65

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2

Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS/EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

Pay before boarding order needs a rethink 1

Wash your hands 2

Cover your cough 3

The new directive for all passengers to pay for their COVID-19 test online before their arrival at Kotoka International Airport has been meet with resentment by airlines and passengers.

At a time when passengers are still coming to terms with the US$150 (GHC 900) mandatory payment for COVID-19 test upon arrival at KIA, the new directive has generated more debate.

Passengers travelling to Ghana will from Tuesday, September 15 be required to make online payments for the mandatory COVID-19 test at Kotoka International Airport prior to boarding of their flight, a directive by Frontier HealthCare— the company contracted to carry out the antigen test at KIA--to all airlines on Friday has revealed.

By the new directive, “Passengers are required to show proof of payment to airlines as a condition for boarding of flights to KIA.”

The new directive, has however, been described by airlines as detrimental to the renewed efforts to stimulate demand for air travel, given that cash payments remains the predominant mode of payment for most Ghanaian travelers.

An airline operator who wishes to remain anonymous, told Business24 that “The cost is already too high and now this new policy is also going to be implemented.

There are hundreds of Ghanaian traders who travel to buy goods to retail in the country.

“Most of them don’t carry any electronic payment cards to be able to pay online. They should have the flexibility to pay cash when they arrive.”

The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has also raised critical questions about the relatively high cost of the country’s COVID-19 testing regime.

The CPA’s Chief Executive Officer, Kofi Kapito, said in as much as the government want to curb imported cases of the respiratory disease, it must not burden the passenger but charge what is enough to cover their cost and not to profit from the passenger.

“Look around Africa and you see that what is paid in Ghana for the test is the highest. Why should that be?”

He also raised questions about why the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research of the University of Ghana, was not made to handle the testing for a reasonable fee but rather a contract given to a foreign company to do what Noguchi could adequately handle.

Business24 would like to urge a flexible approach that allows passengers to either pay online or cash on arrival.

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CONTINUED FROM COVER

Mr. Awuah’s remarks were reinforced by majority of the top bank executives who responded to the survey. The respondents advised the Bank of Ghana to increase stakeholder consultation in order to propose more beneficial policies.

This, they said, will help estimate the timelines and extent to which the policies of the regulator will remain available. Some respondents simply thought that there was the need for detailed guidelines from the government and Bank of Ghana on the implementation of measures put in place to curb the impact of the pandemic.

In their view, clear guidance was missing, and though this could be shared during stakeholder consultation, they could not fully embed the new policies in operational strategy without a detailed documented directive.

Post-pandemic banking When asked by the audit firm about how the pandemic’s outbreak

had transformed their operations, the bank chiefs responded that the immediate response was to enforce remote working while realigning workers’ roles.

While the majority, 69 percent, of respondents indicated that remote working will become a permanent option going forward, there was general consensus that the new norm will ultimately lead to the shedding of workers whose jobs have become automated.

“Most banks intend to permanently incorporate remote working as an option available to staff based on their roles. 12.5% of banks confirmed that they have already begun and will continue to realign the job roles and work team structures to the new way of working in order to maximise efficiencies of digital banking, and ensure less-paper operations and requirements for social distancing.

In the long run, these measures may result in possible layoffs for some whose jobs become automated,” the report said.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, which was on the theme “The new normal: banks’ response to COVID-19”, PwC’s Country Senior Partner, Vish Ashiagbor, cautioned that for workers that survive the digital progression, they have to upgrade their skills to remain relevant.

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Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS

3

Moody’s sees improved outlook for E&P sector earnings

BY BENSON AFFUL AFFULBENSON@GMAIL.COM

“We expect E&P sector earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to rise by about 5 percent between mid2020 and mid-2021 as oil prices stabilise around US$40 per barrel.

“Factors including lower operating costs and oilfield services expenses, modest hedge protection, and easier access to midstream infrastructure will partially support margins through at least the middle of next year,” Sajjad Alam, a Moody’s VP-Senior Analyst, said.

According to Alam, E&P firms have slashed capital spending much more quickly in 2020 than they did during the 2015-16 downturn.

The ratings agency said spending is down 40-50 percent this year, and absent higher oil prices, spending will continue at these low levels in 2021.

It said lower spending will lead to flat volume growth in 2021.

Firms that suspended dividends and share buybacks in 2020 will likely use any excess cash flow to maximise shareholder returns or pay down debt, before increasing capital spending.

Meanwhile, Moody’s said constrained access to capital and looming debt maturities will remain the biggest hurdles for speculativegrade companies with high debt loads, limited hedging and tight liquidity.

“Default risk will remain high for weaker companies through 2021, with oil prices at US$45 per barrel or higher needed to sufficiently reduce elevated solvency risk,” it said.

Oil prices have risen and stabilised around US$40/barrel (bbl) since July 2020, after averaging US$30/ bbl during the second quarter of 2020.

Moody’s said its base case oil price assumption is an average price of US$40/bbl in 2021 for West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the North American benchmark crude, rising

towards a US$45-65/bbl mediumterm price band after that.

Benchmark Brent crude prices are expected to have a US$5 average premium over WTI prices through 2021.

“We expect natural gas prices

to remain range-bound between US$2-US$3/MMBtu through 2021, despite a strong rally in mid-2020.

Low oil prices will also hold prices for natural gas liquids well below 2019 levels, averaging about 35 percent of crude prices through 2021,” Moody’s said.

‘No payment, no entry’ comes into effect Tuesday

BY DOMINICK ANDOH KOFI.PRA@GMAIL.COM

Ghana on September 1, 2020 opened its air space for international flights and instituted a compulsory testing regime upon arrival for all international passengers at a cost of US$150 or flat rate of GH¢ 900 The new directive has, however, been described by airlines as detrimental to the renewed efforts to stimulate demand for air travel, given that cash payments remains the predominant mode of payment for most Ghanaian travelers.

An airline operator who wishes to remain anonymous, told Business24 that “The cost is already too high and now this new policy is also going to be implemented.

There are hundreds of Ghanaian traders who travel to buy goods to retail in the country.

“Most of them don’t carry any electronic payment cards to be able to pay online. They should have the flexibility to pay cash when they arrive.”

Consumer Protection Agency

questions cost of test Consumer-focused, Consumer Protection Agency CPA, has raised critical questions about the relatively high cost of the country’s COVID-19 testing regime.

The CPA’s Executive Director, Kofi Kapito, said in as much as the government want to curb imported cases of the respiratory disease, it must not burden passengers but charge what is enough to cover their cost and not to profit from the passenger.

“Look around Africa and you see that what is paid in Ghana for the

test is the highest. Why should that be?”

He also raised questions about why the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research of the University of Ghana, was not made to handle the testing for a reasonable fee but rather a contract given to a foreign company to do what Noguchi could adequately handle.

The testing regime By the country’s policy, all international arrivals, including those from the ECOWAS region, will be required to meet specific

health protocols before admission into Ghana An arriving passenger must not have symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, with body temperature not exceeding 38 degrees Celsius.

The passenger is also required to possess a negative PCR test result, done at most 72 hours before departure, from a certified lab in the country of departure.

Upon arrival, passengers who were unable to pay online will join a queue to pay US$150 for the COVID-19 test at the payment centre at the Upper Arrival section of Terminal 3, and then proceed to the sampling cubicle for their samples to be taken before descending to the main arrival hall.

At the arrival hall, passengers will be screened at one of the Port Health stations and results of their COVID-19 tests made known to them.

Arriving passengers who test negative will then proceed to immigration and onto baggage claim for their luggage and then exit the terminal. Positive cases will receive further clinical assessment and treatment.

Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS

5

71.5 million Euros secured for 12 new hospitals - President Government has secured 71.5 million Euros to construct and equip twelve 40-bed hospitals across the country, President Akufo-Addo Sunday disclosed.

The funding for the construction of the hospitals, which would incorporate associated staff accommodation facilities for hospital workers, was sourced from Erste Group Bank AG and Česká Spořitelna a.s.

At a ceremony to cut the sod for the construction of the Mim Community Hospital in the Asunafo North Municipality in the Ahafo Region, the President said the construction of the 12 hospitals would guarantee access to healthcare for all Ghanaians, through improving existing healthcare facilities, and

new ones in places where none exist in the country.

The beneficiary communities, including Mim, are Jumapo, Kwabeng, Nkwatia, Achiase and Adukrom in the Eastern Region; Suame, Drobonso, Sabronum, Manso Nkwanta, Twedie in the Ashanti Region and; Kpone Katamanso in the Greater Accra Region.

The projects, to be undertaken

by VAMED Engineering GmbH of Austria, a global leader in the construction of healthcare facilities, are expected to be completed in 24 months.

President Akufo-Addo indicated that the commencement of the projects was a further evidence of Government’s commitment to achieving the 2030 United Nations

Sustainable Development Goals, and Universal Health Coverage for all Ghanaians.

He emphasized that bringing primary health care services to the doorstep of communities and individuals remained a priority agenda of his administration that would be sustained beyond 2020.

“These health infrastructures represent great assets for our nation, and will help reduce maternal and child health morbidity and mortality,” he stated.

Upon completion, the Mim Community hospital will be fitted with staff offices; outpatient department and a public health wing; surgical suite consisting of a theatre, recovery ward, and a sterilisation unit; delivery unit and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU);

laboratory, pharmacy and x-ray; 30-bed ward for males, females and pediatrics; services block containing the laundry, stores and a cold room; and staff accommodation.

Other components of the project package include supply and installation of medical equipment; 1-year post completion warranty and maintenance; and a training component for staff.

President Akufo-Addo urged the contactor to deliver the project on time and on budget and to employ local labour during construction.

He assured the chiefs and people of Mim that the construction of the hospital project is a sign of greater things to come for the town.GNA

Implementation of Act 992 would boost corporate governance Registrar-General She said these strict requirements in the new Companies Act, 2019, (Act 992) would effectively eliminate the trend where some Companies existed only on paper.

The law will promote the visibility of companies and transparency in the corporate circle.

Mrs Oware told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra that under Act 992, a person appointed as a Director of a company shall before the appointment, submit to the Company a Statutory Declaration.

The Statutory Declaration requires that the Director in question has not within the preceding five years before the application been charged or convicted of a criminal offence involving fraud or dishonesty.

Again, the Director should not have been charged with or convicted of a criminal offence relating to the promotion, incorporation or management of a company; or has been a Director or Senior Manager of a company that has become insolvent.

“The Act further states that if even the director has done any of the above, he or she must state the date of the insolvency and the particular company,” she added.

She said a Director would have to give consent to be a director and file the consent within 28 days with the Registrar at incorporation.

This is to show that the directors have expressly given permission for their data to be put into the system as Directors of the said company.

Mrs Oware explained that in the case of employing a Company Secretary, the Act states that such a Secretary must have obtained a professional qualification or a Tertiary level qualification.

The qualification must enable him or her to have the requisite knowledge and experience to perform the functions of a Company Secretary, or must have held office before the appointment as a Company Secretary trainee or been articled under the supervision of a qualified Company Secretary for at least three years.

“The Secretary must also be a member in good standing of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators; or the Institute of Chartered Accountants; or a barrister or Solicitor in good standing.

“He or she must also by virtue of an academic qualification, or as a member of a professional body, appears to the directors as capable of performing the functions as the secretary of the company.

“It is also no longer going to be business as usual where people pick already prepared Auditors Letters of Consent placed at vantage points in the Department and use,” she added.

Mrs Oware said under Act 992, a company must have an Auditor who is qualified and licensed in accordance with the Chartered Accountants Act, 1963(Act 170); and not disqualified for being an officer of the company or of an associated company.

A novel provision in this Act 992 is that an Auditor shall now hold office for a term of not more than six years and be eligible for re-appointment after a cooling period of not less than six years, the Registrar-General noted.

“These Officers of the Company must swear on their own oath that they are indeed qualified to be Directors, Secretaries or Auditors of the Company.

All officers must also be 18 years and above,” she said.

Mrs Oware noted that another novelty in Act 992 since the age of majority is no more 21 years, but 18 years.

She said the current system would accept a mandatory digital address downloaded from the Ghana Post Application for the stated Principal place of business and Registered Place of Business as well as a valid email address

otherwise the address would be rejected and the application not processed.

She disclosed that every company in Ghana would now have suffixes attached to their Company names to immediately indicate which kind of entity the company name fell under.

“New companies that would be registered from October would be ascribed with the following suffixes; Private Company Limited by Shares would take Limited Company or LTD; Private Unlimited Liability Company would have PRUC; and Public Limited Company would end with PLC. “Public Unlimited Liability Company would go with PUC; Companies Limited by Guarantee would have the suffix LBG and Public Company Limited by Guarantee would have PLBG,” she said.

She said the Department would announce a period within which all existing companies would have to comply by passing special resolutions at their various Boards to change their names by attaching these different suffixes to their company names depending on which type of Company the name fell under.

She said a periodic statement would be released at intervals and in time for all clients and customers to be abreast with all the changes of the Companies Act, 2019, Act 992 as and when they would be deployed by the developers of the E-Registrar software.GNA

Monday September 14, 2020

FEATURE

7

The Female Workplace Revolution:

IS STILL A WORK IN PROCESS, BUT PROGRESS CONTINUES TO BE MADE!

BY BUSINESS FOR BREAKFAST

T

he power of women in business is undeniable.

Companies with a large proportion of women in senior roles anecdotally tend to be the most successful, and insolvency practitioners KSA Group Limited have conducted research that found businesses with female owners are less likely to go bust.

Yet gender inequality is still a problem when it comes to filling leadership positions.

That said, things are improving, says Chris Stappard, the Managing Director at Newcastle based Edward Reed Recruitment-UK, who contacted BforB to share his thoughts about promoting opportunities for female candidates around the world. We thought we would, in turn, share his observations with our members and guests.

Chris tells us, for example, that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of International Women’s Day had revealed that • Businesses now have women in senior positions that before – an increase in the previous year.

• And the proportion of female senior management teams keeps increasing consistently Chris said there is always more that companies could be doing to make senior positions more attractive for female applicants.

He tells us: “First of all, make your job adverts more female friendly.

“Without knowing it, the job

adverts you’re putting out – the image and presentation of the company marketing materials – might be deterring women from applying for your vacancies. So, it’s important that you’re putting plenty of thought into every aspect of these, from how they look to the language used.

“For example, if your job ads include images, do you always make sure female interaction or involvement is shown in marketing literature? It might seem like a small thing but, if a woman looks at an advert and sees someone just like them reflected back, they’ll be more likely to engage with it. And, on the other hand, if a company image shows only a group of men in suits, it would surely signal the wrong intent, and convince a potential female applicant that the role isn’t for them.

“It’s also a good idea, initially, to focus on the core competencies an applicant needs to have. “ “We’ve all heard the Hewlett Packard statistic that men apply for a job when they only meet 60 per cent of the requirements, while women will only apply when they meet a hundred per cent of them.

