Day: March 21, 2022

A newly formulated Coca-Cola zero sugar has been launched in Accra, Ghana on Friday, March 18, 2022.

According to the Franchise Marketing Director of Coca-Cola West Islands and Middle Africa, Arnaud N’Guessan, his company is poised to meet the health needs and preferences of consumers, hence, the introduction of Coca-Cola zero sugar.
He stated that the introduction of this new product was in line with the comprehensive actions taken by the company to evolve its recipes and reduce the amount of sugar in its soft drinks.

This new addition; Coca-Cola zero sugar offers consumers a choice of both no calories and sugar in their drinks. It also comes in smaller pack sizes.
Speaking at the launch in Accra on Friday, Mr. Arnaud N’Guessan said, “As we launch this new formulation, being the first market in West Africa outside of Nigeria.

It is an occasion for us to celebrate with you, our key stakeholders, the beginning of a campaign that intends to invite everyone to discover the new and exciting Coca-Cola Zero Sugar we have just introduced onto the Ghanaian market. Not only for this reason, more importantly, our business success has also been possible because of the support we continuously enjoy from you and our consumers.”

“Today’s consumer is more enlightened and aware due to advances in technology. This has also changed how companies interact and communicate with their customers. The introduction of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is in line with more comprehensive actions the company is undertaking to evolve our recipes, help reduce sugar in its soft drink portfolio and offer consumers a choice of low and no-sugar drinks, including smaller pack sizes,” he added.

The Coca-Cola zero sugar has a streamlined design that celebrates the iconic logo [hug logo] and a distinctive sugar-free mention on the packaging.
The products are available in all retail outlets, including supermarkets, grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, and the store near you.

Speaking at the same event, the Managing Director for ECCC, West African Countries Business Unit, Felix Gomis said eliminating sugar from this recipe now makes it possible for persons who prefer a non-sugar option to now go all out to enjoy their delicious and refreshing original Coca-Cola taste.

Throwing more light on the product, he stated that in 2005, the Coca-Cola company introduced Coke Light as a non-sugar option to Coca-Cola Classic in Ghana, particularly for persons who wanted to enjoy their refreshing Coca-Cola beverage but without sugar.

Coca-Cola zero sugar was then introduced in 2017 as a non-sugar option and has now been reformulated by optimizing its flavors.

Coca-Cola company’s pursuit to make Coca-Cola zero sugar more delicious and refreshing informed its decision to embark on rigorous research to improve on its taste, thus bridging the taste gap between Coca-Cola Classic which contains sugar and the non-sugar variant, Coca-Cola zero sugar.

The Coca-Cola zero sugar, he highlighted was an improvement of the 2017 formula.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra, March 21, GNA- Mr James Kobina Dadson, Acting Executive Secretary, Lands Commission, says “our regional offices are fully operational” and urged the public to do business with the Commission at the regional offices.

That, he explained, was part of the Commission’s decentralization plan to ensure effective and efficient service delivery for its clients adding that, there was no need for an individual in Kumasi for instance, to move to Accra for services.

Mr Dadson said this in Accra at a closing ceremony of a five-day management retreat on the theme: “Achieving Institutional excellence land services delivery through modern technology, human resource development, and private participation.”

The Acting Executive Secretary announced that the Commission’s district office in Tema would be fully operational in 2023 and assured the public of building the capacity of staff and adopting best practices in addressing challenges of compensation.

He said the Commission was embarking on reforms, including the digitization drive of migrating its records from manual to digital to address the bottlenecks in the system for smooth services.

Mr Dadson was optimistic that the outcomes of these reforms would result in a total transformation of land service delivery by the Commission.

Touching on the relationship with the Chiefs, he admitted that the traditional authorities manage over 80 per cent of all the lands in the country, but the Commission’s mandate was to do the registration on their behalf. 

The Commission, he said, occasionally embarked on public education campaigns, in collaboration with the House of Chiefs and the Media, especially with the new land Act, adding that every region had a representative of the Regional House of Chiefs on the board who reports and sends feedback to the Chiefs.

Mr Dadson debunked the allegation that the Commission was the cause of many land disputes in the country, explaining that “if Teshie in Accra registers a land and neighbouring community and La goes to court and secures judgement, the Commission cannot be blamed for it.”

Mr Alex Quaynor, the Chairman of the Commission, advised staff to be professional in the discharge of their duties to transform the Commission into a viable institution and gain public trust and confidence.

