Kofi Ahovi

Strengthening gender statistics in Ghana is necessary for the implementation of long term development plans. Kofi Ahovi examines what is being done to achieve this. Fifty-three years after independence, socio-cultural, traditional beliefs and socialization have continued to put women in Ghana in a subordinate position relative to their male counterparts. This is perpetuated by folklore, proverbs, sayings etc, as well as socio-cultural practices that women have to undergo but men do not. Most Ghanaian women’s economic empowerment depends on agriculture where they predominate as food crop farmers. In Ghana, women constitute about 70% of the bulk of food crop farmers. There is, however, distinct division of labour in Ghanaian agricultural production and marketing. Women are more engaged in tasks such as planting, weeding, watering, harvesting, the transportation of farm produce, agro-processing and the marketing of small amounts of farm, women also cultivate their own farms. Furthermore, ...

The recent tragedy which occurred in Dunkwa- on-Offin has regenerated the debate on legalizing galamsey, Kofi Ahovi looks at the prospects of legalizing the trade employs about 15,000. There have been several debates in the past with respect to the registration of illegal miners and making their activities legally bound. But these debates have not been fruitful due to the political trend it most often assumes. The recent tragedy in Dunkwa-on-Offin, which resulted in the loss of about 80 lives after the mine collapsed, has resuscitated the debate again. Reports say the abandoned gold mine collapsed after heavy rains. Galamsey, a Ghanaian lexical item for illegal mining, which used to be a covert operation, has spread from Obuasi to the Twifu-Hemang area in the western part of the country. The government’s attempts at providing water with a 59 million dollar project to the people in the Cape Coast municipality are being delayed because of illegal mining activities. The River Pra, the m...

An NGO, Princess Umul Hatiyya Foundation, has built a six classroom school block for Nouri Imam primary school in Tuutingli near Tamale. In addition to the school block a library, staff room and toilet facilities were built for the school. The entire project, which cost GHc120, 000, took seven months to complete. The project was sponsored by Vodafone, Stanbic Bank, GLICO, Mawums Limited, Safety Insurance, Mansell Limited and among others. The Metropolitan Chief Executive, and the chiefs of the area helped us to commission the school. I have enclosed some pictures of the structures. The Chief Executive of Princess Umul Hatiyya Foundation, Princess Umul Hatiyya, during the commissioning of the school block, commended the teachers for their massive contribution to educating the children under the poor structure. She also urged them to instil the importance of reading in the pupils because “readers are leaders”. Last year, the chief executive of the foundation embarked on a six-day bicycle...

By Kofi Ahovi Available Statistics from the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) indicates that the tourism sector generated a total of US1.62 million in 2009 compared to US1.4 million recorded in 2008. A total of 802,779 tourists visited the country during the same period compared to 698,069 in 2008. The number of tourists visiting the country for business in 2009 stood at 184,639, representing 23%, out of this number, 72,250 representing 9% came to attend conferences and meetings; 160,556 tourists representing 19% came mainly for holiday, while 80,278 representing 10% were on transit. These statistics point to a steady increase in the number of foreigners who visit Ghana and the growing significance of the tourism industry to the national economy. In this regard, the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre launched the International Tourism Investment Forum last month with the aim of boosting domestic and international tourism in the country. ...

By Kofi Ahovi The Communication Service Tax (CST) has so far accrued GH¢26 million for the first quarter of this year. The figure is 19% more than the GH¢22 million collected for the same period last year. However, the amount collected is a million Ghana cedis less than the projected GH¢27 million target. The Value Added Tax (VAT) Service responsible for the collection of the tax has targeted GH¢132 million for the end of the year against the GH¢100 million targeted for last year, despite its failure to meet that target. According to VAT service, this was due the lack of equipment to monitor the traffic of telecom companies. This challenge should be resolved with the new monitoring system, Intelligence Signal Management System, being introduced by the National Communications Authority (NCA). The Communications Service Tax (CST) is a tax levied on charges for the use of communications service that are provided by communications operators. It came into force in June 2008 to boost revenu...

