JCS Investments Limited

Business Planning and Financial Projections with Microfin

2011-03-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

Business Planning and Financial Projections with Microfin

Washington DC, USA, 23 - 27 May 2011

Summary
This course guides participants through a step-by-step process for developing a business plan and financial projections for a microfinance institution using Microfin 4.0, the sophisticated financial projections software that was developed by the facilitators of this training course, Chuck Waterfield and Tony Sheldon, with financial support from CGAP, Women’s World Banking, and Sida.

Microfin has long been the microfinance "industry standard" for planning and budgeting. Microfin allows you to develop detailed five-year financial projections and budgets for your institution, and to simulate the impact of key decisions on your institution.

Microfin 4.0 includes 200 major enhancements over Microfin 3.0, including an expanded range of financial products, improved guidance and error-checking features, versatile graphing, and much more.

This fast-paced course is designed to be highly participatory, with a large amount of hands-on time working in groups at the computer, applying the software to a detailed case study. In addition to the course manual, at the conclusion of the course, participants will receive a CD-ROM containing Microfin and the User’s Handbook.

By the end of the workshop you will have a better understanding of:

how to use Microfin to develop financial projections for your own institution
practical approaches to planning
the most important financial ratios to monitor, and how to interpret them
critical operational issues such as designing products to meet client needs, pricing your products, and focusing on loan officers to leverage institutional productivity
how to develop long-term, diversified financing strategies

This workshop is facilitated by the two developers of Microfin, and is based on the CGAP Handbook they authored, Business Planning and Financial Modeling for Microfinance Institutions. They have taught this course in 20 countries around the world, and it is one of the most recognized and attended courses in all of microfinance.

Agenda

Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided daily. Hotels or other accommodation are the responsibility of each participant and are not included in the course fee.

Day 1

Overview of Business Planning: Participants will review and discuss the Business Planning framework. In particular, attention will be directed to the market-based approach of the framework.
Strategic Planning: This section will address the key steps of strategic planning – articulating the mission, identifying clients and markets, performing an environmental analysis, carrying out an institutional assessment, and developing an overall strategy.
Overview of Financial Management: We provide a brief overview of financial statements, the calculation of financial adjustments, and the key financial ratios used in the microfinance industry.

Day 2

Operational Planning and Introduction to Financial Modeling / Product Design: Over Days 2 through 5, we will apply the strategy developed on Day 1 to creating an operational plan and detailed financial projections, beginning with design of credit and savings products (loan amounts and terms by cycle, pricing, collateral, etc.). Small group exercises throughout will focus on applying a case study to the new version of the Microfin model.

Day 3

Establishing Marketing Channels: Operational planning continues with projecting the levels of activity for each credit and savings product, including growth strategies by branch, retention rates, and analysis of Microfin’s outputs and graphs.

Day 4

Determining Institutional Resources and Capacity: We will look at each aspect of institutional capacity (staffing, operating expenses, fixed assets), linking resources to credit and savings activity.

Day 5

Developing a Financing Strategy and Analyzing Projected Financial Statements and Ratios: We will look at designing a financing strategy by sources (income, grants, equity, debt) and by uses (operations, portfolio, and other assets). We will also review the overall financial projections
Advanced Microfin topics: We will cover advanced topics in Microfin, including sensitivity analysis, variance analysis, creation of additional graphs, etc.

Registration
Registration is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost is $1,350 per participant payable upon registration, or $1,250 if registration and payment are received by April 23. To register, please complete and return the attached form and we will send you payment information. (Note: for groups of 2 or more people from the same organization, we offer a discounted fee of $1,250, or $1,150 if registration and payment are received by April 23) NOTE: Hotel or other accommodations are the responsibility of each participant, and are not included in the course fee.

Course fee must be paid in full at the time of registration. We cannot reserve places in the course without receiving payment. Please refer to our refund policy at the end of the registration form.

NOTE: Laptop Computers: Participants will work on laptop computers during the course. It is not necessary for each participant to bring a laptop, because we will be working in groups of three. However, to help us in logistical planning, please indicate if you will be bringing a laptop computer.

Facilitators

Chuck Waterfield has 25 years experience in microfinance, having served as microenterprise director for MEDA and for CARE International. His current work as an independent consultant includes clients such as ACCION, SIDA, the Ford Foundation, CGAP, Opportunity International, and Aspen Institute. He is on the faculty of Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and was formerly on the faculty of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program and Southern New Hampshire University’s Microenterprise Development Institute. In addition to Microfin and the Business Planning handbook, he has a broad range of products and publications including the SEEP FRAME Tool, the CARE Credit and Savings Sourcebook, GEMINI Technical Note on Designing for Financial Viability, and CGAP Handbook on Management Information Systems.

Tony Sheldon has worked as an independent consultant with microfinance institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe since 1990, primarily in the areas of financial management and business planning. He has also worked with several networks and funders, including the Ford Foundation, the SEEP Network, ShoreBank International, Women’s World Banking, CGAP, and the World Bank. From 1997 to 2006 he was on the faculty of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program, and from 1999 to 2006 taught at Southern New Hampshire University’s Microenterprise Development Institute. He currently teaches at the Yale School of Management. In addition to the business planning Handbook, he is the author of WWB’s “Principles and Practices of Financial Management” and a co-author of SEEP’s “Financial Ratio Analysis of MFIs” and editor of the SEEP Practitioner Learning Program series on "Improving Efficiency".

Business Planning and Financial Projections with Microfin

Washington DC, 23-27 May 2011

REGISTRATION FORM

(Just copy and paste this information into an email, fill in the blanks, and send the email to Chuck Waterfield at: waterfield @ microfin.com)

Name

Institution

Address

Job Title:

Telephone:

Email:

I ___ will ____ will not be bringing a laptop computer

I ___ will ____ will not need an invitation letter in order to apply for a visa to the US

Payment of US$1,350.00 (payable to “MFI Solutions”), or $1,250 if registration and payment are received by April 23, must accompany or immediately follow this registration form in order to reserve a place in the workshop. (For groups of 2 or more from the same organization, the fee is $1,250, or $1,150 per person if paid by April 23). Payment may be made by wire transfer, check in US$, or in some cases by credit card. Please e-mail us for details prior to processing payment

Refund and Cancellation Policy: If you are unable to attend, you are free to send someone else in your place, but we would appreciate knowing in advance. Cancellations are subject to the following refund policy:

90% if notice of cancellation is received at least 30 days in advance of the beginning of the course
75% if notice of cancellation is received 21-29 days in advance
50% if notice of cancellation is received 14-20 days in advance
25% if notice of cancellation is received 7-13 days in advance
No refunds can be made if notice of cancellation is received less than 7 days before the beginning of the course.

IMF On Ghana's 2011 Budget Outturn

2011-03-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked government to make additional efforts to strengthen Ghana's projected 2011 budget outturn, its latest review mission to the country said in Accra on Tuesday.

Mr Peter Allum, IMF Mission Chief, said it was necessary to limit near-term financing needs and put the budget on a sound footing over the medium term. Policy tightening, he said, may be needed in 2011 despite significant improvement in macroeconomic indicators last year."Risks to inflation have shifted to the upside, reflecting rising demand pressures, global commodity prices and easing domestic liquidity," Mr Allum said at the end of review meetings with the Government and Central Bank Officials.

He said discussions during the two-week long visit focused on how to improve revenue performance, as well as on the Government’s plans to strengthen expenditure control and develop a comprehensive strategy for managing arrears and related obligations. Commenting on concerns expressed by the Fund last year about the size of Ghana's current wage bill following the introduction of a new public sector pay policy, Mr Allum said although the Government showed some commitment to reduce its effect on the economy, there were still uncertainties.

"There are still some uncertainties around the size of the wage bill and this forms part of our continued discussions with the Government", he added.

Source: GNA

GIPC / AGI Launch Trade Fair In Kumasi

2011-03-04T02:13:00.000-08:00

The fair, which is slated for April this year, is to promote industry and made-in-Ghana products and services - and also showcase the potential industrial technologies available in the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions.

Products and technologies to be showcased are pharmaceuticals, wood products, textiles and garments, construction and metal fabrication, processed foods, aluminium products, soap, toiletries and detergents, plastic and rubber products as well as research and innovative materials and products from educational institutions.

The choice of the two regions has been informed by the strategic and competitive advantage they economically provide to made-in-Ghana products, aside from being the breadbaskets of Ghana and home to many Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs)/cottage industries.

AGI seeks to give the necessary exposure to the local industries at the fair so as to make them visible to the public, who will in turn endorse their products and services for easy acceptability to the local market.

With the availability of a heavily-patronised and matured market in Kumasi serving the northern sector, parts of the southern belt and neighboring Burkina Faso, it is envisaged that the event will succeed in promoting made-in-Ghana products and technology not only in the two regions, but across the length and breadth of Ghana and beyond.

The GIPC consultant, Mr. Philip Quansah, said the project is one that has the possibility of increasing sales, hence enabling the industries to invest more and also generate the needed employment opportunities whilst attracting investors.

GIPC promises support services to ensure that the investment prospects are sustained for the industrial growth of Kumasi.
The AGI is collaborating with consultants from the planning department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for advanced technological advice.

Nana Kwamohene, a representative of Otumfuor, cutting the tape to symbolise the launch while AGI president, Nana Owusu Afari, looks on.

Source: BF&T

Asuopra Rural Bank Customers Appeal To Him To Investigate Bank Of Ghana

2011-03-04T02:12:00.000-08:00

By Theodore K. Viwotor

It appears it would take another undercover investigative work by Anas Aremeyaw Anas at Bank of Ghana (BoG) for the institution to respond to the distress call of customers of Asuopra Rural Bank located at Afosu in the Eastern.

After failing for the past two years to withdraw their own savings with the bank, the customers are wondering if the Bank of Ghana is truly up to its mandate of supervising all banks and financial institutions in the country. Some of the customers are of the view that, since it only takes Anas’ investigative stories to let state institutions wake up, the government should consider giving him support to secretly investigate the national bank.

According to them, if several contacts with Apex Bank, Koforidua, the bank mandated by BoG to do that work, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO),publications in the newspapers and even a petition to the President cannot make any difference in their precarious situation, then Anas is the last resort.

Speaking to The Daily Democrat, some of the aggrieved customers said this suggestion stems from the fact that his investigative stories are so powerful that they move even the President to visit problem areas, as happened in the instance of the latest Tema Port expose and others.

They are, therefore, using this medium to appeal for support to the ace investigative journalist to undertake an in-depth piece on their situation that has existed for more than two years without any action from the Bank of Ghana.
They suspect there are some elements at the Bank of Ghana who are covering the misdeeds of their allies at the Asuopra Rural Bank, a reason the leadership of BoG hardly gets to know about this very glaring case. They wonder how annual reports by the bank does not reflect the actual problem they face, a phenomenon that strengthens their suspicion that someone is up to mischief and needs to be apprehended and prosecuted for playing with their destiny.

The Asuopra Rural Bank problem has been in existence for more than two years now. Customers of the bank have become fed up with visiting its premises, after doing so on several occasions without succeeding in making any withdrawals. Their cheques fail to clear as the bank stands on the brinks of bankruptcy.
With a skeletal staff going round to collect monies owed the bank, there is a false impression that the bank is functioning. According to our sources, when the staff collect such loans, they use them to pay their salaries.
According to Ahmed Ousman, Supervising Manager of the bank, who admitted all was not well with the bank, their problems were caused by the Bank of Ghana’s decision to increase its capital requirement, which his outfit failed to meet, coupled with a sudden panic withdrawal that drained the bank’s remaining resources. He promised that things would pick up when an annual general meeting is held. He, however, failed to give a date for that.

Bank of Ghana has failed to respond to The Daily Democrat’s letter sent to get their side of the story some two months ago.
Stay tuned.

Ghana web

SMEs advised to take advantage of events to improve performance

2011-03-04T02:09:00.000-08:00

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) have been urged to take advantage of events that would equip them with the requisite knowledge to grow their businesses for corporate Ghana.

Miss Anita Wiafe, Managing Director of Occupational Management Limited (OML) Africa, a Human Resource Management institution made the call at the opening session of a two-day International Conference and Exhibition dubbed 'Business Sense 2011' in Accra on Thursday.

It is on the theme "Turning ideas into profitable businesses to drive Ghana's private sector".

She explained that the conference was to provide the necessary know-how and skills for SMEs to grow and help individuals start-up businesses.

Miss Wiafe said although most people would like to start businesses, they thought about access to loans from financial institutions but that there were other alternatives to begin businesses.

She said they could engage in online marketing or produce fliers to publicise their business.

Miss Wiafe said the conference would help business start-ups by equipping them to better manage their businesses and be sustained to create jobs and improve the living standards of Ghanaians.

The maiden "Business Sense" held this year, would be organised annually to equip individuals and companies with the knowledge to make good business decisions.

The exhibition was to allow businesses to showcase their services and products to a high-calibre business-oriented audience and to network with visitors on a face to face basis.

Most of the exhibitors said they expected to publicise their services and products while others were to network with distributors for their products.

Source: GNA

Loan default rate surges

2011-03-04T02:05:00.002-08:00

The latest data from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) show that loan defaulting rate has increased.

The situation could prevent financial intermediaries from lending to both individuals and enterprises.

According to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the BoG latest report on the economy, the Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio deteriorated from 16.2 percent in December 2009 to 17.6 percent as at December 2010.

Most contractors, who executed government projects, are indebted to the banks and this has affected liquidity in the system.

According to the banking sector developments report, financial soundness indicators in the banking industry, which is measured in terms of portfolio quality, liquidity and capital adequacy, was strong in the last quarter of 2010.

All the banks maintained capital adequacy ratios within the prudential limits.

Credit conditions survey in January 2011 also showed that access to credit continues to improve.

Commercial banks eased credit conditions for both Small and Medium-sized and large enterprises through reductions in margins on average loans and increased size of credit.

The survey pointed to an overall improvement in credit conditions for both households and enterprises.

However, it also revealed that credit conditions for mortgages was tightened through additional collateral requirements.

Meanwhile, the asset base of the banking system, together with other profitability indicators, improved substantially in 2010 compared to similar indicators at the end of December 2009.

Total asset base of the banking system was estimated at GH¢17.4 billion as at the end of December 2010, representing an increase of 23.9 percent over the total asset position recorded in December 2009.

Importantly, deposits increased by 31.7 percent to GH¢11.8 billion, which led to an expansion in the assets of commercial banks.

Credit: Charles Nixon Yeboah/Business Guide

Forcing interest rates down will hurt SMEs – Kofi Amoabeng

2011-03-04T02:05:00.001-08:00

CEO of Unique Trust, Capt rtd Prince Kofi Amoabeng has said that in the event that government forces interest rates down, it would exacerbate the plight of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Unique Trust CEO explained that forcing interest rates down would compel commercial banks to stop lending to SMEs thereby, pushing the latter to the doorsteps of non-bank financial institutions.

“If we should heckle the government to taking some decisions to force interest rates down, the SME is going to suffer because then the banks cannot lend to the SME sector and they all have to go to the non-bank financial institutions where they would be given the loans at even higher interest rates,” he warned.

Interest rates in Ghana are at an average rate of about 30% despite the Central Bank’s basic lending rate of 13.5%.

This disparity has attracted widespread condemnation from many Ghanaians, with a number of people calling on commercial banks to reduce their interest rates.

But Capt Amoabeng, despite admitting that part of the reason for the high interest rates was high banking operational costs, said the problem also emanated from government and the Ghanaian business community.

On the part of government, Capt Amoabeng said despite the Central Bank dropping its basic lending rate, there was still the issue of non-performing loans compounded by the absence of an addressing system.

He also said that strengthening institutions such as the judiciary and the police service would go a long way in instilling confidence in the banking sector in the area of legal tussles.

Concerning Ghanaian SMEs, he stated that most banks had lost confidence in them since a lot of them right after securing their loan, live lavish lifestyles and invest in ventures not stipulated in the contract.

He therefore implored that all stakeholders play their various roles to ensure interest rates take a fall, adding that the banking sector are as eager as everyone to see it drop.

“When it comes to the banks, interestingly enough the banks will love interest rates to come down. Because when interest rates come down, defaults will be lower because the debts don’t pile up and therefore the client should be able to pay,” he revealed.

Capt Amoabeng also explained the reason banks lend at a cheaper rate to multi-national companies, saying that not only is lending to these companies less risky, but the cost involved in dealing with them is also lower than that of SMEs in Ghana.

He also quashed the notion that commercial banks collude to keep interest rates high.

“There are no characters; no MD has ever called me to say Kofi sit down, let’s strategise, never,” he said.

Story by Fidel Amoah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Bank Of Ghana To Smoothen Fluctuation Of The Cedi – Governor

2011-03-04T02:03:00.000-08:00

The Bank of Ghana will continue to smoothen out short-term fluctuations of the cedi against major international currencies to minimise the disruptive effects of such flows, Governor of the Central Bank, said in Accra on Friday.

Speaking on the recent developments in the foreign exchange market, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said the long term sustainability, export competitiveness, stable reserve accumulation and minimising speculative flows would guide the management of the foreign exchange market. In the last two months, the foreign exchange market has recorded some volatility against the major currencies, reflecting mainly the higher seasonal demand for foreign exchange.

At the end of November 2010, the exchange rate of the Ghana cedi to the dollar had depreciated by 0.3 per cent (year on year).The rate of depreciation increased to 3.1 per cent by end December and to 5.1 per cent in January 2011.

Against the pound sterling and the euro the respective appreciations recorded in November 2010 was 8.6 and 13.5 per cent while appreciations of 2.0 and 5.7 per cent were recorded for December 2010.In January 2011 depreciations of 1.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent were recorded against the sterling and the euro.

For the same period in January 2010, the comparative depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against the sterling and the euro were 20.7 and 15.6 per cent respectively. Mr Amissah-Arthur said it was important to recall that Ghana had become an attractive investment destination for portfolio investments with higher domestic interest rates and the prospects of currency appreciation due to expected receipts of petroleum revenues. “In managing the situation there are bound to be occasional fluctuations in the exchange rate, which is normal in any well-functioning market,” the Governor said.

Source:GNA

Financing urban poultry farmers: the myths and realities

2011-02-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

Dr. (Mrs.) Irene S. Egyir (a lecturer of the University of Ghana) is the Project Coordinator of the MFCS which was motivated by her membership in the Accra Working Group on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture) in Accra (Ghana)

The Multi-Features and Capacity-enhancing Services (MFCS) project is a micro finance and development NGO in Madina, Accra. The project was initiated in response to complaints by farmers in the city that there are too many bottlenecks to obtaining credit from the formal financial sector. A typical complaint, “We have been raising fowls for more than a decade in communities close to Accra. No bank considers us credit worthy but we tried each Christmas to raise at least 500 broilers, and then to keep 500 layers and cockerels for the rest of the year”. So, six males were given GHC1,000.00 (about USD700.00) to support their nine-week Christmas season broiler projects in December 2009. In February 2010 they completed the payment of principal and interest on schedule –a myth is broke! Immediately they received a higher amount, GHC1,500 (USD1000.00) for the year’s project. Apart from the financial service, the MFCS has linked the group to the Cooperative Department in the district and they have received pep-talks on organizing, leadership and effective financial management. It was expected that the second cycle repayment will follow the same rapid repayment of the first cycle. The reality, difficulty in sustaining repayments! The excuse, “We received our day old chicks late, so we have not been able to sell any mature chicks yet….I had to foot the funeral bills of my late relatives so I am down on cash,….my key buyer is yet to pay me so you also have to wait,… due to the rainy season the birds are dying, I am not well…, my wife has just given birth, I’ll come and see you soon, have patience with me…” Indeed, try reaching them on phone and the response is “the number you have dialed cannot be reached, …..the number is unavailable,…the mobile phone is switched off. Try visiting his home even during the dry season; the road network and surface is better experienced than described- pot holes, winding and dusty and you drive for over one hour for just a 20 km distance. Get to the house and “he has just gone out, she has traveled…”. Some experts have suggested that finance with education is what will work. A training needs assessment has been carried out by the MFCS project. Three modules on: “All lenders need to know about the urban agricultural producer”, “Getting credit, getting together” and “I want to pay back that loan so..” are being prepared. A good understanding of the borrowers’ peculiar challenges and lenders’ key bottlenecks should change attitudes, to make it easier to access and provide credit to urban agricultural producers.

