Investment Times Newspaper 2023 Edition | Issue 12

Ghana seeks Indian investment in oil and gas sector

Zeepay secures Mobile Money License in Gambia

Zeepay, the African ntech leader and game-changer in the mobile money space, has once again demonstrated its commitment to expanding access to nancial services across the continent. The company has received regulatory approval to bring its revolutionary mobile money services to Gambia, making it the fourth country, alongside Ghana, Zambia, and Ivory Coast. This marks another signi cant milestone, as it continues to disrupt the traditional nancial services sector and bring innovative and accessible nancial solutions to Africa.

At a time when Africa is focusing on the integration of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and nancial inclusion, Zeepay's entry into the Gambian market is a welcome development. With its award-winning ntech platform, Zeepay is transforming the way Gambians send and receive money, both domestically and internationally.

The company's partnership with MoneyGram, a global provider of money transfer and nancial services, will enable Gambians to receive money directly into their

Ghana, which is struggling with its worst economic crisis in a generation, is seeking Indian investment in its oil and gas sector, William Owuraku Aidoo, its deputy minister of energy, said on Wednesday. Reuters reports that Ghana has asked India to consider exploration of three blocks in the western basin and to build re neries as the African

nation aims to construct a petroleum hub, Aidoo said. "There are some opportunities in Ghana specially in the oil and gas front. We have some oil blocks available and we came here hoping to attract Indian investments," Aidoo told Reuters after a meeting with Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri at India Energy Week. He said Ghana will award ex-

Parliament to regulate 1D1F tax exemptions

Parliament is considering a legislation or legal framework to address tax exemptions regime regarding the One District One Factory(1D1F) policy aimed at shoring up local revenue.

Parliament passed the Tax Exemptions Bill, 2022 last year to provide for a tax exemption regime in the country.

The current law did not make adequate provisions that addresses the exemptions regime in relation to the 1D1F framework.

ploration licences through direct negotiations if Indian companies are interested. Ghana wants India to consider three blocks in the western basin, he said. Apart from o ering exploration opportunities, Ghana is also seeking Indian support to build re neries of about 300,000 barrels per day.

"We have space for three of them ... we want to make a

Business confidence improves last year, but challenges still remain - UKGCC report

The UK- Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC), a member-based trade association that promotes trade between the UK and Ghana, has released the 4th edition of its annual Ghana Business Environment and Competi-

tive Survey Report for the year 2022.

Over 300 companies from 16 industries, ranging from small to large companies, participated in the survey.

The survey results indicate that

Increase in HIV case must not be blamed on tourism

HIV/AIDS infections in the country. The Director-General of the GAC, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene also indicated that tourism may increase infection rates in the country. In stress-

Government introduced the 1D1F with the objective of boosting industrailisation with varied tax incentives but stakeholders have raised concerns about the excessive exemptions relating the 1D1F framework, which has caused the country several millions in tax reliefs.

Civil society and other pressure groups have raised concerns regards these tax holidays, hence the need for a review of the regime.

The bill, which would set clear eligibility criteria for tax ex-

Olaseni Alabede joins MFS Africa’s Global Technology Partners as new CTO

Olaseni Alabede, a veteran of the payments technology sector with more than 18 years of experience, has joined Global Technology Partners (GTP), an MFS Africa company, as chief technology o cer (CTO).

Acquired by MFS Africa in June 2022, the US-based GTP is the largest processor of prepaid cards in Africa, with more than 80 banks –including UBA, Ecobank, BIA, Stanbic, Coris, NSIA and Zenith Bank – using its platform.

Prior to joining the GTP executive team, Alabede was the Vice President of Product Development in MasterCard’s Installments business. In this New York-based role, he was responsible for the design and development of Buy-Now-Pay-later products on the Mastercard network. His history in the payments sector, however, dates back to the beginning of his career in 2003, when he started working as a web designer at the now-defunct City Express Bank in Nigeria. After that, he spent nearly a decade at Interswitch, growing from a project engineer to head of enterprise ser-

Zeepay wallet and send money to over 150 countries, making cross-border transactions easier and more convenient than ever before.

