Category: Business

Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye, on September 13, 2022, averred that government’s decision to run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial bailout was a short-term solution to the country’s economic woes.

According to him, a long-term solution was required to deal with the economic crisis.

In a tweet, the economic expert said, “IMF is a short-term solution to our economic problems.”

“The long-term solutions require fiscal discipline and mobilising our own abundant resources to support policies that would transform the economy from its colonial structure to a modern industrial economy,” he added.

Read the full story originally published on September 13, 2022 by Ghanaiantimes.

The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye, has described the government’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a short-term solution to the country’s economic challenges.

According to him, the long-term solution required fiscal discipline and mobilising the country’s abundant resources to support policies that would transform the economy.

In a tweet on Saturday, the economic expert said “IMF is a short-term solution to our economic problems.”

“The long-term solutions require fiscal discipline and mobilising our own abundant resources to support policies that would transform the economy from its colonial structure to a modern industrial economy,” he added.

However, some economists and the Ghana Trades Union Congress have expressed their concerns because of the conditions that an IMF programme comes with.

But others are of the view that an economic programme with the Fund is long overdue since the Ghanaian economy has lost credibility following the downgrade of its credit rating by all three rating agencies (Fitch, Moody’s and S&P).

This has denied the country access to the international capital market, whilst inflation and the local currency have been impacted significantly.

Despite all these challenges, the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, has reiterated her outfit’s commitment to reaching an agreement with the government by the end of this year for an economic programme.

According to her, Ghana’s current economic woes are not self-inflicted ones but exogenous shocks such as COVID-19 and the Russian/Ukraine War.

Speaking with Joy News at the Africa Adaptation Summit in Rotterdam, Holland, Madam Georgieva, said the present economic imbalances are not due to bad policies by the government.

Again, the new IMF Mission Chief for Ghana, Stephane Roudet, arrived in the country last week.

Roudet whose appointment took effect from September 1, 2022, paid a visit to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta and his team and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and his team as well.

Roudet’s visit lays the groundwork for a full mission towards the end of September 2022.

Source: Ghana Web

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has declared zero tolerance for excuses and nonperformance by chief executives and board chairs of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

He says they must perform or get shown the exit.

In his keynote address at the maiden State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) annual stakeholder meeting held at Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region on the theme: ‘Time to reflect and rebuild’, President Akufo-Addo said: “The time has come for you to own up to this responsibility and take the front stage in our nation’s development”.

“As captains of our industries, you hold some of the keys to unlocking some of Ghana’s full economic potential”, he noted.

“Jump-starting our economy begins with you; you should be the major drivers of the economy rather than being a financial burden,” he stated.

The president told the 200 CEOs and board chairs at the event: “Your call to this service was based on the belief in your capabilities to help develop our nation and your task is simple, be efficient and profitable where applicable and contribute significantly to the growth of the economy.”

“I entreat you all to reflect deeply on our nation’s current situation, what your contribution has been and what you can do to help turn things around”.

“Excuses for non-performance will no longer be tolerated….. Steer the ship as an able captain or be kicked out,” he warned.

The president also urged the SOEs to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to develop intra-African trade opportunities.

“Our nation is facing one of the toughest times in its history and the challenge before us is daunting but surmountable”.

“We can only prevail when we increase revenue mobilisation and rationalise our expenditures”.

“You have the responsibility to steer your individual entities toward economic development by encouraging innovation and growth”.

“We have to sail together or sink together and I have no doubt about your expertise and commitment,” the president pointed out.

Source: Ghana Web

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is scheduled to appear before Parliament on Thursday, February 16 to brief the house on the government’s debt exchange programme.

This follows a directive by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to the Business Committee of the House to summon the Finance Minister to make a policy brief on the programme due to the ongoing picketing at the Finance Ministry by pensioner bondholders for an exemption from the programme.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin presenting the business statement of Parliament for the ensuing week, said it was necessary for the Minister to appear before Parliament to provide answers to questions raised by constituents of members of the House.

He disclosed that the “Business Committee met yesterday, and it is our proposal that the [Finance] Minister appears before Parliament to answer some questions from statements submitted by members.”

“On the issue of the domestic exchange debt programme, pursuant to your directive, we engaged the Minister of Finance, and we had his assurance to be here on Thursday, February 16.”