Mr Jones Ofori Boadu, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Commission, blamed part of the land problems on the country’s outdated map, which had been in use since 1974.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Source: Ghana Web

Ho, March 21, GNA – Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of Asogli State, has called on the government to reconsider the nation’s economic structure in a bid to address rising economic challenges.

He said the nation remained stuck in high inflation, and interest rates despite various efforts, and that with the movement of capital controlled by foreigners, the growth of the local currency had been affected.

Togbe Afede made the call when the Board Members and Executives of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) paid a courtesy call on him in Ho.

The Paramount Chief, who also is a known business magnate with investments traversing the finance, energy, and aviation sectors, said: “pragmatic steps” must be taken or the “problem becomes permanent.

“If you look at our economy, the bulk of it, unfortunately, the most important sectors, are owned by foreigners. That is a big challenge. Even the sector we are operating in- the oil and gas sector, the bulk of what we are supposed to be earning, goes going to foreigners.

“Our mining, banking and telecoms sector are all dominated by foreigners.

“So, what it means is that the large movement of funds on account of all of this, takes up everything that we earn. Because of trade, wipe out any trade surplus that we can realize and invariable then we suffer deficit. And that does not help the value of our cedi.

“It means that the structure of our economy must change. Otherwise, then it continues like this. Of course, there are a few other countries that are at about our level, but they do not suffer as much of the inflation and the local currency depreciation that we suffer, and that means that we need to think a lot harder about how come that fallen cedi has become our lot.

“How come that high inflation has become our lot, permanently? We need a lot of hard thinking,” he stated.

Togbe Afede appealed to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) as the regulator, to address as he put it, the “high interest” financial environment, which he alleged, made profits for the banks at the expense of private sector growth.

He said: “Ours has been a high interest rate environment- a high inflation environment, and the question is why?

“We have always tried fighting inflation with a high interest rate, and it does not work and am sorry it would not work. Interest rate itself is a price, and it must be. If you go and pay 30 per cent to borrow, you will transfer all that cost to your consumer and then you get into a vicious cycle.

“And worse of all, when you try to increase interest rates based on inflation past price changes, then you are engaged in what I call a self-fulfilling prophecy- taking the past into the future.

“We need as a nation, critically, to look critically at how we fight the battles against inflation. Assuming interests are raised again today, your sector participants would also need to increase their prices because they need to transfer the extra cost of borrowing to the market, and that is where the challenge is. Our interest in this country is already extremely high,” he said.

Togbe Afede said the BoG should focus on securing and maintaining “low stable inflation” and said parity laws did not support the concept of increasing interest rates with rising inflation.

“These high interest rates are not making it easy for us to change the structure of the economy to allow Ghanaians to own the economy, and to allow us to record surpluses on the other segments of the balance of payment accounts.

“So, we have a problem, but we are creating difficult hurdles for the resolution of those problems. How can high interest rates help fight inflation when it produces big profits in the banking sector? Which means the high interest rates are not even shared with depositors, at least not sufficiently. So, we have a difficult problem; a deep structural problem, and the earlier we rethink our approach and our methods, I think the better.

“Bank of Ghana should focus more on stability. Bank of Ghana should not boast about the profits that they have made. The Board of Bank of Ghana should not tap management at the back for making so much profit. That would mean a little bit of misunderstanding of the real purpose of Bank of Ghana- Price and exchange stability, as its contribution towards our search for growth as a macro-economic objective, and our search for increased employment-job creation, as a micro-economic objective.

“If we cannot pursue policies that would help us change the structure of our economy, create the jobs that we need to create, enhance local ownership of the economy, our problems will become permanent- they are almost becoming permanent,” the Agbogbomefia stated.

The team from the NPA, which was led by Dr. Mustapha Hamid, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), had called on the Agbogbomefia to seek his wisdom, as the authority worked, to mitigate the current fuel crisis.

Togbe Afede commended the resolve to consult broadly and said all should consider the “huge task” of making quality available, affordable, and profitable, a shared one.

He also commended the Government’s quest to develop a petroleum hub and said it would help advance the petrochemical sector.

Togbe Afede said: “I am happy that the Government has taken on this idea of a petroleum hub because one other thing that we need to do is to increase local value addition to our products, if we can for example, expand refinery capacity to import less refined products. It would mean that we could cut some of the cost.

“If we can realize the dreams; the objectives of the petroleum hub, that can also be helpful, Togbe Afede said, calling for the expansion of fuel pipeline networks to minimize transportation costs.