“So, you can make this less of a problem by giving potential applicants less points to check off the list – of course, you’ll still want to give plenty of information, so you only receive enquiries from high-quality candidates. But, by outlining only the most important requirements in the job description, you’ll be far more likely to attract more women.

“My second piece of advice is to

use skill-based assessments at the recruitment stage.

“When you’re focusing on hiring more women — and especially when you want more female candidates to apply for senior positions — experts recommend using skill-based assessments, rather than just relying on interviews to give you an idea of who’s going to be best for the job.

“This is because some women often underestimate their abilities when they’re talking about themselves, which might give the impression that they won’t be able to complete certain tasks you put in front of them.

“Previously women were primary carers when it came to their children and senior relatives; the revolution of encouraging women to apply for the top roles, become entrepreneurs, and break the ceiling, are still only at the infancy stage, and the chances are, that many talented candidates are still missing out. Flexible working plans can entice them to commit to a long-term plan of working with a firm.

“This is why it’s often recommended that, when you’re looking to make your workforce more diverse, you offer flexible working to give everyone a healthier and more productive work-life balance.

If a potential candidate feels like a job ad is speaking to them, are confident that they’ll be able to shine in the interview process, and have peace of mind about being able to fully commit to their job, and what is expected, then the making of a successful match is set.

Business for Breakfast (BforB) is internationally recognised for creating successful networking meetings, events and training for referral marketing. Our global offices are in Australia, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, Slovakia, Ghana and headquartered in UK. We create an environment where you can build quality relationships within your group, backed up by an ongoing member support programme. BforB is committed to helping small to medium scale businesses expand. In our professional network, members meet regularly in business networks to develop relationships, support each other and to share and record referral business.

We are here to help you get new business from quality business introductions and referrals made through our meetings.

Contact us: 059 4 016 432 | info@bforbgh.com | Facebook & LinkedIn: @ bforbghana | www.bforb. co.uk

Monday September 14, 2020

FEATURE

9

What can Africa contribute to the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

By Prof Martin Butler

T

he science fiction writer William Gibson remarked that “the future is already here – it is just not evenly distributed”.

This is certainly true for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The First Industrial Revolution explains this perfectly. Even though certain communities and, to an extent, certain countries across the world did not know about the existence of the steam engine and industrialisation in Britain 250 years ago, it transformed the lives of thousands and then millions as it spread globally. That which was unique to parts of Britain in 1770, was well recognised and part of the new normal in 1860 in the developed world.

Fast forward to the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) and some of the most innovative uses of mobile technologies take place on the African continent. Mobile money is one area where we lead the world in using technologies intrinsic to the TIR. When the World Bank needed the skills to head up mobile payments, they recruited a South African that cut his teeth in Kenya.

Although steam and railways (First Industrial Revolution), mechanisation (Second Industrial Revolution), and computing and automation (TIR) shaped the African content, we remained primarily consumers of the technologies developed in other places. Africa either adapted or implemented the technology owned by global organisations or continue to purchase the products and artefacts.

For example, we do not design vehicles or mobile phones at a mass scale. Still, we will create factories to manufacture under licencing, or purchase the products arriving in our harbours.

Three of the industries bucking the trend are telecommunications, financial services and agriculture.

Some companies and products in these industries are entirely homegrown, and large organisations that are significant players in

Although Africa will not necessarily produce the hardware and software at the centre of the 4IR, we can make a significant contribution towards long-term value from the 4IR by forming part of the critical conversations and implementations and reskilling of the workforce.

Prof Martin Butler is Head of Teaching and Learning at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) in Cape Town, South Africa. He is also a Research Associate at the Institute for Futures Research (IFR). He holds an Electronic Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria, and an MBA (Cum Laude) and PhD from USB. Butler was the presenter at a USB Alumni Webinar facilitated by the Ghana Chapter of the USB Alumni Association on Friday, 28 August 2020, where he addressed the above topic

these industries have partially transformed the image of the lagging continent as African innovations and role players are starting to shape the transactional environment.

The 4IR, often confused with the third that is all about computers and automation, is blurring the line between the physical and the digital.

The omnipresence of technology, as well as significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, is transforming the work that can be performed by, and how we interact with, technology. This cyber-physical world is different from automation in many respects.

This transformation challenges the essence of humanity, our values and beliefs, and most importantly, how systems react in certain situations. Products of the TIR, like drones and computers, responded to inputs from their human masters.

Products of the 4IR, like self-driving cars and autonomous weapons systems, react based on their ability to make sense of their environments by using complex logic that continues to evolve. However, at the core of their reactions is complex patterns devised by humans, or at least the methods in which this complex logic evolves.

I do not think African companies will become global role-players in developing automated vehicles or autonomous weapons systems. I do believe that we could, and should, play an essential part in the complex ecosystems that allow this blurring of the physical and the digital. Africa can contribute to the 4IR not by resisting the inevitable distribution of the future brought by the 4IR,

but by actively seeking to address some of the biggest remaining problems to ensure universal value for all industries, communities, and citizens of her countries.

Facial recognition systems that dispatch a drone to arrest a criminal on Interpol’s most-wanted list, must not embed past biases in the recognition and decision-making process. Autonomous vehicle and weapons systems must have access to ethical frameworks and moral judgements to make the correct decisions. Capacity development initiatives for humans working shoulder-to-mechanical-shoulder with automated manufacturing lines, or with AI algorithms in financial services, must have the capacity to do so.

The question is often asked about the destruction of employment in the face of automation and the 4IR in particular. Our research indicates that total employment is not reduced; it just shifts as the economy restructures. Rather than asking about the number of workers that will be displaced by technologies, we need to ask how we capacitate our workers to exploit the many new opportunities created by the 4IR. Why can we not be proactive and lead the world in devising methods and models to reskill our workforce for the newly structured economy?

Yes, Africa will not necessarily create the artefacts or entire ecosystems of the 4IR. Still, I think we have a critical role to play in contributing to the reasoning and algorithms embedded in the systems. We also have an important contribution to make in defining and setting examples of building human capacities to exploit and use the new world unlocked by these systems.

Business, in essence, remains relatively simple: create value for customers through the execution of operations. As new customer value is created, and operations are transformed by investments in 4IR technologies, we need to become part of the conversation about creating equitable value for all customers and providing skilled resources to execute operations that deliver the required value.

Although Africa will not necessarily produce the hardware and software at the centre of the 4IR, we can make a significant contribution towards long-term value from the 4IR by forming part of the critical conversations and implementations and reskilling of the workforce.

10

Monday September 14, 2020

FEATURE

High-potential pathways for productive jobs Creating decent jobs in line with future expectations requires policies and strategies that increase productivity, absorb labor, and enable workers to move from traditional to modern jobs and sectors. What areas offer the most potential for better jobs in Africa?

By Africa Centre for Economic Transformation

O

n average, close to 80 percent of total employment across Africa is in the informal economy, which is generally defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as activities that are not covered by formal arrangements.

This consists of a wide range of jobs, from a home-based worker such as a seamstress to a street vendor to independent, self-employed smallscale producers and distributors of goods and services.

There are numerous drawbacks to such a high reliance on informal economies. Informal work can be unsafe and unhealthy, but even in good circumstances a worker’s employment status can be insecure, and productivity and incomes are often low. Furthermore, workers

often lack access to productive resources such as finance and land, which combined with low skills, confines them to jobs with less potential for higher earnings and improved wellbeing.

On the macro level, an overreliance on informal employment can stunt economic transformation. Creating jobs in the formal sector is important, but even with extraordinary job growth it would only generate a relatively small number of jobs for Africa’s growing workforce. Most new entrants to the labor market, particularly the less skilled, will need to create their own livelihoods in the informal sector in the foreseeable future.

