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WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
BUSINESS24.COM.GH
Wednesday October 20, 2021
NO. B24 / 263 | News for Business Leaders
GCB partners initiative to reduce carnage on roads
President inspects work on 95% complete Central Oil Mills See page 7
See page 8
We have a plan for affordable housing, Minister declares By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com
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overnment, acting through the Ministry of Works and Housing and other stakeholders in the real estate and housing industry, has developed a framework to drive a new affordable housing programme using an appropriate mix of public and private sector investments, sector minister Francis Asenso-Boakye has said. He disclosed that his ministry, in the quest to bridge the yawning housing deficit, was exploring the Cont’d on page 2
BoG Governor wants 2022 budget to drive fiscal sustainability By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com
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By Benson Afful
he Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, has proposed that the 2022 budget should be used to reset fiscal policy to create a more credible path towards mediumterm fiscal sustainability. “This would be an important building block to establish and Cont’d on page 3
Kosmos launches senior notes offering affulbenson@gmail.com
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il and gas exploration company Kosmos Energy says subject to market conditions, it intends to offer US$400m See page 3
Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the central bank
Cont’d on page 2 Cont’d on page 2
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Editorial / News
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
Editorial
Good move from NPRA to step up public awareness on pensions
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ecent happenings in the media circles, specifically the plight of some veteran entertainers and screen acts, have clearly underlined the need for one to invest towards his/ her future. It’s sad to see once celebrated movie stars moving from one media station to another to beg for alms. But this scenario is one of many that the nation is confronted with. Old age poverty and other retirement challenges have been the lot of majority of Ghanaians, and most likely the chunk of them who ply their trade in the informal economy. The situation appears worrying primarily due to Ghana's aging review. More and more older
people find themselves in a difficult financial situation when they reach retirement age because of a lack of sufficient savings and as housing costs and medical expenses rise. It is in light of this the nation’s pensions regulator, NPRA, has set out a week in October to enhance public awareness about the benefits of pensions, especially those whose line of business requires them to take personal care of their financial future. It is estimated that about 85percent of the working population in the country is found in the informal sector but need for these workers to be on pension schemes has
been a primary concern to the Authority. Many people in the informal sector reaching retirement age do not have any of the pension schemes that some workers in the formal sector have and often have not put enough money into savings. The NPRA believes that this strategy to engage workers in the informal sector would whip their interest, encourage them to understand and help them to appreciate the urgent need to register for a pension scheme to ensure retirement income security for all Ghanaians. This is obviously a good step in the right direction.
We have a plan for affordable housing, Minister declares Continued from cover
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possibility of prospective home buyers using their tier-2 and tier3 pension funds as deposit to secure mortgages. “The reality is that governments have struggled over the years to provide housing at a cost affordable to the low- to middleincome population, and this can be attributed to our inabilities to supply housing that meets the general low-income levels of majority of the population,” he said at the maiden Business24 Real Estate Conference (REC2021) in Accra. He added: “This certainly requires putting in place sustainable policies and programmes aimed at ensuring that the issue of affordable housing no longer becomes a myth but a possibility.” Additionally, Mr. AsensoBoakye emphasised that achieving affordable housing would require innovation and a workable agenda that places emphasis on the entire ecosystem. To this end, he said, his ministry has identified the various cost-drivers in the real estate value chain and has mapped out specific strategies targeted to address them, with the sole aim
of making housing affordable for a large section of the population. “The future of real estate in Ghana is in the provision of affordable housing, and I want to urge all developers to come to that direction. It is only through this that we can reach out to majority of our citizens and positively affect the lives of the larger population,” the minister said. The one-day real estate conference, organised by Ghana’s premier business e-Newspaper and digital media firm, Business24 Limited, in collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry (GHCCI), discussed workable actions aimed at the creation of a vibrant housing market that will deliver the housing needs of Ghanaians. On the theme “Affordable Housing for Every Ghanaian: A Myth or Possibility”, it convened a carefully selected group of industry players, professionals and experts to engage in discussions that seek to match the various challenges of affordable housing development to workable solutions. Panelists agreed unanimously that affordable housing for every Ghanaian is possible with the right policy direction and support
systems to drive down the cost of building. “When it comes to whether affordable housing is a reality or not, I think the answer is yes, except the caveat that something has to be done for it to be yes and a proper yes,” said Samuel Amegayibor, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA). “We cannot continue to talk about it and do nothing about it. So, affordable housing is a reality, it is possible, but we have to do what has to be done,” he added. Dan Adjetey Mohenu, Senior Manager, Commercial and Retail Banking, for Republic Bank Ghana, added: “As a financial institution, one of our responsibilities is to make sure we are providing affordable financing to everyone who qualifies for it. So, [affordable housing] is possible, but we need to put a lot of policies in place to make sure it is a reality.”
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WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
BoG Governor wants 2022 budget to drive fiscal sustainability Continued from cover entrench credibility, a key component to stability,” he said at the 10th edition of the Ghana Economic Forum in Accra. “The relatively strong performance of the economy in spite of Covid-19 was due to homegrown policy credibility that had been earned over four years of economic reform. The fiscal and monetary policy framework that was implemented provided a solid anchor to disinflation,” he added. The 2022 budget will be presented to Parliament next month and is expected to focus on promoting an inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic recovery. Touching on the economy’s response to the pandemic, Dr. Addison said the National Financial Inclusion Development Strategy (2018-2023), the Digital Financial Services Policy (20202023), and the Cash-Lite Ghana (Building an Inclusive Digital Payments Ecosystem) Agenda were some of the policies which laid the foundation for the economy to be able to withstand the shock. He added that comprehensive reforms and recapitalisation positioned banks with strong capital buffers before the onset
of the shock. Furthermore, he said the financial sector received a further boost with macroprudential regulatory reliefs to ease liquidity constraints and allow them to provide financial
support to critical sectors of the economy. Following these interventions, Dr. Addison said the banking sector has remained stable, liquid, and profitable, adding
the latest stress tests and macroprudential risk assessments on the industry show that banks are strong enough to withstand mild to moderate liquidity and credit risk shocks.
Kosmos launches senior notes offering Continued from cover aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2027. The company said it plans to
use the net proceeds from the offering, together with cash on hand, to refinance the US$400m aggregate principal amount of private placement notes it
issued to fund its acquisition of Anadarko WCTP Company. Kosmos recently acquired an additional 18 percent interest in the Jubilee field and an additional
11 percent interest in the TEN fields in Ghana from Occidental Petroleum for a purchase price of $550m.
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News
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
GSE, WAMI host technical committee meeting on West African Capital Markets Integration
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he Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) have held a Technical Committee meeting on the West African Capital Markets Integration. The objective of this meeting was to review the Phase 2 operational rules and make recommendations to its Council. The West Africa Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC) was inaugurated as the governing body for the integration of West African capital markets. The over-arching objective of the Council is to establish a harmonized regulatory environment for the issuance and trading of financial securities across the region, as well as to develop a common platform for listing and trading such securities in the sub-region. The Chairman of the WACMIC, Mr. Ekow Afedzie, who is also the Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange said: “The West African Capital Market Integration (WACMI) project is making sustained and steady progress. During the year 2020, WACMIC secured funding through the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the implementation of Phase 2
(adoption of a Common Passport for Qualified West African Brokers as well as the operational rules) of the integration project.’’ The funds which were sourced from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund (CMDTF), a Donor Trust Fund, are for the implementation of specific activities to support Phase 2 of the project. The activities include the harmonization, validation, and
adoption of the Phase 2 Rules; the design, development, hosting, and launch of the WACMI data portal and website -incorporating a database of West African capital markets and market players. It was also to conduct needs assessment studies on the state of the capital markets in The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and the development of an implementation roadmap for the inclusion of each market in the
integrated WACMI Project as well as capacity building programs aimed at key regional capital markets stakeholders on the implementation of harmonized rules and regulations for securities trading and settlement. The West Africa Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC) is scheduled to hold its next meeting on 21st and 22nd October 2021 to consider the recommendations of the Technical Committee.
