Kofi Ahovi

By Kofi Ahovi The World Bank Group has released the 2011 World Development Report (WDR) dubbed “Conflict, Security and Development”. According to the report, some 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of political and criminal violence, causing misery and disrupting development. The report stated that some 42 million people out of the number were displaced as a result of conflict, violence and human rights abuses, with 15 million being refugees outside their country. “To break these cycles, it is crucial to strengthen legitimate national institutions and governance in order to provide citizen security, justice and jobs to alleviate international stresses that increase the risks of violent conflict,” WDR advised. The countries affected by conflict and extreme criminal violence fall far behind in development and worsening the poverty situation in the low income countries making it difficult for them to achieve a single Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

By Kofi Ahovi Industry analysts have expressed mixed expectations to the performance of the cedi to the major trading currencies in the second quarter of this year. While one school of thought predicts a marginal decline for the Ghanaian currency, saying the cedi is likely to depreciate slightly against the major trading currencies in the second quarter of this year, others believe the cedi is likely to appreciate during the same period. According to data from the Ghana Bankers Association the cedi depreciated against the dollar, pound and the euro during the first quarter of this year. The cedi started the year at GHc1.4559 and closed at Ghc1.5182 against the US dollar on April 14, 2011 representing 4.28% depreciation. With the British pound, it started the year at GHc2.2409 and closed GHc2.4823 representing 10.77% depreciation, while the Euro traded against the cedi at GHc1.9454 at the start of the year and closed at GHc2.2015 by mid April representing 13.16% depreciation for the sam

Staff of Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited at the Harper Road Branch in Kumasi, have donated items worth GHS 2, 500.00 to the Edwenase Rehabilitation Centre for the Physically Challenged, in Kumasi in the Ashanti region. The donation was made up of a variety of food items, toiletries, as well as used clothing, and an undisclosed amount. Making the donation to the Centre, Branch Manager of the Bank, Joseph Antwi Sampson, reiterated the Bank’s commitment to improving lives. “The call to reach out to the humanitarian needs of the disabled is at the core of our personal lives and it is always a privilege to reach out to others”, Antwi said. He noted that for the past few years, the Bank had adopted the School, not only as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, but also on the personal humanitarian front. Antwi further revealed plans to sponsor the construction of walkways estimated at GHS10, 500.00 on the compound, to check the spate of injuries among the students of the centre. Receiving

By Kofi Ahovi The governing council of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF) has called on the government to provide special funding for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enable them have unlimited access to loans. According to a document presented to the government at the first biannual dialogue meeting between the government and PEF last week, PEF argued that lending rates are still too high citing a recent publication by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) which stated that high lending rates was the number one constraint to doing business in the country. “The situation has limited the ability of the private sector to source funding for working capital or invest in expansion and retooling of plants and machinery so as to be competitive in the market place,” PEF observed. PEF attributed the high cost of funds to the large number of banks chasing a few large depositors in the country. “Competition for talent and facilities has also led to high operational expenses in the

Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) is inviting firms to avail themselves to technology enabled systems that would cut waste and enhance efficiency in payments. Spending long hours sorting cheques received or cheques to be paid out to a large number of people takes away crucial man hours that could be used profitably planning the next big project or deal. It is also tiresome and out of fashion for accounts officers to write thousands of cheques and dispatch them to recipients. In an era of technology it is possible to pay over 5000 people in different locations within hours. This can be done by moving electronic funds from one account to another or even from one account to thousands with recipients being able to access the money that very day. This technology is available in Ghana and GhIPSS is encouraging organisations to ride on the back of such initiatives to make their operations less stressful and achieve effective use of time. Briefing the media, the General

Donors agreed last week to endorse the work plan for the first year of operations of a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) trust fund designed to help ten low-income and lower-middle-income countries to manage better their natural resource wealth. The Managing Natural Resource Wealth Topical Trust Fund, launched in December 2010, will enable the IMF to step up its technical assistance to low- and lower-middle income countries with substantial extractive industries for harnessing the full benefit of their natural resources and accelerate poverty reduction. The trust fund’s donors are the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, and Kuwait. The work plan of the trust fund for the year starting May 1, 2011 seeks a balance among geographic regions, as well as countries at different stages of resource development and income levels. Complementing the technical assistance activities, the work plan also includes several research projects and workshops focused on econo

