Kofi Ahovi

By Kofi Ahovi Barclays Bank Ghana and Junior Achievement of Ghana (JA) have entered into a partnership under which the bank will provide financial support of 1.5 million pounds for a three-year period to JA. The fund is to enable JA deliver entrepreneurship and work-readiness education to local young people through the “Barclays/JA world wide you can B initiative.” The fund will support a series of programs, including innovative workshops and the expansion of a worldwide JA company program and JA job shadow, and will reach a projected 8,000 students. The managing director of Barclays Bank Ghana, Benjamin Dabrah, at the signing ceremony of the partnership, was hopeful that the initiative would lower the unemployment rate in Ghana, especially among the youth. He added that the bank was privileged to be part of the initiative because it recognizes the youth as both future clients and employees, thus the need to lend support. The executive director of Junior Achievement of Ghana, Jeff Agba...

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Ghana has inaugurated its MoneyGram “Redshop” simultaneously at three outlets in Accra Tema, Teshie and Kumasi and is expected to be opened before the end of this year. The UBA-MoneyGram redshop is an innovative concept that provides dedicated service to recipients of MoneyGram funds transfers. It constitutes a separate banking hall within the bank’s designated branch locations to carry out MoneyGram transactions. However the Chief Operating Officer of UBA, Sanusi Mudasiru told Business Week that the bank in future might operate the redshop even at a place where it may not have a branch. The redshop is predominantly MoneyGram branded with its look and feel. Thus the experience of visiting the redshop is different from that of the bank’s normal banking halls, say the bank’s top officials. The purpose of the redshop is to retain and maintain customer traffic levels in the banking halls; focus on efficient customer service due to dedicated service that exclude...

By Jeorge Wilson KINGSON Three out of the 12 airports and airstrips in the country are to undergo total rehabilitation and major expansions soon, including the Kumasi, Sunyani and Takoradi airports. A loan agreement of US$122 million has been approved by Parliament for these projects. The fund would be used to extend the run-way and apron lighting for night operations, upgrade power generation systems, construction of new VIP lounges, construction of new passenger bridges, and the refurbishment of control towers at the selected air terminals. BusinessWeek learnt that the extension of the Kumasi airport run-way is to enable it accommodate large commercial liners and serves as back-up to international operations in case of emergency at the Kotoka International Airport. Meanwhile, the rehabilitation of the Takoradi airport would facilitate and boost transportation in the Western region, especially in the event of crude oil production in the near future. The credit facility from GK Airport...