He also expressed concern over lateness by government appointees to the House when summoned and admonished that punctuality should be a virtue to be upheld to ensure urgent resolutions of concerns of citizens.

“Considering the volume of work, especially questions that have so far been filed and the need to attend to all of these so as to enable members to give the needed feedback to their constituents, we urge all Ministers to ensure punctuality and ensure that they get their responses through to members on time.”

Source: Modern Ghana

Accra, – Delta Air Lines on February announced that it will contribute $100,000 to the American Red Cross to support the operations and response of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the two earthquake hit countries.

Delta has rallied support from its customers and the public in a bid to help the earthquake victims through a link on their website, an official statement issued to the Ghana News Agency, by the KCC in Accra, said on Friday.

Delta, therefore, urged people living outside of the United States but hoping to donate towards the worthy cause to do so via the website.

“All contributions will be sent to the IFRC,” it assured.

The donations marked for disaster relief purposes is in addition to the one million dollars contributed by the Airline to the Red Cross yearly.

It would be used to support search and rescue operations; offer first aid and psychological support; perform emergency medical evacuations and transport injured people to hospitals.

It would also go towards the distribution of blood and plasma to affected regions; and deliver hot meals and basic aid items, such as tents and blankets for those injured and evacuated.

Tad Hutcheson, Delta’s Managing Director of Community Engagement remarked: “The most important way to help is through financial giving, as the American Red Cross and the IFCRC have the resources and infrastructure to obtain and deliver goods, supplies and trained volunteers to the places and people that need it most.”

The American Red Cross and Delta have a long-standing partnership dating back to 1941.

The $100,000 stipulated for disaster relief in Turkiye and Syria is inclusive to the carrier’s one million dollar grant to the American Red Cross as an Annual Disaster Giving Program partner.

Over the years, the airline has also lent additional assistance to hurricane relief in the US, post earthquake operations in Haiti, and also organised blood drives.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tokyo, Japanese carmaker Toyota posted a drop in profits in the first nine months of the current fiscal year due to the ongoing shortage of microchips.

The industry leader on Thursday reported a net profit for the months of April to December of 1.9 trillion yen (14.5 billion dollars), a 18% drop compared to the same period last year. Sales rose 18% to 27.5 trillion yen.

The group, which also includes the small car specialist Daihatsu and the commercial vehicle manufacturer Hino Motors, continues to expect to post a net profit of 2.36 trillion yen for the full fiscal year ending on March 31, a decrease of 17.2% compared to the previous year.

The automotive giant lowered its worldwide vehicle production outlook to 9.1 million units for the fiscal year, down from an earlier projection of 9.2 million, amid a global shortage of semiconductors.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, Tuesday launched this year’s National Chocolate Week celebration, with a call for the country to focus on processing more cocoa beans locally.

That, he said was a sure way to increasing the country’s chances of raking in substantially from the over USD150 billion revenues accrued from the global chocolate confectionery industry annually.

He also called on all to rally around the cocoa consumption promotion agenda and see it as a national duty.

The Minister said the core purpose of the celebration was to promote local consumption of chocolate and other cocoa-based products by creating opportunities for cocoa processing and value addition companies as well as chocolatiers to showcase their products.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the theme for the celebration, “Eat Chocolate, stay healthy Grow Ghana”, resonated well among the citizenry and had become the unique selling message, driving the collective resolve to make Ghana not only the leading producer of premium quality cocoa, but also a global leader in cocoa processing and consumption.

He said a few years ago, Ghana started a journey to increase its annual cocoa production and incrementally regainrd the number one position in global cocoa production.

“We have made significant progress with hundreds of thousands of hectares of cocoa farms rehabilitated across the country. The magic of the high yielding and early bearing cocoa seedlings used for this exercise only implies that some of the rehabilitated farms have started bearing and soon, the national production figures will attest to the success of this exercise.”

Mr Oppong Nkrumah noted that other interventions had also been very instrumental in increasing productivity, thereby keeping the annual production outputs relatively stable even amid the massive rehabilitation process.

“The last three years have seen stakeholders become more aggressive in our agenda to increase local processing and consumption.