By Kofi Ahovi The Danish International Development Association (DANIDA) and the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) have signed a delegated cooperation agreement to support the Business Sector Advocacy fund II (BUSAC) with a total of US$12 million. The agreement allows DANIDA to act as lead donor on behalf of the delegating donor, USAID to reduce transaction cost between the two institutions as well as for BUSAC. The European Union is expected to join very soon. The Head of Develpment of DANIDA, Jan Poulsen during the signing ceremony in Accra last week said, the signing of the agreement is a landmark that signifies the strong commitment by USA and Denmark to increase harmonization and aid effectiveness in Ghana. The BUSAC fund is a project set up to strengthen the advocacy capacity of private sector business groups and associations. The second phase of the fund was designed drawing lessons from the first phase. The BUSAC fund II is a five-year extension to BUSAC

A nine-member vetting committee to serve as information clearing house for the importation of African textile prints, and control the influx of counterfeit textiles, was inaugurated in Accra last week. It would in addition, scrutinise all textile prints imported into the country to establish that they were not textiles of original products made in Ghana in terms of quality, originality of designs, logo and stamps of the Ghana Standards Board. Inaugurating the committee, Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, said it should ensure that imported designs were not those already on the Ghanaian markets and owned by Ghanaian originators. She expressed concern about threats being imposed on the Ghanaian textile industry and livelihoods by the influx of these counterfeits textiles imported illegally onto the Ghanaian markets without paying the necessary custom duties and other revenues and selling them at cheaper prices. "Such illegal activities put the local manufacturing company

By Kofi Ahovi Ghana Commercial Bank (GBC) has achieved a much improved financial results in 2010 as compared to the previous year. In 2010, the group’s net income of GHc259.9 million was 57% above that of GHc165.8 million in 2009. The 2009 figure was 7% below the 2008. The board chairman of the bank, Pryce Kojo Thompson, explained at the bank’s 2010 annual general meeting last week, that the figures achieved for 2010 was significantly due to the impairment charged on loans and advances of GHc70.9 million which was almost twice the 2009 loans impairment charged of GHc36.7 million. Profit before tax for 2010 was GHc91.3 million, up from 343% from the GHc20.6 million recorded over the same period the previous year despite significant write-downs. The bank’s operating expenses increased by GHc27.9 million or 19% to GHc168.5 million reflecting increase in staff-related cost, investments in improving delivery platform and IT cost. According to the bank, these increased cost were offset by sa

Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning has received the “The Banker” African Finance Minister of the Year Award at a short but impressive ceremony in London. The award is conferred every year on Ministers who have excelled in economic management of their countries. In selecting Dr Duffour, the Banker, a leading international financial magazine said in less than two years, Dr Duffuor has implemented fiscal and financial policies that promote fiscal sustainability and supports the domestic financial system. They noted that his vision for the medium term has been to accelerate growth of the Ghanaian economy without compromising macroeconomic stability. “He has also established an oil fund aimed at ensuring that revenue from the country’s emerging oil and gas industry is used wisely”. Presenting the certificate and the trophy, Brain Caplen, Editor of the Banker Magazines, said the award instituted since 2003 is to recognized Finance Ministers and Central Bank Govern

By Kofi Ahovi Merban Stockbrokers Limited, the manager’s of the CFAO de-listing has released the results of the cash offer. In line with the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) de-listing rules, the company made an exit arrangement to purchase all outstanding shares from minority shareholders who wished to sell their shares at a price of GH¢0.04 per share. At the end of the purchases, 12,172,849 ordinary shares valued at GHc 486,913.96 were purchased from 412 shareholders. CFAO France S.A. the majority shareholder therefore now holds 227,504,944 ordinary shares in CFAO Ghana Ltd. This represents 94.11% of the issued shares of CFAO. Payments have been made to all CFAO shareholders who sold their shares in accordance with their preferred mode of settlement. The purchaser, CFAO S.A. France’s GSE Securities Depository account has also been credited with purchases from shareholders with dematerialized shares whereas the Registrar for CFAO Ghana shares has issued an instrument to cover purchases from

