Kofi Ahovi

 The Alisa Hotels Group, a leading hospitality industry in the country with its slogan “Akwaaba” literally means welcome, has outdoored its ultra-modern Tema branch with cutting edge facilities aimed at putting the Hotel at a competitive edge within the hospitality space and the world at large. The Hotel is strategically located at the port city of Tema with 52 guest rooms and suites and comprises of 14 superior garden view rooms, 12 superior pool view rooms, 20 deluxe rooms, 2 executive rooms, 2 ebony suites and 2 beautifully styled Meridian suites. The facilities came on the back drop design of Ghanaian architectural icon, Augustus Richardson and also have services and facilities such as high speed wireless internet, mini bar, in-room safe, individual climate control, tea and coffee making facilities, iron with its board, hair dryer, among others for guests to have a feel of the unique ambiance of the Hotel in a space of maximum comfort of a serene environment. As part of the dri...

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has urged media institutions to implement support systems that will improve the safety of journalists in the country. A study conducted by the foundation on media professionalism and safety of journalists, policies and practices in newsrooms in the country showed that a number of media organisations did not have institutional support on journalists’ safety. It revealed that out of the 40 media houses sampled across the 16 regions, only 15 had some semblance of safety for journalists, with only five out of the 15 having insurance packages, while a few had manuals on safety which contained only a sentence or two. The programme officer of the MFWA, Kwaku Krobea Asante, who presented the six-month study on the state of journalists’ safety policies in the country in Accra yesterday, said the frequency of violations against journalists was due to the absence of safety policies and consciousness on the part of media outlets to ensure the promotion o...

The country has been ranked highest in budget transparency in the latest open budget survey (OBS) report, the best performance by Ghana since it joined the OBS in 2010. It scored 56 per cent, two points better than the 2019 ranking of the biennial OBS, the world’s “only comparative, independent and regular assessment” of the components of budget accountability at the national level. Despite the steady progress in the scores, Ghana still fell within nations with limited information on budget processes, falling short of the 61 per cent required to make the appreciable mark. The OBS, which was launched by SEND-Ghana, a civil society organisation, in Accra yesterday, however, revealed that in terms of public participation in budgetary processes, Ghana only managed 20 per cent, making it the weakest link. The survey further showed that Parliament and the Auditor-General’s Department had weak oversight on the budgetary process, after scoring 39 per cent. About OBS The survey, which is conduc...

  Four agricultural sector groupings have warned of imminent food crisis next year and urged the government to do more to increase investment in domestic food production to avert the crisis. The groupings, which form the largest segment of the agricultural sector, said the measures announced in the mid-year budget review to support stable food supply were commendable but inadequate to avert the danger of food crisis.  They said the cost of cultivating an acre of cereals and legumes, such as maize, rice and soya beans, had shot up astronomically, which could hinder people’s interest in food crop cultivation. In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic in Accra in response to the Mid-Year Budget review, representatives of the four entities explained that the cost of the items that affected the cost of production, including labour, fertiliser, agrochemicals, seeds and planting materials, mechanisation and other input components, had nearly tripled. The ...

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has announced that three confirmed cases of the Marburg Virus Disease have been recorded in the country with two persons dying from the illness. All three cases are related; a father, mother and son. The GHS release comes a day after the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a tweet said Ghana had recorded four cases and three deaths.   However, the GHS said repeat test results received from Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) on one of the suspected cases had confirmed that it was a false positive. "The Ghana Health Service on Sunday, 24 July, 2022 reported four cases of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) following test results from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR)," the release said. The second case, a 51-year-old male with a known chronic disease and not linked to the first case was, however, awaiting re-testing. Repeat test results received from NMIMR on...

The government has released GH¢57.460 million to the 46 colleges of education (CoEs) for the feeding and allowances of teacher trainees. The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, who disclosed this, noted that the government was committed to the education of teacher trainees and would do all it could to ensure smooth academic activities on the various campuses. Dr. Adutwum, who said this at the National Dialogue on Initial Teacher Education in Accra yesterday, stressed that there was no way the government would stop paying allowances to teacher trainees. “We are committed to what we have promised to do and there are times when people say maybe it is about time we abandoned this idea of allowances for trainees. If you abandon it, what leverage do you have for that student to send him or her to Zabzugu?” he asked. Teacher Education dialogue The dialogue, which ended yesterday, was on the theme: “Four years into the transformation of Colleges of Education into degree-awarding Insti...

