ISSUE NO: 22
Special Ghana©s reverse migrants
June / July 2012
Price GH¢ 5.00
KABRAL BLAYAMIHERE ON LEADERSHIP KRIS SENANU'S KENYAN SUCCESS STORY
ELIKEM KUENYEHIA
ENTREPRENEUR PUBLIC SERVANT LAWYER
Issue no: 22 // June - July 2012
EVENTS 12
Johnnie Walker Walk With Giants Ghana Launch
LEADERS
12
14
16
14
The Leadership Factor
16
Guta's cry, Aboah's concerns and the Chinese merchant in Ghana
18
2012 Budget-Grabbing a share of the Agricultural cake.
BY INVITATION 22
An appraisal of the Cedi's troubles
PERSPECTIVES 24
Views from the frontline
NEWS 20
24
25
25
Cement prices threaten construction industry
26
Emirates takes it up notch
PENSIONS 28
To convert or not to convert
COVER 30
26
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Entrepreneur, Public Servant, Lawyer: The many parts of Elikem Kuenyehia
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Issue no: 22 // June - July 2012
SPECIAL 36
Gaining from the drain; how returnees can put a spark in the Ghanaian workplace
ENTREPRENEUR 40
36
40
Streemio's big digital revolution
TOP PERFORMER
42 42
Kris Senanu: Africa is where its happening
TECHNOLOGY 44
Going mobile
ADVERTORIAL 46
44
46
48
MTN invests in network to Improve customer experience
BOOK REVIEW 48
AMA: A story of the Atlantic Slave Trade
CAR REVIEW 50
Land Cruiser Prado TX-L: Adventure in Comfort
RESTAURANT REVIEW 50
06
53
53
Luscious Temptation.
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Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
EDITORIAL
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP It is not uncommon for one to hear people say that: “the problem of Africa is a problem of leadership.” But is this cliché really true today? Across Africa, from Kigali to Khartoum a new group of Africa entrepreneurs are blazing the trail in their respective fields and displaying inspiring feats of great leadership. In Nigeria, Aliko Dangote of the Dangote group is defining a new kind of Nigerian business leader: one who is a visionary, has tremendous integrity and is well respected worldwide. Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi (currently ranked Africa’s richest man by Forbes) is shaping the skyline of many African cities. In Kenya, Atul Shah, CEO of Nakumate is redefining the retail experience in East Africa. And in Ghana, our own Prince Kofi Amoabeng has defied all odds to build a respectable and profitable Ghanaian bank from the ground up. What all these entrepreneurs exude are exemplary leadership qualities that must be embraced, celebrated and nurtured in young entrepreneurs.
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In this issue you will read the remarkable story of Kris Senanu, a Ghana entrepreneur who is CEO of a leading ISP in Kenya. His story of entrepreneurial leadership in a foreign country is amazing.
On our cover is another leader, Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia, a Ghanaian lawyer and entrepreneur playing at the highest levels of business, in his very first interview with any Ghanaian magazine or newspaper. Our special section attempts to bring insights into the recent surge in young Ghanaians returning from the West mainly as a result of the financial crisis - and their contribution to the work place and business. Many will agree today that “Africa is where that action is” but for the continent to maximise it true potential and live up to the current excitement, many more great entrepreneurial leaders must emerge and more importantly our politics must follow where business leads. Enjoy the read.
CEO kofi@businessworldghana.com
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CONTRIBUTORS
Kabral Blay-Amihere Chairman of the Media Commission and Ghana©s former High Commissioner to Sierra Leone and La Cote d©voire writes on leadership.
14 Lloyd G. Adu Amoah, Ph.D Assistant professor at Ashesi University and the executive director at Strategy3 writes on Chinese traders in Ghana.
16 Nana Amoto Mensah Head of Corporate Finance of Ecobank Development Corporation writes on what the 2012 budget offers for Agriculture.
Business World 6th Floor Ghana House Accra High Street Tel: 027 700 1005 /054 555 3535 Email: info@businessworldghana.com www.businessworldghana.com
PUBLISHER Business World CEO Kofi Mangesi MANAGING PARTNER Fouad Chalabi ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kwame Ofori Appiah
18 Franklin Cudjoe Executive Director of Imani Centre for Policy and Education and Editor of africanliberty.org writes, by special invitation on the difficulties of the cedi.
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EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATION Tracey Fams-Okine FEATURES / COPY EDITOR Subaye Opoku-Acquah SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Emily Aggrey CONCEPT & LAYOUT Teddy Edward Ayivi PHOTOGRAPHY Frank Asante
Simon Ayivi Chief Operating Officer, Axis Pensions Group writes on the various scenarios presented by the introduction of the 3-tier pension scheme.
MARKETING EXECUTIVE Nana Isaac Addo 28
Selorm Branttie Country Strategist at Mpedigree and the Director of Communications at IMANI Centre for Policy and Development writes on the opportunities in the mobile revolution. 44
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EVENTS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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JOHNNIE WALKER WALK WITH GIANTS GHANA LAUNCH
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Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
EVENTS
13
LEADERS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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So much has been written about leadership as one the key factors that determine the fate of nations, businesses and broadly, the affairs of men. hese days, there are many manuals about leadership and many inspirational speakers pointing the way to successful and effective leadership.
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Leadership is a taught course in many schools of learning as the debate rages on as to whether leaders are born or made. I have not read that many books on leadership but the subject and practice of leadership has always fascinated me. Roughly 30 years ago, when I was fairly younger and had not had the benefit of first-hand experience of leadership in strategic positions, I wrote several articles on leadership in the Weekly Spectator. One particular article that addressed the issue critically was titled “LIMANN - A LEADER OR A PRESIDENT?” Harsh as the critique was, it essentially questioned whether the then President of Ghana, Dr. Hilla Limann was just a President elected by the people of Ghana, with his job
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Michael Ikpoki, MTN description cut out for him by the nation’s Constitution or beyond that, a real leader taking Ghana from one situation to another. My sad conclusion was that, “A President he was, a leader not”. I did not feel and see President Limann offering the change that the nation yearned for; I thought then that he was just maintaining the status quo
Kofi Amoah, Progeny Ventures and worse still leading us nowhere. I did not see Dr. Limann fulfilling the litmus test of leadership prescribed by Dr. Munroe, which is “the capacity to influence others through motivation by passion generated by vision produced by conviction”. What true leadership does for any business is to inspire people to give their utmost best by convincing
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LEADERS
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
employees that something good awaits all who participate in the enterprise. As Ghana and other countries in the sub-region gear themselves up for presidential elections, the question of choosing leaders and not merely seat-warmers will emerge and critical voters will look for candidates who display vision, strength and courage to bring meaningful changes in the lives of people. Throughout our political history this country has seen many office holders, Ministers of State, Managing Directors of state organisations, regional and district political heads, headmasters and headmistresses of secondary schools, Vice-Chancellors of Universities etc. There is the ritual of annual elections when many offer themselves to lead associations and organisations and after their election do nothing or little to improve their association. Title or position holders many have been, but true leaders few have been. The real issue is whether the institutions such office holders head, ever witness any fundamental growth and progress under their stewardship. But whilst the leadership bell tolls louder with politics, nations grow when they have leaders in every field of human endeavour.
Kofi Bucknor, J Bucknor and Associates defeat and victory must be largely determined by teamwork and the rare display of leadership by exemplary players like Maradona or Messi. Americans, in this regard, have many icons in leadership whose pioneering feats and leadership skills have determined the rise of the United States in many fields. In men like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, the US has leaders in the information and technology sector whose discoveries and leadership have created business models and revolutionized the way we communicate.
Let the politicians do their thing, but we need leaders in industry, in science and technology, banking and finance, commerce and agriculture, in sports, in education, in every field that human beings gather to make society grow in the right direction.
But long before them, there was Henry Ford, the pioneer of the motor industry who is described as “the creative force behind an industry of unprecedented size and wealth that in only a few decades permanently changed the economic and social character of the United States�.
Those secondary schools in Ghana which have excelled at various stages of their history, making high waves in academic work and sports, have done so when they have been blessed with outstanding headmasters and headmistresses who were more leaders in education rather than mere office holders.
There is every reason to celebrate Ghanaian leadership in the field of industry and business, with some indigenous entrepreneurs proving every day that the Ghanaian has it in his chest to do great things. We have examples from the world of chieftaincy to show what leadership can achieve for a people.
Take the popular game of soccer, where the difference between
What has not been worthy of celebration in leadership may be in
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Prince Kofi Amoabeng, UT Bank the field of politics, where the nature of the game as played in Ghana fuelled by many primordial factors such as ethnicity does not bring out the best in leadership. But just as leadership is what is making the difference between growth and stagnation in every field of human activity, it is time that we see this concept influencing national politics from the district level to the top. Our beloved Ghana, from the world of science to agriculture is very fertile for true leadership. Who cometh then? By Kabral Blay-Amihere
The writer is the Chairman of the Media Commission and Ghana's former High Commissioner to Sierra Leone and La Cote d'voire.