“Zeepay's mission is to bring nancial services to underserved communities, and we are thrilled to bring our cutting-edge mobile money solutions to Gambia and further drive nancial inclusion for all,” said Andrew Takyi-Appiah, founder of Zeepay. “Our innovative ntech platform opens up the local market and creates interoperability between wallet-to-bank and bank-to-wallet transactions, making nancial services accessible to everyone.”

The rapid growth of Zeepay is a testament to the company's innovative partnerships and the tenacity of its founder, Andrew Takyi-Appiah. Despite global economic chal-

petroleum hub," Aidoo said.

Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in December last year announced that Ghana had concluded talks for the operationalisation of the gold-for-oil policy.

He indicated that under the deal, which was similar to a barter, Ghana would receive cheaper fuel in exchange for gold.

The rst consignment of policy arrived at the Tema Port in the second week of January and discharged into

the receptacles of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST).

The 41,000 metric tonnes of petroleum products were delivered by SCF YENISEI.

Ghana currently imports about 130,000 tonnes of gas oil and about 100,000 tonnes of gasoline each month. This comes at a cost of about US$220 million a month.

This means that the country needs over US$2 billion to be able to su ciently import its petroleum products in a year.

Ghana seeks Indian investment in oiland gas sector Zeepay secures Mobile Money License in Gambia

lenges, Zeepay remains focused on its mission of bringing nancial services to communities that have been left behind by traditional nancial institutions. “We are moving forward,” Mr.Kwesi Yankey, Board Chairman, said. “And we look forward to entering even more markets in 2023.”

Zeepay

Zeepay is the fastest growing mobile nancial services company across Africa with operations in Ghana and the United Kingdom and terminating to 20 countries across Africa with termination agreements in over 90 jurisdictions globally. We specialize in remittance termination into mobile wallets and are completely network and partner agnostic.

We are a wholly owned Ghanaian company and regulated in the UK by Financial Conduct Authority-FCA # 592538 and in

Ghana by Bank of Ghana#00001. Zeepay supports Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 and is considered a Financial Inclusion Company positioned to improve last mile access. Visit myzeepay.com for more information.

MoneyGram

MoneyGram provides money transfer and other nancial services around the globe with both digital platforms and retail locations. Consumers can send money internationally to friends and family, pay bills and more with affordable fees and great exchange rates. MoneyGram is trusted by 150+ million consumers who can choose how they send money - online, in our highly-rated mobile app or at one of 380,000+ locations.

Parliament to regulate 1D1F tax exemptions

emptions, would also provide for the monitoring, evaluation and enforcement of exemptions.

Further, the bill would explore delivering a regulatory regime for monitoring tax exemptions to ensure that exemptions granted were used for the intended purposes, as well as control the abuse of the existing exemption regime.

Address the Parliamentary Press Corps in Accra on

By Eugene Davies

Wednesday, the Minority Leader, Dr. Ato Forson said parliament has done a lot of work on the tax waivers, pointing out that the exemptions are becoming too much, particularly times like this that the country needs every cedi to save the economy.

According to him, the country cannot continue granting tax exemptions and added that the nance committee has been very adamant in approving tax exemptions, disclosing that parliament worked with

the ministry to get the tax exemptions bill passed which culminated in the tax exemptions regime in for the rst time.

“In terms of the savings that the nance committee has led parliament to save in terms of tax exemptions, if you quantify it, you will notice we have made huge progress as a country in terms of tax exemptions. There is still lot more we have to do, there is one we working on that has to do with 1D1F tax exemptions.

We believe that time has come for us to put brakes on tax exemptions and raise in enough revenue to support the scal and the country because we need every revenue to move the country forward, so put it in perspective you will notice the country has made more progress on the tax exemption than before.

