Category: Business

Accra, Aug 19, GNA- Vendors on this year’s Chale Wote Street Art Festival grounds are expecting high sales compared to previous years, hoping that patrons will make up for the pandemic break.

Covid-19 had stalled the festival for two years – 2020 and 2021.

 The Ghana News Agency gathered that the number of vendors expected to participate in this year’s festival has soared so as their wares and is likely to boost sales.

Organisers of the festival say they have received vendors and exhibitors from Accra and other parts of the country.

Other African exhibitors have expressed interest in showcasing their artifacts and participating in activities earmarked for the festival this weekend.

Mantse Aryeequaye, Festival Director, Chale Wote Street Art Festival, told the Ghana News Agency the festival had been transformative for the over 10,000 businesses that had benefited from the festival activities over the period.

Mr Tafari Billa, a local accessories seller, expressed excitement about the euphoria so far and said he looked forward to patrons thronging Jamestown to have fun-filled festivals and purchase some products.

“I’m hoping that people will come in their numbers. The event will be big so we expect to make some good sales,” he said.

 “They should buy our products, especially the foreigners so that they will understand our craft and value our products even more,” he added.

Mr Christian Mensah, the operator of “Level 3” pub, said this year’s Chale Wote festival looked promising and he was optimistic that patrons would show up in their numbers.

 ”We have attended different festivals across the country.  That’s what we do, but this year’s Chale Wote is definitely big,” he said.

 Mr Mensah said lots of drinks had been stocked in anticipation of the ‘long weekend’, urging Ghanaians to come and have fun, socialise and network.

Mr Elvis Amoah, a barbecue vendor, advised the public to eat healthy and party in moderation.

 He said: “Covid-19 definitely has affected us, but now that everything seems okay, we hope that our customers will come all out and make purchases from us this year.”

Mr Amoah, however, called on patrons to adhere to some of the Covid-19 guidelines as the virus was looking for careless people to devour.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Aug. 18, GNA – Some Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will benefit from the first phase of a business capacity building workshop aimed at boosting the competitiveness of the private sector.

Overcoming the ravages of COVID-19, the workshop will provide the business owners and managers the needed tool to improve on their commercial operations and enable them to remain competitive.

The workshop organized by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), in collaboration with Development Bank Ghana (DBG), will train businesses to scale up their operations as well as adopt operating models that better position them to access loans from DBG’s participating financial institutions.

The workshop will be replicated and organised in five locations, Accra, Koforidua, Tarkwa, Takoradi, and Cape Coast.

Participants will have access to five pillars of the Ghana Integrated Financial Ecosystem (GIFE) digital platform which are: the SME Financial Empowerment Platform and Marketplace and Financial Trade Corridor.

Others were connected digital financing, reputational building, and equity growth.

Mr Clement Osei-Amoako, the President of GNCCI, said the SMEs contributions were critical to the sustainability of the economy as they contributed 70 per cent of the country’s GDP despite the many challenges.

“The Chamber’s rationale for this collaboration is informed by its deep insight and foresight of the persistent issues affecting the business community,” he said.

He urged member firms to maximise the unique opportunity offered by the GIFE, the digital platform within the five pillars.

He said participants were taken through Environmental, Social and Governance practices, focusing on other areas like financial management System and Accessing DBG 3-year loan / Introduction Participating Financial Institutions, Risk Management (Financial, Non-Financial, Strategic) and Marketing and Market Development Strategies.

Mr. Osei-Amoako said the contributions of the Chamber to the growth and development of the Ghanaian private sector cannot be overemphasized.

Accordingly, the GNCCI has yet again taken a bold initiative to collaborate with DBG, to first and foremost, empower its member firms with the requisite business skills to scale-up their business operations and enhance their attractiveness to access long-term capital.

He said the Chamber’s robust analytical framework that periodically mobilises business diagnostics data allowed it to document and track the growth and performance of businesses, industries, and policy institutions in Ghana.

The President said the Chamber remained dedicated to the growth and prosperity of businesses through its cutting-edge business support.

