Concerns over the increase in the Communication Service Tax (CST) from 6 percent to 9 percent were voiced by Ghanaians in 2019.
According to a statement from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, the new levy would be implemented as follows: For every GHS1 of recharge purchased, a CST fee of 9 percent will be paid, leaving GHS0.93 for the purchase of goods and services.
Many Ghanaians have raised concerns over the upward adjustment of the Communication Service Tax (CST) on October 1 – from 6 percent to 9 percent – affecting all communication services in the country.
The government made the announcement during the 2019 mid-year budget review by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, thereby waiving the tax on luxury vehicles and increasing the Energy Sector Levy (ESLA) and the Communications Service Tax (CST).
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications in a statement explained the implementation of the new levy, thus: For every GHS1 of recharge purchased, a 9 percent CST fee will be charged leaving GHS0.93 for the purchase of products and services.
Below is an illustration of the CST calculation for all the major telecommunication service providers according to the Communications Chamber:
For every GHS1 of recharge, the Value Added Tax (VAT) for Customer Scratch Card value will be at a 12.5 percent which translates to 0.11 pesewas.
National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) tax rate value will be at 2.5 percent which translates to 0.02 pesewas.
Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy (GETFL) will be at 2.5 percent which translates to 0.02 pesewas.
Communications Service Tax (CST) rate will be at 9 percent which translates to 0.07 pesewas.
The subtotal left for customers to get from their telecommunications services will be at 77.97 percent which translates to 0.78 pesewas.
The statement further revealed that customers of various major telecommunications services providers would be notified by their service providers of the changes when they recharge or use products and services.
Current telecommunication charges for Calls/Data/SMS
MTN Ghana
MTN Ghana will now charge locally; 0.1103/min (on-net), 0.1365/min (off-net), local SMS rates will charge 0.0473 (on-net), and 0.0578 (off-net) while international call rates will charge 0.1575 per minute.
Vodafone Ghana
Vodafone Ghana will charge a 12.5 pesewas tariff on all local calls and browsing.
AirtelTigo
AirtelTigo will charge a 10.8 pesewas tariff on all local calls and 10.8 pesewas for calls to other networks.
The Ministry of Informationhas kick-started its annual International Client Service Week to appreciate its stakeholders, partners, service providers and clients for their loyalty and commitment.
The week-long event, which spans Monday, October 3 to Friday, October 7, 2022, is to celebrate customers and to interact with them to deepen relationships and identify ways of improving the ministry’s service experience in line with its vision of being government’s foremost communication outfit.
Drawing on a quote from renowned motivator, Ralph Marston, in her address at the opening ceremony at the ministry’s premises, a Deputy Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, said the celebrations provided the ministry with the opportunity to strengthen its relationship with clients.
Informing the public
“We at the Ministry of Information, after several months of partnering with you to regularly keep the country informed on the numerous policies and programmes rolled out by government to facilitate socio-economic development, see this period as another opportunity to celebrate your service and hard work,” she said.
She also used the opportunity to thank staff of the ministry for their support in making the ministry a client-friendly institution.
Client Service Week is an international celebration of the importance of customer service and of the people who serve and support customers on daily basis.
It is celebrated annually during the first week of October.
The change happened when the Authority finished automating the procedures needed to obtain the certificate, which serves as evidence that a taxpayer has properly satisfied its tax responsibilities.
In an effort to promote more compliance with tax payments and boost income, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) launched the electronic TCC on October 1.
The revenue arm explained that by digitising the acquisition process, it will help address delays and frustrations that taxpayers go through in order to access their TCCs through the manual process.
Head of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) at GRA, Edward Apenteng Gyamerah said the move will also curb the issuance of fake certificates by taxpayers.
Mr Gyamerah explained that GRA had created and deployed an online portal from October 1 that interested taxpayers should use to apply for and obtain their tax certificates.
The portal, according to him generates the TCC automatically after the required information has been filled out. This removes the human involvement, which exposed the manual process to various abuses and delays.
“With the manual process, we have people faking the TCCs to the extent that some businesses always come back to the GRA to cross-check whether or not a particular TCC that has given been to a taxpayer is authentic.
“So, to be able to resolve these challenges, we are moving into the electronic issuance of a TCC,” he said.
Mr Gyamerah however said that the e-TCC was being rolled out alongside an e-value-added tax (VAT) system which formed part of a tax digitalisation programme being championed by the authority.
He said under the tax digitalisation initiative, cashless payments of taxes and online filing of tax returns have been rolled out while the e-VAT invoicing and the e-TCC systems were now being introduced.
Touching on how the e-TCC system works, My Gyamerah said “all that you need to do as a taxpayer is to apply for a TCC through our portal.”
“On the portal, there is a compliance check to be sure that you have paid all your taxes and filed all returns.
“Once you have done all that is required of you as a taxpayer, then you can print it electronically and it can also be given to the requesting entity,” Mr Gyamerah said.
The Head of the DTRD of the authority added that once a firm’s tax identification number (TIN) was given, the authority could automatically generate and send the needed firm’s TCC to a requesting entity online.
“So, the issue of authentication where institutions come back to GRA as to the genuineness of certificates issued would be solved,” he said.
On the e-VAT, he said the system allowed ‘VATable’ institutions to issue the invoices electronically as against the current system where invoices were issued manually.
He added that the automation was meant to remove abuses, including the faking of invoices, under-invoicing and under-carding, which lead to loss of revenue.
While the e-TCC would cover all institutions, the Head of the DTRD said the e-VAT would be implemented in phases.
He said the first phase would see about 600 large taxpayers and listed companies being covered between now and the third quarter of next year.
He said the second and third phases would cover medium-sized taxpayers in 2023 and all other taxpayers by December 2024 respectively.
The Chairperson of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Akosua Sarpong Kumankumah, has extended a hand to the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) urging it to consider a possible merger to enable them to take up the reins of government.
While paying glowing tribute to the founder of the PPP, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, Nana Sarpong Kumankumah said the enthusiasm to give Ghanaians a third viable political party, which led to the inauguration of the PPP, was still relevant as it was 10 years ago.
“Come home and let’s together fight this humongous evil that is in this country making sure our children do not get what they deserve. Come home and let’s with unity go to the Jubilee House and take over governance and make sure that the youth of this country have a better alternative. Come home,” she emphasised.
She said the “CPP is ready, you are ready, let’s all come together,” she emphasised.
In a solidarity message at a rally to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the PPP last Saturday at Elmina in the Central Region, Nana Sarpong Kumankumah said it was only with a united front that a third force could take up the seat of governance and give Ghanaians and particularly the youth a better alternative.
The event held at the Nana Kobina Gyan Square in Elmina was attended by members and sympathisers of the PPP across the country.
It was on the theme: “10 years of progressive focus to bring change in Ghana’s Democratic Governance-The Way Forward.”
Commendation
The CPP chairperson commended the founder of the PPP for the immense impact he through the PPP had made on the country’s political landscape, saying she was certain that things would have been different if Dr Nduom was part of the political campaign in 2020.
She said while there had been issues which, undoubtedly, caused the founder of the PPP to start the PPP as a possible third alternative party, there was the need to build bridges to build a formidable party capable of taking the reins of government.
Nana Sarpong Kumankuma said Dr Nduom had the spirit of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, saying Dr Nduom had proven that he was a great political asset.
She said his presence should ignite the spirit of Dr Nkrumah and propel them to unity to win power.
Efforts by the Nkrumahist parties to merge into a formidable political force has faced a lot of challenges making them unable to make any meaningful impact in the country’s recent general elections.
Sampson Asaki Awingobit, the executive secretary of the Ghana Importers and Exporters Association, claims that the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority charges in dollars at the ports.
He claims that this violates the Bank of Ghana’s dollarization regulations regarding the costing of goods and services.
The Customs Management Act (Act 891) does not contain any language allowing customs to charge in foreign currencies, particularly US dollars, he continued.
The move, he said, heaps hardship on the already burdened business community which in turn affects the general public.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb Business on Monday, October 3, 2022, the executive secretary of importers and exporters association said, “I think it’s time we Ghanaians call a spade a spade in the sense that we are here and Bank of Ghana issued a statement that let no one price their goods and services in dollars…I don’t know why customs which is a government agency is using dollar index in calculating duty for importers to pay.”
“I have not seen anywhere is the customs law that gave them the right to do…For me, they are the one increasing the compounded problems on the business community which goes ahead to affect the ordinary Ghanaian in this country,” he told GhanaWeb’s Ernestina Serwaa Asante in the phone interview.
The Bank of Ghana on Friday, September 16, 2022, entreated Ghanaians to report businesses that price their goods and services in foreign currencies, especially the US Dollar.
According to the Head of Financial Stability at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Joseph France, it is unacceptable for businesses to price their goods in dollars without the permission of the central bank.
He said the act, which is criminal, breaches the Foreign Exchange Act.
The mortal remains of the late Nana Kwame Ampadu will be taken to his hometown, Obo Kwahu for funeral rites on Saturday, October 8.
The final funeral rites will begin with a Night Vigil at the Forecourt of the State House on Thursday, October 6.
The lying in state of the body will be on Friday, October 7 at the same venue.
However, the funeral service will take place at the Obo Community Centre, Obo Kwahu in the Eastern region followed by interment.
The Memorial & Thanksgiving Service will be on Sunday, October 9 at Obo Community Centre, Obo Kwahu.
Nana Ampadu popularly known as Nnwomtofohene died on Tuesday, September 28 2021 at the Legon Hospital in Accra after a short illness. He was 76 years old.
He left behind a wife, Madam Joyce AB Frimpong, 24 children and 30 grandchildren.
The announcement of his death had endless tributes from numerous people including his colleagues in Ghana and abroad.
Among them is the legendary Agya Koo Nimo who described Ampadu as an incomparable talent and one of the last greats in his generation to join the ancestors.
Nana Ampadu was widely appreciated and admired for his preservation of folklores through narrations in his songs such as Aku Sika, Kofi Nkrabea, Ebi Te Yie and many others that end on pieces of advice.
In the words of Agya Koo Nimo “He gave practical meaning to Ghanaian folklore, researched on them and brought them into Highlife music in the form of narration of folk stories.
Nana Ampadu was creative and an original who never adulterated his type of guitar-based Highlife with foreign rhythms.
Nana Ampadu always created something new and the paramount aim was to bring innovative rhythms that are danceable.
He was at the forefront of modern urban Highlife music and one of the leading exponents of authentic Ghanaian Highlife in the 70s, 80s and the 90s.