Ezi savings and loans offers credit options to SMEs

2011-01-28T07:43:00.001-08:00

Informal sector businesses and other productive poor individuals who inculcate the habit of savings can access diverse credit facilities to improve their business and personal needs.

This is according to officials of ezi Savings and Loans Limited, a fast growing non-bank financial institution in Ghana.

The company has adopted the susu scheme as a viable microfinance platform to achieve accelerated growth in deposit mobilization from the unbanked population.

Head of Branches and Marketing, Francisca Kreku says the susu savings also provides an opportunity for micro and small scale entrepreneurs to gradually build up capital.

She says a sizeable proportion of eligible customers have gained access to credit facilities and offered free capacity building opportunities in business advisory and management skills.

“We have different types of loans to meet their business and personal needs. For that reason a susu customer can take up to Gh¢20,000.00 or more depending on the category of the susu that he or she is doing… so you give them loans according to their ability to pay”, Ms. Kreku told Luv FM at the Kumasi draw of the ezi Bronya susu promotions.

The company’s susu customer base has grown to a total of 31,000 within two years with total deposits amounting to Gh¢2.8 million.

Ms. Kreku attributed this partly to the deployment of Mbank or mobile banking technology in deposit mobilization.

ezi Savings and Loans plans to increase its branches from ten to 16 this year, whilst expanding the susu mobilization horizon through a partnership deal with some strategic foreign investors.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv Fm/Ghana

Venture Capital Trust Fund to create 6,000 jobs if…

2011-01-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) says it will create about 6,000 jobs if they are able to increase their total pool of funds to exceed $100million to support Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s).

The Trust Fund with a starting seed capital of $ 22.4million in 2006 was able to create an estimated 1,400 jobs in its participating communities and farmer-based organizations (FBO) with an over GHC45, 400 paid to communities as local council tax.

The Venture Capital Trust Fund was established by the Government of Ghana to provide capital to SMEs and to promote the Venture Capital industry in Ghana.

Chief Executive Officer of the VCTF, Daniel Duku told Asempa News the fund will establish and deepen relations with various professional bodies, such as Ghana Bar Association, Private Enterprise Foundation, Institute of Chartered Accountants as stakeholders and third party service providers in the development of the Venture Capital Industry in order to achieve this target.

He says the Trust Fund this year will also intensify its public awareness campaign to educate SME’s on the benefits of equity investments and attract more funds from local financial institutions.

According to him, emphasis will be placed on new initiatives such as yellow maize financing to support poultry and livestock and also the vegetable sector will also receive priority intervention in agro-ecological regions with more comparative advantages.

Mr. Duku indicates that, discussion is on-going with key players in the agricultural sector including Ministry of Food and Agricultural (MOFA), Commodity Brokers and National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to explore possible collaborations.

He adds that, the Trust Fund will also seek to establish Venture Capital SME round tables in all regions of Ghana to enable portfolio companies and potential entrepreneur’s network and exchange ideas.

Story by Akwasi Nsiah/Asempa FM/Ghana

German entrepreneurs to invest in water sector

2011-01-28T07:27:00.000-08:00

A delegation of German Industries and Commerce in Ghana, led by Mr Patrick Martens has expressed interest to invest in the water sector.

Mr Martens, who led a 40-member delegation, said the entrepreneurs were market leaders in water treatment and could facilitate the management of the sector to advance the available technology in Ghana.

He made this known during a meeting with Mr Alban Bagbin, Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing in Accra.

Mr Martens: "Africa is a potential new market and that if Germany, a medium market was allowed to invest in the resources; a lot will be achieved for it to develop."

Mr Bagbin said the discovery of oil and gas in the country made it expedient to boost production of water to support the industry.

He however stressed the issue of management, operation as well as revenue collection in dealing with water resources in line with technology.

This, the minister said would improve water supply.

Mr Bagbin said Ghana was looking forward have a corporate and long term partnership with the delegation.

Source: GNA

$215m credit for Ghana

2011-01-28T07:24:00.000-08:00

The World Bank board has approved a $215-million Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) for the government of Ghana.

The credit is to support the government's efforts at consolidating ongoing fiscal stabilisation and promote the development objectives set in the Ghana Shared Growth and bevelopment Agenda (GSGDA), the national medium-term development policy framework for 2010/13.

This was contained in a press release issued at the bank's headquarters in Washington on Thursday.

It said Ghana had, over the last decade, received six PRSCs from the World Bank, averaging $100 million per year in budget support between 2003 and 2008, to support the implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy I and II (GPRS I and II).

It said after the fiscal crisis of 2008, an agreement was reached to increase budget support in a counter-cyclical manner to help Ghana reduce its macro-imbalances in a way that did not hurt growth, the process of job creation and the poor.

Accordingly, the release said a record total support of $300 million was delivered in 2009.

It said it was expected that that particular support would continue to fall in the future as the macro-imbalances continued to be reduced for the bank to shift efforts towards support for job creation.

"Our PRSCs have played an important role in supporting the gradual stabilisation of the economy and the reduction of inflation and the prime rate in ways that preserve growth and job creation," the release quoted Sebastien Dessus, the World Hank Lead Economist for Ghana, as saying.

"Indeed, growth has continued during 2009 and 2010 and has remained well above five per cent per year, which is a remarkable record for an economy undergoing deficit reduction," he added.

The GSGDA has supported government actions to tackle some of the key structural factors behind macro-instability, including longstanding public sector and energy issues, while protecting the poor and preparing for the oil era through effective sector management and regulation

In a related development, the U.K government has announced the disbursement of £36 million towards general budget support for the government of Ghana.

The money which is from the Department for International Development (DFID), is provided direct to the government's national budget.

A statement issued by the British High Commission in Accra said the support "is coordinated through the multi-donor budget support (MDBS) mechanism with 10 other development partners".

For example in health and education by contributing to the government's budget this UK support will help an estimated 3,000 women give birth under the care of a skilled birth attendant, 5,000 children to be immunised against measles , 5,000 pupils complete primary school, 33,000 children enrol in primary school (across all primary years) of which 6,500 are in primary grade one" it said.

The acting Country Director of the DFID Mr Daniel Graymore, in announcing the support said, "this commitment underlines the UK's support for the efforts being made by the Government of Ghana to reduce poverty. I am delighted that UK support will assist the government to make real progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals through the provision of improved health, education, water supply and other critical services."

Source: Daily Graphic

GIPC attracts GH¢1.79 billion worth of investments in 2010

2011-01-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre says it registered a total of 385 projects worth an estimated value of US$1.28 billion in 2010.

It says the value of Foreign Direct Investment component of the total is US$1.11 billion, a significant increase compared to US$551.30 million recorded in 2009.

Initial capital transfers also recorded in the year amounts to US$58.03 million while 119,578 jobs are expected to be created from the projects recorded for 2010.

Mr George Aboagye, Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, who spoke to Joy News after a press briefing in Accra, said the success should be attributed to well planned and focused investment promotional activities and services offered to existing and potential investors.

"We did a lot of promotion and this time the promotion we undertook was high powered most of the time. We went out with the President, we went out with the Vice President and we are following up on the job and leads that resulted from this credible leadership in terms of investment promotion," he indicated.

He further explained that the private sector also played a significant role in the process any time they go out there to attract investors insisting that "we have worked in order to enhance government's agenda as well as private sector agenda."

According to the report, out of the 385 registered projects, 249 were wholly-owned foreign enterprises and 136 were joint ventures between Ghanaians and foreign partners.

The joint venture projects were valued at GH¢ 163.91 million and the wholly-owned foreign enterprises were valued at GH¢ 1.63 billion.

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) component of the estimated value of the projects registered during the year amounted to GH¢1.55 billion and the local currency component of GH¢ 239.01 million.

China registered the highest number of 67 projects in 2010, while Bermuda topped the list of countries with the largest value of investments in the year worth $300 million.

The report further states that "initial capital transfers recorded this year amounts to US$58.03 million and 119,578 jobs are expected to be created from the projects recorded for the year 2010."

Out of this, 103,099 jobs would be for Ghanaians and the remaining 16,479 for expatriates.

Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

GIPC woos domestic investment

2011-01-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Ghana Investment Promotion Center says it is embarking on a drive to encourage local businesses to invest more in the country.

It comes after the GIPC recorded foreign direct investments of $1.1 billion for last year, twice the figure for 2009.

Locally generated investments however stood at just 180 million dollars.

GIPC Chief Executive, George Aboagye told Joy Business the local campaign is also aimed at preparing the business community to welcome their foreign counterparts.

He said the campaign will be conducted in all ten regions.

Meanwhile, some 120,000 jobs are expected to be created from the 385 new projects registered with the GIPC last year.

Ghanaians are expected to take up 103,000 of those jobs whilst expatriates take up the rest.

Source: Joy News/Ghana

Ghana set to become fastest growing economy in 2011 - World Bank

2011-01-14T04:28:00.001-08:00

The World Bank has projected that Ghana would be the fastest growing economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, with growth rate of 13.4 per cent in 2011, dropping to 10 per cent in 2012.

Launching the Bank's global economic prospects report via a video-conference on Thursday, Mr Andrew Burns, Manager of Global Macroeconomics in the World Bank's Prospects Group, said Ghana was still in position to register strong economic growth without the oil sector, particularly in construction services as large infrastructure projects were being undertaken.

He said, Ghana's economy benefited from strong rebound of both volumes and prices of gold and cocoa, increase in tourism, and higher household and government spending last year, with growth rate estimated at 6.6 per cent in 2010.

However, Mr Burns cautioned that if the inflows from the oil sector in Ghana were not managed prudently, it could distort the incentive structure for agricultural exports.

He said developing countries had recovered so fast from the global economic downturn and were now pulling along the high income countries, which was unusual.

The report noted that Africa appeared to have sustained growth and transformation in 2010 and the private sector was increasingly attracting investment into their economies, adding "Africa appears to be poised for sustained growth due to private capital flows."

The World Bank said most developing countries had in addition, recovered from the world food crisis and had projected a steady global growth for developing countries.

"The world economy is moving from a post-crisis bounce-back phase of the recovery to a slower but solid growth in 2011 and next with developing countries contributing almost half of the global growth," it said.

It estimated that global GDP, which had expanded by 3.9 per cent in 2010, would slow to 3.3 per cent in 2011, before climbing back to 3.6 per cent in 2012.

The Bank noted that developing countries were expected to grow about seven per cent in 2010, six per cent in 2011, and 6.1 per cent in 2012.

It said the growth rate in developing countries would continue to outstrip growth in high-income countries which were projected to grow at 2.8 per cent in 2010, 2.4 per cent in 2011 and 2.7 per cent in 2012.

The Bank said strong developing-country domestic demand growth was leading the world economy, yet persistent financial problems in some high-income countries were still a threat to economic growth and required urgent policy actions.

Low income countries were projected to be strengthened more with a growth rate of 6.5 per cent in both 2011 and 2012, since their countries saw trade gains in 2010, and overall, their GDP rose by 5.3 per cent in 2010.

According to Mr Burns, the global food prices were having a mixed impact.

He said in many economies, dollar depreciation, improved local conditions, and rising prices for goods and services indicated that the real price of food had not risen as much as the dollar price of internationally traded food commodities.
Source: GNA

Budget Deficit now at 26%

2011-01-14T04:26:00.000-08:00

Ghana’s fiscal deficit for 2010 could reach a record high of 26% as opposed to a target of 9.7% set by the Mills-Mahama NDC led administration in the 2010 budget, which quite clearly represents a major setback suffered by the economy in 2010.

This revelation was made known today at a press conference by the Minority in Parliament and addressed by Prof. Gyan Baffour, MP for Wenchi and a former Deputy Minister of Finance.

Prof Gyan Baffour stated the NDC government’s entire programme for 2010 was hinged on its ability to reduce the fiscal deficit, adding that the reported budget deficit for 2010 of 7.5% of GDP on a cash basis is not only off target but more importantly grossly underestimated.

Of major concern was the non disclosure of the status of the net arrears accumulated in the course of the fiscal year 2010, leading to an assessment of economic performance which is totally different from reality.

According to Prof. Gyan Baffour, the NDC’s projected budget deficit for 2010 relies on some unexplained increase in non tax revenue of over GH¢770 million from profits and dividends in the last quarter of 2010 when the first three quarters yielded only GH¢609 million.

He added that the projected deficit did not take into account the over GH¢300 million in payments on arrears including judgment debts that were made in 2010.

The projected deficit also depended on grants of over GH¢300 million materializing in the last quarter of 2010.

“Should the projections not materialize and account is taken of the stock of arrears then the projected deficit will be over 13% ofGDP as compared to a target of 7.5% of GDP”, Prof. Gyan Baffour stated.

What was really worrisome, according to Prof. Baffour, was the significant accumulation of new arrears in 2010.

He said government has accumulated domestic payment arrears to the tune of some GH¢3.2 billion or over 12% ofGDP, including arrears on single spine salary structure of between GH¢600 million and GH¢1.1 bilion), new commitments by MDA’s of some GH¢1 billion, arrears on GetFund, DACF, NHIS, SSNIT pensions, etc.

“When you add this new accumulation to the stock of arrears as of 2009 of GH¢ 1.4 billion then the total stock of arrears as of the end 2010 will be over GH¢4.6 billion. This is much higher than the stock of arrears of GH¢1.1 billion that was inherited in 2008. Is this a better Ghana Agenda?” he retorted.

The new arrears of some GH¢ 3.2 billion for 2010, indicates that on a commitment basis the deficit exceeds 23% ofGDP and could be as high as 26% ofGDP, a record high.

It can be recalled that in March 2009 and again in November 2009, when Dr. Kwabena Duffuor came to present the budget statements for 2009 and 2010 respectively, he told Ghanaians that he had inherited a rundown and distressed economy because the deficit was 20.1% of GDP while the stock of arrears stood at GH¢1.7 billion.

“After only two years in government the deficit is hovering above 23 % of GDP and the stock of arrears is above GH¢4.6 billion. Is this a better Ghana agenda? We wonder how the Minister will want to characterize an economy with a deficit of over 23% ofGDP and stock of arrears of GH¢4.6 billion? Is the economy now comatose after only two years?” Prof. Gyan Baffour added.

Source: Statesman

Ghana, EU sign 26 million Euros financing agreements

2011-01-14T04:24:00.000-08:00

The Government of Ghana and the European Union (EU) have signed four financial agreements, totaling 26.0 million Euros to help reinforce the democratic environment for peaceful, transparent and credible elections in 2012.

Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and Mr Claude Maeerten, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, signed the agreements, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on Thursday.

The fund made available under the four financial agreements will be used for the implementation of Trade-Related Assistance and Quality Support (TRAQUE), which will cover nine million Euros.

The TRAQUE Programme aims at facilitating and stimulating trade led pro-poor growth to improve on the National Quality Policy and Infrastructure.

That of the Civil Society in Ghana will cover eight million Euros and will be disbursed as financial contributions to increase the influence of CSOs in the governance of public goods and service delivery, as well as increase the accountability and responsiveness of government, parliament, traditional authorities and private enterprises.

It will also assist business professional associations, farmers' organizations, and trade unions, among others, in challenging unfair competition with the aim of promoting an enabling environment. The Independent Governance Institutions Programme will receive seven million Euros to be disbursed among the Electoral Commission, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the National Media Commission (NMC) to enable them to discharge their duties well.

The Technical Cooperation (TCF3) was also allocated two million Euros to facilitate auditing, valuations, studies, training and conferences.

Source: GNA

SMEs to benefit from Italian-Ghanaian Fund

2011-01-14T04:22:00.000-08:00

At Business Sense 2011 conference,delegates will be addressed by officials from a
joint Italian-Ghanaian initiative (Ghana Private Sector Development Facility),
established to provide credit facilities for Ghanaian SMEs.

Following the successful implementation of the Project financed by the Italian
Government in 2003 for a total amount of 11,000,000 Euro, the Italian Ministry for
Foreign Affairs approved in December 2007 additional financial resources of
22,000,000 Euro (approximately 45 million GHC) in order to continue to support the
effort of the Government of the Republic of Ghana to promote private sector
development.

The new phase of the Project, implemented in collaboration with the Ghanaian
Ministry of Trade and Industry, consists in two main components: a loan component of
20,000,000 Euro, used to establish a credit facility in favor of Ghanaian private
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and a grant component of 2,000,000 Euro, which
covers the operational costs and the technical assistance activities of the Project.

Beneficiaries of this Credit Facility shall be only Ghanaian Small and Medium
Enterprises which fulfil the following eligibility criteria:
• The ownership of the enterprise must be 100% private;
• The enterprise must be part of the production or of the service sector (i.e.
farming activities are not eligible);
• The production activity of the enterprise must not harm the environment (i.e. wood
processing activities are not eligible);
• The enterprise must not make use, directly or indirectly, of child labour;
• The operation of the enterprise must not have any direct or indirect connection
with military activities or weapons (including sporting fire arms, defence systems,
military installations, military equipment and materials), tobacco processing and
luxury goods.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Inflation falls to 19-year low at 8.58 per cent

2011-01-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

The rate of inflation fell to 8.58 per cent year-on-year in December, down from 9.08 per cent in November. The rate is the lowest since June 1992, when it stood at 8.4 per cent. This means that general price levels in the country went up by 8.58 per cent in December 2010 relative to December 2009.

Ebow Duncan, Head of Economic and Industrial Statistics of the Ghana Statistical Service, told a press conference in Accra on Wednesday that the decline in the rate in December did not mean a slip in the general price level. "Though the rate for December is lower than November it does not mean that the general price levels are reducing," he said.

This, Mr Duncan said, was explained by the significant monthly increase in the general price level in December to 1.13 per cent compared to 0.47 per cent in November. He said the rate for December was helped by the downward pressure on both food and non-food prices. Food inflation closed the year with an average of 4.5 per cent compared to non-food, which has been consistently higher with a rate of 11.22 per cent. On the impact of the recent fuel price hikes on future inflation, Mr Duncan said it would depend on how other sub-groups responded to the petroleum price increases.

Inflation rates in the regions for December ranged from 5.97 per cent in the Volta Region to 13.05 per cent in the Greater Accra Region. Six regions - Volta, Western, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Central and Eastern - recorded inflation rates below the national rate of 8.58 per cent.

Source: GNA

Rural bank supports GH¢25O,OOO Community Centre project

2011-01-14T04:18:00.000-08:00

The Odotobri Rural Bank is funding the construction of a GH¢250,000 Community Centre complex at Jacobu in the Amansie Central District.
This forms part of the bank's social responsibility and is aimed at contributing to the development of the area.
At a ceremony to officially commence work on the project, Nana Fosu Kwadwo Abiri, Jacobuhene, commended the bank for honouring its promise to the community.
"At your last Annual General Meeting (AGM), you promised to start work on this Community Complex and today's ceremony is a testimony of a fulfilled pledge," he added.
The Jacobuhene called on groups and individuals who had acquired plots of land for development to learn from the bank's example by developing those plots to facelift the town, the district capital.
Mr Johnny Owusu-Boadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, said the bank was committed to its social responsibility as it spent GH¢32,180 to support socio-economic activities of the communities within its catchments area.

"Among the activities supported included the Jacobu Water Project, Amansie Central Quiz competition, computers and accessories for the Jacobu Police Station, Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Celebration, best teacher awards for Kumasi, Adansi North, Bekwai and Obuasi Municipalities among others," he said.

He said apart from the Community Centre, plans were far advanced to get the first floor of the bank's head-office building completed within the year.

Source:myjoyonline

Accra bourse index extends gains

2011-01-14T04:16:00.000-08:00

The GSE-Composite Index (GSE-CI), the benchmark measure of performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange, continues rally on Monday, going up 6.13 points to 1,001.63 from 995.50 points on Friday with a year-to-date return of 0.16 per cent.

