role for local capacity across the petroleum value chain.
The Chief Executive O cer of Ghana National Petroleum Cor poration (GNPC), O-A. Dan quah, has reiterated calls for the development of appropriate local content policies which he thinks will foster an indigenous talent engine, as far as the coun try’s domestic energy supply are concerned.
Speaking at the opening of the 2022 Local Content Conference and Exhibition at Takoradi in the Western Region, under the auspices of the Petroleum Com mission, Mr. Danquah said the industry lives in a time of over whelming global consensus to move away from fossil fuel proj ects with the objective of achiev ing Net Zero emissions by 2050.
Africa, he said, is expected to play its part in decarbonizing the energy industry in the face of a potential decline in fossil fuel demand, price, and invest ment over the medium to long term. The pressure, he added is very real considering that Africa nances only 11% of its fossil projects and controls only 33% of its production.
“For us in Ghana and Africa, the impetus must be for an equita ble or "just” transition which balances both climate change and economic growth impera tives. With a growing popula tion, rapid urbanization and increasing incomes, it is antici pated that the pace of domestic energy supply (which domi nantly would be fossil fuels in
our life time) will struggle to keep up with demand if the right local content policies are not put in place. Ultimately, the right local content policies foster an indigenous talent engine that is primarily fueled by technical capability – or to be more speci c, the number of active technical workers”
The conference, Mr. Danquah emphasized must, serve as a timely reminder that the sector’s ability to carve a transi tion path that works, depends heavily on its technical capacity.
In addition, he suggested e orts should be made to strive for commercial self-su ciency, including encouraging nancing from within the continent. “These goals can only truly be realised when local content development operates to its full potential.”
Further, he pointed out, it was his expectation that the key discussion points of the confer ence would provide guiding lights as to how industry players can maximise local content development within the context of petroleum exploration and development – marginal eld development, confronting the implications of the energy tran sition, nancing the oil and gas value chain and addressing issues surrounding the African Continental Free Trade Agree ment. Consequently, the enhancement of intra-African trade highlights an even deeper
National oil companies like GNPC also hold a signi cant key to enhancing local content development. “You will hear more about GNPC’s Voltaian Basin Project later, but I will touch on how we are using this homegrown project to boost local content. The project was born out of the Corporation’s drive for commercial operator ship of its oil and gas assets coupled with a strong national desire for Ghanaians to manage and retain maximum bene t from our petroleum resources. The project aims to culminate in the drilling of GNPC’s rst well in the Basin.
As part of exploration e orts, GNPC has acquired and processed a over 3,800-Iine km of 2D seismic data from Phase 1 to 3. Phase 3 is now about 77% complete. In 2023, GNPC will acquire additional 2D seismic data and collect geochemistry samples to further aid our understanding of the basin. GNPC’s local con tent plan has seen real results. Phase 1 involved 46% local goods and services contracted, while Phase 3 has seen 100% of the goods and services con tracted locally. Phase 3 has also involved no less than 95% of indigenous sta employed.”
The CEO indicated that GNPC will continue to fully imple ment local content in its E&P operations while we strategi cally build standby technical capabilities which are both commercially and nancially sustainable in the wake of the energy transition. In the same light, domestic industry stake holders, should not only serve as passive actors when it comes to local content poli cies, but need to act as strate gic agents in creating an enabling environment for the e ective implementation of Local content laws.
the time, the country with crisis where we sort of kick the ball to somebody else, all the energies that we have, resources, we team up, circle the wagons and move on, and we have been
of more than USD 4 bn over the next 5 years.
“We are in the threshold of getting into an agreement with ve IPPs which will save the country about US$4bn.”
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has given the strongest indica tion that he remains the capable person for his role and that calls for his replacement will not do the country any good, especial ly at a time of crisis, where con certed e orts are required to rebound the economy.
Appearing before the Ad hoc Committee of Parliament hear ing the censure motion against him on Friday, he responded to a question on his competence by stating “I don’t think this is
Mr.Ofori-Atta said, a key compo nent of the national debt stock related to three (3) exceptional expenditure items that are neither external nor a creation of this government :Energy Sector Excess Capacity pay ments (GHC 17 billion), which relate to a legacy of take or pay contracts that saddled the coun try’s economy with annual excess capacity charges of close to US$1 billion; Direct COVID-19 expenditure amounted to GHC 12.0bn; and the Banking Sector Clean up (GHC 25 billion).
According to him, government has been able to renegotiate some of these power purchase agreements and the new agree ments with the Priority IPPs, once nalized and executed will o er estimated nominal savings
IPPs payments are expected to be made over the medi um-term. Given that they have become explicit contingent liabilities, appropriately bud geting for them “above the line” ensures that resources are duly allocated for their settlement.
He also indicated that he expects to be the man in charge to present the 2023 Budget Statement scheduled for next week November 23, despite 98 Members of Parlia ment from his party warning they will boycott if he appears on the oor to do the presenta tion.
Mr.Ofori-Atta lamented about the delay in the passage of the Electronic Transaction Levy, which according to him nega tively impacted on the scal
“Indeed, we all saw the dire consequences when the House, for months, refused to pass a major revenue gen eration item introduced by this government to support the scal stability of the econ omy”.
He added that the negotiation with the IMF is progressing steadily and well and we are working assiduously to achieve a Sta -Level Agree ment (SLA) by end of Decem ber, 2022.
The minority in parliament on November 8,2022 submit ted a motion of censure to remove the nance minister over alleged mismanagement of the economy and alleged unconstitutional withdrawals from the government’s Con solidated Fund to build a Cathedral, while the motion was blocked by the ruling majority, however the major ity has demanded that Presi dent Akufo-Addo dismisses Ofori-Atta.
He a rmed that one of the core mandates of CBG is to nur ture and support small busi nesses, adding that the interest for all stakeholders is to build strong businesses in a strong
bank of the business behavior which becomes a basis to give out facility to the business owner unsecured.
to ll the gap in access to nance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), has collaborated with the Con solidated Bank Ghana (CBG) for a seminar to discuss the chal lenges in obtaining credit from banks and the cost it comes with.