NPRA holds maiden National Pensions Awareness Week from Oct. 25 – 29
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he National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), under the auspices of the Ministries of Employment and Labour Relations and Ministry of Finance, will be organising its maiden National Pensions Awareness Week across the country from Monday 25th to Friday 29th October 2021. Under the theme, "Total Participation in Pensions to ensure Retirement Income Security," the event will provide the platform to engage stakeholders on the development of pensions to invigorate a nationwide awareness on pensions. As part of its mandate, the Authority has been actively engaged in education and sensitization on all pensionrelated matters in the country for the past ten years. The data available indicate that the pension coverage in the country is still low. “Many people in the informal sector reaching retirement age do not have any of the pension schemes that some workers in the formal sector have and often
have not put enough money into savings. The Authority has therefore embarked on a strategy to engage workers in the informal sector to whip their interest and also encourage them to understand and appreciate the urgent need to register for a pension scheme to ensure retirement income security for all Ghanaians,” a statement issued by the pensions regulator indicated. “Despite the enormous efforts by the Authority to whip up the interest among the Ghanaian working populace, especially those in the informal sector, to register on pension schemes, the
Authority believes there is more to be done to raise the awareness on pensions in the country,” the statement added. It is estimated that about eightyfive percent (85%) of the working population in the country is found in the informal sector. The need for these workers to be on pension schemes has been a primary concern to the Authority. This needs to be done to reduce poverty and other old age and retirement challenges ahead of the Ghanaian worker within the coming years. The situation appears worrying primarily due to Ghana's aging review. More and more older people find themselves in a difficult financial situation when they reach retirement age because of a lack of sufficient savings and as housing costs and medical expenses rise. The Minister for Employment and Labour Relation Honorable Ignagious Bafour Awuah, will launch the weeklong activities at Koforidua on Thursday, 21st October at the Koforidua Jubilee Park.
Activities to mark the week include visits by management to private institutions such as Driver Unions, Beauticians Association of Ghana, Traditional Councils, Christian Councils across the country. The Authority will also use the occasion to engage the media to drum home pension matters and make known the activities of the NPRA to the general public. There would also be programmes at the markets, communities and workplaces to sensitise workers: public lectures, stakeholder engagements and quiz programme for students. The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), under the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766), has been implementing the contributory Three-Tier Pension Scheme since January 2010. The Authority is the sole regulator of the pension industry in the Republic of Ghana. This is done through effective policy direction to secure retirement income for the retired and the aged in Ghana.
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WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
President inspects work on 95% complete Central Oil Mills
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resident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has inspected work Central Oil Mills Limited, a wholly Ghanaian owned agro-processing company located at Jukwa Mfuom/ Asamanso in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District of Central Region, which specialises in oil palm development and palm oil processing, and is operating under Government’s 1-District-1Factory initiative. President Akufo-Addo visited the factory on day 2 of his 2-day tour of the Central Region. As part of government’s industrial transformation agenda, Central Oil Mills, established in 2010, was identified as one of the potentially viable but distressed companies. To this end, an organisational audit was conducted by a team of technical consultants from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, who recommended the company to the Ghana EXIM Bank for support under the One District One Factory (1D1F) programme. Ghana Exim Bank, on 21 st November 2018, approved a Medium-Term Loan Facility of GH¢12 million for Central Oil Mills Limited to undertake three main activities: These are the rehabilitation and expansion of an existing primary
crude palm oil processing factory at Jukwa-Mfoum, the establishment of a brand new secondary (value-addition) oil palm processing factory at Jukwa-Asamanso, with capacity to process vegetables (Canned and bottled products), and the expansion and development of oil palm plantation. The Bank subsequently approved a supplementary loan of GH¢2 million for the project, thus bringing the total loan approved for the project to GHS14 Million. The new factory at Asamanso
and the expansion work at Mfuom are about 95% and 90% completed respectively, and are both expected to be fully completed by 30 th November 2021. The project involves the expansion of an existing oil palm mill with an initial capacity of 2,400 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per annum into a bigger mill with a minimum capacity of 12,000 metric tonnes of FFB per annum on a single shift, with capacity to do double shifts. With a yield of 20%, this
will produce 2,400 metric tonnes of palm oil per annum which could be processed into secondary canned and bottled products. In addition, through the revitalisation process, the company has increased its storage capacity from 30 metric tonnes to 150 metric tonnes. The company has rehabilitated it existing oil palm plantation and has initiated the process to expand its plantation by 200 acres per annum over five years. This is being supported by the acquisition of new trucks, and farm implements to support cultivation and transportation. The company also has existing nucleus farms at Jukwa Mfuom and its environs and also about 50 out-grower individuals. The project is expected to create a minimum of 200 direct jobs from its current skeletal workforce of 30 persons when fully operational. More than 500 indirect jobs will be created within two years at both factory sites and from the plantation. Buyers from South Africa, Italy, Netherlands and Nigeria are already in discussions with the company for export of finished products, thus opportunity to generate foreign exchange for the country.
Dettol marks Global Handwashing Day …unveils handwash station at Mallam Gbawe Cluster of Schools
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anufacturers of the Dettol Range, Reckitt, has commemorated the 2021 Global Handwashing Day by unveiling a handwashing sink station at the Mallam Gbawe Cluster of Schools. This initiative is to improve the handwashing culture in the school in a bid to promote personal hygiene. Global Handwashing Day (GHWD) is a global advocacy day, dedicated to increasing awareness about the importance of hand hygiene and triggering lasting change from the policy to community-driven action. The Mallam Gbawe Cluster of schools were among 300 schools that participated in the Dettol School Hygiene Programme, the school was selected due to their impressive involvement in the
programme. Country Manager for Reckitt, Sachin Varma, said “hand washing is the first line of defense against viruses and bacteria, hence the urgent need to educate ourselves on the importance of regular handwashing with soap, to ensure that it becomes a routine part of our daily lives”. “The theme for today’s Global Handwashing Day is “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together”. And this calls for coordinated action as we actively work toward universal hand hygiene”, he said. “Reckitt is dedicated to ensure we imbibe a handwashing culture in our children because they are ambassadors of change and exactly the people we want to use to enforce the behavioural change”, he added further.
As part of the celebration, Madam Veronica Bekoe, the inventor of Veronica bucket was also recognized and celebrated for her contribution to the promotion of handwashing in Ghana. “In order to meet Sustainable Development Goal targets and prevent future outbreaks and
pandemics, education in hand hygiene must increase”, he added that Reckitt through Dettol Bar Soap wants to see a future where illness caused by germs which include cholera and diarrhoea among children have drastically reduced because we are able to apply the basic principle of handwashing.