Following the recent success of ‘The King’s Speech’, and the Royal Wedding on the horizon, 2011 will no doubt go down as a “Royal Year”. London is preparing itself for an influx of travellers eager to catch a glimpse of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and British Airways wants to ensure everyone can experience the excitement this Spring. Return trips to London from Ghana - excluding all taxes, fees and surcharges - available for as little as $499 with Business Class available from just $1,499. On what is sure to be a quintessentially-British occasion, visitors to London will be able to catch a glimpse of the bride on her way to Westminster Abbey, and will witness first-hand the carriage procession from the wedding ceremony to Buckingham Palace. Travellers will have the opportunity to partake in the revelry of a British street party and other celebrations, as a public holiday will mark the day throughout Britain. Spring is the perfect time to visit London, with visitors to the capita

By Kofi Ahovi A total of 1,255 Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) shareholders have tendered in about 27,132,524 shares by the close of the Offer on March 22, 2011. Tendered shares received by Wilmar international represent 77.97% of the entire issued shares of BOPP making Wilmar Africa the majority and controlling shareholder of BOPP. Wilmar International Limited, on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Wilmar Africa Limited proposed to purchase all 34,800,000 issued ordinary shares of BOPP for a cash consideration of GHc 0.83 per Share. Wilmar International had effected payment to BOPP shareholders who tendered their shares and have had the transfer of their shares to Wilmar Africa approved by the Ghana Stock Exchange Securities Depository (GSD) in the case of dematerialised BOPP Shares, and the BOPP registrar in the case of certificated BOPP Shares. Further payments continue to be made to BOPP shareholders who tendered their shares under the Offer, as the shares are approved to be t

By Kofi Ahovi The World Bank would assist countries hosting refugees to take care of them, Madam Sara Cliffe, Director of World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report, said through a video conference in Accra last week. Answering questions during a video press conference from Washington DC, she said exodus of refugees into countries had some negative effects on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which needed the concerted efforts of all and sundry to help address. The video press conference connected to about 21 African countries was a prelude to the launching of the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report scheduled for today Monday, April 11, 2011. Madam Cliffe was answering a question from Ghana as to measures being instituted by the Bank to help refugees especially from Cote d’Ivoire to Ghana, which would have a negative impact on the country’s economy. She said the World Bank had always been interested in supporting areas of development in most parts of the world where people were

By Kofi AHOVI Universal banks in the country have begun reducing the base rates to reflect economic condition and changes in the banking sector. Traditionally, the banks turn to either up or down their base rates in response to signals sent by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) through its policy rate. Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Stanbic Bank, Bank of Baroda have all reduced their base to 20.50% from 21.5%, 21.95% from 23.95% and 21.75% from 23.00% respectively. UT bank has also reduced its average lending rates to 25.95% from 26.90%. The average reduction in the base lending rates is 1.55%. More banks are expected to follow this trend in the coming weeks. The central bank’s policy rate is currently at 13.5% since June last year. The policy rate is the rate at which the central bank does overnight lending to universal banks in the country. It serves as a basis for the banks in setting their respective base lending rates, as well as lend to their most favoured customers. Banks at that time wer

Toyota Ghana Company Limited has awarded winners of its ‘Dream Car Art contest’ with cash prizes and books as well as other consolation prizes. Joel Osei Tetteh and Judith Osei Tetteh emerged as winners of the 0-11 age category, while Fiifi Bosomtwe, Kofi Boateng and Prinscilla Boateng topped the 11-12 age category. Yaa Duffie Danquah and Theophilus Acquah won the 13-15 age category. They were rewarded with GHc500 as the first price, GHc300- second prize and GHc200 as the third prize respectively The competition is the fifth in series organized by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) but this is the first time that Toyota Ghana has joined the contest. The contest was open to children of Toyota staff and customers aged 15 years and below from 64 countries and regions around the world. The MD of Toyota Ghana, Takahiko Takabayashi, hinted next year, the competition would be opened to all children within the country to provide equal opportunity for them. The contest, held since 2004, aims to cr