“We have sustainably rolled out programmes to gradually enhance the country’s per capita consumption of cocoa from just half a kilogramme in 2017 to nearly 1.0kg as at now. Our processing feat currently hovers around 43 per cent, following the continued support of government.”

He said it was expected that the recent progress would be stimulating the habit of consuming cocoa not only within Ghana, but also in the African region and beyond.

The Minister commended all stakeholders for their contribution in various ways towards the National Cocoa Consumption Campaign.

“We do not want to be complacent with this achievement, given the fact that elsewhere in Europe and America, the per capita consumption ranges between 7kg to 11kg.”

He assured partners and international stakeholders that programmes and policies within the cocoa sector were such that Ghana’s cocoa production was done in the confines of socially responsible and environmentally acceptable standards.

“We have been working to constantly protect the environment, improve afforestation and ensure that all children of school going age have the opportunity to benefit from quality education.”

The Information Minister noted that for the celebrations this year, there were new twists to offering the citizenry the opportunity of accessing the full benefits of consuming cocoa and its related products.

“The Chocolate City at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange continues to provide one-stop shopping centre for all who would need chocolate confectioneries to give to their loved ones within the period of the celebration.

“We have also received assurance from the processors and chocolatiers that they will make chocolate and other cocoa products available in all regions across the country for the benefits of the consuming public.”

Mr Mac Manu, Board Chairman, Ghana Cocoa Board, said the Board was particularly interested in moving the country beyond the leading producer of premium cocoa beans globally to the leading processor and consumer of premium cocoa.

He said they had introduced policies and liaised with various key stakeholders to create a conducive environment for cocoa processing, especially for small-scale producers.

“While pushing for avenues for increased local processing, we also have the duty to help build a reliable market base locally for our processors, which makes the celebration of the Chocolate Week Celebration even more important.”

Mr Manu encouraged stakeholders to see the success of this year’s National Chocolate Week Celebration as a critical national assignment, and urged Ghanaians to actively promote and participate in the various programme of activities lined up for the celebration.

Programmes lined up for the celebration include health walk, family day out and variety show at the Chocolate City, church visitations, time with school children, meeting moments across the regions, couples’ night out, and donations.

This year’s celebration is organised by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in collaboration with Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the Cocoa Processing Company.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Twenty-one Met¬ropolitan, Municipal and District As¬semblies (MMDAs) paid a total of GH¢499,671.94 to various contractors for no work done between 2018 and 2021, the Auditor-General (A-G) has revealed.

The Coordinating Directors, Finance Officers and the Works Engineers who recommended and approved the payments are to recov¬er the money else they would refund it themselves.

This was contained in the Consol¬idated Performance Audit Report of the A-G on capital projects of 30 se¬lected MMDAs funded through the District Assemblies Common Fund – Response Factor Grant (DACF-RFG) between 2018 and 2021.

The MMDAs include Atwima Kwanwoma, GH¢37,750; Of¬finso, GH¢ 12,516 ; Ejisu, GH¢ 2,418; Nzema, GH¢ 880; Sunyani , GH¢8,315; Sanarigu, GH¢18,190; Chereponi, GH¢41,956; Achiase, GH¢ 9,643; Asene Manso Akroso, GH¢2,900; Northeast Gonja, GH¢ 1,680 ; Keta, GH¢ 133,700 and Mfantsiman, GH¢5,888.

The rest are Komenda-Edi¬na-Eguafo-Abirem, GH¢ 11,851.04; Hohoe, GH¢3,220; Kintampo South, GH¢ 57,925; La Nkwantanang Madina, GH¢ 26,134; Sene West, GH¢ 98,013; Suame , GH¢ 3,936; Wa, GH¢ 2,366; Juaboso, GH¢ 19,102 and Effia Kwesimintim, GH¢ 1,288,90.

The Asutifi South, Dormaa Central, Bawku, Adentan, Nanum¬ba South, Abuakwa South, Tema, Jasikan and Ada East District, were the nine MMDAs which were not flagged for the offence.

The DACF-RFG is the propor¬tion of the DACF allocated to the MMDAs based on their performance plus contribution of development partners that support the perfor¬mance-based grant system.

The audit was focused on selected projects in the aforementioned MMDAs between 2018 and 2021 to determine if they met the required standard specifications and guaran¬teed value for money.