I believe in continuous improvement, so we have to continuously identify the gaps we have in the tax exemptions

regime and improve it going forward,” he added.

The Majority Leader, Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, also agreed with Dr. Ato Forson’s view, explaining “It is the reason we have introduced the Tax Exemptions Act, so from now on it is going to be the guiding principle.

It was projected that the exemptions for the 2022 nancial year lowered by about GH¢500m with the passage of the bill.

Andrew Takyi-Appiah, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Zeepay

Business confidence improves last year, but challenges still remain - UKGCC report

most businesses perceive the business environment in 2022 has improved over 2021. However, they continue to be held back by challenges such as corruption, Ghana's taxation system, the price of land and power, and present additional economic obstacles.

Businesses continue to list the cost of gasoline as their highest operating expense; followed by cost of power, cost of machinery, and cost of technology. These factors, it was indicated, strain their already limited nancial resources.

These notwithstanding, businesses highlighted several factors positively a ecting their performance in Ghana.

According to the respondents, hiring competent labour has been among the least expensive expenses their companies have ever had to deal with. Local marketing costs, certi cation and quality control charges, as well as cost of locally obtained raw materials are also perceived as being low.

These indicators have shown consistency in their ranking of lower costs of doing business in Ghana over prior year’s survey report.

To improve ease of doing business, respondents suggested several reforms. Top of the list is safety and

security of investment, followed by lower corruption and improved transparency.

It was observed that for businesses to prosper over time, the government must support successful regulatory reform and guarantee a stable macroeconomic environment. Respondents were also of the view that improved bureaucracy and quicker approvals would promote ease of doing business.

Regarding readiness for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), sampled businesses believe that the development of appropriate quality standards, and the expansion of their capital base, are the two most important steps they need to take to increase their competitiveness and optimise the full bene ts of the AfCFTA.

Anthony Pile MBE, UKGCC Executive Council Chairman, noted that “despite the current turbulent circumstances, there is an encouraging, yet cautious optimism for the future. It is, therefore, important for all business environment stakeholders, especially Government policy makers, and businesses to plan for the risks and uncertainties and build the resilience to withstand any unanticipated shocks in 2023”.

Commenting on the report, Vish

Ashiagbor, Country Senior Partner of PwC, a UKGCC member company and consultants/advisors for the report, commended the government for improving perception of cost of land, availability of logistic partners, and access to land from the 2021 survey results.

He, however, bemoaned the worsening problem of corruption and its adverse impact on businesses.

“This year, majority of the respon dents voted corruption to be the most worrisome business component despite government's drive to kick out corruption. Inas much as some improvements

were recorded last year, the regulatory framework, availability of power and legal system have all declined. In PwC Ghana’s view these setbacks are well within Government’s reach to improve, and should, therefore, remain high on the agendas of advocacy groups like business chambers,” he added.

About the Survey

The annual Business Climate Survey was rst launched in 2019 and has

Ghanaian market presents for UKGCC members and businesses generally, whether large or small, new or old, and across all sectors. The survey provides a platform for businesses to provide key feedback on the health, con dence, intentions, and issues of businesses in Ghana and therefore, serves as the foundation for the UKGCC’s advocacy work.

The 2022 edition provides a compre

Olaseni Alabede joins MFS Africa’s Global Technology Partners as new CTO

vice management.“We are thrilled to have Olaseni come on board as the new CTO for GTP,” says GTP CEO, Christian Bwakira. “His extensive experience in both the African and international payments spaces and his clear passion for technology’s ability to improve people’s lives and help build better futures makes him the ideal person to drive us forward technologically.”

For his part, Alabede says that he is looking forward to taking charge not just of GTP’s technology stack, but the entire technology initiative behind the company and drive a strategy that enhances the company’s already strong positioning.