Therefore, the bigger challenge facing governments is not only how to create more productive

jobs but also how to improve the productivity of the 80 percent of the workforce in informal employment. This will require addressing the competency and skills challenges in the workforce (supply side) as well as constraints in the business environment (demand side) to creating more productive opportunities.

However, countries face several global and regional trends that complicate this challenge. Chief among them: population growth and rapid technological change.

An unparalleled opportunity As noted in Part 1 of this series, Africa has yet to experience the demographic transition that propelled rapid economic growth

in East Asia and other transformed regions. For example, in 2018 the average total fertility rate, which measures the average number of children per woman, in Africa was still 4.7; globally, the number was almost half that at 2.4.

A lower fertility rate means that the working age population increases while capital dilution is reduced, which also holds back structural changes in employment—the shift from low to high productivity work, or informal to formal sector jobs. A one percentage point increase in growth of the working age population rate results in a 1.4 percent increase in GDP per capita.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will have to create productive jobs at an average of about 20 million each year until 2035—a fast pace to

High-potential pathways for productive jobs

Monday September 14, 2020

absorb new entrants into the labor force, especially given the rapid evolution in technologies that are changing the nature of work.

The ultimate impact of these advancements, often called the 4th Industrial Revolution, or 4IR, on Africa’s labor market is not yet known, but ample research exists to provide a general understanding. For example, previously pessimistic reports of catastrophic job loss to automation have been revised downward in recent years.

McKinsey’s latest estimates suggest automation may have a smaller impact in African countries than in advanced countries: 5 percent of work activities could be displaced in Kenya, 8 percent in Nigeria, and 13 percent in South Africa.

Rather than sizable job loss, structural adjustments to new technologies may pose the greatest challenge to countries trying to harness their workforce through more productive—and less informal—employment.

But this also presents unparalleled opportunity to help transform African economies and unleash new opportunities.

Within a decade, the region’s working age population is expected to reach 600 million, with a youth share of 37 percent, which will be even

larger than that of China. The key is ensuring the supportive infrastructure exists, including the right skills and access to technologies, as well as the right job creation strategies, to better enable Africa’s young workforce to move from lower productivity work to higher productivity work.

Five high-potential pathways Creating decent jobs in line with future expectations requires policies and strategies that increase productivity, absorb labor, and enable workers to move from traditional to modern jobs and sectors. As such, five potential pathways with high potential for job creation can be identified: (1) agriculture-driven transformation, (2) exportsoriented manufacturing, (3) a modernized services sector, (4) tourism, and (5) the creative industries.

stages of agricultural value chains. Precision agriculture can increase productivity at farm level using “big data” and autonomous vehicles to optimize application of inputs, while technology platforms can help develop new business models particularly amenable to increased youth participation.

Examples include enabling farmers to “buy” mechanization services by connecting them to service providers.

However, to create jobs and raise productivity in African agriculture, considerable attention needs to focus on land access. Policies and regulations must also create an enabling environment for the business of farming—and agribusiness in general—to be profitable; in particular strengthening market linkages for smallholder former to access markets at lower cost.

1.Agriculture-driven transformation

2. Export-oriented manufacturing

Increasing productivity and output in a modern agricultural sector would sustain agro-processing and a host of services upstream and downstream from farms, creating jobs and boosting incomes across country economies. For example, rising incomes, urbanization, and growing food consumption in cities provide enormous opportunities for agribusiness.

The World Bank projects the value of food and beverage markets in SSA will grow from $313 billion in 2010 to $1 trillion by 2030. Expanding employment in off-farm activities and agriculturerelated manufacturing provides many productive jobs, including for workers leaving farms who are prone to end up unemployed or working informal jobs in cities or towns.

A more productive agriculture sector will attract more young people, rejuvenating a sector dominated by aging farmers.

Attracting youth into agriculture is particularly important given that rapid urbanization is putting pressure on already stretched resources in cities and leaving rural areas with skills gaps. In addition, a modernized farm system can also attract young people to become service providers to the sector and spur a vibrant fabrication sector.

The impact of 4IR-related job losses should be minimal in this sector, which is likely to be energized by technology innovations that upgrade all

Export- oriented manufacturing not only can be labor intensive, it can spur productivity gains throughout the economy as exporters compete with foreign firms and adopt foreign products, processes, and technologies.

Africa’s expanding middle class and regional markets, as well as relocation of manufacturing out of other regions, should create new opportunities.

However, the prospect of Asian manufacturing moving to Africa as labor costs rise in Asia—a long held belief as a driver of transformation—is gradually fading or is at best a very problematic job creation strategy. Additionally, new products emerging from 4IR require advanced digitization infrastructure and skilled labor along the whole value chain—areas in which African countries are lacking. Yet, there are numerous sub-sectors on which African countries can focus that are less automated: construction, food processing, wood processing, garments, and leather production, among others. These areas leverage African advantages in labor, land, and natural resources and also offer opportunities for labor-intensive, marketfocused local manufacturing— particularly goods traded regionally.

With the right policies and strategies, however, mastering traditional manufacturing makes it easier to jump into more complex digitized manufacturing.

Examples include prudent

11

macroeconomic policy, streamlined regulation, and reduced trade costs to help export-orientated businesses get established and grow.

Access to finance is key, particularly for smaller and younger firms that are reliable sources of innovation and productivity growth.

More integrated regional markets would also greatly improve the chances of attracting foreign investment, particularly for smaller countries.

The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, when fully implemented, should play an important role here, not only in facilitating the movement of goods but also people—and thus, jobs.

3. A modernized services sector Although highly informal, services is the fastest growing sector in terms of job creation and value added to GDP in most African economies, forecast to increase by 3.8 percent on average each year until 2030. It is also, perhaps, the sector that would benefit most from 4IR due to the potential for more jobs.

While there are no reliable estimates of the job-creation potential of the sector, the key is to improve productivity, particularly in its large informal sub-sector.

For example, the information and communications technology (ICT) sub-sector is relatively small and highly- skilled, accounting for around 1 percent of the workforce in developing countries. But indirectly, ICT will be a powerful force for job creation and productivity as inputs into businesses— consider 3D-printing, software development, or mobile systems for payments and orders.

The Kenya-based company M-Pesa is now the biggest money transfer system in the world. The M-Pesa platform allows people to pay for all kinds of services and is rapidly formalizing the informal sector by bringing many transactions online.

Mobile phones have also brought banking, insurance, and other financial services to many previously excluded people, particularly women and youth.

These modern services, which are being driven by new technologies, share many characteristics with manufacturing: they are tradable, have higher CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

High-potential pathways for productive jobs

Monday September 14, 2020

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

productivity, can absorb large numbers of moderately skilled workers, and benefit from economies of scale. Thus, in addition to the focus on light manufacturing, which has traditionally been at the core of most African countries’ industrial policies, increased attention should be given to new service industries being spawned by 4IR innovation.

In this context, targeted reforms and interventions, particularly skills development, will be crucial to becoming globally competitive.

4. Tourism Tourism is one of the assured pathways to economic transformation due to its capacity to generate jobs and create linkages with other sub-sectors. One World Bank study found that a $250,000 investment in the tourism sector in Zambia produced 182 full-time formal jobs—nearly 40 percent more than the same investment in agriculture. Including jobs supported indirectly by the tourism industry, the sector’s total employment contribution is expected to grow by more than 40 percent between 2018 and 2028.

Tourism is an important source of jobs in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, but very much under-developed in many countries in Africa despite the wide variety of cultural and leisure attractions. But the sector is already benefiting from technological innovations that are expanding job opportunities.