By Kofi Ahovi FirstBanC Financial Services, an investment banking firm, has introduced two new products, Heritage Fund and Provident Fund Migration Service (PFMS) to its array of products. Heritage Fund is an open-ended equity market mutual fund that will invest in a diversified portfolio of listed and unlisted securities as well as money market instruments. Its portfolio would consist of 75% equity and 25% fixed income instruments. The Initial Public Offer (IPO) which is started last week is expected to end on August 16, 2010. The share price is pegged at GHc0.20 and investors can buy a minimum of GHc20. The product aims to provide solid growth, sustainable income and long term value for investors in both listed and unlisted equities on the Ghana Stock Exchange and other African stock markets. The Provident Fund Migration Service (PFMS), first of its kind, is a free service designed to help businesses and institutions, both private and public, to design and restructure their provident...

By Kofi Ahovi A survey conducted by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in June this year indicates that businesses have confidence in the economy, but same cannot be said for consumers. According to the Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) survey, which gauges the sentiments of businesses and consumers, overall business confidence rose by 1.2 points in June 2010 while overall consumer confidence declined by 5.2 points. The business sentiments were driven by their assessment of the performance of the economy, direction of interest rate, exchange rate stability, price trends and prospects for economic growth in 2010. The deterioration in consumer sentiments reflected pessimistic assessment of changes in household finances, possibly due to the increase in utility tariffs that had been recently announced. The survey shows an annual growth, in real terms, of 7.2% compared to 2.8% for the same period last year. Factors that contributed to the growth of the index are exports, industrial consumpti...

By Kofi Ahovi Universal banks in the country have tightened credit to small and medium enterprises as well as for household mortgages; a Credit Conditions Survey conducted by the Bank of Ghana has shown. The survey conducted in June this year indicates that loans to small and medium sized enterprises and households were tightened through increases in margins for riskier loans and security and collateral requirements. Large enterprises however benefited from a marginal easing in banks’ credit stance. Decreases in margins on average loans and maximum size of credit lines were the main contributing factors for the easing of the credit stance for large enterprises. Commercial banks credit to the private sector and public institutions over the 12-month period to May 2010 increased by GH¢214.4 million representing a 3.2% increase, the lowest one year growth in bank credit since May 2003. Outstan...

By Kofi Ahovi The government is considering sourcing for capital on the international market to finance the country’s fiscal deficits. It is however unclear how much the government would seek on the international market as it is yet to agree on the modalities, but sources at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) say it could be around US$700 million. If government goes ahead with this it would be the second time in three years that Ghana would seek financing through a sovereign bond issue on the international capital market. Ghana went to the international market in September 2007, for the first time, to raise funds through a sovereign bond issue. The US$750 million bond issue was oversubscribed by over 400%, amounting to US$3.7 billion. About 40% of the bond was placed with US investors, 36% with UK investors, with the remaining going to the rest of Europe. Altogether, 158 interested parties bought into the 10-year dollar bonds that yielded 8.5% at par. Euro bond coupo...

There is a sustained high demand for housing in Ghana, particularly in Accra as evidence by the speed with which new housing unit projects are being developed in new residential areas. Kofi Ahovi takes a look at how HFC REALTY is helping to bridge the housing gap. Ghana has a large stock of unmet demand for housing, especially in Accra and the other major cities. The huge gap between the growing demand and much slower growing supply offers good prospects for investors in the housing sector. The prospect for the sector largely derives from the improved macro-economic climate in Ghana that has transformed the country into an investment hub in the sub-region. Demand for decent housing remains vibrant and provides significant impetus for investors in the housing industry. Ghana has an accumulated residential housing backlog of about 700,000 units. The current annual demand of about 140,000 housing units and the accumulated backlog of 700,000 indicate that over 60% of national housing requi...

HFC group is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Kofi Ahovi takes a look at the performance of its investment services subsidiary. HFC Group, one of the most versatile financial institutions in the country, has chalked 20 years. Starting as Home Finance Company providing mortgage finance for home acquisition, it has now grown into a fully fledged financial service group providing all manner of financial solutions to its clients. However, mortgage finance remains one of the bank’s core business activities in addition to commercial and investment banking services. HFC Bank Ghana limited, as a Universal Banking institution, was licensed in November 2003 to provide banking services to the banking public. The group comprises itself and four subsidiaries which are HFC Investment Services Limited (HFC-ISL), HFC Realty, HFC Brokerage Service and Boafo Microfinance. These are wholly owned by HFC Bank except Boafo Microfinance in which it has 51% shareholding. The jewel in the crown with regards t...