The seminar, which was under the theme "Access to nance for MSME", was held at the main
Mr. Kwabena Asare Owusu, Chief of Sta of CBG, who spoke on behalf of the CEO of the bank, expressed gratitude to the UKGCC for choosing CBG as the main sponsor for the program.
According to him, there are several nancing packages for SMEs but its only for those which have positioned them selves very well and have proper records to proof their credit
According to Mr. Kwansah, General Manager of Business Banking, CBG, the bank has developed a module for giving loans to MSME's without collat eral.
He explained that business owners only needed to be able to track their cash- ow.
One way by which that could be achieved, he said, was to open an account with the bank and make sure all their transac tions go through the bank, that’s their receivables and payables.
This, he added, informs the
“The bank is also involved in training and coaching these business owners on book keeping. A further probe revealed that the interest on loans is high due to policy rate from central bank, the bank is therefore exploring ways by which they can acquire cheap capital to give their clients in the MSME space at a much cheaper rate,” he said.
A sta of the UKGCC who represented the Executive Director of the chamber, Adjoba Kyiamah, said access to nance and its cost was one of the issues the chamber encountered through its study and advocacy for
networks of private security companies for gathering actionable intelligence is vast. This advantage, he said must be harnessed by state security agencies to help in the ght against crime.
“A close collaboration between private and public security agencies would lead to a mutu ally bene cial information sharing arrangements; with each party tapping into each other’s superior competencies for a better security architec ture. Private security compa nies provide security to an overwhelming majority of the country’s infrastructure with a large number of purposefully positioned security guards”, he said.
He was speaking at a breakfast meeting with senior sta of the company across the country to create awareness on the nega tive impact of terrorism and the role of private security in curbing the imminent danger.
and focus of private security is detection and prevention of harm, misappropriation or unauthorized access/use of a property.”
According to Mr. Quartey, law enforcement agencies can gather information about incidents through reporting by private security sta ; gain additional ‘work-force’ (force multiplier) by relying on private security; prepare private security companies to assist in emergencies and coordinate e orts to safe guard the nation’s critical infrastructure. Private Securi ty Companies on the other hand can also gain informa tion from law enforcement regarding threats and crime trends and coordinate plans for evacuation and transpor tation during emergencies.
Security Services Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Quartey, has indicat ed that a strong collaboration between public security agen cies and private security compa nies is needed to help ght
He said that although there is inadequate information about the infrastructural base of private security companies in Ghana, nevertheless the human capital base and security
He stated that, “over the years, private security has been designed to augment the activi ties of state security. Private security is the provision of security by a person other than a public servant to protect a person or property. The remit
Edern Security Services Lim ited (ESSEL) is a registered company licensed to provide private security services in Ghana by the Ministry of Inte rior. Edern Security has branches in all 16 regions across the country, with professionally trained securi ty guards providing services to institutions operating in di erent sectors of the econ
The Vodafone Ghana Foundation, the charity arm of Vodafone Ghana, has won ve awards at the 2022 Sustainability and Social Investment (SSI) Awards held over the weekend at the Kempins ki Gold Coast Hotel.
The organisers awarded the Foundation the SSI Team of the Year, SSI Foundation/Company of the Year, Best Company in Supporting Health Institutions, and Best Company in Projects Promoting Good Health and Well ness.
people’s lives through several sustainable projects.
Head of the Vodafone Ghana Foundation, Rev. Amaris Perbi, speaking on this recognition, remarked: “I am really over whelmed by the recognition we
are proud of what we have achieved and the lives we have touched. These awards today are certainly well deserved, and I would like to thank the organ isers for recognising our work.” Rev. Amaris also thanked the
ership and commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
The central bank won two hon ours and was also recognised as suitable for celebration as a Doyen of Business Excellence at the awards held virtually on November 17.
A statement from the central bank said it won the Corporate Governance Institution of the Year award for 2022 It said the award followed the bank’s outstanding perfor mance in promoting the culture of good corporate governance.
The statement added that the Governor of BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, was also presented an award as the Corporate Gover nance Personality, Ghana, for the Year 2022.
Dr Addison was awarded for demonstrating outstanding
performance in the promotion of good governance leading to signi cant outcomes.
The statement said the bank’s Secretary, Sandra Thompson, who represented the BoG at the virtual event, expressed her gratitude to the organisers of the Awards.
It said the programme was attended by over 150 local and international participants including corporate directors from both public and private sector organisations, cutting across 42 industries.
It said the participants were drawn from the continent and were addressed by the eminent Professor Extraordinaire Mervyn King, an authority on corporate governance.
Awards, was held under the theme: ‘promoting corporate governance excellence across Africa.’
The ACGN Excellence Awards programme has been estab
rate actors from Africa, who are demonstrating outstand ing performance in the promotion of good gover nance leading to signi cant outcomes.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been honoured at the 2022 African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN) Directors’ Awards
The joint Intergovernmental Committee of Senior O cials and Experts meeting organised by two o ces of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Central and Eastern Africa, in collaboration with the Govern ment of Seychelles was held (ICSOE) on 15-17 November in Mahe Seychelles.
The High-level policymakers, heads of international organiza tions, the private sector, repre sentatives of youth groups, UN O cials, academia and the media at the meeting called for collec tive solutions, cooperation and coherent action to enhance diver si cation as key to hedging against in ation.
A diversi ed approach to our economies will help African countries navigate a variety of di erent environments,” says Jean Luc Mastaki, acting Director of ECA in Central Africa, while discussing the uncertainty around the current in ationary scenario. Mama Keita, Director of
ECA in Eastern Africa also stressed that “Diversi cation can stand a better chance of deliver ing resilient economies and better performance in changing and unstable environments".