It is not out of nothing that he came to national prominence to earn the title ‘Nnwomtofo Hene’ because for decades, he maintained a standard and produced quality Highlife music uniquely Ghanaian.
The Government must make sure that the debt restructuring is done in a way that would protect financial institutions, including banks and savings and loan institutions, as well as households, according to economists Dr. Patrick Assuming and Dr. Priscilla Twumasi-Baffuor.
The Government will bargain with the financial institutions during the debt restructuring process to either lower the debt or lengthen the time until payments are due.
The Economists explained that the country’s current economic and financial position would force the Government to negotiate with financial institutions to cut down on debt interest rates, which would affect their profit.
The Government has announced that it will soon name a five-Member Committee of prominent financial services professionals to lead extensive stakeholder engagements across all the key segments of the financial sector.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, at a press briefing in Accra, said the engagement with stakeholders in the banking, asset, management, pensions, and insurance sector was to fast-track the IMF negotiation process in a clear and transparent manner.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Dr Asuming, who is a Development Economist, said debt restructuring would occur and advised the Government to protect financial institutions in the process.
He noted that the Government had over-borrowed with rising interest costs making it expensive to repay the debt, noting that “the Government is really between a rock and hard place, but it’s more likely to have a domestic debt restructuring.”
The Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), however, said: “the Government must ensure that the domestic debt restructuring as part of the IMF programme does not lead to the collapse of banks.”
“The restructuring should not lead to the collapse of any financial institution. We spent so much money to just recently clean them up, so it will be shocking to see any collapse,” Dr Asuming said.
In a media discussion monitored by GNA on a local radio station in Accra, Dr Twumasi-Baffuor also said debt restructuring was inevitable and may lead to losses and called for the protection of households from possible adverse effects.
She said: “The restructuring should be done in such a way that households are insulated from the adverse possible effects that will happen. As we go through all these, we need to be careful that households’ incomes are protected particularly given that in Ghana we struggle with a lot of Ponzi schemes in the financial sector,” she said.
Dr Twumasi-Baffuor asked the Government to go to the negotiation table with the financial institutions with a possible request for an extension of maturities and ensure that people had confidence in the Government.
The Economist explained that: “If your bonds or treasury bills are due next month, the Government could renegotiate with you to pay in two months and possibly not pay the interest rate at the time. All these are avenues that exist.”
Currently, there are ongoing engagements with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), social partners (labour unions, employers, and FBOs), academia, industry professionals, and the leadership of Parliament in Ghana’s effort to secure a $3 billion loan support programme from the IMF.
The loan facility is to support Ghana’s homegrown economic programme, aimed at restoring and sustaining macroeconomic stability, ensuring durable and inclusive growth and promoting social protection.
An International Expert in Information Security, Professor Godfried Williams, has advised the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) not to rule out cyber attacks on its system.
He noted that the disruption of services clearly showed that the ECG did not have a robust cyber resilient plan in place to respond to attacks of such nature.
In an interview last Sunday on how the ECG could secure its system, Prof. Williams — who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intellas, an IBM Business Partner — said with a resilient plan in place, the ECG could have still provided services to clients despite the attacks.
Breaches
Giving further details, Prof. Williams said the cyber breaches could be caused by internal or external sources.
He explained the idea that it could come from outside might not always be the case because there might be attackers who operated internally.
“But the only thing which is obvious is that there is a denial of service, which means that the systems have been attacked.
“The way out is to prepare ahead, but in situations that you are not prepared and it happens in real time, you need to face the consequences like what we are seeing with ECG today,” he said.
Key actors
The information security expert said the problem was no longer a wholly ECG burden, emphasising that there was the need for the involvement of all key actors to solve the situation.
That, he said, was because when attackers succeeded in their quest in a particular country, the trend was that they made several efforts at others because they could see more vulnerability in the system.
“And so, this may be just the beginning, and we need to brace ourselves and prepare ahead,” he stated.
Protecting threats
To protect against the threats, Prof. Williams said there should be collaborative efforts among businesses, institutions, experts and regulatory authorities in the cyber space to create an enabling environment that would help them guard against vulnerabilities to cyber attacks.
He explained that the collaboration should precede the creation of a robust cyber security ecosystem that thrived on consistent engagements among relevant stakeholders and championed by the Cyber Security Authority(CSA).
Prof. Williams said recent instances of attacks demonstrated the necessity for industry-wide collaboration to fight against the threats.
The attacks, he said, often had significant impacts with regards to financial losses to the affected entity and its clients, and so it required firms to build cyber resilience.
He added that in building cyber resilience, firms needed to anticipate, predict, detect and protect their key infrastructure from attacks.
Background
Many homes in the country have been plunged into darkness after the ECG’s prepaid metering system failed to render services to its consumers from Monday, September 26, 2022.
According to a press statement issued by the ECG on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the electricity distributor admitted to experiencing technical challenges which had affected prepaid metering systems, thereby interrupting the vending of prepaid electricity credit across the country.
“Affected customers should please note that our ICT team is working assiduously to correct the anomaly and restore the system to normalcy,” the statement said.
However, five days after the issue of the statement, consumers were still reported to be stuck in darkness as they were unable to load power credit to their prepaid system.
The National Lottery Authority (NLA), according to John Kumah, the deputy minister of finance and economic planning, has donated GH10 million to the government’s YouStart program, which supports entrepreneurship.
The NLA made the commitment through its charitable arm, the “Good Causes Foundation,” whose goal is to create, carry out, and uphold an integrated action-plan based on four primary pillars: culture, youth and sports development, health, and education.
In addition to praising the NLA for its dedication on its 60th anniversary, he called on the Authority to intensify its efforts to close all income gaps and leaks in order to produce adequate money for the government.
According to the deputy minister, the gesture is a major boost for the programme; hence urging other state agencies to emulate the steps taken in supporting the programme initiated by government to support youth development.
“One of the areas that we consider a priority, and which we have tasked you with, is to seal all points of revenue leakages that drain the coffers of the Authority and by extension the state. It is heartwarming to know that you are making great efforts at addressing these concerns among others. The cited plans of impending collaboration to broaden digital spaces in your operations also deserve commendation,” he said.
Through YouStart, government aims to provide capital and technical assistance to young people (18 to 40-years old) and youth-led enterprises to help them launch, develop and expand their businesses. Three programmes – District Entrepreneurship, Commercial and Grace – are the foundation of YouStart’s approach to reducing unemployment in Ghana.
The Director-General of NLA, Samuel Awuku, emphasised that it has been 60 years of generating revenue for national development; 60 years of touching lives in communities and institutions; and 60 years of making patrons millionaires.
“Attaining the age of 60 is no mean feat. We believe a new dawn is upon us, and we look forward with positive anticipation to what the future holds in this new, exciting journey.
“While NLA has had its fair share of challenges in this 60-year journey, the reforms, policies and decisions taken by successive boards and Directors-General have helped shape this premier organisation into what it is today,” he said.
Board Chairman of NLA, Torgbui Francis Nyonyo, indicated that over this last year the Authority has been embarking on a restructuring exercise to drive efficiency and rebuild its corporate image, and these new initiatives have enhanced the revenue drive.
He also added that the Authority is about to phase-out all its old operating machines and equipment, and introduce new ultra-modern state-of-the-art equipment.
“This is to drive efficiency while we phase-out our old machines, which are over 25-years old. These initiatives are geared toward diversifying our revenue streams to enable us support government’s developmental agenda – and support our communities through the Good Causes Foundation,” he said.
The Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League will kick start on the weekend of October 7-10, 2022 across the Northern and Southern Sector.Defending Champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies will begin their title defence at home against Northern Ladies in Techiman in the Northern Zone.
Top of the liner in the Southern Zone is the game between giants, Hasaacas Ladies against Berry Ladies at the Gyandu Park in Sekondi.
Faith Ladies who impressed in their debut season after finishing second in the southern zone will look to fight for a spot at the top of the table this time when they begin their season away at Ajumako against Soccer Intellectuals.Newly promoted sides, Essiam Socrates and Ridge City will compete in the southern zone whilst Candy Soccer Academy and Tamale Super Ladies play in the Northern Zone.
Kumasi Sports Academy and FC Savannah were relegated in the Northern Zone last season with Sea Lions and Immigration Ladies relegated from the Southern Sector.
Find below fixtures for match Day One in the Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League:
Recently, importers have lamented having to pay such hefty tariffs on items brought into the nation.
They have also bemoaned how quickly the local currency, the cedi, is losing value in comparison to other major trading currencies, particularly the US dollar as we approach the holiday season.
Sampson Asaki Awingobit, executive secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, commented on this developing situation and questioned why the Ghana Revenue Authority’s Customs Division determines import duty charges based on Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) rather than Free on Board (FOB).
According to Investopedia, Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) is an international shipping agreement, which represents the charges paid by a seller to cover the costs, insurance, and freight of a buyer’s order while the cargo is in transit. Cost, insurance, and freight only applies to goods transported via a waterway, sea, or ocean.
Free on Board (FOB), on the other hand, is a term used to indicate when the ownership of goods transfers from buyer to seller and who is liable for goods damaged or destroyed during shipping.
It added that “FOB Origin” means the buyer assumes all risk once the seller ships the product.
According to Mr Awingobit, calculating import duties using CIF at a dollar rate of GH¢9.50pesewas from the initial GH¢7.2 is making life unbearable for the business community.
“I see no reason why customs will use the CIM to calculate my duty and pay higher amount and whether I like it or not, I have to call somebody and pay. That is what is happening in this country. It is a way of robbing importers in this country. Customs is a government agency, Bank of Ghana is the one managing the currency of this country…On September 27th, Customs were using 7.2 dollar rate to calculate it. By the following week, the rate had moved from 7.2 to 9.5. This is a total robbery and that is how we go to the port today and the duties at the ports are untouchable,” he told GhanaWeb in an exclusive interview.
“It’s untouchable because everybody is running helter-skelter. We cannot pay the duties. Let’s all respect the Bank of Ghana rules, customs should not calculate duties based on CIMs but rather on FOB price because that is the only area that at least importers can have rest,” Awingobit stated.
He called on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to call the Customs to order and stop them from charging in dollars.
He claims that the porous nature of the borders has led to an increase in the amount of money laundering through Ghana’s sea borders.
He also said: “The porous nature of the maritime environment, the illegal fishing activities, the illegal movement and smuggling of goods across the length and breadth of the maritime environment of Ghana, and the fact that these activities require a lot of coordination and collaboration in dealing with some of these things, the ability of the country to work with other countries in the region to enhance its collaboration. These are all some of the issues we found.”