The GSE-Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI), which tracks the performance of listed financial stocks, also rose 6.47 points to 991.16 points from 984.69 points with a year-to-date change of -0.88 per cent. Six equities saw price changes during the session, equally shared between the gainers and losers.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) went up GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.15, Produce Buying Company (PBC) gained GH¢0.02 to GH¢0.17 and State Insurance Company (SIC) appreciated GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.44. On the flip side, SG-SSB Bank dipped GH¢0.04 to GH¢0.60, HFC Bank fell GH¢0.02 to GH¢0.38 and Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) was lower GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.28. Market Capitalization closed the session up marginally to GH¢20,105.60 million from GH¢20,014.02 million.

Some 1.2 million shares worth GH¢487,942.25 exchanged hands compared to a trade of 271,954 shares valued at GH¢302,913.67 at the previous close.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana Stock Exchange extends trading hours

2011-01-14T04:13:00.000-08:00

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has extended its daily trading hours from three hours to five hours effective January 4, 2011. The new trading hours shall be between 10.00 hrs and 15.00 hrs GMT instead of from 10.00 hours to 13.00 hours. A statement by the Exchange on Tuesday said the change in trading hours was to afford dealers increased contact hours with their clients during the trading day. It is also meant to afford non-resident investors in time zones different from Ghana, greater opportunity to reach out to their local brokers, it added. "It is our expectation also that the extended trading hours will help improve liquidity in the market place," the statement said

Source: ghanaweb

Drobo Community Bank institutes scholarship scheme

2010-12-13T03:10:00.000-08:00

The Drobo Community Bank in the Jaman South District, as part of its social responsibility, has instituted a scholarship scheme for needy but brilliant students in senior secondary school. To qualify for the award, which is tenable in any senior secondary school in the Brong Ahafo Region, the beneficiary student must show consistent good academic performance while the parent must be a shareholder of the bank with at least a share value of GH¢20.

Mr Anthony Elliot Badu-Gyapong, Acting Manager of the Bank, told the Ghana News Agency that since its commencement in 2003/2004 academic year, 22 students had so far benefited from the scheme currently estimated at GH¢360 per student beneficiary per year and covering boarding and lodging fees. Initially, he said the bank paid GH¢200 per student per year but this was increased in view of the increasing cost of living. Mr Badu-Gyapong said the bank decided at its Annual General Meeting this year to increase the number of beneficiaries to five in the 2010/2011 academic year.

An unspecified number of the beneficiaries are now said to be in the university or tertiary institutions while others are in gainful employment. Asked how the scheme was being funded, Mr Badu-Gyapong said the bank took a decision to transfer five per cent of its profit to support its continuous operations. Apart from the scheme, the bank has also formed a cadet corps for students of Drobo Senior High School, with some of its products now in the Ghana Armed Forces. Mr Badu-Gyampong, urged past and present beneficiaries of the scheme to provide the bank with their personal contact addresses to facilitate regular monitoring of their performance.

Source: GNA

Western Region to establish fund to support SMEs

2010-12-13T03:09:00.000-08:00

The Western Regional Co-ordinating Council is to establish an Enterprise Development Fund, to support research, product development, technology, training and development of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the region. Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Regional Minister made this known a speech read on his behalf at the first ever regional stakeholders' forum on micro and small scale enterprises development in Takoradi on Friday. The theme for the forum was: "Working together to enhance the growth of SMEs in the Western Region." It was organised by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) under the auspices of the Regional Co-ordinating Council, with support from the Co-operation for the Development of Emerging Countries, European Union and German Technical Co-operation. The forum aimed at soliciting ideas and sharing experiences on micro and small scale enterprises so as to remove obstacles that hinder the growth of small businesses in the region. It was also aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of local businesses and create unique advantage for local businesses as well as stimulate networking among stakeholders. The Regional Minister noted that the SMEs were crucial in the provision of jobs and revenue generation for the growth of the economy, particularly in the wake of the emergence of the oil and gas industry. Mr Aidoo said the SMEs were expected to play a crucial role in the on-shore auxiliary activities in the oil and gas industry. The local content and local participation policy of the government seeks to create an enabling environment and opportunities for all Ghanaians to benefit from the wealth to be derived from the oil and gas industry through participation of local people in ownership operations, control and management, Mr Aidoo said. He said the major thrust of the government had been to assist the small business sector to grow and facilitate national development. The Regional Manager of the NBSSI, Mr John Gershon Koomson, said even though a number of interventions had been made in the sector, small scale enterprises sector still faced a number of problems. He said, it was therefore urgent to focus attention in the development and promotion of micro and small scale enterprises, especially in the region. Mr Koomson said the problems of SMEs were largely interconnected and needed integrated and comprehensive approach. He noted that the approach should be a co-ordination of government, public and private institutions concerned with small scale businesses in order to offer comprehensive support to SMEs.

Source: GNA

Monetary Policy Committee leaves policy rate at 13.5 per cent

2010-12-13T03:04:00.000-08:00

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday maintained the policy rate at 13.5 per cent citing a projected inflation outlook below nine per cent for 2011 coupled with expected positive economic recovery activity. Mr Kwesi B. Amissah-Arthur, Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Chairman of the MPC, announced the Committee's decision at a press conference in Accra. The current policy rate, which was fixed in July this year, is expected to influence interest charged by banks on loans granted to customers. The press conference, which is the last to be organised for 2010, was a follow-up to the 42nd meeting of the MPC.

Mr Amissah-Arthur said the committee identified potential sources of risk in the outlook for the medium term inflation profile, including the nature and pace of growth of the budget deficit. On the budget deficit, he said the MPC identified potential sources of risk to the 2011 budget as management and settlement of payment of arrears, the pace of settlement of wage arrears and the inflexibility of the expenditure programme by the continued earmarking of revenues. Mr Amissah-Arthur said though the MPC recognised that expected crude oil price increases could impact adversely on domestic fuel pump prices, higher crude oil prices would have a favourable impact on the Balance of Payments and on government's fiscal operations through export earnings. "The net impact on the economy of future crude oil price increases will therefore be determined by the extent to which the negative and positive effects balance out."

On the projected build-up in foreign exchange reserves arising out of inflows of private capital in the money market, Mr Amissah-Arthur said further liquidity would be injected into the economy by the extent of spending of petroleum revenues with a consequential liquidity management challenges for the BOG. He observed that the macroeconomic policy mix over the past years had provided an anchor for inflation though conceding that the process of disinflation had slowed down considerably in the last few months. "Despite the slowdown, the Committee expects that 2010 will end with an inflation rate close to the central target of 9.5 per cent", he said, projecting that inflation was expected to be below nine per cent by 2011. On cost of credit, Mr Amissah-Arthur observed that the banks had begun a process of easing credit conditions. He admitted though that credit to the private sector remained weak stressing that banks needed to further ease credit conditions. Mr Amissah-Arthur said the overall balance of payments had improved significantly in the course of the year and that continued improvement was expected to give a boost to reserve accumulation and provide stability in the foreign exchange market.

Speaking on the banking sector developments, he said a total asset of the industry at the end of September 2010 was GH15.6 billion, representin= g a growth of 29.1 per cent over the previous year. He attributed the growth mainly to increase in deposits. Mr Amissah-Arthur said BOG Credit Conditions Survey conducted in November 2010 showed some improvement in access to credit by small and medium-scale enterprises for the first time since the beginning of 2010. "This development helped to improve overall credit conditions in the last quarter of this year. The access of large enterprises and households to consumer credit also continued to improve."

On government's fiscal operations, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the pace of spending increased significantly at the end of November 2010, reaching 32.8 per cent in year-on-year terms compared with an annual decline of about five per cent for the same period in 2009. "These developments resulted in a fiscal deficit, on a narrow coverage basis, of 6.7 per cent compared to a deficit of 4.7 per cent, a year ago." Touching on global economic developments, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the MPC observed that commodity prices including crude oil had been rising since October 2010. "There has also been a re-alignment of major currencies in the international market with the United States dollar depreciating against the other major international currencies following the start of the second phase of Quantitative Easing by the Federal Reserve Board", he said.

Source: GNA

Venture Capital Trust Fund to partner more business entities

2010-12-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

Mr Daniel Duku, Chief Executive Officer of Venture Capital Trust Fund has given the assurance that his outfit would open up to support the establishment and growth of businesses in Ghana and beyond in the coming years.

"Our track record of supporting giant business entities like Gold Venture, Abankese, Fidelity Bank and Bedrock is enough to demonstrate our readiness and seriousness towards the growth of business in our country," he stressed.

Mr Duku was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at the sidelines of a recent Ghana-Czech Republic Trade and Investment Forum held in Prague, Czech Republic.

He said such the fund had built its capacity over the years to facilitate trade links with businesses in Ghana and beyond. The Venture Capital Trust Fund, which was established by the Act of Parliament (68) in 2004, is to among other issues provide funds to businesses for initial start up and future growth.

It was also meant to boost Public- Private Partnership to ensure that the private sector lived up to its accolade of being the engine of growth. Mr Duku said the fund would from next year support more Small and medium scale enterprises.

He said his visit to the Ghana-Czech Trade and Investment Forum had offered him the opportunity to partner Czech businesses to invest in Ghana. He said the fund which started with the seed amount of $22.4 million in 2006, had attracted $77.6 million as at mid-2010 and expressed the hope to push the amount up before the end of the year.

The Chief Executive Officer promised to raise the levels of the fund through funding of public- private and other small and medium enterprises and called on potential beneficiary companies to critically study the terms and conditions of the business entity before applying for assistance.

Source: Ghanaweb Business

Cedi to Strengthen in 2011 As Oil Production For Export Begins

2010-12-13T02:49:00.000-08:00

Ghana’s currency, the cedi, may strengthen next year as oil production begins at the offshore Jubilee field, increasing export earnings for the country.

The cedi will trade around 1.44 to the dollar in 2011, appreciating from today’s rate of 1.458 as of 11:50 a.m. in Accra, said Jacob Brobbey, a currency trader at Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd., in a phone interview today. The currency has been little changed against the greenback this year, strengthening 0.6 percent since January.

Ghana’s central bank will allow the currency to strengthen to 1.37 to the dollar next year in a bid to control inflation, Razia Khan, the London-based head of Africa research at Standard Chartered Plc said in a note to clients.

Source: Bloomberg

Ghana Association of Bankers announces new exchange rates

2010-12-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

The following are the average inter-bank exchange rate of the dollar and derived rates for the major currencies against the cedi, as issued by the Ghana Association of Bankers on Wednesday, December 8, 2010.

GHANA CEDI EQUIVALENT OF CURRENCY
CURRENCY BUYING SELLING
US Dollar 1.4282 1.4492
Pound Sterling 2.2446 2.2779
Swiss Franc 1.4460 1.4670
Australian Dollar 1.3999 1.4214
Canadian Dollar 1.4116 1.4319
Danish Kroner 0.2533 0.2570
Japanese Yen 0.0170 0.0173
New Zealand Dollar 1.0736 1.0897
Norwegian Kroner 0.2373 0.2408
Swedish Kroner 0.2066 0.2096
South Africa Rand 0.2055 0.2084
Euro 1.8884 1.9159
CURRENCY EQUIVALENT OF GHANA CEDI
CFA 342.37 347.36
Dalasi 20.28 20.57
Ouguiya 190.68 193.49
Naira 113.64 115.31
Leone 2,903.44 2,946.13
WAUA 0.4931
Source: GNA

Apex Bank to migrate product onto ICT platform – MD

2010-12-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

Apex Link Limited has disclosed the Apex Bank would soon migrate its star product Apex Link Money Transfer onto an ICT platform to make it efficient, fast, safe and secure.

This was contained in an address read by Mrs Eunice Osei-Bonsu, Corporate Affairs Manager, at the 25th Annual General Meeting of the Ada Rural Bank at Ada Foah.

He underscored the need for Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) to form co-operative mergers in the face of the changing, challenging, competitive and turbulent landscape of the banking industry.

He pointed out that one of the critical issues facing the rural banking industry was the issue of good governance and charged Boards of Rural Banks to be well-informed and ethical in the discharge of their duties.

Mr Osei-Bonsu urged Rural Banks to consider selecting into their various boards, directors with requisite education and experience, people who would contribute to the effective management of the banks. He urged managements of Rural Banks to institute measures that would help identify, assess, monitor and control risks at their various banks.

Mr Osei-Bonsu expressed regret at the general performance of the Ada Rural Bank last year, and advised the board, management and staff to sit up, hoping that with the proper strategies put in place the bank would be on the road to total recovery.

"Adopt a more innovative approach towards funds mobilization, while exercising prudence in your credit delivery, and deliver prompt and efficient services to both existing and potential customers," he admonished the bank.

Nene Gaduga Osrama IV, the immediate past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, thanked management for their co-operation during his tenure.

Mr Ishmael Kwemefe Martey, Senior Manager of the bank, urged customers to buy shares there to enable the Bank increase its capital base.

He also appealed to shareholders and customers who had taken loans to re-pay them so that others could enjoy the facility.

Source: myjoyonline

Rural Banks must make their products attractive

2010-11-30T02:26:00.001-08:00

The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Ahmed Babal Jamal, has called on rural and community banks to make their products more attractive to attract more customers.

He said some rural and community banks were collapsing due to the unattractiveness of their products, unskilled human resource and lack of committed staff.

Mr Jamal has, therefore, appealed to the management and Board of Directors of the banks to obtain qualified human resource and equip them with skills and knowledge to ensure maximum productivity.

The Deputy Regional Minister made the call at the opening of the 16th Biennial General Meeting of the Association of Rural Banks at Koforidua on Friday.

He said a good number of rural and community banks had operated profitably and satisfactorily and had made significant impact on the communities they served through the provision of potable water, electricity, toilets, school buildings and the award of scholarships to brilliant but needy students among other services.

Mr Baba-Jamal said the main objective of rural banks was aimed at stimulating and transforming the rural subsistence economy into sustained medium-scale enterprises capable of creating employment, initiating and promoting agricultural and cottage industries through financial intermediation.

He said after nearly three and half decades of the rural banking concept some accomplishments had been made towards the realization of the set objectives.

Mr Baba-Jamal said the government had introduced a lot of micro finance schemes through the rural banks aimed at alleviating poverty and urged the banks to offer good services to the people and help them to manage the money profitably.

The President of the Association of Rural Banks, Mrs Rose E. Newman, said the meeting constituted a solid platform for them to summon a new spirit of responsibility, sacrifice, service and commitment.

She said most of their members were making great strides in the banking industry and urged them to work extra hard for them to reach greater heights.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana's banking sector undergoes significant transformation

2010-11-30T02:25:00.000-08:00

Mr Kwesi Amissah Arthur, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, on Saturday said the country's banking sector has significantly been transformed and continued to improve with new regulations and guidelines seeking to maintain stability.

"This has made the sector more efficient, innovative, competitive and profitable," he added.

Mr Amissah Arthur made this known at this year's annual Bankers Dinner Dance dubbed: "Governors Day" in Accra.

He noted that the country had a fairly well diversified banking and financial system, with twenty-six banks in operation, half of which were foreign controlled with the rest in command of Ghanaians.

He said the growth in total assets was driven largely by the relatively new banks in the system, but noted that assets concentration in few banks had continuously declined, reflecting the intense competitive environment under which they were operating.

Mr Amissah Arthur said the banking sector was growing at a fast pace alongside deepening financial intermediation, therefore, recomputed financial sector indicators using the rebased Gross Domestic Products figures, showed that there was substantial room for improvement.

He observed that one of the critical issues that had proved rather challenging for the sector and the broader economy this year, had been high lending rates and its effect on access to credit.

He said as part of restructuring the global planning, steps were being taken in a number of countries to limit bank from actively engaging in proprietary trading that was not instigated by clients, referred to as the "Volcker Rule".

"As the financial sector continues to grow in the country licensed universal banks have started to branch into areas such as providing bancassurance (a bank insurance model) service to engage in capital market activities. There is the need for effective collaboration between financial sector regulators, including the Central Bank, the National Insurance Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission among others," the Governor said.

He noted that with the growing number of regional banks in the domestic economy, cooperation with these regional supervisors in the exchange of information on cross border financial activities would enhance oversight responsibility in the sector.

To enhanced competition and efficient operation of the banking system, he encouraged the broadening of the ownership of the banks by encouraging the offloading of shares on the stock market.

Mr Issac Owusu Hemeng, the immediate past president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) Ghana, said the Institute had taken steps to obtain accreditation to enable it to run degree programme.

He said the Institute had initiated a five-year strategic plan that sought to achieve the goal and to facilitate the process of reviewing the existing CIB, Ghana constitution and by-laws.

He said the Institute had introduced a compulsory continually Professional Development programmes to provide members the chance to develop and upgrade their professional knowledge and skills in the sector.

Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank was elected the new president of the Institute with effect from January 2011. He replaces Mr Issac Owusu Hemeng.

Mr Osei-Bonsu is a practising Professional Banker and Accountant with thirty years international and local working experience.

He is a Chartered Banker and fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Bankers UK and Ghana.

Source: Myjoyonline

Nwabiagya Rural Bank sweeps 3 awards

2010-11-30T02:24:00.000-08:00

Nwabiagya Rural Bank Limited at Berekese in the Atwima Nwabiagya District in the Ashanti Region has swept three awards at the 7^th Ashanti Financial Services Excellence Awards held recently in Kumasi.

The awards included Gold award for deposit mobilization, another Gold award for loans disbursement and silver for customer service in the rural banking industry in the Ashanti Region.

The Bank has recorded a consistent growth in its deposit mobilization since 2007 through to 2009 financial year. The Bank’s deposit stood at approximately GHC 9,562,600 in 2007, GHC 11,697,760 in 2008 and a little over GHC 14,851,000 in 2009.

The award ceremony was organized by Top Brass Ghana Limited under the auspices of Manhyia Palace.

The objective behind the award scheme was to acknowledge the essential contribution of financial services providers to the development of Ashanti and to honour deserving financial institutions.

The awards committee comprised representatives from the Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Association of Ghana Industries. The rest are Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ghana Export Promotion Council, Ghana Tourist Board and the Timber Industries Development Division of the Forestry Commission.

The General Manager, Samuel Nuamah Dankwa in an interview with Business and Financial Times in Kumasi said Management of the Bank was pleased with all the recognition and acknowledgments and said the awards would spur them on to ensure total fulfillment of the Bank’s promise to its customers which are demonstrated through the values of trust, respect, relationship, professionalism and above all, sense of urgency.

Source: Business and Financial Times

World Bank Ranks Ghana Top

2010-11-30T02:20:00.001-08:00

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank has hailed Ghana as the global best reformer in improving access to credit.

In its 2011 Report — Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs — the world body pledged its support for the government to implement investment-climate reforms that met the needs of the private sector and expanded business and created new economic opportunities for Ghanaians.

“This singular accomplishment by President Mills’s team at the Central Bank has improved Ghana’s ease of doing business ranking and ensured that the country remains, overall, the easiest place to do business in the West African sub-region.,” it said.

A letter signed by the Vice-President of the IFC, Mr Thierry Tanoh, commending President John Evans Atta Mills, said, “Against the backdrop of a continuing global economic crisis, Ghana has maintained leadership in the sub-region for registering property and paying taxes. This is a noteworthy achievement.”

The report noted that among the 30 most improved economies in the world over five years, a third were in sub-Saharan Africa, with six of them, including Ghana, in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

A fundamental premise of the report is that sustained economic activity requires an accessible, efficient and predictable legal and regulatory environment.

The letter said the reforms implemented to establish Africa’s centralised Collateral Registry and improve credit information and legal rights through the granting of an operating licence to a credit bureau provided immense opportunities for Ghana to progress further the deepening of its financial markets.

The World Bank also lauded Ghana’s effort at supporting small and medium-sized firms which created the majority of jobs and further praised the government’s business regulation reforms that made a difference.

Additionally, the bank commended the Mills administration for automating and streamlining procedures, improving access to information, increasing the efficiency of courts and establishing transparent processes that made compliance easier and less costly, while limiting opportunities for corruption.

“At the IFC, we look forward to continuing our efforts to support your government in implementing investment-climate reforms that meet the needs of the private sector to expand business and create new economic opportunities for Ghanaians,” the letter said.

Source: Daily Graphic

Bank and credit union form partnership

2010-11-30T01:54:00.000-08:00

United Bank of Africa and Gestro Cooperative Credit Union have launched a partnership to share common facilities and services.