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LEADERS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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GUTA'S CRY, ABOAH’S CONCERNS AND
THE CHINESE MERCHANT
IN GHANA Even a completely visually impaired person will have noticed the ubiquitous presence of Chinese traders doing brisk business in Accra’s central business district over the last few years . 16
hey pawn every imaginable consumable from electronic gadgetry to vegetables. And the spatial location of these Chinese merchants seems to be extending to other cities in Ghana including Tema. The lure of Ghana’s gold has also attracted the Chinese to the illegal section of the mining industry known as “galamsey” with almost revolutionary zeal. Chinese galamsey operators have been sighted in Ghana’s deep forests in the south and on the savannah belt of our Republic’s Northern extremities. In May, Ghana’s media reported the arrest of scores of illegal Chinese miners in Obuasi and the rumpus between indigenes and
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a legitimate Chinese mining concern over the construction of the Gbane bridge in the Talensi Nabdam District in the Upper East Region. The Ghana United Traders Association(GUTA) has been loud in its protestations over the brazen incursions of Chinese traders in Ghana’s retail sector in the face of laws (Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Law, Act 478, Clause 18) excluding any foreigners from that sector. GUTA’s vexation is understandable given that the Chinese traders with their intimate knowledge of their country’s market will ultimately muscle out their info@businessworldghana.com
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Ghanaian competitors from the supply concourses of very highly demanded China made goods and also offer direct on shore competition as well for the purchasing power of Ghanaian consumers. The Government of Ghana has had to respond by issuing a June 30, 2012 ultimatum for Chinese and other foreign retail traders to close shop. Ghana’s Minister of Interior Mr. William Aboah has pitched in by pointing out the security implications of this growing phenomenon. To be certain, Ghana is not the only country battling illegal Chinese retail traders. In other African countries small scale Chinese merchants are drawing the ire of locals. In Bab Ezzouar, an eastern suburb of Algiers, violent confrontations erupted between local and Chinese shopkeepers in August 2009; in neighbouring Boushaki, Chinese shops were vandalized. In Derb Omar in Casablanca the Chinese have reportedly set up about a 100 shops. The Union Nationale des Commercants et Industriels du Senegal, like GUTA, has accused Chinese merchants of operating illegally in the country with the tacit support of the Senegalese government. Other African countries such as Nigeria, Cameroun, Zambia, Namibia, Mauretania, Equatorial Guinea, Malawi, Lesotho and Zimbabwe are also grappling with this same matter. At the core of this challenge lies the increasing financial, economic, trade, diplomatic and political engagement between Africa and China in the last two decades. Clearly the downside of this interaction is beginning to materialize and territorially so for African countries. There is also a reverse process in which African traders have also become a visible presence in Chinese cities like Guangzhou leading to confrontations with the authorities and some resentment from locals. In other words at stake is a delicate, sensitive and complicated policy question that requires sobriety and mutual engagement among the parties if a well thought through resolution is to be reached. On the African side a “yellow peril” approach will constitute a lazy, hysterical, kneejerk reaction that will raise needless www.
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
LEADERS
suspicion in the mind of key players in China’s public and private sectors and potentially constrict a useful development frontier that is opening up. Ghana, like other African countries needs to consider current spats over the Chinese mercantile presence as a very useful policy window for responding inventively, consciously, methodically and holistically to the inevitable attraction of Africa to the Chinese in the coming decades and vice versa. The response to this then is not a simple matter of moral blandishments and periodic public outbursts of concern by officials of state. What is required is a framework of action that is anchored on collaboration between state institutions such as the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the Bureau of National Investigations (these institutions will also have to engage their Chinese counterparts as well) among others and the general citizenry.
before rendering critical services. Any aberrations are passed on to the appropriate authorities through a national database. There are fines (per day) for the total number of days one’s visa has expired that the visitor will have to pay; you cannot leave the country without settling such a fine. As the Chinese say “qi hu, nan xia” to wit if you ride a tiger dismounting is well nigh impossible. Such is the nature of the challenges Africa-China relations present given the increasing interlocking interests between the parties. African governments need to recognize this and show their mettle.
This writer’s experience in China should underscore the point. There is no way one can enter China’s territory and live - let alone work - there with the inappropriate visa requirements. Bank teller operators and hotel front desk officers are trained to gather information on your visa status
(Lloyd G. Adu Amoah, Ph.D, is an assistant professor at Ashesi University and the executive director at Strategy3, a strategy and public policy research and advocacy think-pad based in Accra)
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LEADERS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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2012 BUDGET – GRABBING A SHARE OF THE AGRICULTURAL CAKE This is the second in the series of articles aimed at drawing attention to the key growth poles in 2012 and how investors, entrepreneurs and businessmen/women can access the opportunities and pointers in the 2012 Budget Statement. n my last piece on this topic, I recalled the tag line of Government’s policy direction in the 2012 Budget that " the key focal areas of government in the Economic Sector for the medium term are: enhancing competitiveness of Ghana’s private sector, accelerating agricultural modernization and natural resource mobilization and the development of the Energy, Oil and Gas industry."
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The modernization of agriculture will be accelerated to ensure its linkage with industry through the application of science and technology innovation. Government and other stakeholders will partner the private sector to enhance competitiveness by the transformation of the economy through industrialization and modernized agriculture. The key Ministries to drive this agenda are; Food and Agriculture, Lands and Natural Resources, Trade and Industry, Tourism, Energy and Environment, Science and Technology.” I also indicated that for businesses and individuals who need to plan their budgets and business strategies for the year, business volumes and profitability will be driven largely by events prompted by the statement above. The statement seeks to make agriculture the centerpiece of government’s development programme for 2012. I believe that 18
Figure 1: Sectoral Growth Rates-Agriculture (Actual vrs. Target) 8.0 7.0 6.0
% Growth
5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0
2004
2005
2006
Source: Budget Statements the idea is to engender growth across all sectors in a manner that does not leave this important sector of the economy out. Through improved crop yield via modern agricultural practices that rely on ICT, accessibility and value addition, the growth in the sector will filter through industry and the services sector which lately, have leapfrogged over agriculture to become Ghana’s growth drivers. Since independence, agriculture has been the backbone of Ghana’s economy, contributing to employment generation, national income and other economic areas. This enviable influence has diminished consistently over the last decade. The sector has actually been
2007 Target
2008
2009
2010
2011
Actual
overtaken by the services sector and most recently in 2011 by the industrial sector. It has missed its growth targets for most parts of the period. In my opinion, this is a healthy sign for the following principal reasons: 1. It is a sign that the clarion call for a structural change in the Ghanaian economy is being heeded to – strategically or unconsciously. This is the only way we can correct the persistent balance of payment deficits and its attendant challenges to the stability of the economy. 2. It will help correct the “erroneous” impression that we have a competitive and comparative advantage in info@businessworldghana.com
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Table 1: Utilization of Annual Budget Funding Amount for 2011
ITEM
EXPENDITURE (GH¢)
1
Expenditure and Amortization of Loans for Oil and Gas Infrastructure
2
Road Infrastructure
3
Agricultural Modernization
4
Capacity Building (Including Oil and Gas)
20,000,000.00 134,102,367.20 13,147,652.00 750,000.00
TOTAL
168,000,019.20
The chart below depicts how the GHC 13 million was allocated:
Allocation of Government Expenditure to the Agricultural Sector (2012)
Fertilizer
Afram Plains
Mech.
Rice Project
Tsetse
Root Tuber
YIAP
Northern Rural
Details of the allocation of funds is as follows: Table 2: Allocation of Government Expenditure to the Agricultural Sector (2012)
AMOUNT (GHC ‘000)
ITEM
8,240 236
Fertilizer Subsidy Agricultural Mechanization
1,208
Tsetse Project
2,000
Youth in Agriculture Project Counterpart Fund for Afram Plains Development Project Inland Valley Rice Development Project Root Tuber Improvement Programme Northern Rural Growth Programme Source: 2012 Budget Statement.
agriculture. Our over-reliance on this façade is probably one of the reasons why we continue to burn valuable resources on this sector. The only challenge with this phenomenon is the decline in the growth of the sector. According to the 2012 Budget Statement the decline in growth rate to 2.8% against the projected rate of 5.3% was the result of the decline in afforestation activities. I do not necessarily see this trend as a blip; it is essentially a continuation of a trend that has developed over time. The Statement emphasizes that the expansion of the crop sector for instance is primarily the result of improved cocoa production. We must therefore www.
redouble our efforts in other crops and sub-sectors to sustain the sector. The implementation and success of Government’s medium term growth policy communicated above does not lay in the large scale agribusiness practices it seems to depict. It rather lies in the chain of small, medium and large scale cultivation, rearing and manufacturing activities within the agricultural value chain. It simply means that everybody can have a share of the pie this policy will generate. In 2011, agricultural modernization was allocated GHC 13 million as outlined on table 11 of the 2012 Budget Statement. How much of this amount was the typical agribusiness person able to access?
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615 346 261 242
These are the basic questions we need to be asking as businessmen. Once we forecast what we can realistically make out of such allocations, we can clearly map out strategies on how grab a piece of this pie. For 2012, Government’s focus has been outlined to capture the following areas: The Ministry of Food and Agriculture will continue with its mandate to implement programmes and projects in the Medium Term Agricultural Sector Investment Plan (METASIP). The plan aims at leading the growth and structural transformation of the economy to maximize the benefits of accelerated growth. 19
LEADERS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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MDA Expenditure Allocations (2012) - Amount in GH¢
Goods & Services, 5,912,412
Assets, 17,950,000
Wages & Salaries, 66,756,998
500,000,000
Medium Term MDA Expenditure Allocations to the Ministry of Food & Agriculture (2012-2014)
450,000,000 400,000,000 350,000,000
GH¢
300,000,000
262,239,746
200,000,000 150,000,000 100,000,000 50,000,000
114,606,177
190,614,392
Source: 2012 Budget Statement
For those of us who missed out on the 2011 pie, aside from the comprehensive cocoa sector policies, the key areas of attention for 2012 are as follows: • Agricultural Subsidy Programme • Agriculture Mechanization • The Ghana Commercial Agriculture Programme (GCAP) • National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) • Youth in Agriculture Programme • Nutrition Education, Food Processing and Food Safety • Fisheries Development • Livestock Development Programme Many equate agriculture to crop production in hinterland Ghana and focus entirely on the peasant
200,145,111
53,000,000 2012
20
129,010,068
122,866,732
250,000,000
IGF
ABFA
2013 Donor
2014
Statutory Fund
farmer’s activities. Agriculture however encompasses a chain of activities ranging from the large scale production of crops and the rearing of animals to the backyard garden activities we practice as a hobby. Ghana’s Budget Statements classify the following activities under agriculture: • Crops • Forestry and logging • Fishing and • Livestock For the peasant crop and livestock farmer, the statement is asking us to consider forward and backward integration in the production chain. The peasant farmer may not be able to access the opportunities inherent in this policy because the policy has not been communicated in the language he/she can understand and access. Secondly, even if he does, will he/she easily have access to products and practices that enhance his/her business? Are fertilizers easily and readily available to him/her?
But for the small scale fertilizer distribution outlet and service providers in the value chain, the projected expenditure for 2012 up to 2014 provide a huge opportunity to reach as many farmers as possible. Pages 68 – 80 of the 2012 Budget provides details of what is available and accessible to businesses in the agricultural sector. By Nana Amoto-Mensah
The writer is Head of Corporate Finance of Ecobank Development Corporation. info@businessworldghana.com
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BY INVITATION
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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AN APPRAISAL OF THE
In the specific case of Ghana and the cedi’s current troubles, it must first be pointed out that we have a political cycle in which the cedi’s value is adversely affected in election years. This is as a result of skepticism about the government’s ability to maintain fiscal discipline in an election year as well as uncertainty about the outcome of the election itself. This may lead people to store larger amounts of money in what they perceive as safer currencies and which may be rightly or wrongly, described as speculation. However, it is also true that the current currency difficulties are different from previous ones - this is worse. However there are some explanations for this.