Mr Michael Mensah-Baah, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, DBG, said small business owners often had no access to the long-term capital they needed to grow and were seen as too risky by the banks.

“Our business model allows us to leverage the networks and existing infrastructure of banks and financial institutions that partner with us to provide business advisory services and training in addition to financing,” he said.

The Deputy CEO said the DBG had designed a system to relieve the bottlenecks that had hindered the availability of long-term, competitively priced loans to Small and Medium Enterprises in Ghana.

He said, “addressing the lack of long-term financing that drives the kinds of investment that will lead to sustainable growth, is a gap that must be addressed.”

He said the Bank employed a wholesale banking model where it provided funding to eligible financial institutions to on-lend to Ghanaian businesses in targeted industry sectors.

“DBG has identified agribusiness, manufacturing, ICT, and high-value services as the catalytic sectors of the economy to focus on,” he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Member for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, has mocked the government over what it calls a “failed state”.

According to him, Ghana’s economic situation is a dire one that has put the country in the “ICU of IMF”.

Whiles many have bemoaned the country’s lack of proactiveness in securing a deal with the International Monetary Fund, the government said negotiations will begin in September.

The Deputy Finance Minister, Abena Osei Asare, stated that an IMF deal will be secured by the first second quarter of 2023.

In a Facebook post by the Bolga Central MP on August 16 sighted by GhanaWeb, he said “Ghana is sick at ICU of IMF. Ken is sick, Awol for medical attention. Dr Bawumia busy with yahoo scam, Nana snoring. The dollar partying away. Cola laced with tarrifs turned bitter. BoG at sea and citizens clutch for survival. A failed state.”

Meanwhile, a senior Research fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Dr. Said Boakye, while presenting IFS’ assessment of the government of Ghana’s fiscal consolidation efforts noted that Ghana’s macroeconomic indicators have deteriorated drastically in the first seven months of the year causing prices of commodities to shoot up abnormally.

“Consequently, the relative price stability the country enjoyed in the past few years has disappeared, as the year-on-year consumer price inflation rate, which averaged, for example, 9.9% and 10.0% in 2020 and 2021 respectively, stood at 13.9% in January 2022,” he explained.

Also, Ghana’s local currency has been classified as the worst performing currency globally after it passed the GH¢10 mark.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra, Aug 15, GNA – The continuous decline of the Cedi’s value against the US Dollar will lead to a marginal rise in prices of petrol and diesel at the pumps this week, the Institutute for Energy Secuirty has projected.

The Institute said the decline in prices of petroleum products on the international market would not reflect in prices locally as a result of the Cedi’s depreciation.

In its assessment of the August 2022 First Pricing Window, the IES found that the Ghana Cedi depreciated by 5.40 per cent from the previous rate of GHS8.35 to the current rate of GHS8.83 to the US Dollar in the last two weeks.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Fritz Moses, Research Analyst, IES, said fuel prices would go up by not more than three per cent in the next pricing window – August 16 to August 31, 2022.

“But for the Cedi depreciation, prices of petrol and diesel would have reduced by about five per cent,” he said.

The national average price per litre of petrol stands at GHS 10.58 down from GHS11.30 in the last window, representing a 6.37 per cent reduction.

Diesel’s national average price per litre stands at GHS13.28 from a previous average of GHS13.65, representing a 2.71 per cent reduction.

The IES found that Brent Crude fell by 2.80 per cent over the previous pricing window’s average price to a current average price of $98.38 per barrel.

Petrol price on the international market fell by 8.48 per cent, from its initial price of $1103.75 per metric tonne to the end date price of $1010.75 per metric tonne while diesel price also fell by 7.26 per cent to settle at $1032.00 per metric tonne.

In the just-ended window, LPG’s prices on the international market also reduced to 5.86 per cent, lower than its earlier window price of $659.00 per metric tonne to an end date price of $620.38 per metric tonne, the IES said.