The meeting was held under the theme “Strengthening resilience, economic growth and diversi ca tion in a context of instability and shocks: the role of Special Economic Zones, innovative nancing, tourism and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
AfCFTA
Participants at the ICSOE under scored the role of trade and investment in infrastructure that supports the private sector to implement the African Continen tal Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AfCFTA o ers immense trade opportunities. The continent is home to the fastest-growing pop ulation globally, with numbers expected to rise by nearly 50% over the next 14 years, growing
from 1.2 billion people today to over 1.8 billion in 2035.
The meeting also underlined the need for digital technologies in the production value chain as essential to create the needed jobs in Africa and to transform our economies to achieve the Sustainable development agenda 2030 and Africa we want Agenda 2063.
Create value chains such as the one on batteries throughout Africa
As many countries plan to increase their share of electric vehicles on their roads, how ready is Africa to service these markets? Participants in Seychelles pondered this ques tion while discussing how the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) can leverage its abundant cobalt resources and hydroelectric power to become a low-cost producer of lithi um-ion battery cathode precur sor materials.
According to ECA, Electric vehi
cles represent a $7 trillion market opportunity between today and 2030, and $46 trillion between today and 2050, according to the new report
The need to strengthen the tourism sector beyond nation al parks and nice beaches was also discussed. Countries were called to fully harness the tour ism opportunities presented by the urban areas which have largely remained underdevel oped.
Participants largely discussed how to develop key agship products based on the urban areas' comparative and com petitive advantage. This will enable African urban areas individually brand and posi tion themselves based on their uniqueness.
Nearly 120 participants from 20 African countries attended the hybrid meeting.
should be transparent, and we know Binance must lead by example.”
Below are the six principles that CZ outlines which help to keep centralized exchanges safe and secure for users:
1. Be risk averse with user funds
a. User funds must never be traded or invested.
strong foundations for block chain
c. A healthy native token is the lifeblood of a successful blockchain.
d. Users need to be able to con dently depend on the native token their chosen blockchain relies on.
In light of what has been hap pening in the crypto ecosystem in the last week, Binance Chief Executive O cer, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has reiterated the need to focus on rebuilding and safeguarding users.
In a statement addressed to the crypto community, published on Tuesday, November 15th, 2022, CZ outlines the six most
important requirements that the exchange and every other centralized exchange should adopt in order to ensure trust with users. He explains that “our role, rst and foremost, must be to protect users. User funds must never be misman aged, and all measures must be maintained to keep user funds secure. Exchange operations
b. We must provide risk warnings proactively for users so they understand the volatil ity across crypto.
2. Never use native tokens as collateral a. Native tokens are exchange tokens that are created by the company that runs the exchange.
b. Native tokens play an integral role in the running of blockchains and ensures the
e. There also needs to be widespread utility - an example is the BNB chain which is a community-driven, decentral ized and censorship-resistant blockchain, powered by BNB.
3. Share live proof of assets a. As part of Binance’s ongoing commitment to trans parency and fostering trust in the ecosystem, we have begun sharing details of key hot and cold wallet addresses.
b. This is a starting point while we work to create a Merkle tree proof of funds that
we will share with the commu nity in the next few weeks.
c. Our objective is to allow users of our platform to make informed decisions that are aligned with their nancial goals.
4. Keep strong reserves a. We established the SAFU fund to cover extreme circum stances. Today, there is about US$1billion in the fund.
b. Others across the indus try should commit to doing something similar.
5. Avoid excessive leverage
a. It is unwise to take on debt to fund growth.
b. We call on our industry partners to be equally scally conservative.
6. Strengthen & Enforce Security Protocols
a. Due to the fast evolving nature of industry and project protocols, there is a need for industry to form a better coali tion to agree on standards for the quality of security measures for exchanges and projects
b. Strong partnership with law enforcement is required to
support investigations and recovery of stolen funds.
c. We need a better incu bation program to equip new projects with appropriate secu rity measures.
d. To ensure greater clarity of the complex ow of assets across the blockchain, we have to be prepared to make invest ments in on-chain analysis to x weaknesses in existing models. We must address them to ensure transparency.
e. All exchanges should have strict KYC and AML mea
Overall, every exchange has a responsibility to the people who decide to invest with them. Thus, CZ emphasizes the importance of all central ized exchanges adopting the above stated principles to protect users. Ultimately, the onus is on the crypto exchanges to prove to regula tors and the community that a few bad actors are not emblematic of the industry.
In a volatile and complex world, predicting the future with preci sion is a risky business.
Understanding and being adept at inclusive leadership will help lead ers thrive in their increasingly diverse environment.
This article is intended to help leaders think about how tradition al notions of leadership must change.
It is structured in three parts. The rst part describes the shifts elevating the importance of inclu sive leadership – the ‘Why care?’ aspect.
The second part elaborates the six
signature traits of an inclusive leader.
The article is concluded by high lighting key strategies that will help organisations to cultivate inclusive capabilities across their leadership population.
A new world Global mega-trends are creating a business context that is far less homogenous and much more diverse than has historically been the case.
These interrelated shifts are in u encing business priorities and reshaping the capabilities
required of leaders to succeed in the future. Below are the trends elevating the importance of inclusive lead ership.
1. Diversity of markets Markets are characterised by signi cant cultural, political and economic di erences. As income levels rise, so does consumer demand. Organisations need to under stand their market environment and strategize on the best approach to operate in the various markets.
To remain competitive in this environment, organisations have realised, customer centricity is paramount.
Customer promises are being written into vision statements. As operating models are being redesigned to ensure that customers are at the heart of the business, the role of the ‘chief customer o cer’ has also been created and elevated to the exec utive team.
3.
In the race for new ideas, diversi ty of thinking is gaining promi nence as a strategy to protect against ‘groupthink’ and gener ate breakthrough insights. However, while many agree intel lectually that collective intelli gence enhances group perfor mance, few understand how to consistently achieve it with any degree of speci city.