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Vodafone scoops 7 awards at 2021 HR Focus Awards
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elecommunication giant, Vodafone Ghana, continues to gain recognition for its exceptional performance in the telecom industry. Vodafone Ghana has been honoured for its excellent people strategy and human resource (HR) practices at the 2021 HR Focus Awards, bagging seven prestigious awards, including HR Oriented CEO of the Year and the HR Practitioner of the Year. At the awards, Vodafone emerged as the Best Organisation in Recruitment and Selection, Best Organisation in Health Safety and Wellbeing, Best Organisation in Managing Employees through COVID-19 and Most Exemplary Employer (COVID-19 Specific). Vodafone Ghana's HR Manager for Learning and Development, Rewards and Shared Services, Peter Crabbe, emerged as the HR Manager of the Year. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia OboNai, was named the HR-Oriented CEO of the Year, while the Director of Human Resources,
Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, won the distinguished HR Practitioner of the Year award. Commenting on the awards, the Human Resources Director at Vodafone Ghana, Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, expressed her profound gratitude to the organisers of the event and employees of Vodafone Ghana. "These awards are a reinforcement of our commitment to introducing innovative and creative ways of ensuring that best HR practices are adhered to at Vodafone Ghana. Winning these awards validates our focus on providing an unmatched experience to our employees. We will continue to invest in our employees and ensure that the best HR practices are carried out at all times", she said. "Our whole team is incredibly proud to receive this award. We see it as an acknowledgement of the hard work that took place in exceptional circumstances, especially at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, to keep our people safe in an innovative and digital
way. Vodafone has introduced some of the best people policies and practices that offer exceptional working conditions and empower employees to give their best. The telecommunications giant has also achieved several notable accomplishments, including being certified as a Top Employer in Africa for three consecutive years. The annual HR Focus
Conference and biennial HR Focus Awards is designed to bring together top-level executives and business professionals with the aim of shared learning and discussions around a central theme, as well as to promote networking and encourage HR professionals across industries through the celebration and rewarding of outstanding HR professionals.
GCB partners initiative to reduce carnage on roads
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CB Bank has partnered with the Ghana Driver & Road Safety Foundation to launch a digital road safety platform designed to help reduce the carnage on Ghana’s roads and to promote sustainable transportation. The platform, named DRIFAN, was developed by the Ghana Driver & Road Safety Foundation (GDRS Foundation) with the backing of the National Road Safety Authority and Driver & Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). The official launch of DRIFAN, an App, was performed by the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Mr. Charles Abani. Mr. Abani was supported by the Projects & Partnerships Director of the GDRS Foundation, Madam Freda Frimpong, the Director General of the National Safety Authority, Ing. May Obiri Yeboah, and other dignitaries from the DVLA, Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, representatives of GCB Corporate Affairs and Transport Department and Goil Company Limited. The Drifan platform enables road users to contribute to safer
roads by capturing and sharing live alerts of road hazards anywhere in the country. Drifan community members could share alerts of brokendown vehicles at dangerous spots, major road defects, nonfunctioning traffic signals, and other hazards which could lead to crashes. Additionally, the Drifan platform provides timely road safety tips and education through videos and other media to drivers and other road users. These road safety educations are delivered in English as well as local languages and constitutes timely contribution to Ghana’s road safety efforts for a number of reasons. Mr. Carl Ashie, Head, Mobile Financial Department of GCB who represented the Deputy Managing Director of GCB, Operations, Mr Emmanuel Odartey Lamptey, indicated that GCB Bank has over the years partnered stakeholders on Road safety campaigns, as evidenced by partnership with the Ghana Driver & Road Safety Foundation. “As the largest indigenous bank, our commitment to our country and its heritage, values and future are demonstrated every day
through the actions that we take as an organization. This has not, and will not, change,” he said. Mr. Ashie said as a Bank, GCB has embarked on its digital journey and has introduced various services such as instant issuance of cards, Mobile App and Ghana's first Bank-led Mobile money service -'G-Money'. G-Money as a service was launched in 2020 to serve the unbanked population in Ghana
and has crossed the 2million customer mark. The bank looks forward to work with the Authority and GPRTU to digitize payments for the association. Mr. Ashie urged all to drive safely on our roads, and support this great initiative, urging that “ if you have not signed up on the App, do so immediately as we work together to save lives.”
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Stanbic, GIZ to support fintechs through the “NextGen Ghana Fintech Accelerator"
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tanbic Bank Ghana in partnership with The Tech Entrepreneurship Initiative ‘Make-IT in Africa,’ a programme implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development has announced a partnership to help fast-track their journey towards commercially scalable and sustainable impact-oriented ventures. Dubbed NextGen Fintech Accelerator, the program will assist growth stage technology companies in their market validation and customer acquisition phase in Ghana. The rolling accelerator programme is focused on product validation, customer acquisition, and investment readiness. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kwamina K. Asomaning, signed on behalf of the bank, while the Head of the Network for Inclusive Economic Development (NIED) cluster at GIZ, Mr Gerald Guskowski, signed for the International cooperation enterprise in Accra yesterday. Mr. Asomaning said, “At Stanbic Bank, we believe that experiential learning is one of the best ways
to leapfrog young entrepreneurs into established businesses contributing significantly to the economic growth of the country. For this reason, since 2018, we have been investing in young entrepreneurs through workbased learning, coaching, and the provision of an enabling environment to equip young people with the skills needed for work.” Ghana has revolutionized its FinTech industry to embrace the use of smartphones and applications in transactions. There are presently over 11 million active users on mobile payment systems, with banks recording over 80% of their transactions as originating from electronic and digital channels. The Bank of Ghana (BoG), which is the regulator of payment systems, reports that about 71 fintech companies operate in the country. FinTech's have proven to be the future of banking, especially in these times of the COVID- 19 Pandemic, where the use of digital payment systems is increasingly becoming mainstream. However, the Fintech Ecosystem in Ghana is at a blossoming stage hence the need for this initiative. Mr. Asomaning also indicated that, “Our priority today is to build the capacity of FinTech
businesses and startups through a 6-month intensive curriculum– based training. The training will focus on reconstructing and validating the business models to scale and adhere to industry best practices. The training will also refine, test and validate their growth strategies as well as operational framework. Ultimately, this initiative will coach and nurture the FinTechs to be investor ready”. Commenting on the launch of the programme in Accra, Mr Gerald Guskowski commented: “This is a significant and timely cooperation that will foster more relevant sustainabilitydriven innovation far beyond the financial industry. The NextGen Fintech Accelerator is unique in a way that will scale up innovative technology and business-based solutions to drive sustainable development. Mr Guskowski also added: “Over the past two years, Make-IT in Africa has invested in supporting a pipeline of startups in Ghana in various sectors including health, education, smart city, agriculture among others. Financial technology is the next area that we are supporting including using the instrument of regulations by the Central bank to enable startups in the field.” “We look forward to supporting
this ambitious initiative that we see as a key contributor to business growth and driver of economic development in future,” The accelerator program will run one cohort of 20 selected early-to-growth stage FinTech startups. The Joint Stanbic Bank & GIZ NextGen FinTech Accelerator” aims at contributing to UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development aims at contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goal # 8 by supporting tech start-ups in the field of FinTech to help advance their solutions in the local environment. The programme features a 6-months long intensive curriculum–based training, after which participants will engage in a Mentorship program by experts from Stanbic Bank. The launch kicks off the application process where potential applicants will go through a series of selection processes, and shortlisted applicants will move on to the Virtual Training Bootcamp. The media event which took place on the October 18, 2021 at the Stanbic Incubator, Accra brought together officials from both parties as well as ecosystem actors from Private Sector to engage and network.
