Kofi Ahovi

  Search On, Google’s annual event held to  announce  new features and developments in  Search , took place Wednesday, revealing how machine learning advancements are helping people to gather and explore information in new ways. Here’s a closer look at some of the announcements: 1. Multisearch is expanding: Each month, people use Lens to answer more than 8 billion questions, using their camera or an image, and earlier this year, Google introduced  multisearch —a major milestone in how people search for information. With multisearch, you can take a picture or use a screenshot and then add text to it — similar to the way you might naturally point at something and ask a question about it. Multisearch is available in English globally, and will now be rolling out in 70 languages in the next few months. 2. Multisearch near me “Multisearch near me”which was previewed during Google I/O earlier this year supercharges multisearch capability, allowing you to take a screens...

  Founder and CEO TheBoardroom Africa (TBR Africa), Marcia Ashong has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) in the 100Under40Edition of #Class2022.   MIPAD was set up as part of the International Decade for People of African Descent, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/237 and to be observed from 2015 to 2024. MIPAD identifies high achievers of African descent in public and private sectors from all around the world as a progressive network of relevant actors to join together in the spirit of recognition, justice and development of Africa, it's people on the continent and across it's Diaspora. Marcia recognition was under the Business and Entrepreneurship category for her spirited leadership role in champion the inclusion and elevation of talented women onto boardrooms across a wide range of public and private corporate organizations across the entire African continent. TheBoardroom Africa off...

 Paym, the mobile payment service launched by fifteen of the UK’s biggest banks and building societies, is shutting down after an eight-year battle to keep abreast of changing consumer trends and technology. Launched in April 2014, Paym enable users to transfer payments through their banking app to any other account via the recipient’s email address. It currently has around 5.8m registered users, of whom around 500,000 use it regularly. However, new registrations have fallen in recent years by 10% in 2021 and 14% in 2022. Monthly transactions have also dropped from 867,000 in 2020 to 668,000 in 2022. The collective says the decision to go offline on 7 March 2023 reflects a shift by UK consumers towards newer forms of mobile payment and access to Faster Payments through online banking. Dougie Belmore, chief payments officer of Pay.UK, says: “The emergence of new products and services, driven by the UK’s world-leading payments sector, means it is time to make the move to faster, and ...

Ghana maintained its highest interest rates, lending rates position among some top African countries, tracked by Pan African bank, Absa Group and Databank Research. According to the data, the country’s 30.1% and 31.3% interest rates on the 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills respectively are also among the highest globally. Again, average lending rates hovering around 35%, ranks Ghana among the highest on the continent T-Bill rates are likely to go up in the coming weeks to compensate investors for the rising inflation.  The rates in the country are presently lower than the inflation rate of 33.9%. This will again push the cost of borrowing further up. Indeed, the relentless pace of inflation has stretched real returns on short term securities further down into negative territory. So if you have bought Treasury bills in recent times, the return on your investments is negative. This situation may compel the Bank of Ghana to increase its Monetary Policy Rate from the current 22%, to he...

Ghana’s return to the International Capital Market may not materialise anytime soon due to the negative impact of downgrades on its economy by international rating agencies, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has lamented. The three rating agencies, Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have all downgraded the country’s credit worthiness to junk status. According to him, the government needs to work on its current economic downgrade and other fiscal measures in order to have easy access to the market. Returning to the International Capital Market is going to take a bit of time. It will take about two to three years before we can be able to work on our ratings before that time. The recent downgrade is very unfortunate”, he said. He was speaking at a press conference on the state of Ghana’s economy on September 28, 2022. Ghana has been out of the international market due to various unfavorable economic conditions occasioned by a weak local currency and high debt levels. According to Ofo...