Virtual reality tools are boosting marketing efforts by allowing

people to “sample” destinations.

New sharing platforms such as Airbnb are broadening travel markets, particularly among young people. And big data and social media provide opportunities for micro-targeting and marketing tourism at the individual level.

All African countries are at different stages of development, requiring different solutions for supporting tourism. But there are few areas all countries should consider in developing a policy package to generate jobs, including: easy and safe access for tourists; adequate and transparent procedures for allocating land; innovative infrastructure solutions, such as renewable energy; and getting taxes right to maximize the economic benefits of tourism.

5. Creative Economies Creative economies represent one of the more resilient and fastest growing sectors in Africa.

Only recently recognized as a bona fide economic sector, it covers all arts and crafts and their product outputs, as well as sports, leisure parks, gaming software, culinary arts, and even creative endeavors that happen in traditional organizations, such research and development. The sector is huge; UN research has pegged its global value in excess of $2.2 trillion.

However, Africa’s share remains small despite significant cultural and artistic resources, due in part to limited supply capacity, obsolete policies, and regulations and under-investment, particularly in infrastructure. Nevertheless, the potential in Africa is immense. In Nigeria, the movie industry is now

the second biggest employer after agriculture, employing close to 300,000 people directly and over 1 million indirectly.

Research shows that when the creative and media industries join with digital technology, they become an essential source of jobs for the whole economy. Developing Africa’s creative economy could trigger a value chain between artists, entrepreneurs, distributors, and support services across multiple sectors to provide more modern jobs, especially for youth and women.

Governments can support creative industries through measures that define and enforce property rights, invest in necessary infrastructure— including technology—and support innovative and effective financial services in partnership with the private sector.

The youth employment challenge Each year, 10-12 million youths, many educated, enter the workforce, yet only 3 million formal jobs are created. As a result, young graduates either face low earnings in the informal sector and underemployment, especially in rural areas, or for those who can afford it, a typically protracted period of job search.

Creating enough productive and fulfilling jobs in Africa will rely on transforming economies.

Governments will also need to work in close collaboration with the private sector, as it is entrepreneurial firms, both large and small that will spearhead the creation of employment and

13

the production and distribution of goods and services that drive transformation.

However, the relatively small size of the formal sector means limited job opportunities for the influx of youth entering the workforce.

Many will end up in the informal sector, but again opportunity can be seized. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), 1 in 5 members of Africa’s workingage population start their own businesses—the highest rate in the world.

Transformation strategies should include policies to encourage entrepreneurs and boost their productivity, particularly in sectors that align with countries’ comparative advantages. The AfDB recommends such policies follow all the development phases of a business, from seed to expansion and be based on country-specific context. That’s not to suggest informal employment should be the goal of job creation strategies, but it must be addressed alongside efforts to increase productive employment.

Given the slow pace of Africa’s demographic transition, the move from lower productivity work to higher productivity work is likely to lag behind other aspects of transforming economies.

Governments can help accelerate the process by targeting highpotential pathways for productive jobs, such as the five profiled in this article, and by ensuring youth populations are equipped with the foundational knowledge and skills they need, which is the subject of the next part of this series.

Monday September 14, 2020

FEATURE

15

Solidaridad supports businesses to access finance for COVID-19 resilience

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has affected all facets of life including the health sector, academia, businesses, and the general socio-economic development of many nations.

Businesses, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the cocoa sector, that provide critical services to smallholder farmers in Ghana have not been left out of the spoils of the pandemic at all.

However, these small businesses, when provided with the needed support, can play a vital role in improving the livelihoods of farmers through yield enhancements and market linkages.

Access to timely and affordable finance is, therefore, essential to fuel the growth of these enterprises during this pandemic.

Preparing SMEs for investment It is, therefore, welcoming that Solidaridad, the international development organisation, through its Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme (CORIP), funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, has been building the capacities of participating SMEs to roll out service delivery models, referred to as rural service centres, to rural cocoa farmers.

Through an investment readiness support model, Solidaridad prepares these service centres for commercial funding to grow their businesses. The support involves giving the professional outlook needed to attract ‘impact investors,’ meaning investors who are not too profit-oriented but prioritises the growth of businesses through their financial support. An example is Acumen, a non-profit organisation with over 15 years’ experience in investing in social enterprises to SMEs. To achieve this, Solidaridad provides technical assistance to the SMEs in the area of business modelling, climate-smart cocoa production and entrepreneurship.

In addition it facilitates concessional financing for these enterprises to build service centres in rural communities, pay for labour, and procure the needed agro inputs, tools and equipment.

So far 20 SMEs including Emfed Farms and Trading Company Limited, a rural service centre operator based at Assin Fosu in the Central Region, have benefitted from the investment readiness support under the programme, which became possible through

Acumen.

Emfed currently provides agro inputs, labour and full farm management services to poor smallholder cocoa farmers in Assin Fosu and its surrounding communities on credit, thanks to the partnership with Acumen.

This is part of Solidaridad’s facilitation of access to finance for SMEs programme that have gone through the investment readiness support, in which Solidaridad engages impact investors to finance the growth phase of enterprises.

Acumen, therefore, comes in handy with its many years of experience in investing in social enterprises that serve low-income communities in developing countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

Established in 2012, the Emfed, through the Acumen partnership, joined the first phase of Solidaridad’s Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme (CORIP I) in 2015 as a rural service centre operator to prove the commercial viability of its business model. Having achieved this the company joined the second phase of the programme to benefit from its investment readiness support.

In 2018, Mr Kwabena Assan Mends, the Managing Director of Emfed Farms and Trading Company Limited, was supported

by Solidaridad to participate in the Acumen Fellowship, designed to build a pipeline of connected business leaders who challenge the status quo by inspiring their communities to build a future devoid of poverty. Today, he is an Acumen West Africa Fellow.

“Over the past five years,

Solidaridad has enhanced our knowledge in good agronomic practices and entrepreneurship through various capacity building training and also provided us with a grant to prove the business case for our service delivery model.

This puts us in a better position to deliver value to our farmers and our shareholders,” Mr Mends said.

He added that in December 2017 Solidaridad also supported Emfed Farms to put together the company’s board of directors and registered the business as a limited liability company. That, he said, made the business more attractive to impact investors.

Acumen supports Emfed Farms to build COVID-19 resilience

government’s announcement of an impending lockdown.

The low revenues, coupled with increases in the cost of production due largely to price gouging, affected the company’s cash flow generation capacity and profitability.

“Emfed Farms is excited to receive this timely intervention from Acumen Global Emergency Facility. This will help us continue to provide farm management services and inputs to our farmers on credit during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful to Solidaridad for providing us with the necessary support to apply for the funding,” he said.

Emfed Farms recently received US$ 46,810 from the Acumen Global Emergency Facility, a fund designed to assist enterprises serve their communities’ immediate needs during the pandemic and continue their long-term work of serving the poor and vulnerable after the crisis.

The funding was to help the company to continue engaging and providing services to poor cocoa farmers, maintain its core staff and farm hands, especially women, provide personal protective equipment for its workers, and disseminate COVID-19 safety messages to farmers and members of their communities.

Prior to receiving the funds Mr Mends said his company’s revenues had begun to decline because farmers were reluctant to procure services from the company for fear of contracting the virus. In addition, critical labour was in short supply following the

Improving access to finance is at the heart of Solidaridad’s work “For us at Solidaridad, we are happy that our collaboration with Emfed Farms and impact investors like Acumen over the last five years is showing the desired results. We believe that with the right partnerships our collective aim of lifting poor cocoa farmers in West Africa out of poverty would be achieved soon,” said Mr Hammond Mensah, Programme Manager of CORIP and Head of Access to Finance, Solidaridad West Africa.