The partnership also would enable customers of Gestro Credit Union to use the UBA's Automated Transfer Machine (ATM), cheque books, SMS and internet banking services to ensure efficiency in their operations. Speaking at the launch in Takoradi the Chief Executive Officer of the Gestro Cooperative Credit Union, Mr Kusi Boachie Yiadom, said the partnership would help the credit union to grow. Mr Yiadom said the partnership was the first in the history of the country where a credit union had gone into alliance with a bank to share common facilities.

He said customers of the Gestro could now pay for loans and savings through Airtel Payment System in the comfort of their homes and offices. "Gestro appealed to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to speed up the passage of the Credit Union Bill to facilitate mobilization of more resources. He said Gestro membership had increased from 640 to 10,000 with assets of GHc5, 000,000 as of October. He said the credit union had established branches at Tarkwa, Agona, Nkwanta Daboase, and two branches in Takoradi.

Source: GNA

Government to continue dialogue with banks on interest rates

2010-11-30T01:53:00.000-08:00

Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor on Thursday, said government would continue to engage the country's banks to settle on acceptable interest rate structure that would benefit Ghanaians.

He said despite a lower prime rate and a decline in inflation, the costs of borrowing in the commercial banks were still on the high side.

Dr Duffuor, who was speaking at the 50th Annual General Meeting of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), said interest rates were not coming down as fast as government expected because of high overhead cost in the banks as well as bad loans.

The Industrialists had complained about the big spread between savings and lending rates and called for government's intervention to bring the rates down.

Dr Duffuor said it was important to note that commercial banks set their lending rates based on certain factors, including operational cost and inflationary expectations.

On the industrial sector, the Finance Minister said although Ghanaian industries continued to show signs of recovery, production was not growing fast enough to increase its contribution to Gross Domestic Product.

It is in this direction that Ghana's manufacturing policy was designed to enhance the competitiveness and supply capacity of the priority sectors through cluster, export consortia and value chain development.

Dr Duffuor said government expected that the implementation of the programme would support the growth of the national agro-food and cotton, textile and garment sector and overall industrial economic performance.

"The programme will lead to significant growth in agro-food processing, improve efficiency in the use of available production capacities and resources and increase production", he said.

He assured the industrialists that government would work hand-in-hand with them to stimulate and support the overall economic growth and generate substantial jobs.

Nana Owusu-Afari, President of AGI, lauded government's efforts to achieve macroeconomic stability, saying the results seen in the continuous stability of the cedi against major currencies and the low inflation showed that the management of the economy was on the right path.

However, he said, the macroeconomic stability and the fiscal improvements must be reflected in a decline in the lending rates.

Nana Owusu-Afari called on the Bank of Ghana to develop policies that would bring down the lending rates while the commercial banks adopt appropriate risk appraisal methods to reduce their non-performing loans often cited as the main reason for the high interest rates.

He commended government for its intervention in the reduction of electricity tariffs.

Source: GNA

South Birim Bank declares 70 percent profit

2010-11-30T01:52:00.000-08:00

The South Birim Bank in the Birim South District of the Eastern Region, recorded a 70 per cent profit in 2009 over the previous year. Mr Robert K. Amoah, Board Chairman of the Bank who made this known a t the 25th Annual General Meeting of the financial entity at Akim Achiase said the 2009 profit was GH¢84,591 as against GH¢49,746 in 2008. He recalled that the bank's assets increased from GH¢596,881 in 2008 to GH¢616,632 in 2009. The Chairman of the Board declared that the bank's total deposit for the year under review was GH¢4,425,774 as against GH¢3,412,920 in 2008. Mr Amoah said out of the 131 rural banks in the country, the South Birim Bank was one of the 19 computerised.

Source: GNA

Upper Manya Kro Rural Bank opens new agency

2010-11-30T01:49:00.000-08:00

The Upper Manya Kro Rural Bank on Monday, opened a new Agency at Asokore, a suburb of Koforidua, in the New Juaben Municipality.

The opening of the agency, which coincided with the inauguration of an ultra-modern building, brings to four the number of agencies of the bank with its head quarters at Asesewa in the Upper Manya Krobo District.

The ultra-modern facility will enhance the services of the bank’s customers in and around the Asokore catchment’s area.

The building, which cost GH¢350, 000, took two years to complete.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, Mr James Otieku, said the decision by the board to put up the building was to bring a “world class” service to the doorstep of the people in the area.

Mr Otieku said they were determined to bring excellent banking services very close to the people, who needed it most- the rural community, who form the bedrock of the Ghanaian economy.

He said the bank was focused on developing a state-of the art banking facility, supported by highly trained and customer centred human resource, to deliver excellent banking services to the rural communities at competitive prices.

The board chairman said they were beginning a new phase in the life of the bank and therefore choosing Asokore as the first destination of their expansion was in the right direction.

Mr Otieku said the bank had ran a successful mobilization centre at Asokore for a number of years and when they approached the chiefs of Asokore to facilitate their desire to upgrade it to an agency status they received support from them.

He said since the bank was established 28 years ago it had achieved a lot of success in terms of investments, granting of loans, assets and payments of dividend.

Mr Otieku said the bank recorded an after tax profit of GH¢604,656 in 2009
as against GH¢375,188 for 2008, representing 61.2 percent increase.

The board chairman attributed the success of the bank over the years to prudent management strategies that ultimately slowed down the increase in operational expenses.

He said the bank was once again admitted into the “prestigious Ghana club 100, and this time around at number 23 from the previous 45th position”.

The General Manger of the bank, Mr Daniel Ransford Agyemang, in an interview, hinted that the Bank of Ghana had given approval for the opening of a new agency at Suhum early next year.

Mr Agyemang said currently the bank offers services such as Savings Account, Current Account, Fixed Deposit Account, Susu Savings and Loans, Apex Link Transfer and Project Loans and Micro- finance.

He assured that the bank would continue to offer quality services to its customers and appealed to people in and around Asokore to do business with them.

The chief of Asokore, Nana Antwi Panin II, expressed his joy at the opening of the bank and commended the board for choosing Asokore, among the lot, to bring their services to the doorstep of his people.

Source: GNA

BOG vows strict surveillance over rural banks

2010-11-23T01:07:00.000-08:00

The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has vowed to exercise strict surveillance over rural/community banks to instill sanity and discipline into their operations.

Mr K. S. Osei-Bonsu, Chief Manager, Banking Supervision Department, BOG, said it was important the boards and managements of the banks adopted sound and healthy banking practices.

He was addressing the 21st annual general meeting of the Otuasekan Rural Bank at Kofiase in the Asante-Mampong Municipality.

Mr Osei-Bonsu said with the increased and deepening dimension of operations of rural banks coupled with the increase and sophistication in the incidence of crime, the normal supervisory functions of management would not be enough to achieve the desired internal controls and discipline.

He said there was the need to strengthen the internal audit functions including employment of auditors with information technology (IT) background to provide independent assessment of the adequacy of and compliance with the bank's established policies and procedures.

He gave assurance of BOG's support to ensure steady growth and development of an efficient rural banking system, capable of initiating appropriate financial packages and products to boost especially the rural economies.

Mr Osei-Bonsu condemned the tendency for some shareholders of rural banks to constitute themselves into "concern shareholders clique", just to find fault and spread hurting rumors about the directors and staff of the banks.

This, he said, was unhelpful to the building of public confidence in the banks - affecting patronage and leading the banks into incipient distress.

Dr Nana Akowuah Boamah, the Board Chairman, said the bank made a profit after tax of GH¢ 343,808 in 2009, representing 79 per cent increase over the previous year's figure of GH¢ 191,903.

Deposits also rose from GH¢ 6,744,148 to GH¢ 9,168,188 while total assets grew from GH¢8,014,190 to GH¢ 11,170,250.

The bank's loans and advances came to GH¢ 4,724,484.48 and this was disbursed to customers into agriculture, trading, transport, industries and other productive sectors.

Nana Otuo Adjei Acheampong, Kofiasehene, advised the shareholders to increase their shareholding to expand the bank's capital base.

Source: Myjoyonline

MiDA- sponsored rural banks computerisation project start operations

2010-11-23T01:06:00.000-08:00

The Millennium Development Authority at the weekend inaugurated a fully networked operations of Dangme Rural Bank, the first to be connected to ARB Apex Data Centre, under the Ghana Rural Banks Computerisation and Inter Connectivity Project.

The project seeks to link all the 126 rural banks through the provision of Information Communications Technologies to improve financial service delivery and support to local enterprises.

The $25-million project involves the construction of a central data centre at Apex Bank, the distribution and installation of electric generators, local area network, satellite-based Wide Area Network, personal computers and accessories.

The infrastructural phase is over 95 per cent complete. The second phase would involve the deployment of standard eMerge Banking Software Application phase, which will target all the branches of the rural banks with a total branch network in 136 with more than 534 sites. To date, the consultants have computerised 19 rural banks with a total branch network in 135 with locations across the country. Mr Millison Narh, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said the expected benefits of the project include easier access to more varied and cheaper banking services, efficient customer service delivery and making the needs of customers central to the banking business. He urged the bank's management to ensure the security of the system and training of staff to enhance customers' confidence.

Mr Matthew Armah, Chief Operating Officer of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) said the decision to undertake the project was to ensure access to financial services of people in the rural communities. This, he said, would widen the rural farmer's access to savings, credit and cash transfer services and connects rural banks into the national payment systems.

"It is our fervent hope that greater access to financial services will improve the business environment across and help to sustain our newly acquired middle-income country status," he said. Mr Armah urged the Dangme Rural Bank to protect the equipment to ensure longer life span, introduced new and locally relevant banking products and honour loan obligations to sustain the future growth of the bank. Mr Hyginus Zon, Head Internal Control, ARB Apex Bank, said the comprehensive MiDA support would facilitate the participation of rural banks in the Cheque Codeline Clearing System.

He said with the inauguration of the computerisation programme, the Dangme Rural Bank could now provide back-up support at all times to enable smooth operations on an electronic platform for all rural banks. Mr Zon tasked the board and management to institute a risk management policy to identify, assess, monitor and control operational and credit risks. The bank must also strengthen its internal control mechanisms to ensure that adequate and effective measures were in place to enhance standards and improve performance, he said.

Source: Ghanaweb

Government to establish SME database - Duffuor

2010-11-23T01:05:00.000-08:00

The Government will establish a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Database to provide up-to-date information on the operations and activities of SMEs in various parts of the country. This is with the view to providing information and developing relevant support services to the SME sector, Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, said in his 2011 budget statement to Parliament on Thursday.

He said the Government would also commence the implementation of its programme to rehabilitate and strengthen six craft villages across the country. The Minister announced that the National Board for Small Scale Industries would organize 2,000 tailor-made entrepreneurial and technical improvement programs for 60,000 entrepreneurs.

The Board would also support 1,800 Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) to improve the packaging and quality of their products and establish 10 n= ew Business Advisory Centres in 10 Districts to support MSE development. Dr Duffuor said the Ghana Standards Board would tighten inspection regime for the inspection of high-risk imported goods to reduce the dumping of sub-standard goods within the country.

"The Government will continue to work with the various stakeholders to support the small and medium enterprise sector, private sector development, industrial development and overall economic growth and job creation." The Finance Minister further announced that government had approved a new Industrial Policy for the country, which focused on industrial production and distribution, technology and innovation. Further to support industrial development and local industry the Government would work on comprehensive industrial development and competiveness legislation for the development of local industries through the promotion of domestic content both in terms of human and material resources, and the transfer of technology.

He said Government would begin work on the development of a Commodity Exchange to connect the buyers and sellers of locally grown agricultural commodities in an efficient, reliable and transparent manner by making use of innovation, technology and learning from international best practices from the African continent and beyond. The Government will also begin development of an industrial salt estate at Keta in the Volta Region to promote large-scale commercial salt development. This, he said, would be in addition to ongoing SME salt development activities that were ongoing with UNICEF and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.

Source: GNA

Government to assist Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs)

2010-11-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

The Government has provided training and startup kits for 4,252 rural apprentices in metal works, auto-repairs, electronics, leatherworks, masonry and blacksmithing under the Rural Enterprise Skills Project. In addition, 500 rural micro and small-scale enterprises were supported through the training of master crafts persons and created about 8,000 new jobs in the rural areas. "Over 520 rural entrepreneurs have been supported with credit facilities worth about GH¢1,120," Dr Kwabena Duffuor announced when presenting the 2011 Budget Statement to Parliament in Accra on Thursday. He said three rural technology facilities in the Assin South, Garu Tempane and North Tongu Districts were completed and four more were about 70 per cent level of completion.

"These would allow for the manufacture of simple machinery to suppor t agro processing and small-scale industrial activities," he said. During the year under review, 18 rural technology facilities were provided with Nissan Pick-ups and standby generators, 40 District Business Advisory Centres were supplied with motorbikes, and six new Business Advisory Centres were also supplied with office equipment. The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) provided business development assistance to 23,879 businesses, 322 SMME entrepreneurs, provided training and finance through loans amounting to GH¢234,281 as part of the efforts to facilitate job creation. The GRATIS Foundation provided training to 300 technical apprentices in metal machining, welding and fabrication, foundry and woodwork. The company manufactured 141 units of cassava, and palm fruit processing equipment, which were exported to Sierra Leon and Cameroon. In addition, it developed several new prototype machines for use on the local market; they include crop residue processor, multi-crop thresher with a winnower5, food wormer, a tomato pulping machine, and a soap processing plant.

The Business Development Services Fund provided 3.3 million dollars grant to 142 SME's to acquire technical assistance to address issues of low productivity, access to markets, product development and access to finance. The Ghana Standards Board (GSB) through the Private Sector Development Strategy Phase One programme refurbished the soil and fertilizer laboratories. It also developed an Export System Alert Website to provide information to exporters on export quality queries and alerts from the country's major export markets to exporter. The GSB also inspected 2,663 fuel pumps and accessories at 432 fuel stations, calibrated 3,438 weighting and measuring instruments, verified 18,572 trading devices, reviewed and adopted 252 standards for ensuring the quality of selected products. To streamline exports of non-ferrous scrap metal LI 1969 was passed in 2010 to ensure that exporters did not misclassify ferrous scrap for local production, while LI 1962 was passed to ensure the payment of corporate income tax by free Zone Enterprises registered under the Free Zones Act.

Source GNA

Volta Trade, Investment and Cultural Fair is here again

2010-11-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

The Volta Region would open itself up again for two weeks from November 22 to December 5 for entrepreneurs to take another close look for business opportunities which the 20,570 km square land mass has. It is worth noting that there have been many attempts in the past through small shows, political platform talks and trips abroad to showcase the potentials of the Region.

This version, The Volta Trade and Investment Fair, which made its debut in 2009, is perhaps the most ambitious jingling of the wares of the Region ever.

Fair planners have added a cultural aspect to the 2010 event and christened it Volta Trade and Investment and Cultural Fair. The Fair coordinated by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) is under the auspices of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC). Collaborating agencies include the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), the Municipal and District Assemblies, Ho Polytechnic, the Volta Regional House of Chiefs and the Volta Foundation, a regional development advocacy group.

Planning Committee Publicity Chief, Richard Ameyedewo, says the cultural aspect is to bring on board something that adds value to the area's tourism potential. So the 2010 event is somewhat unique. The Volta Region by the 2000 population census has 1,635,421 people. It has virtually all the vegetation zones in the country - sandy beaches, grassland, semi-deciduous and deciduous forests, semi and thick forested zones.

It has its fair share of waters. The most prominent is the Volta Lake, whose middle and lower courses wash the region from north to south where there is the Atlantic Ocean.

The region, largely agrarian, is scenic, with many nature sites which are in their crude form waiting to be developed.

In the area of big industries, the Volta Region is a desolate tract. Flagship Juapong Textiles collapsed once, was resurrected and given a new name and owners, but is comatose again. Now there is only one medium level industry in the Region - the Diamond Cement Factory at Aflao. Agriculture, the mainstay of the Region's economy, is at the primary level, producing with hoes and cutlasses. There only a few big farms and a few big time farmers; almost all farmers are smallholder subsistence farmers. Irrigated farms are also negligible, the much touted Afife Irrigation project being perhaps the only one of significance. The Volta Region is in the bottom rungs of a number of economic growth indicators, according to a 2008 survey of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) that covered subjects ranging from Technology usage to Enabling Business Climate.

According to Mr Seth Quarshie Yawlui, Adviser to the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), the institution that is for the second year running facilitating the Volta Fair, the survey indicates that the Volta Region is the least in terms of the "Ease of Doing Business in Ghana." However, the region has a higher potential to support viable business investment if the bottlenecks are tackled. Mr Yawlui is calling for "changes in some of the business trends to improve productivity, employment and the fortunes of the business practitioners".

He notes that the key areas of business in the region are tourism and agriculture, which remain largely untapped. Finding the wherewithal within and without to mine the salt in basins and environs of Keta; grow and process legumes, vegetables and fruits; cultivate sugarcane in the vast soggy lands; grow the grains, roots and tubers across the region from Keta to Kete-Krachi is all that the Fair is seeking to nudge the region to do.

Additionally, the cocoa industry must not die as its potentials and those of the palm and coconut industries could be immeasurable when linked properly with some forms of processing. The Region's other competitive industrial strength is tourism. The investments should be directed at integrating the nature sites into running businesses.

As these areas grow, other service sectors would follow to give business in Volta Region a boom. That region is strategically placed between the bustling markets of Tema-Accra metropolis and the huge Togo, Benin and Nigerian clientele to the east. Colonel Cyril Necku, (rtd) Deputy Volta Regional Minister, two months after the 2009 Fair, told the GNA in Ho that the Region could be at the threshold of a business take-off following the flurry of business enquiries and contacts.

Consequently, he said, the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) was configuring new and existing business support bureaucracies to manage the emerging situation. Colonel Necku, who is Chairman of the Fair Planning Committee, said among companies and groups that had made enquiries were the Council of Ewe Associations in North America (CEANA), Bill Gates and Ford Foundations. He also mentioned a huge interest of Chinese concerns in agriculture and they had already come looking round abandoned State Farms for possible reactivation.

Planning Committee Publicity Chief, Richard Ameyedewo, states that that pudding can be tastier after the successful 2009 event, as more companies and groups have expressed interest. The business scenario in the region is not different this year. The seminars behind the scenes would be discussing credit management and business management skills and experts would be on hand to strap-up linkages just as it happened last year. Mr Emmanuel Yao Nyaku, Volta Regional Manager of the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI), is concerned that micro businesses were not visible last year and says they must be targeted since that sector "is the pillar of the regional economy". Big businesses wherever must integrate their supply linkages into the local economy, and same must happen in the Volta Region to raise living standards.

Exhibition planners must go beyond the platform speeches and fanfares of the stands to serious business throughout the year by linking the Volta Region to the rest of the world through the information highway, stock up-to-date data on all that is business about the Volta Region at offices across the Region. People must know at the click of a button how much is invested in the region, the sources and areas. Perhaps it is not too much to demand of all officers of the various Assemblies and the VRCC and other stakeholders, especially the front desk officers, to become mental billboards of the bid of the Volta Region to go big time commercial.

Source: GNA

Management of FDB trains SMEs in food industry

2010-11-23T00:59:00.000-08:00

Dr Stephen Opuni, Chief Executive Officer of Food and Drugs Board, (FBD) on Tuesday said it is unfortunate Ghana is still struggling with product quality, expertise and knowledge in current food safety management systems.

Like other developing countries, it also lacks information regarding product certification to international standards. Speaking at the closing session of a training programme, organised by the FDB for 25 selected Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs ) in the food industry nationwide, in Accra, Dr Opuni noted that it is for this reason that governments worldwide are promoting policies and strategies that seek to address the challenges facing SMEs to enhance their competitiveness. He observed: "While some developed economies have instituted comprehensive food safety and quality systems to ensure safe food; developing countries like Ghana are battling with poor pre and post harvest handling practices."

The training comes at a time when high competitiveness in the local and international market is making it difficult for processed food products that are below standards to access into these markets. He said in line with its mandate to protect public health and safety among others, the FDB collaborated with the Private Sector Development Strategy (PSDs) to train SMEs on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMPs), Quality Management System (QMS) and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.