  Treasury bills and short-term securities will not be affected by the expected debt restructuring programme that the Government of Ghana will undertake after the completion of the Debt Sustainability Analysis by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. According to Associate Professor of Finance at Andrews University, Michigan, USA, Dr. Williams Peprah, the focus of the Debt Sustainability Analysis will be on long term bonds or securities. He added that the International Monetary Fund is likely to swap or take care of Ghana’s Eurobonds due in the next four years as part of the debt restructuring programme.  A total of $1.673 billion in Eurobonds will be maturing in the next four years. They include $148.76 million maturing in August 7, 2023 and the $525 million Zero Coupon maturing in 2025. Also, the $1 billion Eurobond (back-end amortization) which will mature in 2026 will be paid in three equal instalments. $300 million each will be paid to investors in 2024, 202...

  The family of the renowned businessman and stateman, Wilson Gbli Nartey a.k.a. W. G. Nartey, has denied knowledge of any court injunction prohibiting them from organizing a befitting memorial and thanksgiving service to celebrate the life of their late father. The family has therefore assured the general public that the memorial and thanksgiving service for the late W. G. Nartey is on schedule and currently ongoing; and with a climax on Saturday October 1, 2022. The Family Head of the Nartey family, Numo Kabutey Nartey, explained in a statement that it has come to the notice of the family elders and children of W. G. Nartey that a certain Christopher Nartey has put out a notice and audio in the media that he has obtained an injunction to halt the “final funeral rite” of the late W.G. Nartey who died in 2019 and was buried shortly after. According to him, the purported Press Release/Public announcement of September 28, 2022 was not authored by the Nartey Family nor the elders of t...

  The government has started the distribution of two million cookstoves and its accessories free of charge over the next seven years. Already, some 6,000 cookstoves and their accessories have been distributed to new users in the rural, peri-urban and urban areas across all districts. It is part of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas for Development (LPG4D) initiative meant to consolidate ongoing efforts towards increasing LPG penetration to at least 50 per cent by 2030. The key components of the LPG4D are the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) and the National LPG Promotion Programme (NLPGPP) under which the two million cookstoves are being distributed since September 6, this year. The Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the 2022 Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCON) in Accra yesterday. He stated that the CRM, under the auspices of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), was expected to increase access to LPG and ensu...

 The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has agreed to cooperate with Uganda to develop the technical competence in the management of that country’s power transmission network to enable it to deliver sustainable and reliable power to its citizens. Uganda has reached out to GRIDCo to seek an insight into the progress made over the years in the power transmission business to enable it to benchmark its operations in the areas of commercialisation of communication assets, particularly optic fibre and other data products. An eight-member delegation from that country led by the Chairman of the Ugandan Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), Kwame Ejalu Ejuku, will for the next three days hold discussions with GRIDCo and other power sector players on project implementation in the face of challenges, capacity building among others. GRIDCo, on the other hand, is expected to enhance the technical capacity of the visiting team by sharing knowledge and best practices on transmission ...

  The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) says it was closely monitoring the challenges experienced in vending for prepaid consumers on E-cash and PNS metering system of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). A statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the PURC, Dr Ishmael Ackah assured "all affected customers of its commitment to ensuring the delivery of a safe and reliable utility service provision and to have the issue resolved quickly." The ECG is currently experiencing some technical challenges in relation to the metering system nationwide, which has resulted in some customers unable to top-up electric power credit on prepaid metres for the past three days. The technical challenge has affected customers in 10 operational regional areas of the ECG in Volta, Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo. The problem started on Monday and as of Thursday afternoon, it was yet to be completely fixed. Some of th...

ASA Savings and Loans Limited has extended its benevolence to the people of Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Bono Region where it organized free health screening for the residents. About 200 people made up of customers and non-customers of the financial institution benefited from the free medical screening. The beneficiaries were mostly women who operate micro businesses in the community and its environs. The screening covered diseases such as malaria, blood sugar, typhoid, diabetes and blood pressure. The exercise was administered by personnel from the Berekum Health Centre at Berekum in the Bono Region. The Dormaa-Ahankro exercise formed part of the broader corporate social investment activities undertaken by ASA Savings and Loans across its operational area the country.  The Sunyani Area Manager of ASA Savings and Loans, Isaac Agyapong said the company among others was committed to ensuring that its customers and the community as whole enjoy quality healthcare to promote healthy working po...