To him, increasing access to finance for SMEs under the CORIP was in line with Solidaridad’s impact investment and innovative finance strategy, which seeks to develop inclusive financial models and create a support structure for SMEs and smallholders to thrive.

GNA

Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS

17

Indian High Commissioner lauds government over COVID-19 fight Mr. Sugandh Rajaram, Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, has lauded the government of Ghana for the successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, describing it as one of the best on the African continent and the world at large.

He said the success chalked by Ghana in handling the pandemic and its associated challenges was phenomenal and deserved commendation and that needed to be emulated by other African countries. “Case management by the doctors, social interventions and reliefs for the vulnerable, the stimulus package for businesses, coupled with the gradual opening of schools and now the opening of Airport being the first country to have opened its Port on the continent affirms it�, he stated.

Speaking at a media interaction as part of his first official visit, to the Western Region, Mr Rajaram urged the government to consider building the capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), provide startups and enhance agribusinesses for the swift recovery of the economy and food security.

He called on the government to focus on mitigating the immediate effects of the pandemic and support the important elements of the economy such as giving tax

rebates and stimulus packages to businesses.

Mr Rajaram noted that the African continent was the most resourceful in the world and therefore needed to build its human resource capacity since it had a lot of mineral resources, manpower, and arable lands.

Touching on the bilateral relations between the two countries, he said the Indian government had given a lot of scholarships to Ghanaians to study in India because they place a premium on infrastructural development and education.

He disclosed that close to 16,000 Indians live in Ghana playing their roles in the various sectors of the Ghanaian economy, while the Indian government gives 250 scholarships annually as exchange programmes to public institutions especially, in the environmental sector.

Mr Rajaram stated that the Indian government was focusing on making India a global business hub and providing a high quality of education at a lesser rate to people from all walks of life. He added that the Indian government was also trying to make India the center of the globe in terms of innovation, ICT, creative thinking, and artificial intelligence.GNA

Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS

Lufthansa Group pay €2.7billion in ticket refunds Airlines in the Lufthansa Group have so far reimbursed around 2.7 billion euros to a total of 6.3 million customers as of September 9, 2020.

In arithmetical terms, around 1800 refunds per hour were paid out last week. The justified claims received by Lufthansa in Germany by the end of June have already been settled. Only more complex cases requiring more intensive processing are still outstanding. These, too, will be completed in the near future.

The number of open ticket refunds fell to one million transactions. It should be noted that new reimbursement claims are constantly arising because flights have to be cancelled or guests cancel due to travel warnings. Lufthansa currently receives three times as many applications as before the pandemic.

Therefore, the number of open refund claims will continue to develop

dynamically, decrease further in the coming weeks, but will never reach zero.

Lufthansa Group Airlines is working continuously and intensively to further speed up the processing. To this end, they have initiated many different measures.

For example, the capacity of employees in the customer centers has been tripled, and in travel agency sales it has even quadrupled.

Numerous employees from other departments have been activated to provide support and have been released from short-time working in return.

Furthermore, customers can flexibly adjust their travel plans. All fares of Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines can be rebooked as often as desired without incurring charges. This applies worldwide to new bookings on short, medium and long-haul routes.

(Source: Lufthansa)

Emirates to resume flights to Casablanca starting Sept. 18 Emirates has announced it will resume passenger services to Casablanca, Morocco from 18 September. The resumption of flights takes Emirates’ African network to 14 destinations, as the airline safely and gradually restores its network on the continent and across the globe to meet the travel needs of its customers.

Flights to Casablanca will operate three times a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Emirates flight EK751 will depart Dubai at 0725hrs, arriving in Casablanca at 1245hrs. EK752 will depart Casablanca at 1445hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0115hrs the next day. Tickets can be booked on emirates.com, the Emirates App, Emirates

sales offices, via travel agents as well as online travel agents.

Customers planning to resume their travels can enjoy convenient connections via Dubai, and customers can stop over or travel to experience Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors.

Ensuring the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community, COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from. Passengers must meet all the entry requirements to Morocco to be allowed to travel.

19

British Airways boss warns airline ‘can only survive’ if airport testing is introduced instead of quarantine

British Airways boss has warned that the airline ‘can only survive’ if airport testing is introduced instead of a 14-day quarantine to encourage more Britons to fly again.

British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz has said the aviation industry is fighting ‘for its very survival’ after losing 95 per cent of flights during the coronavirus lockdown.

The airline is still only running at 30 per cent of capacity amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Cruz told the Telegraph: ‘These are the toughest times in the history of the aviation industry. British Airways can survive, but only if the Government will work with us, rather than against us.’

He has urged ministers to launch an immediate testing trial in place of the 14day quarantine passengers are currently subject to when arriving back in the UK from high-risk countries.

The BA boss wants to see testing quickly introduced on the critical London to New York air route, a bigger list of ‘regional travel corridors’ which include the US and air passenger duty waived for 12 months.

Mr Cruz said airport testing for Covid-19 is vital for lifting quarantine measures and opening travel and business links that have been ‘decimated, stifling economic growth’.

He added: ‘Thirty other countries have introduced airport testing to unlock the problem so, my question to Government is, why can’t we? Ministers must work with international partners to agree on a universal arrivals and departures testing process. Just as safety agreements are mutually recognised internationally, so should health standards.’

Mr Cruz criticised the Government for ‘sitting on its hands’ and delaying the go ahead for testing at Heathrow, where facilities have already been built and are ‘ready to go’.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has indicated his support for a two-

test approach, where passengers are swabbed on arrival in the UK and again five or eight days later.

Those who have negative test results would then be released from quarantine measures, reducing the restrictions from the current 14 days.

But no date has been set for the introduction of these plans, with more than 40 Conservative MPs urging Boris Johnson to introduce airport testing.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: ‘Aviation is in crisis and airlines and airports will go out of business if we cannot resume international travel.’

This comes soon after British Airways owner IAG announced earlier this week that it is cutting flights due to coronavirus travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.

Between October and December the group expects to operate 60 per cent less capacity than during the same period last year, compared with a previously planned reduction of 46 per cent.

The firm said it continues to expect it will take until at least 2023 for passenger demand to recover to 2019 levels. It is not yet clear which BA routes will be affected.

BA previously announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs and its competitors EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic are also slashing 4,500 roles.

Aviation bosses have said the government’s quarantine policy requiring people to isolate for 14 days after returning from high risk countries is also suppressing demand.

In a joint letter to the Prime Minister today, the chief executives of Britain’s carriers warn the UK is ‘falling well behind international rivals’ and say failure to re-open the skies will cost the economy £60billion.

Owner IAG added that since July there has been an ‘overall levelling off of bookings’, IAG said. (Dailymail.co.uk)

Monday September 14, 2020

FEATURE

21

How Akufo-Addo intends to address the housing deficit in his second term

BY ENOCH NYARKOH

O

ne of the longstanding socio-economic challenges of Ghana is the availability of affordable and decent housing for all citizens.

The Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa estimates in the 2019 Housing Finance Yearbook that Ghana has a housing deficit of more than 1.7 million housing units.

This is not far- removed from the projection of State Housing Company CEO Kwabena Ampofo Appiah that for every Ghanaian to own a house, the government will have to build two million houses.

This challenge is compounded by other factors such as land litigation, high cost of construction and demand for rent on medium to long term basis which places financial constraints on many tenants. The myriad of challenges have prompted the New Patriotic Party under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo to propose certain measures in their manifesto for the 2020 elections. The objective of these measures is to address the barriers to housing acquisition or rental in the country.