“Right now, GTP provides a quality service that customers know and love it for,” he says. “But can we take that to the next level?”

The decision to join GTP, he says,

was made primarily on the basis of the impact he believes the company, particularly under MFS Africa’s ownership, can have.  “When you think about what MFS Africa and GTP have done in the African market, that impact is signicant,” he says. “I want to be part of taking that further, helping more and more markets replace the need for cash by using seamless technology that integrates our various o erings.”

In helping GTP achieve that impact, Alabede plans to focus on seamless customer experiences  as he considers the elimination of friction in payments particularly critical.

“The more friction you remove from the consumer, the more they get out of their payments,” he says. More particularly, he believes that

there will be signi cant innovation around bringing these technological trends together and that African companies and consumers will bene t from them.

“I think that last mile delivery of frictionless payments and experiences is really going to translate into success,” he says. “As such, we can expect to see a lot of innovation and technological convergence happening in building those frictionless experiences.”

Outside of work, Alabede is passionate about promoting health in underserved communities. He serves on the Board of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health which provides health education and health equality in the Brooklyn Community and other parts of New York City.

Increase in HIV case must not be blamed on tourism

ing his point, he referred to a recent study that assessed the impact of national resource extraction projects on HIV transmission risks in local communities in sub-Saharan countries, including Ghana. It reports that mine openings increase the odds of HIV infections almost two folds “Mining activities, particularly mining more than double the rate of HIV infections. In addition, tourism may increase infection rates.” Tourism investment are bene cial, but the more tourists who visit a country, the higher the rate of new infection”

Well he did not quote the aspect of the report which blamed tourism investment as a contributing factor to HIV increase infection rates and again he used the word may therefore it is presumed not to be a statement of fact. There is how-

By Philip Gebu

ever no doubt that when some tourists visit a country they probably may engage in sexual activities. This is why the UNWHO has a report on the e ect of sex tourism and now sex child tourism. However, it’s also a fact that not all tourists do engage in sex tourism. Again not all travelers are considered tourists or visitors. We don’t classify all travelers to have contributed to tourism statistics. It therefore means that, there may be foreigners who travels to Ghana and yet do not fall into the category of tourist and will not engage into any kind of tourism activity.

Travelers such refugees, nomads, diplomats, border post workers, security agents, and so are travelers alright but are not classi ed to have been engaged into tourism therefore may not fall under the cat-

egory of tourists. Someone travelling for work is not considered a tourists. A tourist is simply de ned as a person who travels to a destination and spends at least a day. A person seizes to be a tourists after spending more than 12 months at the destination. Such a person may be classi ed as an immigrant after spending a year.

It could be very confusing for a lay man to classify people who travel to Ghana as tourists when in actual fact they may be here for work such as illegal mining or any other kind of job. Again, when tourists travel to a destination, they have reasons for doing so. For example health reasons, sport reasons, culture or religious reasons, business i.e. attending a conference or meeting or exhibition, visiting friends or rela-

tives and on. Those who fall under the above categories visit tourist attractions and contribute to tourist statistics. They make use of one form of accommodation, they visit entertainment centers, and they eat in restaurants and engage in shopping of souvenirs etc.

Another reason why tourism cannot be blame on HIV infection rate going up is because, there is no relationship between countries that have high rate of tourist arrivals yearly and those countries recording high HIV infections rate. A look and the list below show the Countries with the highest HIV infection rates in the world. This was published by the world population review 1. Eswatini, 2.

Lesotho 3. Botswana 4. South Africa 5. Zimbabwe 6. Namibia

7.Mozambique 8. Zambia 9. Malawi, 10. Equatorial Guinea 12.