Dr Opuni said seven categories were selected made up of: Powdered Cocoa Beverage, Confectionary, Fruit Juice, Packaged Water, Nuts and Seeds, Non Alcoholic Drinks and Cereal products. In addition, the selected companies would be provided with technical assistance to implement GMP and QMS Action plans, he said, and added that the FDB would conduct post implementation audits to assess the functionality of the systems to ensure sustainability. Dr Opuni urged the participating enterprises to take advantage of the opportunity being offered by the Government and FDB to improve on their knowledge and skills in implementing and maintaining a functional food safety management system to enhance not only competitiveness on the market but also assure consumer safety.

Source GNA

Sekyedomase Rural Bank declares profit

2010-11-23T00:53:00.000-08:00

The Sekyedomase Rural Bank made profit before tax of GH¢118,380.00 in 2009, Mr David Okyere, the Board Chairman, has said. This, he said, represented 41 per cent increase over the previous year's figure of GH¢83,871.00. Mr Okyere was addressing the 21st annual general meeting of the bank at Sekyedomase in the Ejura-Sekyedumase District.
He said during the period its total assets rose from GH¢5,415,753.00 to GH¢6,091,098, a 12.50 per cent growth The bank's deposits also went up by 22 per cent from GH¢4,074,117.99 to GH¢4,967,112.00, while investment in treasury bills jumped to GH¢2,137,000.00 from GH¢1,717,000. Loans and advances also stood at GH¢2,465,097.00 with share capital hitting GH¢165,975.19. He said 1,100 women from 58 groups were supported with GH¢400,000.00 to engage in economic activities to reduce rural poverty. Dr Nana Akowuah Boamah, Executive Member, Ashanti Chapter of the Association of Rural Banks, called for prompt re-payment of loans by beneficiaries so that the facility could be extended to other customers. He urged the staff of the bank to exhibit high sense of responsibility and to improve on customer relations to attract more clients. Mr Kwame Dapaah Siakwan, Chairman of the Ashanti Chapter of the Association, commended the bank for the progress made and appealed to the shareholders who have not opened accounts with the bank to do so.

Source GNA

Ghanaian businesses advised to operate within standards

2010-11-12T02:55:00.001-08:00

Dr Joyce Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, on Thursday urged Ghanaian businesses to ensure that they operated within internationally accepted standards to enhance the country's economic status.

Quoting the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Dr Aryee said "Business practices rooted in universal values could bring social and economic gains," and urged Ghanaian businesses to join the United Nations Global Compact. The Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative that encourages businesses worldwide to align their operations and strategies within certain universally accepted principles' in the area of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Dr Aryee at a press soiree to educate Ghanaians about the programme, stressed the importance of Ghanaian businesses joining the Global compact saying, "the way we do business in this country can make or unmake the nation."

She further advised businesses to work against anti-corruption in all its forms including extortion and bribery. Giving the background of the UN Global Compact, she said the programme was launched in year 2000 as a response to a challenge by the former UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan at the World Economic Forum in January 1999. Dr Aryee said there were about 46 Ghanaian companies, who were members and had formed a network with other stakeholders to learn and exchange experiences and urged other non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, civil society organizations including the media to come together to advance the cause of the Global Compact. She emphasized that the Global Compact was a commitment to good corporate responsibility.

Mrs Christy Ahenkora-Banya, Focal Person of the UN Global Compact in Ghana, said development was not about government only but it was also about the private sector.

Source: GNA

Revised MASLOC ensures transparency devoid of politics

2010-11-12T02:54:00.001-08:00

The revised Micro-credit and Small Loans Schem e (MASLOC) will ensure transparency and value for money devoid of partisan consideration, Mr Joseph .Z. Amenowode, Volta Regional Minister on Thursday said. He said the Scheme left uncollected loans of about GH¢180,000 in t= he Volta Region under the previous administration and pledged that defaulter= s would be "hauled" before the courts soon.

Mr Amenowode said this at the dissolution of the Hohoe Municipal Assembly to pave way for the December 2010 district level election. He said the procedures under the Scheme were fraught with avoidable irregularities and government could not allow such gross indiscipline and

malfeasance to continue. Mr Amenowode, also the Member of Parliament for Hohoe South, cautioned others benefiting from the loans that the Scheme was a revolving one and as such it would be able to grant the facility to new recipients upon repayment. "This is not free party money for distribution to party cohorts but targeted at cushioning small businesses to gain financial autonomy for socio-economic development, job and wealth creation," he said. Dwelling on security with reference to the recent disturbance at the Aflao border, Mr Amenowode expressed indignation, saying an unprofessiona l conduct by a security personnel, could lead to widespread destruction of state property. He called on citizens along the country's eastern frontier with Togo to engage security personnel mounting the borders in healthy relationships. The Regional Minister reminded citizens to always use state institutions and the right procedures to resolve conflicts and problems instead resorting to violence and spewing of vengeance. Mr Amenowode expressed disquiet about a similar notoriety and violent attacks on security men at Wli and Leklebi border posts. On cocoa and related smuggling menace, he was optimistic that the recent upward price hikes would stem the smuggling nuisance. Mr Amenowode said government was considering making traditional authorities and other stakeholders in cocoa growing areas to take centre-stage in efforts to curb the menace of smuggling. He appealed to the smugglers to stop the menace.

Source: GNA

Inflation flat at 9.38 per cent in October

2010-11-12T02:53:00.000-08:00

The rate of inflation for October was 9.38 per cent, unchanged from September, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said on Wednesday.

The flat rate halts the 15th consecutive monthly fall since June 2009, when the rate stood at 20.74 per cent.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages group has been recording single digit inflation rate since January 2010, falling from 9.08 to 5.62 per cent in October.

On the other hand, non-food inflation though on the decline, has been recording double digit inflation, reaching 11.82 per cent in September this year.

Inflation rates in the Regions ranged from 6.09 per cent in the Volta Region to 14.93 per cent in Greater Accra Region.

Five Regions - Western, Volta, Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo - registered rates below the national rate of 9.38 per cent.

Source: GNA

Rural banks urged to pay regular dividend to shareholders

2010-11-12T02:52:00.002-08:00

Mr John Oremus Arkoh, the District Chief Executive for Agona East, has appealed to Rural and Community banks to pay dividend regularly to shareholders to attract other corporate bodies to increase their share capitals. Mr Arkoh said this when he addressed the 24th Annual General Meeting of the Agona Rural Bank at Agona Kwanyako.

He said failure by some rural banks to pay attractive dividends to the shareholders had discour aged people from investing in the rural banking industry. He urged rural banks to improve upon their share capitals, adding that the current banking industry needed adequate capital to meet numerous challenges facing in order compete against big banks. Mr Arkoh appealed to them to assist small scale enterprises to enable hem expand their businesses.

Mr Arkoh said the government had secured 7 million Euros concessionary loan from the German government to assist Rural and Community banks for the provision of E-Zwich cards and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) for effective work in rural areas. Major Ben Donkoh (RTD), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, said the bank granted loans and advances totaling 717,293 in 2009 as against 687,810 Ghana Cedis in 2008.

He said the bank declared a profit of 22,541 Ghana cedis in 2009 as against a loss of 28,584 Ghana cedis in 2008. Major Donkoh urged the shareholders to buy more share to increase the share capital to meet the Bank of Ghana Requirement of 150,000 Ghana Cedis.

Source: GNA

Greater Accra still the main destination for most investment projects

2010-11-12T02:52:00.001-08:00

The Greater Accra region continues to attract most of the projects registered by foreign investors with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.

According to the GIPC’s quarterly report from July to September this year, more than 90 percent of the 97 projects will be located in Accra.

Joy Business’ George Wiafe went through the entire report and revealed that in all, 216 million dollars was invested in the country between July and September this year from the 97 projects registered with the center.

Seventy of the projects were wholly foreign-owned whiles the remainder were joint ventures between Ghanaians and foreign partners.

The services sector will absorb about 34 of the projects whiles general trading would take up the rest. China topped the list of countries with the highest number of projects registered.

Nigeria on the other hand brought in the most in terms of value. They registered a total of 191 million dollars’ worth of investment.

Source: Joy Business

Akim Bosome Rural Bank increases its deposits

2010-11-12T02:51:00.000-08:00

The Akim Bosome Rural Bank's deposits increased from GHC 2.896 million in 2008 to GHC 3.753 million in 2009, representing an increase of 30 percent, Mr George Kumi-Brobbey, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has said. Addressing the 21st Annual General Meeting of the bank at Akyem Swedru, he said the increase in deposits demonstrated the public's confidence in the bank.

Mr Kumi-Brobbey said the bank continued to mobilize resources from existing and new customers and in 2009 the number of customers stood at 32,328 as against 27,321 in 2008. Investments rose from GHC 552,584.65 in 2008 to GHC 1,997,951.54 last year, representing 262 percent.

Outstanding advances decreased from GHC 1,544,284.28 in 2008 to GHC 1,186,253.36 in 2009, resulting in a decline of 23 percent which he attributed to good loan portfolio management. Mr Kumi-Brobbey said the bank made huge capital and recurrent expenditure on its computerization and also employed and trained 16 additional staff in the year under review.

The bank also renovated the Kwae staff bungalow, Asamankese and Akim Ofoase branches at a cost of GHC 103,248.43 from its income. Total assets of the bank rose from GHC 3,789,618.41 in 2008 to GHC 4,856,223.26 in 2009 representing a growth of 28 percent. The bank Net worth increased from GHC 525,391.49 in 2008 to GHC 531,830.87 in 2009. Mr Kumi-Brobbey said the bank continued to support communities, institutions and individuals in its catchment's area.

The bank supported the Attafuah Senior High School (SHS) at Akyem Oda by providing 50 bags of cement, supported the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court by providing two sets of furniture, one table top fridge, two ceiling fans, floor carpet, wire mesh and a bundle of nylon net. The Birim Municipal Assembly and the Birim South District Assembly and the Ghana Education Service were also given cutlasses and a set of sporting equipment during last year Farmers' Day and inter-schools sporting festivities.

Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, the Managing Director, ARB Apex Bank Limited, in a speech read on his behalf, said with reference to the Apex Bank Efficiency Monitoring Unit (EMU) Report for the half year 2010, the Bosome Rural Bank was ranked 43 out of 131 rural and community banks with audited profit before tax of GHC 56,012.89.

He congratulated management and staff of the bank and urged them to continue to provide quality service to their customers with the view to further expanding their deposit base.

Mr Osei-Bonsu said the bank's stated capital of GHC 213,000.00 was inadequate and appealed to the shareholders to buy more shares. He said due to the changing scenes on the banking terrain, coupled with competition from the commercial banks, Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) needed to have a very solid strategic alliance to enable them to stay in competitive business.

"We would therefore like to whip up the proposed merges of some rural banks as well as the criteria to be agreed upon by you so that weak ones would be strengthened through these merges".

Source:GNA

Ghana attains middle income status

2010-11-12T02:50:00.002-08:00

Latest figures released by Ghana’s Statistical Service indicate the country’s economy stands at GH¢44 billion, 60 per cent more than earlier estimated.

The country per this new figure is deemed to have attained a middle income status.

Government’s statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako told Joy Business the new figures confirm suspicions that the economy has been grossly undervalued at least for the past five years.

She said the re-basing of the economy is in line with international best practice and has been possible due to additional data gathered.

"The figures show we are now in a lower middle income," she said, adding that the country must work harder to break into the higher middle income status.

Per the new records, Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product for 2009 is said to be 6.6 percent instead of the 5.9 percent earlier announced. The growth rate for 2008 shot up to 8.4 percent instead of the 7.2 percent.

Ghana has the largest Per Capita Income in West Africa but 21st in the continent.

But a policy think tank, IMANI Ghana, is contesting the timing of the new figures.

Franklin Cudjoe, Executive Director of the IMANI, told Joy News the new figures could have negative repercussion on the country’s debt servicing portfolio, explaining that donor partners will no longer be obliged to support the country’s economy.

“Clearly I don’t think this is the way we do things economically. I don’t think just waking up and announcing this, especially in this kind of economy when data quality is a serious issue; you just don’t wake up to announce suddenly that you are there,” he said.

Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Over 100,000 jobs created in 9 months through investments

2010-11-12T02:50:00.001-08:00

More than a hundred thousand Ghanaians are supposed to benefit from jobs resulting from investments made between January and September this year.

Another 16 thousand of the jobs created within the same period will however go to foreigners.

According to the third quarter 2010 investment report from the Ghana Investment Promotion Center, the total of 116,000 jobs is far in excess of the 20,000 jobs created in the same period last year.

According to the report the country has fast improved its economy by implementing sound monetary and fiscal policies, providing enhanced service delivery and increasing infrastructure development.

The Chief Executive GIPC, Mr George Aboagye told Joy News Ghana had gained such prominence that businesses streaming in to do business and creating jobs in the process.

He maintained the jobs were no fluke.

Source: Joy News/Ghana

Government invests GHS1.7m in Rural Technology Facilities

2010-11-12T02:49:00.001-08:00

The Government is spending GHS1.7 million for the extension and retooling of the Rural Technology Facilities (RTFs) to promote micro enterprises under the Rural Enterprise Project (REP).

The RTFs lead in the promotion, adaptation and transfer of appropriate technologies to farmers, agro-processors, metal-based artisans and other rural micro and small scale enterprises.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Hannah Tetteh, says the REP is being expanded into a National Rural Enterprises Programme to cover all rural districts in Ghana. Under the expansion, 25 new RTFs are to be established, in addition to the existing 21 facilities.

She noted that the programme is “expected to engage all relevant public and private sector institutions to work together at the district, regional and national levels to facilitate job creation and income generation for micro and small scale entrepreneurs”.

The Trade Minister was speaking at a ceremony in Kumasi to formally hand over 18 4X4 pick-up vehicles to the rural technology facilities located within participating REP districts. The total cost is US$439,830.00 funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In addition, Business Advisory Centers from 40 districts received 47 motorbikes, amounting to GH₵109,846.99

Ms. Tetteh says it is the responsibility of the district assemblies to own the project resources and use them prudently to generate wealth for the good of the people, emphasizing that “if your districts are going to fulfill the potential and meet your obligations of decentralization, it means that you’re going to have to find ways of raising your own revenue. The more that you encourage enterprise creation, which in turn encourage job creation, the better your chances of generating your own revenue because not all the districts are going to be able to survive on property rate”.

More jobs

REP Project Coordinator, Kwasi Attah-Antwi says 20,000 new small businesses and 50,000 new jobs have been created in 66 participating districts since the phase two of the project started in 2003.

Over 25,000 small enterprises have also adopted new and improved technologies in their business operations, whilst 30,000 increased production and sales.

According to him, over 196,000 persons have benefitted from direct project services of which 56 percent constitute women.

The implementation of the current phase is scheduled to end in June 2011.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv FM/Kumasi

SMEs should be given tax free incentives for 5 years --Kofi Bentil

2010-11-12T02:47:00.000-08:00

Mr. Kofi Bentil, a business consultant and lecturer at Ashesi University has asked the government to provide SMEs with a tax-free 5-year period of operation to allow these indigenous small companies have a firm footing before these taxes are introduced.

Mr. Bentil who was a panel member at the Joy Business/World Bank Economic Dialogue Series on the theme "Stimulating Small Business to Achieve Faster Economic Growth" outlined three radical points that he says would help boost the SME sector.

He said the main frustrations of start-up businesses come from the government and municipal assemblies who have placed taxes on the businesses before they even start operations.

Mr. Bentil added; “you have graduates who don’t have work and you have small businesses that have work and need graduates. You can’t connect them because graduates are too expensive. You hire him [graduates], you have to pay tax, you have to pay social security…and then the government comes in to put money in LEAP and Youth Employment, millions of dollars that go waste mostly… and the same government comes in to tax the small businesses who need the graduates most.”

Secondly, Mr. Bentil suggests, for the SME sector to receive the necessary attention, lands and uncompleted buildings need to be titled properly. This he said, would allow entrepreneurs to have the needed backbone to get funding for starting their businesses or for expansion.

He said “it is not the duty of the bank to give anybody money to start a business”, insisting that individuals who want to start a business must work to find ways to get support from close relations or use properties that they own to get such financial support.

In his third point, Mr. Kofi Bentil further proposed that there is no venture capital to help entrepreneurs who have great ideas and want to set up. “We don’t have any venture capitals in the country. They are in name only, there is zero, none.”

He explained that the venture capitals are supposed to take risks or help entrepreneurs take risks after adequate assessments but these venture capitals have become banks and ask for the same requirements that banks do. He has therefore advised the government to ‘force’ venture capitals to ‘venture’ and do what they have been set up to do.

SMEs are regarded as riskier businesses

Dr. Joe Abbey of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), who was also a panel member however believes that the nation should learn from what has happened in the United States of America where there is a clear definition of what an SME is.

Dr. Abbey said “we should promote the sector by encouraging relationships between various professional bodies to come up with ways to support the sector.”

He advised would-be entrepreneurs to employ professional agents to stand in for them when they go out to seek for loans or support from financial institutions. This he believes will allow agents who know the way around the banks to perform their duty to get the support needed.

He however added that banks see the SMEs are riskier businesses and therefore collateral for businesses in the sector are sometimes higher and the loans received relatively lower than those for large business.

All speakers agreed that the SME sector is key to the economic growth of the country and therefore asked authorities to expedite action on making the sector more viable.

Mr. Eugene Nunoo of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) project unit of the Ministry of Trade and Industry said there are various plans being instituted to ensure that the SMEs are catered for. He said programmes such as the Partial Credit Guarantee programme which supports about 50 per cent of the risks that some banks take in funding businesses have been around for sometime and will help boost the sector.

Other programmes such as the the Long term financing programme and a performance based technical assistance programme are all in operation to help restructure the sector.

The Joy Business/World Bank Economic Dialogue programme is a monthly business programme created to allow industry players to brainstorm on ways to help grow the Ghanaian economy.

Story by Derick Romeo Adogla and Fidel Amoah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Akyempim Rural Bank declares profit

2010-11-01T08:41:00.002-07:00

The Akyempim Rural Bank at Gomoa Dawurampong in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region has declared a profit of GH¢113,320.00 for the year 2009, as against GH¢109,546 in the 2008 financial year.

Col. Rtd K.K. Nyame, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, said this at the 25th Annual General Meeting of the shareholders at Dawurampong.

He said the deposits of the Bank increased by 27 per cent to GH¢3,653,528 in 2009 from GH¢2,875,097 in 2008, while the total assets also grew from GH¢4,160,753 in 2008 to GH¢4,901,248 in 2009.

The Chairman said the investment at the close of 2009 stood at GH¢1,000,000 as against GH¢800,000 in 2008. Col Nyame declared that even though the Bank had met the Bank of Ghana stated minimum capital requirement by December 2007, it had increased fromGH¢203,861 in 2008 to GH¢254,620 in 2009.

He said the Bank had disbursed a total of GH¢2,280,387.00 in 2009, as loans and advances to 6,344 customers in the area of transport, education, agriculture, construction and property acquisition, as against GH¢2,239,565 in 2008, and recommended the payment of GH¢26,851 as dividend to be distributed at GH¢0.02 per share to the shareholders of the bank.

Col Nyame said a total of GH¢13,426 had been issued as bonus share at the cost of GH¢3.4 per share to raise GH¢45,648.00 as additional capital to bring the start-up capital to over GH¢254,000.

Mr Eric Bonsu, Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank whose speech was red on his behalf, said the Apex Bank was in the process of creating special unity to provide custodial services for rural and community banks to manage Tiers II and III new pension scheme contributions.

He said, "If we are able to do this, delays associated with the current system will be a thing of the past since the level of re-organization of the pension schemes in Ghana has been completed by the government."

He said the Apex Bank will start negotiating the payment of insurance claims to the Rural Banks, adding that it would bring additional income to the banks.

On the micro finance, Mr Bonsu said the operation will create an opportunity to diversify banks portfolios and extend credit facilities to a large number of people, in addition to influencing donors to channel more assistance to support the economy in the rural areas.

