Kofi Ahovi

The Managing Director of the GCB Bank Limited, John Kofi Adomako, has expressed optimism that banks will soon reduce their appetite for treasury securities in favour of lending as rates on the risk-free government paper begins to fall. He said banks were currently attracted to the securities due to the high rates offered, which, he said, presented an opportunity for the lenders to make attractive earnings with less to no risk. With regard to the investments that banks are making (in treasury securities), I think it is all a function of interest rates. Banks see opportunity in government paper, which is designed as risk-free and, therefore, as interest rates begin to come down, you will see that banks will have no option but to lend to the private sector,” he said. The MD was speaking to the paper on July 22 in Accra on the composition of banks’ investments, moments after GCB Bank presented a GH¢14.15 million check to the Ministry of Finance as dividend for the 2020 financial year. Bank...

Generations for Peace Ghana has commenced its fourth peacebuilding programme aimed at imbibing into children the art of living in harmony and sustaining peace in school and in their communities.  The commencement of the implementation process comes after selected delegates were trained in December, 2019 in a new curricular component, Social and Emotional Learning. This new addition will be the focal point for this year's peacebuilding programme as designed sessions are geared towards participants understanding their emotions in varying situations and contexts. In a statement signed by the Lead Pioneer, Naa Boateng, and copied to BusinessWeek, about two hundred target group members, one hundred females and one hundred males between the ages of 7 to 9 years, of the De Youngsters International School located at Adenta, a suburb in the Greater Accra Region have been selected to benefit from the programme. Participants are from different socio-cultural as well as economic backgrounds. ...

Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited (SCB) has announced a dividend of GH¢0.0432 representing 16.7% per preference share in respect of the dividend payment for September 2021. By this, all preference shareholders registered in the books of SCB at the close of business on Friday, 20th August 2021 will qualify for the dividend. The Register of preference shareholders will however be closed from Monday, 23rd August 2021 to Tuesday, 24th August 2021. Read also: KLM resumes Accra bound flights The ex-dividend date has been set as Wednesday, 18th August 2021. Consequently, an investor purchasing SCB preference shares before this date will be entitled to the dividend. However, an investor buying SCB preference shares on or after Wednesday, 18th August 2021 will not be entitled to the dividend. The dividend of GH¢0.0432 per preference will be paid on Thursday, 30th September 2021. Source: Kofi Ahovi

  The Ghana-Turkey Co-operation and Development Association ( TUDEC ), a non-profit organization in Accra in commemorating this year’s Eid-Al-Adha celebrations has extended its benevolence by sharing parcels of meat to all and sundry. According to Cafer Tepeli, a member of TUDEC, a total of 285 cows were slaughtered and shared to reached over 6000 families. The meat slaughtering ceremony were held in Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tamale and Wa. The festival which is one of the most important Islamic holidays for Muslims is celebrated in a form of sacrifice, by slaughtering cows according to Islamic guidelines to benefit people in need regardless of religion or origin. Each year as part of our social responsibility, the international organization which is based in Accra donates parcels of meat to people from all walks of life,” Tepeli noted. Read also: Quick and Factual Truths about QNET This year, TUDEC organized this exercise in partnership with Time To Help e.v., a non-profit aid or...

  Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited continued its sterling performance in recent times as it became the best performing stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange for the second quarter of this year. It gained 43.33%, reaching a one-year high of ¢1.29 per share. Analysts believe GGBL’s stock appreciated as the company reported solid first quarter 2021 results, thanks to the turnaround in its operational performance on an improved economic environment and increased profit margins. MTN Ghana which the led the pack in the first quarter 2021 was second on the gainers’ chart after dividend-induced price fluctuations saw the telco’s stock close the second quarter of 2021 at ¢1.20 per share. It grew by 41.18% quarter-on-quarter in quarter two. Being the third most capitalised and most liquid counter, the gain in the stock was the main driver of the market’s second quarter 2021 solid performance. Financial stocks performed well in quarter 2, 2021 The financial stocks also performed well during the q...