  Pan African bank, Absa, is projecting a further fall in the value of the cedi to an end-year rate of about ¢12 to a US dollar. In its Sub-Saharan Africa Daily report, it said the dollar will be under persistent demand which will weaken the cedi. “We expect the currency to weaken further and maintain our view that given persistent foreign exchange demand a year-end close of around ¢12/ one US dollar remains likely.” “While concerns about a possible restructuring of local debt have been top of mind for several months given the unsustainable debt trajectory, these mounted this week following unconfirmed reports that a restructuring was being considered by the Ghanaian government.” “Joy Online, a local media platform, yesterday cited Fitch Director Mahin Dissanayake as warning that Ghana is facing a possible sovereign debt default, and that any kind of debt restructuring could threaten the local banking sector. Dissanayake added that with Ghanaian banks holding large volumes of gover...

  The government may face complicated refinancing options in repaying Treasury bills that will mature on October 2022 According to the Weekly Fixed Income Update by Databank Research, a refinancing offer on October 3, 2022, may not get much traction due to the expected domestic debt restructuring. It, therefore, pointed out that the government will likely supplement any refinancing offer with the Bank of Ghana support to get more favourable refinancing options. Last week, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ghana’s Issuer Default Rating from ‘CCC’ to ‘CC’. They cited possible debt restructuring, high debt service, and constrained financing as reasons for the recent downgrade. This is expected to complicate the refinancing options of the Treasury on the maturing paper on October 3, 2022 as pricing for a refinancing offer will likely be unfavourable”. The government is expected to offer ¢905 million across the 91-day to 182-day bills to refinance total maturities worth ¢786.6 million. Treasury ...

  Government, fell short of achieving the set GHS 1.33bn target in the issuance of the 91 and 182 days treasury bills on the fixed income market. Government, in auctioning the short term debt instruments managed to secure GHS 1.19bn out of the targeted GHS 1.33bn. At the auction, offers tendered were below Government’s target as GHS 948 million was raised in 91-Day Bills and GHS 244 million in the 182-Day Bills. BREAKDOWN OF TOTAL AMOUNT RAISED THIS WEEK Treasuries  Bids Tendered    (GH¢ MN) Bids Accepted    (GH¢ MN) 91-Day T-Bill  948.14  948.02 182-Day T-Bill  244.28  244.28 TOTAL  1,192.42  1,192.30 The 91 day and 182 day bills were auctioned at interest rates of 30.5% and 31.6% respectively. RESULTS OF LAST WEEK’S TREASURY BILL AUCTION GOG Treasuries  Current  Previous  Change  91-Day T-Bills  30.18%  29.91%  0.27% 182-Day T-Bills  31.34%  31.14%  0.20% Recent...

 Reports indicate that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as part of the country’s debt stock, wants government to add the $2bn Sinohydro loan from China and the $1.5bn COCOBOD syndicated loan taken for the 2021/2022 season. According to the IMF, this is to give a comprehensive picture of the country’s total debt stock. The inclusion of the $2bn Sinohydro loan and the $1.5bn syndicated loan will hike the country’s debt to GDP ratio from the present 78% [GHS 396bn] to over 80% of GDP. Reports indicate that, government is reluctant to add the $2bn Sinohydro loan to its current debt stock making the argument that, the Sinohydro loan was a barter trade for the country’s bauxite resources. Meanwhile, a statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Monday, September 26, noted the Government of Ghana is putting together a comprehensive post Covid-19 economic programme which will form the basis for the IMF negotiations. The programme seeks to establish a macro-fiscal path ...