  As part of its annual corporate social responsibility (CSR), ASA Savings and Loans has organized a free medical screening at Techiman in the Bono East Region. In all, about 200 people made up of predominantly market women and children received the screening which was administered by personnel from the Rafchik Hospital at Abesim near Sunyani. The medical screening covered conditions including malaria, typhoid, eye test, blood sugar, blood group and pressure. The people with mild conditions were counselled and given free medications while those with severe conditions were advised to seek further treatment at major health facilities. The exercise was carried out at the premises of Techiman-Kenten Business Centre of ASA Savings and Loans. The Techiman Area Manager, ASA Savings and Loans, Seth Morgan Arhin, said the exercise was an importance step to give back to the customers of the company and the society at large, indicating that “promoting a healthy customer base and society is ve...

  Ghana earned $731.9 million from crude oil receipts in the first half of this year, the Ghana Petroleum Funds Report has revealed. Out of it, $544.61 million was realised from crude oil liftings in the first five months of 2022. $186.3 million was however secured from corporate tax paid by the oil producing companies including Tullow, Kosmos and Petro Sa. $992.3 million was obtained from surface rental and interest from the Petroleum Holding Fund. For the crude oil liftings, $108.8 million and $104.1 million which were the biggest earnings were secured from liftings on March 6 th , 2022 (Ninth SGN) and March 26 th , 2022 (sixty fith Jubilee) respectively. With regard to surface rental, AGM Petroleum Gh. paid the highest tax of $174,100, followed by Aker with $150,750. Meanwhile, the country earned $1.2 billion at the end of June 2022 as investments from oil revenue, since the beginning of commercial oil production in 2011. The Heritage Fund invested with the New York Reserve Bank...

  The Ghana Exim Bank (GXIM) has said it will invest $10 million into the exports of yam. This comes after Ghana emerged as the highest exporter of yam within the sub region in 2021. To maintain this feat, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Exim Bank, Lawrence Agyinsam, explained that, his outfit will support the entire value chain of yam production to boost productivity within the sector. Speaking to Joy Business at the Ghana Exim Bank stakeholder consultative forum on yam export he opined that, to fend off competition from other countries, the Exim Bank would have to step in to support the sector for expansion. We were first in 2021 in yam exportation. We really need to prevent competition from our competitors that’s why we have decided to invest such amount to help the growth of the sector”, he said. Agyinsam further called on the yam exporters and producers to produce quality yams for foreign markets. On the timeline for the release of the funds, he noted that, the funds are ...

  Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) flows to Ghana increased by 39% to $2.6 billion for the year 2021, according to the World Investment Report 2022. This placed Ghana 2nd in West Africa, and 7th in Africa, in terms of FDI attraction. The rise in Ghana’s FDI flows was attributed to major projects in its extractive industries, which included the construction of an $850 million gold mining facility by Newmont Corporation, and the construction of a cement factory by Ciment d’Afrique (CIMAF) for $436 million. The increase in FDI flows reflects the findings of the Deloitte 2022 Africa Investment Attractiveness Index, which placed Ghana as the second most appealing destination for investments in Africa based on the comments of nearly 200 Chief Executives. Ghana has a great global reputation, and as the host of the African Continental Free Trade Area, it provides considerable opportunities for businesses to trade in the enormous African market. Furthermore, with our democratic stability a...

The Bank of Ghana has dismissed claims by the Minority in Parliament that it has printed money to the tune of ¢22.04 billion to finance government’s budget. In a statement to set the records straight, the Central Bank said the amount of ¢22.04 billion represents net claims on government, and not new currency printed to support the Government’s budget. The Minority Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson yesterday, July 25, 2022, alleged that the Bank of Ghana has printed an amount of ¢22.04 billion to finance government’s budget without parliamentary approval. His assertion was in response to the 2022 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review which was presented to Parliament by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta. The Central Bank explained that “in Appendix 2A of the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review document, under financing, out of the total financing of ¢28.12 billion, an amount of ¢22.04 billion was captured under BoG. This is the amount being referred to b...