Diversity of markets, customers,
ideas, and talent is driving the need for inclusion as a new leadership capability.
Here are six traits of leaders who display the ability to not only embrace individual di er ences, but to potentially lever age them for competitive advantage.
Highly inclusive leaders are committed to diversity and inclusion because these objec tives align with their personal values and because they believe in the business case. Being inclusive of diversity is a big challenge.
It takes time and energy; two of a leader’s most precious com modities.
The primary motivation for pursuing diversity and inclu sion is aligned with leaders’ personal values and a deep-seated sense of fairness. More than just talking, when leaders prioritise time, energy, and resources to address inclu sion, it signals that a verbal commitment is a true priority.
Highly inclusive leaders speak up and challenge the status quo, and they are humble about their strengths and weak nesses.
For leaders, they need to make a decision as to whether they dig in and entrench as they are, or recognize the world as it will become, and be part of the change. The courage to speak up; to challenge others and the status quo, is a central behavior
of an inclusive leader.
Highly inclusive leaders are mind ful of personal and organisational blind spots and self-regulate to help ensure “fair play”.
Inclusive leaders are deeply aware that biases can narrow their eld of vision and prevent them from making objective decisions.
At the individual level, intrinsic leaders act on self-awareness. They acknowledge that their orga nizations, despite best intentions, have unconscious bias, and they put in place policies, processes, and structures to mitigate the unconscious bias that exists.
Highly inclusive leaders have an open mindset, a desire to under stand how others view and experi
ence the world, and a tolerance for ambiguity.
For inclusive leaders, asking curi ous questions and actively listen ing are core skills that are key to deepening their understanding of perspectives from diverse individ uals.
Trait 5: Culturally intelligent
Highly inclusive leaders are con dent and e ective in cross-cultural interactions.
For inclusive leaders, the ability to function e ectively in di erent cultural settings is about more than just having a mental map of di erent cultural frameworks (for example, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory).
While an understanding of cultur al similarities and di erences is important, inclusive leaders also recognize how their own culture
impacts their personal world view, as well as how cultural stereotypes (including the misuse of cultural model) can in uence their expectations of others.
Trait 6: Collaborative Highly inclusive leaders empow er individuals as well as create and leverage the thinking of diverse groups.
At its core, collaboration is about individuals working together, building on each other’s ideas to produce something new or solve something complex.
Inclusive leaders understand that, for collaboration to be successful, individuals must rst be willing to share their diverse perspectives.
For inclusive leaders, diversity of thinking is a critical ingredient for e ective collaboration.
Far from being guided by opin ions and feelings, or leaving success to chance, inclusive leaders adopt a disciplined approach to diversity of think ing, paying close attention to team composition and the deci sion-making processes employed.
Diversity of markets, custom ers, ideas, and talent is an ines capable part of today’s business environment.
When leaders have clarity about what it means to be highly inclusive (through the six signature traits and fteen elements), they are positioned for success.
The writer is the Country Man aging Partner, Deloitte Ghana Email: dowusu@deloitte.com.gh
nio Pedro, Executive Secretary ad interim, UN Economic Com mission for Africa
H. E. Ms. Gourouza Magagi Salamatou, Minister of Industry and Youth of the Republic of Niger
H. E. Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thom as, Chief Executive O cer of AUDA-NEPAD
H. E. Ms. Pamela Coke-Hamil ton, Executive Director of Inter national Trade Center H.E. Albert Muchanga, Commis sioner for Economic develop
and Minerals
Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues and Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It gives me great pleasure to be here with you today represent ing the UNECA.
Let me express our gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Niger for their warm hospitality.
Excellencies, Ladies and gentle men: We have always known that Afri
requires sustainable industrial ization.
Thirty-three years ago, on 26 July 1989, the Assembly of Heads of State and Govern ment of the Organization of African Unity decided that the 20th of November be com memorated as the Africa Industrialization Day every year.
The very rst aspiration under the AU’s Agenda 2063 is to build “A prosperous Africa
based on inclusive growth and sustainable develop ment” for which bene cia tion of Africa’s natural resources, manufacturing, and industrialization are the key success factors. Likewise, Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG9) of the 2030 Agenda puts sustainable industrialization at the centre of global e orts to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis we are in and the devastating
Covid-19 pandemic we are recov ering from have cruelly recon rmed the accuracy of our diagno sis and prescription, but also the yawning gap between our lofty ambitions and our paltry perfor mance in this crucial eld.
But, today, I believe we stand at a turning point where we leave this inconvenient truth behind us and open a new chapter in African economic history. I do not say this out of wishful thinking or blind optimism. I have good reasons behind it.
The adoption of the Agreement Establishing African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2018 and its speedy entry into force in 2019 demonstrates that Africa is nally ready for takeo . The AfCFTA gives Africa the unique opportunity to replace its small and fragmented markets with a large single market in which goods, services, capital and people can move freely oblivious of internal boundaries.
A product made in Africa will immediately bene t from the pref erential, e ectively duty- and quo ta-free, terms of access to a market of 1.3 billion people.
That is the most powerful incen tive industrialists can have to invest in a manufacturing plant based in Africa. The good news is that we are seeing African indus trialists being the champions of endogeneous growth and struc tural transformation. To achieve transformational change though we will need more of this and at larger scale.
That, then, is also one of the most powerful arguments for the AfCFTA – that the AfCFTA serves Africa’s industrialization cause more than probably anything we have tried before. In our Econom ic Report on Africa 2015: Industri alizing Through Trade we had established the tenets of trade-in duced industrialization.
This is what we argued for in 2017 when in Central Africa we adopt ed the Douala Consensus on
Economic Diversi cation through Resouce-driven and Trade-in duced Industrilisation and launched the “Made in Central Africa Agenda”, building on ERA 2015 and ERA 2013 on “Making the Most of Africa’s Commodities: Industrialisation for Growth, Jobs and Economic Transformation”. In other words, we have all the theoretical underpinings and frameworks to make it work.
