Kofi Ahovi

Ghana’s annual crude oil production has declined from 55.05 million barrels (bbl) in 2021 to 51.7 million bbl in 2022, representing a 5.98% decrease. The 2022 actual output represents 87% of the 2022 Benchmark crude oil output of 59.51 million barrels. The relatively lower production volume in 2022 was due to reduced production on the TEN and SGN fields. The productions were obtained mainly from three oil fields, thus Jubilee field, Sankofa Gye Nyame and TEN field. The Jubilee Field contributed about 60% of the total output with production on the Jubilee field increasing by 11.7% from the 2021 output of 27,335,481 bbls to 30,523,813 bbls in 2022. The increased production was due to the successful drilling and completion campaign of three wells. The TEN Field’s production declined by 28 percent from 11.9 million bbls in 2021 to 8.6 million bbls in 2022 due to technical challenges on the Enyenra reservoir. The SGN Field recorded a reduced output of 12.6 million bbls in 2022 compared to 1...

 KIC has organised  its first stakeholder engagement with some selected Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) in Accra. The meeting was to provide KIC and the Farmer Based Organizations interactions and shared areas of deepened collaboration between farmer needs assessment and job creation in agribusiness that will be relevant to the needs identified. It also created pathways for KIC to provide capacity-building and funding opportunities to support to farmer-based organizations to meet some of these challenges. As an innovation hub focused on agritech and youth employment, KIC is committed to partnering with key stakeholders in the agriculture and agri-adjacent sectors. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Mr. Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, the Executive Director for KIC, called on the Farmer Based Organizations to create shared solutions to address some of the challenges within the agricultural value chain by focusing on youth-led innovation, as well as strengthening their readiness for ...

 The KIC Business Booster program has organized a series of town hall meetings with a total of 26 businesses in Ashanti, Central, Greater Accra, Northern and Upper West regions, as part of their investor readiness coaching and capacity building. The Business Booster program is a growth and acceleration program targeted at Ghanaian-owned Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Farmer Based Organization, to scale and become investor ready. Since its inception the KIC Business booster program has supported Agri-MSMEs in the agricultural and agri-adjacent sectors. The Business Booster program seeks to strengthen and spur the growth of existing MSMEs in agriculture and agriculture adjacent sectors in Ghana that have demonstrated potential and are ready to scale. The booster program support to the Agri-MSMEs includes training and capacity building, business development support as well as mentoring and coaching. The coaching, mentoring and business development support leads to investor...

  Digitization is revolutionizing the way businesses operate across the globe, and Africa is no exception. Over the past two years, remote and hybrid arrangements have become the norm in the workplace. We have seen the proliferation of new digital tools and platforms to support hybrid work, such as video conferencing, cloud-based software, and collaboration platforms like Teams and Zoom. IT teams have had to support this transition by providing technical support for these new digital tools and platforms, all the while ensuring cybersecurity and data protection, and managing remote access to company systems and applications. The challenges of navigating digitization in a hybrid working world Navigating digitization in a hybrid working model can be challenging for both businesses and IT teams. Research conducted by Walnut Unlimited on behalf of Canon, shows that there is a divide between businesses and employees when it comes to hybrid working. While businesses think they are largely...

  A coalition of 32 civil society organisations (CSOs) have registered their displeasure at attempts to dispose of Jubilee Oil Holding Limited’s (JOHL) 50 per cent interest in South Deepwater Tano Block (SDWT) to Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA). The Alliance of CSOs working on Extractive, Anti-corruption and Good Governance maintained that the proposed deal to split shares of the SDWT was not in the interest of Ghana and for that reason should be halted immediately. It followed a letter dated May 16, 2023 by the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, directing the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to cease negotiations with PetroSA on JOHL’s stakes. At a press conference in Accra yesterday to demand accountability, the CSOs commended the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for stopping the negotiations and called for the resignation of the persons championing the deal at GNPC. Numbering 32, some of the big names forming the all...

 The re-engineering of the Kpone landfill site into a recreational centre is more than 90% complete. According to the Project Manager for Jospong Group Ing. Kwadwo Osei, the project will be completed on schedule. This was made known when the Sector Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Hon. Cecilia Abena Dapaah paid a working visit to the Kpone Landfill site on Tuesday May 24, 2023. The visit was to inspect on-going works on the decommissioning and re-engineering of the 35 hector landfill site. The project is expected to be completed by August 2023," Ign. Osei explained to dignitaries and the media the stages as well as the extent of work done, and also the resolve to turn the site into a recreational park for tourism and its related purposes. The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Hon. Cecilia Abena Dapaah indicated her pleasure with the work done thus far and urged the consultant to meet the project schedule. She assured her ministry's commitment to periodical...