  The International Monetary Fund has revised the growth rate of the global economy to 3.2% in 2022, 0.4 percentage point lower than in the April 2022 World Economic Outlook. This is also far lower than the 6.1% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded in 2021. Already, Ghana has revised its growth rate to 3.6%, from the earlier 5.8%. The Fund’s July 2022 Economic Outlook report attributed the slowdown in the growth rate to tightening global financial conditions associated with expectations of steeper interest rate hikes by major central banks to ease inflation pressure, and spillovers from the war in Ukraine. Global inflation has also been revised up due to food and energy prices as well as lingering supply-demand imbalances, and is anticipated to reach 6.6% in advanced economies and 9.5% in emerging market and developing economies this year—upward revisions of 0.9 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively. In 2023, disinflationary monetary policy is expected to bite, with global outpu...

Government has reviewed its revenue target for the  Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) to GH¢611 million, from about ¢4.9 billion for the end of 2022. This was contained in the 2022 Mid-year budget presented to Parliament by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on Monday July, 25, 2022. The E-levy which many Ghanaians have opposed vehemently has only raked in ¢93.7 million, from the ¢1.46 billion target for the first half of this year. However, the value of Mobile Money transactions which the levy largely is obtained has not dipped significantly, according to data from the Bank of Ghana. In the month of May 2022 that E-Levy was implemented, Mobile Money transactions declined by18.58% to ¢71.4 billion. However, in the month of June 2022, the transactions via Mobile Money went up to ¢77.4 billion, an 8.4% growth. According to data from the Bank of Ghana, Mobile Money transactions grew consecutively until April 2022 when it dipped slightly. The Mobile Money transactions in the first...

The MasterCard Foundation, in conjunction with the Global Shea Alliance (GSA), has launched a Shea Business Empowerment Programme (SBEP) to help transform and introduce innovative ideas into the shea value chain in the country. The project is aimed at facilitating access to finance for cooperatives, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), provide business coaching and entrepreneurship support, and to leverage digital technologies to enhance traceability and market linkages in the shea value chain. The $5.7 million programme seeks to create about 90,000 job opportunities for women shea collectors, processors, cooperatives, and SMEs in the northern part of the country by addressing key barriers in the value chain. Additionally, it would support 150 shea cooperatives and 300 SMEs to improve on their business capacities, to access financial products, and tackle gender-related barriers such as lack of access to childcare for women in the shea value chain. The three-year intervention would ...

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has urged investors to capitalise on the Central Region's untapped economic potential to grow their companies and create jobs in the region. It said doing so would help the local economy, provide jobs and speed up the region's socioeconomic growth. This was made known during the GIPC's Central Regional Sensitisation tour earlier in the month to show traditional leaders and the metropolitan municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) the importance of making land available for investment. The tour also sought to give small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the platform to state factors that impede their growth. The programme brought together planners, economists, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) and business owners in the region. Investment opportunities The Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at the GIPC, Dr. George Asafo-Agyei, indicated that the region had other areas which were productive and needed to be...

  A major bane of industry has to do with the current structure of import duties in the country. Due to the numerous taxes and duties charged on the import of raw materials mostly used by manufacturing companies in the country, the prices of the final products are high because the cost borne by the importers is passed on to consumers. This phenomenon tells whenever the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services, is released. For instance, the PPI rate for June 2022 increased to 38 per cent, up from the 33.3 per cent recorded in May. This represents an increase of 4.7 percentage points over the period and signals what the general price levels of goods and services within a period will be for the month in review. To help address the situation, the Chairman of the Tropical Cable and Conductor, Dr Tony Oteng Gyasi, one of the country’s major entrepreneurs, has called...

  With technology fast evolving, many are those who are using the new way of life to undertake negative and nefarious activities. At the last insurance week celebration, it emerged that the rate at which some individuals are forging documents to make fake claims in the industry is rising. Many insurance companies, in the quest to expedite action on claims made by customers as part of provision of quality services, are facing some challenges which do not augur well for insurers. It is against this background that the Ashanti Regional Manager of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Kofi Baffour Sencherey, has warned insurance companies desirous to expedite payment of claims to their customers to be cautious of fake claims. He said while it was important and appropriate for insurance companies to pay claims to their customers on time, it was also important that they did not side step the process in an attempt to attract more clients.