A currency’s strength and or stability is influenced to a large extent by the country’s competitiveness. By this I am referring to its ability to attract foreign direct investment. Also, the investment must be going into the more efficient and accountable private sector and not necessarily government to government enterprises. 22
gain, the value of your exports is key because receipts from your exports go to shore up your reserves and reduce the pressure on your currency. One must be careful to differentiate between a large foreign reserve and a strong currency, though. The quality of governance also affects the value of a currency. Where a government is seen to pursue policies that are overly welfarist which translates into higher taxes and subsidies on certain vital products such as fuel, that can also affect investor confidence and ultimately, the stability of the currency.
A
One is that our GDP has more than doubled and because we essentially don’t have an exportleaning economy, there has to be a lot of imports to accompany that growth. The construction sector for instance, which is experiencing that growth relies heavily on cement, the components of which are largely – around 80% - imported. Naturally, this increases the pressure on the local currency. Increased trade between Ghana and China can also be singled out. An associate of mine gives an example that if we have an estimated 200 info@businessworldghana.com
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Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
BY INVITATION
people on three separate flights leaving Ghana for China and the Far East with each person carrying an average of USD 10,000 in cash, we obviously have an untenable amount of hard currency leaving the country on an almost daily basis. Again, once you become an oil producing country, there is increased interest in your country and you have people eager to invest in your country. Ordinarily, this leads to currency appreciation and may make its exports lose value. Unfortunately for Ghana, the hype about an oil boom has not materialized as we have seen estimated daily production of 120,000 barrels drop to 75,000 since production possibly rising to 90,000 by the end of 2012. This has also adversely affected investor confidence and so we do not have the sort of inflows that we should have been having at this stage. The overriding factor though, is that the Bank of Ghana was unable to accurately predict all of these and take the necessary steps to address the situation. The Bank’s duty is to closely monitor the currency and inject some money into the system or mop up excess liquidity depending on the situation. At the moment, the Bank has taken steps to inject some money into the system but it might be too little too late. The other thing is that the bank is somewhat hampered by the not entirely necessary requirement to keep a certain amount of bank cash in reserves – usually set at a political bench mark of three months or so for import cover. It would seem as though the Bank was so jealously guarding this and was caught off guard by the currency problem. In the event, the reserve has shrunk anyway because it has had to inject some money into the system but not enough to keep pace with the situation. In the long term, I would suggest that we consider making Ghana free port. We should be first be clear that a free port will not mean that there will be no charges at all. What this means rather is that we will have our neigbours in the landlocked www.
countries coming here and bringing in hard cash to pay us for the services we will be providing. Again, this will also reduce the cost of production in the country particularly because we import a lot of materials for production. We should also look at our trade pattern. We need an industrial policy that looks at the cost of local production with the aim to reducing it considerably. We should also look at processing some of our crude here in Ghana. If we are able to do that, we can make a huge dent in our import bill because petrol imports account for a great percentage of it. One other thing the Bank can do is to relax its rules that require banks to keep a certain percentage of their reserves in foreign exchange. This will free up the foreign currency in the system and reduce the pressure on the cedi. I think the government of Ghana and the Bank are doing what they can, legally, to give the various participants the leeway to put some money in the system. I don’t think, however, that the USD 1 billion that the Bank has put into the system so far will be enough. Perhaps, it should think of at least doubling the amount. We should also look to increase the interest rate in the domestic bond
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market. Government should increase its bills on the domestic market and at an increased rate because that is the only way to mop up any excess cedis in the system. Once we have these financial instruments on the market and they are attractive to investors – domestic and foreign – then they will show interest in buying them. My suspicion is that the Bank will increase the forex on the market by pursuing an aggressive marketing programme to push some of its financial instruments and perhaps impose a tax on all forex accounts. We should then see some respite by September. The writer is the Executive Director of Imani Centre for Policy and Education and the Editor of africanliberty.org By Franklin Cudjoe
The writer is the Executive Director of Imani Centre for Policy and Education and the Editor of africanliberty.org 23
PERSPECTIVES
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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VIEWS FROM
THE FRONTLINE
“To say that the telecoms regulator should not verify the number of minutes of incoming international calls declared on paper by the telecom operators is just like saying Customs should not do a physical and or electronic check to verify if goods imported into this country tally with what importers declare on paper.” Joshua Peprah , Director of Regulatory Administration at the National Communication Authority (NCA), protesting against a court ruling that prevents the NCA from installing international gateway monitoring equipment on the switches of telecom operators to measure, in real time, the exact number of minutes of international calls coming into this country.
"The continent is experiencing jobless growth. That is an unacceptable reality on a continent with such an impressive pool of youth, talent and creativity." Mthuli Ncube, chief economist at the African Development Bank reacts to a report produced by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the OECD's development centre, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the UN Development Programme. The report said more than half of the unemployed in the continent are between 15 and 24.
“We want the scheme to be there for generations to come and the only way we can do that is to make sure that we make good investments.” Dr Frank Odoom, Director General of SSNIT, defends the controversial transaction in which the Social Security and National Investment Trust swapped about 11million shares in The Trust Bank for 38.6 million shares in ECOBANK-Ghana. Ecobank has since announced that it will integrating TTB into its local operations.
"It appears as though material information was not disclosed. We believe that the offering was conducted unfairly and it harmed public stockholders." Robert Weiser, lawyer for one of three plaintiffs suing Facebook for impropriety in its historic IPO. Shares for the social network fell shortly after trading began amidst reports that it had withheld negative information prior to the flotation. Also joined in the suit are Morgan Stanley and a host of other underwriters who it believed, kept the information from investors.
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NEWS
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
CEMENT PRICES THREATEN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Cement prices experienced a steep rise in May, peaking at GHC 25 from some distributors from a low of GHC 13 at the beginning of the month. hacem, the major distributor in the country, announced an increase in prices officially at the end of the month. Citing the depreciating currency, the company said it would be selling the 50kg bag at an ex-factory price of GHC 15.295, up from GHC 13.34. The Ghacem Super Rapid Bulk, which was sold at an exfactory price of GH¢252 per tonne, is now going for GH¢289.800, while the 50-kilogramme Ghacem Extra which used to sell at GH¢14.200 is now GH¢16.330. The Ghacem Extra Bulk,
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which used to be sold at GH¢270, is now being sold at GH¢310. An executive member of the Cement Distributors Association told newsmen that distributors, had agreed to sell a bag of cement to retailers at GH¢16 and the retailers would in turn sell to individuals and estate developers at between GH¢17 and GH¢18. The announcement itself came in the wake of perceived shortages in the market due to the other major producer – Diamond Cement which has 35% market share – shutting down production. Retailers responded by upping their prices. Industry players including the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association
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and the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana have expressed worry about the effects of the price increases on the sector. Chairman of the Technical Committee of the ABCECG, Rockson Dogbegah said “I think it should be a wake-up call for government and stakeholders to see the need of breaking the monopoly if we really want to deal with this issue properly. Otherwise the construction industry is going to be collapsing very soon because there is no way a contractor can remain in business when there is this arbitrary increase in prices.” 25
NEWS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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TAKES IT UP A NOTCH Travelers on the popular Accra-Dubai route now have the option of the Airbus A340-500, introduced by Emirates Airlines, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world February due to increased traffic and demand on the route. irst Class passengers on the F Airbus can experience Emirates’ ergonomically-designed private First Class suites, featuring privacy screens for maximum exclusivity and massage-enabled seats which convert into flat beds, while Business Class customers will enjoy the comfort of angled lie-flat beds. 26
The airline has also rolled out a new route-specific wine list, featuring some of the best champagnes, red and white wines and ports from across its route network. The new offerings include top-of-the-range Grand Cru Classe Red Bordeaux, Premier Cru and premium quality wines from other regions of France, California, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. First and Business Class travelers or Skywards Gold member can have access to world-class Emirates Lounges at selected airports in some of the world’s most glamorous cities. Whichever cabin they are in, passengers will have the benefit of Emirates’ professionally selected wines, spirits and beverages, as
well as fresh, locally-sourced dining options prepared by gourmet chefs and served by the airline’s multinational cabin crew. In-flight entertainment comes in the form of more than 600 channels of on-demand entertainment, including 50 new movie releases, more than 20 movie classics and 20 children’s films. In addition, passengers can also access interactive games, satellite telephone, sms and email, live BBC news headlines, an airshow moving map and external cameras for a bird’s eye view of the journey en route. The plane, which offers 12 First Class Private Suites, 42 Business Class seats and 204 Economy Class seats with a total capacity of 13 tonnes, leaves Accra daily. info@businessworldghana.com
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PENSIONS
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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TO CONVERT OR NOT TO CONVERT IMPLICATIONS OF CONVERTING CURRENTLY RUNNING PROVIDENT FUNDS INTO A TIER 3 PENSION SCHEME
Prior to the passing into law of the National Pensions Act 2008 (Act 766), some employers were already running Provident Fund (PF) Schemes. These PFs have traditionally not enjoyed the tax reliefs offered by PFs that operate under Act 766. Most of these PFs have operated under Defined Contribution (DB) pension arrangements whereby benefits are based on accrued contributions and returns on investments (ROI). 28
he Pensions Law (Act 766) makes it mandatory for all occupational-based pension schemes with DB characteristics to operate under the law. Among others, some of the benefits for operating under the law are the tax reliefs granted by government and protection of workers’ funds by the pensions regulator; the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).
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For many firms that operated PF schemes before the pensions reform, the dilemma has been whether to convert or not to convert them into Tier 3 schemes under Act 766. That is, should the running PFs be liquidated and benefits distributed to members so that the new scheme that will operate under Act 766 can start from fresh contributions? There are obvious benefits in and prices to pay for all possible decisions made - ranging from converting 100% of the current Fund, through converting just a part to not converting at all (liquidating current PF). Below are three different scenarios:
period before withdrawal, to qualify for full tax reliefs. In this case, because funds converted have not enjoyed tax reliefs, they are not subject to that wait. Thus they can be withdrawn by contributors without any penalties.
SCENARIO A - converting 100% of the current PF into a voluntary Tier 3 Scheme under Act 766.
All the advantages and the disadvantage under SCENARIO A apply here; but only to an extent in each case. Thus, the rewards and the price under SCENARIO A would be enjoyed and paid respectively, to the extent of the partial liquidation under SCENARIO B. Here, only part of the accrued benefits will be available for immediate spending whilst investments in Tier 3 will see more income than if Tier 3 started from fresh contributions.
