Category: Business

Mr Daniel Asare, Acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN, says the company feels the need to develop solutions that enable businesses to operate more efficiently and remain competitive and sustainable.

He said this was beyond creating opportunities for businesses to succeed and contribute to the development of the Ghanaian economy.

Mr Asare was speaking at the launch of the 2023 Edition of the MTN Business SME Month.

The long month activities would be held in Accra and Kumasi: SME Activations, Training Sessions for Selected SMEs, Focus Group Discussions, Customer Appreciation Programmes, Training on Chenosis for Young Developers, Presentations on MTN Business Solutions, Product highlights and quizzes and Market Fairs.

These activities will afford MTN the opportunity to get closer to the SME community and offer them relevant digital tools and solutions to help grow and scale up their businesses.

Over the years, SMEs have played a crucial role in the growth and development of Ghana’s economy, and they play a significant role in all economies globally and Ghana’s economy as well.

There are reports that suggest that they form about 90 per cent of business enterprises in the country and form around 80 per cent of the total employment in Ghana and account for some 60 per cent of the country’s GDP.

He said several conversations with SMEs show that they were looking for ways to reduce costs, improve turnover and increase productivity and efficiency.

‘In addition, the need for businesses to digitize has always been an issue but with the kind of challenges we all face, SMEs stand a better chance of surviving when they adopt digitalization and technological solutions,’ he added.

Mr Asare said digitalization could support SME integration into both local and global markets and with innovation and technology, SMEs could compile data and analyze their own operations in new ways, enhancing performance.

‘We are aware that SMEs face a financing gap in adopting technology and this is why MTN business is making it easier for SMEs to leverage fintech and innovation to improve their operations at affordable rates,’ he added.

The Acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer said considering the challenges faced in businesses, there was the need for SMEs to access solutions that were trusted, efficient and resilient to enable them to reap the full benefits of a connected world.

He said as a partner for SMEs, MTN Business would throughout this month get closer to SMEs and expose them to our SME Solutions such as SME Plus, Messenger and Business Manager, Microsoft 365 suite and Business Website.

These Solutions offer various Voice, Data and SMS packages that will enable them to reach more customers with their products and services.

SMEs will also be exposed to solutions that allow them to efficiently manage their finances and other administration functions.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, said SMEs was an opportunity for the country to grow and develop.

He said it was important for SMEs to get ready and the ecosystem and be competitive to take advantage of the AfCFTA programme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Government has invested over GH¢800million in strengthening and developing the country’s micro, small, medium enterprise (MSME) space since 2017, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, has revealed.

The investment, which has benefitted over 900,000 MSMEs across the country she explains, has been crucial in driving the country’s economic growth and prosperity in the face of global economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“Beneficiaries have seen their businesses develop and their communities benefit from the positive impact they have had. These successes mean that we cannot rest on our oars; we must work harder to make many more dreams come to life,” Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh said.

She said this at the 2023 MSME Day, which was under the theme ‘Building resilient and sustainable MSMEs to create one million jobs’.

Commenting on the theme, Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh assured that GEA will not relent in its quest to strengthen the capacity and competitiveness of MSMEs and maximise their contributions to the country’s economic and social development.

“As the apex government Agency mandated to promote and develop the MSME sector, we are proud of the role we play in supporting the MSME sector to grow; and we take pride in the fact that businesses are embracing and utilising all the support services we churn out for their continuous improvement and growth,” she stated.

“Your relentless efforts, entrepreneurial spirit and unwavering dedication have played a crucial role in driving Ghana’s economic growth and prosperity; and we ought to recognise and celebrate the immense contributions made by you, our MSMEs, in shaping our nation’s economic landscape,” Yankey-Ayeh added.

Over the years, the Agency through government has embarked on a number of initiatives with the objective of fostering an enabling environment for MSMEs to thrive. She stated that training and capacity-building programmes, business advisory and financial assistance have equipped MSMEs with the right tools to put them on a trajectory of growth.

“We will continue to do so to help them succeed long-term,” Yankey-Ayeh assured.

Thanks to partnerships with institutions including the Food and Drugs Authority and other regulatory bodies, the GEA said it has streamlined bureaucratic processes and reduced the constraints MSMEs face in mainstreaming and formalising their operations.

