Category: Finance

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will host and deliver the Keynote Address at this year’s Presidential Business Summit at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra, slated for September 14-15.

It is an annual calendar event being organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in collaboration with the Office of the President and selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

 

A statement from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the Summit was to provide a platform for structured dialogue between government and the private sector on critical areas of interest to the private sector.

 

The theme is: “Public-Private Dialogue on the Role of the Private Sector in Ghana’s Post-COVID Economic Recovery”.

 

The deliberations in the Plenary Sessions will focus on five cross-cutting thematic areas: Fiscal and Non-Fiscal Incentives to Support Production and Private Sector Development; Foreign Exchange Regulation and Currency Stability; Access to Finance and Cost of Capital; Energy Pricing, Availability, Access and Reliability; and Supporting Local Industries through Government Procurement and Local Content Regulation.

 

This will be followed by Breakout Sessions for a deep dive into seven economic sectors: Agriculture and Agribusiness; Manufacturing; Construction and Mining; Financial Services; Information and Communication Technology; Tourism and Hospitality; and Transport and Logistics.

 

Deliberations at the Summit will feed into government’s Policy Framework for Private Sector Development, including the Budget Statement and the Economic Policy for the Year 2022.

 

The outcome will be a Ghana Business Compact, which will detail out specific priority areas of government policy interventions in support of private sector development.

 

Speakers include Mr Pierre Frank Laporte, the Country Director for World Bank Group; Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Presidential Advisor; Mr Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry; Mr Ken Ofori Atta, Finance Minister; Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Energy Minister; Mr Charles Adu-Boahen, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, and Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana and Japan have Exchanged Notes on Japanese Grant Assistance of a total of four billion Japanese Yen (approximately 37 million United States dollars).

The Exchange of Notes and Record of Discussions was in respect of the execution of two projects: The Improvement of the Tema Motorway Roundabout (Phase II), and The Rehabilitation of National Trunk Road N8 (Phase II).

 

Mr Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, signed for Ghana, whilst Mr Himeno Tsutomu, Ambassador of Japan, signed for his country.

 

The signing in Accra was witnessed by Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the Minister of Roads and Highways.

 

The Improvement of the Tema Motorway Roundabout Phase II Project is to improve the Tema Motorway interchange by constructing a flyover, thereby contributing to improved urban mobility and logistics in the Greater Accra Region as well as regional corridors.

 

It includes the construction of a flyover on the south-north (Akosombo-Harbour) direction of the Tema Motorway Interchange.

 

The Project builds on the magnificent high-quality Phase I Project including the underpass, which was commissioned by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 5th June, 2021.

With the Rehabilitation of National Trunk Road N8 Phase II (Additional grant), the N8 which connects Cape Coast and Kumasi is one of the major trunk roads in Ghana for transporting export commodities.

 

It is a continuation of the Phase I Project, which helped to improve the section of the road between Assin Praso and Bekwai (60km).

 

The contents of the Phase Project are: Rehabilitation of 31.2km of road section between Assin Fosu and Assin Praso by asphalt concrete pavement, dualization to a four-lane carriageway of a 1.2km section in the centre of Assin Fosu township, reconstruction of the railway underpass bridge by a reinforced concrete box culvert, and reconstruction and rehabilitation of drainage structures.

 

Mr Ampratwum-Sarpong noted that the Exchange of Notes was a reflection of the enduring partnership of the two nations.

 

“We are particularly pleased that the commitment by the Government and People of Japan to Ghana’s development agenda remains very strong,” he said.

 

“Japan has consistently demonstrated its support through the provision of grants, loans and technical assistance to critical areas of our national endeavour, notably infrastructural development, energy, agriculture, health, and education.”

 

He said the Phase II of the Tema Motorway Roundabout Project, amounting to three billion, six hundred and fifty-six million Japanese Yen (approximately $33,290,987.60) would further improve the Roundabout.

Similarly the Project for Rehabilitation of National Trunk Road N8, which amounts to six billion, eight hundred and forty-nine million Japanese Yen (approximately $62,346,789.45), would further develop the country’s transport sector, particularly in an era of upsurge in vehicular traffic coupled with rapidly increasing urban population.

 

Mr Himeno, on his part, said: “These Grant Assistance projects showcase strong Japan-Ghana friendship and partnership.”

 

“Japan supports the development of Ghana in many sectors, such as transportation infrastructure, as well as health, industrialisation, agriculture and human capital development.”

 

“It is the wish of the People and the Government of Japan that these projects will make valuable contributions in the areas of road infrastructure.”

 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Adonkwanta (O/R),- President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has commissioned a yam and cassava processing factory under One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative at Adonkwanta on the Krachi East District of the Oti Region.

