Business24 Newspaper 29th September, 2021 by Business24 Online

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Wednesday September 29, 2021

BUSINESS24.COM.GH

NO. B24 / 254 | News for Business Leaders

GEPA urges youth to create businesses across cocoa value chain

Mentoring: An empowering virtuous circle

See page 5

See page 7

Second-quarter petroleum revenue rises nearly 60% By Business24 Reporters

ADB, NIB not fit as dev’t banks—ACET study By Eugene Davis

ugendavis@gmail.com

he government's petroleum receipts for the second quarter of the year increased by almost 60 percent compared with the same period last year, boosted by higher oil prices. According to Ministry of Finance data, second-quarter petroleum revenue came in at US$241.3m, US$89.1m more than the US$152.2m received in the corresponding period of 2020. More than three-quarters of the revenue—equivalent to US$184.6m—was earned from crude oil sales, while 23 percent,

study conducted by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) on the political economy of national development banks in Ghana has concluded that the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and National Investment Bank (NIB) do not fit as national development banks. The study sought to understand why and how See page 10

Cont’d on page 2

Export receipts hit US$9.9bn in Jan-Aug By Benson Afful affulbenson@gmail.com

hana’s total export receipts in the first eight months of the year increased by 2.4 percent on a year-on-year basis to US$9.9bn, the central bank has said. According to the bank, this was supported by higher prices realised from gold (up by 6.2 percent), cocoa (up by 4.2 percent), and crude oil (up by 58.1 percent).

International prices of the three major export commodities—cocoa, gold and crude oil— reflected mixed trends in the year to August 2021.

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Editorial / News

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Editorial

Time to court value chain investors to cocoa sector

ocoa is the nation’s export cash-cow whilst the sector itself hoards numerous opportunities for job and wealth creation, especially in the area of value addition or other processing activities along the value chain. The export of the commodity has sustained Ghana’s economy for over a century but quite unfortunately, we still trade our cocoa in its raw state, although there have been some efforts to add value to it. That notwithstanding, the cocoa sector remains largely under-resourced in both human and fiscal capital, with the industry hugely dominated by an aged population and seeing minimal investments over the

years. The situation persists because we have not marketed adequately the opportunities of wealth and sustainable incomes in the business of cocoa in a way that will compel entrepreneurs, especially the youth, to explore. It is therefore timely and plausible the plan of the Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA) to court youthful expertise to such a critical area. The commodity brings millions of dollars into the local economy annually but that amount is nowhere close to the revenue that could be realized should we decide to trade it in a processed or semi-processed state. According to GEPA, the

number of youth entrepreneurs that are establishing businesses in the cocoa value chain has been impressive but we still see huge opportunities that remain largely untapped. It is inspiring to see a number of cocoa processing firms springing up with the sector, most of whom are into the production of chocolates and other cocoa derivatives, and we can only hope for more of such investments. The future of the nation lies in industrialization and entrepreneurship and the earlier we courted youth investors to the dominant cocoa sector, the better it would be for the economy.

Second-quarter petroleum revenue rises nearly 60% Continued from cover

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or approximately US$56m, represented corporate taxes paid by oil companies. The main driver of the increase in revenue was stronger oil prices, as the government realised an average price of US$64.4 per barrel (/b) for its crude oil sales during the period, up from US$39.8/b a year ago. The volume of crude oil sold by the government stood at 2.9m barrels, approximately the same as in the second quarter of 2020. Oil prices have rallied this year as global demand for the commodity recovers from last year's fall induced by the coronavirus crisis. Analysts also blame supply issues, including the inability of major producers to scale up production, partly for the rally. The situation is benefitting oil exporters such as Ghana, which depends on petroleum revenue to fund important government programmes. The flip side, however, is increased import costs—and higher domestic fuel prices—since the country imports most of the crude oil consumed locally. Oil imports cost the economy

US$1.65bn in the first eight months of the year, up from US$1.2bn in the same period of 2020. The larger import bill contributed to a reduced external trade surplus in the period. Following the increase in petroleum receipts, the Ministry

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta

of Finance transferred US$80.4m to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in the second quarter. The amount was 47 percent more than the national oil company received in the same period last year.

News

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Export receipts hit US$9.9bn in Jan-Aug Continued from cover The impacts of the higher prices were however moderated by sharp declines in the volume of gold and crude oil exports, by 20.9 and 20.1 percent on a yearon-year basis respectively, despite the 23.9 percent growth in the volume of cocoa beans exports. Ghana’s total imports also increased during the period by 8.6 percent to US$8.98bn. “This was driven mainly by a 58.5 percent increase in the value of refined petroleum products imports arising from increased demand as the economy returned to normalcy from last year’s lockdown period,” the central bank explained in its monetary policy committee press briefing on Monday. “The higher import bill relative to export receipts resulted in a lower trade surplus of US$874.8m in the year to August 2021, compared with a surplus of US$1.4bn recorded in the same period of 2020,” it added. The central bank said

Governor of the central bank Dr Ernest Addison

international prices of the three major export commodities— cocoa, gold and crude oil— reflected mixed trends in the year to August 2021. It said crude oil prices have remained bullish on account of OPEC+ production cuts which has

led to steady draws on global oil inventories. The average price of crude oil went up by 40.4 percent on a year-to-date basis to US$70.5 per barrel in August. Gold prices, on the other hand, declined by 3.9 percent to average US$1,789.6 per fine ounce

in August due to pressure from the strong US dollar. The average price of cocoa also decreased marginally, by 1 percent, to trade at US$2,555.9 per tonne due to ample supply from major cocoa producers.

ADB, NIB not fit as dev’t banks—ACET study operations, the impacts of this on their financial and developmental Ghanaian national development performance, and the challenges banks have evolved in their they face within their enabling governance structures and environment. Continued from cover

“Considering the contemporary structure of a development bank, it has been established that ADB and NIB do not fit as national development banks,” said

Dr. Edward Brown, Senior Director, Research and Advisory, at ACET, says the study will be conducted in three other countries—Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia.