He appealed to the existing and potential shareholders of the bank to acquire more shares to increase the share capital.

Source: GNA

SMEs urged to use energy efficient technologies

2010-11-01T08:41:00.001-07:00

Operators of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were on Wednesday tasked to employ energy efficient technologies and energy conservation practices to reduce their operating costs.

Mr Stephen Duodu, Programmes Manager of Energy Foundation, said it was government's policy to recover the full cost of electricity services, adding "this together with increasing fuel prices has resulted in higher electricity tariffs than most businesses have known in the past".

He said the cost of energy was no longer going to be subsided adding that increases in tariffs would be done periodically hence the need to find ways and means of educating operators of SMEs to save energy.

Mr Duodu, who was speaking at a day's energy efficiency training programme for SMEs in Accra, stressed the need for operators to be schooled so they could analyse Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) bills.

The seminar, which drew 60 SME Energy Managers, was under the theme: "Increasing Profitability through Energy Efficiency and Conservation."

It was aimed at equipping participants with knowledge to improve plant efficiency in a most cost effective way, save jobs as well as the environment.

The seminar, which comes in the wake of recent increases in electricity tariffs, was organized by the Energy Foundation in collaboration with the Ghana Association of Industries (AGI) and funded by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Mr Duodu recounted the confusion over ECG bills over the years and said members should now be able to analyse the bills and know how much they were paying when it came to energy.

He told the participants that the Foundation had the expertise to assist businesses to identify and implement energy efficiency projects so they could reduce their operating costs.

To this end, Mr Duodu said, the Foundation was undertaking energy efficiency and conservation training for energy managers, engineers, decision makers and accountants to enable them to appreciate and mainstream energy efficiency and conservation in their operations.

Mr E.K.A. Dickson, an energy consultant, who briefed participants on "Energy Management in Industries", said the first step in energy conservation was "to understand electricity bills".

He, therefore, asked participants to use energy efficient and high quality equipment, and also maintain them regularly.

Mrs Awurabena Okrah, Executive member of AGI, urged the participants to learn and understand the rudiments that went into components of the ECG bills to save cost and enhance productivity.

Source: GNA

Banks challenged to promote agriculture ventures

2010-11-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Kwaebibirem, in the Eastern region, Mr George Agyemang Duah, at the weekend, called on financial institution to promote agricultural activities in the country, through input credit facilities to farmers.

"Its time for all Financial Institutions to respond positively to the improved Macro-Economic environment in the country, by bringing lending rates down to enable small scale farmers to grow.

"The country's economy could only grow if the Financial Institutions supported farmers with long-term credit facilities to grow," Mr Agyemang Duah stated at Kade to outdoor the Kwaebibirem Agape Project (KAP) for farmers.

The job creation and empowerment project is being undertaken by KAP, in collaboration with International Charity for Africa (ICA), a Canadian NGO, and seeks to mobilize and assist farmers to cultivate vegetables for export, in the Kwaebibirem district.

The DCE urged the banks to integrate their financial support scheme with assistance packages for agriculture-related activities, as that was the leading economic activity in the country.

"It is even more compelling for you to provide special loan packages on favourable terms to farmers," he said.

He noted that government had amply demonstrated its readiness to provide employment for Ghanaians through pragmatic efforts at state and private sectors of the economy.

Mr Agyemang Duah commended KAP for initiating the farmers mobilization and job creation project, which falls in line with Governments job creation policy of the Better Ghana Agenda.

Mr Edward Kofi Ametepe, District Director of the Ministry Food and Agriculture, challenged the youth to take advantage of the Agriculture project, saying, it was the best strategy by a government to provide employment for the teeming youth.

He noted that, the policy would also enable the government to succeed in luring those engaged in menial jobs in urban centres back to their communities to contribute to the development process.

Mr Ametepe urged the youth to discard the erroneous notion that agriculture was the preserve of school dropouts and the handicapped.

Mr Anthony Obeng Afrane, Founder and Executive Director of Kwaebibirem Agape Project identified unemployment and poverty as the bane of Africa's development and called on international donor agencies to assist non-governmental organisations to compliment government's efforts.

He said: "the obvious solution to poverty is creating employment ventures…if we want to drastically reduce poverty in this country then there must be the need to empower our rural folks to engage in a more financially viable way of farming so they could realize much from their sweat".

Mr Afrane said the project established over the last eight months has engaged and helped about 200 farmers to cultivate over 200 acres of vegetables.

Anne Griffore and Shawn Crocker of International Charity for Africa said their NGO focuses on delivering community level poverty alleviation support, through small enterprise economic development.

ICA provides tools, small-business coaching and skills training to promising entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, so that they will grow their small businesses, and in turn, create meaningful employment opportunities for the people in Africa, to help reduce poverty on the continent.

ICA's approach is that, when people earn fair wages, they are able to provide their families with fundamental needs, such as food, housing, clothing, health, and education.

Other speakers were Dr Paul Kwasi Ntaanu, President of African Silk Network, and also a consultant of FAO and Mrs Juliana Opuni, of the Vegetables Exporters Association of Ghana.

Source: GNA

Rural banks told to be wary of fraudsters

2010-11-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

The Managing Director of ARP Apex Bank Limited, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, has appealed to rural banks to be more alert and exercise good judgment in accepting students on industrial attachment and national service postings.

This, he said, had become necessary as many of them are fraudsters out to swindle and make money.

He said a number of the banks had already lost huge sums of money through the fraudulent manipulations of these national service personnel and students on internship.

The warning was contained in an address read for him at the 23rd Annual General Meeting of Amanano Rural Bank held at Bibiani.

Mr. Osei Bonsu said it was important to strengthen their internal controls and supervision to make it impossible for anyone to steal.

He also drew attention of the banks to the need to ensure due diligence and cross check all huge amounts of cash withdrawals.

Earlier, the Board Chairman of the Bank, Mr Isaac Kwasi Asante, declared that the bank made a profit before tax of GH¢ 402,416.00 on its operations 2009.

This showed a 65 per cent increase over the previous year's figure of GH¢ 243,342.

He said it also saw remarkable increase of the bank's stated capital from GH¢ 151,850 to GH¢ 228,662 during the period. At the same time, assets rose by 58 per cent from GH¢ 4,275,000 to GH¢ 6,734,000.

Mr. Asante said to help boost the economies of rural communities within the bank's operation area, its total credit support for the economic activities of customers came to GH¢736,104.05 during the review period.

Additionally, it spent GH¢ 7,913.00 on social responsibility

Source: GNA

GIPC acquires land banks to help attract investors

2010-11-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has acquired tracts of land in strategic parts of the country to facilitate the location of investments in the country.

The idea is to help ease some of the encumbrances involved in Ghana's land market to investors that the centre woos to the country, many of which get frustrated by the complex land tenure system in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC Mr George Aboagye, told the Graphic Business that the plots included about 2,000 acres in Sekondi, 600 acres in Shama, both in the Western Region as well as a total of 2,000 acres in the Accra-Tema area.

Mr Aboagye said those in the Western Region would be developed in to an integrated alumina production to facilitate the effective use of the country's bauxite deposits which had been sitting for a long time with little use.

Ghana for a long time has had a shelved plan for the development of the bauxite industry right from the extraction to the production of final products such as kitchenware, doors and other materials for the construction industry. It explains the setting up of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), an aluminium smelter to feed companies such as Aluworks to produce intermediate products for the factories to finish into cookware and other products for households and the building industry.

Meanwhile, the GIPC says it now completes the registration of new businesses in five working days, a positive departure from the several weeks that it took investors to register their businesses.

The new move is part of what the centre calls 'hand holding policy' where it assigns an officer to an investor to assist in registration so as to move the process faster.

The policy is necessary in helping Ghana to attract foreign direct investment, which is now in high demand following renewed interest in the investor community in Far East and Asian countries such as China, South Korea, India and other emerging countries like Brazil and Eastern Europe.

According to the Head of Promotion, Mr Edward Ashong Lartey, arrangements were in place with the Bank of Ghana to facilitate the quick transfer of capital by investors in foreign currencies through the banking system and converted to Ghana cedis to start business.

The centre has therefore urged the investor community to turn their attention to Ghana as the leading destination of businesses in West Africa, where they could look beyond the oil and gas industry and invest in other viable sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and agro-processing, information and communications technology and tourism.

Source: Graphic Business

Regulate the operations of credit unions - CUA

2010-11-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Ghana Cooperative Unions Association (CUA), has appealed to government to take steps to ensure that the operations of credit unions are properly regulated.

Mr. Cyprian Basing, Board Chairman, said it was time that a well-functioning legal and regulatory framework was put in place to streamline the activities of the credit unions, which had over the years helped to create wealth and reduce poverty.

The credit union had since its introduction in the country about 50 years ago, significantly contributed to the building of savings culture and provided the people with access to various financial investment opportunities to improve their lives.

Mr. Basing was addressing the 2010 International Credit Union Day held by the Ashanti Regional Chapter of the CUA in Kumasi under the theme; “Local Trusted - Serving You.”

The Board Chairman counseled the various unions to ensure best practices, reminding them that prudent management of their finances was crucial to their sustainability and viability.

He spoke of the giant strides made within the last decade, noting that they had seen steady rise in assets, savings, loan services and membership.

Currently there are about 527 unions with a total membership of over 550,000 operating under the apex body of CUA.

Mr. Basing said efforts must be made to ensure that the goal of fighting poverty and creating wealth was sustained.

Dr. Yaw Dwomoh-Fokuo, a Lecturer at the Pharmacy Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, commended the Board for its hard work, which had resulted in stability in terms of savings mobilization, credit management, product development and service delivery.

Source: GNA

Accra Bourse Index inches up

2010-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

The GSE All-Share Index, the benchmark measure of performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange, inched up by 3.62 points to close Monday’s session at 6,759.08 points from 6,755.46 points.

This brings the gains made so far this year to 21.30 per cent.

There were two price changes – both positive.

Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) gained GH¢0.02 to close at GH¢0.72 while Ghana oil Company (GOIL) gained GH¢0.01 to close at GH¢0.26.

Traded volume closed the session at 171,108 shares valued at GH¢72,780.12.

Market capitalisation closed the session at GH¢19,825.68.

The following are the closing prices of equities in Ghana Cedis:

Companies Share Code Closing Prices Change

Accra Brewery Ltd ABL 0.11
African Champion Industries Ltd ACI 0.08
Anglo Gold Ashanti AGA 34.00
Aluworks Limited ALW 0.19
Ayrton Drug Man. Ltd. AYRTN 0.16
Benso Oil Palm Plantation BOPP 0.72 +0.02
Cal Bank Limited CAL 0.29
CFAO Ghana Limited CFAO 0.03
Clydestone Ghana Ltd CLYD 0.07
Camelot Ghana Limited CMLT 0.16
Cocoa Processing Com Ltd CPC 0.02
Ecobank Ghana Ltd EBG 3.00
Enterprise Insurance Co. Ltd EIC 1.75
Ecobank Transnational Inc. ETI 0.14
Fan Milk Limited FML 9.17
Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd GCB 1.90
Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd GGBL 1.56
Ghana Oil Company GOIL 0.26 +0.01
Golden Star Resources GSR 6.07
Golden Web Ltd GWEB 0.05
HFC Bank Ltd HFC 0.47
Mechanical Lloyd Co. Ltd MLC 0.14
Pioneer Kitchenware Ltd PKL 0.07
Produce Buying Company PBC 0.14
PZ Cussons Ghana Ltd PZC 1.15
Standard Chart Bank Gh. Ltd SCB 44.20
SIC Insurance Company Limited SIC 0.38
Starwin Products Limited SPL 0.05
SG-SSB Limited SG-SSB 0.67
Sam Woode Limited SWL 0.02
Trust Bank Ltd (Gambia) TBL 1.33
TOTAL Petroleum Ghana Ltd TOTAL 9.35
Transaction Solutions Gh. Ltd TRANSOL 0.07
Unilever Ghana Ltd UNIL 5.45
UT Bank Limited UTB 0.30
AngloGold Ashanti Depository Shares AADS 0.47
StandChart Bank Preference Shares SCB PREF 0.52

Source: GNA

AFDB APPROVES US$ 10M TO AFRICAN GUARANTEE FUND

2010-11-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved last Wednesday US$10-million loan to the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) to enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) gain greater access to credit.

The AGF is an AfDB pan African initiative set up in partnership with the Danish and Spanish foreign affairs ministries and their development agencies. The initiative was launched as a follow-up to last year’s Africa Commission Report which recommended the strengthening of financial institutions including microfinance institutions as well as non-bank financial institutions such as leasing companies. These institutions will also receive capacity development support to enhance their productivity and competitiveness.

This project will be domiciled in Port Louis, Mauritius, and will operate from Nairobi, Kenya. The AGF’s initial capital is US$ 50 million, with a forecast of several future capital increases, which will raise the capital to US$ 300 million in the medium-term.

By leading the conceptualization and implementation of the initiative, the Bank has brought its long standing experience in assisting SMEs, thus serving a sector highly-linked to development, which traditionally has limited access to external financing, and consequently help improve private sector development results which is the primary objective of this investment.

Institutionally, the AGF will be an innovation in the African financial market. It is further envisaged that the AGF will contribute significantly to aid effectiveness by attracting donor funds dedicated to SME financing that would otherwise be channeled through separate projects thus giving rise to fragmentation and high transaction costs.

The mobilization of financial resources through the AGF for African SMEs will significantly promote Africa’s economic growth, the creation of new job opportunities and financial market development.

With a special focus on deepening the financial sector and financial integration, this project is consistent with the Bank’s strategy for the development of private sector development.

Source: Business and Financial Times

MASLOC gives GH¢2,400 to Ashiedu Keteke Foundation

2010-11-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), has disbursed GH¢2,400 to 25 members of the Ashiedu Keteke Good name Foundation, a community-based organisation in Accra.

The beneficiaries received the loans ranging from GH¢300 to GH¢500 to establish and expand their respective businesses.

Addressing the recipients on Sunday, Mr Ahmed Anas, Credit Officer of MASLOC, said even though many members of the Foundation applied for the loans, all of them could not be served at the same time.

He said the loans would be disbursed in trenches of 25 per group. The next batch, he noted, would be served very soon.

Mr Anas said the repayment of the loans would be spread over eight months and urged the recipients to work hard to repay within the period so as to reciprocate the confidence MASLOC had reposed in them.

The Chairman of the Foundation, Mr Daniel Nii Okai, thanked MASLOC for the trust it had shown in the Ashiedu Keteke Good name and promised members' commitment to strive to honour their obligations to the Centre.

He reminded recipients that the loans were not gifts so he advised them not to misapply them. He said they should not spend the money on funerals and other social activities but invest them wisely to enable them to repay in time.

Mr Okai said recipients could open accounts with the UNI-Credit Bank, the loan administrator, or with a financial institution to facilitate the repayment process. Defaulters, he said, would not be spared.

He said dealing with a bank would ensure good savings habit that would qualify recipients for further assistance from financial institutions.

Mr Okai finally urged members of the Foundation not shirk their parental responsibility of educating their children, since it was the greatest asset that they could give them.

Source: GNA

Asante-Akyem Rural Bank records impressive performance

2010-11-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Asante-Akyem Rural Bank has declared a profit before tax of GH¢253, 422 on its operations in 2009, representing an increase of 34.16 per cent over the previous year's figure of GH¢188,887.

Its total assets also grew by 20.35 percent from GH¢6,669,726 to GH¢8,027,210 during the period, with the net-worth going up from GH¢6.6m to GH¢8.027m.

Mr Francis Opuni Sekyere, the Board Chairman, addressing the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the bank at Juansah in the Asante-Akim Municipality, said the customers' confidence continues to grow and this was evidence from the surge in the bank's deposits. It rose to GH¢5,881,523 from GH¢ 4,867,754.

The Board Chairman told the shareholders that the bank had increased its government securities by 121.74 per cent from GH¢ 1,150,000 in 2008 to GH¢ 2,550,000 in 2009.

With this, it has met the Bank of Ghana's (BOG) secondary reserve requirement to maintain 30 per cent of the total deposits.

Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, Managing Director of ARB APEX Bank, in an address read for him, commended the bank for satisfying the BOG's minimum capital requirement of GH¢150,000.

He, however, urged the board and management not to be complacent but strategically explore various avenues to grow the bank's share capital to make it more solid and stronger.

He said the growth in capital would enable the bank to survive the numerous risks associated with the banking business and investment challenges emanating from computerization. 25 Oct. 10

Source: GNA

District assemblies urged to establish rural banks

2010-10-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

The Co-ordinator of the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP), Mr Roy Ayariga, has suggested to all district assemblies in the Northern Region to consider initiating the establishment of rural banks in their districts.

According to him, the absence of rural banks in most districts in the three northern regions had become an obstacle to efforts being made to provide finance to smallholder farmers in the north.

He said most farmer groups and small businesses were unable to access finance at the district level because there were no financial institutions in those areas.

The co-ordinator was speaking at a forum in Tamale to sensitise farmers to the operations of the NRGP to build stronger partnerships with the farmers, who were representing various farmer groups in the Northern Region that had registered to benefit from the programme.

The NRGP is a $104 million agric support project being co-funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), African Development Bank (ADB)
and the Government of Ghana aimed at transforming agric in the three northern regions and parts of the Brong Ahafo Region.

Mr Ayariga noted that the need for the rural banks had arisen because the big commercial banks had not established branches in the rural areas, a situation put the inhabitants of such areas at a disadvantage when they have to access credits for business.

The Northern Region has a few rural banks which are concentrated in some parts of the region and they include; the Bonzali Rural Bank and Bangmarigu Community Bank and Borimanga Rural Bank.

Most of the districts in the Eastern corridor of the region have no rural banks and none of the big banks have opened any branches in these areas.

Mr Ayariga said this was not the situation in other regions, particularly the Upper East region, which had many rural banks to serve people in almost all the districts.

He mentioned, for instance, the Bessfa Rural Bank, which serves Garu-Tempani and Bawku, the Toende Rural Bank, which serves Bawku West, the Nara Rural Bank, which serves Kassena Nankana, Bolga and Tongo and the Builsa Community Bank, which covers the Builsa district.

The co-ordinator revealed that the NRGP was working with some financial non-governmental organisations to encourage them to open branches in rural areas.

He appealed to the commercial banks, involved in micro-finance, such as the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Stanbic Bank and National Investment Bank (NIB) to open agencies in the various districts to enable the rural folk to have access to credit.

Source: Daily Graphic

Depositors cannot retrieve their money from liquidated Tano Rural Bank

2010-10-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Depositors of the collapsed Tano Rural Bank in Asutifi District of Brong Ahafo are distraught because they do not have the means to retrieve their deposits. Most of the depositors, who number in the hundreds, are landowners and farmers whose lands were acquired by Newmont Gold Ghana Limited, which paid their compensations into the various agencies of the bank in the area.

Tano Rural Bank was one of two rural banks in Brong-Ahafo liquidated about three years ago for non-performance. The other bank was Tano-Agya Rural Bank.

A number of the affected depositors, who are at their wits end told the Ghana News Agency at Kenyase Number Two that all efforts made to retrieve their monies had proved futile.

The defunct bank had agencies at Kenyase Number One, Kenyase Number Two, Gambia Number Two, Hwidiem and Ntotroso, all within the mining area of Newmont Gold Ghana Limited Company.

A reliable source told the Ghana News Agency at Kenyase Number Two that Newmont Company paid the compensations by cheques through the bank's agencies as the company wanted the beneficiaries to plan and put the monies to good use.

Madam Theresa Pomaah, a 60 year old farmer, expressed regret about the situation, saying she had been able to retrieve only 1,800 Ghana Cedis (in three instalments of seven hundred, five hundred and six hundred Ghana Cedis) of her 7,000 Ghana Cedis deposit, through a lawyer. She appealed to the authorities of Bank of Ghana to assist in the payment of the rest of the deposits, which were the life-time savings of the affected people.

Leaning on her husband, Madam Pomaah brooding over the situation, said some aged depositors had died out of shock and cautioned that more of them would suffer the same fate or be reduced to paupers if the authorities do not save the situation.