“Despite the 8.48 per cent fall in the price of Gasoline, 5.86 per cent fall in the price of LPG, and the 7.26 per cent fall in Gasoil price, the IES projects that prices of fuel on the local market may see marginally price increase at the pumps.

“The steep depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against the US Dollar may wipe away the gains from the international fuel market. On the back of the fall in the value of the Cedi, Ghanaians may either have to buy fuel at a much higher price or contend with the current pump prices in the coming days,” the Institute said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Western Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),Mr Ndede Siah has made a passionate appeal to the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) and the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC) Board to employ more Nzemas and other indigenes from the Western Region into the Ghana Gas company and the emerging National Petroleum Hub Project.

He lamented that the Local Content Policy (LCP) which gave a certain quota of employment to those around the catchment area of the Oil and Gas project, has not been respected.

Mr Ndede Siah was speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines after a Stakeholder Engagement forum by the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC) Board in Takoradi.

He expressed wary over few Nzemas working at Ghana Gas with majority of the workforce coming from abroad.

Mr.Siah admitted that “though not all people in Nzema should be employed to do the work, yet a sizeable number of Nzemas should be considered in that they would bear the direct impact in times of health hazards”.

He reminded the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC) Board to train more Nzemas for employment opportunities in the Hub and dismissed the assertion that “people in Nzema are not educated”.

The NPP Regional Chairman called for a database that would aid the Board to hand pick people in the area for employment.

Mr.Siah was worried that people in the oil and gas enclave continued to heap insults on the leadership in the Nzema area and the Western Region for not helping them to get jobs in the oil and gas business.

He sounded a note of caution to the management of Ghana Gas that Nzemas have given peace a chance, adding that elsewhere, the people would have run out of patience to give way to chaos at Ghana Gas.

He said the leadership in the Western Region and Nzemas would not keep quiet on issues about the emerging Petroleum Hub Project but would fight to ensure that the Local Content Policy was adhered to.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Aug. 5, GNA – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA), Dr Afua Asabea Asare, has asked the 10 technical committees tasked to drive the implementation of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) to be innovative in ensuring that the country moves away from its dependency on imports.

Speaking at a NEDS-African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation workshop in Accra, Dr Asare said stakeholders needed to help to deliver the country from its current state of dependency on imports through tackling the situation from the grass roots.

“We are charting an integrated approach not only in terms of finding the right mix but also the need for partnerships for a groundbreaking approach to implement the strategy,” she said.

The NEDS was launched to provide a clear direction and intent, to increase non-traditional export (NTE) earnings to US$25.3 billion by 2029.

Dr Asare said after the first year of the NEDS implementation, records indicate a US$3.3 billion revenue from NTEs.

This represents a 17 per cent growth over 2020 earnings of US$2.84 billion, posting an increase in the annual average growth rate of 7.07 per cent.

“Despite this increase a lot more effort would have to be exerted to ensure significant increases for the achievement of the target,” Dr Asare stated.

Dr Asare hinted at plans for a district sensitisation programme on the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) across the country.

Together with other stakeholders, it is expected that at the end of the sensitisation, stakeholders are not only aware of the content of the NEDS but also know and appreciate their roles and contributions towards attaining the target.

Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Herbert Krapa called for institutional collaboration to ensure speedy but thorough deliberations in the drive to implement the export development strategy.

“We cannot implement the National Export Development Strategy without institutional collaboration. I mean institutional collaboration in the truest sense of the phrase: which naturally starts with a recognition that parties being invited to the table truly have something to offer, and parties sitting around the table, accepting in similar respectable fashion, that they must give everything they can to make what we do a success,” Mr Krapa stated.

The Deputy Trade Minister noted that “gradually, slowly, surely and steadily, we are shifting gear into full -blown implementation of the National Export Development Strategy. This is perhaps the junction they call ‘a point of no return’, and we cannot afford to retreat at this point. We have built enough momentum for take-off and we must do so with only one outcome in mind: a successful implementation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Government has outlined interventions geared towards the harmonisation of existing laws, programmes, policies, and regulations to boost Ghana’s trade with Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The interventions were highlighted in a National AfCFTA Policy Framework and Action Plan that provided policy prescription and strategic objectives with focus on trade facilitation, trade policy, infrastructure, enhancing productive capacity, trade information, market integration and finance.

