Kofi Ahovi

By Desmond A. Nartey In principle could the cedi, and for that matter any currency, depreciate by 100 percent, or more? If it could, what would be the consequences for the legal tender of the currency? What sorts of monetary policy issues would be spawn by such an event? Or is such a situation the outcome of a computational error? The methodologies for computing currency depreciation may be simple to apply but the process is fraught with pitfalls, which require that sufficient care is taken during the computation exercise to ensure that the methodology is well understood and the underlying theory correctly applied. In an article credited to the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA) titled “Election Year Excesses, Cedi Depreciation & Inflation: The Current Experience”, the rate of depreciation, in year 2000, of the cedi against the US dollar was stated as 100 percent. Furthermore, the depreciation rate for the period June 2008 to June 2009 was stated as 43.0 percent. For the benefi...

The government is placing a new emphasis on tackling the housing deficit, with an emphasis on private sector investment, better urban planning and more low-cost homes. Two recently launched projects that dovetail with these aims could point the way for construction development. The Ghana Housing Profile, authored by the UN Human Settlement Programme, in conjunction with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWWH) and launched on June 20, is a detailed analysis of the country’s urban housing sector, highlighting strengths, weaknesses and future needs. With 38.3% of the population under the age of 15 in 2010, according to official figures, the next decade will see a rapid growth in the working-age population and further pressure on new housing units. The profile forecasts that Ghana will need another 2m housing units by 2020. Graham Tipple, a UN housing consultant, estimates that 5.7m rooms will be needed, along with supporting infrastructure and utilities. At the lau...

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Ghana is leading the way not just by talking but with the implementation of electronic banking products and services in the country. According to the bank, branchless banking which is relatively new to Ghana holds the key to unlocking the banking industry in the country. Speaking at the third UBA CEO’s breakfast forum in Accra last week, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA Ghana, Oliver Alawuba, said the future of banking in Ghana will be branchless. The bank had already commenced the operation of a branchless banking model at the Accra Mall, christened the Accra Mall E- Village. “This is the only purely cashless service outlet in Ghana that provides numerous services such as bill payments and liquidation of funds transfer on cards,” he noted. The UBA chief noted that “Branchless Banking offers many value propositions for both the banked and the un-banked in society among which is financial inclusion, convenience and secu...

By Emmanuel BRUCE Core Group Africa last week announced that it has become the sole distributor of Apple products in Ghana. Core Group Africa expects to officially launch its presence in Ghana next week. Speaking to journalists at a press conference in Accra last week, Taryn Hyam, representative of Core Group, made it known that, though Apple products are already on the Ghanaian market, none of them is coming from authorized distributors or from Apple, adding that such products are associated with risks. She also revealed that Apple products are in high demand in Ghana and this influenced their decision to launch their products in Ghana. She noted that the distributors will appoint official resellers on their behalf and assured that the resellers will sell only authorized Apple products and also offer a high level of customer service and training. She however advised customers to register their products at the authorized reselling ships. According to Taryn Hyam, they want to en...

A team of IBM specialists last week announced a comprehensive set of recommendations to help the city of Accra boost its income from city services. Earlier this year, Accra applied for, and won, a Smarter Cities Challenge grant from IBM, which sent some of its top employees to work and live in Accra for three weeks. At the end of their engagement, the team delivered a workable blueprint to city authorities that will enable more efficient revenue management. The IBM team’s recommendations aim to supplement the city’s existing revenue collection initiatives through the innovative use of technology, which will streamline processes and harmonize operations across city departments. Accra’s influence has grown exponentially in recent years as it moves to cement its position as a leading urban hub on the west coast of Africa. The city’s population growth is among the highest in Africa, and is expected to double within the next 20 years. “Accra’s rapid growth presents a unique set of ch...

Providing financial intermediation to the informal sector is a key but largely ignored aspect of banking in Ghana. Now UT Bank is using its unique business model to fill this crucial gap and showing the rest of the industry how to do it, reports TOMA IMIRHE Barely a decade ago, the thousands of small and medium sized enterprises scattered around Ghana, had nowhere to go to get formal finance from the banking sector and so were left in the main to informal sector loan-sharks, whose loans were woefully inadequate, and even when available, were too brief in tenor and inordinately expensive. Over the past ten years though; the situation has changed significantly. An array of micro-finance institutions have emerged, offering financing terms that are better than those of the informal lenders, but not nearly as good as those offered by banks themselves. Increasingly however, Ghana’s banks are beginning to look at SMEs as a new and very prospective business segment. In the past the banks...

The board, management and staff of AngloGold Ashanti have sent a message of condolence to the Government and People of Ghana on the passing on of His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills. The message, jointly signed by AGA Board Chairman, Tito Mboweni, and the Chief Executive Officer, Mark Cutifani, said the company was saddened by the untimely passing of this great man who had made a great contribution to the development of his country and on the African continent as a whole. “We will always celebrate President Atta Mills’ life and the contribution he has made to the democratic Ghana. The humility and accessibility he displayed during his term as President was matched by the wisdom with which he guided the country and its policies. It is a legacy that will always be remembered,” it said. The message concluded by expressing the company’s deepest sympathy to his wife, Dr. Ernestina Naadu Mills, and family and to the People of Ghana.

...Independent presidential candidate for the 2012 general elections The continent of Africa is in its current state largely because of the actions and inactions of her political leaders. Kofi Ahovi examines yet another political figure who has been gaining grounds in Ghana’s political arena. The mention of African and its leadership precipitates names of actors like Julius Nyerere, Mobuto Seseseko, Kwame Nkrumah, Sani Abacha, Daniel Arab Moi, Laurent Gbagbo, K.A Busia, Idi Amin, Hosni Mubarak, Muamar Ghadaffi and others. As to who was corrupt, democratic, a dictator and a visionary –it’s your choice to make. Chenua Achebe, one of Africa’s prolific writers said “the problem of Nigeria is a problem of leadership”. This problem seem not be with Africa’s biggest economy (Nigeria) only but its relative smaller ones like Ghana. Ghana as a republic has suffered her lows and high-ups and downs by political actors some elected other imposed. What matters now are those who are instituti...