“We have always believed in helping MSMEs to thrive,” Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh said. “We understand the essence of providing them with access to financing, mentorship, training and networking opportunities. These are the building blocks of President Akufo-Addo’s entrepreneurial vision, and we believe by making these our guiding policies we will be able to help many entrepreneurs move from ideas to thriving businesses,” she added.

Source: Ghana Web

Mr Kwamena Quaison, Director of Science, Technology and Innovations, Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations (MESTI), says adequate investment in scientific research and development will unlock the potentials of nuclear technology.

‘Taking such steps would yield more opportunities by creating new industries, new jobs, ensure food security, provide health solutions to the labour force and provide a cleaner and more sustainable future for all,’ he said.

Mr Quaison made the remarks at the Scientific Innovations Dialogue in commemoration of the Day of Africa’s Scientific Renaissance celebration in Accra.

The celebration, under the auspices of MESTI, was on the theme, ‘Harnessing the power of the atom for economic transformation through science and technology.’

The Director said nuclear technology could create new industries and jobs if the country took the necessary steps to build capacity, starting from the basic level of education.

He said, ‘Although an atom was the smallest building block for any substance, it possesses power for economic transformation. An atom has been a source of energy for the industrial revolution of many countries over the years, and with further advancements in this technology, it has become even more valuable.’

Mr Quaison said resilient economies depended on reliable and affordable energy hence the need to take a critical look at energy production and energy-consumption activities.

He noted the need to look at power generation sources, distribution and use, critically because the nexus between energy and development had been established and could not be over-emphasised.

The Director said Ghana’s Electricity generation had changed from 84 per cent -hydro and 14 per cent thermal to 38 per cent hydro and 60 per cent thermal.

He indicated this caused high tariffs due to gas price volatility and erratic gas supply.

Mr Quaison said 40 per cent of production cost for industries in Ghana was attributed to electricity cost, making it difficult for Ghanaian industries to stay competitive.

He said with almost no hydro potential left to exploit, Nuclear and Coal, as baseload options, were very attractive to help reduce tariffs and help the country undergo industrialisation.

Mr Quaison added that Ghana had also issued a request for information and received feedback for six large reactors and nine small modular reactors (SMRs).

Dr Samuel Boakye Dampare, Director-General of Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), said Ghana continued to blaze the trail by offering research-driven solutions to societal issues in agriculture, health, environmental sustainability, energy, water resource management and geological mineral resources management.

He said GAEC’s research, through its Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) and other collaborators, had worked to improve crop yields and produced new varieties for cassava, tomatoes and others that were drought-tolerant, disease-resistant and had better nutritional quality.

The Director-General said innovations and breakthroughs were attainable because of teamwork and collaboration among scientists and research institutions.

‘A typical example of this spirit of collaboration was the work between the Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (RAMSRI) of the GAEC and the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in cancer treatment,’ he said.

Dr Dampare said GAEC expected the collaborations between the scientific communities of Ghana to be deepened and strengthened to enhance knowledge sharing and the churning out of innovations and technologies for the benefit of Ghanaians.

The Director-General said the Government, private sector industries and other stakeholders must commit to spending a lot more on Science, Technology and Innovations to realise their vision of economic transformation soon.

He said to increase innovation, productivity and economic growth, African governments should raise their national gross expenditure on research and development to at least one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) – Ghana has served notice to embark on a nationwide strike on July 10, 20,23 over the impasse between workers of Sunon Asogli Power and the company.

On March 2, 2023 Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited terminated the appointment of three local union leaders including the Chairman, Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Ghana Mineworker’s Union of Trades Union Congress (Ghana) for joining a trade union and leading the union at the enterprise level.

In a letter to the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, Organized Labour further stated that the actions by Sunon Asogli also amount to a threat, not to only workers in the company but a threat to all the working people of Ghana.

According to Organized Labour, the move is a blatant disrespect and willful disregard for workers’ rights by Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Limited.

“Consequently, Organized Labour of Ghana at a leadership meeting held on Monday, June 26, 2023 at the TUC Conference Room in Accra resolved to embark on a nationwide strike from Monday, July 10, 2023, until the three local union leaders are reinstated by the Company,” the Secretary-General for TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah indicated in the letter to the National Labour Commission.