But, of course, powerful an incen tive as it is, the AfCFTA Agreement alone cannot guarantee African industrialization. It needs to be implemented. And it needs to be implemented by each of its indi vidual State Parties in such a way as to promote industrialization and sustainable development across the Continent.
There is yet another reason why industrialization is critical for Africa. Today, primary products –whether extractive or agricultural – account for the bulk of our exports to the rest of the world, while processed products domi nate our imports. In far too many cases, we export the raw product and reimport the same thing in processed form – thereby export ing African jobs to others and e ectively paying for the wages of foreign workers.
Between 2016 and 2021 fuels accounted for the largest share of African’s total exports, ranging from 29% to 43% in any given year, and averaging 37% over the period. At a more granular level, petroleum and petroleum-related products comprise the largest percentage.
On the other hand, Africa’s inter nal trade, is much more balanced. Trade in mineral fuels averages only around 20% of intra-African exports. In its place manufactured goods and food items make up a signi cantly larger share of intra-African trade reducing Africa’s reliance on exports of raw materials. On average, between 2016 and 2021 manufactured goods represented a 44% share of total intra-African exports. Food items likewise averaged 20% of exports over the period and show
ing that internally Africa is signi cantly less reliant on raw and extractive materials.
Industrialization is not an option for Africa; it is an imperative. Simply put, by adding value to our raw materials here on the Continent, we can convert our resources to the real blessings they are rather than allow them to continue to be a curse imposed on us. And the AfCFTA provides the best possible launch pad for African industrialization.
At the same time, we also need to realize that industrialization is a process, and a long one at that, not an event. And, of course, we should be mindful that industri alization is not the business of Ministries of Industry alone. Instead, implementation of true industrial policy requires a whole of government and beyond approach and action, aligning industrial, trade and other sector policies and putting science technology and innova tion at the centre of it to ensure that we remain globally competi tive beyond our initial endow ments and comparative advan tages.
As we pursue our industrializa tion drive, and do so in a single-minded fashion, in the short term, as we export com modities, we have to change the paradigms. For a Continent like ours, exporting primary com modities should not mean taking prices set by others forever, which exposes us to the vagaries of commodity price uctuations, triggering macro-economic insta bility and other ills.
At least in areas where Africa enjoys signi cant market shares already, such as cobalt in DRC or cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, Africa must dictate market prices, not accept prices set by others.
Today, we are a price taker – and not a price setter – even in these products because we are not collaborating enough, and indeed because we are not imple menting the AU Commodity
Strategy. It is long overdue that we do so!
As we drive industrialization, let’s also realize that industrial ization needs resources. A well-thought out and coordi nated commodity strategy, implemented in a coordinated fashion, is one of the routes for Africa to gain a fair share of the resource rent in the short term and to mobilize the resources necessary to nance its indus trialization agenda in the long term.
But, as articulated in the Africa Mining Vision, for sure, our priority should be to move beyond resource extractivism and focus on making the most of our resources in pursuing resource-driven sustainable industrialization and economic diversi cation.
In sum, let me conclude by restating one important point: the AfCFTA is a wonderful tool in itself, but also – and especial ly – because it puts in place all the necessary conditions for transformational investment, industrialization and sustain able development in Africa. I thank you very much for your kind attention.
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pation in Ghana’s oil and gas industry, the company launched its maiden edition of the “Tullow Supplier Market Day” on Wednes day, 16th November 2022 at the Fiesta Royale Hotel, Dzorwulu.
The Tullow Supplier Market Day is a quarterly forum which aims at providing suppliers with a platform to; provide direct feed back to Tullow’s procurement team on procurements and contracts, provide visibility of Tullow’s procurement plans, discuss opportunities to increase
local participation scopes and improve local capacity amongst other procurement topics.
The event was attended by over 120 indigenous supplier compa nies and Joint venture companies, including; Amaja Tubular Services Limited, BAJ Freight and Logistics, F. Malawi Engineering Company Ltd, Ghana Navy, GLICO Health care, Halliburton Operations Ghana Limited, Petrofac (Ghana) IJV Limited, PHI Century Limited, TechnipFMC Ghana and Vodafone Ghana to mention a few.
Addressing the event, Tullow Gha
na’s Managing Director, Wissam Al-Monthiry noted that ‘’Supplier development remains an import ant component of Tullow’s local content strategy. The Supplier Market Day is one of our key local content initiatives intended to enhance Tullow’s visibility of opportunities that allows us to deepen participation through regular quarterly engagements with the supplier community and our procurement teams”.
The maiden event was a success as suppliers reported having had fruitful open dialogue with Tullow’s Supply Chain team on procurement and contracting processes and future plans.
The Tullow Supplier Market Day initiative was birthed out of direct feedback received from suppliers who expressed their desire to learn more about the company’s procurement meth ods, improve their chances of winning tenders, correct short comings with bid submissions, and gain insights into the compa
ny’s procurement plans.
Since inception of its opera tions, Tullow has consistently rolled out initiatives that allow the company to boost indige nous participation in Ghana's oil and gas sector. Recent successful initiatives include; the Marine Sector adoption strategy which led to the contracting of the rst Ghana ian owned, Ghanaian agged vessel, Ghanaian manned vessel, and Ghanaian registered vessel, providing services in the Jubilee and TEN elds, and the contract scope reservations for ingenious companies amongst others.
The Company intends to continue its e orts to develop local capacity and participation through further initiatives planned for next year.
hand over motorbikes to the Min istry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
She said the credit facility would provide access to nance to more farmers as part of the grand EU support in the agriculture sector under the EU Ghana Agricultural Programme (EU-GAP).
their production abilities posing a risk of increased hunger and poverty to their families.
The European Union (EU), has injected €2.5 million into Ghana’s agricultural sector to help increase farmers’ access to credit facilities to nance their agricul tural production and businesses in the agricultural value chain within the next six years.