Charles Odoom, ACET’s Head of Private Sector Development, at a validation workshop on the study in Accra. According to him, ADB and NIB changed from their initial mandates as national development banks due to the challenges they faced after the reformation era. Dr. Edward Brown, Senior Director, Research and Advisory, at ACET, urged government to focus on the governance arrangements of development banks. “[Our] preliminary recommendation is that they should look at governance arrangements—take examples from elsewhere where it has worked better, learn from success stories and see where you can adapt those success stories to help improve the performance of these institutions,” he said. A lead consultant for the study, Prof. Joshua Abor, said it is imperative to align the development banks within the framework of government developmental objectives.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

News

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

President Akufo-Addo to lead Ghana's Delegation to EXPO 2020 in Dubai

hana will participate in an international business and investment exposition in the capital of the United Arab Emirate, Dubai, from October this year to March 2022. The six-month event dubbed: "EXPO 2020 Dubai" will showcase the business and investment opportunities in Ghana to the global business community, to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the country. The EXPO was initially slated for last year but the Covid-19 pandemic led to its cancellation. The event is expected to attract 122 countries worldwide and over 30 million audiences to the commercial city of Dubai, beginning next month. The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), in collaboration with ministries of Trade and Industry, Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Information and many other sector agencies, is facilitating and coordinating Ghana delegation's participation to the EXPO. "Ghana: Limitless Opportunities" is the theme the nation has chosen for the EXPO and would enable ministers of state and government officials as well as private sector players to present and explain various business and investment

opportunities available in Ghana to a global audience. Addressing the media in Accra on preparations made towards Ghana's participation in the EXPO, Mr. Reginald Yofi Grant, the Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, said Ghana had earmarked specific activities to be undertaken by Ghana's Team to the EXPO. Some key thematic areas expected to be highlighted at the event include agriculture and agro processing, water and sanitation, culture and creative arts, food security, housing and construction, tourism and hospitality, lands and natural resources, environment and climate change issues. The EXPO, Grant said, will

officially open on September 30 and hold media engagement session with journalists and media practitioners worldwide in October to explain key thematic areas the nation would highlight at the EXPO. He said, for instance, Ghana had chosen to highlight the opportunities in the country's housing and construction industry in November and engage with strategic investors. In December, the focus would be on Ghana's education sector and textile and garments industry, with special exposition on Kente. The month of January 2022 would highlight Ghana's technological and digital economy and explore avenues for

partnerships and the healthcare sector. The last quarter of January next year would also throw more light on investment and trade opportunities in Ghana. In February, the highlight would be on Ghana's agriculture and agro processing opportunities. On March 8th and 9th 2022, it has been declared "Ghana Day" or "National Day Engagement", which would allow each participating country to mount a special parade on business and investment opportunities available in their respective countries to a global audience. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will lead a delegation from Ghana to the EXPO on March 8 and hold Presidential Roundtable discussions on "government to business engagement, and networking session with private sector players on investment opportunities in Ghana". The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, will be the first government official to take the centre stage at the EXPO next month to present opportunities in that sector. GNA

GEPA urges youth to create businesses across cocoa value chain By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

he Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) says it is ready to lead and mentor young investors to set up businesses in the cocoa value chain in its quest to enhance value-addition in the export of the commodity. According to the state exports promoter, the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), which it is spearheading, aptly emphasises the need for value addition to cocoa to ensure that the economy rakes in more revenue from the commodity. “GEPA has a lot of plans in this regard, because it ties in well with what we want to achieve with exports to the world. In the NEDS, there are specific interventions that we want to roll out to entice the youth of the country to become ‘cocoapreneurs’,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer of

the authority, Samuel Dentu, told Business24 in an interview at the 2021 Africa Cocoa and Chocolate Expo (ACCE). “The cocoa tree itself offers so much value that could be explored by the youth if they get exposed to it. The plan is to get more youth into the production of cocoa and cocoa derivatives, and to let them know that there are boundless opportunities that still remain untapped,” he added. This year’s conference, on the theme “Africa Beyond Beans: Raising a New Generation of Cocoapreneurs for Wealth Creation”, drew stakeholders’ attention to the need to promote and increase consumption of cocoa products as a way of boosting government’s industrial agenda. The conference convened industry stakeholders to discuss various cocoa-related concerns. The deputy GEPA boss encouraged the youth to leverage

Mr. Samuel Dentu is the Deputy CEO of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority

platforms such as the ACCE to identify business opportunities around cocoa to help reduce unemployment in the country. GEPA has already expressed its excitement about the increasing number of young entrepreneurs venturing into chocolate and other cocoa-based production, such as cosmetics and confectionery. “There is a lot of talk about

youth unemployment, and we have developed systematic programmes that will be rolled out very soon to position the cocoa value chain as an attractive venture,” Mr. Dentu further indicated. The expo ended over the weekend with a physical tour to model cocoa farms located in the Eastern Region.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

News

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Mentoring: An empowering virtuous circle By Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana.

s the world has developed, the chorus of the need for leaders to give back to today’s youth has shifted from an indiscernible background hum to a tuneful melody played on every online streaming service in various ways. Interestingly, this outcry is irrespective of gender, race or wealth across the world. The anthropologists out there have helped us put a name to this generation – I think we call them Gen Z, or maybe it is Gen Y? I am still working that out! I genuinely believe that what is missing is mentoring. Where do I start with such an important idea? Perhaps it will be best if I reflect on my own growth journey to make my case. I recall sitting in front of this man, soaking in everything he said, with only one question on my mind: why didn’t I do this sooner? I was a wide-eyed young banker and had just been given my first project. It is important to mention that I was straight from Business School in the 1990s, keen and confident in my abilities. However, I was humble enough to discuss my thoughts with a senior colleague. My colleague was a master professional; just listening to him was like diving into a well of wisdom. Through his experiences, from leadership to team dynamics, the advice he gave was a true eye-opener for me. They say, “once you have seen, you cannot unsee”, and I had just gone from viewing in fuzzy black and white to Ultra HD. It was like hitting the jackpot! I am sure you are wondering if this was the “inception moment” of a long, fruitful mentor-mentee dynamic. No, that did not happen. Instead, I just began to view in Ultra HD and recognised the value of diversity, perspective and constructive criticism. Although I did not know it at the time, this experience showed me how valuable it is to receive as a mentee and give back as a mentor. Building Butterflies – No Substitute for Hardwork or Experience A story is told of a well-meaning boy who observed the struggles of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Curious and kind, he chose to free it by gently cutting open the tightly wound casing. What he expected to be a resounding triumph of cooperation between humans and nature, to his horror, turned out to be precisely the opposite. The