A speech delivered by Kwaku Dua, Chief Executive of the Financial Intelligence Centre noted that the issue of money laundering and Terrorist Financing(ML/TF), illicit financial flows, and Maritime Crime in the Gulf of Guinea continues to be a source of worry and concern as these activities pose serious threats to national peace and security.
He also stated that due to the security threats that these activities pose, “it has become very necessary to understand the methods and techniques used by the criminals to launder these proceeds to put in place mechanisms to deny these people from benefiting from these crimes.”
Mr Dua however intimated tax evasion, trade-misinvoicing, piracy, robbery, drug trafficking, and human trafficking were identified as some of the most prevalent forms of maritime criminality.
Comprehensive strategy framework to be developed to deal with menace
The Kasoa Odupong Ofaakor Circuit Court has sentenced two Nigerians to 40 years imprisonment with hard labour for robbery.
The two were arrested by the police after a failed robbery attempt on a mobile money vendor at Kasoa New Market junction on May 17, 2022.
The convicted persons, Bright Okwara and Ferdinand Obi, pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery and robbery.
However, the Court presided over by Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, found them guilty after their trial and sentenced each person to 20 years imprisonment.
On the day of the incident, a mobile money vendor, Mr Hassan Nuru Yaroh, had gone to withdraw money from the bank for mobile money business when he was attacked.
The Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Amponsah, told the Court that Mr Yaroh withdrew an amount of GH₵11,800 and was on his motorbike to the shop when he noticed another motorbike following him.
He said realising that he was being followed, Mr Yaroh decided to ride to the police station but unfortunately, his motorbike broke down and the two caught up with him.
The convicts then snatched the money and sped off but luckily, Mr Yaroh’s bike started again, and he followed them until they were caught up in traffic at the police post near the market junction and he sounded an alarm to alert the people around.
The victim, according to the Prosecutor, got closer and hit them with his bike, snatched back the money while passers-by surrounded and arrested and handed them over to the police.
Ghana’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings have been downgraded by international rating agency Moody’s Investors Service to Caa2 from Caa1 and are currently being reviewed for a downgrade.
On September 30, 2022, Moody’s published a statement on its official website stating that “Without external support, the government’s policy levers to arrest a worsening macroeconomic backdrop and heavier debt burden are extremely limited; the government’s small revenue base, large and increasingly absorbed by interest payments, further intensifies the policy dilemma between competing objectives, including servicing debt while meeting essential social needs.”
It however explained that the initiation of the review for downgrade is prompted by the ongoing negotiations between the government of Ghana and the IMF over a funding programme that may include a condition for debt restructuring to ensure debt sustainability.
“Such a restructuring would likely be considered a distressed exchange and thereby a default under the rating agency’s definition. The review will evaluate the likelihood of a debt restructuring being a prerequisite to secure sufficient and durable financing from official sources to avert a fiscal and balance of payments crisis that is already unfolding,” Moody’s noted.
High Life legend Daddy Lumba has exclusively revealed how he got abandoned by his family and friends when he got sick and bedridden for 5 years.
The celebrated musician recently celebrated his 58th birthday and in a self-made video to thank his fans and other loved ones.
He decided to open up about some of his personal experiences in life which have now become a permanent lesson.
As revealed by Daddy Lumba, he was shocked and sad at the same time after none of his once trusted friends and family members he has once helped never paid him a visit neither at home nor the hospital despite knowing that he was terribly sick.
Daddy Lumba who sounded very pained and disappointed in the video disclosed that – That rough episode in his life made him realize that people around you don’t really love you but just love what you can do for them.
His “Yentia Obiaa” song was inspired by the fake love from his friends and family when he was fit and they could get money from him.
Aside from Daddy Lumba, I’m sure that we’ve all had our fair share and experience of human selfishness.
The Member of Parliament for New Juaben North, Nana Adjei Boateng, who called for a relook of drainage systems in Koforidua, has partly blamed the intense flooding on illegal mining activities upstream.
Addressing the media after touring some of the projects to assess progress of work yesterday, Dr Bawumia said: “I am very happy with the pace of work so far; I never knew the contractors had gone this far.”
The Vice-President began his two-day tour of the region last Sunday.
Significance
Dr Bawumia said the Agenda 111 initiative was an aggressive approach to addressing the healthcare infrastructure deficit in the country.
He said after 60 years of independence, there were still about 90 districts across the country without hospitals to serve the people.
“One of the things that we have to appreciate fundamentally is that Agenda 111 is really a bold initiative by the government because we are saying that every district should have a hospital; that is the vision,” he said.
According to him, about 87 hospitals were at various stages of construction across the country, with the five regions of the north having about 27 of those projects.
Courtesy call
As part of the tour, the Vice-President paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Savelugu Traditional Area, Yoo-Na Yakubu Abdulai Andani, at his palace.
He commended the chief for his immense contribution towards the attainment of peace in the region, saying: “You are the reason there is peace in Dagbon today and we must commend you.”
For his part, Yoo-Na Andani lauded the government for initiating interventions which he said were helping to improve the fortunes of the people.
He appealed for the establishment of a technical and vocational training institute in the area to help equip the youth with employable skills.
The Government of Ghana’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings have been reduced by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) to Caa2 from Caa1 and are currently being reviewed for a downgrade.
Additionally, Moody’s has lowered the senior unsecured MTN program ratings from (P)Caa1 to (P)Caa2 under review for a downgrade.
The recent macroeconomic deterioration, which has worsened the government’s liquidity and debt sustainability issues and raised the likelihood of default, is reflected in the rating downgrade to Caa2.
Despite Ghana’s tightening of monetary policy in response to the global price shock, inflation continues to rise from high levels and the currency has been under very significant pressure. Combined, a sharp rise in interest rates, high inflation and a rapidly weakening currency exacerbate the government’s debt challenges.
Without external support, the government’s policy levers to arrest a worsening macroeconomic backdrop and heavier debt burden are extremely limited; the government’s small revenue base, largely and increasingly absorbed by interest payments, further intensifies the policy dilemma between competing objectives, including servicing debt while meeting essential social needs. As a result, the risk of an eventual default has increased.
The initiation of the review for downgrade is prompted by the ongoing negotiations between the government and the IMF over a funding programme that may include a condition for debt restructuring to ensure debt sustainability. Such a restructuring would likely be considered a distressed exchange and thereby a default under the rating agency’s definition.
The review will evaluate the likelihood of a debt restructuring being a prerequisite to secure sufficient and durable financing from official sources to avert a fiscal and balance of payments crisis that is already unfolding.
Concurrent to the rating downgrade, Moody’s has also downgraded Ghana’s bond enhanced by a partial guarantee from the International Development Association (IDA, Aaa stable) to Caa1 from B3, reflecting a blended expected loss consistent with a one-notch uplift on the issuer rating. The rating has also been placed on review for downgrade given the review initiated on all unsecured debt ratings of the government.
Finally, Moody’s has lowered Ghana’s local currency (LC) and foreign currency (FC) country ceilings to respectively B2 and B3, from B1 and B2. Non-diversifiable risks are captured in a LC ceiling three notches above the sovereign rating, taking into account relatively predictable institutions and government actions, limited domestic political risk, and low geopolitical risk; balanced against a large government footprint in the economy and the financial system and external imbalances.
The FC country ceiling one notch below the LC country ceiling reflects constraints on capital account openness and fiscal policy effectiveness against robust foreign exchange reserves buffers and average monetary policy effectiveness.
Global and domestic rate hikes result in higher interest rates for the government while the loss in purchasing power induced by high inflation is a drag on economic activity. Higher government borrowing costs have rapidly increased its interest spending, which consumed almost half of the government’s revenue in 2021, a proportion Moody’s forecasts to rise to 58% in 2022, one of the highest globally.
Further monetary policy tightening is likely, with negative effects on already extremely weak debt affordability. The Bank of Ghana recently reported that the inflation rate climbed to 34% at end of August 2022 despite previous monetary tightening; the highest reading in Ghana since July 2001.
In the meantime, the local currency, the cedi, has depreciated by around 40% against the US dollar since the start of the year, exacerbating the challenges from an already high debt burden.
Because foreign currency-denominated debt accounted for 37% of GDP at end of 2021, Moody’s forecasts that the currency depreciation over 2022 will be the main contributor to the rise in the debt-to-GDP ratio this year to more than 100% of GDP (104%, 26 percentage points higher than in 2021).
Meanwhile, Ghana’s balance of payments position is deteriorating. Significant outflows in the first half of 2022 led to a fall in foreign exchange reserves to $5.9 billion as of the end of the second quarter of 2022 (covering 4.5 months of imports as of first quarter of 2022, which is the latest data available), down from $8.4 billion at the beginning of the year.
The deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, in particular the deep inflation shock, have further complicated the policy trade-off for Ghana’s authorities: limiting government primary spending to prioritise paying interest to creditors is difficult to reconcile with economic and social development objectives, fueling risks of further social discontent and damaging Ghana’s economic and social outcomes in the medium term.
LIMITED FISCAL POLICY LEVERS AVAILABLE TO ADDRESS INTENSIFYING DEBT SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES
Against the backdrop of higher inflation and larger interest payments, the government is left with very limited fiscal policy levers to reverse the deteriorating trend in debt burden and affordability and restore liquidity and external stability. Moody’s expects the government not to achieve the reductions in fiscal deficits targeted in its 2022 budget and instead to run stable deficits.
Notwithstanding the government’s intention at the start of the year to broaden its tax base, its capacity to raise its revenue intake (16% of GDP in 2021) is constrained by the weak macroeconomic environment. Meanwhile, Ghana’s room for manoeuvre on the spending side is also limited.
The interest bill, over which the government has little control in the short- to medium-term, constrains budget flexibility, especially amid large gross borrowing requirements (around 30% of GDP in 2022) and likely no access to international capital markets nor sizeable support from the donor community.
Moreover, there is a limit to the extent to which the government can lower primary spending: while the government had announced large cuts in its main primary spending items earlier this year implying a reduction of 4% year-on-year in total primary spending, budget execution over the first half of 2022 shows that spending rose by 26% instead, reflecting strong spending pressure amid severe economic and inflation shocks.
RATIONALE FOR THE REVIEW FOR DOWNGRADE
The review for downgrade reflects the risk that some form of debt restructuring may be required as part of an IMF funding programme currently under negotiation between the government and the IMF.
The review period will allow Moody’s to assess the risks of a restructuring involving private sector creditors both in the near and more medium term. The rating agency will focus on the government’s strategy to improve the macroeconomic backdrop and reverse the current negative feedback loop between high and rising inflation and interest and foreign exchange rates that are exacerbating the government debt burden and interest bill.