The document was put together by the AfCFTA Inter-Ministerial Committee, National AfCFTA Steering Committee and seven Technical Working Groups that comprised of representatives from the private sector, Senior Government Officials, and other technical experts.

At the launch on Tuesday, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, who launched the document on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, said the implementation of the framework was crucial to ensuring Ghanaian businesses exported significantly into the African continent.

He, therefore, cautioned against any delay in effective implementation of the policy and its action plan as that could impede the gains of the country from the agreement.

“The effective operationalisation of the AfCFTA in Ghana would significantly boost Ghana’s balance of trade, stimulate investment and innovation, diversify exports, improve food security, foster structural transformation, enhance economic growth, and above all, provide jobs for the youth” he said.

Mr Alan Kyeremanten, the Minister of Trade and Industry, called for stronger collaboration between public and private entities to empower the private sector in Ghana to harness the full benefit of AfCFTA.

“Government on its part, will provide the needed political impetus and create the enabling environment to ensure the successful implementation of AfCFTA in Ghana,” he said.

He noted that government had a vision of transforming Ghana into a modern industrialised country, which would become the new manufacturing hub of the continent.

In that regard, the effective implementation of the AfCFTA in Ghana through the policy framework and action plan, would undoubtedly make a significant contribution in realising the vision.

Mr. Mohamed Ali, Director of Trade in Goods and Competition, speaking on behalf of Mr Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, commended Ghana for the launch, especially after it had expressed interest in the secretariat-led initiative for guided trade under the AfCFTA.

The initiative would facilitate direct trade between Ghana and Egypt, Cameroon , Kenya as well as Mauritius.

“The Facilitated and Guided trade initiative will enable us to test the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA; allow commercially meaningful trading under the AfCFTA; and send an important positive message to the African economic operators about the veracity of the AfCFTA as well as its promise to create real opportunities in Africa.

“This initiative seeks to facilitate commercially meaningful trading, among interested State Parties that have met the minimum requirements for trade, under the Agreement,” he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

ACCRA, AUG. 2, GNA – THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE (PIAC), THE STATUTORY BODY WITH OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MANAGEMENT AND USE OF PETROLEUM REVENUES HAS URGED MANAGERS OF THE DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES COMMON FUND (DACF) TO PRUDENTLY MANAGE REVENUES ALLOCATED TO THEM FROM THE ANNUAL BUDGET FUNDING AMOUNT (ABFA).

THE DACF HAS RECEIVED MORE THAN GH¢32,380,403.91 FROM THE ABFA IN 2021 FOLLOWING A 2019 DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT IN THE CASE OF KPODO VS THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

SPEAKING AT A PUBLIC FORUM FOR RESIDENTS IN THE NZEMA EAST MUNICIPALITY IN THE WESTERN REGION, A MEMBER OF PIAC, DR EMMANUEL TENKORANG SAID FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE GHANA STARTED RECEIVING PETROLEUM REVENUE IN 2011, THE DACF RECEIVED FUNDS FROM THE ABFA IN 2021.

HE SAID THERE ARE GUIDELINES GUIDING THE UTILIZATION OF REVENUES FROM THE ABFA, AND THUS, THE LATEST STREAM OF EXPENDITURE TO THE DACF SHOULD BE PROPERLY MANAGED AND ACCOUNTED FOR TO ENSURE THAT THE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY BEING DEMANDED BY PIAC WOULD BE HOLISTIC.

THE FORUM, WHICH WAS ORGANIZED IN LINE WITH PIAC’S SECOND MANDATE OF PROVIDING SPACE AND PLATFORM FOR PUBLIC DEBATE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF PETROLEUM REVENUES, BROUGHT TOGETHER PARTICIPANTS FROM DIFFERENT SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY.