One key measure is the National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS).

The immediate goal of this scheme is to address the short to medium market failures in the renter segment of the housing market. Through this scheme, government will pay rent advance for individuals with verifiable sources of income directly to bank accounts of landlords. Individuals will then pay back the money to government on monthly basis.

It is expected that this intervention will take the rent advance load off the shoulders of many Ghanaians.

It will also ensure a predictable rental income for landlords.

Additionally, government will be able to track rental incomes and apply the appropriate taxes.

Over the years, government has not been able to keep track of landlordtenant transactions and thus lost out on tax revenues that

could accrue to the state. This new scheme will have a 360 effect for landlords, tenants and the state, contributing to the progress of the country.

Further, the NPP recognizes in their manifesto that Ghana’s housing deficit is “particularly acute for low income households.” The Party commits to building low-income houses over the next four years. They intend to make use of local materials and collaborating with the Building and Roads Research Institute (BBRI) as well as private developers. Land banks are already in place and the houses built are to be made available for rent, rent-to-own or outright purchase.

To drive the housing delivery agenda, the NPP plans to establish two new bodies.

First, the Ghana Housing Authority. This authority will

be responsible for improving the legal and regulatory framework, creating land banks, providing infrastructure and standardizing houses.

Second, the National Housing and Mortgage Finance Company will manage the Mortgage and Housing Fund set up in the 2020 budget, provide incentives to enable the private sector build communities’/ housing units, and create jobs in the process across in the country.

Under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, the NPP further intends to expand the capacity of the State Housing Company to lead government’s efforts alongside the private sector to build large pools of affordable houses for Ghanaian workers and families.

Meanwhile, the government is committed to completing all housing projects begun by

previous administrations in addition to the new projects initiated and yet to be initiated by the government.

Real Estates Investment Trusts (REITs) are going to be sponsored and promoted as vehicles for rent-to-own schemes, private sector mortgage finance companies and mortgage-backed securities. Also, the Mortgage Finance Act, 2008 (Act 770) is to be reviewed to simplify foreclosure processes. The Pensions Act will also be amended to allow pension funds to be able to invest more than 5% of their portfolio in real estate assets.

By implementing these measures, the AkufoAddo administration will significantly address the housing deficit over the next four years.

Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS

Uganda, Total reach agreement bringing crude pipeline construction closer Uganda and France’s Total have reached an agreement that will bring the oil firm and its partners closer to starting construction of a crude pipeline to neighbouring Tanzania, the company’s local unit said on Friday.

Uganda discovered crude oil reserves about 14 years ago but commercial production has been delayed partly because of a lack of infrastructure, such as an export pipeline.

The 1,445-km (900mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline, costing $3.5 billion, would pass through neighbouring Tanzania to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga.

Total said it had reached an agreement with Uganda protecting its rights and obligations in the pipeline’s construction and operation - known as the host government agreement.

“We have today reached major milestones which pave the way to the Final Investment Decision in the coming months,” Pierre Jessua, Managing Director of Total E&P Uganda, said in a statement.

“We now look forward to concluding a similar HGA (host government

agreement) with the Government of Tanzania and to completing the tendering process for all major engineering, procurement and construction contracts.”

Total said a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and its Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanné also agreed to conditions allowing Uganda National Oil Company to join the project.

Total is the major shareholder in Uganda’s oil fields after agreeing in April to buy Tullow Oil’s entire stake in jointly-held onshore fields in Uganda for $575 million.

Tullow said this week it was confident of finalising the sale in fourth quarter of this year.

The other partner in the 230,000 barrel-per-day project is China’s CNOOC. The government said last year once pipeline construction begins, it would take 2-1/2 to three years to complete.

Uganda discovered crude oil reserves estimated at 6 billion barrels in the Albertine rift basin near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.

23

South African bank profits seen taking years to recover from COVID-19 hit Coronavirus-related bad debts have set South African banks’ profits back by around a decade or more and they are unlikely to recover for at least three years, two top executives told Reuters, as the economy struggles with recession.

The country’s four biggest lenders have long battled to grow profits in a perennially weak home economy, but any gains were wiped out within a few months as the pandemic prompted massive charges for rising bad loans.

Half-year profits at Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, plunged to their lowest in eight years while FirstRand’s full-year headline earnings per share - the main profit measure in South Africa - fell to a seven-year low.

Nedbank’s half-year earnings plunged to 15-year lows while Absa’s were set even further back.

Alan Pullinger, FirstRand CEO, told Reuters earnings would likely be restored some time between 2023 and end-2024, though any estimates were subject to huge uncertainty.

“I’m not sure it’s going to be much sooner than that, and equally I would be disappointed if it’s much later than that,” he said.

The big four banks booked impairment charges worth around 58 billion rand ($3.5 billion), including actual losses on bad loans and provisions for possible future bad debts, according to Reuters calculations.

“Earnings restoration is probably three to four years out if we use the global financial crisis as a benchmark,” said the CEO of one of the other major lenders, who did not want to be named due to uncertainty around the health and economic outlooks.

GREAT UNKNOWN

Other banks declined to give estimates.

None of the lenders, whose share prices have plummeted on worries over their prospects, have publicly provided guidance on when earnings will recover to 2019 levels.

Some investors, however, said the banks remained good long-term bets.

While the pandemic will deal them a more serious blow than the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, when they got off relatively lightly, their capital levels are high and lending growth has been relatively conservative.

“The first-half was a write-off ... But they went into (the crisis) in a better position,” said Richard Cheesman, senior investment analyst at Protea Capital Management, a banking sector investor.

The most serious long-term drag they face now is the ailing economy, already in recession when the crisis hit, and which recorded its largest contraction ever in the second quarter.

“The prospects for economic growth are really poor and likely to remain that way,” said Anthony Sedgwick, cofounder of another bank investor, Abax Investments.

More immediate risks to earnings remain. It’s uncertain how borrowers will cope when debt relief measures like payment holidays end, and banks could yet face more bad debt charges.

Mahin Dissanayake, head of bank ratings for sub-Saharan Africa at Fitch Ratings, said lenders had provisioned for bad debts conservatively, but it was difficult to predict what would happen in even the next few months given the level of uncertainty around the economic recovery.

“It’s a big unknown,” he said.

(Source: Reuters)

Kenyan economy to grow at under 2.5% this year -finance minister Kenya’s economy is expected to grow by less than 2.5% this year, the finance minister said on Friday, as more evidence of the economic damage caused by the health crisis emerges.

The projected growth rate will be a slide from 5.4% last year, Ukur Yatani told a virtual event to launch budget making for the 2021/22 financial year, battered by loss of jobs, a steep contraction in tourism and a drop in government revenues.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cause a major economic shock,” the minister said.

Thousands of workers have lost their jobs and some employees have had their hours reduced.

The tourism sector, which many households rely on for their livelihoods, is expected to contract by 18.7% this year and 9.1% next year, before it starts to grow slightly in 2022, the Treasury said.

The government’s revenue from taxes dropped by 10% in the year to August, or 120 billion shillings ($1.11 billion), the finance ministry said, partly due to tax cuts announced in April to support consumer demand in the face of pandemic.

The coronavirus crisis

has also upended the government’s budget deficit reduction plans.

In the 2021/22 ( July-June) financial year, the finance ministry said it will target a fiscal deficit of 7.3% of GDP, slightly down from this fiscal year’s deficit of 8.4%.

Pre-pandemic forecasts had put the fiscal deficit for this financial year at 4.9% of GDP, narrowing to 3.9% in 2021/22.