Dr Hamid, said the NPA was engaging stakeholders including the Tema Oil Refinery, in a series of meetings with the support of the Board.

He also hinted on a “high powered meeting” with the Finance and Energy Ministries, and assured that, “we are doing something about it.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, March 20, GNA -Rising Afrobeats artiste Raphael Kofi Attachie, popularly known as Camidoh, says the target for him is to remain relevant in the music industry for a long period.

According to the “Sugarcane” hitmaker, the Ghanaian music industry was highly competitive and revealed his preparedness to sustain some form of longevity.

In an interview with GNA Entertainment, Camidoh said: “It has always been about longevity, and I have always been working towards that. So, I am still here in the space working towards longevity and not really targeting making hit songs.

“I think the industry is positively competitive. One person does this, and the next person is inspired and wants to do bigger or better.

“So, I feel it is very competitive in a positive direction, only for the people who have open minds and want to learn from one another,” he said.

Camidoh further noted that making good songs that would inspire and touch lives remains a major priority and would put in the hard work to achieve the set objective.

The sensational vocalist also disclosed that he would soon release the official remix of his “Sugarcane” hit single as well as an Extended Play (EP) which he plans on releasing in the month of May.

“I have an official remix and I’m also allowing the fans to do a fan remix. So I am going to put out the instrumentals for the fans and also all other upcoming artists to tap into the shine of the song and drop freestyles.

“I am going to drop the official remix and I also have an EP on the way called ‘Need my Flowers’ which will be released in May.

“I want my fans to be on the lookout for that, most importantly I want my fans to love one another and spread positivity and love,” he stated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Market Update

The recent unrest between Russia and Ukraine has unnerved investors, sparking significant selloffs across asset classes in favor of safe-haven assets. The ongoing geopolitical conflict, poses a risk to an already dimmed global growth forecast, casting a spillover effect on the financial markets.

This, coupled with interest rate hike expectations in developed markets, has seen capital outflow from the frontier and emerging markets, exerting pressure on their respective currencies and yields.

In Ghana, the cedi has experienced a dramatic decline (-14.63% YTD), undermined by negative investor sentiment and increased speculative activity. Demand for the dollar by corporate and offshore investors has surged amid the Bank of Ghana intervention on both the spot and forward markets.

Market data for 8th March depicted sustained FX demand with Central Bank auctioning ~US$75 million on the FX forward market against total bids of ~US$296.75 from offshore and corporate clients. In prior years, the Eurobond inflows during the first quarter cushioned the currency from such steep declines.

However, the current global interest rate trends and Ghana’s deteriorating fiscal position have made the Eurobond option unfavorable. The key concern for investors is the impact of a weak Cedi on their portfolios and possible hedging opportunities available on the market.

Outlook

Notwithstanding the inherent global risk and Ghana’s fiscal position, we view the recent plunge in the Cedi as short-lived. We expect the Cedi to stabilize once global certainty is restored as Ghana’s short-term liquidity risks are sufficiently contained by the strong forex reserve buffer of ~US$9.7 billion (4 months of import cover).

Additionally, expected forex inflows from the IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) receipts and various loan syndications during the year will potentially curb the recent currency depreciation.

We perceive the recent uncertainties in the market as transitory and encourage investors to focus on the medium-term outlook. We urge domestic investors seeking long-term sustainable returns to remain invested in their current holdings as market stabilization is imminent on the back of both fiscal and monetary interventions being rolled out.

Comparatively, Stanbic collective investment schemes have delivered attractive returns despite market volatilities. Historical data depicts Stanbic Income Fund Trust has delivered an average return of 18.4% above the 1-year GOG bond return of 16.7% over the last 5-years.

The geopolitical tension is however very fluid, hence concerned investors may consider adding risk hedging assets such as the New Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to their portfolios. Traditionally, Gold has been a safe haven in volatile markets given its inverse correlation to traditional asset classes.

Investors with near-term forex liability may hold hard currency to mitigate further potential currency losses. We believe cedi assets such as the Stanbic Income Fund Trust and Stanbic Cash Trust Fund will continue to provide sustainable returns to clients over a 1 year period and beyond.

Comparative Analysis

SIFT and Cash trust have over the years proven to outperform the dollar in the medium and long-term providing sustainable returns to clients.

Source: Ghana Web

Tema, March 21, GNA – The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has commended the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) for its continuous sensitization of haulage truck drivers and owners on the rules and regulations covering transit trade activities in Ghana.

