Kofi Ahovi

Towards the end of the 1990s an airline customer focus group told British Airways that they’d be prepared to pay more for a larger economy seat with a bit more legroom. Their timing couldn’t have been better. British Airways had announced its new Club World cabin in 1999 and its flat beds, introduced the next year, revolutionised business class flying. New Club World set the business class bar so high that there was room to introduce a fourth cabin, without the risk of business class customers downgrading. Sothe airline implemented the suggestion and in 2000 launched a fourth, separate, cabin. Described as a premium economy cabin, World Traveller Plus fitted neatly between the World Traveller economy cabin and Club World. The announcement didn’t grab the headlines the way Club World had a year earlier. World Traveller Plus came with wider, more comfortable seats, in-seat power for laptops and more legroom. Unlike the launch of the flat beds in business class it wasn’t revolution...

Access Bank Ghana has recorded a strong financial performance for 2014, as the bank’s profit before tax (PBT) soars by 72 per cent from GH¢71.8 million in 2013 to GH¢123 million in 2014. Gross earnings also increased by 66 per cent from GH¢187.1 million to GH¢311.4 million, underscoring the bank’s increased earning capacity. The bank said the growth pattern over the past six years had been consistent and continued to reflect the bank’s commitment to delivering banking services that were sustainable and relevant to the local market. The financial statement was audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and approved by the Bank of Ghana. “This performance leaves the bank in a strong position to pursue attractive business opportunities in 2015 and beyond,” the Managing Director, Dolapo Ogundimu said, noting that “Our ability to effectively identify, assess, monitor and manage the various risks involved in our operations has been critical to our sound financial standing and profitabi...

The maiden edition of the Economic Ideas Festival (EIF) is set to take place from 5 – 7 August, 2015 in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Economic Ideas Festival is the annual global conference of the Young Professional Economists Network (YPEN) – www.ypenetwork.org The Young Professional Economists Network (YPEN) is a non-profit and an independent organization established to coordinate and train young professional economists across the world while helping them to build a new economic paradigm which is relevant to the 21st century and beyond. The network has chapters in thirteen (13) countries across the world. Economic Ideas Festival is to help build the next generation of innovative thinkers to fulfill the dream of a transformed Africa. The model of the EIF is structured to bring together new minds to interrogate economic growth, debate, as well as discuss how it could lead to economic transformation and reduction in poverty across Africa. Among a list of distinguished speakers i...

Fidelity Bank Educates Students on Banking Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd., Ghana’s leading private indigenous bank, has started a series of financial literacy seminars targeted at tertiary students across the country. One of the bank’s key initiatives to support financial literacy and education in Ghana, the goal of these seminars is to provide university students with information on the new face of banking and advice on responsible financial behaviour. The first of the series was held at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) in collaboration with the Association of Business Administration Students (ABAS) as part of their ABAS week celebrations. The over 300 students who attended were afforded the opportunity to listen to and interact with senior Fidelity Bank officials including the Director for Inclusive Banking and CSR, Dr. William Derban. Other experts from Fidelity were Mr. Prince Osei-Hyeaman, Channel & Products Lead for Mobile & POS Banking; Mr. Eric Sena Mo...