Kofi Ahovi

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) will soon hit the metropolitan and district business enclaves of the country, to intensify its sensitisation and enforcement drive on the compulsory property insurance. The Compulsory Commercial Property Insurance Task force comprises officials of the NIC and other relevant stakeholders such as the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service. This was disclosed in a statement by the Commissioner of Insurance, Justice Yaw Ofori. He indicated that though the Insurance Law, Act 724 of 2006 made it compulsory for privately owned business entities to insure their properties, many are yet to comply. The law, per Sections 183 and 184, makes it mandatory for all commercial properties either under construction or completed, to have valid insurance certificates. Read also: Northern Regional Minister appeals to citizens to obey COVID-19 protocols The compulsory property insurance is to provide financial protection against legal liabilities aris...

The World Bank has released the Next Generation Africa Climate Business Plan (NG-ACBP), which sets out a blueprint to help Sub-Saharan African economies achieve low carbon and climate-resilient outcomes. The Plan calls for countries to seize the opportunity to scale-up climate resilience to grow their economies and reduce poverty, redouble efforts to increase energy access across the region, and take advantage of sustainable and innovative approaches to leapfrog into greener development pathways.  Without rapid deployment of inclusive, climate-informed development, 43 million additional people could be pushed below the poverty line by 2030 in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the largest financier of climate action in Africa, the World Bank will use this new Climate Plan to build on a strong track record under the original plan in which the Bank supported 346 projects with more than US$33 billion in World Bank financing over the past six years. The climate challenge cuts across eve...

  About 2849 jobs, representing 24% of job losses, have been restored after the ease of COVID-19 restrictions.  This follows an interview of about 40,040 people in a survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on their jobs. 11,657 of the interviewees said they lost their jobs. According to the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awauah, there has been a drop of 4.5% in unemployment rate since coronavirus restrictions was eased. This is based on data from the Ghana Statistical Service. Read also: AfDB sponsors African Green Revolution Forum Taking his turn at the “Meet the Press Series” today, he revealed that a National Employment Scheme will be implemented to deal with employment issues in the future, should such crisis hit the country or the world at large. Baffour-Awuah also hinted that a Tripartite Technical Committee will be established to oversee the implementation of labour policies. He lauded President Akufo-Addo on measures put in p...

  Ghana’s economy grew by -3.4% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the second quarter of this year, the first time it has contracted since 1983. According to figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service, the heavy fall was largely attributed to some restrictions on activities in the economy, which virtually came to a standstill during the partial lockdown period, as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. With oil, the economy recorded -3.2% GDP growth rate in quarter two. Addressing Journalists, Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim explained that the agriculture sector was the only one that recorded a positive growth rate for the period. The agric sector recorded the highest growth rate of 2.5 percent between April and June 2020. Read also: Food prices push inflation up to 11.4% in July 2020 Industry and services sectors however grew by -5.7% and -2.6% respectively for 2020 Quarter Two. The Livestock sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year growth...

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has today paid a working visit to the construction sites of the two sewerage system facilities at Ashaiman Newton and Bankuman communities in the Tema and Ashaiman Municipalities. The visit was to enable the sector Minister inspect various ongoing drainage and sewerage projects in these areas under the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) SW Project. Addressing the media, the sector Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah expressed satisfaction with the project and commended the contractors for a good work done despite covid-19 challenges. She, however, urged the contractors to work diligently to finish the project on time. Myself and the MCE, we are happy with the level of work but I want to entreat the contractors as well as the consultants to work diligently to make sure these projects are completed on time,” she stated. Read also: Promoting the rights of agricultural workers: how Fairtrade Africa makes the difference Th...

The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Serlom Adadevoh , has announced that the Y’ello care package which gives customers the opportunity to access a variety of learning channels to support their children’s learning and entertainment needs during Covid-19 will still continue until the pandemic is over. Speaking with journalists and some industry stakeholders in its maiden virtual annual Editor's forum in Accra, he said the package was introduce to alleviate the burden imposed on parents by the Covid-19 pandemic "so until the pandemic goes away those websites will still be zero rated" He added that “Our customers are very important to us and we believe the zero rating of over 25 educational online sites is a great relief to our customers and their children and other dependents. MTN will continue to explore other opportunities to make life a whole lot brighter even in these difficult times”. Read also: MoMo month: MTN encourages use of digital platforms MTN Ghana alone h...

  President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, has cut sod for the construction of a solid waste treatment plant at Fiaso in the Techiman South Municipality within the Bono East Region. The sod cutting ceremony which forms part of the President’s two-day tour in the Bono East Region was done together with the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR)- Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Bono East Regional Minister-Kofi Amoakohene and the Paramount Chief of Techiman Traditional Area-Oseadoyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV. The 15-million Euro project, which is expected to be completed within four months, is under a partnership of Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL) and its private sector partners and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources. Read also: Coordinating Directors urge govt to support Zoomlion Speaking at the event, the Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah, said the president is heavily investing in addressing the sanitation challenges of the country as part of his vision of making Ghana one of...