creature that came out resembled nothing like the beautiful work of art that flutters by in nature. This one was wiggly, stunted and had tiny wings. It hobbled on the ground, unable to fly and fulfil its true potential. Nature, as we are increasingly becoming aware, has value embedded in every experience. In this case, the butterfly builds the strength it needs to fly by struggling, sometimes desperately, out of its cocoon. I am sure there is a catchphrase amongst the butterfly community: no struggle, no flight. Unfortunately, the empathetic boy, who identified with the struggle of another living thing and wanted to help, had inadvertently deprived it of the very thing it needed. Mentorship can be, and usually is, a great help, but it is no substitute for hard work or experience. For clarity view in Ultra HD, it is not about getting quick answers to the test or challenge faced but to see and understand for oneself how perseverance can lead to success. Great mentors acknowledge that challenges are vital to the development of leaders, and whilst offering support, they do not interfere with the process of growth. Much has been written over the years about mentorship, from definitions to famous examples of successful mentorships. So, allow me a slightly different path; let me share how in my experience, the virtuous circle of mentorship is a two-way street, full of lessons for both mentor and mentee. I have learnt, both as a mentee and mentor, that the relationship thrives on shared vulnerability. Being open with a person, especially those more junior to you, exposes some of your less desirable traits, which can be incredibly challenging. However, remember, you are helping someone to see more clearly and to look at the clearer picture with greater depth and understanding. With this style of mentorship, your mentee will undoubtedly see your rough edges and patches. However, vulnerability is not a weakness. I firmly contend that professional vulnerability is an increasingly important strength in leaders today. I believe that honesty in any thriving mentorship relationship makes both the mentor and mentee better. So, in order to help the Gen X’s, or Gen Z’s get to grips with the grounded picture of reality, here are a few of my stories that I hope will resonate and inspire. The growth paradox

I have learnt from mentors, open enough to share their experience with me, the errors they made in their journey to the top. At the risk of looking less impressive, they shared their missteps, their regrets and most importantly, what they would have done differently. Nobody gets to the top without making mistakes. It takes being secure in your abilities and your own journey to bring a trusted junior into your professional inner circle and give them a peek behind the curtain. Let us pause for a moment and imagine the value of that conversation to the mentee, to see a revered leader talk about how they had failed. Practically, they have just gained years of wisdom in a fraction of the time. Emotionally, formatively, the mentee becomes less critical of themselves and more accepting of their mistakes. Their challenges are part of their journey (remember the butterfly) and thus a learning experience. Success is built on the foundation of lessons learned from decisions that did not work out. Mentees learn to fail fast, succeed faster, and thus, move forward and upward. That is the paradox of growth. A mirror that is a window to the future Similarly, mentorship allows the mentor to see how far they have come. I recall times, often very vividly, in places that I had closed off, when I had to deal with many challenging situations. I led teams comprising of colleagues older than me. I managed egos of young and ambitious professionals who had attended the best schools, gotten the best grades and were constantly consuming articles on billion-dollar startups and milliondollar bonuses and therefore did not see the need to listen to me. There were moments where I felt so overwhelmed, but I drew on my inner strength and just like the butterfly emerging from the cocoon, I pulled through. The new skills I learnt, the competencies I built, the hard work it took, have made me a better, more empathetic leader. In all of this, the mentee is given hope to keep keeping on. They recognise that their leaders did not just magically appear; like them, their journey was fraught with many a banana skin. Through a mentor-mentee relationship, the mentee is helped to navigate the sometimes-choppy waters of the corporate world, and in so doing, they become more empowered

to pass their own lessons on to others. The virtuous circle builds mentor and mentee, and the next generation all stand to benefit together. Time is Priceless Throughout our journey, we constantly need to go back to the basics. Our return to the fundamentals keeps us grounded. It is these same principles that guide the next generation of leaders. What changes, however, are the “ology’s” (technology, methodology and psychology). The mentor is investing in the future by passing these principles onto their mentee. The mentee takes the base principle, applies the current “ology”, and repackages it appropriate for a generation. The more leaders embrace professional vulnerability and pour themselves into their juniors in a relationship built on trust, the more things improve over time. By virtue of age, mentees are often more adept at the technology that makes life and work easier. Learning solid and time-tested principles enables the mentee to stand firm on what works while finding more empowered ways to achieve the same thing. Time is a priceless constant, and by learning the ideologies (another “ology”) of today’s leaders, tomorrow’s decision-makers do not reinvent the wheel but use it as a basis for things appropriate to their time that we are yet to imagine. Here today, further tomorrow If mentoring is giving back to enrich others and the world around us, will you reach out to bring along a junior colleague? Will you find a mentor yourself today? As we pour ourselves into the lives of others, we will see ourselves grow, the next generation mature, and the whole world blossom just a little bit more. “He that watereth shall be watered also himself.” The writer is Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana.

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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Bank of Ghana keeps policy rate unchanged at 13.5 per cent

he Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana has kept the policy rate unchanged at 13.5 percent, saying the risk to inflation and growth were broadly balanced. “Given these considerations, and the fairly balanced risks to inflation and growth in the outlook, the committee decided to keep the policy rate at 13.5 per cent,” Dr Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said at a press conference on Monday. Inflation has risen sharply over the last couple of months, driven mainly by sustained food price increases. Dr Addison said the committee was of the view that the increase in inflation was mainly due to food inflation which is expected to abate with the onset of the harvest season. “This notwithstanding, the latest forecast indicates that inflation will remain within the medium-term target band, but closer to the upper limit in the near-term, in the absence of further unexpected shocks,” he said, adding that monitoring of the inflation situation would be needed to respond swiftly to prevent potential effects on headline inflation from the rising food inflation. Dr Addison said the economy continued to recover from the impact of the pandemic as highfrequency economic indicators pointed to continued recovery in economic activity, even though below pre-pandemic levels. He said although consumer confidence picked up, weakening business sentiments, stemming

from supply disruptions, was adversely impacting input costs, driving down short-term company prospects. While credit to the private sector saw a marginal pickup, the trends remain below expectations largely on account of pandemicrelated risk aversion. Dr Addison said the Bank’s update of the Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) for July 2021 reflected a continued recovery in domestic economic activity. The real CIEA recorded a 20.0 per cent year-on-year growth in July 2021, compared with 20.2 per cent in June 2021, and 3.9 per cent growth in July 2020. The growth in the indicators were somewhat broad-based with port activity, imports, domestic VAT, and airpassenger arrivals accounting for the increase. However, the Ghana Purchasing Managers Index fell in August 2021 mainly on the back of rising input costs. The decline in the Purchasing Managers Index was consistent with the results of the Bank’s latest confidence surveys, conducted in August 2021, and