Source: Ghana Web

Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has said his outfit has witnessed some growth in recent times.

The operational growth, he said, partly influenced the decision of the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to cut power supply from the national grid from Saturday, July 1, 2023.

It would be recalled that on March 20, 2023, ECG embarked on a nationwide disconnection exercise to retrieve GH¢5.7 billion debt from its debtors.

According to Mr Mahama, the power distribution company struck a deal with the Independent Power Producers based on their performance to avert any power crisis in the country.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, the Managing Director of ECG said “ECG is seeing some level of growth now. It’s seeing some changes in the way it’s performing its duties, and through all of this we believe strongly we can close a certain gap.”

“We are going to make sure that from July going forward we stay current based on some form of negotiation that we have with them concerning how power is going to be dispatched and how the energy capacity has gone. So we have a very good working formula,” he stated.

Dubik Mahama added that, “…We have agreed on numbers across board for anybody. Everybody knows what they have to do and get back to us by the middle of the week and when they do that whatever needs to be credited to them will be credited to them immediately.”

Government, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Independent Power Producers, Elikplim Apetorgbor owes an amount of US$1.4 billion.

The IPPs, namely; Karpowership, Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Ltd, CenPower Generation, AKSA, Twin City Energy and Cenit Energy produce about 65 per cent of the country’s thermal power.

Source: Ghana Web

So far, 88 hospitals under the government’s “Agen­da 111” are currently under construction and progressing steadily, since 2021, In­formation Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, cut the sod for the construction of the facilities on August 17, 2021, with a promise to complete the work within 18 months.

The plan to construct the hos­pitals was first announced in the 8th COVID-19 national address, on April 26, 2020, by the President months after the Coronavirus pan­demic hit Ghana.

It was initially “Agenda 88” but government later revised it to “Agenda 111.” The 23 additional facilities included, 13 more district hospitals bringing the total figure to 111.

The standard 100-bed facilities which will be in districts without hospitals will also have accommoda­tion for staff.

Beneficiary regions and respec­tive breakdown are Ashanti, 10, Volta, nine, Eastern, eight, Greater Accra, seven, Upper East, seven, Oti, five, Upper West, five, Bono, five, Western North, five, Savanna, three, Bono East, two, North East, two.

The remaining are six region­al hospitals in the newly created regions, two specialised hospitals in the middle and northern belts, as well as a regional hospital in the Western Region and renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.

Each unit is supposed to have facilities such as outpatient services, including consultation for medical and surgical cases, ophthalmology, dental and physiotherapy and imag­ing services.

At a press briefing yesterday at Trede, where the sod-cutting ceremony was held, the Infor­mation Minister said “the brief I have is that 88 are currently under construction and it is grouped into eight zones and in those eight zones, you will find 54 projects. We have visited 33 sites so far and we thought that coming to Trede, where it all began, it is important to showcase from Trede all that has gone on so far.”

He noted that some districts had faced challenges in acquiring land for construction, leading to doubts about the government’s commit­ment to the projects.

“However, the government remains confident that all the hospitals will be completed before the end of President Akufo-Addo’s second term,” he assured.

Mr Nkrumah stated that some of the hospitals which were behind schedule had been terminated.

“We have provided you with the reports of the sites that we have visited so far, the majority of them that are doing well, the few of them that are behind schedule. We have also updated you on the ones that we have had to terminate because they are behind schedule,” he indicated.

Contributing, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, the Presidential advisor on Health, assured that there was sufficient funding available for the completion of the projects.

Additionally, he said upon com­pletion, the hospitals would create employment opportunities for nurses and contribute to the overall economic growth of the country.

Source: Ghana Web

There is an impending power crisis, as the Chamber of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) has directed its members to cut supply to the national grid from July 1, as a result of an outstanding debt of approximately US$1.73 billion.

This is in spite of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s promise to “keep the lights on” despite the country’s economic challenges.

Sunon Asogli, Cenpower, Karpowership, AKSA, Twin City Energy and CENIT make up the Chamber. The debt dates back to January 2021.