SCENARIO B - converting 50% of the current PF into a voluntary Tier 3 Scheme under Act 766 and liquidating 50% - for distribution to contributors. SCENARIO C - liquidating the entire current PF and starting a new voluntary Tier 3 Scheme under Act 766 from fresh contributions. SCENARIO A
i. This offers higher growth potential for investments. For instance, assume that the monthly PF contribution is GH¢ 100 for a specific contributor, Mr. Z who has an accrued benefit of GH¢ 2,000 in the current PF. If ROI is 15% per annum, the converted GH¢ 2,000 invested will yield a return of GH¢ 300 per annum whereas Mr. Z would only get a return of GH¢15 if he did not convert current PF into a Tier 3 but rather started the Tier 3 from fresh contributions. ii. Funds converted are still available for withdrawal as converted funds are not subject to the 10-year waiting period for Tier 3 schemes, for tax relief purposes. This is notwithstanding the fact that under the law, Tier 3 contributions ordinarily are subject to a 10-year waiting www.
Disadvantages Contributors who are looking forward to liquidation of current Fund so benefits could be paid immediately are likely to be disappointed. SCENARIO B Advantages and Disadvantages
SCENARIO C Advantages
Advantages
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CONCLUSION Ultimately, the decision taken one way or the other comes down to priorities. Since pension contributions are meant for retirement income, a long term perspective is needed for the substantial growth often desired. Substantial growth in investments is realized from higher invested amounts – which in this case suggests that converting the current PF may be more beneficial. The need for money however by certain contributors to meet present obligations or needs may be compelling enough to make choices other than full conversion of the current Provident Fund into a Tier 3 scheme under Act 766. Whatever the decision is, sight should not be lost on the purpose for saving toward retirement. In the end, we will all retire.
Liquidated funds will provide immediate boost to contributors’ disposable income. For those with alternate needs for their income other than saving toward retirement, there is great satisfaction under SCENARIO C. Disadvantages Using the same analogy for Mr. Z under (i) above, income from the returns on investments in the voluntary Tier 3 will require a lot more time to grow. As that analogy indicated, whilst GH¢ 2,000 will return GH¢ 300 per annum, because under SCENARIO C the entire accrued benefits from the current PF has been liquidated, Tier 3 investments are made from fresh contributions (GH¢ 100) returning only GH¢ 15 at a ROI of 15% per annum.
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Simon Ayivi is currently Chief Operating Officer, Axis Pensions Group, a Pensions Fund Administration company Accra.
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COVER STORY
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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ENTREPRENEUR PUBLIC SERVANT The many LAWYER parts of Elikem Kuenyehia
Oxford & Beaumont is some distance from what your idea of what a law firm is. It’s run from an impressive suite of offices in the Ghana College of Physicians & Surgeons building in a manner closer to a conventional business than is usually the case. For instance, in January 2010, it became the first Ghanaian law firm to employ a full time head of Human Resources. Why this is important becomes clear when you speak to Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia, the entrepreneurial guiding spirit of the operation. Mr Kuenyehia, an Oxford and Kellogg alumnus, is a firm believer in talent and has taken the time and effort to assemble a dedicated team that have built and maintained the firm’s stellar reputation. Hence, the aforementioned Associate Director of Talent Management and Strategy. Or Human Resource Manager to you. To Mr Kuenyehia, it’s the people who make the firm: “the amazing men and women who make up the team and pour their hearts every single day into making Oxford & Beaumont a better place for ourselves first and then for our clients.” Woven around this core of talent and dedication is a culture of fastidiousness that allows for nothing but the best. Mr Kuenyehia describes this as a “high level of dissatisfaction.”
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“At the heart of our culture is the notion of dissatisfaction. We require our team members to have a high level of dissatisfaction, a “high D”. By definition high achievers with a “high D” are never happy with the status quo; they constantly challenge. Rather than pat ourselves on the back frequently, we are inspired by the words of Kwasi Twum [Chief Executive Officer of media behemoth, Multimedia Group] that ‘yesterday is history, it is tomorrow that counts’. “The other key pillar to our culture is ‘leadership by listening; management by debate’. Apart from our values, we have no sacred cows. The partners are typically willing to discuss matters that affect the firm with team members irrespective of hierarchy or position.” Typically, Mr Kuenyehia avoids the media; this is his first interview with any magazine or newspaper in the country. He has quietly built a formidable firm, now home to a team of almost forty, and well-respected in legal circles – an impressive feat, considering that the firm was only founded in 2006. However, the six years have not been without event. In May 2010 Oxford & Beaumont was jolted by the loss, of Nutifafa Klutse-Woanyah, its first associate. “He was the brightest lawyer [I] have ever come across,” Mr Kuenyehia recalls. “It was one of the most difficult periods in our firm’s history and for me personally. Nutifafa had shared an office with me in all the four years he was at Oxford & Beaumont and the entire firm relied on his huge brain and capacity for hard work. I relied almost exclusively on Nutifafa in the info@businessworldghana.com
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COVER STORY
transactions I was involved in. As a pioneer staff he was vested in where we were as a firm and shared the firm’s vision. I had never ever considered the future of the firm without Nutifafa and when I learnt of his demise I was not sure the firm or I could survive without him. Thanks to the structures he helped us put in place though, we continue to thrive but we are conscious of his legacy and grateful that he spent the time that he did with the firm in its formative years.” Oxford & Beaumont's growth and evolving culture mirror the evolution of its Managing Partner, Mr Kuenyehia. He explains that the culture he sought to and has successfully shaped is the result of his experiences prior to setting up the firm. “From UBA, I took the ‘can-do’ attitude. From Diageo, I took the culture of acting locally yet thinking globally and from Linklaters I took the inbred notion that a law firm was ultimately a business depending on profits for survival and not an expression of intellect,” he says. That a law firm is a business is a principle Mr Kuenyehia takes extremely seriously. And it is something he believes more firms in the country should do. Indeed, it is the one change above all else that he would love to see in the Ghanaian legal system. The modern law firm, he believes, requires the structural agility and access to investment that any other contemporary operation does. “I would like the law changed to allow non-lawyers to invest in law firms like has happened in the UK and Australia. The modern law firm is as complex a business as any other and requires just as much investment. There is no reason why a law firm should not tap into the private or public equity markets for its expansion, for example.” As corporate culture takes a firmer hold of Ghana, this might not only be necessary, but inevitable. As businesses come to be defined and influenced ever more directly by the legal infrastructure of the country, it is likely that they will rub off each other with the law not only supporting but coming to reflect some of the best practices of its clients. Global interest in the young oil nation means that will probably come about earlier than many people imagine. Which means that not only law firms but the Ghanaian legal system must itself adjust to enable the greatest gains from these positive developments. Mr Kuenyehia believes that some institutional progress in this direction is often hampered by the way in which it is administered. “[The law] is helpful to business in that it provides the framework to encourage private enterprise and encourages foreign participation in most sectors of the Ghanaian economy. The introduction of the commercial courts also made a lot of progress in respect of resolving commercial disputes. I would say however that in my experience there is often a gap between what exists in the law (on paper) and what the relevant civil or public servants administering the law perceive the law to be.” The nexus between the law and business is one Mr Kuenyehia embodies; a lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, he has just published his first book – www.
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COVER STORY
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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"Our educational system is still fundamentally based on what we inherited from our colonial master. It is focused on developing our clerical and literacy skills to make us better employees rather than entrepreneurs"
the 674 page ‘Kuenyehia on Entrepreneurship; a textbook of contemporary Ghanaian entrepreneurship. . Research for the book has revealed some new insights on the Ghanaian approach to building businesses to the lecturer. “I’d say the key hindrances are our educational system and a lack of mentorship. Our educational system is still fundamentally based on what we inherited from our colonial master. It is focused on developing our clerical and literacy skills to make us better employees rather than entrepreneurs. “In the research that I carried out for the book, I was struck by how difficult it was for budding entrepreneurs to find seasoned entrepreneurs who would mentor them down the entrepreneurial path. “Elements of our culture also do not encourage entrepreneurship. For example there is a huge fear of failure and a stigma attached to failure. And there is the legendary ‘Phd’ (pull him down) where instead of encouraging people 32
to live their dreams we tend to discourage them. “ Mr Kuenyehia proposes some solutions. “I think the Venture Capital Trust Fund have started a great concept ‘the Angel investor network,’ where they pair entrepreneurs with money with budding entrepreneurs seeking capital and mentorship. The Angel investors provide the capital and mentorship and help nurture the businesses of the less experienced entrepreneurs. That is one solution but it is pretty limited in reach. “A network of business incubators throughout the country, to nurture start-up businesses in an enabling environment, with subsidised offices and access to relevant expertise, would be extremely useful to have and should help develop an entrepreneurial culture.” Finally, Mr Kuenyehia proposes, entrepreneurship can and should be taught in school. “Although
many
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argue
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cannot www.
teach
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Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
COVER STORY
''I have been amazed at how students have moved from indifference about entrepreneurship to becoming passionate advocates for entrepreneurship and exploiting the opportunities that they see in their everyday lives''
entrepreneurship, I believe you can. You can inspire students to believe that yes they too can turn their dreams into reality and you can also equip students with a tool kit to go out and do it. At GIMPA, I have been amazed at how students have moved from indifference about entrepreneurship to becoming passionate advocates for entrepreneurship and exploiting the opportunities that they see in their everyday lives.” Mr Kuenyehia's own entrepreneurial efforts have been recognised worldwide: the Millennium Excellence Awards conferred on him the 2006 Young Professional of the Year Award; in 2010, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader and in the same year, he was listed as of one of ‘Africa’s 40 under-40 Achievers by The Network Journal. More recently, he has been recognized as a New Generation Leader for Africa by the Africa Leadership Network. The qualities that one imagines merits these honours – hard work, dedication, ability and brilliance – are certainly ones that Ghanaian public service requires and it is gratifying that Mr Kuenyehia is giving it some serious thought. With www.