The CH Foods, a fully Ghanian owned factory, is the first ever 1D1F initiative in the Oti Region and is a GHC10million facility funded by the Ghana Exim Bank.

The President who was on a two-day visit to the Oti and Volta Regions in the company of Dr. Owusu Afriye Akoto, Minister of Agriculture, and the Ministers of Health, and Road among others, toured the facility and was briefed on its operations.

Frank Afari Ankamah, Director, Business Development and Promotions of CH Global Limited, said the company stood to maximize and utilize every aspect of tuber crops and add value to the processes and chain.

The factory currently processes 800 tubers of yam per day into chips and frozen yam balls, and the Business Development Director said a cassava production line will be installed in 2022, to process 1050 tubers a day into cassava chips.

Its production space covers 1200 square meters and employs about 50 permanent workers and over 200 casuals.

Mr. Ankamah said by-products would be used to produce livestock feed, and a 100-acre farm for yam and cassava was being established to employ 80 people.

He added that the company was engaging with various farmer associations in the area, who have become indirect employees.

Mr. Ankamah said newly developed products would soon be introduced.

Work began on the factory in 2019, and is expected to boost the agrarian fortunes of a Region known to be a major production hub of the root tubers.

Mr. Lawrence Aziale, Jasikan District Chief Executive, told the Ghana News Agency that as the biggest yam producer in the country, the factory would add to employment avenues and address post-harvest losses.

He said the Region must acknowledge the President’s commitment to industrialization, adding, “the 1D1F is not a propaganda. Nobody dreamt that there will be a factory here”.

President Akufo Addo as part of the tour, will view ongoing projects in the newly created Oti Region, which includes an office complex for the Oti Regional Coordinating Council, and a multimillion-dollar integrated waste treatment facility for the Region.

He will also inspect construction of major roads such as the Eastern Corridor superhighway.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tema,- The Centre for Greater Impact Africa has cautioned African leaders to be mindful that the new trend of coup d’état on the continent will not negatively affect the successful implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

The Reverend Dr. Worlanyo Mensah, Executive Director of the Centre, reacting to the overthrow of Mr Alpha Conde as Guinean President over the weekend, said as the instabilities fester, attention would be shifted from implementation of a common trading grounds for member countries to stabilize the continent.

Dr Mensah who is also an economist told the Ghana News Agency in Tema that, African leaders needed to act smart, plan strategically, and be more aggressive in putting more structures and policies in place to avoid a recurrence of such overthrows.

He alleged that the upsurge of insecurities in Africa was a calculated attempt by world powers to ensure that Africans does not unite to promote trade among the countries on the continent.

He said “it is an international economic strategy that they are adopting, what is happening in Guinea and all other places in Africa is being manipulated by unforeseen hands and it looks like only the youth in Africa are agitating but that is not so.”

He explained that with that kind of economic strategy, while African countries shift their attention off the AfCFTA to the insecurity issues, the super powers would then have the upper hand in trade.

The Centre cautioned that the African Continent was very likely to experience increasing insecurity and instability through proxy destabilization because of the AfCFTA implementation as the policy had the potential to take the bread and power control from the foreign super powers who control government power, economy, and trade on the continent of Africa.

“AfCFTA undeniably seeks to make hope for Africa to become a world power. This is surely against the interests of present world powers who divided Africa for business interest. They do so through proxy war, coup d’état and crippling for the emerging economy.”

Rev. Mensah added that there were various global trade blocks and industry, and Africa wanted to consolidate its economy and integrate its various economy through the AfCFTA policy.

He said this might deny most of the European countries the raw materials they rely on the continent for, which would have negative effect on their economies, therefore their resolve to ensure that Africa did not have a unifying force to implement the trade policy.

He therefore urged leaders of African States to be focused and create the enabling environment for their indigenous enterprises to participate in the AfCFTA implementation, stating that there was strength in the collective effort of all members, therefore the need for intensified education on the benefits of uniting for trade.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cape Coast,- The ninth conference on Universities, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Africa has opened at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with an entrepreneurship fair and exhibition.

The two-day conference, organized within the BET Ghana Project and funded by DAAD/BMZ, is expected to increase knowledge transfer between the private sector and academia, particularly, regarding entrepreneurship in Africa and the support of African and German SMEs in Africa.

It is being held on the theme, “Universities, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Africa”.

Individuals, groups and institutions have displayed their innovations and inventions at the Fair to also encourage fruitful interactions between exhibitors and potential investors and customers.

Addressing participants at the opening, Ms. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), noted that universities were importantly becoming centres for grooming change agents due to advancement in technology.

The universities must position themselves to make entrepreneurship core of most of their activities to create an entrepreneurial culture as well as churn out requisite skills for industry development.