  In view of the negative impact of the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) on the country’s banking sector, a financial analyst with Deloitte Ghana wants the Bank of Ghana to be more supportive in its approach to have the banks recapitalise.  Dennis Brown said as against an overly strict and punitive approach such as license withdrawal, among other things, BoG must take into consideration the fact that the challenges the banks face now were not self-inflicted but one occasioned by an action of government. Government, as part of efforts to secure a $3 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was compelled to undertake a major debt restructuring exercise meant to reduce its debts to sustainable levels over the medium term. The debt exchange exercise which was mostly patronised by players in the banking sector resulted in creating serious financial challenges as 16 of them recorded heavy losses at the end of the 2022 financial year. For i...

  Newmont Africa has paid GH¢ 843.72 million in taxes, royalties, and levies to government from its first quarter of 2023, operations in Ghana (Ahafo South and Akyem Mines). The payment made through the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Forestry Commission, and Ministry of Finance, comprises a Corporate Tax of GH¢514.57 million, Mineral Royalties of GH¢197.06 million, GH¢ 78.23 as Pay As You Earn (PAYE), GH¢ 42.31 as Withholding Tax and GH¢11.55 million as Forestry Levy. In his comments after the payment, the Regional Senior Vice President, Newmont Africa, Operations, David Thornton, said “Fulfilling our obligations in terms of statutory payments, and being transparent about what we pay, are in line with our commitment to regulatory compliance and good corporate governance”. He said Newmont Africa’s operations in Ghana had a strong tax compliance history and received multiple taxpayer recognitions from the GRA. It is important, especially in these challenging times, for companies to h...

  Six business operators, including two Chinese, have been arrested in Accra for failing to issue Value Added Tax (VAT) invoices to customers. Although the identities of the arrested persons were not disclosed, their businesses were given as Computer Land Ghana Limited, dealers in computers and accessories, and Hiang Vegetables and Fruits Chinese Supermarket, both at Osu; Emelijo Enterprise, a shop that sells disposables at La Wireless; U-Fresh Company Limited, a beverages manufacturing company owned by some Chinese, and Sulas Enterprise, dealers in power generating sets and construction machinery and Mahalia Kollection, a clothing shop, all at Spintex.  They are part of 93 businesses out of 115 found not to be issuing VAT invoices to customers who patronise their services. Mystery shopping The businesses illegalities were discovered through undercover investigations known as mystery shopping or text purchase, after the team visited 115 companies in a week of undercover exerci...

 Wacam, in collaboration with The Fund for Global Human Rights (TFGHR), has equipped representatives of mining companies in the Ahafo Region with paralegal knowledge to guide and empower them in their dealings with Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL). About 50 participants drawn from five communities—Yamfo, Adrobaa, Techire, Susuanso and Afrisipakrom in the Tano North Municipality of the Ahafo Region—were taken through the fundamental human rights and legal frameworks on the mining sector in the country including a presentation on the review of the Minerals and Mining Act, Act 703 as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution. Addressing the participants at a workshop in Sunyani on Thursday, May 18, 2023, the Technical Director of Wacam, a human rights and environmental mining and advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO), Kwaku Afari, said a paralegal is one who is equipped with basic knowledge and skills in law to provide legal and other assistance to communities. He continued that such...

 A new study of mining induced impact on education in Newmont’s ‘fenceline communities’ in the Asutifi North District Assembly (ANDA) has revealed that the education of children in such areas is seriously under threat. These fenceline communities also known as ‘left-behind communities’ are Tutuka, Damso, Yarogruma, Yawusukrom, Manu Shed, Annanekrom among others. The study entitled - ‘Mining-Induced Displacement’s Impact On Children’s Education: Children Of School-Going Age In Newmont’s ‘Fenceline’ Communities’ in the Asutifi North District Assembly (ANDA)’ - was carried out by a researcher, who is also a Lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Dr. Yaw Asamoah, with support from Wacam and its partners—DKA Austria and Oxfam Ghana. It found that many of the school children in these communities miss early morning lessons because they trek long distances to their relocated schools due to the operations of Newmont. The report also identified high school dropouts, low enro...