By Kofi Ahovi The International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has met with stakeholders from West Africa to discuss ways to strengthen its standards on environment and social sustainability. The discussion, which took place in Accra, focused on ways to better address emerging issues that have reshaped the operating environment, such as climate change. The consultation was part of a series of global consultations with academics, civil society groups, financial institutions, government, private sector representatives, and other resource persons to discuss way to improve IFC’s standards on sustainability. Greg Radford, IFC Director for Environment and Social Development, explained that collecting views from a wide range of stakeholders was important because the changes to IFC’s standards are expected to have widespread d impact in the global financial community. About 70 major financial institutions from around the world, including eight African banks, ref...

By Kofi Ahovi The World Bank Group is developing a global strategy in the palm oil sector through an open and participatory discussion with stakeholders to ensure a common approach across the world. The strategy would outline a set of principles to guide the World Bank Group's future engagement in the palm oil sector with the key goal of maximizing development outcome for the communities and minimizing adverse social and environmental impacts of the sector. IFC and the World Bank are of the view that most of the issues affecting the palm oil sector cut across countries therefore the exercise aims to collate as many views as possible through discussions of opportunities and challenges facing the sector. Briefing the media after a two-day consultative meeting on the strategy in Accra last week, Mark Constantine, Principal Strategist, International Finance Corporation (IFC) said the process was aimed at supporting smaller businesses to undertake their activities in an environmentally ...

By Kofi Ahovi The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved US$119 million to support Ghana's development processes. The approval brings total disbursements of IMF to Ghana to US$218 million under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. In a statement issued by IMF, Ghana was given the nod after the board completed the first and second reviews of Ghana’s economic performance under the ECF arrangement, originally known as the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. In completing the reviews, the Board granted waivers for the nonobservance of the continuous quantitative performance criterion on the contracting or guaranteeing of nonconcessional external debt and the nonobservance of the September 30, 2009 quantitative performance criterion on the overall budget deficit. The release quoted the Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of the board, Murilo Portugal, as saying “The Ghanaian authorities have achieved progress in 2009 in reducing inflati...

By Kofi AHOVI Universal banks continue to slash down their base lending rates, in response to the reduction in the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) policy rate which was reduced by 150 basis points from 15% to 13.5%. The latest banks to reduce their base rates are Amalbank, Sahel Shara Bank, Zenith Bank, Unibank, HFC Bank, The Trust Bank (TTB), Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Stanbic Bank Amalbank’s new base rate is 25.95% down from 27.7% representing 1.75% reduction, while Sahel Sahara Bank stands at 27.5% from 29.5% representing 2% reduction. Zenith Bank is also down to 26.5% from 28.5%, a decline of 2%. That of Unibank is also now 26.95% down from 28.75%, a reduction of 1.8% while HFC Bank has dropped its rate to 27.5% from 28.75% representing 1.25%. Stanbic’s rate is now 23.97 from 26.75%, a reduction of 2.78%. The Trust Bank now has a rate of 25% and SCB’s is 24%. Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), which reduced its rate by 4.25% from 27% to 22.75% in April this year, is yet to reduce its rate i...

By Kofi Ahovi The new Companies’ Code (Act 179) of 1963has been presented to cabinet for the second time after it was returned to enable more consultation with stakeholders. Cabinet returned the revised document to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department after it found certain portions of the document to be inconsistent. To resolve this, the ministry held a consultative meeting with stakeholders in Koforidua in the Eastern Region a fortnight ago to rectify the inconsistencies. The document has since been submitted to cabinet for consent. The draft document was first presented to cabinet early last year for scrutiny and eventual approval. The document when approved would be presented by the Ministry of Justice to parliament for consideration. The draft of the comprehensive review of the Companies’ Code was completed by a committee headed by a High Court judge and was reviewed by the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department. The code regulates the registrat...

By Kofi Ahovi Newmont Gold Ghana Limited has announced its intentions to start exploration work at the Subika pit at Ahafo South in the Asutifu South District of Brong Ahafo Region. The company, awaiting exploration license from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plans to start an underground mine at the pit. It hopes to start exploration as soon as it gets the license. Regional Manager, Communications, Adiki Ayitevie, speaking to Business Week, was very hopeful of the Subika pit and Newmont’s future, saying preliminary feasibility studies shows good prospects at the pit. In a related development, Newmont expects its first outpour of gold by 2014 at the Akyim mine in the Eastern Region. The company has received its environmental permit and mining lease from EPA and Minerals Commission respectively. Currently, it is completing the valuation of crops and structures of inhabitants, while in some cases, it has started paying compensation to some. Ayitevie noted that, even though i...