She underscored the importance of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country and said about 90 percent of the Ghanaian and many other economies around the World, were being driven by MSMEs.

The CEO, therefore stressed the need to strengthen MSMEs such that they would continue to move the Ghanaian economy into a better direction.

Ms Yankey-Ayeh spoke about the newly adopted MSME policy, which underpinned the foundation for the development of the MSMEs in Ghana, adding that its successful implementation, would go a long way to improve academia and industry linkages.

She said her outfit would continue to partner universities and enterprises to build on their successes and transform what they were doing in academia into practical solutions for Ghanaians, stressing that it was important to continue to foster the development of young entrepreneurs and students.

“The GEA in collaboration with some universities and tertiary institutions is building strong incubation and acceleration programmes to support MSMEs and pledge to continue to do that,” she added.

The Vice Chancellor of UCC, Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, touted the University’s enviable niche it had couched for itself over the years, that had supported the development of its students and staff with skills and competencies, needed for the nation’s development.

The entrepreneurship fair, he said, resonated with his vision to position the UCC as an entrepreneurial university within the sub region and beyond.

He said UCC had a long-standing relationship with the Bonn-Rhein-Sieng University of Applied Sciences through which various partnership and programmes had been of mutual benefit for students and staff of the two universities.

He mentioned its employability workshops, of which more than 160 students had been equipped with various soft skills and more than 60 teaching staff also benefiting from inter disciplinary research workshops.

The Vice Chancellor urged participants of the Conference to build more partnerships and collaboration in order to develop sustainable enterprises that would support the country’s economic growth and development.

The Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies of UCC, Prof. Francis Eric Amuquandoh, noted that developing a critical mass of successful entrepreneurs was essential to developing a prosperous nation with sustainable development.

He said UCC through the College, established the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprises Development to train and equip students and young entrepreneurs with the needed skills and financial support to make them self-employed, thereby reducing graduate unemployment.

On display at the Fair, were traditional drinks, soups, African wear, pomade, leather works and others.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tema,- Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the dominant drivers for the higher rate of inflation for August 2021, a report on the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) and Inflation for August 2021, has revealed.

The CPI – a price perspective measure – for August 2021 was 131.7 relative to 120.0 in August 2020.

The Report, issued by Mr John F. K. Agyaho, Head of Price Statistics, Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) a copy made available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema, said the year-on-year inflation for August 2020 – August 2021 stood at 9.7 per cent.

“The month-on-month inflation, from July 2021 to August 2021 was 0.3 per cent, while the year-on-year variation between food of 10.9 per cent and non-food inflation of 8.9 per cent was 2.2 per cent,” the report said.

It said “Month-on-month food inflation this month was less than non-food inflation by 0.1 percentage point.”

The Head of Price Statistics said, inflation for August 2021 indicates that food contributes more than half to overall inflation, when combined with housing more than two-thirds, and further including transport more than four-fifths.

He said inflation for locally produced items continued to dominate imported items which show a marginally higher increase.

Meanwhile, inflation rates for Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions continue to soar.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tamale,– Egg prices have been adjusted upwards in the Northern Region to reflect the current high cost of inputs for poultry production in the country.

A crate of large eggs will now sell at GHc24.00, a crate of medium-sized eggs goes for GHc22.00, a crate of small-sized eggs goes for GHc20.00, a crate of pullets will now sell at GHc18.00 and a crate of unsorted eggs will also sell for GHc22.00.

Previously, a crate of large eggs was being sold around GHc21.00.

Mr George Dassah, Northern Regional Chairman of Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, who announced the new prices at a press conference in Tamale, said the cost of feeding a bird had more than doubled, hence need for the upward adjustment of prices.

Mr Dassah said “With the above prices, we can all continue to be in business so we can provide our fellow Ghanaians with the quality protein they need.”

He lamented about the astronomical increase in feed costs and said “Within a space of about 12 months, the cost of the main ingredient of the feed component, maize, has risen from GHc130.00 per 100kg to between GHc320.00 to GHc350.00 per 100kg depending on where you are getting it.”

He quizzed “Is it not curious that through the flagship programme “Planting for Food and Jobs”, costs of inputs are subsidised, the programme became successful because maize farmers had more yields than before, yet poultry farmers, who consume more than half of the total maize produced in the country are finding it difficult to get the maize to feed our birds? Even when you get it, the price is so high that one wonders if there was no subsidy at all, then maize price in this country would have been a no-go area.”

Mr Dassah spoke about the posture of the Minister for Food and Agriculture towards the poultry sector and said his recent response to a question in Parliament regarding the poultry sector showed that “The Minister does not have the poultry sector at heart”.

Source: Ghana News Agency