Stanbic Bank has held its ‘Mid Term Draw’ of the on-going ‘Stretch Your Money’ Campaign. Three winners, Abdul-Sallam Ankibu Hajj, Mawuko Kwame Agbemenyah and John Adade-Bekoe were picked as winners for the first, second and third positions respectively for the Greater Accra Region. The nine branches of the bank outside Greater Accra will each draw a winner. Each winner gets a GHc 1,000 prize money which will be deposited into an investment account. The campaign which was launched in February has seen a lot of activity in Stanbic Bank branches nationwide with customers and potential customers trooping into the banking halls to participate in the promotion. The Stretch Your Money Campaign is aimed at creating awareness of the bank’s range of retail solutions, harnessing a savings culture among Ghanaians as well as rewarding customers for their loyalty and business. The branches of the bank launched their individual market outreach events to raise awareness among people in their catchment

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) last week said it expected its balance sheet to grow by 15% in 2011, despite declining interest rate. Speaking at the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) ‘Facts behind the Figures' programme, Simon Dornoo, Managing Director said lower interest rate might affect revenue growth but was sure the bank would adopt innovative ways to scale the problem. "We expect interest pressure to underlie revenue performance in 2011," he told brokers and journalists on the GSE. He said the general expectation was that interest rates would fall between three and four per cent during the year as market forces drive competition and funding cost to the banks become lower. This, Dornoo said, would have significant impact on the bank's revenue and interest income. He said the banking industry as a whole expected interest income might be down between 9.5% and 13.5%. The Managing Director also forecast a sharp drop in the loan book to 400 million cedis from one billion cedis

Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into Africa as at the end of 2010 were $32 billion, the World Bank has said. According to the World Bank, inflows of FDIs to the continent increased by 6% from 2008 due to price increases of commodities such as metal, oil and mineral exports. “The external drivers of growth in 2010 included increased commodity prices particularly for metal, mineral and oil exporters; increased inflows of foreign direct investment, the region attracted $32billion in FDI in 2010, a 6% increase from 2008”, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, World Bank said in a speech she delivered at the MIT-Sloan School Africa Business Conference, in the US recently. In Ghana, inflows of FDIs as at early December 2010 were estimated at over $1.3 billion of which the oil sector accounted for a significant portion – $550 million, the Bank of Ghana said at its last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on December 10, 2010. Dr Okonjo-Iweala also indicated in her speech that sub

The crisis engulfing the Middle East and North Africa shows that greater citizen participation and better governance are crucial for economic development and the World Bank will do more to emphasize both, said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. In a policy address before the World Banks Spring Meetings, Zoellick said the Bank would not only promote institutional reforms but also look into providing more support for civil society as a way of making government more accountable to people. Our message to our clients, whatever their political system, is that you cannot have successful development without good governance and without the participation of your citizens, Zoellick told an audience at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC. We will encourage governments to publish information, enact Freedom of Information Acts, open up their budget and procurement processes, build independent audit functions, and sponsor reforms of justice systems. We wi

The Manager of the Gomoa Rural Bank at Apam, Joseph Nyanyi, has appealed to pensioners to switch to E-zwich because of its advantages. He said Ghana is moving from paper money transaction to electronic money transaction and this makes the holder of E-Zwich easy to transact business. Nyanyi was addressing members of the Gomoa District branch of the Ghana Government Pensioners Association (GGPA) at its monthly meeting at Apam on Tuesday. With the E-zwich, the holder does not need to carry bulk sums of money on him or her and also in the event of the card getting missing, no other person can temper with the holder's account, he said. The Accountant of the Bank, Daniel Gyampoh, said the card is free and that salaried workers would have half their salaries loaded on it whilst the other half would be paid manually. He said there is no disadvantage in the system and rather makes all monetary transactions very easy for the holder. "If mistakenly the holder loses the card, his money wo

A new restaurant and drinking pub, Akyereman Kitchen and Pub, has been open in Accra. Located at Hatso supermarket junction behind Manieson Christian Academy, the restaurant seeks to provide would class services to its customers. Akyereman provides both local and continental dishes to the delight of clients. These include banku with okro soup, fufu with variety of soups, yam, fried potatoes and chicken, fried rice and chicken, snack: bread sandwich, beef burger. The pub also provides special cocktails on request. They also provide services for wedding receptions, parties, funerals and lunch orders for corporate organizations. Advising Ghanaians to eat good meals, the CEO of Akyereman, Esther Manieson, in a press release said “You’re what you eat, eat the best.” She encouraged Ghanaians to put the restaurant to test so they could experience the difference.