By Kofi Ahovi The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) would soon commence a nationwide operation of the electronic vetting and receipt of claims made by the scheme operators. The format would be rolled out in zonal claims processing centres across the country. The authority started a pilot of the process in partnership with the Mamobi Polyclinic in Accra late last year and was very successful. The electronic receipt of claims is being introduced into the system to address corruption and abuse of the scheme by certain operators, a recent audit into the scheme, since it was introduced in 2005, revealed very serious corrupt practices. According to the authority, the pilot project was very successful hence the implementation of the nationwide project. To this effect, staff from all the 145 District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes in the country have been trained in the use of the new financial and operational reporting tool developed by the Authority. The new reporting format is des...

By Kofi Ahovi The National Insurance Commission (NIC) together with the insurance companies and transport owners have agreed on a 30% increase in new motor insurance premiums. The increase supersedes the old figures announced in April this year. The approved premiums would take effect from the beginning of August this year, but would be reviewed upwards early next year. The insurance companies are expected to come out with their new prices this week. Under the old tariffs approved by NIC in April this year, to correct the eight-year review interval and close the gap between third party insurers and comprehensive insurers, commercial vehicle owners were supposed to pay a 200% increase, while private vehicle owners would have paid 150% increase. The new insurance premiums agreed between the insurance companies and the NIC were postponed twice, first by to a directive from the Minister of Transport and secondly due to a request from transport owners. Interestingly, the NIC has reduced the...

By Kofi Ahovi Figures released by the Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) show that Non-Traditional Exports (NTE) for the first quarter 2010 amounted to US$399.57 million, recording a growth of 29.86% over the US$307.69 million revenue for the same period of 2009. The total export revenue for the first quarter of 2010 is made up of earnings from the three main sub-sectors namely Processed and Semi-processed, Agriculture and Handicrafts. Processed and Semi-processed products for the period under review accounted for US$ 353.49 million representing 84.47% of NTEs, Agricultural produce US$45.57 million representing 11.40% and handicrafts US$ 0.51 million contributing 0.13%. The Processed and Semi-processed and Agricultural sub-sectors also grew positively by 34.36% and 3.95% respectively over the 2009 earnings. The handicrafts sub-sector however continues to suffer decline and in the period under review registering another negative growth of 32%. Approximately 394 different products we...

By Kofi Ahovi The Public Account Committee (PAC) of parliament has recommended the strengthening of Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) internal and supervisory controls over the preparation of statement of foreign exchange receipts and payments. In the committee’s report on the Auditor-General on the statement of foreign exchange receipts and payments of BoG for the second half of 2008, PAC said the recommendation is to help the central bank to eliminate errors and omissions which occurs during the preparation of such receipts. “BoG must note that a public document of this nature should not countenance such mistakes,” the report stated. Total cocoa proceeds received by BoG were erroneously captured as US$946,412,132 due to an omission of cocoa receipt amounting to US$436,283.60. The error was however attributed to misclassification. Also as a result of wrong conversion in the use of currency and reversal of entry, total student transfers of US$3.1 million for the same period was understated by US$1...

By Kofi Ahovi The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) is considering the re-introduction of the Automatic Adjustment Formula (AAF) to address any adverse movement of external factors that affect tariffs. The mechanism allows the tariff to be adjusted periodically taking into account the foreign exchange rate and other factors that affect tariff adjustments. AAF would reduce the financial burden on consumers associated with one-time tariff adjustments whilst at the same time ensuring the financial viability of the utilities. The executive secretary of PURC, Steven Adu, told BusinessWeek that, the mechanism would be introduced in the course of this year or early next year after the commission has finished reviewing the formula. The mechanism was used in the country between 2002 and 2006. According to Adu, even though the mechanism proved useful it was put on hold. PURC last week approved an average increase of 89% in electricity and water tariffs, first time in three years. Accor...