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Oxford & Beaumont now in Accra, London and Aberdeen and set to expand even further in the continent and further afield into Asia and America, the eternal reformer seeks to leave another mark on the tapestry of Ghanaian public service. Though, perhaps, not in the way you imagine. “I have been thinking very seriously about my lineage and feel a burning desire to contribute through our traditional form of governance. As a child, I fell in love with the small Akwapem village my mother grew up in, when we went to spend time with my grandfather who was the village chief. Some of my happiest memories of my childhood are of me dancing non-stop at the annual festival. As an adult, I’d like to continue my grandfather’s legacy and contribute to that village, perhaps even by becoming a chief. But I hope to be a very different type of chief. I’d bring a lot of modernity to the stool and the same global mindset that I brought to Oxford & Beaumont.” And if and when that happens, there can few guesses about what touch King Midas will be bringing.
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Business World presents a special on
THE NEW WAVE OF REVERSE MIGRATION TO GHANA
SPECIAL
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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HOW RETURNEES CAN PUT A SPARK IN THE GHANAIAN WORKPLACE Outward migration from Ghana has long been an established norm of the country’s socio-economic set up. Many crave the opportunity and the advantages, real or perceived that living in Europe, America and other parts of the developed world – so called – bestows. Ebow Quainoo, Professor of Political Science at the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in the United States of America and himself and emigrant, believes that jobs and the attendant opportunities are the major driving force for outbound migration.
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Naturally, the local economy is poorly served by some of its most enterprising and ambitious potential participants leaving for other places, often in the prime of their productive lives. Brain drain, as it is referred to, often means the Ghanaian tax payer losing the services of its dependants soon after their largely subsidized education. In recent times however, another trend seems to be taking shape. A number of Ghanaian emigrants are returning home to live and work in 36
Ghana. Exact details are not readily available and anecdotal evidence varies as to the significance but there has been an undeniable increase in the number of active economic types who have chosen to once again make a home in the country of their birth. This is a departure from previous trends where many would only voluntarily repatriate after retirement to enjoy the attention of family and presumably a more hospitable environment in the evening of their lives. Rudolph Ayertey, Resourcing and Talent Manager at Vodafone Ghana, one of the country’s biggest telecommunications companies, says the trend is visible. “Over the last two years we have had quite a number of returnees or
hopeful returnees approach us and express an interest in coming back to work in Ghana,” he says. One of such successful returnees is Akwasi Nuamah. After leaving from the University of Cape Coast with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he travelled to the United Kingdom where he picked up a Masters in Business Administration and a CIMA qualification, worked for blue chip firms such as Eon, lectured at the Coventry University and is now back in Ghana, working at Vodafone as Commercial Solutions Manager. For Mr Nuamah, this was the path that he always wanted. And it is the path he believes many of his generation aim for. “Most of the Ghanaians I know, go abroad fully intending to come back. Some go with the intention of enhancing their educational credentials while others seek to amass capital with the intention of setting up businesses back home. The key question is when they will come back; whether they will be willing to stay here. For instance I have a couple of mortgages and so was naturally concerned about how I would pay them on a salary I info@businessworldghana.com
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would be earning here. So there are financial considerations for example. Some would want their kids to get an education over there, etc. So the preparation matters. And the longer you stay, the more integrated you become and the more difficult it will be to leave,” he says. There are other considerations. Since many leave because of the lack of jobs, it must take some convincing that jobs are now available. Despite much vaunted economic growth, the pace of job creation has not experienced anything near a turbo boost and many potential returnees worry that they may not be able to immediately – or even eventually – secure meaningful and adequate employment. For some, recruitment can come even before they finally pack their bags
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and board the plane. For others, it can mean reintegrating into an uncertain environment in which their lack of local experience might count against them. Some have to wait for between six months to a year to find jobs. While Mr Nuamah agrees that this can be an unsettling challenge, he says it is no different to the initial challenges that many face when they first travel outside of Ghana. “It’s only a matter of time. It might take some time but you will get something and that’s not too different from the experience of someone who leaves Ghana for abroad. The only challenge is that while you are waiting, you will be spending and you need to have the financial reserves for this wait.”
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SPECIAL Mr Ayertey explains that a combination of assessment tools and previous work experience are used in the selection process to establish who is best fit for available roles. When returnees do get to the workplace, the general consensus is that they exert an overall positive influence. Professor Quainoo believes these are in the areas of professional ethics, resources and skills. Mr Ayertey says returnees are able to share and implement best practices learnt from elsewhere, specific technical or systems knowledge and their work ethic positively impacts on efficiency and productivity.
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SPECIAL
Akwasi Nuamahpoki, Vodafone To Mr Nuamah, the greatest impact is in how the returnee himself approaches things. He says what has changed most about him is his “work ethic and the way [I] look at things; the desire to get things done right. I believe finishing is equally as important as how you start the task. I believe over there, I got that sharp edge in not only initiating something but seeing it through.” The hope is that this attitude will percolate through the workplace and rub off those without the experience of working outside. However, this is not always easy. The wrong approach by the returnee may arouse the obstructive instincts of the notoriously conservative Ghanaian system. Otema Yirenkyi, who was born in the United Kingdom but is now one of those leading IBM’s geographical expansion into Africa after an earlier stint with PriceWaterhouse Coopers, is well aware of the challenge of reforming the Ghanaian workplace. While optimistic of the country’s potential, Ms Yirenkyi is realistic about the difficulties. “It’s difficult in the environment. It’s not that you cannot transform Ghana but it is that the drivers for change don’t seem to exist. So how do you motivate the people to change at the top and at the middle levels? At the universities, for example, you get a lot of fresh and innovative ideas but by the time you get to the 38
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
Otema Yirenkyi, IBM work situation, it’s gone. What has happened, I think, is an environment that doesn’t allow for creativity but rewards conformity.” Which is why, perhaps, Ms Yirenkyi is looking to impact the next generation as well. “I’m doing a lot with the universities,” she says. “With our Airtel colleagues, for example, we held an innovation competition at the University of Ghana to help build the guys develop their skills. We wanted to get them thinking creatively so we set up an ideas lab. It was very successful and the young student who won will be coming with me to Nairobi for an Africa-wide innovation session; the first time he’s ever travelled outside Ghana.” Mr Nuamah is doing similar. “Teaching is my passion so recently, I visited the MBA students at the University of Ghana Business School as a guest lecturer on Financial Management. To me, those are some of the small things that we can do to contribute as an example, in moulding the next generation of leaders.” In the face of the challenges, it is clear that the missionary zeal demonstrated by these two outreaches, for example, is necessary for the greatest impact. Otherwise, one would be easily daunted. Ms Yirenkyi says “the environment is still a challenge for those who
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Rudolph Ayertey, Vodafone have wealth. You are not protected from environmental challenges, the lack of mobility in the workplace and the infrastructural challenges. So it takes a certain type of person. I see myself as pioneering. You have to say to yourself that whatever it is that you are used to may not exist here in Ghana. But your desire is transformational, to make some kind of impact. There has to be another reason. You have to believe in something else because the lifestyle or money will not be enough.” Being “home” can also be helpful. Mr Nuamah says the proximity of family is a big boost. Even in the workplace, some comfort can be derived from being in the land of your birth. “To me, being able to interact with my colleagues in a local language is a bonus. There is a physical, emotional and mental advantage. Your gestures and facial expressions can be correctly interpreted by your colleagues.” While there are clear advantages for the Ghanaian economy and arguably for the returnee as well, not many have taken the one way flight back. While some may be desirous and preparing, others have decided not to, perhaps unwilling to challenge the very difficulties that drove them away. Ms Yirenkyi believes it will be a good thing if more people return. “One of the reasons that I think America has had a lot of innovation is that there are many people coming from different environments that
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come together. In a typical American workplace you have many types of views and ideas and I think that stimulates learning and also generates new ways of resolving things. So I think returnees coming back can offer alternative ways of looking at things. That is not to say that these new ways are better or worse but it brings some new ideas and hopefully, these can have an impact and help resolve whatever the challenges are that we face in Ghana.” Often, the greatest challenge is in bringing those new ways to bear. Faced with an unwilling system, many despair and conform. Or go back to their adopted countries. For Mr Nuamah, this is unfortunate. He expects more from those with the varied experience that travel brings. “If you are a consultant for example, you look at your situation and resolve it. So for the guys who come back, if they are the quality that the Ghanaian economy requires, then they should be able to come back, look at the current gaps and try to fix them. If you are worth your calibre, you should be able to adapt and make do with the limited resources and other issues. So it’s more about the individual than about the system. The difference that someone from abroad can make is to help change the culture, the mindset, the system
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and that’s a gradual process. We need people who will come to offer solutions.” Ms Yirenkyi adds that some personal adjustment can also go a long way to smoothen the process of change. “Sometimes when you are a returnee, people think you think your way is better and that can lead to them being a little standoffish. What I do is I try to tell them that it’s not necessarily better, it’s a different way. And I think if your approach in the Ghanaian workplace that you want to share these new perspectives to see if they will work, they will be more receptive.” Such different perspectives are undoubtedly required in the Ghanaian workplace. This will mean that some factors will need to come together to attract those with the skills, mindset and experience to effect the needed changes. Professor Quainoo says government must take some steps. “Government has to be serious about its rhetoric of wanting its citizens back and there should be a program to attract and re-settle citizens back home,” he says.
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SPECIAL
The Ghanaian corporate system must also have a deliberate programme. Mr Ayertey advocates “a comprehensive induction for returnees once they start work which covers the crosscultural aspects of working in Ghana, and also speaks to issues around how the family adjusts to Ghana. Stay interviews are another good tool that can be used but they should be integrated into the HR process and should help shape the way the returnee’s career is managed.” Great effort must come from the prospective returnee, too. Ms Yirenkyi’s recommendation is “you must come with a different mindset. You must be realistic about where you are and with that realism ask “can I bring some new ideas and share some new insights that can help us move forward?” Also, you must not do that in a combative way. “ Mr Nuamah’s advice is altogether more cryptic: close your eyes and jump, making sure your parachute is well fastened. And if a critical mass of returnees is to come in and help improve the Ghanaian workplace, one hopes that many more will take the advice.
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ENTREPRENEUR
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
STREEMIO'S BIG
DIGITAL REVOLUTION With the tremendous advances in technology and related know-how, have come the potential and scope to better our lives and improve efficiency. Professional and social activities can and regularly receive a boost from the products and services spawned by innovations in the technological space. 40
erhaps more than most global economic activities, this new space is one that Ghanaians and Ghanaian companies can actively inhabit. Among the innovative firms at the vanguard of the country’s push is Streemio, a music streaming service conceived and run by Samuel Owusu Darko and Francis Mawuli Ahose.