  The Special Prosecutor nominee, Kissi Agyebeng, has indicated that he cannot stop corruption in Ghana but will instead make the practice unattractive for individuals with an appetite for corruption. My strategy is that Honourable Chair, I’m not naïve to assume that I’m coming to stop corruption. There is no way I can stop corruption. God himself will not even acclaim to that. But I’m going to make corruption very costly; very, very costly to engage in, in terms of conflict of interest," he said. Agyebeng made the remarks when he appeared before the Parliamentary Vetting Committee on Thursday, July 22, 2021. Read also: Bank of Ghana still working to introduce digital currency Answering a question from the Tamale South Member of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, who sought to find out the strategies that will be used to deal particularly with conflict of interest, Mr Agyebeng said corruption is something that God himself cannot claim to stop. However, for him, the best antidote to deal ...

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has assured of Ghana’s commitment in the integration process of the sub-region. Speaking at the launch of the African Centre for Economic Transformation’s (ACET) 2021 African Transformation report and the third virtual African Transformation Forum on the theme ‘Integrating to Transform’, the Dr. Bawumia said integrating to transform will take able and dedicated leaders and Ghana through the leadership of H.E. Nana Addo Danqua Akufo- Addo is ready for the challenge. He added that “Ghana’s commitment to integration is at its strongest since independence”. As host of AfCFTA secretariat, Ghana see her role to the call for integration and collaboration as crucial,” he stated. Adding that the continent’s economic recovery and transformation is only possible with an enhance collaboration and further integration. According to the Vice President, the ACET’s DEPTH framework is essential in understanding and pursing transformation in the sub region. T...

  The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), the Ghana Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (Ghana NCD Alliance), Media Alliance in Tobacco Control and Health (MATCOH), Jaishi Initiative, and the Community Health Support Team (CHEST) have expressed disappointment and condemned the display of public smoking carried out on social media by Michael Owusu Addo, known in ShowBiz circles as Sarkodie. The NGOs in a joint statement said, “We are very disappointed in Sarkodie for circulating pictures of himself smoking a cigar on social media without considering the negative influence this singular act stands to have on the public especially the youth most of who consider him as their role model”. According to them, the whole world is currently at a stage where countries including Ghana are finding effective and lasting solutions to curb the rate at which tobacco products are exposed and used by minors, and to safeguard the health of both smokers and non-smokers. We find the act by the two...

Tullow Oil PLC has announced an excellent operational and financial progress for the first half of the year as revenue is expected to hit $700 million with a realised oil price of $58 per barrel. This is because its production fields in West Africa are performing well and have successfully started its drilling programme in Ghana. According to the oil giant, group working interest production in the first half of 2021 averaged 61,200 barrels of oil per day (bopd), in line with expectations. First half underlying operating cashflow is expected to be $200 million, whilst pre-financing cash flow for the same period is also expected to be $200 million with disposal proceeds largely offsetting capex (capital expenditure) and decommissioning spend. As at 30 th  June 2021, net debt was expected to be $2.3 billion and liquidity headroom and free cash were expected to be $700 million. Capital expenditure for the first six months of the year was however estimated at $100 million. Meanwhile, fu...

  ...As it holds its West Africa Regional Convention The Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade Patrick Nimo has  lauded Fairtrade for its contribution to supporting farmers access trade and market both within the subregion and beyond. Speaking at Fairtrade's two-day Regional Convention in Accra on July 13, 2021, he urged producers to take advantage of the national export strategy for export promotion and trade facilitation, as agriculture forms a major part of non- traditional exports. In his opening remarks, Edward Akapire, Head of Region for Fairtrade Africa West Africa Region reiterated the commitment of Fairtrade to strengthen its member producer organisations. The West Africa Fairtrade Network has over the period mobilised its members to access capacity building on various topics relevant to our operations as Farmers and Workers, supported in the area of fundraising and engaged policymakers in an attempt to achieve favourable terms for producers,” he noted. Speaking on ...