The debt sustainability analysis conducted as part of the IMF programme formulation and the government’s 2023 budget, among other policy decisions, will be important milestones.
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
Ghana’s ESG Credit Impact Score is highly negative (CIS-4), reflecting its high exposure to social risks. Resilience to environmental and social risks is weak, constrained by low wealth and high debt levels.
Ghana’s credit profile is moderately exposed to environmental risks (E-3 issuer profile score). The cocoa sector is a large contributor to GDP, exports and employment and being demanding in water, it exposes the country to climate changes and especially droughts.
More generally, the size of the agricultural sector exposes the economy to weather-related disruptions and the effects of climate change. Ghana is also exposed to water management risks stemming from a lack of access to potable water in some areas.
The exposure to social risk is highly negative (S-4 issuer profile score), driven by limited access to quality housing and education, especially in rural areas. Risks related to health and safety and access to basic services are moderately negative.
While the government has put in place measures aimed at reducing poverty and inequality and strengthening social safety nets, its fiscal challenges constrain its scope for meaningful reduction in social risks given more than half of government revenue is consumed by interest payments.
Governance is highly negative with a G-4 issuer profile score. Overall, Ghana’s institutions have shown some effectiveness, however domestic revenue mobilisation challenges and significant constraints on fiscal policy effectiveness manifest in very weak debt affordability. The authorities have undertaken some institutional reforms on the revenue and competitiveness front, which will invariably take time to produce results.
The publication of this rating action deviates from the previously scheduled release dates in the EU sovereign calendar published on https://ratings.moodys.com. This action was prompted by the further acceleration in macroeconomic deterioration to which the sovereign’s credit profile is highly sensitive to.
GDP per capita (PPP basis, US$): 6,194 (2021) (also known as Per Capita Income)
Real GDP growth (% change): 5.4% (2021) (also known as GDP Growth)
Gen. Gov. Financial Balance/GDP: -8.8% (2021) (also known as Fiscal Balance)
Current Account Balance/GDP: -3.3% (2021) (also known as External Balance)
External debt/GDP: 46.1% (2021)
Economic resiliency: ba3
Default history: No default events (on bonds or loans) have been recorded since 1983.
On 28 September 2022, a rating committee was called to discuss the rating of the Government of Ghana. The main points raised during the discussion were: The issuer has become increasingly susceptible to event risks.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Moody’s would likely downgrade Ghana’s ratings if the likelihood of a debt restructuring that involved private sector creditors increased, with the extent of the rating downgrade depending on the rating agency’s expectations for financial losses.
Conversely, Moody’s would likely confirm Ghana’s ratings at their current levels if the government’s strategy to restore debt sustainability without a debt restructuring looked likely to be effective.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Sovereign Ratings Methodology published in November 2019 and available at https://ratings.moodys.com/api/rmc-documents/63168.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on https://ratings.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
The weighting of all rating factors is described in the methodology used in this credit rating action, if applicable.
In the Northern Operational Area – Northern and Savannah Regions, as well as some areas of the Oti Region, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCo) loses up to 45 percent of the monthly power it sells to clients. This loss is primarily the result of power theft.
About GH24 million is the company’s monthly earnings from the Northern Area, but it could have been more if not for power theft.
Additionally, it indicates that more than GH10 million is lost each month, totaling more than GH120 million annually.
Losses from its other operational regions, such as Techiman, Sunyani, and the Upper East, Upper West, and North-East Region, are not included in this.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), the utilities regulator, allows for a lost margin of 22 percent for power utilities. NEDCo ended 2021 with total losses at 27 percent.
Manager, Technical Audit of NEDCo, Ing. John Yamoah, who made the revelations during a media workshop, added that losses in Tamale stand out among the rest at 48 percent.
NEDCo, which recorded GH¢884million in total revenue in 2021, lamented that the huge monthly losses make it difficult to invest into new equipment and infrastructure needed to ensure quality and reliable electricity supply within its jurisdiction.
Earlier this year, NEDCo, a subsidiary of the Volta River Authority, in its justification for improved tariffs to utilities regulator, submitted that apart from inadequate revenue from tariffs, it was confronted by high losses due to power theft, faulty metres and unbilled customers, which it said was particularly high in the Northern Area, comprising Northern and Savannah Regions and some parts of Oti Region.
To ensure supply of quality and reliable electricity, it is estimated that NEDCo requires GH¢8billion, approximately US$844million to modernise its infrastructure.
Ing. Yamoah said these losses make it difficult for the company to effectively deliver on its mandate.
NEDCo’s Managing Director, Osmani Ayuba, said he was deeply worried about power theft and its implications for his outfit and reliable electricity supply.
“Power is so critical that I don’t need to talk much about it. Without power, we cannot do anything,” he said, adding: “But we do not get the power for free. We actually buy from VRA, so we need money to continue to buy the power; we need money to buy the metres for you; we need money to buy poles to replace the broken ones; we need money to buy the transformers that have blown; and we need money to work on the network.
“Unfortunately, we are in an environment where power theft is very high.”
In the recent past, NEDCo’s attempt to retrieve revenue due it or curb power theft or illegal power connection has resulted in deadly clashes with consumers.
“Our staff suffer a lot in the field of work; they go to check on illegal connections and end up being physically assaulted by offenders. So it’s really strenuous for us to work. We need to have a very nice environment for us to do our legitimate job and continue to provide you with the quality power supply that you need to do your businesses and handle other things.”
In order to enable their meaningful and informed involvement in the market, he claimed that it was assisting the investing public in better understanding what items were available in the sector.
Rev. Tetteh made this statement at the first “Time with SEC” Tamale edition investor education session held by the SEC in the Northern Region.
The programme, which is a flagship initiative of the SEC, forms part of the Commission’s strategic thrust of educating members of the investing public and other key stakeholders about SEC, the Ghanaian capital market and other important investment topics.
It was on the theme: “Understanding the Role of SEC in the Capital Market”, and featured topics such as “how to make use of the capital market”-buying shares, collective investments schemes and capital raising- and “how to identify Ponzi or Pyramid Schemes.”
The event was also used by the Commission to provide the latest information on the Government Bailout Programme as well as share other updates in the securities industry.
He said significant steps that had been taken to strengthen the securities industry included the issuance of important Guidelines for Market Operators, such as the Corporate Governance Code for Listed Companies 2020 (SEC/CD/001/10/2020) and Securities Industry (Conduct of Business) Guidelines 2020 (SEC/GUI/004/10/2020).
Others are the introduction of more stringent licensing requirements; the launch of a 10-year Capital Market Master Plan to serve as a blueprint for the growth and development of the Ghanaian Capital Market, and the implementation of a nationwide investor education programme.
The rest are close collaboration with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) such as the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, the Northern Regional Minister, said the capital market was a very important part of Ghana’s financial industry because it brought together suppliers of capital and other players.
Naa Yab Gulkpe, Alhaji Naa Alhassan, Paramount Chief of Tamale and Chairman of the programme, whose speech was read on his behalf, thanked the Commission for the engagement.
He said the capital market was of utmost significance to growing economies because they (economies) needed new forms of financial intermediation to finance investments that were either long-term or too risky for commercial banks to venture into.
“Such long-term financing makes the capital market an important driver for spurring economic growth and innovation,” he said.
He noted that the high level of ignorance among the investing public was a challenge that must be tackled because in many cases people who fell victim to fraudulent investment schemes were not well informed about investment and capital market activities.
“I, therefore, applaud the Securities and Exchange Commission once again for looking beyond the national capital for this outreach programme,” he added.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has agreed to a $1.13 billion syndicated loan for the 2022/2023 cocoa crop season with several banks as part of measures to increase cocoa production through the purchase of cocoa beans.
The banks are the Commercial Bank of China, Natixis, Standard Chartered, Rabo, Ghana International Bank, and MUFG, a Japanese bank.
At a news conference on October 3, COCOBOD Board Chairman Peter Mac Manu said, “The loan is intended to help the government attain 850,000 metric tonnes of cocoa produce after Ghana missed its objective for this year.”
“COCOBOD has been doing very well for this country, and I must say we will continue to do better. This season, we are hoping to hit 850,000 metric tonnes,” Mr Mac Manu is quoted by Joy Business News.
“We have replaced old cocoa trees with improved seeds. We have also undertaken pruning exercises and supplied inputs to farmers. We are hopeful we can achieve the target and improve the livelihood of our farmers”, he added.
“The galamsey act could adversely affect cocoa production output if measures are not put in place to stop illegal mining which leads to destruction of forest reserves and pollution of water bodies,” he stressed.
Peter Mac Manu also assured that cocoa farmers will be given the needed support to increase their yields with the view of protecting the environment.
Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison in his remarks was optimistic that the loan secured will help stabilise the local currency which has been witnessing a significant free fall since the start of this year.
The Member of Parliament for New Juaben North, Nana Adjei Boateng, who called for a relook of drainage systems in Koforidua, has partly blamed the intense flooding on illegal mining activities upstream.
Nana Adjei Boateng who visited some affected communities with the Municipal Security Council to assess the extent of damage said the level of flooding was unprecedented.
“Over the years, it has been flooding there but the extent to which Akwadum got flooded this time, we have never seen it like that.”
“The volume of rains that we had in that catchment area would not have given us the floods. The floods are coming from upstream, and why are they coming from upstream? Because those are areas that are endemic for galamsey,” he said to Citi News.
Hundreds of residents at Akwadum Zongo in the New Juaben North Municipality fled their homes after several hours of downpour submerged their homes.
The rains on Sunday worsened after the Densu river which flows through the community overflowed its banks at around 10 am on Sunday.
Thousands of properties have been lost in the process and residents say the situation may get worse if the rains do not stop.
Even if this was done to protect cocoa producers, Cassiel Ato Forson, the chairman of the government’s finance committee, pointed out that it was actually the government’s manner of looting the farmers.
He said that the administration had misled the farmers.
According to Cassiel Ato Forson, a former chairman of the Cocoa Producer Price Review Committee, maintaining the producer price for cocoa at GHC475 per bag of 64 kilograms for the crop season of 2018/2019 will cost the farmer GHC35.75 each bag of cocoa.
Mr. Forson accused the government of duping the cocoa farmers by determining prices with an exchange rate of 4.54 instead of 4.8.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto during the 2018 Cocoa Day Grand Durbar announced that the government has maintained the producer price of cocoa for the 2018/2019 cocoa season at GH¢7,600 per tonne, translating into GH¢475 per bag of 64 kilogramme (kg) gross weight.