GCB commends Justmoh construction on performance

he Managing Director of GCB, Mr. Kofi Adomakoh, has congratulated the management of Justmoh Construction Limited for its sterling performance in the road construction sector. In a message to the management of the company during the 30th anniversary celebration of Justmoh Limited, Mr. Adomakoh said Justmoh is an exemplary of indigenous Ghanaian company the bank seeks to partner with for the growth of the national economy. “It is our expectation that the partnership between GCB and Justmoh would grow from

strength to strength and I wish to commend Mr. k Justice Amoh, on being adjudged the Best Road Contractor in 2020/2021. “GCB is very much appreciative of the custom of Justmoh Ltd and the journey GCB and Justmoh have travelled together.” “I wish to see your business flourish and our partnership grow stronger. You have made significant contribution to industry and Ghana,” he said. Mr. Adomakoh expressed the wish that Justmoh would grow beyond the borders of Ghana as an industrial giant.

which indicated some softening of business sentiments. The survey results revealed the inability of businesses to meet their short-term company targets driven by high input costs, unavailability of raw materials, weak consumer demand, and rising labour costs. Consumer confidence, on the other hand, improved, reflecting optimism about current and future economic conditions. Dr Addison said the COVID-19 related macro-prudential measures, put in place by the Bank of Ghana, will be maintained for the time being to support a full recovery in economic activity. In the banking sector, Dr Addison said balance sheet performance remained strong with sustained growth in total assets, investments and deposits. Profitability levels remain high, with profit growth driven by increased income growth. Financial soundness indicators remain broadly sound, although credit risk appears elevated and needs to be carefully monitored. Bolstered by strong capital and liquidity buffers, banks are

expected to withstand mild to moderate credit risk shocks emanating from deterioration in asset quality. Banks continue to increase their investments in highyielding Government securities to improve their earnings while moderating their credit risk due to uncertainties in the business environment. The Committee also took note of the fact that the trend of increased domestic financing of the deficit (driven by high-yielding Govt paper held largely by banks) was crowding out credit to the private sector. The external payments position remained strong despite the decline in the trade surplus due to a stronger import growth and a widening current account deficit which has been adequately financed with external inflows from portfolio and foreign direct investments. He said the Ghana Cedi had performed strongly with a yearto-date depreciation of 1.8 per cent. He said the country’s higher sovereign spread had not shifted foreign investor behaviour as net monthly purchases of securities on both the debt and equity markets remain relatively favourable. “In the outlook, rising interest rates in advanced economies on account of tapering may pose some risks. However, the strong reserve build-up and foreign exchange inflows from the recent SDR allocation and the expected syndicated cocoa loan proceeds should help to cushion currency pressures in the near-term,” he added.

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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Azumah Nelson’s career holds lots of lessons for success – FBN Bank MD

he Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana, Victor Yaw Asante, has indicated that the career of Azumah Nelson, the former WBC Super-Featherweight champion and Professor of Boxing, holds very useful lessons, life skills and themes for success which everyone, in all fields of endeavour, would find useful and must do well to adopt. Mr. Asante was speaking at FBNBank’s 2021 Staff Engagement event which also had the retired boxing legend as the guest speaker. According to Victor Yaw Asante, “the career of Professor Azumah Nelson is literally filled with a lot of lessons, life skills and themes which everyone who intends to be successful in his or her career, business or in life generally, should adopt. Not many people can travel through the various phases of his life and rise to the top of his division, and most importantly stay there for about 10 years. Azumah’s life offers key lessons for all of us today and brings to the fore, the realisation that mere ambition cannot get us to the top. What is obvious after listening to his story is that what is most important is being able to stay at the top for a decent stretch of time, not just being able to get there. One can pick up themes like ‘focus’, ‘discipline’, ‘overcoming adversity’, ‘resilience’ and

‘teamwork’. There are a thousand and one stories of people from humble beginnings climbing to the top. However, what makes us pay attention are those few stories of those who are able to stay at the top long enough to make a difference and we at FBNBank are happy and humble to learn from the story of this homegrown talent who rose to be a world-beater and received global recognition for his resilience, humility and durability,” Mr. Asante said. The FBNBank Staff Engagement event is a platform for management and staff to evaluate performance and discuss measures to deliver on the Bank’s brand promise to all stakeholders even as they strive to achieve business expectations. It is also a team building platform which largely fosters unity and teamwork, aiming to do away with working in silos and any slack in service quality. Speaking to the bank’s staff, Azumah Nelson shared his life’s story, highlighting key areas which brought out his main themes. According to the Professor of Boxing, “In life you need focus, determination, discipline and teamwork in all that you do. No matter what you do for a living, you cannot do without these most importantly, teamwork.” “As a boxer I went into the ring alone but my team, those you used to see in my corner, all

have very serious things they do for me to win. If my cut-man, for example, fails to do his work well when I get a cut, the referee can stop the fight and we would all go home empty-handed. If I do not listen to my trainer’s instructions during the break and also in our preparations for the fight it would surely not go well with us, so you see everyone is important. Focus, determination and discipline are also important. I remember when I was a kid. I saw a young boy about my age who was a boxer and I concluded that I could whip him so I threw a challenge at his gym and his trainer allowed us to fight. Even though he gave me a good beating, I never gave up. I went there three more times to fight him, each time working on my tactics until I won a fight against him. You need to learn to pick yourself up anytime you fall and you should not be afraid of falling.” In all, close to 250 employees of the bank, representing all levels of staff drawn from across the bank’s

network in Ghana, took part in the session. The event which was held at the Ga Mashie Hall of the Trust Sports Emporium was very successful, with all participants committed to ending FBNBank’s year on a high note both in terms of their personal effectiveness and service delivery. FBNBank Ghana is a member of the First Bank of Nigeria Limited Group which is renowned for its great customer service and general stakeholder engagement garnered over its 127 years of operation. FBNBank Ghana has since 1996 supported SMEs in several sectors including manufacturing, export and import. This, it has sought to do through the rich value and excellence of what the Bank contributes to the relationship with its clients. FBNBank Ghana has 20 branches and two agencies across the country with over 400 staff. FBNBank offers universal banking services to individuals and businesses in Ghana.