Uganda, 13. Tanzania 14. Kenya 15. Republic of the Congo 14. Cameroon 17. Gabon 18. Guinea-Bissau 19. Central African Republic 20 Rwanda 21. South Sudan 22. Ivory Coast 23. Togo 24. Haiti 25. Angola 26. Gambia 27. Ghana 28. Mauritius 29. Sierra Leone 30. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 31. Guinea 32. Jamaica 33. Nigeria 34. Guyana 35. Russia, 36. Bahamas, The above list show that a high number of countries with high HIV infection rate are in Africa. Africa receives just about 5% of all international arrival per UNWO data. If the high in ux of tourists in a country were a contributing factor, then countries like France, USA, China, Germany, UK, Spain that receive the highest number of tourists would have been up in the list. This is clear evidence that clearly that is not the case.

Here are the 10 countries with the most tourism:

1.France - 89.4M

2.Spain - 83.7M

3.United States - 79.3M

4.China - 65.7M

5.Italy - 64.5M

6.Turkey - 51.2M

7.Mexico - 45M

8.Thailand - 39.8M

9.Germany - 39.6M

10.United Kingdom - 39.4M

Source: World population review

Again when it comes to sex tourism, many destinations that facilitate the growth of this type of tourism by legalizing prostitution are nowhere near the country with high infection cases. Below are the list of some of these countries for your own perusal.

1. Hungary

Hungary’s capital Budapest is the hottest sex tourism destination as prostitution is legal here

2. The Caribbean

The Caribbean is a place on earth where female sex tourism is wildly popular. Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and Barbados are the top sex tourism countries.

3. Japan

In Kabukicho -Tokyo, girls are dressed as nurses, secretaries, maids etc. Paid companion-

ship are acquired by going to the hostess club.

4. Hong Kong is the marketplace for sex. At its bars and restaurants, you will nd full of prostitutes for a wild nightlife as prostitution is legal.

5. Belgium

Prostitution in Belgium is also legal, shocking right? Villa Tinto in Antwerp is one of the cleanest and safest red light areas in Belgium.

6. Brazil

Brazil is very well known for football, but also famous for its exotic-looking beauties. As prostitution is legal in Brazil, you can visit Brazil’s red light area in Rio De Janeiro.

7. Malaysia

If you want to visit Malaysia do spend time in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh the hub for sex tourism.

8. Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina is famous for “transitory hotels”, a place where couples can book private room for sex tourism.

9. Singapore

The great part of Singapore is that it has its o cial red-light district known as Geylang. There are more red light areas in Singapore such as Orchard Towers, Petain Road Desker and Rowell Road.

10. Ukraine

Extreme sex tourism in Ukraine

can be found in Kiev and Odessa.

11. France France has so many X rated stu to o er. Cologne is where you can visit Pascha, the rst-ever high rise brothel in Europe.

12. Germany Germany is known as Europe’s biggest brothels as prostitution is legal in this country.

13. Greece

Athens, its capital is the favorite hotspot, as prostitution is technically legal. Brothels can be found in certain areas of the city like Metaxourgeio and Filis St.

14. Indonesia

Bali is the go-to place in Indonesia for strip clubs, massage parlours and a top-class destination for parties and nightlife. There are a lot of massage parlours and karaoke bars in Kuta, Legian, Sanur and Denpasar. Bali also has a lot of pubs, clubs and beach club bars which o er fantastic food and world-class DJ.  Prostitution is a huge business in Bali.

15. Netherlands

The Redlight area in Amsterdam

- Capital of Netherland has an area known as the “De Wallen” famous for sex shows, strip clubs, brothels.

16. Mexico

The most popular destinations in Mexico are Mexico City and

Tijuana. The most visited brothels include Zona Norte in Tijuana and Adelitas, the largest and oldest brothel in Mexico..

17. Philippines

Sex tourism in the Philippines is most common in Manila and Boracay.