  A recent poll by iPollgh shows that electorate’s loyalty to party is waning as more people describe themselves as independent and fewer people automatically vote for the party they sympathize with. A plurality of respondents said they typically voted for the party with the most compelling message in an election and this was true across all demographics. According to the poll, 57% of respondents who are graduates said they will vote for a party with most compelling message as against 20% who said they will vote for a party that they are a member of or support. Again, 56% of post graduates respondents said they would vote for most compelling message while 21% said they would vote for a party that they belong to. Interestingly, 58% of Junior High School respondents said they would also vote for a candidate or party with a compelling message. Read also: Ghanaian women have less financial decision-making power- Afrobarometer survey shows On election 2020 itself, good governance and t...

The African Development Bank returns as a top-tier partner of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) – Africa’s largest agriculture conference – to be held online for the first time from 8-11 September 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tenth annual AGRF will be headlined by African Heads of State and Government, and will bring together delegates from governments, civil society, the private sector and research communities. AGRF 2020 is hosted by the Government of Rwanda and the AGRF Partners Group, organized under the theme  Feed the Cities, Grow the Continent. Leveraging Urban Food Markets to Achieve Sustainable Food Systems in Africa . As COVID-19 causes disruptions across Africa, we must prioritize policy support, especially for small and medium enterprises that produce, process and market 60% of food consumed on the continent,” said Wambui Gichuri, Bank Acting Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development. “We need to enhance movement of inputs and ...

Integrated ICT services provider, Internet Solutions Limited is set to rebrand and operate as Dimension Data  by the end of this year in all its operating companies. This is part of Dimension Data's larger plan to consolidate its businesses, enhance efficiency, and better deliver the changing technology needs of its clients in Nigeria. Consequently, Olugbenga Olabiyi has been appointed as the Country Manager to head the company's business operations in this country. Commenting on the new developments, Olabiyi assured clients that the company will continue to deliver services seamlessly and efficiently even as the firm works through the rebranding and integration process. He noted that they will be focusing on developing uniquely tailored IT solutions as well as providing value-driven services through customer engagement and outstanding technology infrastructure - that advance productivity and business growth. We are happy to have received the government’s approval allowing us ...

Nestlé has appointed Mauricio Alarcon as new Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Central and West Africa Ltd, effective September 1, 2020. Alarcon has a robust and in-depth understanding of Central and West Africa. In 2014, he became Managing Director of Nestlé Côte d’Ivoire where he drove business growth and efficiency. He also headed Nestlé’s operation in Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Mauritania and Cape Verde. Read also: Leadership group discusses priority issues for African recovery   In 2016, he became the Managing Director of Nestlé Nigeria, the largest Nestlé operation in the region. During his tenure in Nigeria, Alarcon was a catalyst for change and innovation to achieve superior business performance amidst a volatile environment. He also demonstrated a strong personal commitment to improving the lives of people within the company as well as in the communities it operates. Alarcon is a Mexican national with a Master’s degree in Engineering from the Univers...

   It’s yet again that time of the year in the Upper West Region of Ghana especially within the Wa Municipality where there is a lot of tomatoes in the market. Many farmers are harvesting the product and there appear to be a glut. A few weeks ago, this was the case of watermelon. There was a glut of it in the market in places like Paala in the Wa West and other watermelon production centres. Though attempts have been made to explain the situation as being occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not been different in pre -Covid-19 era.  Hence, as usual the glut comes with the challenges of post-harvest loss (PHL) of tomatoes and watermelon and consequently losses in incomes of farmers. Situation of PHL in Watermelon and Tomatoes Post-harvest loss is one of the major challenges in the agriculture value chain. It is generally defined as all the quantitative and qualitative losses that are incurred along the commodity value chain after harvest until the produce reaches th...

The President of the Ghana Association of Bankers, Alhassan Andani, has assured the general public of safety within the banking sector despite the increase in fraud cases. This follows new figures released by the Bank of Ghana earlier this year which show that cases of fraud in the banking sector increased to 2,295 in 2020, from 2,175 in 2019. Speaking to Citi Business News , Alhassan Andani said that banks were steadily putting in place measures to protect depositor funds and improve their defenses to ensure that they reduce and eliminate breaches in the sector. “Even if you lose one cedi, it’s a bad phenomenon. But would you have fraud in financial services? Yes, because it’s like honey and ants, they will come for it. There are miscreants in every society not just in Ghana. But we do our best to recruit, screen, train, put in checks and balance and we do all of that to check our people. We also put in place processes to interact with our clients and the outside world.   No...

  Access Bank unveiled a new promotion “Perfect Start” targeted at children to improved financial literacy from an early age. The campaign is aimed at fuelling the dreams of young ones while providing the platform to learn, unearth and nurture their creative talents. In press release, the bank said, this constitutes one of its long term goals of promoting financial inclusion amongst specific segments of the market including children under the age of 18. “Perfect Start” promo which is an industry first, will run digitally online as part of efforts to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols while creating opportunities for families to have fun and win amazing prizes. Introducing the promotion to the general public, the Managing Director of Access Bank, Olumide Olatunji, mentioned that the Bank trusts in helping people achieve their goals and aspirations, even in the face of adversity and that the outbreak of the coronavirus though painful, has taught all a very great lesson of savings f...