GITFiC raises concerns over implementation of iEPA

he Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC) has raised concerns over the implementation of the European Union-Ghana interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA). It said as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was expected to reduce poverty among Africans, and Ghana should benchmark the iEPA with clearly-defined indicators which would help improve the economic welfare of the citizenry. GITFiC raised the concerns in its September report at a media briefing in Accra on Tuesday. The report, titled: “Does the European Union-Ghana Interim Economic Partnership Agreement Undermine or Complement the AFCFTA?” was co-presented by Mr. Selasi Koffi

Ackom, and Mr. Gerald Woode, the Chief Executive and senior researcher of GITFiC respectively. The report said the AFCFTA was one of the largest free trade areas in the world and had been described as ‘game changer’ and a springboard for African economies to improve intratrade among its over 1.3 billion citizens. “Since the creation of the AfCFTA in 2018, the community of African countries have shown commitment and determination to harness the benefits of a trade liberalised system. “This is evidenced by the fact that 38 countries have now deposited their instruments of ratification, with Burundi being the latest to do so,” the report said. It said though the iEPA’s

objectives were straightforward in terms of increasing productive investments and job creation in Ghana, as well as intensifying and facilitating trade between Ghana and EU towards a winwin developmental relationship, trade experts were skeptical about its impact, particularly to the medium and small-scale enterprises. “We at GITFiC believe that although under the iEPA, Ghanaian businesses have full access to the EU market, these businesses can hardly compete favourably with EU production, which enjoy large economies of scale, and good business climate. “Ghanaian businesses face huge challenges of high lending rates, coupled with the fact that most of these enterprises fall into the small and medium scale

category,” the report said. The GITFiC expressed concern also about the timing of the start of trade under the iEPA, saying; “Whether by coincidence or otherwise, both the AfCFTA and the iEPA commended trading under their respective agreements in July 2021.” It said there was no doubt that the AfCFTA, which was seeking to boost intra-African trade would be undermined by the preferential treatment given to third-party goods from the EU. “More worrisome is that the AfCFTA is at its implementation stage with some of the protocols still at the negotiation level, and any step to frustrate the successes chalked so far will create dire consequences for the African market and its 1.3 billion people.

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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Global Affairs Canada funded NGOs forum held in Tamale

frica Skills Hub in partnership with Canada World Youth- Jeunesse Canada Monde and Global Affairs Canada held a learning forum on creativity, social entrepreneurship, and impact investing in Tamale. The event, an inaugural interactive forum, was on how innovative financing can drive the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through social purpose organisations and was the first in a series of quarterly events geared at partner organisations of Global Affairs Canada, under the theme: “How social enterprises/social purpose organisations can be positioned as investable enterprises to attract impact investing and venture philanthropy capital for growth towards the attainment of the SDGs.” The rise of the Covid pandemic has exacerbated the deep inequalities that exist in Ghanaian society and has led to the aggravation of sexual and genderbased violence in Ghana’s most vulnerable communities. Research and statistics that have assessed the cost of the epidemic on countries estimate its range in the billions to the trillions. Couple

that with the realities of greatly reduced donor funds and a lack of social safety nets. According to Madam Anatu Ben-Lawal, Project Director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Initiative at Africa Skills Hub, women and the girl child living in communities that were already on the vulnerability index of Ghana such as the five northern regions and the Volta Region among others have really been adversely affected. “We have seen a spike of violence against women in these societies and whilst as a civil society community, we work at ensuring some medium of support for these victims it goes without saying that only through the provision of adequate economic initiatives or increasing the earning potentials of women can this canker of gender-based violence be reduced and it is time that the north charted a new path for itself that leads to economic prosperity,” she said. “That is why we have gathered here to begin a series of discussions on an industrialization agenda that would hopefully drive northern ghana into its overdue age of golden prosperity. If a measure of this was caused by the non-profit sector they can

certainly play a role in undoing it,” she added. The main speaker Salma Abdullai, owner of Amaati Foods, a social enterprise specializing in Fonio production shared her journey of going from being a traditional non-profit to a social enterprise that now employs over 3000 farmers and exports to a number of countries said “I had to wake up to the realization that an over-dependence on outside resources has been detrimental to my people and has failed in leading to sustainability and I embarked on a path to prove the alternative.”

Other speakers such as Charles Atia of B-diet Foods spoke on the role that diversification and value addition in food value chains played a role in unlocking innovations that will attract investors. The forum was in direct response to the increasing consensus that private finance is essential for catalyzing development finance and serves as an essential engine for sustainable development. About twenty-five organizations drawn from the social sector across the northern region participated in the event.

GTA introduces initiatives to boost domestic tourism

he Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture through its implementing agency, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), has initiated innovative and progressive interventions geared toward sustainable tourism growth and development. Some of the initiatives were also aimed at encouraging Ghanaians to share their experiences of tourist attractions they visited. These initiatives were revealed during the 2021 United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Tourism Day celebration in Wli, themed: "Tourism for inclusive growth." Mr. Ekow Sampson, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, incharge of Operations, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), said the celebration of World Tourism Day heralded the socio-economic, political, and cultural importance of the tourism sector to national and international economies through Gross Domestic Product,

growth, jobs, and employment creation. He said the theme was linked to a government programme of action that sought to create decent employment through inclusive economic growth, skilled and vibrant workforce to support an inclusive growth pathway especially the marginalised communities with tourism resources. "As part of our collective efforts, the tourism private sector associations such as TOUGHA, TORGAG, CRAG, Ghana Hotels Association, etc. have resolved to provide discounts and rebates to groups and individuals who intend to travel to our attraction sites to encourage them to see the natural beauty of our country."