Some others who preferred to remain anonymous said depositors at the Ntotroso agency of the bank were most affected as their deposits run into hundreds of millions of old cedis.

They confirmed that some of them had engaged lawyers for the retrieval of their monies but to no avail. Later explaining the situation to the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani, Mr. Collins Offinam Takyi, Administrator of Brong-Ahafo Chapter of the Association of Rural Banks (ARB), said in line with banking rules and regulations the Bank of Ghana had in consultation with ARB applied the 90-day banking facility to see if the two rural banks could "turn the situation around". But, Mr. Takyi added, when at the end of the 90-day period it became apparent that the affected banks could not perform in order to survive, the central bank rightly applied the banking penalty rule by withdrawing their operating licenses.

The administrator said depositors at the Ntotroso agency of Tano Rural Bank, which was liquidated as far back as 2006 had already been compensated or paid in line with the Liquidation Banking Law. Mr Takyi said their counterparts at Kenyasi Number One and Two, however, would have to wait for sometime for payment of their monies since it was only two weeks ago that Bank of Ghana appointed Sunyani-based Gyabaah and Partners to work on the liquidation process. Still on the mode of payment of affected depositors Mr. Takyi said in such circumstances, certain percentage of Liquid Assets of the bank concerned were used to pay depositors. As a liability company, shareholders lose whatever they have invested upon the collapse or liquidation of the bank, he added.

Ghana scores high marks for budget transparency

2010-10-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

Ghana has won praise for the openness, transparency and accountability it attaches to its budget process. The 2010 Open Budget Index put together by the International Budget Partnership scored the country 54 points, higher than the score of any of the countries surveyed in West Africa and much better than the worldwide average score of 42 points.

Joy Business’ George Wiafe reported that according to the index, Ghana’s impressive score is because government publishes mid-year reviews on the budget, a year-end report as well as audit reports.

The report however indicates that government still has a lot to do when it comes to providing the public with information on its budget and financial activities during the course of the budget year.

This, the report said, makes it difficult for citizens to hold government accountable for its management of the public purse.

It said beyond improving the availability and comprehensiveness of key budget documents, Parliament should be strengthened whilst a Supreme Audit Institution is also created to provide effective budget oversight, as well as provide greater opportunities for the public to participate in the budget process.

Parliament’s budget oversight, according to the report is inadequate because it does not have sufficient time to discuss and amend the budget proposal presented to it at the start of the year before the budget is enacted and also does not hold public hearings to discuss the macroeconomic and fiscal framework.

It further recommends that Ghana should improve the comprehensiveness of the Year-End Report and the Executive’s budget proposal, publish timely and regular in-year reports, publish a citizens Budget and also provide opportunities for the public to testify at legislative hearings on the budget for the individual administrative units.

Source: Joy Business/Ghana

Accra SME Event to Stimulate Private Sector Growth

2010-10-22T06:05:00.000-07:00

An international business conference and exhibition aimed at growing businesses, promoting an enabling environment for the private sector as well as creating jobs and alleviating poverty, is scheduled to take place at the Accra International Conference Centre from 25-26 February 2011.

The event, dubbed, “Business Sense 2011”, is under the theme, “Turning Ideas Into Profitable Businesess to Improve the Private Sector” is expected to attract over 100 exhibitors, 200 conference delegates made up of Managing Directors, CEO, Business consultants, Business Development Managers, entrepreneurs and people who want to start their own businesses. Also expected to visit the exhibition are a highly-targeted audience of over 5,000 business-minded individuals over the duration of the event.

Speaking on behalf of the organizers, Paul Asinor, the Event Director of OML Africa said, “Business Sense 2011 is essentially a 3-prong solution that is aimed at stimulating the Ghanaian business sector with emphasis on SMEs which make 90% of our economy and yet are often neglected when it comes to the provision of capital, business advisory support, etc. Business Sense 2011 is made up of a 2-day exhibition and conference as well as a business plan competition where viable business plans will be selected by an independent panel of imminent judges and announced as a climax to the event.”

“Business Sense 2011 will also provide participants with access to capital funds, promote linkages between small and large organizations whilst creating a conducive environment for business networking and growth. Exhibitors will have the opportunity to showcase their latest products and services whilst building new sales leads. We are currently in harsh global economic climate and business is rough but imagine over 5,000 potential clients walking through your front desk over 2 days, ready to do business with you! That is what Business Sense 2011 is all about.” he added.

The conference will be addressed by local and international business experts including Kojo Amissah (Lead Executive of Commonwealth Institute of Technology and Management), Jeanine Bowen (Vice Chair, Ghana South Africa Chamber of Commerce and Founder of ProCall Solutions) and Dr Gilbert Alaba Olusemore (renowned Nigerian banking expert and author of award-winning books “Essentials of Small Business Management” and “Minding Your Vault”).

Other business experts speaking at Business Sense 2011 are Matthew Boadu Adjei (CEO of Oasis Capital, Ghana), Olawale Olutayo (Chareted Institute of Personnel Management, Nigeria) and Peter Gyateng (General Manager of Kingdom Books Limited), who will share their experience and best practice with delegates. Officials from the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, VAT Service, Registrar General’s Department, Ghana Investment Promotion Council, Enablis and Ghana Labour Commission are also expected to deliver presentations at the conference which will comprise of lectures, practical workshops and plenary sessions.

Managing Directors, CEOs, Business Development Managers, Consultants, Entrepreneurs from companies including Genius Consult, 1 Style Computex Gh Ltd, Fastnetlinks Ventures, Harusoft Technologies, Prime Street Investment, Feda International Services(US), Philianco Company Ltd, Nineteen0Seventy-Eight Ltd, Yaweras Ltd, Ejim Craft Centre, Ultimate Ventures and many other SMEs from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and as far afield as India will also benefit from all key areas of business like customer service, sales, marketing, branding, PR, recruitment, legal, book keeping, IT and the use of the internet to make more profits.

Some expected participants at Business Sense 2011also include Ghana Private Sector Development Facility, Fleet Technologies, Business Development Services, Origo Software, Parcel Unique Services, Pixel Studios, Multi-Auto Garage Services, Samoden Enterprise, Anane KM Enterprise and many other reputable organizations including banks, venture capital companies, business advisory consultants, office equipment suppliers and other providers to the SME industry who will mount stands and showcase their products and services.

The business plan competition is aimed at Ghanaian citizens, aged 18 years and above and who have run a Small or Medium-Scale Enterprise for at least 2 years. Winners will be rewarded with fantastic prizes from access to capital funds, business advisory services, mentoring from top business experts, business products and services like building of websites, etc at the cocktail ceremony that will climax the event

Source: Business and Financial Times

Ghana Is Ideal For Investment - AFS Boss

2010-10-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

The Founder and Chief Executive of a finance house, African Financial Services (AFS), Mr Claude Scholtz, has recommended Ghana as an ideal place for investments.

Mr Scholtz, who made the recommendation during a visit to the country, said the conclusion was based on AFS extensive study of businesses throughout Africa and established that Ghana was still the perfect place due to its political and economic stability.

AFS is one of the newly-formed non-banking financial institutions which started operating in Ghana since August 2010. It is headquartered in Mauritius.

Scholtz, previous Chief Operating Officer and one of the founders of Bayport Financial Services (Ghanafin), viewed by many as the father of large scale payroll-based commercial lending in Ghana, said he was extremely pleased to be back in Ghana and considered Ghana as his second home.

He said many economists were of the view that the Ghana cedi would appreciate in the next few years, making it an opportune time for dollar investments in the country.

Mr Scholtz's said “The potential appreciation of the cedi makes it very attractive for a company such as ours to invest in Ghana and almost takes out the currency risk.”

The founder and CEO also believes that the market in Ghana needed a finance house with strategies like what AFS was pursuing.

“It has been proven that the development of any country's economy is in the hands of the small and medium scale entrepreneur of which Ghana has bountifully,” he stated.

Mr Scholtz said entrepreneurship was not Ghana’s challenge but access to capital, which he said should be worked on with priority.

Graphic Ghana -Daily Graphic

Economy Is Strong Due To Prudent Policies – Duffuor

2010-10-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, says confidence in the country’s economy is now strong due to the prudent policies of the government.

He said the private sector’s responses to the macro-economic policies and structural reform programmes of the government had generally been positive over the past 14 months. Interacting with a cross-section of his ministry’s staff in Accra, Dr. Duffuor said the government recognized that the risks associated with the macro-economic in balances had the potential to seriously undermine the effort of the country to attain a middle income status by 2010.

He said the government was therefore taking steps to weed out all wasteful public spending and enhance revenue through significant improvement in tax policy.

Dr. Duffuor said his vision for the medium term was to accelerate growth of the economy without compromising macro-economic stability.
He pointed out that with the emerging oil and gas industry, the transition to petroleum producing economy represented one of the most critical tests for the country’s economic development since independence.“Barring any adverse risk factors in the outlook for the rest of the year, we anticipate better growth prospects in the second half, underscored by continued stability and gradual easing of credit conditions.”

Dr. Duffuor said the government had implemented prudent fiscal and monetary policies that had ensured fiscal sustainability and supported the domestic financial system.

Even in the face of cyclical downturn in economic activity, he said, the government had proceeded with its fiscal consolidation plains for the year.“Through a little less than two years, the distance we have travelled these few months is remarkable. The benefits of the government’s commitment to its economic programmes are clearly visible and the decline in the overall budget deficit this year is appropriate,” he said.

Dr. Duffuor said government budget finance had been improved greatly, and coupled with monetary policy, helped keep inflation low, providing a stable environment in which businesses and households could plan and undertake their economic activities.

He said disciplined economic policies had contributed to the good performance, adding that the government’s objective of reducing the fiscal deficit over the medium term was feasible and critical to achieving private sector led growth. On inflation, the minister said the implementation of policy measures had led to significant improvement in the economy, noting that the rate of inflation now is 9.3 percent, representing the 10th consecutive month of decline since it peaked at 20.7 percent in June 2009.

Source: The Ghanaian Times

Accra bourse index dips on financial stocks

2010-10-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

The GSE All-Share Index, the benchmark measure of performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange, on Wednesday dipped 9.17 points to 6,862.74 points, down 6,871.91 points.

The year to date gain now stands at 23.16 per cent.

There were four price changes – three laggards and a gainer.

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) fell GH¢0.01 to GH¢1.90 on 3,900 shares traded, Ecobank Ghana Limited (EBG) was down GH¢0.01 to GH¢3.05 on 8,500 shares traded and CAL Bank Limited (CAL) dropped GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.28 on 396,900 shares traded.

Enterprise Insurance Company (EIC) rose by GH¢0.01 to GH¢1.66 on 609,700 shares.

A total of 1,029,500 shares worth GH¢1.16 million exchanged hands compared to 125,820 shares valued at GH¢90,312.44 on Tuesday.

Market capitalisation closed the session up at GH¢19,879.15 million from GH¢19,886.23 million on Tuesday.

The following are the closing prices of equities in Ghana Cedis:

Companies Change Share Code Closing Prices

Accra Brewery Ltd ABL 0.12

African Champion Industries Ltd ACI 0.08

Anglo Gold Ashanti AGA 34.00

Aluworks Limited ALW 0.22

Ayrton Drug Man. Ltd. AYRTN 0.16

Benso Oil Palm Plantation BOPP 0.75

Cal Bank Limited CAL 0.28 -0.01

CFAO Ghana Limited CFAO 0.03

Clydestone Ghana Ltd CLYD 0.07

Camelot Ghana Limited CMLT 0.16

Cocoa Processing Com Ltd CPC 0.02

Ecobank Ghana Ltd EBG 3.05 -0.01

Enterprise Insurance Co. Ltd EIC 1.66 +0.01

Ecobank Transnational Inc. ETI 0.15

Fan Milk Limited FML 9.15

Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd GCB 1.90 -0.01

Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd GGBL 1.56

Ghana Oil Company GOIL 0.26

Golden Star Resources GSR 5.82

Golden Web Ltd GWEB 0.05

HFC Bank Ltd HFC 0.48

Mechanical Lloyd Co. Ltd MLC 0.14

Pioneer Kitchenware Ltd PKL 0.07

Produce Buying Company PBC 0.14

PZ Cussons Ghana Ltd PZC 1.12

Standard Chart Bank Gh. Ltd SCB 44.00

SIC Insurance Company Limited SIC 0.38

Starwin Products Limited SPL 0.05

SG-SSB Limited SG-SSB 0.70

Sam Woode Limited SWL 0.02

Trust Bank Ltd (Gambia) TBL 1.33

TOTAL Petroleum Ghana Ltd TOTAL 9.20

Transaction Solutions Gh. Ltd TRANSOL 0.07

Unilever Ghana Ltd UNIL 5.30

UT Bank Limited UTB 0.25

AngloGold Ashanti Depository Shares AADS 0.47

StanChart Bank Preference Shares SCB PREF 0.52

Source: GNA

Operation and Maintenance Manual for Markets launched

2010-10-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on Wednesday launched a 190-page manual on operation and maintenance of markets in the country.

The manual is to guide Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to carry out routine maintenance on markets to generate revenue and fulfill their functions.

It was produced by the Ministry in collaboration with German Development Cooperation.

Mr Ankrah decried the lack of maintenance culture in Ghana, saying it was one of the minuses of the country.

He said as a country, “we go to every length to raise taxes, secure loans and grants to invest in infrastructure such as roads, markets, schools but unashamedly, we fail or refuse to apply time and resources to undertake basic repairs or maintenance of such important facilities leaving them to deteriorate to complete disrepair”.

According to him, proper maintenance could cost an insignificant fraction of the original investment cost, stressing that “a stitch in time save nine”.

The Deputy Minister said in line with the “Better Ghana” agenda, there was the need to factor into the design of all infrastructural projects a component for operations and maintenance as the surest way of guaranteeing that projects lasted their designed lifespan.

He commended the German government for providing the country with over 1,719 projects through the German Technical Cooperation.

He said the Ministry and the German Technical Cooperation developed the market operations and maintenance manual to enhance good guidance without compromising technical standards.

Mr Ankrah, therefore, urged district assemblies, market management committee members and stakeholders to incorporate infrastructure maintenance into planning and budgeting processes.

“When this is done, it will ensure that maintenance schedules are prepared, responsibilities for various tasks are assigned and the financial logistical resources are made available at the right time and at reasonable levels.

“We should also see this manual as an indispensable tool, which must be used to protect the huge investments in infrastructural facilities.”

Mr Opoku Boamah, Director of Planning Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry, said one of the challenges facing the MMDAs was revenue mobilisation.

Mr Boamah identified markets and lorry parks as some of the areas that could fetch reasonable revenue to assemblies and asked them to set up Markets Management Committees to maintain hig
He entreated district assemblies to also maintain markets to attract private investors.

Dr Volker Monikes, Programme Manager of Support for Decentralisation Programme (SfDR), which is under the German Development Cooperation, appealed to district assemblies to be financially autonomous so they could provide other facilities needed in their respective districts.

Source: GNA

Government must invest in the production of local food crops

2010-10-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

The Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition has urged government to initiate and encourage pragmatic measures that will help boost the production of more local food crops, as a means of ensuring food security in the country.

It said investing in the production of local food crops, that meet international standards and also adaptable to the changing climatic conditions, was necessary, if the country were to boost its food stock, in the wake of the global food crisis.

Mr. Christopher Dapaah, Ashanti Regional Focal Person of the Coalition, indicated that, local foods, aside their nutritional values also had the potential to increase farmers’ income, if the over-dependence on food imports were managed effectively.

Addressing a forum on promoting local food materials in Kumasi, the Focal Person said, it was important that government also made it a policy to invest some percentage of the oil revenue into agricultural development at the grassroots, to help make it attractive for the youth in the rural areas.

This, he said, was crucial to reducing the high tendency of youth migration to the urban areas in search of non-existent jobs, which come with its own difficulties, frustrations and negative socio-economic implications.

The forum, organized by the Coalition, was structured to highlight the economic and nutritional values of local food crops.

Mr. Dapaah said the Coalition was committed to improving the livelihoods of the local farmer, as well as small and medium-scale enterprises, through advocacy and various intervention programmes and called for the needed support from stakeholders to help realize its objectives.

Mr. William Boakye-Acheampong, Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, affirmed the government’s resolve to promote the block farm concept, as a means to providing employment for the youth.

It would also facilitate the establishment of mechanization services provision and machinery-hire purchase schemes, which had the objective of improving farmer’s access to tractors and other farm equipment for increased yield production.

Source: GNA

Inflation drops again in September

2010-10-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

Inflation, the main indicator of movements in the prices of goods and services slowed down again in the month of September.

It recorded 9.38 percent down from the August figure of 9.44.

The trend means that even though prices of goods and services generally went up in September, the rate of increase was less than that of August.

This is the 15th consecutive drop in inflation since June last year.

Chief Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako who announced the latest drop in Accra Wednesday.

She attributed the decline to a reduction in the prices of foodstuffs or the food component of the inflation index.

Source: Joy Business

Chief condemns nefarious activities of cocoa buyers

2010-10-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

Nana Agyemang Duah, chief of New Sawireso, in the Asunafo South District, has said the activities of some cocoa buying companies have resulted in the thefts of cocoa and the sale of wet cocoa beans.

He said the 'so called clerks of these companies' do not issue passbooks for record keeping to the farmers they buy from.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at Goaso, the chief said: "This dubious way of buying the cocoa has denied many farmers their bonuses as they do not have passbooks as evidence."

Nana Agyemang, therefore, advised farmers to sell their produce to only companies who issue passbooks and ensure that their transactions are duly recorded.

Farmers, he said, should also insist on the use of the Akuafo cheque for the payment of their cocoa.

He also advised purchasing clerks to be dedicated in the performance of their duties to maintain the credibility of their respective companies.

The chief said the recent increase in the producer price of the crop demonstrated the government's commitment to improve the lives of farmers and nobody should undermine that effort.

Source:GNA

29.09.2010 GroFin wins 2010 World Business and Development Awards

2010-09-30T03:01:00.001-07:00

GroFin, which recently started operations in Ghana, was announced as one of ten winners of the 2010 World Business and Development Awards at a high profile ceremony in New York on Tuesday night (21/09/2010), for their pioneering work in promoting economic development through the expansion of the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Africa.

The biennial Awards, launched by the International Chamber of Commerce in 2000 and now run in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the International Business Leaders Forum, is one of the central events in 2010 to recognise the contributions of the private sector to development. The awards form part of the UN’s drive to build a renewed momentum around the MDGs. The winners – chosen from a record pool of 172 nominations from 42 countries included Cemex, Heineken, Novartis, Reuters and Walmart.

The SME sector in developing economies, in particularly Africa, is notoriously under-served; severely restricting pro-poor economic growth and job creation.

GroFin is a specialist SME finance and business support provider, founded in 2004 in partnership with the Shell Foundation, that addresses challenges that small business owners face – namely, limited access to finance and lack of management skills. GroFin has pioneered a unique approach to serving this market: focusing on the potential of the business to make a profit year after year, and providing regular expert business support for the duration of the loan. This support is delivered by in-house, locally recruited investment experts in each country that have firsthand experience of local markets and sectors.

Mathias Dorfe, the Country Manager of GroFin is excited that the company has brought its award winning services to the door step of Ghanaian SMEs at a time when there is renewed interest in the country’s drive towards achieving the MDGs ahead of schedule. He has thus extended an open invitation to SMEs to take full advantage of the company’s MDG oriented services.

Regardless of whether their loan is approved, businesses that apply to GroFin receive a detailed assessment of the potential challenges that may arise in their business and the projected ability of the business to prosper in the long term.

Jurie Willemse, Managing Director of GroFin said: “GroFin has proven that investing risk finance in SMEs can deliver net positive, consistent returns. The success of the two pilot funds which the company started in 2004 has served as a platform for further funds across Africa. To date, the US$170 million GroFin Africa Fund is the world’s largest fund targeting the sub $1 million SME sector. For our work to be recognised at this point by the WBDA judging panel illustrates the importance of the small and medium businesses in driving development in African economies.”