The fund would be managed by the Sinapi Aba Savings & Loans (SASL), a non-banking nancial institution providing loans and savings products to individuals and Micro-Small-Medium Enter prises (MSMEs) with a focus on rural areas and women.
Mrs Paulina Rozycka, the Head of the Infrastructure and Sustainable Development of the EU Delegation to Ghana, launched the initiative in Wa during a brief ceremony to
Mrs Rozycka observed that farm ers and agricultural MSMEs were often excluded from the formal nancing systems and had to deal with informal lenders or aggrega tors and having to bear higher interest rates.
“This line of credit will increase the number of smallholders (in the agricultural value chain) bene t ting from loans and nancial prod ucts by more than 25,000 borrow ers.
More farmers will now bene t from small loans to nance agricultural inputs or equipment with technical assistance”, she explained.
Some farmers in the rural areas had complained of the high cost of farm inputs such as fertilizers and agrochemicals, which had a ected
Madam Seozuma Saanuuri, a smallholder farmer at Yeliyiri, a community in the Wa West District, said women farmers in the community were hard-hit with nancial constraints in nancing their farming activities.
“We (women) are su ering a lot. This year we were not able to buy fertilizer for the farm. Getting a tractor too was di cult for us, so we did not get anything from our farms to feed our children.
“So, we would have been happy if the government or any organi zation could help us with loans during the farming season to farm and cater for our children”, she appealed.
The situation was not di erent in the Biskan community in the Wa East District, where farmers said due to the high cost of fertilizers this year, they had to divert from cultivating high fertilizer demanding crops like maize to producing soybeans that needed minimum fertilizer to yield.
Mr Seidu Abdullai, a farmer in the Biskan community, said the high cost of farm inputs and tractor services coupled with the lack of nancial support to farmers was rendering the agricultural sector unattractive to the youth.
However, Mr Bob Zaato, Branch Manager for SASL in Wa, said the €2.5 million EU credit facility would help increase the value of loans given out to farmers as well as increase the number of farmers to have access to the loans.
“It has not been an essay task working with farmers; howev er, we are doing all that we can to serve them anytime they knock at our doors,” he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa.
Mr Zaato said any business or activity within the agricultural value chain was quali ed to request nancial support from his institution saying, “From today, any time you visit our branches you will be served.”
Source: GNAThe National Female Pre-tech Training Program commenced on Monday, 21st November 2022, across the regions in Ghana. The program seeks to train women by providing them with fundamental Technology skills for personal growth and career devel opment.
At Soronko Academy, the Digitiz ing Commerce program started with an introduction session. The facilitator introduced himself, the purpose of the gathering and the course outline for the program. The participants also shared a few things about themselves. INTER
the introduction in Digitizing com merce class.
The class looked at what the inter net was about, some misconcep tions about the internet, internet protocol suites, web security and web server and a web client.
Beginning of the class, the facilita tor got interactive by asking the participants about their prior knowledge of the internet and what it does.
Important points were raised concerning the internet, which created the notion that every participant had a general under
internet was explained as “the network of connected networks” to simplify all the participants had to say.
A brief history of the internet was discussed to make participants understand the evolution process and how bre optics played a major role in the process.
The work of a Ghanaian chemical engineer and inventor, Thomas Mensah who contributed to the development of bre optic manu facturing and nanotechnology was discussed, to buttress the
fact that being Ghanaians should not limit their capabili ties.
A clear-cut distinction between the internet and the web was established, with misconcep tions cleared. The participants got an in-depth understanding of the various layers of the internet and how communica tions are facilitated.
After the break at noon, the class was introduced to web security, web servers and web clients. To end the class, the trainer shared some tips on how to stay safe on the inter net.
Continued from page 3
MSME'S, hence the event to try and ll the gap in how MSME'S can get support.
For her part, Sophie Nanteza, Head of Africeler8, Oakwood Green, said most business owners in sub-Sahara Africa became entrepreneurs out of necessity.
"Majority of the entrepreneurs are out of necessity, once upon a time they tried to nd a job and maybe it didn't go so well so
they have to evaluate their skills what can I do and many businesses are being born out of that," she added.
This, she indicated, was a posi tive thing; the problem she believed, however, is the lack of necessary training and experience to sustain these businesses.
Another challenge she men tioned was access to market, saying when SME's get credit
to stock up their products, they sometimes get stuck because the goods do not go as much as they should due to limited market within their geography.
To open up market, she said her institution organizes trade road show in Sierra Leone, Uganda and Ghana.
In the nutshell, the organiza tion worked around three objectives which are to get
nance for ready business, build capacity and open up market to the MSME’s, she added.
Mr. Eric Anthony A ram, acting Director Financial Sup port Services for Ghana Enter prise Agency, gave an overview of how the agency provides nancial support and training based on need assessment.
According to him 373 SME'S were supported by way of
The event was at the Enclave Gardens and attended by a star-studded audience of celebri ties, diplomats and champions of the industry.
The launch upheld the African identity by showcasing African culture and like its parent brand, it was de ned by the brand’s three pillars; pride in our African identi ty, passion in our heritage and power in unity and to be unapolo getically African.
The event was hosted by Award-Winning Broadcaster, Helen Appiah-Ampofo and Inter national MC, Handsomefella and included performances from Ria Boss as well as three rotating female DJs.
The RTD, AphroChill; comes in two new avours; Moor-Lemon and Nu-Passion, each with a distinctive and refreshing taste. Flavoured with ginger, lemon and vanilla, the Moor-Lemon blend is a perfect symphony of citrus, spice and the soft notes of vanilla. The Nu-Passion is avored with passion fruit, peach and other exotic fruits. For individuals look ing for a tasty, refreshing Ready to Drink, AphroChill is the only local ly produced premium drink that
burst of avour. AphroChill will be sold at all outlets in the country. This allows Aphro’s agship prod ucts Moor and Nubi already licensed to sell and distribute in the UK, Kenya and US to enter the mainstream lucrative market occupied by other ready to drink companies as the brand diversi es into the region’s most innovative beverage company.