Mr. Ekow said incentive travels shall be encouraged in the private and public institutions and organisations to also boost domestic tourism. "The domestic tourism campaign dubbed "See Ghana, Eat Ghana, Wear Ghana and Feel Ghana '' is premised on developing and consuming our local attractions, local cuisine, dance, fashion, and music and showcase Made-in Ghana products both locally and internationally.

He said it would offer the opportunity to develop the local tourism as it would ultimately pull the international communities into the country. "To whip up the interest of Ghanaians, the GTA launched the Travel, Snap and Win initiative that encouraged Ghanaians to share their experiences of the tourist attractions they visited." He said the GTA in recent times had stepped up efforts to draw tourists to attractions at the crucial moment of national life by launching another initiative dubbed, "Let's Tour Ghana" to promote domestic tourism. "Other initiatives included the Stay Home Know Ghana, Stay Home Discover Ghana, Ghana Gurus. "In addition, the National, Single Window Destination project (VISIT GHANA APP) was also launched and implemented to digitise and automate the operations of GTA.

Feature

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Every waste counts

A young Ghanaian woman using organic waste to produce animal feed and fertilizer for farmers

Rose happily showing one of her feed products. Photo: Priscilla Mawuena Adjeidu/UNDPGhana

ach year, an estimated onethird of all food produced worldwide for human consumption is lost or wasted, which amounts to 1.3billion tonnes per year. Interestingly, most people do not realize how much food they throw away every day —from leftovers to spoiled produce. In Ghana, recent statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that Accra, the capital city alone produces approximately 2200 tonnes of solid waste daily, composing about 66% of organic materials, which mostly end up on landfills. Out of curiosity, Rose Serwaa Oduro, a 25year old entrepreneur and innovator, explored how organic waste can be used in producing feed for animals. This curiosity birthed her company: West African Feeds Enterprise Limited, which now produces an array of animal feed and organic fertilizer products, thanks to support from the first edition of the Waste Recovery Innovation Challenge. The challenge was organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Embassy of Netherlands in Ghana, under the Ghana Waste Recovery Platform.

“When I realized we can do a lot with food waste, I gave up my 9 to 5 job to pursue this dream. My passion for agriculture started as a little girl. My dad used to farm in our backyard, and he used to purchase fertilizers at very costly prices. We also had some pets and one of the difficulties we encountered was feeding them as their feeds were so expensive”, Rose narrated. Producing affordable organic fertilizer and animal feeds From the inspiration from her parents' backyard garden and pets rearing, Rose dedicated much of her time to researching and experimenting, till she discovered that larvae or insects can degrade food waste that can be used for animal feed and organic fertilizer. As fascinating as it was, she started by setting traps in bushes to attract these larvae, feed them with food waste throughout their life cycle of 6weeks, process these into animal feed and nutritional supplements, and then leave some of the larvae to turn into black soldier flies, which lay eggs to repeat the cycle. The decomposed food waste also goes through several stages of processing and quality control after which it is then packaged as organic fertilizer for growing

crops. West African Feeds has also employed four additional staff to support Rose, to increase production. For Rose, agriculture is the past, present, and future. We eat every day, so farmers must farm every day. The norm is often to import fertilizers and feeds for poultry, which are often expensive for farmers. So, if we have good alternatives from food waste, which can be sold at a cheaper price, farmers can save about 20 percent of their farming cost. The game changer Rose started West African Feeds Enterprise with only one feed product she named the dry meal. Today, with a grant support of about 27,000 US dollars from the UNDP and the Netherlands Embassy, West African Feeds produces more products, named WAF Meal and WAF Concentrate, which are used in mixing feeds for poultry, fish, and pets in general, and WAF oil which is used as an anti-inflammatory supplement for pets, to protect them from bacteria and diseases. The grant, according to Rose, was used to purchase a wet milling machine for cutting food waste especially fruit into smaller and suitable pieces for the larvae to feed on easily and faster. She

also purchased a separating machine which is used in picking the larvae from the compost, and a dryer for drying the larvae. “Since we established the business, the UNDP grant is the first funding we got, and this has enabled us to start commercial production. In the past, we were using a knife to cut the fruit waste but now we use the wet milling machine in addition to other machines. This makes the work easier, faster, and safer”, she noted. The benefits from the Ghana Waste Recovery Platform, for Rose, are enormous, as the platform also facilitated networking opportunities. "The Waste Recovery Platform connected West African Feeds to Neat Eco Feeds, another innovator and awardee of the platform based in the Upper East Region. Now, we are able to collaborate on mating our larvae to get other breeds”. Undoubtedly, reduction of food waste can protect the environment and end world hunger, and everyone has a role to play. With the needed investments and collaborations, we can have more young people like Rose, changing the narratives for people and the planet.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Energy

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Total donates fuel to fire service

otal Petroleum Ghana Limited (TPGL) has donated fuel to 10 administrative regions of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). The gesture is to augment the supply of fuel by the state to enhance the efficient performance of the national fire agency. The Manager of Health and Safety of the TPGL, Mr. Frank Boamah, stated that his company was minded about the important role of the GNFS in the nation and the need for adequate supply of fuel to the outfit if the public was to have the institution running optimally and delivering on demand as he made the donation on behalf of the company. The TPGL has supported the GNFS with fuel supply for the past 13 years for same purpose. The Director in charge of Special Duties at the GNFS Headquarters, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Anna A. O. Obeng, received the donation on behalf of the service and expressed profound appreciation

to the TPGL for the gesture. She urged that the bond of

friendship and co-operation between the two organisations

be maintained for the ultimate benefit of society.