“Although the contribution of SMEs to growing local economies is unquestionable, the SME sector has historically constituted a gap in the financial services market. These businesses often lack the finance and access to business training to equip them with the skills to ensure their business succeeds. Through the support of the Shell Foundation, we have been able to meet the financial and developmental needs of the companies we support, increasing the economic growth of their businesses and surrounding communities,” Guido Boysen, GroFin CEO for Africa said.

Chris West, Director, Shell Foundation indicated that, “SMEs in OECD countries often contribute up to 50% more to economic growth than African countries. GroFin addresses the key factors behind the high failure rate of start-ups and SMEs - lack of access to finance and lack of management skills to grow and sustain a business – and can apply this at scale in developing economies and across all sectors. Together we are now looking to promote this new asset class – Growth Finance – which we believe has the potential to match the growth and global impact of micro-finance.”

Source: myjoyonline

29.09.2010 Mponua Rural Bank rakes in over GH¢60,000 as profit

2010-09-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

The Mponua Rural Bank at Amuana Praso in the Birim North District made a net profit of GHc 60,104 last year after plunging into a loss of GHc 20,118 two years ago.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr George Osei Ameyaw, announced this at the 16th Annual General Meeting of the bank at Amuana-Praso at the weekend.

He attributed the success story to the introduction of a five-year Corporate Plan by the Board and Management of the bank.

The corporate plan covers future expenses of operation measures to mobilize working capital, deployment of funds strategies, capacity building with inherent succession programmes capitalization, face lifting of business offices and expectation of key operational parameters.

He said deposit of the bank rose from GHc 2,067,504 in 2008 to GHc 2,740,903 last year representing an increase of 32 per cent while its total assets grew by 30 per cent; from GHc 2.3m two years ago to GHc 3.04 in 2009.

Mr Ameyaw said with that performance, the bank was able to grant loans and overdraft worth GHc 1.3m to its customers in Agriculture, trading, transport as well as salary workers last year as against a lending package of GHc 1.1m given out in 2008.

He said the bank had been able to mobilize GHc 57,116 from its share holders and had successfully recovered GHc 1.1m representing a recovery rate of 86 per cent.

Mr Ameyaw said the figure was against the Bank of Ghana share capital requirement of GHc 150,000, a deficit of GHc 92,884 to meet if the bank wanted to remain in business and therefore urged the shareholders to increase their share capital to meet the Bank of Ghana requirement.

In an address read on his behalf, the Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, advised rural banks to continue to adopt effective loan monitoring strategies to ensure that all loans granted to customers were fully paid on time.

He urged rural banks to manage their advance portfolio well to avoid a situation of large amount of non-performing which could crush them.

Mr Osei-Bonsu said in light of the complex and rapidly changing environment, rural banks should strengthened their internal control systems to ensure that their operations were carried out in an efficient manner.

Source: GNA

29.09.2010 £2.1m grant support for tax reforms

2010-09-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

Germany and Switzerland have jointly committed 2.1 million Euros grant facility to support Ghana's reforms in tax policy and administration.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed in Accra yesterday between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, German Technical Corporation (GTZ) and the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), development agencies of Germany and Switzerland respectively.

Over the last decade, Ghana's tax policy and administration framework has seen reforms which have come with the introduction of value-Added Tax and revised income tax scheme leading to the doubling of the tax to Gross Domestic Ratio of 21.38 per cent and a change in tax structure towards taxation of consumption.

However, there is the need for the widening and broadening of the country's tax net.

Key among such reforms to widen the tax net is the establishment of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Tax Policy Unit (TPU) at the Ministry of Finance to provide research and analysis on tax legislation.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, who signed on behalf of the government of Ghana, said with this MoU, the GRA would complement government's efforts towards establishing a vibrant revenue authority with the view to improving revenue collection performance.

He lauded the two development agencies for the support, while expressing government's commitment to resource its revenue agencies to adequately and efficiently discharge their duty.

Mr Kwetey said the TPU would help build the capacity of officers under the unit for informed tax policy decision-making.

He said a fiscal library was being established at the TPU, which would go a long way to deepen and expand the knowledge base of officers on fiscal and other related policy regimes.

The Head of Operations at SECO, Mr Jean-Luc Bernasconi, expressed his outfit's commitment to ensuring vibrant tax reforms, which seeks to integrate all the revenue agencies in the country.

The Country Director of GTZ, Mr Dr Fred Brandl, said the MoU marks the beginning of the second phase of the tax reform support with the view of integrating the revenue agencies.

He said the grant brings to a total of 9 million AThe GTZ and SECO are providing the necessary technical assistance.

Source: Ghanaian Times

28.09.2010 Industrial Policy to Promote SME’s

2010-09-30T02:44:00.000-07:00

The Industrial Policy of the Ministry of Trade and Industry which was recently approved by cabinet has put in place measures to enhance the capacity of Small &Medium Scale Enterprise, (SMEs) to meet the requirements of large scale firms as well as take advantage of subcontracting opportunities.

In an interview with B&Ft, Nana Akrasi- Sarpong, Acting Director of Communications and Public Affairs, said that, to create opportunities for subcontracting, investment in capital goods, auto mobile, electronics and other manufacturing sectors will be encouraged.

He also said that large companies will be encouraged to offer vendor development programmes to SMEs. This is in addition to the establishment of a capital goods center in the country through public private partnership (PPP)

Local Content Laws will also be enacted to support SME development. Mr. Akrasi – Sarpong said that this will protect indigenous companies from being overshadowed by foreign companies in the country. He said it will also enhance transference of technology.

The director for the Ministry’s public affairs added that that to increase the demand for locally manufactured goods; the private sector will be encouraged to establish marketing companies to service SME Manufacturers. He alleged that this will enhance their competitiveness, as well as promote made in Ghana goods.

“The patronage of locally manufactured goods tends to be hampered by the perception that made in Ghana goods are of inferior quality. Government will there fore create avenues that will showcase theses small companies, for instance he website that will advertise these SMEs will be launched” he said

The study of marketing and business management studies in tertiary institutions will also be deepened to address the challenges of the informal nature of trade which limits the development and efficiency of the manufacturing sector,

He also said that infrastructure and other facilities that will enhance the distribution of locally manufactured goods will be provided. However he said SMEs will be trained on development and efficient management of distribution chains.

‘Government will ensure that the informal sector traders are supported to formalize their businesses” he noted

Mr. Akrasi-Sarpong explained that quality assurance systems will be implemented in order to increase the export of locally manufactured goods,

“Most of these local manufactures do not know how to ensure that their products are of good quality, this policy will ensure that their products are of good quality. This is the only way we can be globally competitive,” He emphasized

Further more, he said that a public private partnership will be facilitated to enhance the development of the packaging industry to support the export sector.

Officials however, are awaiting the industrial support programmes that will kick-start the implementation of these policies.

Carolyn Opata

Source: BFT

29.09.2010 Developing Countries come to the Global Economy’s rescue.

2010-09-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

While the rich world puts its house in order, developing countries are becoming a new engine of global growth and a pulling force for advanced economies, says a new book by World Bank economists.

According to The Day After Tomorrow: A Handbook on the Future of Economic Policy in the Developing World, almost half of global growth is currently coming from developing countries. As a group, it is projected that their economic size will surpass that of their developed peers in 2015.

“Developing countries have come to the global economy’s rescue,” said Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM), and co-editor of the book. “They are the new locomotives of growth which will move global growth forward while high-income countries remain stagnant.”

According to the publication, growth in developing countries is estimated to reach 6.1 percent in 2010, 5.9 percent in 2011, and 6.1 percent in 2012, while corresponding figures are 2.3 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.6 percent for high-income countries. These diverging growth prospects continue in the medium term. Five factors account for it: faster technological learning, larger middle- classes, more South-South commercial integration, high commodity prices, and healthier balance sheets that will allow borrowing for infrastructure investment.

“The economic horizon of the developing world is promising,” said Marcelo Giugale, World Bank’s Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management in the Latin America and Caribbean Region, and co-editor of the study. “The rebalancing of global growth toward a multiplicity of engines will give the developing countries new relevance. It will also change their policy agendas: on average, economic management will be stronger, governments will be better, and the beginning of the end of poverty will be within reach.”

The study notes that developing countries should take advantage of their relatively healthier fiscal positions to foster inclusive growth. This means better targeting of social programs, more emphasis on giving people the same opportunities, and business environments that facilitate the creation of formal jobs.

Other upcoming, developing-country trends identified in the book include the recovery of remittances, an increase in South-South trade, rising investment by sovereign wealth funds, more conservative debt management, and progress by many governments in gaining public trust.

According to The Day After Tomorrow, regions like East Asia, Latin America, South Asia and, soon Africa, have the potential to turn into “newly developed.” Here are some of the highlights by region:

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s poorest region, an estimated additional 7 to 10 million people may have been thrown into poverty as a result of the crisis. Nevertheless, the continent’s prospects for faster growth are good as long as there is a sustained commitment to sensible policies. These will need to address the challenges of infrastructure, job creation, governance and shrinking aid.

East Asia and the Pacific is leading the world out of the crisis, but still needs to make progress on economic integration and climate change. In China some “rebalancing” is needed through the expansion of domestic consumption and the service sector. Middle-income countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, need to move up into knowledge- and innovation-based markets, while trade facilitation will be the key for low-income countries like Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia was the hardest hit region by the global crisis, with growth declining by 12 percentage points between 2007 and 2009. As a result, many of its earlier achievements were reversed. In order to move forward, the region needs to improve its competitiveness and to put its social service provision on a fiscally sustainable path.

In Latin America growth came to a standstill, and poverty (US$4 per day) increased by some 8 million people, as a result of the crisis. But there was no economic or social meltdown thanks to progress over the previous decade on macroeconomic management and smarter social policy. Barring further external shocks, the region is now well-positioned to enter a path of fast and sustained development.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the economic crisis will likely result in 2.6 million more people falling into poverty by 2011, and in an exacerbated unemployment problem. The Gulf countries are leading the regional recovery, assisted by higher oil prices and a more stable financial sector. The key to unlocking the region’s enormous potential is to open the door for a new generation of private entrepreneurs, and for women to fully join economic life.

South Asia was the region of the world that better withstood the crisis and the first to return to the growth path, but poverty persists—with some 600 million living on US$1.25 a day. So the challenge is to make recovery stronger, inclusive and sustainable. The priority is to reduce fiscal deficits and tame public debt accumulation in order to create fiscal space for social programs and critical infrastructure. Deepening trade integration will be critical.

Source: BFT

24.09.2010 Blueprint for development out to create employment for 3 years

2010-09-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

The government has completed a new medium term development strategy to replace the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRSII) with which it hopes to accelerate growth.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffour, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said under the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda, massive infrastructure and human resource development as well as agriculture would be among the growth drivers to create substantial employment.

The Finance Minister's pronouncements came ahead of a Consultative Group (CG) meeting between the government and development partners which began in Accra Thursday.

The CG forum would determine how best to strategically align external assistance with the country's development agenda and the budget. It will seek to discuss results, achievements and challenges in the country's development process, poverty reduction initiatives and resources needed to invest in the areas.

Dr Duffour said oil and gas development projects, private sector development and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sub-sectors were the other areas that the document had earmarked to drive growth and create significant employment in the next three years.

The development plan envisages that the economy would grow at an average rate of above eight per cent up to 2013, without compromising macroeconomic stability. The growth would be powered by agriculture which would grow above six per cent, as industry contributes an average of 10 per cent, with services coming in with above eight per cent growth.

Dr Duffour said having achieved a remarkable stability amidst the payment of unexpected arrears, the government was now set to achieve an even more accelerated growth and development so as to create more job opportunities for the youth.

He said the government would make a case for continued support from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) in spite of the pouring of oil in December, which together with the rebasing exercise being conducted to resize the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could re-categorise the economy as middle income, which should depend less on ODA resources.

"There is significant opportunity for fiscal space from oil and gas revenues for sustainable economic growth. However, we must appreciate that these revenues are unlikely to transform the country's status immediately. Ghana will still very much require the support of its development partners to achieve the 'Better Ghana' agenda," Dr Duffour told the Daily Graphic.

The Finance Minister said the government's fiscal consolidation was on course as the net domestic financing, which shows the government's efforts locally to finance its expenditures, was doing better than projected.

He said the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service and the Internal Revenues Service (IRS) were performing better than expected by the end of the first half, with the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) being the only domestic revenue agency slightly lagging behind its target.

"Even with CEPS, the gap is narrowing and we hope they will also exceed their targets by the end of the year" Dr Duffour stated.

Dr Duffour said the meeting would, among other things, discuss• the draft medium-term national development policy framework, the Growth and Development Agenda 2011-2013; the government's Position Paper, the Ghana Aid Policy and Strategy, which make a case for continued ODA assistance, as well as the development partner performance assessment framework and the National Report on the MDGs.

Source: Daily Graphic

27. 09. 2010 Man Attempts to Dupe Rural Banks

2010-09-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

Officials of the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) Apex Bank Limited in Accra, have arrested an alleged fraudster, Kwame Owusu Fordjour, for attempting to defraud rural and community banks under the pretext of awarding them Millennium Achievers' Gold Award supposedly slated for November.

Fordjour was alleged to have written a letter to 40 rural and community banks asking them to pay GH¢200 each as participation fee and to submit 10-minutes documentary of their projects to commence publicity on various media networks as a prelude to the event.

The bank's officials handed over Fordjour to the police when he went there in responde to an invitation to come for further discussion on the project.

He is expected to appear again before an Accra Circuit court tomorrow after he was remanded in police custody last week.

Duke Osam-Duodu, Deputy Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank Limited, who disclosed this at the Eighth Annual General Meeting of the bank held in Accra on Saturday, urged rural and community banks to be vigilant and be on the look for such fraudsters.

The letter allegedly written by Fordjour, sighted by the Times, bears a UN logo with the acronym IFCD and under the heading Central Diplomacy, has a questionnaire attached eliciting some information relating to the bank's operation.

It stated among others "in view of this quality leadership of history of Ghana and development activities of your institution, your bank is hereby nominated, among the few, to participate in achieving the Millennium Development Goals".

According to the letter, the event is supposed to be chaired by Mr. Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations, with former Presidents J. J. Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor, in attendance as guests of honour, in recognition of the achievements of the three illustrious sons of the country.

Mr Osam-Duodo told the Times that the bank received phone calls from the rural and community banks about the letters nominating them for the programme and wanted to know whether the Apex Bank was aware of such a programme.

The deputy managing director said the Apex Bank was alarmed because the management which was the head of the rural and community banks, was not aware of such a programme and so they feigned interest and invited the suspect to come for further discussions.

Mr Osam Duodu said preliminary investigations showed it was a scam so when the suspect came for further discussions he was handed over to the police.

Source: Ghanaian Times

Ghana: Inflation drops again to 9.44%

2010-09-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2010

Inflation has dropped for the 14th consecutive month.

The rate for August is 9.44 percent, dropping from the previous month’s figure of 9.46 percent.

On the regional level Greater Accra recorded the highest inflation; 14.54 percent with the Central Region recording the lowest, 6.63 percent.

Director of Economic and Industry Statistics Ebo Duncan says the downward trend can be attributed to increase in the non-food group.

Source: Joy Business

BUSAC II Launched

2010-09-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

The second phase of the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) fund was launched on the 15^th of September, 2010

She said the National medium –term Private sector Development documented many constraints to businesses and recognized business advocacy as one of the mechanisms by which such constraints could effectively be removed to enhance private sector competitiveness.

BASAC II which would last 2010 -2014, was, therefore meant to address issues that influenced the business environment to make it attractive for investment to create and expand business.

She said the fund would continue to be proactive and prioritize policy issues , choose special partners for direct resources to special themes otherwise neglected to the disadvantage of the majority of the business communities.

The Fund is accessible to both established and emerging private sector organizations and grants of up to two years duration and were on offer to support advocacy activities and related capacity building initiatives. The Fund Manager, said the programme supports all types of business associations no matter their size, location or vocation

Business advocacy grants have gone to associations of bankers, architects and engineers, journalists and private radio stations, fishermen, millers, masons and farmers”, he said.

He said apex associations such as association of Ghana Industries, the National Chamber of Commerce, the Ghana Employers association and Private Enterprise Foundation had also benefited from BUSAC Fund to dialogue directly at the highest level of Government.

Ghana has demonstrated over the past five years that it has all the ingredients to create and maintain such open environment crucial for growth,” he said.

He said BUSAC Fund has changed the lives of many Ghanaians and would continue to do so since the government had demonstrated its commitment to democratic governance saying ‘we are but a small element in the bigger picture of growing a country and ensuring that the quality of life will be better in the future’.

Dr. Rachmeler said BUSAC Fund would move business associations to improve the quality of advocacy proposals and to demonstrate to the world that in Ghana the art and science of persuasive influencing is something to be proud of.

BUSAC Fund to support Private Sector

2010-09-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

13 September. 2010

The business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) fund is to continue support for development of the country’s private sector in the next year five years, through supporting Advocacy programmes of various business associations whose applications receive the approval of the Fund’s Management. The overall development objectives of the Fund are promoting enterprise growth and the creation of decent and sustainable jobs by the private sector.

The Fund, which began operations in Ghana in 2004, will launch the second phase of its Private Sector Development (SPSD) project on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 with a press conference ate the Ghana International Press Conference in Accra.

The Conference will be addressed by the Chairperson of the Fund’s Steering Committee and former President of Association of Ghana Industries, Mrs Elizabeth Villars and the Fund manager, Dr. Dale Rachmeler.

The Danish Aid Agency, Danida, is the lead donor to the pooled fund. The second phase of the project aims at consolidating the efforts made by the Fund in support of the Government of Ghana Private Sector Development Strategy between 2004 and 2009.

The BUSAC Fund in phase-one gave out 362 grants to private sector institutions, business associations, labour unions and media organizations to carry out advocacy in the various areas for development of the private sector.

The private enterprise Foundation, Ghana Chamber of Mines, Association of Ghana Industries and the Ghana Journalists Association were among major beneficiaries in the previous phase.

Daily Graphic

African Equity funds enjoy record inflows

2010-09-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

September 13, 2010

African equity funds have attracted net new cash in 51 of the last year’s 52 weeks, EPFR Global said last week Thursday, underscoring the evolution of the continent’s frontier markets as a serious investment play.

According to the Washington –based fund tracker, a net US$660 million flowed into African regional funds over the last 12 months- not vast sums on the global scale, but far more than Africa has ever attracted in the past. “through the seven months of this year, the flows into Africa regional funds are already pretty close to four times the previous best year, which was 2007, “EPFR global markets analyst Cameroon Brandt told Reuters.

The one blip marring what would have been a clear run of 52 weeks of positive net inflows came in mid-July, and only amounted to US$750,000 of withdrawals.

“the sustained level s of flows have been pretty compelling and impressive because there have certainly been some bumps in the road this year, ‘Brandt said.

EPFR includes North Africa in its definition of Africa, despite a preference by many investors to regard the sub-Saharan region as a whole and lump in the five Mediterranean littoral countries with the Middle East.

Some of the African funds surveyed include South Africa, Brandt said, although a cap on exposure to the continent’s biggest and most sophisticated economy means the overall figures still give a clear picture of interest in “frontier Africa”.

For most foreign portfolio investors, that means primarily Nigeria and Kenya. But it has also started to include the more illiquid markets of Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, in all of which promising mineral deposits look set to underpin strong economic growth.

The steady flow of foreign cash has helped many African bourses post healthy recoveries from the lows of early 2009, when the full effects of the global slowdown on the continent’s economy became apparent and ended the initial burst of enthusiasm of African frontier markets.

Kenya’s main stock index is up 42%over the last 12 months and 37 % year-to-date, while Nigeria’s has risen 18% this year. Uganda is up 34%since a year ago.

However, the continent’s growing appeal has also presented managers of the larger Africa funds with the challenge of finding a home for new money in a relatively limited investment universe dominated banks and telecommunication firms in Nigeria and Kenya.

Foreign interest in the poorest continent has not stopped as its companies. As with many emerging markets, domestic sovereign debt in the likes of Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Zambia is enjoying unprecedented international interest-due in large part to the hefty yields on offer compared to developed-market bonds.

“We have really seen a broad re-rating of emerging markets in a very positive way; to the point where emerging market debt has almost been a flight to safety,” Brandt said.

Reuters- Business and Financial Times