According to the Minister, the decline in the price of the commodity on the international market, which had forced all the other 21 producing countries to slash their producer prices, made it impossible for the government to review the producer price upwards.
Speaking on Citi TV’s Point of View, the former Deputy Minister of Finance expressed disappointment in the government and COCOBOD for being insensitive toward cocoa farmers in the country.
He argues that cocoa prices must be calculated based on BoG’s rate of 4.8% since “COCOBOD only sells to the Central Bank. The Central Bank is the only one with that ability to absorb 1.3 billion, the rest will not have that ability”.
“…Looking at the volume and projected 900,000 metric tonnes with that exchange rate, the farmer is shortchanged by 287million US dollars. And that 287million US dollars if you’re to translate it, you’re talking of something about GHC1.2 billion,” he further explained.
“Based on the Bank of Ghana figures that I have, as of September for instance is at 4.7655. We projected that because of the trend we’ll end October, by the time the drop-down is made, we’ll be hovering around 4.8 because of the trend analysis,” the former Deputy Finance Minister said.
He urged the Ghana Cocoa Board and the government “to do what is right to ensure that the cocoa farmer, as we all know they’ve contributed so much to the prosperity of this country.”
The GFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed a fine of GHc8000 cedis on Legon Cities FC after being found guilty on three counts of misconduct in their betPawa Premier League Matchday 1 against Medeama SC at the El Wak Stadium.Additionally, the Club will pay an amount of GHc2000 to referee Charles Benle Bulu for replacement of his car’s two tyres.
A player of the Club, Michael Ampadu has also been handed a 5-match ban in addition to the mandatory suspension he is to serve for receiving a red card in the match.
The Disciplinary Committee which was chaired by Vice Chairperson Carla Olympio, also handed a 10-match to an official of the club after being found guilty of acting in an unsporting and intimidating way towards match officials on the day of the match.Meanwhile the GFA Disciplinary Committee has sent Enforcement decisions to three clubs on outstanding debts to players and other clubs respectively.
The three clubs are Aduana Stars, Vision FC and Tema Youth FC.
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) says “it is in control”, of the challenges brought on by recent heavy rains and the spillage of the Bagre Dam.
It said the two situations have gravely affected its operations leading to “considerable havoc to some water treatment plants” across the country.
The management of the GWCL assured the public that despite the challenges, it is in control and has put in measures to ameliorate the situation to minimize the impact on consumers.
It explained how the recent rains have affected operations as follows:
WEIJA (GREATER ACCRA)
The Weija dam is currently at a level of 49.5ft as against the maximum operating level of 48ft. Spillage normally begins when the level gets to 46.5ft. As a result, four (4) spill gates have been opened to safeguard the integrity of the dam, save the dam from collapse, and save lives and properties.
JAMBUSI (UPPER WEST-WA)
The Jambusi Treatment Plant is sited at the banks of the Black Volta, at the boundary between Ghana and Burkina Faso. The level of the river rose to a level of 13.8ft as against the maximum operating level of 13.0ft.
The high level of the river, coupled with run water from the rains, caused the flooding of the Pump House at the intake and production had to be curtailed at that point.
NAWUNI-DALUN (NORTHERN REGION)
The opening of the spill gates of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso raised the level of the Nawuni river where water is abstracted at Dalun and treated for the people of Tamale. Two transformers that feed the treatment plant got damaged and power to the plant was curtailed. Due to the challenges, production has reduced, and Engineers from Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) are assisting GWCL to have it solved.
AKYEM ODA (EASTERN)
Water supply to Akyem Oda, Akwatia, Kade and surrounding communities have been curtailed because of the shutdown of the Akyem Oda Treatment Plant, due to the flooding of the pump house at the abstraction point (in-take point). The flooding also caused damage to some equipment such as electronic control panels and pumps.
DENSUANO (EASTERN REGION)
Residents of Koforidua are currently experiencing low pressure in some areas of the metropolis due to flooding of the plant at Densuano and this has affected all the equipment in the plant.
It is pertinent to note that there are similar situations occurring at Daboase in the Western Region, Winneba and Kwanyarko in the central region, and other areas, Management of the Ghana water Company limited wishes to assure the public and its cherished Customers, that Engineers of the company are on top of the situation and doing everything possible to forestall further eventualities.
In order to remedy the issue, she stated that the Ministry would receive a stock of fresh books.
We should have enough by the middle of this month—October, or in about a week—to clear the backlog, she said.
According to reports on myjoyonline.com, Ayorkor Botchwey stated that there would be enough booklets by the end of October 2022 to last for the rest of the year or perhaps into the following quarter.
“The issue is the collecting of the booklet, according to our interactions with the candidates today.
“Obviously, the single most important issue that affected our economy was the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of our national life, our Bank not exempted. The COVID-19, coupled with the political atmosphere after the 2020 Elections and the subsequent Budget presentation, affected the nation’s financial standing and the rippling effects are still being felt in the changing policy rates that the Bank of Ghana Monitoring Policy Committee continues to issue,” said the chairman.
The board chairman meanwhile commended the Central Bank for kick-starting a Corporate Governance Directive for Rural Banks to ensure Board members are “fit and proper” to be given fiduciary positions as the Central Bank continues to implement policy guidelines that serve the best interests of depositors and other stakeholders and enhancing overall corporate performance, accountability, and public trust.
Mr. Otu-Boateng however identified the competition faced by rural banks with the universal banks and micro-finance institutions operating in their catchment areas as one of the challenges confronting the operations of the Bank.
He however noted that despite these setbacks, the Mumuadu Rural Bank remains on its feet, reporting good out-turn.
Detailing the performance of the bank as of December 31, 2021, the chairman said, “The Bank increased its profit before tax from GH¢3,384,357 in 2020 to GH¢4,777,279 in 2021, an increase of 41.16%.”
According to him, total earnings also recorded a 23.41% growth from GH¢23,219,206 in 2020 to 28,655,633 in 2021.”
Regarding the Bank’s total assets, Mr. Otu-Boateng disclosed that this increased from GH¢113,830,760 in 2020 to GH¢124,226,695, representing year-on-year growth of a 9.13% increment during the year.
Customer deposits which remain a crucial balance sheet component grew from GH¢88,742,036 in 2020 to GH¢101,896,826 in 2021 representing an increase of 14.82%.
The Bank similarly improved its short and medium-term as well as investment securities by 29.23% over the previous year’s portfolio from GH¢33,727,847 in 2020 to GH¢43,585,913 in 2021.
The board chairman furthered that the Bank’s stated capital also recorded an appreciable increase from GH¢3,921,202.00 in 2020 to GH¢ 4,041,925 in 2021, representing a growth of 3.08%.
He however expressed concern over the slow growth of the Stated Capital where shareholders are not buying any more shares, despite the fact that the bank pays good returns whenever the situation allows.
Regarding the Bank’s Total Expenses, this increased by 20.42% from GH¢19,834,849 in 2020 to GH¢ 23,884,186 in 2020.
While the bank earned a primary reserve of 14.29% above the required ratio of 6%, it similarly recorded a secondary reserve of 37.46% which is significantly above the statutory requirement of 30% by an impressive 7.46%. This is an indication that the Bank is sufficiently capitalized.
Regarding Loans and Advances, it was disclosed that the balance of advances outstanding after the provision of bad and doubtful debts increased from GH¢52,019,725 in 2020 to GH¢57,674,173 in 2021. This, according to the chairman, represents an increase of 10.87% over the 2020 outstanding advances after provision for bad and doubtful debts.
Mr. Otu-Boateng also announced that Shareholders’ funds increased from GH¢ 13,477,719 in 2020 to GH¢ 14,582,481 in 2021 representing an increase of 8.20%. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bank, Mr. Francis Kotoko said the Mumuadu Rural Bank has over the years demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainable business practices driving profitable, sustainable growth that is environmentally responsible and socially relevant.
According to him, the bank still had millions of shares available for sale and urged members of the general public to buy the shares which are available at 30p per share.
“It’s important that everyone owns shares. Our shares go for 30p per share. We’ve subscribed for authorized fifty million out of which we’ve sold twenty-nine million shares leaving about twenty-nine million shares available for sale,” he said in an interview.
Celebrating the track record of the bank over the past forty years, the CEO said the bank has been able to safeguard the savings of its customers over the period.
Shareholders approved all resolutions on the agenda which included among other things, the ratification of the appointment of two Executive Directors of the Bank and to receive and consider the Audited Financial Statements of the Bank for the year ended 31st December 2021 together with the Reports of the Directors and Auditors.
At the end of the meeting, shareholders adopted the 2021 audited financials and approved all resolutions on the agenda, including the declaration of dividend, re-election of the Board of Directors retiring by rotation, the re-election of Directors, remuneration of Directors, and the authorization of the Directors to fix the remuneration of Auditors.
She promised to supply the Ministry with additional booklets to make up for the shortfall.
By the middle of this month, or around a week from now, she added, “October, we should have enough to eliminate the backlog.”
According to sources on myjoyonline.com, Ayorkor Botchwey promised that by the end of October 2022, there will be enough booklets to last through the rest of the year or even into the following quarter.
“According to our interactions with the candidates today, the problem is the gathering of the booklet.
“Some go back many months and I wanted to see this for myself and I have seen it and we will make sure that as soon as the booklet comes, we will work day and night to print all the backlog, clear the backlog so that those who want to travel can do so,” she said.
“We have some booklet there, but it is not enough to cover the full backlog that we have, which is why we are not rushing that we put out weekly of a certain number until God willing around the 13th when we receive enough,” she noted.
Great Olympics midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu has disclosed that former Sunderland ace Asamoah Gyan is Ghana’s best striker of all time.
Gyan is the all-time leading goalscorer of Ghana, with 51 goals. With 6 goals, Gyan is the top African goalscorer in the history of the World Cup.
He has also represented Ghana at the 2004 Summer Olympics and in seven Africa Cup of Nations in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, helping them finish in third-place in 2008 and runner-up in 2010 and 2015.
“I will pick Asamoah Gyan as the best striker ever because he is the one I played with,” Agyemang-Badu told Sports Obama TV.
“We didn’t watch most of the senior players, but at least I have read about them and what they did in the game, but I think Gyan is the best ever.”
Gyan, who is without a club is bidding to make a shock return to the international fold as he eyes a spot in Ghana’s squad for the global showpiece.
The 36-year-old last played for the Black Stars in the 2019 AFCON tournament in Egypt and last featured actively in the 2020/21 season for Ghana Premier League side, Legon Cities where he made just five appearances and failed to score.
Ghana have been placed in Group H of the World Cup with Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay.