18. Thailand Bangkok and Pattaya are popular for Go Go Bars famous for red-light districts and sex shows.

19. Czech Republic Prostitution is legal in the Czech Republic, which makes it a part of everyone’s bucket list.

20. Cambodia Street prostitution is widely popular with karaoke bars and massage parlours

21. Spain Sex tourism in Spain is most common in Madrid, the capital of Spain and also Ibiza and Barcelona. Source: feedingtrends.com/sex-tourism-countries-legal-prostitution

The above information is clear on what happens in this high tourist generating countries yet HIV infection rate is low. The earlier we looked at the real reasons and no blame tourism the better it will be for Ghana. Tourism has the poten-

tial of improving our economy. The positive aspect of tourism is what we must focus on and not the negative aspect.

Philip Gebu is a Tourism Lecturer. He is the C.E.O of FoReal Destinations Ltd, a Destinations Management and Marketing Company based in Ghana and with partners in many other countries. Please contact Philip with your comments and suggestions. Write to forealdestinations@gmail.com / info@forealdestinations.com. Visit our website at www.forealdestinations.com or call or WhatsApp +233(0)244295901/0264295 901.Visist our social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: FoReal Destinations.

Binance recognized for its innovative solutions and user-first approach at 2022 Ghana Fintech Awards

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure provider has been recognized for its outstanding contributions to the ntech industry in Ghana at the Ghana Fintech Awards 2022. The blockchain giant received the “Emerging Technology Of The Year” award, an award highlighting its expertise in leveraging technology to deliver nancial services and enable payments and transactions.

The Ghana Fintech Awards 2022 had high-level executives, dignitaries, and industry leaders from the private sector, government agencies, and departments in attendance. Among the notable attendees were Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, British High Commissioner to Ghana H.E Harriet Thompson, and the Head of Fintech and Innovation, the Bank of Ghana, Kwame Oppong. Winners were selected through an independent audit process conducted by KPMG - one of the Big Four rms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services - ensuring that the award selections were based on high-level criteria and transparent evaluation methods.

“At Binance, we believe that nancial services should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or location. Our recognition as the Emerging Innovator of the year only strengthens our commitment to promoting nancial inclusion and empowering individuals to take control of their nancial future. says Emmanuel Ebanehita (Marketing Lead, Binance West Africa).

“Despite the major challenges that the digital asset industry faced in 2022, Binance has remained focused on building products that add real value and prioritize user experience and security – two key aspects of the company’s ethos.” He added.

Binance aims to make cryptocurrency accessible to everyone by o ering extensive nancial services and the most innovative product suite across a growing network while retaining the lowest fees in the industry. The blockchain company is constantly expanding its Web3 o erings beyond nance and believes that the underlying technology holds immense potential for enhancing services and improving people's

lives. The Ghana Fintech Awards honors and acknowledges the individuals and organizations leading innova tive solutions in the industry. These leaders have greatly contrib uted to boosting Ghana's ntech competitiveness and creating a robust ntech ecosystem for eco nomic development and nancial inclusion.

*End*

About Binance

About Binance is the world’s lead ing blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a nancial product suite that includes the largest digi tal asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and o erings, including trading and nance, education, data, and research, social good, in vestment and incubation, decen tralization and infrastructure solu tions, and more. For more infor mation, visit: https://www.bi nance.com

Trauma Surgeon Shares Life-Saving Tips for Road AccidentVictims on Vodafone Healthline

In the tenth and nal episode of the Vodafone Healthline spin-o show, expert trauma surgeon Dr James Aggrey Orleans shared crucial tips for handling road accident victims. With road accidents being a major public health issue, having the proper skills and tools is essential for saving lives.

The rst step, according to Dr Aggrey, is to assess the safety of the scene, checking for any weapons, re outbreaks, live wires, etc., and then protecting oneself with a face mask or other protective shield. Once the environment is secure, triage is conducted to determine the most severely injured and their urgency for treatment. Dr Aggrey stressed the importance of comforting the patient, assessing the injuries, and controlling bleeding by applying pressure to the wound using a gauze or cloth. The rule

of thumb for treating injuries is to start with the head, as it bleeds a lot, then the body, and nally the limbs to prevent excessive bleeding.