  KLM has resumed its Accra bound flights starting from September 8, 2020, with four flights a week. In a notice to its customers, the airline said “We resumed our flights between Accra and Amsterdam with 4 flights a week. From 8 September, fly via Amsterdam to an increasing number of European and intercontinental destinations.” For over a hundred years it's been our passion to fly you to the most beautiful places in the world. However, for the past couple of months, we were not able fly you everywhere. Step by step, we’re resuming our flights to an increasing number of destinations to make sure we can safely fly you across the world,” the notice stated. Read also: Zoomlion disinfects Kotoka Airport ahead of reopening The airline, however, cautioned its customers to check the current situation and entry requirements for the country they intend to visit. “Consult the local government’s website and this website  for the latest travel regulations,” it advised. We’ve taken various...

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has set October 1, 2020 as the date when the trading of repurchasing agreements (Repos) between banks based on Global Master Repurchasing Agreement (GMRA) will go live in Ghana. This comes after the launch of the Guidelines for Repos in Ghana, based on which trading will be carried out in accordance with the GMRA legal documents. In a statement, the Central Bank is therefore urging all banks in the country to executive a GMRA with each other by September 15, 2020 in readiness for the opening of GMRA-based Repos trading on October 1. It reminded the banks that “With effect from October 1, 2020, all Repo trading in Ghana shall be governed by the GMRA legal documentation,” adding, “All eligible Repo counterparties are to fully comply with the Guidelines for Repos in Ghana document, which is available on the BoG website.” Read also: World Bank Group and IMF mobilize partners in the fight against COVID-19 in Africa The Central Bank said Repo counterparties may use th...

Africa Tour Operators Alliance - Ghana (ATOA) Business  Bureau, an umbrella organization comprising of tour operators has organized an effective free virtual training for all Travel Agents in Ghana and the rest of Africa.   As businesses are gradually picking up, the training emphasized on how agencies could handle Travel, Hospitality & Tourism businesses with the new normal during and after the Corona  virus pandemic.   The skills empowerment programme, considered very important by the alliance company, was organized on Friday 21st August, 2020 through a webinar with the theme:   Travelling within the New Normal: Tourist Behaviour, Business Resilience & Rebound Strategies"   Dr. Collins Agyemang Badu, a  Licensed Industrial and Organizational Psychologist, and Lead Psychologist for Ghana COVID-19 Response Team, who was the main facilitator, highlighted major challenges the Covid-19 pandemic caused for Travel Agents.   Read also: Remittanc...

The Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) have renewed their commitment to work together to remove trade barriers along Ghana’s transit corridor. The two state agencies made the pledge when the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GSA, Benonita Bismarck paid a courtesy call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh on 1st September, 2020. She informed the IGP about the establishment of an e-platform by the GSA in collaboration with the Borderless Alliance to provide real-time solutions to non-tariff barriers to trade along Ghana’s transit corridor. Bismarck said with the ongoing expansion works in the Tema port, it is expected that trade will increase between Ghana and the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. She, however, said the GSA has identified 75 police barriers between Tema and Paga during its quarterly road trips and monitoring exercises along the corridor. The barriers have become a conduit for some officers of the ...

The government has injected GH¢800 million into the National Investment Bank (NIB) to help close the bank’s capital deficit and boost its operations to support the national industrialisation agenda. The injection of funds, which is in the form of a bond issued to the bank earlier in August this year, is part of efforts to make the bank compliant with the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG’s) requirements on minimum stated capital for banks and also make it more competitive. The Managing Director (MD) of the NIB, Samuel Sarpong, told the Daily Graphic and the Graphic Business’ specialised programme on banking and finance, Banking & More, yesterday that the amount was in the form of a 10-year bond that the government issued to the bank. Sarpong was the first MD of a bank to take his turn on the programme, which streams on Facebook and other digital channels of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL). He said the Board of Directors of the NIB was now in the process of converting the bond, which...

The King and Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abukari II , has been praised for bringing peace to the Dagbon Kingdom and by extension the entire Northern Region. The Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, made the commendation when he led a high-powered delegation accompanied by the Northern Regional Minister, Salifu-Sa-eed, to pay homage to the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abukari II, in his Gbewaa Palace in Yendi in the Northern Region. He said the current peace in Dagbon, and for that matter the whole of the Northern Region, will help woo investors into the region to bring about development. I want to use this opportunity to congratulate you first, for your ascension to the skin, and second, for your strenuous efforts in bringing peace to the Dagbon Kingdom—a place where investors some years back felt jittery to invest.” …but through your ascension to the skin, you have brought peace and development to Dagbon,” Siaw-Agyepong stated. Read also: Zoomlio...