According to The Anum Rural Bank PLC, it is committed to achieving its corporate goal of being one of Ghana’s most reputable and leading rural banks by offering both financial and non-financial services to help close the development gap between its rural communities and the city.
At the bank’s 39th Annual General Meeting of shareholders on Saturday, October 1, 2022, Mr. Daniel Adu Appea, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, said that the bank had created a favorable operational environment to result in growth in revenue, deposit mobilization, excellent customer service, and noticeable growth in shareholders’ funds.
Overall, the Anum Rural Bank PLC posted a strong financial performance in 2021 on the back of what Mr. Appea described as strong internal collaboration among business units and support functions despite domestic and global challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Detailing the performance under the year in review, the Board Chairman said the Anum Rural Bank recorded a Profit Before Tax of GH¢1,366,582.00 in 2021 from GH¢659,627.00 in 2020, representing an increase of 107.16 percent.
With the basic earnings per share in 2021 being GH¢1.35 as against GH¢0.56 earnings per share in 2020, the directors recommended a GH¢ 00.0055 dividend per share amounting to GH¢395,736 for the year ending 31st December 2021.
Interest income in the year under review was GH¢9,990,508.00 as against GH¢7,427,994.00 while net income increased by 37.61 percent from GH¢6,256.405.00 in 2020 to GH¢8,609,3281 in 2021.
As of 31st December 2021, the bank increased its all assets to GH¢53.62 million, representing year-on-year growth of 16.07 percent from GH¢46.20 million in 2020.
Customer deposits which remain a key balance sheet component grew by 17.09 percent from GH¢35,942,963.00 in 2020 to GH¢42,087,177.00 in 2021.
The Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio of 21.49 percent is significantly above the prudential requirement of 10 percent, an indication that the Bank is sufficiently capitalized.
The bank’s total shareholder funds appreciated from GH¢6,831,438.00 in 2020 to GH¢7,395,298.00, representing a year-to-year growth of 8.25 percent.
Mr. Samuel Terkpertey Tetteh, Manager, Legal Services at ARB Apex Bank who represented the Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank, Mr. Alex Kwasi Awuah, commended the bank for the gains made in 2021 though he said there was still room for improvement.
He pleaded with the shareholders to continue to support the Board and Management to further deliver better results as the current trends show that Anum Rural Bank is on the right track.
Though the Anum Rural Bank under the year in review spent GH¢28,233 on its corporate social responsibilities (CSR), Mr. Terkpertey however pleaded with the Directors to endeavor to commit more resources towards this cause in the communities given that the customers want to be sure that the banks are there for good as community members would be convinced to invest more in the Bank when they see what their bank is doing in their localities.
At the end of the meeting, shareholders adopted the 2021 audited financials and approved all resolutions on the agenda, including the declaration of dividend, re-election of Directors, appointment of the bank’s external auditors, and the authorization of the Directors to fix the remuneration of Auditors.
Mr. Richard Sarbah Eshun was declared by the Electoral Commission as a director to replace a director retiring by rotation.
The board and shareholders however maintained the fixing of the directors’ remuneration.
Adontenhene of the Anum Traditional Area, Okogyeaman Kwasi Anyane V who was a special guest of honor at the event commended the board of directors of the bank for the impressive output.
The traditional leader while underscoring how helpful the Bank has been to the community and its shareholders recalled how the institution came to his rescue on several occasions to establish his business, and acquire a plot of land and some personal properties.
The Adontenhene urged shareholders to dedicate their commitment to the bank in order to derive maximum benefits. “Let’s not be just shareholders, let’s work with the bank, let’s be faithful. If we get money, let’s invest it with the bank. If the bank lends us money too, let’s do well to repay so that if we need more some other time, they give us,” he told the shareholders.
The Cyber Security Authority is making a strong case for businesses to set aside about 15% of their budgetary allocation to fight digital crime.
This has become necessary to protect businesses against growing incidents of cyber-crimes across the world.
Acting Executive Director for the Cyber Security Authority, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako made the call in an interview with Joy Business after addressing stakeholders at the launch of the 2022 Cyber Security Awareness Month under the theme; “Regulating Cybersecurity-a public private sector collaborative approach”.
The issue of funding for cyber security activities has been a challenge in Ghana and some parts of Africa due to budgetary concerns.
The call for allocation of some funding has become critical at this moment for both public and private sector organisations as cybercrime continues to increase and thereby becoming a threat to national economies.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako is positive that this year’s awareness month will be used to solicit public support against the menace.
“If you are engaged in any form of business and having to adopt the many online and digital processes in your operations, then you must have at least 15% to 25% out of your budget allocation as investment into cyber security”.
“It is increasingly becoming a global concern and we need to save our economy. The hackers and strategists keep developing new ways every time and businesses must not be silent”, he said.
The Cyber Security Awareness Month is celebrated in Ghana every October to help give some attention to the issues of cybercrime.
Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomah Boateng told Journalists that government is exploring other means to ensure funding for the Cyber Security Authority.
“We are making some appeals to raise funds from the Ministry of Finance to support the operations of the Cyber security Authority. As part of the law that created the authority, the state will be making funds available to enhance activities [ cyber security]. And we hope to use this opportunity to appeal for more collaborative efforts from both public and private sector organisations in fighting the cyber crime menace” she noted.
The authority also used the occasion to sign a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique and Rwanda in fighting cyber-crime.
Atlanta-based Ghanaian producer and musician Noble Zogli, known widely as Nektunez, has signed a label deal with Akon’s Konvict Kulture
Akon will provide professional expert services aimed at projecting and propelling Nektunez to the next phase of his career under the Konvict Kulture brand.
The signing comes at a time when Akon has spoken highly of the enormous talents on the African continent and how they are gradually taking over the world with their sound.
Speaking on the signing, Akon said; “I’m honored to be able to add Nektunez to the KONVICT movement”. I’ve never met a more humble, hard working, and talented producer like Nektunez. I was even more impressed by his artistic talents! He represents the new Africa and I’m determined to show the world his contribution to the beautiful sounds of Afrobeat and Amapiano”
Nektunez also expressed his excitement at the new partnership and promised to deliver to the expectation of everyone.
“I am excited to start my next chapter with Akon; someone I have always looked up to growing up. He shares my vision and has passion for the brand of music I’m creating. I can’t wait to continue sharing my music on a global scale. Now it’s time to go to work and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together,” he said.
In 2021, Nektunez made a huge entry into the global music space as his production Ameno Amapiano (Remix), a casual mix he did to the globally acclaimed song by French new-age musical project Era, blew up debuting at number 7 on the Afrobeats US Billboard charts.
Currently sitting with over 10 billion views on Tik Tok as of February 2022, Ameno Amapiano (Remix) went straight to Number 1 on the Billboard world digital sales chart for a historical 8 weeks, Number 1 on global Shazam, Number 1 song on iTunes in 22 countries including UK, Germany and USA. The song also top the Apple Music charts in 39 countries.
The top mobile microinsurance provider in Ghana, aYo Intermediaries Ghana, has added a new feature to its Recharge with Care (RwC) policy that enables users to pay a single fee for a full year’s worth of coverage.
With its Recharge with Care and Send with Care insurance products, both of which offer life and hospital coverage, they have stood strong in the microinsurance market for five years and have positively impacted thousands of lives.
Customers can now purchase a full year’s cover for GHS130 thanks to the new functionality.
Customers previously simply had to pay a monthly payment of GHS6 each time they topped off their MTN airtime in order to receive life and hospital insurance.
Chief Executive Officer of aYo Ghana, Francis Gota said “This feature aims at addressing the situation in which customers have lost out on claims due to premium payment issues. It will also eliminate complaints about frequent airtime deductions and why their benefits keep changing”.
He noted that when a customer purchases the Recharge with Care Annual Insurance Policy, the benefits available to them include a static Life Cover Benefit of GHC 6,000 for the Policyholder, a static Life Cover Benefit for one Family Member, GHC120 per night for Hospitalization Cover for the Policyholder and a 10% No Claim Cashback bonus.
The 10% Cashback Bonus means that if the policyholder does not make any claims during the cover period, he or she will receive 10% of the premium paid, which is GHS13.
According to Francis Gota, customers can sign up by dialing *928*101#, then follow the prompts and make instant payments, or aYo’s Call Centre agents would contact the customer via 0244300000 to assist with the sign-up process.
“Once payment is made, the customer will receive an SMS confirming their payment, the benefit amount, start date, and cover expiry date, and the customer’s benefits are calibrated on the portal for visibility.
“A 30-day waiting period applies to the policy. During the waiting period, only accidental hospitalization and death claims are admissible,” the CEO explained.
The Annual cover feature, the CEO said, is available to exist aYo customers who are already on both Life and Hospital covers on RwC and want the additional policy, as well as non-aYo customers who are MTN subscribers.
aYo Intermediaries recently celebrated its fifth anniversary in Ghana, during this period it has served over 7.9 million customers and counting and has paid out about GHS10.56 million in claims to over 32,524 policyholders and beneficiaries.
The company recently picked up two top awards at the Ghana Insurance Association Awards 2022, stamping its authority on the country’s microinsurance space. The two laurels were the Mobile Insurance Leadership Award and the Best Growing Intermediary Firm of the Year.
She made this statement during a speech at the 2022 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest, Romania, where she also reaffirmed her nation’s dedication to advancing the digital agenda and ensuring that no one is left behind.
“Ghana is fully committed to the strategic direction set by the ITU to ensure the universal connectivity that will propel the needed global digital transformation. Closing the digital divide to facilitate equitable connectivity, which is vital to support the economic transformation of Ghana, is our primary objective. We are of the opinion that we can transform COVID-19 from a global crisis to an opportunity through digital technology,” she stated.
In line with this, she said, government is poised to implement the Digital Ghana Agenda in its quest to position the country as the African continent’s digital gateway.
“Utilising ITU guidelines, Ghana is actively promoting cybersecurity not only for our benefit but for the sub-region as a whole. Ghana’s ranking on the 2021 ITU Global Cybersecurity Index improved to 86.69 percent from 32.6 percent in 2017. We seek partnerships and international cooperation to do even better for our entire sub-region,” she said.
She added that creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with its secretariat headquartered in the country is a pointer to the African continent-wide marketing strategy powered by digitalisation; and said the country is extending its digital infrastructure to its borders to enable seamless connection to neighbouring countries.
The minister also highlighted that initiatives have been employed to narrow the digital divide and empower citizens to embrace the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs).