  THE VENTURE Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) has signed agreement with Injaro Investment Advisors Limited (Injaro) as part of efforts to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country. Under the agreement, VCTF has committed $25 million to Injaro under its special equity fund dubbed Injaro Ghana Venture Capital Fund (IGVCF), meant to support more viable SMEs in the country. The money is part of the $150 million equity fund being put together by IGVC. The proposed 10-year fund will be targeting eight small and medium enterprises in food and agriculture, inclusive financial services, healthcare, education, manufacturing and industrial services. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Venture Capital Fund, Yaw Owusu-Brempong, signed on behalf of VCTF while the Managing Director (MD) of Injaro, Jerry Parkes, appended his signature for the Injaro Investment Advisors. The GH¢150 million equity fund is being raised from resources such as local pension funds and international inves...

  VODAFONE Ghana has partnered with TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC to provide Wi-Fi to customers who visit service stations, lube bays, restaurants, and its newly launched electric vehicle (EV) charging docks of TotalEnergies. The partnership underscores the company’s commitment to reaching more customers with fast, accessible, and reliable wireless internet solutions. In a release issued by the company, it said “Vodafone Ghana’s internet solution will keep customers reliably connected anytime they visit TotalEnergies service stations. It also facilitates employee efficiency and productivity, as they can work from anywhere on the business premises.” Speaking on collaboration, the Director of the Enterprise Business Unit at Vodafone Ghana, Tawa Bolarin, said the initiative will allow her outfit to expand internet connectivity to its customers no matter where they find themselves. Digital transformation We are leveraging this partnership to enhance the customer experience in inter...

  Gold producing member companies of the Ghana Chamber of Mines will from September this year sell about 125,000 ounces of gold to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), under the latter’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme for 2022. This sale will cover the period September to December 2022. The decision was an outcome of a meeting among H.E. Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, some other members of the Economic Management Team, the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Minerals Commission, PMMC as well as the leadership of the Chamber to consider the implementation of the BoG’s Gold Purchase Programme in the light of the country’s economic challenges.  Ahead of that meeting, Newmont Ghana had already sold 3,500 ounces of gold to the Bank of Ghana as part of the programme.  Vice President Dr. Bawumia noted after the meeting that “it was agreed that to help shore up the foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Ghana, starting September 1 st , the Bank of Gha...

  THE Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate for August 2022 shot up from the 41.2 per cent recorded in July 2022 to 46 per cent, the Ghana Statistical Service has announced. This represents an increase of 4.8 percentage points. The PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services. It is also a major indicator of what the general price levels of goods and services within a period will be within the period. The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, in announcing the new rate yesterday, said the August rate was driven largely by increases in the manufacturing sector which recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 61.7 per cent. This was followed by the mining and quarrying sub-sector with 35.7 per cent. The utility sub-sector recorded the lowest year-on-year producer inflation rate of 1.7 per cent. PPI trends In August 2021, the producer price inflation rate fo...

  In Ghana, the “e-levy” has been linked to the current administration’s “ Ghana Beyond Aid ” strategy for reducing aid dependence. Taxes on MoMo, in Ghana and elsewhere, have also been justified as a way to “capture” those working in the informal economy, who are perceived as being untaxed. Critics have pointed out, however, that informal workers (who make up  89% of total employment  in Ghana) already pay a  range of fees and taxes . Therefore they may be disproportionately affected by this new tax. Despite much speculation about the impact of the e-levy, there has been little empirical evidence. In particular, it is important to consider how informal workers actually use mobile money, how the levy affects them and how they perceive it. Our recent  study  looked at the likely impact of the levy on high and low earners in the informal economy. It was based on a representative survey of 2,700 informal sector operators – employers and own-account workers – i...