Tullow executives pay working visit to Ghana

he senior leadership team of Tullow Oil Plc, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Rahul Dhir, are paying a working visit to Ghana this the week. A statement from the company said the visiting executives would hold a series of engagements with key government stakeholders, including the office of the Vice

President, Ministry of Energy, the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Stock Exchange and some selected institutions. The one-week working visit will give the senior leadership team the opportunity to share Tullow’s renewed corporate strategy, net zero plans and provide an update on the group’s progress towards investing over US$4 billion in Ghana over the

next ten (10) years through a multi-year drilling programme which started earlier this year. Managing Director for Tullow Ghana, Wissam Al Monthiry said, “This is an important visit that will allow the whole senior leadership team to discuss Tullow’s plans and progress with our key stakeholders across Ghana. This is the first time the team have made a trip like this

since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and I am excited to see the whole team back in Ghana.” The visiting delegation consists of Tullow Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dhir, Chief Finance Officer Les Wood, Managing Director for Ghana, Wissam Al Monthiry, General Counsel Mike Walsh and Director, People and Sustainability Julia Ross.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Feature

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Reinvigorating multilateralism

By Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Jacinda Ardern, Stefan Löfven, Cyril Ramaphosa, Macky Sall, Pedro Sánchez

ast year, the United Nations conducted a worldwide consultation involving more than one million people from 193 countries. The feedback pointed to some important facts. And this year’s UN General Assembly must respond by bolstering rulesbased multilateralism. For starters, the consultation found that the expectations and hopes of the world’s women, men, girls, and boys are strikingly similar. People want better access to basic health care, sanitation, and education. They also want to see more solidarity with those hit hardest by the pandemic and with those living in poverty. Respondents’ top concern over the longer term is the twin crisis of climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss. Almost 90% of participants agree that global cooperation is vital to deal with today’s challenges, and a majority believe that the pandemic has made international cooperation even more urgent. Especially encouraging is that young people worldwide clearly want more international cooperation. Last year’s consultation was a call to action. Now, UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres has released Our Common Agenda, which follows on the UN75 Political Declaration adopted by all UN member Heads of State and Government one year ago. The new agenda sets out a bold plan for how we can tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow.

The threat of breakdown must be viewed as an opportunity for a breakthrough. That is why we are committing to step up our countries’ support for the secretary-general’s efforts to translate the UN’s ambitious agenda into reality. The COVID-19 pandemic, which we are still battling at the global level, has driven home the message that we live in an interconnected and interdependent world. Moreover, in the last few months, we have seen record numbers of people affected by heat waves, devastating floods, and some of the largest wildfires in recent history, confirming once again the unparalleled threat posed by our changing climate. The UN is the heart of the international system. The fact that the world came together 76 years ago to create an organization to “achieve international cooperation in solving international problems” is extraordinary in itself. But even more striking is that this organization, despite its challenges and shortcomings, has endured. It has shown that the path to a better, more peaceful, and sustainable future is paved with cooperation, not zero-sum competition. However, the world’s international organizations were built primarily to resolve interstate challenges, not problems that transcend borders, such as financial crises, pandemics, terrorism, crime networks, threats to our oceans, or climate change. We therefore must modernize our multilateral

institutions, making them fit for purpose and better equipped to deal with the global and crossgenerational challenges we face. Having observed the stark differences between the world of the UN’s founding generation and the world of today, we decided last year to revive the debate about reforming the UN Security Council, and to continue the work of revitalizing the General Assembly and strengthening the Economic and Social Council. In line with the Joint Statement that we signed on November 10, 2020, in Madrid, we see three areas of action that should be emphasized in order to advance our common goal of reinforcing multilateralism. First, we need a renewed commitment to international cooperation. Multilateral organizations must be furnished with the means and the mandate to make a difference on the ground. Cooperation among the UN, regional organizations, and international financial institutions must improve at both the policy and the operational level. The multilateral system needs to be more open and inclusive to give young people, civil society, the private sector, academia, and others a spot at the table. We are already putting this into practice. On the margins of this year’s General Assembly, we have organized the virtual event “Delivering the UN Common Agenda: Action to Achieve Equality and Inclusion” in collaboration with the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just, and Inclusive Societies initiative. We intend to

ensure that all voices are heard. Second, we must act on the secretary-general’s agenda of bold steps to revive and strengthen our capacity to tackle poverty and inequality; ensure inclusion, equal participation, and justice; address the climate crisis and accelerating biodiversity loss; and equip ourselves for future threats of pandemics. We have learned from the COVID-19 crisis that we need to strengthen our collective ability to anticipate, prevent, and manage complex risks such as disease outbreaks, new wars, massive cyberattacks, environmental disasters, or other unforeseen events. We therefore welcome the secretarygeneral’s suggestions for how to strengthen global foresight and risk-management capacity, including the proposal for a new global “Emergency Platform.” Lastly, we welcome the proposal for a Summit of the Future in 2023, and we should use that opportunity to step up our efforts to strengthen international cooperation. In today’s world, with so many issues reverberating across borders and generations, we must seize this moment to create a more agile, effective, and accountable multilateral system that delivers for all citizens and enables us to tackle the global challenges we face. We want to be at the forefront of this endeavor. Together, we can and must reinvigorate rulesbased multilateralism, with a stronger and more inclusive UN at its core. This is the great political task of our times.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Feature

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

A coup attempt at the IMF By Joseph E. Stiglitz

oves are afoot to replace or at least greatly weaken Kristalina Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director since 2019. This is the same Georgieva whose excellent response to the pandemic quickly provided funds to keep countries afloat and to address the health crisis, and who successfully advocated for a $650 billion issuance of IMF “money” (special drawing rights, or SDRs), so essential for low- and middleincome countries’ recovery. Moreover, she has positioned the Fund to take a global leadership role in responding to the existential crisis of climate change. For all of these actions, Georgieva should be applauded. So, what is the problem? And who is behind the effort to discredit and oust her? The problem is a report that the World Bank commissioned from the law firm WilmerHale concerning the Bank’s annual Doing Business index, which ranks countries according to the ease of opening and operating commercial firms. The report contains allegations – or more accurately “hints” – of improprieties involving China, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan in the 2018 and 2020 indexes. Georgieva has come under attack for the 2018 index, in which China was ranked 78th, the same position as the previous year. But there is an insinuation that it should have been lower and was left as part of a deal to secure Chinese support for the capital increase that the Bank was then seeking. Georgieva was the World Bank’s chief executive officer at the time. The one positive outcome of the episode may be the termination of the index. A quarter-century ago, when I was chief economist of the World Bank and Doing Business was published by a separate division, the International Finance Corporation, I thought it was a terrible product. Countries received good ratings for low corporate taxes and weak labor regulations. The numbers were always squishy, with small changes in the data having potentially large effects on the rankings. Countries were inevitably upset when seemingly arbitrary decisions caused them to slide in the rankings.1 Having read the WilmerHale report, having talked directly