It is rumoured that Aphro has been approached by global bever age companies and strategic foreign investors in search of an indigenous brand to support (Aphro Executive refuses to com ment on this). Aphro is also the subject of a Harvard Business
School (HBS) case study about innovation in Africa. Starting out as a conversation between friends, Aphro is gaining ground across the globe. Within a span 2 years, Aphro is currently in over 80 outlets across the on and o trade sales channels in Ghana.
The Strategic Advisor for Aph roChill, Anima OA stated, “We’re excited to provide exciting new options for the Ghanaian RTD consumer. We listened to our consumers who are itching for new avors and leveraged their feedback and insights to create a unique, refreshing and tasty beverage that was developed by a world class team and experi
enced manufacturing partners right here in Ghana.”
About Aphro
Aphro Beverages is an alcoholic beverage company launched in 2019. The brand’s agship products are currently avail able in the UK, Kenya and Ivory Coast with plans to commence distribution in the US and Nige ria in the rst quarter of 2023. Made in Ghana, Aphro infuses alcohol and a blend of indige nous African ingredients with a triple distilled palm spirit that transports palates on an aromatic journey through Africa.
18, 2022,
of its existing portfolio named AphroChill.
UNESCO Assistant Director-Gen eral for Education Stefania Gianni ni has said digital technologies, geared toward inclusion and equity, could transform the future of school systems and learning.
“Harnessing technology and changing education models is imperative,” Giannini said as she addressed a side event about the UNESCO-Huawei “Technology-en abled Open Schools for All” proj ect at the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt.
Giannini said the partnered proj ect “can help countries to rethink and build a new generation of schools and learners”, as young people were increasingly faced with the challenges and risks caused by climate change.
The event, dedicated to a partner
ship developed by the UNESCO Education sector with Huawei and the Ministries of Education of Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana, also presented preliminary results of the open schools in the three African countries.
“Aiming to leave no one behind in the digital world, enabling equity and quality in education is one of four focused domains in Huawei TECH4ALL digital inclusion initia tive.” said Catherine Du, Head of Huawei's TECH4ALL program. She added, “Moreover, we believe that ICT is a key enabler for a greener world with approaches like reducing carbon emission, renewable energy, circular econo my and conserving nature with technology.”
Working with more than 20 di er ent partners, TECH4ALL’s educa
tion program has helped connect schools, promoting digital skills, and supporting STEAM curricu lum to K12 students and teachers in more than 400 schools global ly as well as unemployed young people and elders.
Commenting on the value of the UNESCO-Huawei project, Dr. Reda Hegazy, Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Edu cation said it “is closely aligned with the general orientation of the needs and issues of the Egyp tian state”.
Since 2021, the Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Edu cation, in cooperation with UNESCO and Huawei, have orga nized several meetings to prepare and review project docu ments.
“I would like to emphasize the
critical need for collaborative e orts among all stakeholders to ensure not only equitable access to educational resourc es, but also to ful ll social obligations towards students,” Dr. Hegazy said.
In Egypt alone, the UNES CO-Huawei joint project aims to empower 950,000 teachers, principals, and supervisors to more e ectively integrate ICT into their daily practice. Ultimately, 23 million students at the basic education level in the country are expected to bene t from an enhanced and more equitable digital learning experience.
Huawei has operated in Africa for more than 20 years, helping connect more than 1 billion
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget, which crashed the pound and ended her tenure after just 44 days, has quickly become a cautionary tale for policymakers around the world as they debate how to spur economic growth and address rising in ation. But some national leaders – such as Japan’s –have not heeded the warning. The main feature of the economic plan concocted by Truss and former Chancellor of the Exche quer Kwasi Kwarteng was a £45 billion ($53 billion) unfunded tax cut for the rich. This kind of scal stimulus made little sense amid the worst in ationary surge since 1980. Accordingly, the pound plummeted and long-term inter est rates soared until the Bank of England had no choice but to intervene to protect pension funds. Truss was ultimately replaced by current Prime Minis ter Rishi Sunak, who plans to introduce tax increases to ll the scal hole created by Trussonom ics.
Against this backdrop, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s cabinet this month approved a ¥29.1 trillion ($205 billion) spend ing package. Most of these mea sures, which aim to ease the pain of soaring in ation, will be nanced by issuing new govern ment bonds, bringing total issuance this scal year to ¥62.4 trillion – equivalent to 11.4% of GDP and 37% of the annual budget. While this is an improve ment over the 2020 budget, 73.5% of which relied on new borrow ing, the increased spending will drive up Japan’s already-elevated debt levels. The country’s
outstanding government debt is now expected to exceed ¥1.4 quadrillion, or 250% of GDP.
By any measure, Japan’s current scal path – running larger de cits and amassing more and more debt – is unsustainable. At some point, markets may no longer accept Japanese bonds as a safe asset, resulting in a sell-o similar to the one that recently crashed British government bonds. But so far, Kishida’s extra spending has not triggered the violent market reac tion that Truss’s mini-budget encountered, even though the UK’s debt-to-GDP ratio is less than half that of Japan’s.
One frequent explanation of Japan’s ability to amass debt with out triggering higher borrowing costs is that most of its govern ment bonds are held by domestic investors and nancial institutions that have never questioned the state’s solvency and are unlikely to do so in the future. Another expla nation is that investors expect the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to support the local bond market whenever a sell-o occurs, as it did when spec ulators targeted Japanese debt in the past.
Another, more questionable inter pretation is that Japan’s net debt is actually smaller than it seems because much of it is owned by the government itself. But the biggest buyer of Japanese government bonds is the Government Pension Investment Fund, and liquidating it to pay creditors would destabi lize the entire pension system.