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Streemio’s basic proposition is simple. By building a huge library of licensed music, it can offer subscribers access to a limitless store of music that they can access once they have the application installed on their
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phones and a working data connection to enable it. For listeners, this means forgoing the trouble of finding, downloading and holding the files. Advertisers will also find that a more engaged audience as well as the sharper statistics derived by Streemio and the interactive nature of the service will provide not just more bang for their buck but also a keener sense of the where the bullet landed. Samuel and Francis met while both were undergoing the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology programme, an initiative of the Meltwater Foundation which seeks to provide the skills necessary for graduates to build software businesses. At the end of their two year training, Samuel and Francis, Biochemistry and Information Technology majors respectively, pitched their idea to the foundation and received funding to start Streemio. Streemio first launched publicly in December 2011, bringing the young entrepreneurs face to face with the difficulties generated by launching with inadequate information. For one thing, info@businessworldghana.com
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they discovered that while they had built a java platform for Nokia phones particularly, a decision taken based on Nokia’s large market presence, the majority of the download requests came from users of other smartphone brands whose numbers and interest were grossly underestimated. Ideally, that information should have been available before launch to enable the team better focus their efforts and resources in a market where second chances don’t come easily. Having access to publicly accurate information with regards to mobile phone statistics such as total numbers per platform, age grouping per platform, usage distribution across the country and so on will serve as an almost equally important catalyst as funding in getting the mobile revolution off the ground in Ghana. Francis believes that this information is necessary not only for Streemio but for the nascent Ghanaian tech industry, given that mobile platforms are the acknowledged future of software development. “Knowing what phones are out there is a major challenge. When we started Streemio, we learnt some difficult lessons. If you ask some of the telcos how many blackberries are on their network, for example, they either don’t know or won’t tell you. Were that information readily available, a developer would know what to push out there. In our case, we have to seed blindly because we don’t know for sure what is out there. So when we first released the application, one of our biggest objectives was to find out what was out there.“ Lessons learnt, Streemio is now working on android and blackberry platforms. With these, they will be able to reach a bigger market of hip young Ghanaians in and outside of the country wielding smartphones and willing to utilize them to access applications for social and professional services. Naturally, given its model, Streemio’s success is dependent on the telecom companies who must provide data connections that are reliable and priced in a manner that will allow users to fully enjoy the experience. “We need to start talking seriously about data”, Samuel says. “The blackberry revolution has shown that for the right value, people are willing to pay up to GHC40 a month. With the right pricing, one could work on ideas without necessarily worrying about what and how people will pay.”
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Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
That, as well as stable data connections. Which are worries that radio stations, to which Streemio poses a real and disruptive threat, do not have. For users, however, Streemio’s success will be a real boon. Users will be able to create their own playlists, for example and not have to rely on the taste of often self-interested disc jockeys and presenters. An audioon-demand service such as provided by Streemio also means that you listen when you are good and ready, effectively freeing up the listener from the dictatorship of radio programming. While a consumer-centric service, it also offers great advantages for potential advertisers. The genius of Streemio is that it delivers benefits across the board. Samuel, whose forte is the business side of the operation, explains. “Advertising requires an audience - which you can achieve via the content you deliver. Based on our research, we see that people are more engaged when they can decide exactly what they want to listen to, as opposed to the passive experience that radio delivers. This allows us to achieve greater results for advertisers. In addition to that, the ads are targeted which means that we can serve up ads based on the listener’s profiles – gender, age group, etc. The ads are also interactive, so users can immediately engage with products that they find interesting.” Streemio answers a big question for advertising particularly in terms of reporting. One can tell, for example, exactly how many people have actually heard it as opposed to the vague generalizations that are available for radio spots. It also means that advertisers can determine at which point to initiate engagement with consumers with regard to multi-layered campaigns, for example. “With a targeted service like this, we are able to tell when you sign on that you haven’t heard an ad so we know not to start at a point that makes it impossible to understand the campaign. With radio, they can only play spots for periods of time without a sense of who has heard it and how many times they have before the move on to the next stage of the story”, adds Francis. For the artiste, Streemio is a brilliant way to deal with a market that has become used to accessing files digitally. As an alternative to downloads, Streemio gives the artiste an opportunity to make some money off their product. Music licensed to Streemio via GAMRO, earns the artiste revenue while also giving artistes a sense of which of their songs are popular with listeners.
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ENTREPRENEUR As the service grows beyond the Ghanaian market, this will be even more essential as artistes will be able to determine where their music is popular. It will then be possible for the artiste to discover that there is a fan base in Kenya, say, which might not have been possible without a service like Streemio. For Streemio itself, going global is not only natural but necessary. While the Ghanaian market is the primary audience, its size or lack thereof makes such a move essential. Luckily, it is also likely. Initial tests have discovered that the service is popular in Nigeria and India, for example. And thus, Streemio could be taking the tentative steps to creating a global winner for Ghana, of which there could, hopefully, be a few. There is a growing community of entrepreneurs who are driving innovation in the face of various challenges. For one, building the platforms, engaging providers and attracting the interest of users takes time and money – resources that are often not readily available to even those with the best of ideas. Which is why the Meltwater Foundation’s input is vital for Streemio and others like it. There are currently 6 other Ghanaian Companies in the MEST Incubator with more to come after the MEST graduation and investor pitches in June. “If we had just been two people right out of university with no savings, we couldn’t have done this,” Samuel says. “So not until you have a system that is very embracing of ideas or an investor culture that is willing to support ideas, it will be hard. “ Streemio itself as a platform has enormous potential for growth. As the listener base increases, the data collected will be of tremendous use to a Ghanaian business community that is largely starved of accurate data about their potential customers and their interests. The platform itself can enable the delivery of content other than music, opening up avenues for creative and corporate data delivery. More will mean greater and the enterprising duo is determined to build a recognizable Pan-African brand with annual revenues of over ten million dollars, delivering varying content that serves both corporate and individual needs. And quite possibly, helping shape the way media is consumed in Ghana and beyond.
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TOP PERFORMER
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
www.businessworldghana.com
left but rather finished my undergraduate studies in two and a half years instead of four.
AFRICA IS WHERE ITS HAPPENING Kris Senanu is the Ghanaianborn Chief Executive Officer of Access Kenya, a successful IT firm in the Nairobi. Business World sat down with him to talk how he ended up in Kenya, IT in Africa and what he plans to do for Ghana and Africa once he retires at 55.
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Business World: How did you come to live and work in Kenya? Kris Senanu: After my “A” Levels in 1992, I came to Nairobi to visit my father who was lecturing and living here with the rest of the family. I planned to spend six months here before heading to the United States of America for my undergraduate studies. Three months into my time here I was bored so I started taking some courses. We also discovered that I didn’t cope too well with the cold weather. So my dad suggested that I wait to go in the summer instead, meaning that I could stay an extra nine months in Nairobi or come back to Accra. A neighbor suggested that I attend the local American University so I could transfer credits. As it happened, I never
I came back to Accra where most of my mates were just entering university. This made it impossible to find a job because employers didn’t understand how I could claim to have a degree when I’d left Secondary School only two and half years earlier. So I returned to Nairobi after Easter in 1996 with a USD 100 and a suitcase of clothes that I planned to sell. Basically, I wanted to pass the time and maybe go on to do my masters. Then I met a friend who said there is a telecom company that has started – then called Swift Global – and I joined them to do sales. I spent five and a half years with them and then got a bit bored. I was also unhappy with the strategic direction so in 2001 we partnered with other people to set up Access Kenya. Access Kenya basically was set up to cater for corporate connectivity. The main difference between Access and where I used to be was that we were doing residential connectivity at Swift Global – dialup then – which I thought wasn’t a
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sustainable business model. I figured that wireless was the way to go, fibre optics were coming in and there was going to be liberalization and de-regulation in the telecom industry. That was the basis and thought process behind the setting up of Access. BW: You’ve done very well here. KS: Yes. One of the things is that I have never looked as myself as a Ghanaian or a foreigner and that’s one of the reasons why I have settled so well. I only saw myself as a person who was working. And I adapted to the country the way Kenyans would. I’m sure they will always see me as a Ghanaian but I try my best not to because if I do, I would be separating myself. BW: Is the business environment better in Kenya than in Ghana? KS: I wouldn’t say its better; I would say it’s different. It’s more conducive to innovative entrepreneurial ventures. In Ghana, we have a lot of “me-too” ventures. For instance, it’s possible to have twenty tomato sellers in the same place selling at the same price and they will all have different customers. What happens here is that the twenty will shrink to five and the fifteen will become suppliers to the five. Then you will have ten go back to farming so you have the supply chain. It’s a bit more organized. So that’s the difference. Then in terms of profitability, there is a difference in the way the profits are shared because someone will ask, what happens to the other fifteen tomato sellers for example? Do they become redundant? But there is a way that the system works so that everyone plays a role in the supply chain as opposed to the me-too style. BW: What can Ghana learn from Kenya? KS: I think the way for Ghana to go is full liberalization which I believe we have done. We also need to encourage investment in ICT incubators. There are a lot of trained ICT people in Ghana but the entrepreneurship bit of it, I think, is lacking. They need to know that with this sort of training, this is the sort of business they can go into; this is where they can access venture capital. Then also, the provision of venture capital and private equity so people with good ventures can get access to ready capital. And then we need a strategic plan. I ask, where does Ghana see itself vis-a-vis its neighbours, vis-à-vis its competitive advantage within the technology space in Africa? One smart thing we have done in Kenya is pushing the perception and positioning Kenya as the Silicon Savannah. Indeed, there is a lot of innovation going on in Kenya but what they’ve done is we’ve taken the few things and blown it up such that it’s not even www.
