Kofi Ahovi

The Agriculture Development Bank PLC (ADB) has officially presented a cheque of five hundred and seventy thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢570,000.000) to Solomon Kwadwo Kusi, the 2020 National Best Farmer on the celebration of the farmers day held at Techiman in the Bono East Region. According to ADB, it received an agribusiness proposal seeking funds from the bank by the said farmer through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and after careful study the Agribusiness division was impressed at the document and indicated that part of the money will be used to purchase and install a cocoa drying house, expand most of his existing farms to enable him create more jobs. Besides, three boreholes will be constructed as well as the upgrade of his agricultural mechanization center and the adoption of improved agricultural methods, propagation materials, fertilizers, animal feed, among others. Speaking at the handing over ceremony in Accra, the Managing Director of ADB, Dr. John Kofi Mensah congratulate...

  The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto has allayed fears of China being a competition to Ghana in exporting cocoa to the international market. According to him, the quality of Ghana’s cocoa is not matched anywhere in the world, hence the international market opting to pay up to 25% premium on the price. They exported 450 kilogrammes, not even one tonne. Ghana produces between 800,000 and 900,000 metric tonnes. Cote D’Ivoire produces over two million metric tonnes, so that’s nothing really to worry about. In any case the quality of Ghana’s cocoa is not matched anywhere else in the world -that is why -the world market is prepared to pay 15 to 25% premium on the world market’s price for Ghana’s cocoa,” he said. Meanwhile, Dr. Afriyie Akoto stated that the European Union’s move to ban imports from Ghana is a good one as the EU seeks to prompt the country on ending illegal mining. This is a result of ‘Galamsey’. We are destroying our environment and the world is...

The monthly disinfection of Kotoka International Airport (KIA) has helped to reduce the spread of Covid-19 across the country, the Business Development Manager of Vector Control Unit of Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), Madam Akosua Konadu Yeboah, has stated. Madam Konadu Yeboah was speaking to the media on the sidelines of her outfit’s monthly disinfection of the airport on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. The two-hour exercise, which was the fourth to be undertaken by Zoomlion, this year, covered Terminal 1 (otherwise known as the McDan Aviation) and Terminal 3. According to her, the exercise was to augment the central government’s efforts at curbing the spread of the virus. Read also: Republic Bank defers loan repayment due to COVID-19 …and we scheduled it in a way not to cause any interruptions to operations of the airlines and businesses at the airport,” she explained. Madam Konadu Yeboah indicated that Zoomlion was unwavering in its support to the government to fight the virus. This explai...

The International Monetary Fund has revised Ghana’s growth rate for this year, from 4.2% to 4.6%, according to its latest updated World Economic Outlook Report. The Fund also projected an impressive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 6.1% for next year. But these higher growth rates have not really translated into real jobs and rapid improvement of the livelihood of the people. The Breton Wood however maintained its growth rate projection of 0.9% for last year though there are expectations that the GDP was higher. According to the Fund, Ghana’s growth rate will be higher than Sub Saharan Africa’s regional average of 3.4% in 2021. Data from the Bank of Ghana had indicated that the economy was on a rebound with a sustained momentum in pick-up in economic activity. This follows an annual growth of 13.9% of the Bank of Ghana’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity, the highest since December 2019. The Finance Ministry has also projected a growth rate of 5.0% for this year. ...

  The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is exploring the launch of a Central Bank digital currency. This is according to the Second Deputy Governor of the BoG, Elsie Awadzi Addo. Speaking at the virtual regional capacity building workshop organized jointly by IMF’s AFRITAC West 2 and Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM), Awadzi Addo noted the Bank’s decision to possible launch a digital currency, is to ensure and provide further support for the orderly development of the digital financial services landscape in the country. Regulators are increasingly relying on more regulatory and supervisory technology to improve effectiveness, and more and more Central Banks including the Bank of Ghana are exploring the launch of Central Bank Digital Currency to further support the orderly development of the digital financial services landscapes,” she noted. Awadzi Addo however, failed to provide timelines for the launch and issuance of the digital currency by the Bank. Speaking on the impact of techn...

Bank of Ghana has announced that it has recently been admitted as a member of the Basel Consultative Group (BCG). This makes Ghana one of four countries in Africa (Ghana, Tunisia, Mauritius and Nigeria) that are members of BCG. The BCG is one of five working groups that form the internal structure of the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS), the global standards setting body for the supervision of banks. As membership of the BCBS is limited to G20 countries, the BCG provides a platform for the BCBS to engage with non-members, thereby, facilitating broader dialogue around the work with banking supervisory authorities  such as the Bank of Ghana and promoting supervisory cooperation and implementing supervisory standards and best practices. Read also: Stress-test your systems against possible cyber-attacks – BoG to banks The Bank of Ghana’s membership of the BCG will increase the exposure of its banking supervisory staff to best practices in the supervision of banks, and str...