Then there are those who claim that Japan could just raise taxes in the event of a scal crisis. By raising the value-added tax (VAT) to 25%, the argument goes, Japan
could generate ¥33 trillion in additional tax revenues, since at the current 10% rate, VAT reve nue is around ¥22 trillion. Assuming that these proposed tax hikes would not shrink Japan’s GDP, the extra income would still cover only half of the current scal hole. Moreover, Japan will likely need to raise the VAT anyway to pay for social security, pensions, and health care for its rapidly aging popula tion.
The BOJ introduced a “yield curve control” regime in 2016, capping the ten-year bond rate at 0.25%. If the yield approaches that level, the BOJ will purchase long-term bonds, ostensibly to stimulate growth and address de ation. But the BOJ has faced renewed pressure from those who argue that the policy might be ine ective or even harmful at a time when the yen is depreciat ing rapidly and govern ment-bond yields around the world are rising. The yen’s exchange rate against the dollar has depreciated to ¥150 from around ¥115 since the start of the year, contributing to sharp increases in import prices that have been hurting consumers and small and medium-size com panies. But, so far, the BOJ has refused to raise interest rates or exit the yield-curve-control policy.
Since the BOJ launched its mas sive quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE) campaign in April 2013, its share of outstanding Japanese government bonds has increased to nearly half. Tradi tional central bankers, many of whom were trained long before
the QQE era, have criticized the BOJ for enabling the govern ment to run unsustainable budget de cits and inducing moral hazard.
But the BOJ seems intent on maintaining near-zero interest rates, at least for now, citing the economy’s slower-than-expect ed recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Japanese in ation, at 3.7%, is also much lower than in the US and Europe, where prices have increased by 8-10% year on year. And while current in ation is above the BOJ’s 2% target, the authorities expect it to ease next year.
But policymakers must use in ation as an opportunity to shake o the de ationary mindset that dogged Japan’s economy for more than two decades before the shift to monetary tightening. To be sure, exiting the BOJ’s long-standing ultra-loose mon etary policy is not without risk. Interest payments will likely rise, and, as I recently argued, rapid rate hikes could lead to technical insolvency and so-called negative seigniorage, which would require the government to provide subsi dies to the central bank.
Still, the sooner Japan exits its yield-curve-control policy, the better. No doubt, monetary tightening will cause some economic pain. But remaining on the current policy path of keeping interest rates at near-zero and issuing more and more new debt will only increase the costs of eventual scal consolidation. Given
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power utility company, has set its sight on intensifying its Forest Resources Enhancement Programme (FREP), aimed at promoting reforestation/a or estation activities and conserva tion of the gallery forest /savan nah woodlots within the Black Volta Basin and other BPA Opera tional areas.
However, they are being con strained with funding, according to Mr. Chrisentus Kuunifaa, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Exec utive O cer, Samuel Ko Dzame si, on the sidelines at COP27 event in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt indicat ed the company wish to do more and “is happy to partner donor agencies to raise the needed fund ing in achieving their targets”.
According to Mr. Kuunifaa, they are committed to supporting Ghana to achieve energy transi tion to net zero emission and the NDCs set, and “we are open to partner academic institutions to undertake research and develop ment activities in alternate clean er energy solutions relevant to Ghana.”
The Bui Power Forest Resources
designed to promote reforesta tion/a orestation activities and conservation of the gallery forest /savannah woodlots within the Black Volta Basin and other BPA Operational areas.
This is cognizance of the immi nent of climate change, evapora tion, over exploitation of the forest resources. The FREP was therefore mooted to combat these menaces.
The objective of the FREP is to create carbon sinks to mitigate GHG Emissions, to control and protect the reservoir shoreline against soil erosion, siltation, sedimentation and depletion of vegetative cover within the Black Volta basin.
To enhance sustainable utiliza tion of forest resources within Black Volta basin and the acquired land in terms of medic inal use, commercial timber and fuel wood, to build climate change resilience to improve precipitation, microclimate, and provide wind breaks.
Key initiatives successfully undertaken comprise; sivlcul
By Eugene Davistural practices within the estab lished plantations 423 acres (171.3ha), bush re control within the plantations and gallery forest, protection of gallery forest around the dam enclave and within the Black Volta basin, identi cation of all indigenous tree species within the enclave for preservation, formulation of a policy to protect some 26 indigenous Economic Tree Species within
the dry season but “the forest vegetation will slow down the rate of evaporation down so there will be water to gener ate power”
He said the project would help create carbon sinks to remove “bad air” and build climate change resilience to improve precipitation and microclimate that was tied in Ghana’s climate plan.
Already, BPA has expanded its FREP by a 1,000 Acres (405Ha) in 2022, which is expected to
The Bui catchment area is endowed with some indige nous economic tree species forming a gallery forest and savannah woodlots within the enclave.
More than 26 indigenous economic, medicinal trees species including African, birch baobab, cassia, dawada wa, g tree, mahogany, ebony, black plum, shea and kapok are being protected.
Mr. Kuunifaa said the forest programme would help protect the Bui Dam reservoir that was being threatened by increase in temperature -a climate change impact.
The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference.
Mr. Kuunifaa explained that the rise in temperature by about one degree over decades causes surface water to evapo rate rapidly, especially during
The programme, the CEO said would also help control and protect the reservoir shoreline against soil erosion, siltation, sedimentation and depletion of vegetative cover within the Black Volta basin.
He stated that BPA was com mitted to supporting Ghana to achieve energy transition to net zero emission and the nationally determined contri butions to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.
Mr. Kuunifaa emphasized that climate crisis was unde niable and that BPA was embarking on initiatives under its 2020 expanded mandate to develop Renew able and Clean Energy Resources.
These include, 50-Megawatt peak Solar Plant with another 200 Megawatt under installa tion at Bui and Yendi, a 45Kilowatt Micro-Hydropow er Plant at Tsatsadu-Volta region and a 75Kilowatt plant to be added later.
Other on-going developments include acquisition of some additional solar sites, feasibil ity studies in the Wli water falls, western rivers, wind, biomass.