“We are implementing a Rural Telephony project to connect over three million people. These previously unconnected people now have equal access to the innovations introduced by government in Ghana’s digital transformation journey,” she mentioned – also citing mobile money interoperability, digital skills development and focused interventions to reduce the gender digital divide and create opportunities for the youth through the ‘Girls in ICT’ programme, and nurturing new businesses at Digital Incubation Centres.
Ghanaian international, Francis Amuzu has disclosed that in the future he would love to play in the French Ligue 1.
During the summer transfer window, the winger attracted a lot of interest and came close to joining OGC Nice.
Just recently, the Belgian-Ghanaian forward has inked a new contract to extend his stay at RSC Anderlecht.
Nonetheless, the winger says he wishes to move on and play in France.
However, whiles he remains at RSC Anderlecht, Francis Amuzu has assured that he will give his all to the team.
“Where to? Preferably to Ligue 1. It is an ideal springboard to a big championship. In the meantime, I will give everything for Anderlecht. The management told me that they would let me go if I have a very good season,” the attacker told La Dernière Heure.
This season, Francis AMuzu has had a good start to the league campaign and is expected to be key for his club through the season.
The business has also stated that its vending machines are currently operational and allowing clients to buy prepaid credit.
Samuel Mahama, the managing director of the power distribution firm, highlighted that the ECG accepts its error in failing to provide power to clients and apologized for the delay in service delivery while speaking at a news conference on Monday, October 3, 2022, in Accra.
Mr Mahama said: “That was our fault that we were not on top of our game to deliver a service. Let us not forget that in such a business the customer is the one that always gets hurt when you don’t deliver on your promise. So when I said I admit my fault, I admit my fault in not being able to deliver the service that we promised to deliver.
“I will like to apologise to all customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana who attempted to purchase power and they were not able to purchase power, the company admits its fault, the company admits that it was not able to deliver on the service.”
“But the company will like all its customers to also know that most vending stations are up and running.
“I used most because we still have some few challenges in the Ashanti region that we are working on. Hopefully, by close of day today, it will be resolved.”
Meanwhile, the MD, is optimistic, that challenges with the power distributing company’s prepaid vending system will be fully resolved by Tuesday, 4 October 2022.
According to the ECG MD, customers will be able to purchase prepaid credits without challenges.
Power consumers across certain parts of the country have, for the past six days, been unable to purchase power on their prepaid meters because of a technical challenge that affected ECG’s prepaid metering systems.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, has urged the European Union (EU) to collaborate with ACP nations to avoid burdening the local cocoa and coffee industries with its proposed ethical and sustainable supply chain requirements.
Though the new legislation is a means of promoting better practices within the cocoa and coffee subsector, Nkrumah argues that it is more crucial that the EU collaborate with ACP nations to achieve these sustainability standards because failing to do so runs the risk of driving players within the value chain out of business.
He made the call when he chaired a two-day forum on the future of Ghanaian cocoa and coffee value chains in the face of this new EU legislation at the “Alliances in Ghana: Coffee and Chocolate at the table” in Brussels, Belgium organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Ghanaian Mission in Brussels last week.
“At a time where farmlands are coming under threats for competing and more rewarding economic activities, sustainability is a matter that requires some more attention. By no means however should sustainability be used as a pretext to limit market accessibility. Exchange of best practices and technical assistance is necessary so that we can have a win-win situation in all of this,” he said.
“Farmers deserve a recompense for their hard work and should not be left out in any business or policy negotiation. Their social reality and cultural context must be considered when designing legislation so they may meet their demands and not bear a disproportionate burden for complying with the regulation,” he said.
EU lawmakers have backed a proposal for a law that will ban the sale of agriculture products linked to the destruction of forests, and human rights violations. The bill was supported by 453 votes, to 57 with 123 abstentions.
The EU Parliament will now start negotiations on the final text with EU member states.
Once approved, the law would force companies and producers to give assurances that products are deforestation-free and meets EU’s sustainability standards.
Businesses will be forced to verify that agricultural goods sold in the EU have not been made on deforested or degraded land anywhere in the world.
This, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said could soon make Ghanaian cocoa and coffee unexportable to many international markets within the 27-nation bloc.
He said Ghana must act quickly to ensure the two industries meet the interests of European markets else millions of households and the economy in general could be significantly affected by this proposed legislation.
Sensational Ghanaian rapper Black Sherif broke the internet when he announced the release of his debut album; The Villian I Never Was.” The project will be released on Thursday 6 October, across the various streaming platforms.
Announcing his debut album, Black Sherif wrote; It took me everything to give life to this body. The one thing in my life that I gave everything up for. There is life in this body, I hope it treats you good and speaks to you like I want it to.My debut album, “The Villain I Never Was” Available on all stores on October 6, 2022.Thank you, Love you.
While performing at the Summer Stage Festival in New York, Shatta Wale announced the release of his much-anticipated Gift of God Album.
The project which the self-proclaimed King of Dancehall had teased in 2020 and continuously postponed is set for release on Monday 17 October 2022.
Wendy Shay
After serving fans with two hit singles, Survivor and Warning, Ghanaian singer Wendy Asiamah Addo, known in showbiz as Wendy Shay will drop an Extended Play titled Enigma. The singer has been teasing the project set for release on Friday 21 October 2022 by sharing photos of herself in customized Enigma merch.
Amerado
On Tuesday 25th October 2022, fans of Amerado Burner will be treated to an amazing piece of work from the Ghanaian rapper. Amerado took to social media to announce the release of his album G.I.N.A which stands for God Is Never Asleep.
Professor Lord Mawuko-Yevugah, a development and international relations specialist, has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reduce the perks received by his appointees in light of the nation’s ongoing economic woes.
The president has also been urged by him to eliminate the roles of regional ministers and deputy chief executive officers of state entities.
“Every political appointee should get his own car, accommodation and other privileges. These freebies are not sustainable. If someone chooses to be a politician, he should carry his own burden,” Prof Mawuko-Yevugah said.
Prof. Mawuko-Yevugah made the call in Accra at a lecture on the topic: “COVID-19 Pandemic, Russian-Ukraine War and Ghana’s Economic Crisis,” and monitored by GhanaWeb.
The lecture was organised by Think Progress Ghana (TPG), a policy think tank, and the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
Prof. Mawuko-Yevugah explained further that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War have been more significant in fragile and emerging economies, exposing the weak foundations of such economies on the one hand, and their vulnerabilities on the other hand.
He added that the Ghanaian economic crisis remains an undeniable thing that has been often stated by many government officials, political and economic actors, scholars, the ordinary Ghanaian and indeed, the country’s international development partners, including the Bretton Woods Institutions – IMF and the World Bank.
“The crisis is manifested in rising inflation, rising budget deficits, ballooning and unsustainable debts levels, precipitous depreciation and fall in the value of the local currency (the cedi) relative to the major foreign currencies,” he said.
Prof. Mawuko-Yevugah also said that managing and surmounting Ghana’s perennial economic crisis requires more than short-term artificial macro-economic fixes.
He said it requires a complete overhaul and restructuring of the economy, making it less dependent on global markets and the benevolence of others.
Prof. Mawuko-Yevugah also advised stakeholders in revenue to check loopholes in revenue mobilisation by closing it, and establish a tough tax collection regime to ensure maximum local revenue mobilisation.
“Expenditure controls are required including a stringent public financial management system and reviewing the public or political incentive system,” he said
He stated that cost-saving measures including removal of perks and other burdens on the public purse would keep expenditures in check, and in saving money to fund development infrastructure.
“Immediate (short-term), as well as long-term measures, are required in dealing with the current and future crisis in the economy,” Prof. Mawuko-Yevugah said.
Professor Anthony Mawuli Sallar, Executive Director, Think Progress Ghana, said the aim of the think-tank policy was to bridge the gap between intellectuals, researchers, politicians and policymakers.
He said TPG relied on the experience and expertise of renowned scholars from diverse disciplinary and professional backgrounds to provide fit-for-purpose solution to challenges in economic, social, cultural, political, and health issues.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, has organized a 3-day dissemination seminar on Labour-Based Bituminous Surfacing Technology (LBST) for Ghanaian engineers and stakeholders in the road construction sector.
This is the third time JICA has organized the seminar in collaboration with key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Department of Feeder Roads, Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH) and the Ghana Production Safety Net Project.
The training took place in Koforidua.
The Chief Representative of JICA Ghana, Mr. Yasumichi Araki, in his speech, said: “The Government of Ghana (through the Department of Feeder Roads) and JICA implemented a Technical Cooperation project on LBST from February 2016 to December 2018. Two field trials were conducted during the project to come up with “Guidelines for labour-based bituminous surfacing technology”, which was launched by MRH in December 2018.
The performance of the trial construction shows that LBST could be applied to undertake road-sealing work for low-volume roads, and contribute to generating employment opportunities among local people, especially in rural area.
The LBST project, aside ensuring quality road infrastructure and knowledge transfer, is capable of creating opportunities for small local contractors to provide construction services. The Project is also a good catalyst to improving the livelihood of people in rural communities, in line with the existing Labour-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) program under the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project funded by the World Bank.
In a speech read on behalf of the Director for Policy Planning, Budget-Monitoring and Evaluation (PPBME) of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Mr. Eli Kwadey, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation, reiterated that: “The Ministry is grateful to JICA for the LSBT Project and the seminars organized to disseminate the methodology. The Project ties in with the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project, particularly, the Labour-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) component, which delivers rural assets such as small earth dams and feeder roads and provides jobs to the rural poor. The Ministry is highly interested in adopting and supporting interventions and technologies that will facilitate value for money, address sustainability in financing and deliver quality assets with jobs creation.”
He affirmed that: “The Ministry supports LBST and we are looking at deepening our engagement to provide capacity-building for all Works and Roads Engineers in our Districts to adopt the LBST approach when implementing feeder road projects through the Common Fund. This approach, together with technical assistance from JICA would go a long way to increase the longevity of our feeder roads and facilitate local economic growth, particularly in the rural areas.”
The Deputy Director for the Department of Feeder Roads, Engr. Peter YAwson, added that: “This seminar is part of the process of ensuring that engineers within the MMDAs will benefit from this knowledge-transfer and be able to influence the uptake of the method and adopt them for their projects. I can assure you all that the Department is committed and will ensure that the necessary resources are used to do more LBST across the country.”
JICA has been prioritizing infrastructure development especially roads, for more than 40 years in Ghana. JICA has supported the construction of over 700 kilometers of roads over the years.
Currently, the rehabilitation of 32 kilometers of National Trunk Road 8 (Phase 2) is ongoing while construction of Tema Interchange (Phase 2) has commenced.