Mrs Esther Gyebi-Donkor, GPHA General Manager for Marketing and Corporate Affairs, who gave the commendation at the Fourth GSA Sensitization Workshop held in Tema for haulage truck drivers, said the need for such training could not be overemphasized.

She said the drivers and owners of the trucks were crucial in the transportation of the cargoes that were brought to the ports, as well as delivering the same to the people.

Mrs Gyebi-Donkor who chaired the workshop said, without the drivers the cargo would not get to its destinations, adding that they were critical in the supply value chain.

She added that, “there are lots of stakeholders that they come into contact with while they are on the corridor to their destinations, these stakeholders have various rules and regulations that they need to abide by.

“It is therefore prudent that GSA has dedicated the years to bring new regulations and policies or emphasize some of these happenings to them.”

She said the awareness creation would help the transit corridor to have fewer confrontations among partners and improve on the service delivery to Ghana’s landlocked countries which were important in keeping the various agencies running.

Mrs Gyebi-Donkor said to have an improved corridor devoid of problems and agitations, all stakeholders needed to play their roles in a manner that was befitting of their expectations of each other, and by so doing, growing the business with each other to their mutual benefits.

She said it was an established fact that Ghana’s ports were not only competing with itself, as when it comes to transit trade, but there were also equally, strong ports in Lomé, Abidjan, Cotonou, and even far away Dakar to compete with.

She said to win more market shares, there was the need to improve on the ways of doing business at the port and along the corridor.

She said the GPHA and its partners like the GSA had proven that Ghana could do it, as now, the country’s ports were running efficiently compared to competitors in the sub-region after a lot of resources had been invested into improving the services offered to clients both at ports and points of exits such as Paga.

Recounting some incidents that occurred last year on the corridor, she said while some drivers were brutalized at Yapei Police check-point in July, some Ghanaians and Nigerien drivers were also manhandled in Burkina Faso.

In addition, some 15 Ghanaian haulage trucks loaded with alum became stranded in Ouagadougou which took about four and six months to respectively release seven and eight of the trucks after GPHA collaborated with other stakeholders.

“While I agree that the above complaints and incidents are genuine and sometimes can be frustrating, I dare say that some of them are self-inflicted, for example, loading any truck of cargo without recourse to laws and regulations governing their carriage.

“Some drivers allowed their trucks to be overloaded, while you do that you give some few officials within the chain the cause to harass you unnecessarily, this is condemnable in all forms,” she stated.

Answering a question on the activities of some elongated trucks that load from the port and have issues maneuvering, she said the GPHA would engage all stakeholders on the possible measures to solve the problem as some truck owners alter the original length of the trucks.

She said efforts from the GPHA to check such trucks by engaging some consultants to inspect them were met by some stiff opposition from the drivers who hitherto had denied being behind the elongation of the trucks.

Ms Benonita Bismarck, GSA Chief Executive Officer, on her part noted that the haulage truck owners and their drivers had a crucial role to play in the achievement of the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Ms. Bismarck said the haulage truck owners and drivers would enhance the prospects of the AfCFTA through their facilitation of the exportation and importation of cargoes across the sub-region.

She added that the expected increase in trade in goods in the free trade area would mainly be carried by the haulage trucks to provide fresh opportunities for the haulage industry, especially for the benefit of the landlocked countries.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Sunyani, March 21, GNA- The Sunyani District Court ‘A’ on Monday ordered one Mr Samuel Oteng, a landlord at Asuakwaa, a suburb in the Sunyani Municipality, to refund an amount of GHC6,500 to his prospective tenant.

The court, presided by Mr Divine Kwaku Ahiadu entered judgement in favor of Mr Osondo Chikezie, the plaintiff with a 20 per cent interest charge plus additional cost of GHC500.00 after the defendant (Oteng) agreed to refund the money to him (plaintiff).

According to the court, the defendant collected an amount of GHc5,000 from the plaintiff, a Nigerian in November 2020 to complete a self-contained single room to be rented out to him but could not fulfil that agreement.

The court said the defendant later requested an additional amount from the plaintiff to be able to complete the room, but the latter refused and therefore demanded a refund of the money.

Consequently, the plaintiff filed a suit against the defendant at the court to enable him to re-claim his money.

Upon the order of the court, the defendant agreed to pay the amount, for which failure to do so would result in the sale of the property for deduction of plaintiff’s money to him.

Source: Ghana News Agency