Kanini Kega, the chairman of parliament’s budget committee, warned officials against taking the budget plans lightly, normally in the form of additional requests for cash during a given financial

year, after the budget has been approved.

“The huge variations and lack of predictability has eroded the credibility of our budget,” he said.

Monday September 14, 2020

NEWS

25

Webster University - A Leader in Online Education A thriving 105-year-old liberal arts college based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Webster University’s mission is to ensure a high quality learning experience that transforms students for global citizenship and individual excellence. Ever since the doors of Webster Ghana were opened in 2013, students from across the world – undergraduate and graduate - have enrolled at the university’s only Africa campus each year to benefit from the cultural diversity and enriching academic environment.

Though Webster is not an online university, it has been highlighted for being able to brave the challenges the COVID pandemic has presented to educational institutions.

While some universities continue to struggle to figure out uninterrupted higher education during these peculiar times, Webster University Ghana has not skipped a beat.

Smoothly transitioning to virtual teaching and learning in April 2020 at the start of the health pandemic

and continuing on through summer classes, Webster Ghana is looking to reopen this Fall (in October), pending government mandate, with a blended/ hybrid style of instruction, making use of online technologies to support students and faculty.

Webster has long been lauded a leader in online education since the 1990s and stakeholders at the Ghana campus also have the advantage of proprietary virtual platforms like WorldClassroom and a robust library, including close to 70,000 ebooks.

Webster Ghana is dualaccredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) of Ghana and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) in the United States (US), and all students receive a degree issued from the US. The 14-month Master’s programs – an MBA, M.A. in International Relations and M.A. in Human Resources - have further US accreditations. Regardless of specific degree area, Webster students follow the same curriculum

worldwide.

The lovely Ghana campus – which has dormitory accommodation is centrally located in Accra’s coveted neighborhood of East Legon. The Fall semester has seen students start classes online with hopes of transitioning back to the classroom by the October term.

“Webster University has been a recognized, global leader in online education since the late 90’s. Given the university’s expertise in online learning, students have a wonderful opportunity to continue their studies virtually, receiving the same quality education they would have experienced in person, thanks to the myriad of online tools, training sessions and platforms available to all Webster students throughout the worldwide network,” says Webster Ghana’s Campus Director, Mrs. Christa Sanders-Bobtoya.

Webster University provides the unique opportunity for students to study abroad during their course of study after

their first year. They may elect to do so for a nineweek term, semester or an entire academic year at any of Webster University’s international network of campuses including Switzerland, Austria, the Netherland, US, Thailand, China, Greece, the UK and Uzbekistan. As professors have this same opportunity, students in Ghana learn under top notch global faculty.

On more digital education wins, through the Webster Success Center, this past summer some students were able to secure virtual internships with

multinational companies and the school launched the premier edition of its Summer Virtual Learning Program, a 4-week transition and college prep experience for high school seniors.

Admissions is ongoing for both undergraduate and graduate programs October and January 2021 starts, with plans to start online and transition to campus in the last quarter of the year. Webster University Ghana’s Admissions Office can be reached by phone on 054 012 0849 / 054 012 0869.

Monday September 14, 2020

Market Watch

27

USDCAD STRUCTURE •

ABC correction

PREVIOUS/FORECAST •

USDCAD recently completed its bearish swing, finding support around 1.30445 price region

•

Expecting price to buy to around 1.38733 price region in an ABC zigzag manner

**Current price @ time of analysis:1.31752

EURUSD STRUCTURE Corrective wave PREVIOUS/FORECAST

**price @ time of analysis: 1.16111

•

The Euro completed wave v of its bullish impulsive swing as previously forecasted.

•

Expecting price to sell to around 1.10843 price region as price corrects the just ended impulse wave

**Current price @ time of analysis: 1.18584

GBPUSD STRUCTURE •

Corrective wave

PREVIOUS/FORECAST

**price @ time of analysis: 1.16111

•

GBPUSD successfully bought to around 1.35000 price region as previously forcasted and begun correcting.

•

Expecting sell continuation to around 1.24900 price region

**Current price @ time of analysis: 1.18584

The opportunities and future of the 6.5 –Trillion dollars forex trading industry in Ghana Forex (in simple terms, currency) is also called the foreign exchange, FX or currency trading. It is a decentralized global market where all the world’s currencies trade with each other. It is the largest liquid market in the world.

The liquidity (more buyers and sellers) and competitive pricing (the spread is very small between bid and ask price) available in this market are great. With the irregularity in the performance in other markets, the growth of forex trading, investing and management is in upward trajectory. In Africa, there were about 1.3 million Traders before the corona pandemic season.

This number has increased to almost 2million during this pandemic period due to the volatility of the market and the opportunities it brings. This has created a lot of jobs and income for these traders.

In Ghana, the number of traders and introducing brokers have increased significantly during this corona season and after SEC expressed interest in regulating the retail forex trading industry in Ghana. People are learning the skill in trading to position themselves for available opportunities after this

industry is regulated soon.

Opportunities in the Retail Forex Industry Forex Market Analyst/Currency Researcher/Currency Strategist A forex market analyst, also called a currency researcher or currency strategist, works for a forex brokerage and performs research and analysis in order to write daily market commentary about the forex market and the economic and political issues that affect currency values. These professionals use technical, fundamental and quantitative analysis to inform their opinions and must be able to produce high-quality content very quickly to keep up with the fast pace of the forex market. Both individual and institutional traders use this news and analysis to inform their trading decisions.

Forex Account Manager/Professional Trader/Institutional Trader If you have been consistently successful trading forex on your own, you may have what it takes to become a professional forex trader.

Currency mutual funds and hedge funds that deal in forex trading need account managers and pro-

fessional forex traders to make buy and sell decisions. Institutional investors such as banks, multinational corporations and central banks that need to hedge against foreign currency value fluctuations also hire forex traders. Some account managers even manage individual accounts, making trade decisions and executing trades based on their clients’ goals and risk tolerance.

Forex Industry Regulator Regulators attempt to prevent fraud in the forex industry and can hold multiple roles. Regulatory bodies hire many different types of professionals and have representatives in numerous countries. They also operate in both the public and private sectors. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be the government retail forex regulator in the Ghana.

Forex Exchange Operations, Trade Audit Associate and Exchange Operations Manager Forex brokerages need individuals to service accounts, and they offer a number of positions that are basically high-level customer service positions requiring FX knowledge. These positions can lead to more advanced forex jobs.

Forex Software Developer Software developers work for brokerages to create proprietary trading platforms that allow users to access currency pricing data, use charting and indicators to analyze potential trades and trade forex online Introducing Broker These are institutions or individuals who work as partners with brokers. They refer clients to brokers for commissions paid on the spread.

Signal Service Providers These are forex institutes/academy that provide trade calls recommendation to inexperienced investors at a fee.

To be able to work in any forex hedge fund/proprietary trading firm, forex institute or forex brokerage in Ghana, one will need a forex license to meet the criteria to be employed. Individuals can also start their own forex company from home with little or no capital if they have the skill to trade.

It’s however my opinion that, one should enroll in a forex skill course to position himself/herself for these great opportunities at Gold Forex Institute (www.goldforexinstitute.com).

Requirement is a high School certificate, a laptop/Smart Phone with Internet since it’s a skill set program.

www.goldforexinstitute.com Call: (+223) 302906626 | Email: customerservice@fxgoldtrading.com GFI services include: Forex training & mentorship for (but not limited to) individuals, hedge fund institutions, and money and asset managers Pro Chart Analysis MAM/ PAMM Premium Signal (With Entry & Exit price) Premium Floor Trading Seminars & Online Webinars