Kofi Ahovi

Ghana’s net international reserves fell from $8.21 billion in August 2021 to $7.32 billion in October 2021, about 4.9 months of import cover, data from the Bank of Ghana has revealed. The reserves however stood at $7.25 billion in September 2021, equivalent to 4.9 months of imports cover. The decline in the reserves may be due to some of the reserves used to shore up the cedi’s stability against the dollar, whilst some were used to finance the 2021 Budget. According to the figures from Bank of Ghana on External Sector Developments, the Heritage and Stabilisation Funds in the first 10 months of this year stood at $923.6 million. The country’s reserves experienced a significant growth because of boost in oil prices, whilst cocoa and gold prices have also been favourable so far this year. This follows a rebound in the global economy. Trade surplus surges to $1.036bn in October 2021 For the trade account, the nation registered a trade surplus of $1.036 billion in October 2021, 1.5% of Gros...

The European Payments Initiative (EPI), a bank-backed effort to build a rival to Mastercard and Visa in Europe, is appealing for outside funding to get the project off the ground. Backed by 31 major Eurozone banks and acquirers Worldline and Nets, the EPI is striving to create a unified pan-European payment system, offering a card for consumers and merchants across Europe, a digital wallet and P2P payments. Expected to enter the operational phase in 2022, the coalition established the EPI Interim Company in Brussels in July last year, with the intention of setting out clear deliverables including the completion of the technical and operational roadmap. Read also: MoneyGram to let customers buy and sell bitcoin with cash Speaking at an event hosted by the European Payments Institutions Federation, EPI chief executive Martina Weimart said “Public funding would be nice…Let’s not hide it – it’s going to be a massive investment. It’s expensive.” Weimart told Reuters that retailers are not w...

 A  new report  by password management service, NordPass, working with independent researchers has revealed that use of numbers between 1 and 9 on the keyboard is the most commonly used passwords in the world.  The researchers compiled millions of passwords into a dataset to determine the 200 most commonly used passwords around the world in 2021, and it showed apart from the words  “qwerty”  and  “password”  which came third and fourth, all the other passwords in the top ten were numbers between 1 and 9. They analyzed the data and presented results across 50 countries (excluding Ghana), looking at how popular various choices were in different parts of the world. They also looked at password trends by gender. Per the report,  “123456”  came tops as it is used by an whopping 103,170,552 people, followed by  “123456789”  with 46,027,530 users globally. Of the top 200, the least used password was  “angel1” , which had 15,786 h...

 Effective January 1, 2022, small-scale miners (SSM) will no more be required to pay three per cent withholding tax on gold at the point of export through the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC). This follows the government's fiscal policy to scrap the three per cent withholding tax on processed gold and replace it with 1.5 per cent withholding tax on unprocessed gold. The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, who made this known, stated, “ "For the avoidance of doubt, there will be no tax collected at the point of export through the PMMC from small-scale miners," he stressed. Jinapor, who said this in a virtual address at the 7th Ghana Mining Industry Awards (GMIA) held in Accra last Friday, said the decision was arrived at after thorough stakeholders engagement on the merit of the three per cent withholding tax policy. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) implemented the three per cent withholding tax policy on the export of gold from the coun...

The National Insurance Commission (NIC), has committed to ensure that all insurers are solvent by meeting the new minimum capital requirement for insurance firms by the December 31 deadline. The move will ensure that insurance companies operating in the country have sufficient funds to meet the obligations of their policyholders. That, the regulator said, was part of its mandate to strengthen solvency and protect the interest of policy holders to bring the needed confidence in the insurance industry. At the launch of a new insurance product for Quality Insurance Company (QIC) Limited in Accra, the Commissioner of NIC, Dr. Justice Yaw Ofori, stated that the NIC was committed to create an enabling environment that encouraged the development of innovative products for policy holders. Digitisation offers better prospects to increase efficiency. The NIC for its part is focused on strengthening solvency, protecting policyholders’ interests and creating an enabling environment that encourages...

Ghana’s pavilion  at the just-ended Intra -African Trade Fair (IATF) in Durban, South Africa,  has been  awarded the  “Most Extraordinary  Experiential  Stand ”. At a brief ceremony by the  organisers, the  African Export-Import  Bank,  African Union and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),  six other awards went to different exhibitors at the fair from other countries. In all 1,100 exhibitors from  55 countries across  Africa showcased different kinds of products and services at the fair which  was also characterised by cultural performances and trade forum.   In an interview after the fair, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Dr Afua Asabea Asare said  “indications  are  that,  the fair has achieved its aim and most important, connections have been made for further business to promote trade among ourselves to improve our economy”. She expl...

Executive Secretary of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), Ama Ofori Antwi has called on all environmental service providers including waste management companies to subscribe to ESPA for their own wellbeing. She said there is power in unity and together they can be a stronger advocacy group. She lamented about the lackadaisical attitude shown by some of their members in the regions to join and disclosed that there are several benefits that will accrue to members which is the more reason why the individual organisations or members should join ESPA which is currently working in collaboration with the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations in the Water and Sanitation Sectors (CONIWAS) to ensuring that the WASH sector is fully regulated and recognised. Ofori Antwi was a panelist at the Zoomlion and Graphic Communications Group's sanitation awareness campaign dialogue forum at Nalerigu in the North East Region. Zoomlion is in collaboration with the Graphic Commu...