Zoomlion kick-starts proper handwashing campaign in basic schools
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oomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), through its Zoomkids Club programme, has begun an operation to intensify the proper way of handwashing among school children in basic schools across the country. This is in commemoration of Global Handwashing Day held on Friday, October 15, 2021, on the theme is “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together”. The goal of this activity is to increase the awareness of handwashing with soap and water in basic schools as an effective way to prevent diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia and help save lives. The exercise, which will be carried out in all the 526 Zoomkids Club basic school members, started on Monday, October 18, 2021, in some beneficiary schools in Adenta, Ashaley Botwe and Madina in Accra. Since 2008, Global Handwashing Day has been marked yearly on October 15 to
promote handwashing with soap and water as an affordable way to prevent disease. Speaking to journalists, the acting Managing Director of Zoomlion, Mr Ernest Kusi, said the operation will involve a demonstration to the school children on the proper way of washing of hands. He said the demonstration will be done in a form of drama, educating the children on the significance of handwashing and also donating training materials to them. He explained that the essence was to prevent the children from catching diarrhorea and other infectious diseases “And we also know the connection related to Covid. That when you wash your hands well and put on your nose mask, you will be protected from catching the virus and other diseases,” he pointed out. According to Mr Kusi, Zoomlion will be sponsoring the
handwashing activities in all the Zoomkids Club member schools. He said this formed part of Zoomlion’s corporate social responsibility (CSR). “And as part of our CSR, Zoomlion has, over the years, been giving back to society through the Zoomkids Club project,” he stated. The Chairman of the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (WASH) who is also the Technical Coordinator of World Vision Ghana, Attah Arhin, explained that the purpose of the day was to promote the culture of handwashing with soap in all societies, create awareness on the state of handwashing in each country and inform people about the importance of handwashing. He also used the opportunity to appeal to government to set up other facilities in public places to help in the regular washing of
hands. At the Nii Sowa Din Memorial Cluster of Schools in Adjirigarno, a demonstration was done on the proper way of washing of hands. It involved the use of soap to wash hands under a running water. For her part, the School Health Coordinator, Adentan Municipal Education Directorate, Patience Akudugu, lauded Zoomlion for helping to educate school children on proper hygienic practices. “We have 36 schools in the municipal, and today was at Sowa Din Memorial Cluster of Schools. We will extend it to other schools within the municipality,” she said.
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‘Ghana’s development agenda deeply rooted despite COVID-19 effects’
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resident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is hopeful Ghana will build back much more strongly as the country seeks to overcome the shocks left in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I acknowledge that life is still not as easy as it should be,” he observed, saying, the pandemic had temporarily derailed the nation’s progress “However, for one thing for which I have accepted is that, there are solid reasons to hope for a brighter tomorrow,” he assured. President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was addressing the AshTown Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church, in Kumasi, on the occasion of the Church’s 100 years anniversary, said transforming the lives of the people positively was the main preoccupation of his Administration. “I came to office with the goal of improving the living standards of the Ghanaian people. “The policies and programmes being implemented by my government have taken roots. They are growing, and they are bearing fruits,” the President
noted. Some key initiatives taken under the Nana Akufo-Addo-led Administration in line with its promises to enhancing socioeconomic growth, encompass the ‘Free Senior High School (SHS)’ policy, ‘One District, One Factory (1D1F)’ project, National Digital Property Addressing System, and focus of economic policy from taxation to production. Additionally, the government prides itself of guiding Ghana to officially exit the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, restart of the AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, introduction of a pension scheme
for cocoa farmers, restoration of the nursing trainee allowance, and road infrastructure projects Touching on the relevance of the ‘Free SHS’ policy, the President said it had brought enormous benefits to parents, especially those who could not afford to pay their wards’ school fees. According to him, the government’s vision remained constant, that is, to build a ‘Ghana beyond aid’. “That is, Ghana, that has discarded the mentality of dependence on aid, charity, and hand-outs. “We can. We should be able
to build a Ghana which looks to the use of our own resources and their proper management as the way to engineer socio-economic growth in our country,” President Nana Akufo-Addo stated. He rallied the SDA Church to be supportive of the government’s development agenda to bring prosperity to the people. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, in a message delivered on his behalf, tasked Christians to uphold religious virtues and also spread the Gospel with resilience to salvage the society from evil deeds. They should demonstrate patriotism and also be law-abiding for the nation’s sustainable development, the king advised. Pastor Dr. Kwanin Boakye, President of the Northern Ghana Union Conference of the SDA Church, said the Church had over the years been worthy partners of the state in development. This was visible in the numerous health and educational projects initiated by the leadership to enhance the welfare of the people, he said.
ABSA, others honoured at HR Focus Awards 2021
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BSA Ghana has been awarded for the peoplecentered initiative they championed by acquiring a Braille Machine for an employee who lost his sight in the line of duty. The bank received an honorary award at the HR Focus Awards 2021 for “HR Excellence in Diversity” organised by HR Focus on Friday, October 15, 2021. The event also saw 38 other institutions honoured in various categories. The fidelity Bank was named the Best HR Management in Financial Services, while Ecobank Ghana received the Most Promising HR Management in Financial Services in Ghana, and the “Best HR Management in Hospitality” went to African Regent Hotel. The Best HR Management in manufacturing award was received by Olam Ghana, while the Best HR Management in Healthcare went to Nyaho Medical Centre and the Bank of Ghana was named the Best HR Management in Public Sector. Others are Newmont Ghana
(Best HR Management in Energy & Natural Resources), MTN Ghana (Best HR Management in Telecommunications and IT), Herbalife (Best HR Management in SME Sector), and WorldVision (Best HR Management in NGO Sector). The function awards went to Newmont Ghan (Best Organisation in Learning and Development Practice), VIVO Energy (Most Promising Organisation in Learning and Development Practice), Cirrus Oil (Most Promising Organization in Employee Relations Practice), and Vodafone Ghana (Best Organization in Employee Relations Practice) among others. The HR Director at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Mrs. Gloria Borteley Noi lauded HR Focus for the good work, adding that “The Government through the Ministry of Employment & Labour Relations will throw in the needed support behind organizations who are poised to stay innovative and support a great People Agenda especially as the world
continues to stay relevant in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic”. For his part, the Executive Director for Buena Vista Homes and a Board Member of L’AINE Services Ltd, Mr. Samuel Ewool urged organisations and businesses to fully embrace technology as this was the sure way of staying relevant in today’s world of work even in the face of the pandemic. He also admonished business leaders to create the right atmospheres for the changes the ‘New Normal’ has presented to the nation with. He further said students should look more to job creation as opposed to job-seeking as there
were lots of problems around the world awaiting solutions which could inevitably be realised once they developed that co-creation spirit. The “HR Practitioner of the Year” Award recipient, Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, who is the HR Director of Vodafone Ghana, expressed her gratitude to the HR Focus Africa team for choosing her among the lot. She also thanks the HR Team at Vodafone for pushing harder during the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic to forge new policies and break new grounds all in a bid to achieve shareholder value and put their people at the forefront of the businesses.