The first tranche of $600 million out of the $3billion IMF programme will hit the accounts of the Bank of Ghana today, May 19, 2023,  the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has confirmed. The Governor noted that the money would boost the country’s reserves and the Cedi which is already doing very well in recent times. Joining a joint government of Ghana/ IMF press conference in Washington DC via zoom, the governor said the approval of Ghana’s programme signaled the beginning of work to restore the country’s economy unto the path of growth. He said aside from the money that the IMF programme comes with, it also had a lot of benefits that would help steer the country’s economy out of the current challenges.

 I nvestigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas has declined to show his face to Kwesi Nyantakyi and his lawyers in chambers, before court proceedings in a case Anas is expected to testify against Nyantakyi, a former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA). Consequently, Anas has turned down an invitation by the prosecution to testify in the case. On Wednesday, (May 17, 2023), the High Court in Accra ordered Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify in open court in the trial of the former Ghana Football Association President, Kwesi Nyantakyi. However, the court, presided over by Justice Marie Louise Simmons, would allow Anas to disguise himself during his testimony. Again, per the ruling of the court, Nyantakyi will have the opportunity to see Anas’ face in chambers before he testifies in open court. Justice Simmons gave the ruling following an application by the prosecution for Anas to testify in camera. Lawyers for Mr Nyantakyi opposed the application and urged the court to rather ...

  The government is targeting an external debt relief of $10.5 billion between this year and 2026 as it engages its external creditors for debt restructuring, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported. The external creditors include bilateral and commercial creditors. The government announced a suspension of debt service on external commercial obligations on December 19, last year and has since been engaging with them on a debt restructuring. The government is seeking to restructure external commercial debts of $14 billion, out of which $13 billion are in bonds.  Following the formation of the Creditor Committee of the Paris Club backed by China, the government is also expected to begin debt restructuring negotiations with its bilateral creditors in the coming days in a bid to restructure debts of about $5.4 billion. At a press conference yesterday by the IMF in the United States capital, Washington DC, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said the government...

 The Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Adjepong has challenged Ghana to learn from the Nigerian experience and become self-sufficient in rice production. If Nigeria has done it, we can do it, let's not reinvent the wheel, let's copy from them," he passionately appealed. Dr. Adjepong was speaking at a two-day Ghana Food Security conference 2023 themed "Enhancing Food Security: The role of Ghanaian scientists" at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central region. Nigeria, after banning the importation of rice, has made remarkable progress in rice production during the previous decade, surpassing Egypt with yearly production of 5.8m tons. In 2019, rice accounted for more than 14% of the crops grown by Nigeria households. Nigeria is gradually becoming a rice growing super power," he noted. He however, added that most commodities including rice, maize, soya and tomatoes are facing supply shortages in Ghana. He therefore vowed that with the advent of th...

  The Receiver of the defunct uniBank, Nii Amanor Dodoo, has stated that an amount of ¢13,100,000 (¢13 million) was credited to the account of Maripoma Limited in the banking software of the collapsed bank. According to him, the crediting of the account in the banking software of uniBank was by one, R. Mensah, a teller at the World Trade Centre branch of uniBank.  Nii Dodoo was answering questions in a cross-examination by lawyers for Jeffery Amon, a former Relationship Manager of Corporate Banking of uniBank. The accused persons in this matter have been charged with fraudulent breach of trust, money laundering, dishonest appropriation, wilfully causing financial loss to the Republic and conspiracy to commit crime. At the time the license of uniBank was revoked, it was discovered that an amount of ¢5.7 billion had been dishonestly appropriated by the shareholders with the connivance and assistance of some of the accused persons. He said a total amount of ¢56,295,000 was debite...

 All is set for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consider Ghana’s Programme today May 17, 2023, with indications that the country will secure an approval for the programme. This will pave way for the disbursement of the first tranche of the $3 billion balance of payment support to Ghana shortly. The board is undertaking this exercise after the country met all the pre-conditions as well as obtained financing assurance from members of the G20 Common Framework.  Already, the cedi and Ghana’s Eurobonds have extended gains on the international market. According to Bloomberg, the cedi strengthened by 5.3% on May 15, 2023, the most since April 3, 2023. It actually gained 5.0 pesewas to the American greenback on the retail market to sell at ¢11.90 on May 15, 2023. The trend continued yesterday, May 16, 2023, as the local currency gained further grounds against the American ‘greenback’ to sell at ¢11.78. The IMF is expected to hold a virtual press confere...