Even though the controversy over the declaration of MTN Ghana as a Significant Market Player (SMP) by the National Communications Authority has receded from the front burner of public attention, its effects are only now beginning to take shape. MTN Ghana’s Chief Executive, Selorm Adadevoh, has confirmed that the company has complied with the directives the industry regulator gave it following its categorisation as an SMP. Addressing stakeholders, including journalists at a recent forum organised by the company, Adadevoh revealed that compliance had been done in two stages, the first completed in August last year and the second stage completed in November. By effectively adjusting the financial terms of interconnectivity between them a considerable proportion of incomes on voice calls and other telecom service activity between networks will shift from MTN to its competitors. Hitherto, MTN Ghana had been earning 60 per cent of the net revenues generated by such activity initiated on a co...

  CalBank PLC has opened a branch in Ho with a pledge to take individual and corporate services to higher heights in the Volta Region. The pioneer branch in the region brings to 33 the number of the bank’s branches in the country. At the opening ceremony held on July 20, 2022, the Dean of the Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs), James Etornam Flolu, said the region had great potential for investment and rapid growth in the areas of agriculture, tourism and trade. Mr Flolu, who is the DCE of Afadzato South, said what was needed to harness those potentials was financial capital. In that regard, the DCE said the presence of Cal Bank in the region was cause for hope as it would complement the efforts of other existing banks to provide small, medium and large loans to traders, agri-businesses and the tourism sector to grow. Customer needs Flolu urged Cal Bank to introduce unique products and services in response to the diverse needs of customers. In particular, I wish to sug...

  The Editor, Graphic, Kobby Asmah and Gabriel Bosompem, a former Production Manager of TV3 (Media General), have been nominated as new members of the National Media Commission (NMC), representing the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA). They are to replace former GJA President, Roland Affail Monney, and former GJA General Secretary, Bright Blewu as members representing the GJA on the NMC. The Board Chair of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Ransford Tetteh, himself a former Editor of the Daily Graphic is also to replace Osei Kwadwo Adow on the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PlAC) as a representative of the GJA. The change of representation on the governance institutions is one of the major decisions taken by the new National Executive of the GJA since taking office this July, 2022. A press statement dated July 26, 2022, signed and issued by the General Secretary of the GJA, Kofi Yeboah said the nominations take effect from Monday, August 1, 2022 ...

  A survey conducted by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has revealed that the dams constructed under the government's flagship programme, One-Village, One-Dam (1V1D), are not serving the intended purpose. According to the survey, over 80 per cent of households sampled in the project areas in northern Ghana indicated that they were unable to use the dams for dry season farming because most of them dried up during the period, while others were sited on bad landscapes unsuitable for farming. It, however, said that 49.5 per cent of beneficiary communities said they used the dams as the main source of water for livestock. Also, nine per cent of the respondents said they used the dams for commercial purposes, such as brick moulding, shea butter processing and pito brewing, while 14 per cent also used them for domestic purposes. Event This came to light at a workshop in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, to disseminate the baseline survey which was ...

  The Ghana Police Service and the Office of the President are perceived to be Ghana’s most corrupt institutions. The most trusted institutions are the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), religious leaders and traditional rulers. A survey conducted by an Afrobarometer study undertaken by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) indicated that the Police scored 65 per cent which placed it at the top of the table while the Presidency followed in second position with 55 per cent. The Director of Research of CDD-Ghana, Dr. Edem Selormey presented highlights of the survey at a second round of dissemination forum in Accra Tuesday (July 26, 2022). The key findings of the report showed that the perceptions of corruption among public officials and public institutions have increased in 2022 compared to 2019. Among key public officials, the police, the presidency, MPs, judges, magistrates and tax officials are most widely perceived as corrupt. More than three-fourths representing 77 per ...

  The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has stated that the reconstructed Accra-Tema Motorway and Extensions Project, which is set to take off in September this year, will be tolled. He said the project, which was at the procurement stage, would be tolled to recover the whole life cost of the completed infrastructure, as well as pay lenders and provide a return for equity investors in the public, private partnership venture. To rake in more revenue, the government was also expected to introduce an upfront payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) by importers not registered for VAT, with effect from October 1, this year, Ofori-Atta said when he appeared before Parliament yesterday to present the 2022 mid-year budget review. Those were part of a raft of measures to engineer a quicker turnaround of the economy, he said. The Finance Minister stressed the government’s commitment to turning around the fortunes of the economy within the next two-and-a-half years. Ghana CARES To achieve that, O...