 THE GCB Bank PLC is poised to shape the country’s digital space with innovative products and services to drive the economy. The bank said its G-Money has not only met the digital needs of Ghanaians but has also filled the void in the mobile money space over the years. Speaking at the grand finale of a promo dubbed; Win Like A gee, in Accra, the Marketing Manager of the GCB Bank PLC, Mary Dugbartey, said “G-Money is poised to shape the digital space; we are not just a mobile money platform, we are a combination of mobile and banking so we will continue to offer choice product for our customers. We will offer a one stop shop for everything that is needed in terms of financial transactions and be sure that our platforms are very secure and resilient.” Winners The promo, which ran for five months, rewarded winners in the first four months for their consistent interaction with the brand. The final rewarded over 100 customers and agents across the country. The ultimate winners of the pr...

  A new smartphone with unique features to help users multitask and enhance their productivity has been introduced by Samsung Electronics onto the Ghanaian market. Dubbed Galaxy Z Fold4, the device pushes the boundaries of smartphone possibilities with a larger, more immersive display that unfolds optimised mobile experiences and PC-like multitasking. A stunningly large 7.6-inch dynamic AMOLED display opens up the space users need to multitask like a pro, with apps optimised for the large-screen experience in order to help them unleash increased functionality anywhere they go. New task bar Officials of Samsung Electronics said the Galaxy Z Fold4 offered intuitive new task bar that gives access to the favourite apps with just a swipe, providing one with smarter ways to multitask whether they are switching full-screen apps through App Pair or viewing multiple windows at once. “When it’s time for fun, Z Fold4’s vivid, edge-to-edge screen with minimised bezels and a camera hidden under...

  Ghana’s economy grew by 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of the year, the Ghana Statistical Service has announced. This compares to a GDP growth of 4.2 per cent recorded in the same period last year. GDP growth rate without oil and gas (Non-Oil GDP) for second quarter of 2022 was 6.2 per cent which compares 6.6 per cent in the same period of 2021. The Services sector recorded the highest growth of 5.2 per cent, followed by the Agriculture sector with a growth of 4.6 per cent and the Industry sector with a 4.4 per cent growth rate.  

  The MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, Senior Vice President for Markets, Ebenezer Asante, and Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer, Nompilo Morafo, paid a courtesy visit to the President of Ghana, HE President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly set of meetings. They discussed issues related to the current global macro-economic developments and the impact on African countries, developments in the telecommunications sector, rural broadband coverage, progress with MTN’s localization plans, now at 23.7%, and MTN’s commitment to Ghana as a key market for the MTN Group.  

  MTN Ghana today launched a brand campaign profiling MTN Business – the ICT leader in Africa, which aims to be a trusted partner to businesses in their digital evolution and ultimately achieve #BusinessDoneBetter across the continent.   We understand that growing a business is hard. Business leaders are juggling many priorities and often cannot attend to them all,” said MTN Ghana, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Samuel Addo. “ MTN Business’s role is to assist them do the things that make an impact and support their growth, helping them get it done better. ” MTN Business provides the tools to shift small, medium and large enterprises and multinational corporations and those in the public sector to being modern, connected and digital. These include Mobile as well as Fixed and ICT converged services i.e. managed network services; cloud services; unified communications; security solutions; and Internet of Things (IoT). Samuel Addo, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, said ...

  The Agricultural Development Bank Limited (ADB) Plc has pledged to build its relationship with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to enable it to deliver its mandate. The bank further expressed its commitment to support the GJA’s annual awards and also the association’s human capital development agenda. The Managing Director of the bank, Dr John Kofi Mensah, gave the assurance when the executive of the GJA, led by its President, Albert Dwumfour, paid a courtesy call on him in Accra last Thursday. In attendance were some management members of the bank. The visit afforded the new GJA executive to introduce themselves to the management of the bank and to explore new areas for cooperation and partnerships for mutual benefits. Ready Dr Mensah, also an honorary member of the GJA said the bank was ready to collaborate with the current executive just like they did with past executive. He lauded the steps taken by the new GJS executive to build on the bond that existed between the tw...