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
disputed and people have bought into it and are coming here. Also, that perception is pushing people to innovate. But the infrastructure is there, the hubs and incubators are there and private equity is there. Indeed, there is now more money chasing ideas than ideas chasing money here in Kenya. So Ghana has to decide where it wants to position itself and then the inflows will come and the industry will grow. BW: So this means financial services is key to ICT? KS: Yes. The deepening of the financial sector is good not only for ICT but for all entrepreneurial ventures within the country. Now we have a lot of big business coming into Ghana because of oil but those are not going to bring in the jobs the country needs. Those are going to come from SMEs. So you have an oil industry and that is one; you also have agriculture. But you still need private equity and you need a good financial sector to sustain all these SMEs. I believe there is a lot happening in the micro-finance and micro-insurance industries in Ghana. These are the things that are going to grow the overall economy. BW: What’s your view of the ICT industry’s prospects in Ghana? KS: I believe because of our good command of the English language and the conscientiousness of the Ghanaian worker, we can have a viable Business Process Outsourcing in Ghana. We have the fibre optic and we are trusted neighbours, I see Ghana easily becoming the ICT hub in the sub-region if we take the leap now and position ourselves. Once you take position, it’s difficult for another country to knock you off. That’s where I see us going but it depends on the policies. We’ve got the people, we’ve got the infrastructure, but we need the strategy to put it all together and a visionary to drive it. I see Ghana being able, for instance, to handle the back end operations for the Nigerian banks. I think we are trusted, in terms of data integrity and the security bit of it. I see us also becoming a hub for training in technology. I think we can do a lot in data storage, warehousing, disaster recovery and cloud services if we move it to the next level because we have the stability and security. BW: Do you plan to do anything in Ghana? KS: I plan on doing something in Ghana. I am very interested in coming back to help with ICT policy. I feel that I have value to add because I think once the vision is set and people are aligned, I think we can go places. Secondly, from a business point of view, I am talking to various entrepreneurs to see where I can plug in terms of
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knowledge and network to come help set up some ventures. I see myself in the next 3-5 years operating from both Nairobi and Accra. BW: What are the possibilities for young African entrepreneurs? KS: What I say to young African entrepreneurs is that lets not throw away history. Whatever happened in the west in their industrial development is what is happening here. This is the frontier; this is where it’s happening. Everyone wants to come to Africa and do something. Those people will want to either set up new ventures or partner with people in existing ventures. We have to start creating value because that is the only way to release equity. Having said that, the ways of the west are not the rules for Africa and we need to keep true to our culture, habits and ways of doing things. We don’t necessarily have to take the Mcdonald’s or the KFC way and replicate it here. There is a raging debate about family business and professional businesses as though family businesses cannot be professional businesses. Some of the best run businesses in the world are family businesses; they just have the issues of corporate governance and strategies are in place. So one of the ways for Africa to have a billion billionaires is for all of us African entrepreneurs is to think about how we can professionalise the family business which is more suited to our culture. We also need a lot more entrepreneurs and we need a lot more people to just initiate. A lot of people are sitting around with good ideas waiting for capital or the right time. I say start now. If you are going to fail, you better fail faster, learn from it and continue. BW: What would you like to be remembered for? KS: I retire in 6 years and 6 months when I turn 55. Right now, I have an ICT presence in East Africa. Between 40 and 45, I want to go Pan African; I want to be the guy to see in terms of ICT policy. I’ve always said I am a politician so if I don’t do something at the AU level, maybe I will come home to help drive ICT policy at the ministry level. I am currently vice chair of the Telecommunication providers in Kenya and in a year, will be chairman. What I want to do then is not only influence Kenyan ICT policy but the region because the whole region looks to Kenya so if I’m setting policy for Kenya, I’m influencing policy for the whole region. I’m already doing a lot of speaking assignments in the region. Everybody looks to South Africa for best practices for now but that will change. South Africa has copied the west but Africa needs to come up with its own solutions; those will come from East Africa and I will be right in the middle of that.
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TECHNOLOGY
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
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Technology is evolving a new model that can finally be easily replicated in Africa without huge cost inputs. If there is any form of infrastructural growth that we in Ghana and most of sub-Saharan Africa can be deemed to be virtually in tandem with the developed world, it is in the realm of mobile telephony communication. his presents to us more of an opportunity than a challenge. With wide GSM networks spread across large stretches of the landscape, and with the presence of 3G technology in most urban and metropolitan settlements, there is ubiquity of service on the mobile landscape. Compare that to the level of cut-throat competition in the mobile telephony space – Ghana for example has just ushered a new
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player into an already voraciously competitive sphere, and the result will be increased services for the consumer and better prices. This means that the internet is now more accessible to a wider audience. Children and teens up to 18 are avid users of the internet, as are the 20 – 45 year old demographic space. Consider that most African populations in these groups info@businessworldghana.com
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constitute larger proportions of the population, it means that the benefits to be derived from the use of mobile internet and telephony services are enormous. There is a huge market waiting and wanting to be milked of all kinds of opportunities and ideas. While the ground is fertile, it is however important to carefully determine which ideas will suit businesses better in progressing leaner models of management while deriving the higher benefits of lower costs of operations, logistics and procurement of hardware and software services that could be used to expand market share, reduce cost footprint and add to corporate versatility at the same time. Let’s look at the data: in Ghana for example, mobile penetration is 80%. Facebook users in Ghana are over 1.1 million users, representing about 5% of the population. While this does not sound like a large figure, data shows that most Facebook users are actually accessing their accounts through mobile devices. The use of smarter mobile devices are rising among the 20 – 45 year age bracket, represented by an increasing patronage of smartphones by local players like RLG, and foreign mammoths like Nokia and Samsung. What the challenge is for most businesses is how to harness all that into competitive advantage. How will that be possible? Most businesses need to begin to develop a mobile strategy. Statistics show that mobile device sales now top those of desktops worldwide. This, coupled with the fact that internet is now accessible via mobile networks, means that there are increased opportunities for the use of mobile devices for productive purposes. What needs to be determined now is how an enterprise or corporate level mobile strategy can make use of hand held devices in the execution of necessary production and operational duties that were traditionally the realm of desktop computers. Businesses that have the most to gain from such a strategy are those that handle a wide range of transactional data that requires movement of field staff, such as mobile banking, distributors, mobile marketers, and www.
any kind of business that utilizes workers in the field. This can be used to ensure quick decision making from the field and the transmission of real time information for the use of marketing, accounting, reconciliation or inventory management or supply. Where the vacuum is, however, is in finding tools that can work perfectly with these mobile devices to send the information back and forth in a timely manner. This can be done through the use of software interfaces for mobile devices that could be specially designed or procured. In recent times, it is also more commonplace to have software that have mobile enabled interfaces just to handle some of these tasks. Management therefore, in devising strategy for the next wave of technology should first of all make decisions based on the kind of devices they procure in terms of hardware, software and services.
HARDWARE Hardware device considerations must be clearly aligned in any procurement drive to include tablets which run operating systems that enable specialized software to be designed for their companies. This can be easily done through the acquisition of tablets that run on open-sourced software such as android. They tend to be cheaper, and increasingly cheaper components and processors have driven costs to the point where some of them are comparative in price to mobile phones whiles providing almost the functionality of full desktops. Such hardware can also be synchronized with corporate email tools and note taking tools for instance and integrated with mobile phones running android. This presents to most companies and individuals a seamless transition of devices. The advantage is that now there are some of these software services are accessible even on desktops via browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
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TECHNOLOGY
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
SOFTWARE Software acquisitions should take cognizance of the fact that there are more devices that rely on enterprise and corporate applications or enhance them. In procuring software therefore, some of the terms of reference or system requirements should be that they have connectivity with mobile device data transfer either through APIs, or their ability to consume data formats sent through mobile devices to traditional desktops. Your software vendors or systems analysts should provide management decisions based on some of these parameters.
SERVICES Most software delivery models now include what is popularly termed software as a service, or SAAS. It is essential now that some of these software services utilize mobile devices such as tablets and phones to synchronize data to and from servers and cloud systems. This is very important especially for organizations that run multiple operations in different locations spread over wide geographical areas. Going mobile is a simple step therefore, but the challenges are in finding the right mix that does not only depict a tech-savvy business institution, but also a forward looking institution that is intent on maximizing economies of scale and being pragmatic in terms of cost cutting and operational efficiency. By Selorm Branttie
The writer is the Country Strategist at Mpedigree and the Director of Communications at IMANI Centre for Policy and Development.
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ADVERTORIAL
MTN INVESTS IN NETWORK TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MTN, Ghana’s leader in mobile telecommunications, continues to invest in its network to improve network quality and the overall customer experience. MTN Ghana, the first to introduce the Blade Cluster (the latest Switching Technology) in Africa continues to introduce leading edge technologies which will help provide better voice and data services to customers in Ghana. The recent launch of the third switch and datacentre at Tetteh Quarshie in the Greater Accra Region is a clear testimony to the efforts the company is making in network improvement. The first switch and data center was established in Sakaman Accra whilst 46
the second is in Kaase in the Ashanti Region. Together the three centres represent an investment of over US$285 million, demonstrating the MTN’scommitment to improve and maintain quality service for its over 10 million customers. SPEARHEADING TECHNOLOGICAL GROWTH The benefits expected to be derived from the switch and data centers are numerous. The data centres will amongst others · · ·
Support redundancy resulting in network availability Increase data capacity Cause an Improvement in troubleshooting and fault
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resolution time Ensure future expansion and introduction of new technologies
In addition, MTN has invested extensively in its fibre infrastructure to improve network uptime and also provide connectivity and backhaul capacity. MTN Group has committed over US$ 100 million to Africa’s largest capacity submarine fibre optic cable, the West Africa Cable System (WACS). The 14,000 km fibre optic submarine cable system will effectively raise broadband capacity. MTN is the largest investor in WACS, with commitments in excess of US$100 million, comprising US$ 90 million system capital contribution and additional capital investments
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towards the construction of cable landing facilities in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. WACS is owned by a consortium of 12 companies. The commercialisation of WACS and other submarine cables will set the stage for a mobile revolution that will enhance the quality of life for millions of people across the continent. As the leader in the telecoms industry, MTN is leading the way in investments in new cell sites around the country whilst it continues to embark on capacity upgrades to expand coverage and improve network quality.
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
user experience. In collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, MTN is working with the Association of Road Contractors and the Ghana Highway Authority to ensure that the occurrence of fiber cuts is reduced to the barest minimum if not completely eliminated. Where construction is ongoing, MTN is working to relocate some of the fiberoptic cables to ensure uninterrupted services. In certain
ADVERTORIAL
areas, MTN has temporarily switched to the installation of aerial fibre as an alternative until the road constructions completed. Michael Ikpoki, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana says “we wish to assure all our valued subscribers that providing quality mobile voice and data services is of prime importance to MTN, and we will continue to make the right investments in advanced technologies to ensure that we provide Ghanaians with the best of services.”