In the segment, Dr Aggrey also demonstrated how to make a splint to prevent bone fractures and how to immobilise an injured arm using a scarf or piece of cloth folded into a triangular shape. He stressed the importance of keeping the injured person calm and still while administering rst aid and calling for help, and he encouraged everyone to have a rst aid kit in their vehicles in case of emergencies.

In the Myth Busters segment, Dr Aba Folson debunked the myth that pure honey is not sugar.

Host Frema Asiedu explained that honey contains more fructose than glucose, and its sweetness comes from the glucose and fructose not being

combined into sucrose like table sugar. While honey has health bene ts like antioxidants and cardio-protective qualities, both Drs Folson and Kweku Yalley agreed that it is still sugar and should be consumed in moderation.

The Jewels in the Kitchen segment featured a discussion on the health bene ts of okro.

Host, Frema Asiedu, highlighted its anti-in ammatory and antioxidant properties and explained how the sliminess of okro protects the gut and helps maintain a healthy mucus layer and blood sugar levels.

The Vodafone Healthline show, which aims to provide free medical education to the public through broadcasts on selected media outlets and social media, aired on UTV on Mondays from 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and on DGN on Tuesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

By Mark Cliffe

The US Federal Reserve is being dangerously complacent about climate change. While it understandably does not want to take the lead on an issue that remains so politically polarizing in the United States, the limited actions it has taken fall woefully short of what is needed.

Worse, its new “pilot climate scenario analysis” exercise with six major banks is likely to understate both the risks of climate change and the opportunities o ered by the transition to net-zero emissions. Having failed to absorb the lessons from similar exercises by central banks in Europe and elsewhere, the Fed is relying on scenarios created by the Network for Greening the Financial System  (NFGS), despite a growing recognition that these rest on awed foundations.

Central banks have long conceded that crucial risks are missing from the mainstream integrated assessment models (IAMs) that they use. Yet they fail to admit that these gaps leave their analyses systematically biased against climate action. They have ignored trenchant critiques from eminent economists such as  Nicholas Stern and Joseph E. Stiglitz, who note that “IAMs have very limited value … They fail to provide much in the way of useful guidance, either for the intensity of action, or for the policies that deliver the desired outcomes.”

ignore. Yet while the Fed’s exercise will include a scenario in which a major hurricane hits the US East Coast, its NGFS-style modeling will omit many critical factors and processes. Disruptive shifts in politics, policy, nancial markets, and technology will all be glossed over. The complex interactions between climate-driven events and human behavior, involving tipping points and non-linear changes or discrete jumps in climate-risk probabilities – will barely be captured. This means that possibilities such as a prolonged war in Ukraine, a return of White House climate denialism, a renewables trade war with China, recessions, or stock-market crashes are nowhere to seen. Nor are more positive possibilities, such as a surge in the popularity of progressive green politics, an explosion in electric-vehicles sales as they reach price parity with internal combustion engine vehicles, or continued rapid technological progress. Far from being mere technical details, these kinds of modeling aws could lead to disaster. The NGFS scenarios would have us believe that in a “business as usual world” heading to 3° Celsius warming, global GDP in 2050 would be only around 4% lower (implying a loss of less than two year’s growth) than in a world where we have achieved net-zero emissions and kept warming within 1.5°C. No wonder central banks foresee only modest

ing will do.

Compounding the problem, the NGFS scenarios downplay the potential bene ts of the net-zero transition. In fact, they suggest that it will lead to higher in ation and lower growth, while ignoring the possibility that green technological progress will lower prices and boost growth.