to key people involved, and knowing the whole process, the investigation appears to me to be a hatchet job. Throughout, Georgieva acted in an entirely professional way, doing exactly what I would have done (and occasionally had to do when I was chief economist): urge those working for me to be sure their numbers were right, or as accurate as possible, given the inherent limitations on data. Shanta Devarajan, the head of the unit overseeing Doing Business who reported directly to Georgieva in 2018, insists that he never was pressured to change the data or results. The Bank’s staff did exactly as Georgieva instructed and rechecked the numbers, making miniscule changes that led to a slight upward revision. The WilmerHale report itself is curious in many ways. It leaves the impression that there was a quid pro quo: the Bank was attempting to raise capital and offered improved rankings to help get it. But China was the most enthusiastic backer of the capital increase; it was the United States under President Donald Trump that was dragging its feet. If the objective had been to ensure the capital increase, the best way of doing so would have been to lower China’s ranking. The report also fails to explain why it doesn’t include the full testimony of the one person – Devarajan – with firsthand knowledge of what Georgieva said. “I spent hours telling my side of the story to the World Bank’s lawyers, who included only half of what I told them,” Devarajan has said. Instead, the report proceeds largely on the basis of innuendo. The real scandal is the WilmerHale report itself,

including how David Malpass, the World Bank president, escapes unscathed. The report notes another episode – an attempt to upgrade Saudi Arabia in the 2020 Doing Business index – but concludes that the Bank’s leadership had nothing to do with what happened. Malpass would go to Saudi Arabia touting its reforms on the basis of Doing Business just a year after Saudi security officials murdered and dismembered the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He who pays the piper, it seems, calls the tune. Fortunately, investigative journalism has uncovered far worse behavior, including an unvarnished attempt by Malpass to change the methodology of Doing Business to move China down in the rankings. If the WilmerHale report is best characterized as a hatchet job, what’s the motive? There are, not surprisingly, some who are unhappy at the direction the IMF has taken under Georgieva’s leadership. Some think it should stick to its knitting and not concern itself with climate change. Some dislike the progressive shift, with less emphasis on austerity, more on poverty and development, and greater awareness of the limits of markets. Many financial market players are unhappy that the IMF seems not to be acting as forcefully as a credit collector – a central part of my critique of the Fund in my book Globalization and Its Discontents. In the Argentine debt restructuring that began in 2020, the Fund showed clearly the limits on what the country could pay, that is, how much debt was sustainable. Because many private creditors wanted the country to pay more than was sustainable, this simple act changed the bargaining

framework. Then, too, there are longstanding institutional rivalries between the IMF and the World Bank, heightened now by the debate about who should manage a proposed new fund for “recycling” the newly issued SDRs from the advanced economies to poorer countries. One can add to this mix the isolationist strand of American politics – embodied by Malpass, a Trump appointee – combined with a desire to undermine President Joe Biden by creating one more problem for an administration facing so many other challenges. And then there are the normal personality conflicts. But political intrigue and bureaucratic rivalry are the last things the world needs at a time when the pandemic and its economic fallout have left many countries facing debt crises. Now more than ever, the world needs Georgieva’s steady hand at the IMF. Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and University Professor at Columbia University, is a former chief economist of the World Bank (1997-2000), chair of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and co-chair of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices. He is a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation and was lead author of the 1995 IPCC Climate Assessment. Source: Project Syndicate

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UG alumni council hosts Vice-Chancellor to a reception

he leadership of the University of Ghana Alumni Association (UGAA) hosted the acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, some senior management members and directors of the university to a dinner reception at the residence of Ambassador Afare Donkor, a member of the association. The purpose of the reception was to interact with them and to celebrate their assumption of office. The Chairman of UGAA, Mr. Richard Obeng Okrah, in his address, indicated that the appointment of the first female acting vice-chancellor of the university called for celebration. He stressed that the cordial relations between the alumni and the leadership of the university enabled them as alumni to give off their best to the university. “We’ve had good relations with the university management over the years and we think that

now that we have this new crop of senior management, it will be an opportunity to deepen our relationship and to ensure that we work in partnership to elevate the high profile achieved by our great institution”, Mr. Okrah asserted. In her response, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, who was delighted to engage with UGAA council members, pointed out that the strength of every university largely lies in its alumni. Consequently, the university management is always ready to partner with alumni, both home and abroad to firmly build on what the predecessors have accomplished. Prof. Amfo ceased the opportunity to express her appreciation to UGAA for its continued support to the university. She also introduced members of the senior management and directors present to the UGAA uouncil members.

In brief remarks, Ambassador Afare Donkor expressed his delight to see the majority of officials of the current University leadership being women. He congratulated and urged them to keep up their good work. Among the guests were some members of the alumni council and university officials, which

Samsung gets global recognition

he Global Market Share Omdia Study 2021 has been released and for the many millions of Samsung owners, it will come as no surprise that the brand was certified as the number one global refrigerator brand in the world.

The Omdia report analyses connected major home appliances including the fridges that Samsung is renowned for. The company, which was also recently recognised as one of the top five brands in the world, continues to create premium

appliances that complement and enhance the way we live today. Each of Samsung’s new fridges can be tailored to fit users’ spaces or match their lifestyles. “We’re proud to lead the fridge appliance industry by offering ground-breaking products for

included the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Development, Prof. Felix Asante, the Registrar, Mrs. Emelia AgyeiMensah, Director, Academic Affairs, Mrs. Lydia Anowa Nyako-Danquah and Director, Public Affairs, Mrs. Elizier Taiba Ameyaw-Buronyah.

every type of customer, and for every type of home, whether it’s your first home or your dream home,” said Lucas Lee MD, Samsung Ghana. “Innovation is in our DNA at Samsung,” he added “We listen carefully to what consumers tell us they want for their modern, connected homes and offer products that make the daily lives of families more convenient, more efficient, and more meaningful.” From affordable home appliances to new premium technology such as the FlexZone and BESPOKE refrigerators, that can be customised to customers’ space, the company offers a combination of versatile, intelligent features and smart design. This is based on Samsung’s vision for a new kind of home in which appliances are beautifully designed, flexible to fit every lifestyle, and seamlessly connected for maximum convenience. Samsung achieved the number one fridge brand in the world certification through an unwavering focus on performance and efficiency and on designing appliances through rigorous engineering and uniform quality.