Kofi Ahovi

Kofi Ahovi: VCTF SCHOOLS BOARD DIRECTORS businessweek africa, hi5.com/fosterahovi

….inducts new members By Kofi Ahovi The Architects Registration Council has called on the government through the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment to financially support the council to organize annual training workshops and education courses for both old and new building inspectors working with District Assemblies. The training workshop is to enable the building inspectors to be abreast with the reforms in the sector. The council, which has already organized one of such workshops, stated that it was imperative to extend the exercise to the regional and district level to enable a wider coverage of participants. The council expressed worry over the emergence of unauthorized structures on the principal street of Accra and other municipal assemblies in the country, adding that the situation if not controlled would hamper the development efforts of the nation The registrar of the council, Prof. Ralph Mills-Tettey, who made the call at the ARC’s 8th annual indu

By Kofi Ahovi Ghana has been advised to set up an SME bank to cater for the needs of the small scale sector to facilitate the growth of the sector, as it has been done in other countries like Korea. The establishment of an SME bank has become necessary due to the inability of traditional banks to meet the needs of these SMEs who generally propel the growth of a country. The call was made by a Korean delegation from the country’s SME sector at a workshop organized by the Ministry of Trade Industry, Private Sector Development and Presidential Special Initiative (MOTI, PSD&PSI) in collaboration with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Korean Development Institute at Shai Hills in the Greater Accra Region. The delegation added that while government is considering the option of establishing an SME bank, it should select certain priority areas in the small and medium enterprises for development based on availability of resources. According to Dr. Chun Seung-Hun of Korea Insti

By Kofi Ahovi Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) has organized a 3-day training workshop for its investee companies that have received investment approval from the fund. The training workshop formed part of VCTF’s Technical Assistance (TA) program of equipping them with skills to enhance their performance. The maiden workshop centred on financial reporting and management and entrepreneurship training. The purpose of the training program was to deepen the understanding of sound financial management and how to effectively report on company’s finances to ensure compliance. The participants were taken through the preparation of cash flow statements, income statements and balance sheet. Others included the preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual reports, internal auditing as well as compliance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Value Added Tax (VAT) and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) requirements. The TA programme is in three folds; capacity building, corporate m

By Kofi Ahovi THE Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana, has organized a-two day banking fair at the Accra Mall as part of efforts to speed up the use of the biometric smart card (E-zwich) introduced earlier this year. The Head of Projects and Business Development of GhIPSS, Archie Hessey told business week that the exercise became necessary after consultation with Ghanaians who claimed they were unable to sign up for the system due to busy schedules during the weekdays. He explained that GhIPSS would organize another exercise at a different location to ensure that majority of Ghanaians become are covered. The exercise also gave shop owners at the Mall to acquire the Point of Sale (POS) who hitherto did not have. The Bank of Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Association of Bankers introduced the E-zwich in the country in as part of measures to reform the national payment and settlements system, Prior to the introduct

By Kofi Ahovi The Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) as part of its Technical Assistant (TA) has organized a 2-day training workshop for companies that have received investment approval from the fund. The training workshop, which is the second to be organized, was centred on good corporate governance for board of directors of beneficiary companies to equip them with skills to enhance their performance. The purpose of the training program was to expose them to national and global context of corporate governance, as well as develop critical skills that are needed for the effective functioning of leadership and the fiduciary responsibilities of board of directors. The participants were taken through corporate ethics, responsibility and good corporate governance among others. VCTF about a month ago organized a similar one on financial reporting and management and entrepreneurship training for beneficiary companies to deepen the understanding of sound financial management and how to effectiv

By Kofi AHOVI The 2009 Doing Business report published by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank has ranked Ghana as the best country to do business in West Africa. The sixth in an annual series of reports ranked Ghana 87th out of the 181 countries in the world in respect to doing business. Ghana has however slipped five positions as compared to the 2008 doing business report which ranked the country 82nd out of 178 countries involved in the survey. “Ghana remains the easiest place to do business in ECOWAS and one of the top ten economies in Africa by overall aggregate for doing business. It is also the best place to register property and the best in protecting investors in ECOWAS,” the report stated. According to the report the abolishing of requirement to register employment vacancies and obtaining of a company seal which led to the reduction in the number of procedures to start a business, enable Ghana to improve in the area of starting a business Doing Business