This brings us to another problem with the Fed’s climate-scenario exercise: It will do little to help banks meet the NGFS’s own call for them to consider climate risks and opportunities in all their decision-making. Banks in Europe have already cast doubt on the usefulness of their local supervisory exercises, and a similar reaction is likely in the US. Scenarios that are woefully inadequate for assessing long-term systemic risk obviously are even less useful for stress-testing speci c banks. Having issued their own net-zero pledges, banks are under more immediate pressure to develop and execute their transition plans. Many have already committed to interim targets such as halving the emissions that they are nancing by 2030, implying reductions of 8% per year. Such robust changes will transform their strategies, business models, and credit and investment decisions. These developments ought to force a radical shift in climate-scenario analyses. There is a glaring need not only for more realistic long-term scenarios, but also for more suitable short-term and bespoke scenarios. These would be profoundly different from the NGFS scenarios. But,

This makes little sense. For scenarios extending less than ten years, global warming is not a risk; it is a near certainty. The crucial uncertainties are those stemming from extreme weather events and transition risks involving the interplay of geopolitics, local climate policies, and nancial-market volatility. True, the NGFS has announced plans to address this gap by developing short-term scenarios. But it remains to be seen whether these will be able to meet banks’ immediate needs. Most likely, banks in the US and elsewhere will be forced to take the initiative themselves.

But this points to another problem with the Fed’s incremental approach. More bespoke scenarios will shift the focus toward banks’ own risks, and away from those of the broader system. Individual banks are concerned not just with their own climate footprints and supply chains, but also with the behavior of their competitors (and hence their relative performance). While banks certainly run a risk in “going green” too slowly, they may also face a risk of moving too fast, because if everyone else fails to meet their net-zero goals, their green loans and investments may turn out to be loss-making.

The Fed deserves credit for putting climate-scenario analysis on the agenda. But in prescribing scenarios that fail to capture the realities of climate change, it risks distracting banks from

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Lycée Français D'Accra Jacques Prévert holds 2023 Career Day

On Saturday 4th February 2023, Management of Lycee Francais International Jacques Prévert, held this year’s edition of the school’s annual Career Day event at the school’s premises, located at East Legon, in Accra.

The event is organised by the Management of the school, one of the leading educational institutions in Ghana providing quality education, to create an opportunity for students to get a deeper understanding of various professions.

Students from Grade 9 to 12 had the opportunity to have conversations with renowned professionals on the motivation for selecting

their careers, challenges they face and the things that sustained them at the top of their careers.

The French Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Jules Armand Aniambossou was the Special Guest for the event and participated in the engagement with the students in the area of Diplomacy and International Corporation.

Professor Raymond A. Atuguba, Dean of the University Of Ghana School Of Law, Ms. Kadidjah Amoah, Chief Executive O cer of Aker Energy, Mr. Scott Coles, Co ee Business Executive O cer for Nestlé

Central and West Africa, Mr. Nadim Ghanem, Managing Director of Miniplast were part of the resource persons at the event.

Others were Mr. Hamidou SORGO, Senior Operations Ofcer, at International Finance Corporation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney, Assistant Manager, Corporate A airs & International Cooperation, Ghana EXIM Bank, Ms. Anita Erskine, Media Entrepreneur and Communications Specialist and Ms. Lara Naim Laham, HR Consultant & Accredited Executive and Leadership Coach.

Speaking after the event, H, E Jules Armand Aniambossou expressed his excitement about the event, especially the interest from the students to know more about what the resource persons do and their brilliant questions. He further called on people in authority to empower women to take leadership roles and encourage them to make a conscious e ort to learn French to open them up to more opportunities.

On her part, the Principal of the school, Ms. Catherine DAUER said, “the Career Day is an important event on our

calendar because it exposes the students to a variety of careers and jobs as well as connecting the students to professionals in those elds to give them account of what the real work is all about. This goes a long way to help the students to make some vital decisions with regards to their careers”.

At the event, Management of the school announced Saturday 11th February 2023 as the date for this year’s edition of its annual Open Day event, a day set aside to host members of the public in the school to have rst-hand information on the operations