2021 ANNUAL REPORT FINDINGS PRESENTING HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FINDINGS IN THE 2021 PIAC ANNUAL REPORT, DR TENKORANG NOTED THAT ANNUAL CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION DECLINED BY 17.7 PERCENT FROM 66,926,806 BBLS IN 2020 TO 55,050,391 BBLS IN 2021, DESPITE THE REBOUND OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN 2021, AFTER THE EASING OF COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS.

TOTAL PETROLEUM REVENUES, HE NOTED, ALSO INCREASED BY 17.5 PERCENT FROM US$666,390,751.22 IN 2020 TO US$783,325,849.87 IN 2021 DUE TO HIGHER CRUDE OIL PRICES. THIS IS IN SPITE OF THE DECLINE IN CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION IN 2021.

SURFACE RENTAL ARREARS ALSO INCREASED BY 22.22 PERCENT FROM US$2,110,212.23 IN 2020 TO US$2,579,170.21 IN 2021.

ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION HE HIGHLIGHTED, WAS THE USAGE OF PETROLEUM REVENUES TO PAY JUDGEMENT DEBT IN 2021.

“FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2011, THE ABFA WAS USED TO PAY A JUDGEMENT DEBT OF GH¢12,475,426.01. THIS WAS UNDER THE ROADS, RAIL AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE PRIORITY AREA DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW,” HE STATED.

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

THE 2021 PIAC ANNUAL REPORT RECOMMENDED THAT THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE IN COLLABORATION WITH RELEVANT INSTITUTIONS SHOULD DEVELOP APPROPRIATE GUIDELINES ON THE UTILISATION AND REPORTING OF ABFA DISBURSED TO THE DACF.

“PIAC ALSO CALLS ON GNPC TO DOUBLE UP EFFORTS AT RECOVERING LOANS TO GOVERNMENT AND ITS AGENCIES TO ENSURE THAT THE CORPORATION’S WORK PROGRAMME DOES NOT SUFFER FROM NON-IMPLEMENTATION. FOR NOW, GNPC SHOULD DISCONTINUE GRANTING LOANS AND GUARANTEES UNTIL SIGNIFICANT RECOVERIES ARE MADE WITH RESPECT TO OUTSTANDING LOANS AND GUARANTEES OWED THE CORPORATION,” HE SAID.

NOTABLE PROJECTS IN THE NZEMA EAST MUNICIPALITY DR TENKORANG MENTIONED THAT SOME PROJECTS THAT HAVE RECEIVED FUNDS FROM THE ANNUAL BUDGET FUNDING AMOUNT (ABFA) INCLUDE THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHPS COMPOUND AT AKANGO-NZEMA EAST

(GHC194,614.70), CONSTRUCTION OF AKONU COMMUNITY SHED IN THE EVALUE GWIRA AJOMORO CONSTITUENCY (GHC86,772.88), CONSTRUCTION OF AXIM COASTAL PROTECTION PROJECT (GHC35,587,902.30), AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF AKOSONU COMMUNITY SHED IN THE EVALUE GWIRA AJOMORO CONSTITUENCY (GHC51,143.42).

IN HER ADDRESS, THE MUNICIPAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE (MCE) OF THE NZEMA EAST MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY, MS DORCAS ELIZABETH AMOAH, WELCOMED MEMBERS OF THE PIAC TEAM TO THE MUNICIPALITY AND EXPRESSED HER EXCITEMENT OVER THE OPPORTUNITY TO EDUCATE CITIZENS ON THE USE OF PETROLEUM REVENUES IN HER MUNICIPALITY.

SHE URGED PARTICIPANTS TO TAKE ACTIVE PART IN THE DISCUSSION AND ALSO BRING OUT THEIR PRESSING ISSUES REGARDING HOW PETROLEUM REVENUES ARE UTILIZED FOR GOVERNMENT’S ATTENTION.

PARTICIPANTS ALSO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS AND ALSO GIVE THEIR SUGGESTIONS ON BEST WAYS TO MANAGE THE COUNTRY’S PETROLEUM REVENUES.

Source: Ghana News Agency