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The case against economic sanctions By Robert Skidelsky
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arlier this month, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accused Russia of using energy as a political weapon. In response, the Kremlin claimed that US sanctions threatened to exacerbate imbalances in the European energy market. This spat neatly highlights the increasing – and increasingly problematic – use or threat of economic sanctions in international politics. As a tool of state pressure, economic sanctions fall short of war but are closer to it than they are to diplomacy. Yet the legal, political, and moral justifications for such measures are rarely challenged. States have always used economics as a tool of geopolitics. The nineteenth century, when international economics was largely separated from international politics, was a brief exception to this rule: Russia even raised a loan on the London market during the Crimean War. But in the 1920s, the League of Nations formally revived the use of economic weapons against offending states. And Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter allows the Security Council to impose economic sanctions against states threatening or breaching world peace. The international sanctions regime has passed through several overlapping stages during the past century. At first, sanctions were intended to be a response to a state’s overtly aggressive intent or action, such as a military build-up or actual invasion of another state. The League of Nations thus imposed economic sanctions on Italy when Mussolini’s forces invaded Abyssinia in 1935. In the next stage, humanitarian concerns came to be accepted as a ground for sanctions. For example, a government’s oppression of groups within a state might threaten to trigger “third-party” effects such as a refugee crisis. This was the legal basis for the UN’s economic sanctions against Rhodesia in the 1970s and South Africa in the 1980s. After that, some regarded “regime change” itself as a legitimate purpose of sanctions. As then-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair argued in a 1999 speech in Chicago, “the spread of our values makes us safer.” The underlying belief here was that democracies do not
start wars; only dictatorships do. Removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power was thus the undeclared purpose of maintaining economic sanctions on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. The most important recent development in the international sanctions regime has been the sanctioning of “specially designated” individuals and entities. Such carefully targeted measures, their advocates argue, confine punishment to the perpetrators of money laundering and other dubious practices, and thus avoid harming the rest of a country’s population. But they fall outside the UN’s remit, and are therefore imposed unilaterally by economically powerful countries or groups of countries. Unsurprisingly, the United States, the world’s dollar hegemon, has pioneered this form of sanctioning. But the European Union has followed America’s lead. The most well known of these individualized penalties are the Magnitsky sanctions, named after the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who accused Russian tax and law enforcement officials of defrauding Hermitage Capital Management, an investment firm he was advising, of $230 million. Magnitsky was arrested and charged with tax evasion and died in Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison in 2009, after allegedly being beaten by the police. The US passed the Magnitsky Act in 2012 with the intention of punishing the individuals responsible. And the broader 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
“authorizes the president to impose economic sanctions and deny entry into the United States to any foreign person identified as engaging in human-rights abuse or corruption.” Other Western powers – including the United Kingdom (2017-18), Canada (2017), and the EU (2020) – have since passed Magnitsky legislation, and hundreds of individuals and firms around the world are currently being sanctioned under these laws. Separately, the European Parliament recently called for sanctions against Hungary and Poland for violating LGBTQ+ rights. But is this sanctions creep just, expedient, and effective? As for justice, the recent increase in targeted sanctions is based on domestic, not international, law, and reflects the agreed norms of only one segment of the international community. Furthermore, such penalties are often imposed on individuals and entities with the scantiest of explanations, and without them being tried or convicted of any offense. To many, therefore, these sanctions simply look like an expression of power. Their expediency also is doubtful. Ex parte sanctions predictably give rise to sanction wars unless they are confined to countries that cannot retaliate. In all cases, they lead to sanctionsbusting and thus enhanced international surveillance and enforcement measures. Following the West’s sanctioning of Russian officials for alleged rights abuses in Chechnya, the US, Canada, the EU, and the UK imposed
asset freezes and travel bans on Chinese officials involved in the mistreatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Russia and China have joined together in condemning the West for starting a new “cold war,” and China in particular has plenty of ammunition with which to retaliate. Do we really want the world to be divided into economic blocs of sanctioners and retaliators? The question of economic sanctions’ effectiveness is probably the hardest to answer because there is no agreed measure of success. Many assume that they are a relatively costless way of bringing about morally beneficial regime change, or changes in a regime’s behavior. This may be true in some cases. But the overwhelming evidence suggests that economic sanctions have such effects only in conjunction with military intervention – meaning that they are usually an accompaniment to war rather than an alternative to it. So, we should be extremely wary about imposing sanctions for moral reasons. There is, after all, another peaceful model for bringing about improved international and domestic behavior. Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Richard Cobden, and many others argued that the exchange of goods, people, and ideas has pacifying effects. Sanctions work directly against this. When proponents of these punitive measures claim that commerce is possible only between civilized people, they ignore the civilizing effect of commerce itself.
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COPEC applauds President’s approval to zero price stabilisation/recovery levies
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he Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) says President Akufo-Addo’s approval to zero of the price stabilisation and recovery levies for two months is a good first step. President Nana Akufo-Addo, on the advice of the National Petroleum Authority, has granted approval to zero the price stabilisation and recovery levies (PSRL) on petrol, diesel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for two months. The NPA said that was government’s intervention to mitigate the impact of rising prices of petroleum products on the world market on consumers. Mr Duncan Amoah, the Executive Secretary of COPEC, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said it was a good gesture by the President but a lot more needed to be done "if we really want to manage prices for Ghanaians". Currently, the PSRL is 16 pesewas per litre on petrol, 14 pesewas per litre (GHp14/Lt) on diesel and 14 pesewas per kilogram (GHp14/Kg) on LPG. On whether the prices be removed entirely, Mr Amoah said it could not be done without legislation. He said the Chamber had
submitted a memo to the Ministry of Finance to include in the 2022 Budget exemption of some taxes like the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy. "It is good the President decided to grant the approval before the 2022 Budget is read," he said, adding; "As a country we will not be able to sustain the market the way we want it." Mr Amoah said even though there was the removal to zero for the next two months, another 30 pesewas was waiting for the consumer in the next few days. He said if government took out 14 pesewas or 16 pesewas whereas
30 pesewas as loading, it would make consumers to come back to “square one and even worse off.” COPEC, recently reiterated calls for the government to remove the PSRL to avert the consistent increase in prices of petroleum products. It said apart from the international market prices having an impact on petroleum products, the local currency had also witnessed a further depreciation in recent times as compared to other trading currencies. “The two key indicators, that is international market prices and
foreign exchange differentials, are all likely to affect average pump prices of petroleum products by between 2 to 3 percent or (10p/Litre for both products) in this second pricing window of September 2021,” a statement COPEC issued recently said. “This would likely translate to reviewed figures by the various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) as those selling at current prices for gasoline and gasoil at GH¢6.38 could be reviewed upwards to between GH¢6.45-GH¢6.52/L for both Gasoline and Gasoil.” GNA
Zenith Bank promotes women empowerment with Z-Woman
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enith Bank has introduced a new product, Z-Woman, which is focused on empowering female business owners. Z-Woman account holders stand a chance to enjoy loans of up to N10 million at a single digit interest rate, free digital skills training, free exhibition stands
at Zenith Bank events and many other benefits which will help them grow their businesses and increase their sales. According to the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Z-Woman offers women the opportunity to enjoy a partnership with the
Zenith Bank brand as the name Z-woman implies. The Z-Woman account is designed to address the unique needs of womenowned businesses and offer them unmatched services that empowers them to do more and achieve more. Zenith Bank Plc is recognized
as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Nigeria and was voted the most customerfocused bank in Nigeria for the retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS). Most recently, the bank won the Best Bank in Retail Banking and the Bank of the Year at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards, and was ranked as the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto & Co. The bank’s commitment to world-class service standards has led to several product innovations over the last couple of months including the “Zenith Timeless Account”, which allows Nigerians aged 55 years and above bank for free, the “Zenith Save4me”, a high interest target savings account and “Dubai Visa Service” on the Zenith Internet Banking Platform, which allows convenient application and payment for visas to Dubai.