Virtual Security Africa Limited (VSA), a digital surveillance company in Ghana, has introduced two new security products onto the market. These are the Real-Time Fleet Management (RTFM) and Virtual Security Integration (VSI). The RTFM is a worldwide all-satellite asset tracking, monitoring and mobile resource management system which uses Global Position System (GPS) to provide location and real-time information in all weather and at all times on or near the earth and communicates the exact location of asset, direction and speed information as well as asset performance data with respect to mobile assets like vehicles and vessels for complete assets management. With this product, fleet information is delivered from asset via satellite, ensuring data delivery without need for cell towers and regardless of land geography. Data delivered is received, stored and analyzed at the RTFM network operations centre and is accessed from the RTFM hosted application called the fleet central. The Visua...

Stanbic Bank has improved the security features of its New Business Online (nbol) to ensure the safety of its clients. Apart from the regular security requirement to enable clients access the system, the bank has introduce a second authentication mechanism, which is a portable device that produces different security codes at different times. The Head of Product and Channel Management of Stanbic, Michael Charway, explained that the device enhances the security of the nbol since without the secondary authentication; one cannot access the facility. He observed that the bank will continue to upgrade the security features of the service to protect its clients. The New Business Online, which replaced the Customer Access Terminal System (CATS), is a single online channel across the Standard Bank Group that has come to replace existing platforms that served corporate needs. It provides customers with a single view of their relationship with the group across products and countries. Once in, the...

Standard Chartered Bank has attributed the substantial growth in its interest expenses to the huge funds it borrowed within the group for some investments. The banks half-year results revealed that interest expenses shot up substantially by 107% from GHc16 million to GHc33 million. This, the bank attributed to borrowing at market rates to invest into some government bonds. The Executive Director at the bank-in-charge of Finance Sanjay Rughani made this known at the banks turn at the “Facts behind the Figures” session at the Ghana Stock Exchange. "The benefit I have in doing business with the group is that they are not worried about the risk they are taking on Standard Chartered Bank Ghana because they understand so I can leverage on that position at anytime if I do need those inflows," Rughani stated. He assured shareholders of exciting times to come in the final quarter of the year, assuring stakeholders of the banks plans to double its profits for the next half of the year...

By Kofi Ahovi Cabinet has approved the Industrial Policy which was developed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Business Week has gathered. The policy, which aims to strengthen the industrial sector to make meaningful contribution into the economy, would make Ghanaian industries live up to expectation and also improve their service delivery. The policy takes into account how registration at the registrar general should be to assist the development of industry in Ghana. It also focuses on competitiveness situation especially with regards to funding for linking distribution channel in the rural areas. It also addresses taxation problems facing industrial players by clearly identifying the kind of tax incentives needed for specific sectors of the economy especially the industrial, agribusiness and services sectors. The thrust of the industrial policy is the promotion of an accelerated and sustainable industrial development within a liberalized and global economic development. It i...

By Kofi Ahovi Personnel of the Immigration, Fire and Prisons Service are next in line to enjoy the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) after the Ghana Police Service who saw about 200% hikes in their June salaries. This follows the completion of their migration onto the new salary structure last week. However, there could be slight delay in the payment of August salaries due to the completion date of their migration, a source at the commission told Business Week. According to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, workers of the three institutions, the final batch of the security services to be captured under the SSSS pay policy should be paid the new salaries at the end of this month. Though military personnel are not captured under single spine their civilian colleagues with the Ministry of Defense will benefit. It is expected that the next professionals to benefit from the pay structure would be teachers due to the numbers. The single spine salary structure promises enhanced salar...

By Kofi Ahovi Government has begun reviewing the stability agreement with some mining giants including AngloGold Ashanti and Newmont Ghana. Government hopes to finalize review process very soon to ensure a win-win situation for both parties. The stability agreement spells out rights and privileges, usually guaranteed the mining firms over a number of years. It seeks to create an enabling economic, fiscal and stable environment for the protection of investment. Government is reviewing some aspects of the agreements relating to mining leases and royalties and taxes due the state because it believes the country could benefit more from its mineral resources. The government plans to increase the royalties payable by the mining companies from 3% to 5% and corporate tax rate of 30% for a period of 10 years from 15 years among others. However, the Chief Executive of the Chamber of Mines, Dr. Joyce Aryee has advised government to be tactful in order not to send the wrong signals to investors. ...