  MTN GlobalConnect announced an important step in the evolution of its business through the unveiling of its new name and positioning –  Bayobab .  The brand reveal took place at International Telecommunications Week (ITW) Conference in Washington DC, attended by over 6000 delegates   from across   the digital wholesale telecoms community. The new identity,  Bayobab,  represents the company’s strategic transformation journey to connect Africa with open next-gen digital solutions through its two distinct businesses, Bayobab Fibre and Bayobab Communication Platforms.      MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said,  “Building the largest and most valuable platforms is part of our Ambition 2025 strategic priorities. The brand change from MTN GlobalConnect to Bayobab reflects the change underway to position the business as a world class, Africa-focused open-access digital infrastructure platform serving not just MTN b...

  Nollywood actor and media personality Chinedu Ani Emmanuel, popularly known as Nedu has cautioned women to be wary of suitors who propose a no-sex-before marriage relationship. Nedu stated in the recent edition of his podcast  "The Honest Bunch" on Monday May 15, 2023 that it was unusual for men to enter into sexual relationships with the opposite sex and have such a mantra in today's society. Such men, according to the on-air personality, might be hiding something questionable about their aptitude sexually, which could seriously harm a long-term relationship. He explained that the basis of his argument was the fact that several women had confided in him about the appalling sexual performances of their husbands, which they had been ignorant of prior to their wedding ceremony. He said, “Your guy is telling you no sex before marriage, no sex before marriage, find out if he likes it from the other side. One woman don talk for my radio show say, ‘Oga Nedu, I dey cheat on m...

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced an 18.36% increase in tariffs for both electricity and natural gas across all consumer groups. The decision comes after a comprehensive review conducted for the second quarter of 2023. According to a statement issued by the PURC, the decision was made with the aim of striking a balance between averting prolonged power outages and their detrimental impact on jobs and livelihoods, while also minimizing the burden of rate hikes on consumers. The implementation of the Quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism serves the purpose of closely monitoring and incorporating changes in crucial factors that determine natural gas and electricity tariffs. The PURC in the statement identified several factors as contributors to the latest tariff adjustment, including the fluctuating Ghana Cedis/US Dollar exchange rate, inflation, the composition of electricity generation sources, and the weighted average cost of natural gas (WACOG). In clarifying ...

  In its efforts to establish Accra as a major hub of air freight in West Africa with periodic upgrade of infrastructure, the Ghana Airport Company has acquired an advanced air cargo scanner, “Eagle A25”, to be installed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) cargo village. The scanner, to be installed by the end of next month, will enhance the exposure of concealed items such as arms and ammunition, drugs and other prohibited goods being trafficked into the country. It will serve the designated cargo handling operators, including Aviance Ghana, Swissport Ghana and AHS Menzies. It is the brainchild of Nick TC-Scan Limited, a Ghanaian private firm operating scanners across the country’s sea and land borders for more than 20 years. The General Manager of Nick TC-Scan Limited, Joojo Morrison, made this known last Monday when the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, paid a visit to the KIA. Working visit Hammond led a delegation from the Ministry of Trade and Indust...

Generation For Peace has held a Participatory Evaluation (PE) forum to assess the impact of its Sports and Arts for Peace Programme with Social Emotional learning for Children (SP-ARPP) at Deyoungster’s International School in Adenta. The Participatory Evaluation serves as a learning platform and an opportunity for GFP to review its progress so far. Lead Pioneer of GFP, Ghana, Naa Adei Dsane-Boateng, elated about the success of the programme stated that the positive feedback from the PE will be factored to improve future programmes. The gains from the just-ended cycle and the previous are worth safeguarding. Sustainability has become a watchword in the development industry,” she stressed. Some parents noted that their children’s human relations have positively improved since they joined the SP-ARPP and wished that it could continue so other children could benefit from it. The Participatory Event was attended by parents and friends of participating school children, as well as teachers a...

  The American Soybean Association's World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (ASA/WISHH) is set to continue the ‘Soy Flour for Bread & More’ campaign in Ghana this year. This campaign, in collaboration with Yedent Agro Group of Companies , aims to promote the use of soy flour in baking across Ghana. Developed and implemented by The Little Cow Consulting Limited , this year’s campaign kickstarts on 9 th May 2023 and includes the second edition of the highly successful ‘Baking with Soy’ training program and a robust social media campaign. The ‘Baking with Soy’ training program is designed to train commercial bakers on how to incorporate soy flour into their baking recipes. This results in baked goods that not only have a longer shelf life, but also an improved texture and nutritional value. The program will feature eight (8) training sessions held between May and December in four different areas of Ghana, including Accra, Tema, Sunyani, and Cape Coast. Participants will engage...