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Xiaomi opens first showroom in Ghana
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he smartphone brand, Xiaomi (MI) has opened a showroom in Accra, Ghana with an intention to knock off competition from other smartphones that have dominated the Ghanaian market. According to the Chief Executive of DeviceTech, franchise owners of the Xiaomi brand in Ghana and other West African countries, Hassan Mikati, this will be achieved through the affordability of the sleek and durable Mi products. “This brand is very high-end, packaging wise, specification wise... Quality-wise, our brand is much better, and [other brands] can’t compete,” he said this at the opening of Xiaomi’s first showroom in West Africa along the Spintex Road in Accra. Mikati said the products have been well-received by the Ghanaian market. “Our prices are much affordable as compared to our competitors. Our quality is one of the best. We are number one in Europe, we are number one in Asia, and we will be number one in Africa,” he said. The showroom showcases Xiaomi's home appliances like vacuum cleaners, TV sets, electronic scooters, rice cookers, portable speakers, Xiaomi range of smartphones, and others.
Mr Mikati said Ghana was chosen because the country has a very good potential in smartphone and technology usage, “Ghana is developed, the network is very good. Ghana likes smartphones and smart gadgets.
That is why we chose Ghana” He said six more retail shops will be opened in the coming months at Kumasi, Accra Mall, Circle among others. Xiaomi was founded by Lei Jun in 2010. It prides itself on its
“ecosystem” strategy, where they sell not just smartphones but also a variety of gadgets and household products. It began expanding into Western Europe in 2020.
Baileys Delight celebrates World Liqueur Day in style
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aileys Delight, a light and lush cream liquor with a taste of African honey with rich dairy cream, has commemorated this year’s World Liqueur Day in a playful and indulgent way. The first of its kind to be celebrated in Ghana, World
Liqueur Day is set aside to celebrate and appreciate the plethora of liqueurs across the world. As part of the celebrations, Baileys Delight popped up in town to share the delightful experience with its patrons by gifting them a delightful box containing items
such as Baileys Delight infused chocolate bar, a branded glass and a bottle of Baileys Delight — right from the heart of Baileys. To reiterate the celebratory moment and leave a lasting impression, the gifting came with a customized festive balloon. The goal of the gifting is to
share a delightful experience with Ghanaians and rekindle the light taste of Indulgence in their lives. Some of the patrons who benefitted from this gifting spree include Tiktok stars Wesley Kesse and Say Logan. Others include media icon Chrystral Karyee, Nana Made in China, Asantewaa Neizer, Gisela Amponsah, Akosua Win, and a host of other inspiring figures. Beneficiaries were also delighted about the message of responsible drinking and urged that others explore the drinkiq. com platform for more. Baileys Delight remains the delectable offering of choice from the makers of Baileys Original Irish cream, and offers a flawless fusion of Cream Liqueur with an African twist to present a perfectly silky, smooth, and delicious treat. Baileys Delight is invitingly charming. The deliciously light cream liquor ingredients are a product of meticulous craftsmanship, innovation, and delicious trendsetting that Guinness Ghana is renowned for.
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Banking
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
Stanbic Bank defines the true power of service
By Dinah Kaleo-Bioh
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lobally, digitization has pushed the frontiers of business transactions – from an era where businesses had to rely solely on brick-andmortar banking to an era where the customer can now have absolute control of transactions from regular deposits to complex universal financial services. One of such innovations is Stanbic Bank’s Host-to-Host service. Stanbic Bank’s host-to-host service has made significant strides in leading the provision of innovative financial solutions to corporate clients in Ghana and thereby emphasizing the Bank’s commitment to providing its clients with bespoke solutions which meet their specific financial needs. The Stanbic Host-to-Host Service is a secured automated integrated channel for managing high volume financial transactions and reporting. While the service gives clients multiple options to upload a range of file formats, it also has features that allow for viewing and managing transmitted files, status dashboard and alerts among others. The secured and seamless integration allows corporate clients to carry out banking transactions from their financial management system, without
having separate access to the bank’s electronic platform. It also enables them to receive extracts and transaction reports on their own financial management system in a seamless manner providing greater operational speed, independence, confidentiality, and security. Through an Enterprise Planning Resource system, clients can transmit payment instructions to the bank and are also able to get periodic updates on transactional activity on their accounts. This reduces the cost of operating the client’s finances as well as time spent on running such operations. As a client centric organization, Stanbic bank has deployed this service to some key corporate clients in Ghana. They include Goldfields Ghana, Accra Brewery, Huawei, Enterprise Trustees, Scancom and FanMilk. One of the key beneficiaries of the Host-to-Host platform is Gold Fields Ghana. Unit Manager of the Finance Department at Gold Fields, Bernice Armah, says the platform has transformed the way business is conducted at the multinational company. “Before the implementation of the Host-to-Host system, we used to run payments from our ERP system and manually recapture these payments on to the online banking system. We spent a lot of time doing this and it was prone
to a lot of errors as well,” she said. She further noted that “Stanbic’s Host-to-Host system is one of the best things that ever happened to the Finance Department. It has helped us to be more efficient because we are able to run a lot of payments within a short time. We don’t have to process payments in our ERP system and recapture them anymore. We can process payments without errors since there are no manual interventions. I believe the system will be useful to other corporate institutions because it is efficient, it’s reliable, it’s well secured and gives a lot of feedback in terms of payment processes,”. Speaking on the significance of meeting the needs of clients through innovative interventions, Head, Client Coverage, Wholesale Clients at Stanbic Bank, Dinah Kaleo-Bioh, said the needs of their clients is the foundation and starting point for all of the bank’s interventions. “Universal banking is our way of life because we look at the value chain of the consumer company and see how best we can offer solutions, bespoke for that matter which address their need. A case for example is that of FanMilk. We started off with FX export. I am proud to say today, that we have workplace banking for about 700 employees in Ghana, we are also doing cash collection with a teller implant. In addition to other
trade business that we offer. But all this was achieved because, first we got the employees to trust in our system in terms of their salary payments and that made them sign on,” she said. She added that “We are replicating same with Unilever, GB Foods and Nestle. At every point in their value chain there is an opportunity to address specific needs. What we do is, once we have the trust of the client and we demonstrated a good understanding of the client business and leverage all opportunities that comes up to create value for the client.” The Host-to-Host service allows for full two way secured integration into customers in house financial management systems making transactions seamless, efficient and secured. Automation also optimizes the efficiency of the organization’s business allowing their employees to focus on their core business. The Host-to-Host platform is a novelty and can be integrated with large number of ERP systems used by corporates globally. Stanbic Bank is currently expanding the service to cover more corporate organizations in Ghana. Dinah Kaleo-Bioh Head, Client Coverage - Wholesale Clients Stanbic Bank Ghana
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WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2021