Interestingly, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has been using such debt to justify various increments with the latest being an 18.36 percent increase in tariffs for both electricity and natural gas across all consumer groups.

The decision came after a comprehensive review conducted for the second quarter of 2023 and the new rate took effect from June 1, 2023, but is it obvious the IPPs are not being paid what is being charged consumers.

The directive to put out their available power capacity to the system operator will last till July 8. This implies that the impending crisis is not about generation capacity, but the hefty debt owed by the country.

The Chamber in an email directing its members and sighted by Citi News said, “Further to our planned industrial action on July 1, 2023, we would like each IPP to nominate nothing (zero nominations) and not declare an availability to the System Operator, beginning July 1 to July 8, 2023”.

With just a day to the expiration of the deadline given by the Independent Power Producers to shut down over outstanding arrears, the group is yet to meet the government for a favourable response prompting this latest order.

The two parties were expected to meet this week for an agreement on demands for a 30 percent interim payment of the arrears.

The IPPs argue that without receiving payment by the close of June 30, they will be unable to sustain the national grid.

“We are determined to get results at all cost,” the mail concluded.

Independent power producers play a significant role in Ghana’s energy sector, controlling 47 percent of the country’s total power generation mix and contributing 67 percent of Ghana’s thermal power.

As of May 2021, the six enterprises collectively claim an outstanding debt of approximately $1.73 billion in cedis, with the debt dating back to January 2021.

The IPPs highlight that this debt has hindered their access to working capital, preventing them from financing crucial inputs such as chemicals for water treatment in thermal generators and other supplies, many of which are priced in foreign currency, primarily the US dollar.

Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors, and Bulk Consumers (CIPDiB), expressed their inability to convince creditors, contractors, and other essential stakeholders to further delay payments and maintain operations.

“Basically, we are saying that we lack the resources to continue generation beyond 30th June, and we are giving them [Finance Ministry] up to March. We didn’t hear from them, but the fact is beyond June we just don’t have the resource to continue to supply.”

Source: Ghana Web

Access Bank Ghana has rewarded over 1600 customers at its just-ended Triple Salary Promo. Rewards included triple salaries, interest-free loans, school fees scholarships, VISA combo packs, DSTV with a free subscription, and cashback among others.

Speaking at the final draw ceremony at the Bank’s Oxford Street branch in Osu, Group Head of Retail Banking at Access Bank, Matilda Asante Asiedu said the promo was part of Access Bank’s promise to give customers more than banking.

She said the promo rewarded new customers who opened the special account designed for employees, the MPower Salary accounts, or switched to the MPower Salary account during the promo period.

“We launched the Triple Salary Promo in October last year to cushion salaried customers in the festive season and into the new year, as employees who are mostly parents needed to meet urgent needs such as school fees need among others. At Access Bank, we are committed to customer satisfaction and go the extra mile to ensure our customers receive that more than banking experience we promise”.

Matilda explained that the promo rewarded customers on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. “All eligible customers who took loans over the promo period also enjoyed zero percent interest, and customers who made payments with any access visa card received cash back rewards. Matilda announced that Access Bank will be unveiling exciting products to Ghanaians in subsequent days and asked customers to look out for what Access Bank has in store.

Leading the drawing process, the Head of Marketing at Caritas Lottery of the National Lottery Authority, Bernard Boamah lauded Access Bank for their professionalism and transparency of the promo. He said the Bank involved the NLA to ensure all customers who entered the promo received an equal opportunity to

win. Mr. Boamah assured the public that data received from Access Bank was verified on the Caritas lottery platform under which the Triple Salary Promo was run.

He further commended the Bank for supporting development through gaming. “Today we put smiles on the faces of people because you partnered with us on the Caritas platform. Through initiatives like Access Bank’s Triple Salary promo, we get to support developmental projects in the country. Whiles you are rewarding customers of your bank, you are also supporting Ghanaians in need of basic amenities to access them. I want to call on all other corporate bodies to emulate Access Bank”, he added.

Head of Corporate Communications at Access Bank, Oluwaseun David Akindele assisted by Head of Marketing & Caritas Lottery of the National Lottery Authority Mr. Bernard Boamah to call a winner

Source: Ghana Web