According to the report, sub¬mitted to parliament in May last year, the GH¢500,000 paid to the contractors were released upon recommendations of work engineers and approved by the coordinating di¬rectors in the assemblies in violation of clauses 16, 33, 36 and 37 of the conditions of contract and Section 7 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

For instance at the Keta Assembly, furniture valued at GH¢133,700.00 could not be accounted for although the assembly had paid fully for them and although a list covering the distribution of 322 desks, amounting to GH¢109,447.20 was shown as evidence of receipt, the team could not vouch for the supplies.

In another instance, Kintampo South paid GH¢57,925 for no work done to construct a school block and provide five boreholes, whilst Sene West District Assembly was short-changed by GH¢98,013.69 for a reduction in the size of a Commu¬nity Health-based Planning Services (CHPS) compound.

Additionally, the audit also found out that Mfantsiman and Hohoe Municipal Assemblies, paid GH¢1,067,188 to contractors with¬out supporting documents, whilst Dormaa Central, Bawku and Sunyani paid GH¢1,764,520 to contractors without recourse to internal audit pre-audit requirements.

These infractions, according to the report, were as a result of inadequate supervision.

According to the report although most of the works engineers had Higher National Diplomas in Con¬struction Management and some have upgraded themselves with mas¬ter’s degrees in construction, their “output has been unsatisfactory.”

“The general excuse of lack of logistics to visit project sites is not tenable as an efficient scheduling of projects supervision during critical activities would have sufficed. The works engineers were absent at critical stages of construction and district coordinating directors failed to ensure that they performed their functions.

“The consequences for these lapses in supervision resulted in payments to contractors for no work done which is detailed under payments of works in this report,” the report said.

The Ministry of Local Govern¬ment, Decentralisation and Rural Development, in its response to que¬ries of the audit team, promised to ensure the officers in charge recover the monies.

Although the audit team found out that DACF RFG funds had signifi¬cantly contributed to the infrastructure development of the districts, there was more room for improvement in the management of funds, planning and budgeting, supervision, coor¬dination among stakeholders, and training for staff.

Source: Ghana Web

Accra, Feb 6, GNA – Delta has been named the World’s Most Admired Airline by Fortune, with the Company ranking number one for innovation and people management.

This is the tenth consecutive time the airline company has won such an award and rated higher than any other airline on the overall list of Most Admired Companies, climbing to number 12 this year.

Ed Bastian, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delta Airlines, described the award as “a huge testament” and a recognition of all their hard work, dedication and success.

He said the award was no surprise to the US-based airline, which already had been adjudged the top US Airline of 2022 by the Wall Street Journal in its annual airline scorecard rankings.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the Delta team on being named on Fortune’s list of Most Admired Companies for the 10th year in a row,” said Ed Bastian.

The Airline, which recently marked its 16 years of operation in Ghana’s aviation industry, has also received recognition for its evolving brand experiences and operational reliability.

That, Delta said was a reflection of its operational complexity and the exemplary work of its people to achieve on-time performance while limiting the impact of disruption to its customers.

Just this year, a leading global travel data platform, OAG Aviation Worldwide announced Delta as the most on-time North American airline in its rankings.

The Most Admired Companies, which saw Delta ranked 12 globally, started in 1997, with the Hay Group division of Korn Ferry partnering with Fortune magazine to identify and rank the World’s Most Admired Companies through a survey.

The scheme studies top executives and directors from eligible companies, along with financial analysts, to identify the companies that enjoy the strongest reputations within their industries and across industries.

Candidates for the Most Admired Companies include 1,000 largest US companies ranked by revenue, along with non-US companies and Global 500 companies that have revenues of $10 billion or more.

It ranks companies by considering their ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of management, social responsibility to the community and the environment, innovativeness, and quality of products or services.

Other areas of consideration are wise use of corporate assets, financial soundness, long-term investment value as well as effectiveness in doing business globally.

The 1,500 companies are assorted to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 645 in 27 countries and the top-rated companies picked from that pool of 645.

To select the top 50 All-Stars, Korn Ferry asked 3,760 executives directors, and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to select the 10 companies they admired most.

They chose from a list made up of the companies that ranked in the top 25 per cent in last year’s surveys, plus those that finished in the top 20 per cent of their industry.

Source: Ghana News Agency