2022 Salesforce readiness – the revenue cannot wait!
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he impact of the pandemic has changed the frontier of sales. We are not in normal times and to put it bluntly, the revenue cannot wait! The customer must be served and the revenue must be gleaned at every opportunity. Is your Salesforce ready for today’s market and for the new realities at Sales especially the way competition has become fierce characterized by swift brand switch? For how long are companies going to continue doing the same scripting at Sales, copy-cat trends at marketing with zero sales alignment and overloading their Salesforce with heavy-duty targets without the commensurate ammunition through Sales Performance training? If the times call the shots, then businesses (large, small or start-ups) must be ready to re-tool their sales apparatus and empower their Salesforce through cutting edge techniques to be able to access tomorrow’s revenue today and make congruent plans for harvesting the valuable market. Exploring further with Salesforce readiness, our field observations and intelligence gathering consul revealed the following insights: Firstly, customers are speedily switching to competition since the freebie and discount offering have become unsustainable. Also the current product-orientated approach to sales is not working. This is simply because customers are coerced to buy volumes not based on their true potential and expected growth hence they are unable to sell and end up with expired products on hand. This approach does not only lock up the customers’ valuable investments but ultimately turns the customer into a storehouse and not a sales point. It is inorganic for your Salesforce to keep baiting the customer with discounts to buy more when they don’t understand how to help move the stock that has already been bought. How far can businesses go and grow by this approach? Secondly, we also observed from our interviews that most sales teams coerce customers to make large orders (services) without ensuring commensurate consistent payments to the business. The maxim of “not everyone is your customer” lends itself to this point. We often hum this maxim during our Sales performance training sessions. The truth and reality is that everyone out there may be a potential customer but not your
customer. The maxim also helps us to qualify our sales process by observing the reality that we want paying customers not ordering customers. And the earlier sales teams of companies align their sales process to the veracity of this maxim, the better it will be for their revenue generation matrix. More critically, your customers must fit your vision and your sales strategy with a balanced focus on the industry or sector you operate in. So the question to pose is this: “Do we want paying customers or ordering customers?” Yeah, exactly my point. We want customers who pay-up for goods and services ordered and not customers who are coerced to buy more without paying. Fundamentally, we all would love customers who can pay for the goods and services offered to them less we become a storehouse that accumulates irrecoverable debts. We all would love customers who would help visions succeed through loyalty, repeat business and increased referrals. It is obvious many businesses will shy away from customers who are disloyal and self-serving. And to be fair, it is usually the mundane tactics and blunt techniques of today’s Salesforce that chases away the customers into the arms of competition. Lastly, we also observed that customer management apathy is another cause for worry in our sales terrain today. What is the point of a relationship when it is lopsided and favors only the seller and not the buyer? What is the point of the relationship, when there is no deliberate attempt to give value to the customer through value-based selling denoted by thoughtful customized solutions coupled with after sales service support? Surely we may capture customers today, but by the apathetic behavior at managing the relationship, they will slip
out of our hands faster than we acquired them. All the above insights and realities point us in one direction, change. Not just change but swift change for the customer is not waiting and the revenue cannot also wait. To determinedly chart this same path using the same tools and approaches you have used in the past is to set your business up for failure. The handwriting is clearly on the wall that you have tried what will not work and also tried mechanics that have not worked. Persistence on this path will only deepen the holes in our revenue bag whilst deepening the customer pain and afflictions. Disciplined entrepreneurs and businesses of the future cannot continue with the mindset of business as usual when others are doing brisk business with daily and monthly revenue flowing in. As we apportion blame on the industry and the sales team; we must be quick to also assert that it is the quality of the training they have been given, the frequency of the sales coaching, the orientation of their sales process as well as their sales coach. We believe it is time for the injection of value, progress and performance into your sales apparatus through our new “Strategic Selling Briefcase”, the new performance training formula for winning customers and smashing targets. This special formula is a 4-module combination that ensures that you serve the customer from the value stand-point, with rapid closing techniques that will enable you to optimize your sales process with sterling and measurable results. Signing up your team for this strategic session will empower your Salesforce with sharpened selling techniques, effective sales process and enhanced efforts, prompt emotional response at the frontlines (EQ), consistent revenue generation and great
value. Conclusively, the revenue cannot and the customers cannot wait. As a dependable partner with working training solutions for your business, let’s seize the day and get ready for the dawning New Year (2022) come November 11, 2021. Your Salesforce readiness and preparedness is your cutting edge for harvesting the valuable market. It's time to take the advantage by securing your team through these contact points: 0244979879: ecltraining.perform@gmail.com, brandexposuremktc@gmail.com Contributors: Rev. John Thompson has spent his career over the years building high-performance culture in organizations he has consulted for. He has worked in Branding, Sales, Marketing, Strategy, Business Planning and strategic execution capacities at ‘Exposure’. As a certified Train the Trainer and Sales performance coach, he has added value to many teams and corporate professionals. His consulting clients include Local and Multinational companies in FMCG, Retail, Renewal energy, Pharmaceutical, Insurance, Real estate & Construction, consumer products, financial services, and Hospitality industries, amongst others. Lauretta Thompson (Mrs.) She is an associate consultant and in charge of Sales and Administration at ‘Exposure’. With a versatile skill-set, well vexed in customer service and service quality; she has worked her career building valuable business relationships, perfecting the art of cold calling, closing deals, and ensuring that clients’ expectations are met through service quality and professionalism. She has effectively managed different teams to pitch and win accounts of both local and multinational corporations.
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The EU must step up in Glasgow
By Connie Hedegaard
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he United Kingdom’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, may not appeal to everyone – especially European Union leaders put off by Brexit. But the UK is hosting the latest round of global climate negotiations, COP26, in Glasgow next month, so the EU must put aside its issues with Johnson and come ready to work. Up to this point, the history of the global climate talks held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a tale of two European cities: Copenhagen and Paris. In 2009, world leaders and their national negotiators came together in Copenhagen to conclude a comprehensive treaty that would commit the entire world to far-reaching action to prevent the worst ravages of global warming. It didn’t happen. Too many of the big players (and emitters) arrived without any viable proposals for reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, and EU leaders found themselves hanging around in the corridors while the United States, China, and India crafted a nonbinding agreement that left many issues unresolved. Representatives from the most vulnerable countries looked on in despair as their interests once again were sidelined. A key political miscalculation doomed the Copenhagen meeting to fail: While the EU is the champion of its own people, it is also a vital partner to those countries most affected by the terrifying consequences of climate change. Without European partnership – and
by that I mean real political, practical, and financial aid – the most vulnerable are left with no role in negotiations and no choice in terms of the sources and conditions of the support available to them. But the EU learned from this experience. In 2011, at COP17 in Durban, South Africa, the EU led the way with a roadmap to ensure a voice for those most at risk. That initiative delivered an outcome that paved the way for the Paris climate agreement at COP21 four years later. In 2015, when world leaders came to Paris, the Europeans again played a leading role. The EU helped form the High Ambition Coalition, an informal group of developed and developing countries committed to supporting the common goal of a genuine transition to a green economy. This time, the US and China signaled that they understood the shared interest in climate action. The target of limiting global warming to 1.5º Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels was established, and developed countries pledged to fund the poorest countries’ efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and achieve sustainable economic growth. The onus was on the major economies to act fast and share the benefits of their wealth and knowledge. The Paris agreement was signed, and suddenly the future looked a little brighter. But in the six years since, annual global GHG emissions have continued to climb, even in the pandemicstricken year of 2020. Climate models have proven devastatingly accurate, as floods, hurricanes,
wildfires, and killer heat waves grow in frequency and intensity. And this, as we know, is only the beginning. While discussions of the climate crisis once were considered a problem for future generations or those already living in extreme conditions, now Europe is suffering, too. Germans and Belgians are being killed by floods, and extreme temperatures are upending entire communities across the Mediterranean. And so, we arrive at Glasgow. This is the year all Paris agreement signatories, having assessed their progress, were meant to return to the table prepared to increase their ambition for action at home and, in the case of richer countries, deliver support to poorer ones. But there is not enough new money being offered. And the UK’s decision to reduce its historic 0.7%-of-GDP overseas aid commitment just months before taking over the COP presidency sent the wrong message. Meanwhile, parts of the British government seem to be more focused on spectacle than substance, and the US and China seem more interested in goading each other than in focusing on their respective contributions to the fight against global warming. The tasks for the world’s two largest emitters, jointly responsible for almost half of global emissions, are clear: The US must follow through on its pledge to provide climate finance, and China must phase out its use of coal. Each is as important as the other. But where are the Europeans? Few, if any, EU governments are
engaged in serious diplomacy to reconstitute the High Ambition Coalition that was critical to success in Paris, and the EU is not exerting any real pressure on the US to deliver its share of the annual $100 billion promised to poor countries to help them adapt and thrive. If COP26 is to take its rightful place in history as the moment the world truly decided to work together to address our greatestever threat, the EU must stand up. The EU is the world’s richest trading bloc, most established diplomatic force, and leading example of the power of tolerance and fairness. Unless it plays a key role, COP26 will fail. Everyone, everywhere will benefit if the EU, its leaders, and its diplomatic machinery move now to avert disaster and secure victory for global, inclusive, and ambitious climate action. Real money and real emissions reductions need to emerge from Glasgow. The world cannot afford another Copenhagen. Connie Hedegaard served as European Commissioner for Climate Action (2010-14), and as Denmark’s Minister for the Environment (2004-07) and Minister for Climate and Energy (2007-09).