With a national IP network, 3,342 BTS and five switch and data centers MTN continues to show great commitment to delivering on its brand promise. DEALING WITH NETWORK CHALLENGES The desire to expand and improve the network is however faced with regulatory and infrastructural challenges. Delays in the issue of permits from multiple permitting agencies hamper cell site rollouts, which leads to coverage gaps in key areas and network quality issues such as dropped calls. Road and other construction also damage the network’s infrastructure. Cable cuts caused by construction crews for example, are responsible for between 50-70% of yearly cable cuts. The effect of all these are the occasional interruptions to the network which adversely affect the customer experience. A FIRM COMMITMENT TO THE PROVSION OF QUALITY SERVICES Despite these challenges, MTN is fully committed to further investments in its network while mapping out strategies to deal with the problems so as to maintain an overall superior www.
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Ibrahim Misto, GM Network Services, Cynthia Lumor, Corporate Services Executive and Albert Enninful, Deputy Director of National Communications Authority proceed to commission the Switch Centre.
MTN is the biggest telecommunications company in the country and a global leader in mobile communications. Since acquiring Scancom Ltd. in 2006, the company has made over USD 1.2 billion investments in the expansion and upgrade of its network infrastructure and equipment.
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BOOK REVIEW
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
www.businessworldghana.com
A STORY OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
Set in the 1770s in West Africa, Manu Herbstein’s first novel does an amazing job of recreating the experience of enslavement and resistance through the voice of a young female slave. The literary style of the novel reflects the painstaking lengths the author goes to in order to accurately offer a historical background and vivid detail of the atrocities of the slave trade. Ama tells the story of the splendidly spirited Bekpokpam girl Nandzi, its heroine. The novel opens with Nandzi’s abduction by a party of slave raiders assembling the annual tribute due to the Asante Confederacy. Left alone to care for her baby brother while her family buries her grandfather, Manu Herbstein successfully uses the moments before the abduction to draw the reader to Nandzi’scharacter and creates empathy for the young girl and her contemplative nature as she day dreams about her life and future. The boldness with which Nandzi questions the customs of her people even in her personal thoughts quickly establishes to the reader that this is a character set to defy social norms and driven to survive. The depth of description and anguish fashioned by the author as she is captured, raped and enslaved sends a cold chill through the reader as one remembers that although this novel is fictitious, the events were all too real for many women of the time. From the moment when she loses her freedom, her life moves between resistance to her successive owners and a resignation to the power they wield over her. Herbstein however, is successful at using the character to portray a resistance of the mind. Although her attempt to escape in Yendi fails, the reader is privy to Nandzi’s thoughts and as such, knows that the spirit of the girl will never be enslaved. For her spirit and the courage she shows in her Yendi attempt to escape, she is selected as a personal present to the Queen Mother of the Asante and is given an Asante name, Ama Donko, which she is to hold on to despite various name-changes. After the old king’s death, however, his adolescent successor falls in love with this voluptuous new slave, who is consequently transported to the coast “for reasons of state”. Despite her struggles, the fire within her continues to burn even on board an English slave ship, when she instigates a rebellion; and suffers a terrible retribution when it fails. In Brazil, where eighteen-hour work shifts send slaves to an early death, she attempts to build a new life. Sustained by ancient beliefs, Ama's spirit never wavers. Enslaved she might have been, but to herself she is never a slave. 48
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Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
BOOK REVIEW
While this novel does not shirk away from shining the spot light on the human atrocities and the personal hostilities borne of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Herbstein frequently alludes to a less noticeable cause of human suffering - the greed of capitalism and politics. Herbstein’s introduction of a wide range of non-African and African beneficiaries of the slave trade portrays the complexities of the slave trade. In a time where the globalisation and DNA testing have created a return of the children of those lost long ago, Ama is a must read for those who are interested in the issues of racism, repatriations and “home-comings�. This novel offers useful insight into the possible motivations of those who buy or sell slaves as well as into the minds of their victims. Although the tans-Atlantic slave trade is over, our generation faces new aspects of slavery and as such, the themes of this novel will forever be relevant.
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CAR REVIEW
Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
www.businessworldghana.com
LAND CRUISER PRADO TX-L : ADVENTURE IN COMFORT The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado currently comes in four (4) variants of the TX-L Grade : 3.0 Manual Diesel, 2.7 Automatic Petrol, 3.0 Turbo-Diesel Manual and 3.0 Turbo-Diesel Automatic
Over the past decade, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado has served the Ghanaian Market well by positioning itself as a quality Mid-Sized SUV suitable for business class executives and distinguished families. For city dwellers, the Prado asserts a personality that emphasizes a great combination of full 4WD functionality with a style suited to a premium SUV - a kind of urban class. On the other hand, the Prado also places high emphasis on its capabilities as a premium “Offroader” for occasional trekkers and out-of-city business commuters. This is underscored by the quality and durability offered by the Land Cruiser Brand. No matter what you may intend using the Prado for, its uniquely defined characteristics always gives you a touch of great comfort and confidence and at the same time, maintaining the ruggedness of a refined SUV. This is to say that, the NG Prado, with its powerful exterior, combining with an elegant interior, is a Reliable Vehicle.
the incandescent bulbs which is slow to respond. To emphasise this feature further, the LED turn indicators are integrated into the retractable door mirrors to enhance its look and provide maximum exposure to pedestrians and other vehicles for improved safety. The front and rear spats and spoilers also feature strongly to provide various aerodynamic enhancements as well as control air flow for enhanced fuel efficiency. INTERIOR
EXTERIOR
The new Prado may be a serious off-roader, but its interior employs an elegant and stylish design that blends in just as naturally on cosmopolitan city streets. A high quality feel surrounds you the minute the door is opened and the up-scale atmosphere ‘reminiscent of a luxury sedan’ makes it the perfect companion when dressed up for a night out in town.
The exterior of the Prado exudes a rugged, but yet stylish appeal which excites immediate interest in the vehicle. Complemented by a string of finely fitted Light-Emitting Diode (LED), to provide high visibility and low power consumption, the NG Prado features rear LED combination lamps, which are reflexive and highly visible and can instantly signal other vehicles approaching from behind, unlike
One exciting feature about the New Prado is its roomy lay out which promises maximum comfort and an enhanced driving experience. This makes seating comfortable for all the 7 occupants on board. For the first and second row seats, the Prado can contain individuals of about 191cm with more room to spare for comfort and utmost satisfaction, especially during a long trip.
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CAR REVIEW
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
EXTERIOR HIGHLIGHTS Power Side Mirrors with LED Integrated Turning Lights Front and Rear Spats Front and Rear Spoilers Bumper Built-In Fog Lamps INTERIOR HIGHLIGHTS Seven- Seater Leather Seats for Automatic Transmission Leather Steering Wheel Audio controls on steering wheel Dual Air-Conditioner with triple-zone automatic air-conditioning Second-Row Seats (Walk-in function) Third-Row Seats (Fold-Flat Function) Keyless Entry (Available for the 3.0 Turbo-Diesel Models) SAFETY VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) ABS (Antilock Brake System) + VSC + TRC (Petrol) SRS Airbags (Driver + Passenger + Side + Knee) 3-point ELR Seatbelts for all Seats Multi-Reflector Headlamps Front Fog and Driving Lights for extra visibility EXTRA AMENITIES 12 Storage compartments Cool box Two 12V DC outlets CD/ Bluetooth with 6 Speakers for the Manual Transmission 6-CD Changer / Bluetooth with 9 Speakers for the Automatic Transmission USB and AUX jacks
ACCRA BRANCH: Tel: 233-302-221316 / 223122 / 258241 / 228813 / 245503 / Fax: 233-302-221351 / 222682 TEMA BRANCH: Tel: 233-302-913-460 / 913461 / 0544-331420 KUMASI BRANCH: Tel: 233-3220-26375 / 223122 / 27837 / Fax: 233-3220-25359 TARKWA BRANCH: Tel: 233-3123-22390 / 0544-100230 / Fax: 233-3123-22391 www.toyotaghana.com info@toyotaghana.com | Warranty-3yrs or 100,000km whichever comes first.
SHOWROOM CONTACT. TEL: 0302-910204
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SUPERIOR QUALITY
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Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
Restaurant
Review
Luscious Temptations ...the foodie haven
After hearing raves about an urban restaurant tucked away in the A&C square, the foodie in me could not resist the urge to visit. Of course no meal is fully enjoyed without friendly chatter and customer service connoisseurs. So, I rounded up six trusted taste buds and headed out to indulge in succulent delights. With the exception of the hiccups in service, astronomical prices and fairly small portions, I was not totally disappointed. After dealing with aggressive and obviously frustrated drivers in the A&C parking lot, I expected the “madhouse” holiday effect to overflow into the restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised. Luscious Temptations has the wonderful feel of a side walk café with chairs outside and an equally laid back atmosphere on the inside. The gentle buzz of music sprinkled at just the right volume from the ceiling and the silent sport channels showing on the flat screen televisions by the bar carry burdens away and make you want to plop into the comfortable chairs and forget about the world.
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Business World Magazine
Issue: 22 // June - July 2012
www.businessworldghana.com
Restaurant
Review
Luscious Temptations The plush décor, wood paneling, wall art and ‘booths’ complete with baskets and hot sauce on the tables brought back memories of Ruby Tuesdays and T.G.I Friday’s and I was excited and expectant. (Big mistake) Reality quickly set in as we waited for a waiter to finally bring us menus and even act slightly interested in what we wanted to drink. I’m not sure if it was that we were just too many, or if his memory and trusted note pad failed him, but when our drinks finally came, (wait for it) there was a wrong order. Since we were clearly aware that the drink was too dark and smelled too much like coffee to be a fruit smoothie, we tried very hard to avert his error, but since he refused to listen, my friend was all too happy to take a sip and gain a free drink. Needless to say, not having to pay 7ghc for a drink was definitely our highlight. (1 point Foodies – 0 Luscious Temptations) After waiting close to 40 minutes for our food, we were tired of small talk, college memories and even complaining about the service. At the 45th minute, just as one of my companions was about to curl into a ball and expire, the waiter came out smiling (obviously his attempt to make himself feel better about starving us) and carrying plates of food. Without saying, we were all salivating and ready to tuck in. He lavishly placed our plates before us and stood back with a look of pride. Unfortunately, the only looks he received were ones of disbelief. We had waited so
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long only for portions my niece could devour in less than ten minutes. Since we didn’t have much of a choice, we resigned ourselves to eating our small portions. Our resignation quickly became another highlight. I can’t fault Luscious Temptations for the quality of their food. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and enjoyed our sinfully delicious slices of cake for desert. I’ll probably end up going to Luscious Temptations for the excellent ambiance and the great tasting food but with those prices and portions, it will be a quarterly event and on a partially full stomach.
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