British Airways (BA) has promised to improve on its products and services to ensure passengers get best deals. The airline believes that its innovative products and services have kept it in a leading position around the world over the years. Some of the airline’s developments are even being used by smaller domestic carriers. Paul Dhami, British Airways Ghana Manager, in a press release promised improved in-flight service as the airline gets in shape to return to profitability. “We are rolling out new cabins for our aircraft with improved in-flight entertainment systems providing customers with more choice,” he added. “We also pioneered the UK’s first mid-air email and text-messaging services on UK-US flights using the latest technology.” He stressed that BA was “pleased to be at the forefront of airline innovation”. Dhami cites the airline’s website, ba.com as one of the most important developments of the past decade. Our website has evolved into a one-stop shop for customers, and upta...

By Kofi Ahovi Trading in bonds on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) would by the end of this year go electronic, Business Week has gathered. This is to make trading in bonds on the bourse more efficient while meeting international standards. Currently trading in bonds are done over the counter and manually. All dealers and brokers would be given access to the system and both Bloomberg and Thompson Reuters would also disseminate trading information in real time to enable foreign investors get trading information on time. Speaking to the General Manager GSE, Ekow Afedze, he noted that the electronic bond trading would also help in developing an active secondary market, which requires a high quality set of rules and regulations, a clearing and settlement system and competent banking system participants, but added that most of these have already been met. A secondary market would ensure a deep and liquid bond market that would provide government and corporate institutions with opportunities ...

BoG allays fears The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has re-emphasized that non-resident Ghanaians can still invest in government of Ghana Treasury Bills. In a press release, BoG said its attention has been drawn to certain misconceptions that non-resident Ghanaians/Ghanaian investors cannot invest in Government of Ghana Treasury Bills. “The Bank wishes to correct this erroneous impression and hereby states that Ghanaian Investors resident offshore can continue to invest in Government Treasury Bills,” the release stated. It explain that, where a non-resident investor, having sent funds from offshore, requires that the proceeds of the investment that is, interest and maturity value be repatriated offshore, then they are restricted to the purchase of Government Securities with tenor of three years and above. “For emphasis, where a non-resident investor requires that his/her investment proceeds be repatriated, then the investment can only be in instruments with tenors of three years and above, such ...

By Kofi Ahovi The World Food Programme (WFP) is to invest over US$22 million over a two year period to provide about 28,000 metric tons of food assistance to over 432,250 people in the three Northern Regions. NguuyenDuc Hoang, Head of Programme of the WFP, who announced this at the launch of the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) programme for Northern Ghana, said the three Northern regions remained the most food-insecure regions in the country. The theme for the launch of the programme which was "Building resilience for food security and nutrition in Northern Ghana” is to improve upon the food security and nutritional status of the three northern regions. Hoang said two surveys conducted between 2008 and 2009 informed the WFP in the formulation of the PRRO for Northern Ghana. The first nationwide food security survey known as the comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis and an impact assessment of the global crisis on vulnerable househol...

By Kofi Ahovi Ghana has recorded a total of 3,370,757 metric tons of maritime trade in the first quarter of this year. The total maritime trade consisted of 2,413,711 metric tons of import trade, and 957,046 metric tons of export trade through the Tema and Takoradi Ports. The figure represents an18% increase over the 2,041,944 recorded for the same period in 2009. The statistics are contained in a copy of the April-June 2010 edition of the Shipping Review Journal of the Ghana Shippers' Authority. Total export maritime trade for the period, also recorded, a 17% increase over 816,102 data for the same period last year. According to the journal, import cargoes were loaded and discharged at various ports of the world including the United Kingdom, North America, Mediterranean Europe, Far East, and Africa among others. It stated that the highest import tonnage of 628,471metric tons representing 26% maritime import trade came into the country fr...

By Kofi Ahovi African heads of state, industry representatives, the international donor community and farmers will meet in Ghana at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in the first week of September. Delegates will create an action plan on the acceleration of a Green Revolution in Africa. Chaired by Kofi Annan, chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), this is the first time the forum will be held in Africa. It is expected to be one of the continent’s major gatherings of both public and private players to focus solely on agriculture development. In a press statement issued by the organizers it quoted Kofi Annan as “We will be looking to governments for leadership to create an environment that will enable agriculture to prosper and grow and we will be looking to the private sector to drive and sustain that growth. Working together we can achieve a food secure and prosperous Africa.” The AGRF promotes investments and policy initiatives that will drive income g...