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Accra hosts maiden APN Africa Globalised Investment Forum
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he maiden edition of the Africa Globalised Investment Forum is set to kick off from Monday, October 25 to Wednesday, October 27, 2021, in Accra. The forum aims at bringing international government officials, NGO private sector leaders, investors, and businesses from across the globe to invest in the economic sectors of all the member states of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) It is programmed to be organised annually in all respective African countries through a collaborative effort between the AfCFTA Policy Network (APN) and Diaspora office in the United States, partners in the Arab league, Asia and Europe. The Forum Elaborating on the forum, the Executive Director of AfCFTA, Mr. Louis Yaw Afful said the forum seeks to support the AfCFTA Secretariat to accelerate the implementation of Continental FreeTrade Agreement (CFTA) by creating awareness in all African countries through the organisation of the Forum. He added that it is also to take advantage of AfCFTA investment
by organising investors globally to invest in the sectoral economy of the 55 countries of Africa. “To create opportunities for the youth and women entrepreneurs and Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa to assume a major role in the implementation and to be beneficiaries of the AfCFTA. It is also to expose the tourism potential and the role of tourism within the movement of people under the AfCFTA”, Mr. Afful added. Mr. Afful further stated that the expected outcomes of the forum are to promote private investments into participating CFTA countries and, in particular, encourage public-private partnerships. He was of the view that the week-long summit will create enablers for the startup ecosystem and potential value chains. “It will provide an excellent networking platform to exchange with fellow investors and industry thought leaders. It will be an exciting opportunity for corporates and international investors to learn about the latest investment opportunities, trends, and how to invest in CFTA countries” he gave the assurance.
The forum will offer in-depth discussions by experts and thought leaders in key sectors such as Arts and Culture, Telecommunication, Digital and Media, Banking, Finance and Insurance, Innovation and Technology, Tourism, Extractives, Automobile, Manufacturing, Agribusiness, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare, etc. Also, the breakout sessions will provide a platform to discuss pertinent topics related to promoting and harnessing the full benefits of AfCFTA, including the role of Youth and Women, the postCOVID-19 and Beyond, Security and the AfCFTA, Investments and Financing for Industrialization, Entrepreneurship, Innovation
and SME Development. The guest speakers at the forum includes the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr.Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, H.E. Wamkele Mene, AfCFTA Secretary-General; Minister of Trade,Alan Kyeremateng; Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, Ghana. The AfCFTA policy network was established in 2019 as the lead and largest international nongovernmental organization (NGO) focused primarily as a think tank on African continental free trade area implementation. The Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, believed to be a game-changer in Africa, commenced Free Trading on January 1st, 2021. To accelerate the implementation and realization of the benefits under this Agreement, intra-African trade must be boosted by producing and patronizing quality African products and services. Currently, intra-African exports stand at about 17% of total continental exports. Increasing this share will go a long way to increase value addition, enhance employment creation, improve incomes and livelihoods, and ultimately lift millions out of poverty.
Guinness, 3 Music Network hold Master Class for young creatives in Kumasi
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uinness and 3 Music Network held an engaging Creative Master Class for over 50 young and budding creatives in Kumasi with the aim of spurring them to growth. The 2-hour session held at the Golden Bean Hotel in Kumasi featured Incredible Zigi, a celebrated Dance Artist and choreographer, Oheneba Yaw Boamah, a multiple awardwinning Fashion Designer/ Creative Director of Abrantie the Gentleman, Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu, Founder / Managing Director of 3 Music Networks (Organizers of 3 Music Awards) and George Britton, Talent Manager / CEO of GB Records, moderated by NYDJ. The facilitators shared their success stories, challenges, and tactics of excelling in their various crafts. The Guinness Creative Master
Class follows the successful outdooring of the Pan-African Guinness campaign, Black Shines Brightest. The campaign celebrates creativity, ingenuity, and the energy that resonates when individuals come together, fizzing with optimism, creativity and potential. Speaking at the Creative Master Class, Head of Beers (Heineken Portfolio and Guinness Trademark) at Guinness Ghana, Roland Kwasi Larbi Ofori emphasized that Guinness, through the Bright House Experience platform and the Creative Master Class, aims to drivee thought leadership and conversations about the creative arts. “In Ghana, there have been concerns within the creative arts industry on discussing specific topics and this stifles growth. We partnered with 3 Music
Network today to debunk these myths and encourage creative arts enthusiasts to believe in themselves and overcome any fears they have because indeed, Black Shines Brightest.” The Creative Masterclass, which consists of a series of panel discussions, will move to Tamale then Takoradi and finally in the capital city, Accra. Guinness will continue to inspire creatives to be proud and confident, to look to each other for inspiration, bring their ideas to life and take on opportunities. Speaking to the young and aspiring creatives from Kumasi, Incredible Zigi said he had worked extremely hard for several years before making waves and eventually being recognized by Guinness to headline a campaign. He encouraged the young creatives to carve a niche for themselves
by nurturing their creative skills and talents. After the Master Class, The Bright House Experience, a fundamental part of the Guinness Black Shines Brightest campaign was unveiled in Kumasi. This is a model bar which serves as a cultural space and a hub for people to connect and energize each other with creativity, inspiration and, of course, a cold bottle of Guinness. On his part, Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu, Chief Executive Officer of 3 Music Network said, “Platforms like Black Shines Brightest by Guinness is one that the creative industry needs at this time of our industry growth. We are grateful to Guinness for this opportunity as this helps Ghanaian creatives showcase our potential, flair and imagination to the rest of the world unique way’’.