Both projects are implemented under JICA’s Grant Aid Scheme.
The Bekwai Member of Parliament claims that the role of the government is to foster an atmosphere where businesses may flourish and hire the nation’s teeming youth.
In an exclusive interview with GH Today on GHOne TV, Osei-Owusu referred to the idea that the government should create jobs as being antiquated.
“Look at our constitution and our structure, the days that government took responsibility for providing jobs are long gone. Now, the government’s position is that I will provide the environment for you to create the jobs for yourselves so we should stop placing responsibility where it is not. A lot of the time we make people feel that it is government’s duty to do this, do that so people don’t do the things they can do for themselves.”
He added: “I’m leaving politics, I want to retire quietly and so I will now speak boldly about things that matter. If we are going to move forward, people must take responsibility for their lives.”
Samuel Dubik Mahama, the managing director of Electricity Company Ghana (ECG), is confident that issues with the power distribution company’s prepaid vending system would be fixed by Tuesday, October 4, 2022.
Customers will have no trouble purchasing prepaid credits, according to the ECG MD.
On Monday, October 3, 2022, Mr. Mahama denied allegations that he was being sabotaged while speaking at a press conference.
I don’t feel sabotaged, he declared. I don’t feel at all undermined.
“I just feel we are working and there are challenges and in every working environment there are pushes and there are pools, and we just have to work hard to ensure that the right systems are put in place, so things move in the right direction,” he stated.
He added: “It is work that we are doing. So we plead with you to help us help you. We have challenges, but we believe by close of work today, most of the machines will be working well and everyone will be able to buy their power.”
Power consumers across certain parts of the country have for the past six days been unable to purchase power on their prepaid meters because of a technical challenge that affected ECG’s prepaid metering systems.
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, says he has spoken to the Chairman of the Committee, Samuel Atta Akyea, to invite the Management of the Electricity Company Limited to appear before the Committee for the issues surrounding the technical challenge to be dealt with.
According to him, doing so would provide both Parliament and the general public with the full facts as to what exactly had happened leading to the technical challenge that had left consumers unable to recharge their electricity credit for days.
This comes after some ECG prepaid consumers were left in the dark after a technical challenge affected the purchase of credits for their meters.
Customers in Volta Region, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw and Tafo were affected.
On October 1, ECG said they had fixed the vending challenges, however, some consumers were still reporting challenges on Sunday morning with long queues being seen at vending centres across affected areas.
Commenting on the situation, the Ranking Member noted that while the IT department of the ECGhas been bastardised following the technical hitch, it would be rather unfair to do so when there has been no concrete evidence to prove such claims.
He has thus called on all and sundry to exercise maximum restraint when commenting on the situation and await the Committee’s findings on the matter.
“I have spoken to Chairman of the Committee, honourable Atta Akyea, that when all is over ECG must be invited to appear before the committee so that we can deal with this issue and get the full facts. Because at that level, you’re appearing before a committee that has the powers of a high court and sometimes you’re under oath.
“But I think that it is early days yet to begin to accuse people directly. You may have your suspicions just as we also get a lot of information. And I’ve been very very careful putting out a lot of the information I get.
“In fact, I am aware that the IT department has worked around the clock to bring all this service back on and so let’s be very very careful not to pigeonhole people and demonise them.
“It is my hope that this investigation will be very very transparent and that the full details will be made available to the general public in terms of what really transpired and what we can do going forward. So I will plead with all of us to exercise maximum restraint in levelling accusations,” he said.
The government must make sure that the debt restructuring is done in a way that would protect financial institutions, including banks and savings and loan institutions, as well as households, according to economists Dr. Patrick Assuming and Dr. Priscilla Twumasi-Baffuor.
The economists explained that the country’s current economic and financial position would force the Government to negotiate with financial institutions to cut down on debt interest rates, which would affect their profit.
Government has announced that it will soon name a five-member committee of prominent financial services professionals to lead extensive stakeholder engagements across all the key segments of the financial sector.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta at a press briefing in Accra said the engagement with stakeholders in the banking, asset, management, pensions, and insurance sector was to fast-track the IMF negotiation process in a clear and transparent manner.
He noted that the Government had over-borrowed with rising interest costs making it expensive to repay the debt, noting that “the Government is really between a rock and hard place, but it’s more likely to have a domestic debt restructuring.”
The Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), however, said: “the Government must ensure that the domestic debt restructuring as part of the IMF programme does not lead to the collapse of banks.”
“The restructuring should not lead to the collapse of any financial institution. We spent so much money to just recently clean them up, so it will be shocking to see any collapse,” Dr Asuming said.
In a media discussion monitored by GNA on a local radio station in Accra, Dr Twumasi-Baffuor also said debt restructuring was inevitable and may lead to losses and called for the protection of households from possible adverse effects.
She said: “The restructuring should be done in such a way that households are insulated from the adverse possible effects that will happen. As we go through all these, we need to be careful that households’ incomes are protected particularly given that in Ghana we struggle with a lot of Ponzi schemes in the financial sector,” she said.
Dr Twumasi-Baffuor asked the Government to go to the negotiation table with the financial institutions with a possible request for an extension of maturities and ensure that people had confidence in the Government.
The economist explained that: “If your bonds or treasury bills are due next month, the Government could renegotiate with you to pay in two months and possibly not pay the interest rate at the time. All these are avenues that exist.”
Currently, there are ongoing engagements with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), social partners (labour unions, employers, and FBOs), academia, industry professionals, and the leadership of Parliament, in Ghana’s effort to secure a $3 billion loan support programme from the IMF.
The loan facility is to support Ghana’s homegrown economic programme, aimed at restoring and sustaining macroeconomic stability, ensuring durable and inclusive growth and promoting social protection.
At the 2022 Clinton Global Initiative gathering in New York, leading business executive Salma Okonkwo said that industrialization is the best way for Africa to flourish.
She claimed that Africa will benefit from industrialisation in numerous ways, including by avoiding the mistakes committed by the West and Asia during their early stages of industrialization.
“Whether we like it or not, Africa will industrialize.
Salma Okonkwo gave a brief speech at the 2022 Clinton Global Initiative gathering, saying, “It’s crucial that we go through our industrialisation process conserving our environment in a sustainable manner and without repeating the mistakes of the West and Asia.
Salma Okonkwo is the founder and CEO of Blue Power Energy which has existed for over twenty years with experience in Africa’s energy sector.
The Clinton Global Initiative was established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton. The event convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 3,700 Commitments to Action that have made a difference in the lives of more than 435 million people in more than 180 countries.
The Kobedi portion of the Sunyani-Techiman highway in the Bono Region is likely to be cut off by rains as it has already devastated a portion of the road, making it difficult for drivers to use.
During a visit, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) noticed the road was experiencing unusual vehicular traffic due to the deplorable and worsened nature of that portion of the road, which was one of the busiest roads in the region.
Most heavy-duty trucks travelling to neighbouring Burkina Faso used that stretch, linked to Techiman, and connected to Kintampo in the Bono East Region.
Commercial drivers, plying the stretch said they feared the severity of the rains could make the stretch un-motorable if urgent measures were not taken to put that portion in decent shape.
They told the GNA though the state of the entire highway was poor, and dangerous to ply on, something must be done at the Kobedi portion immediately before the situation worsened further.
Meanwhile, the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BRCC) has commissioned a team of engineers including military personnel at the 494 Engineer Department of the Three Garrison Battalion (3BN) of the Liberation Barracks to study and devise means to ensure how best the situation at that point on the stretch could be tackled for traffic flow.
The engineers are led by Warrant Officer Grade One (WO1) Hammond Okai, the Troop Commander, 494 Engineer Department of the 3BN and Mr Harold Atobra-Acheampong, the Bono Regional Highway Engineer.
Speaking in an interview with the GNA during an inspection visit, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister said the cutting-off of the Sunyani-Techiman highway would cost the nation a lot due to the busy nature of that stretch.
Earlier, the Regional Minister who interacted and introduced the team to the Kobedi community urged the residents to cooperate with them, saying “they are here for your own good.”
“We have to take urgent mitigation measures to ensure that this particular portion of the road is put in good shape to facilitate the movements of the people and their economic activities,” she said.
“In fact, the current condition of the road is very appalling and dangerous to ply on. The lives of commuters are at risk and disaster could strike, so we must do something urgently,” WO1 Okai told the GNA, saying “we need a backhoe machine and excavator to work on it”.
He explained “the size of the culvert at that point on the stretch is small and the channel has stuck, unable to flow. Some major works must also be done on the surface as well.”
WO1 Okai said pumping machines were also required at standby to pump the water that flooded the surface whenever it rained as the engineers worked on the road.
Mr Atobra-Acheampong said a ‘double-pipe culvert’ was needed at that point of the stretch, while some dredging works must be done as well.
The claim that certain employees have tampered with the company’s system is “untrue,” according to William Boateng, Director of Communications of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
However, he asserts that the claim won’t be disregarded and that an internal inquiry will quickly get under way to find any violators.
He was responding to Samuel Nartey George, the deputy ranking member of the Communications Committee of Parliament, who demanded that the government launch a forensic probe into the actions of some employees at the Electricity Company of Ghana right away (ECG).
According to the NDC lawmaker, some staff, particularly at the IT Department, are engaged in illicit moves, raking into their personal vaults GH¢200 million every month.
But, William Boateng who said the allegation is untrue told NEAT FM’s morning show, Ghana Montie, in an interview that anyone found guilty after their internal investigation, will be dealt with.
According to Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, acting director general of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Ghana had logged a total of 9,769 contacts by the end of the third quarter of this year, of which 431 were real cybersecurity incidents.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako notes that out of the total, 5,389 of the attacks are categorized as direct advisories, which “means that over 5,000 instances which may have caused varying degrees of loss to victims were prevented and various sums of money were saved.”
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako was speaking at the launch of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) on Monday, 3 October 2022 in Accra, and further said the top-five most reported incidents include online fraud, unauthorised access to protected systems, online blackmail, online impersonation and publication of non-consensual intimate images.
“Most of these attacks are perpetrated through social media using social engineering and phishing techniques. Lack of awareness on cyber risks as well as inadequate cybersecurity control measures are the main vulnerabilities being exploited by perpetrators,” he stated.
Acknowledging that cybercrimes and cybersecurity-related matters are borderless and thus both local and international collaborations are paramount in tackling them, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako said heightening collaborations with various stakeholders will play a significant role in ensuring the CSA executes its mandate successfully.
And it is for this reason that the Authority is committed to working closely with the Joint Cybersecurity Committee (JCC), which was inaugurated in July this year in accordance with sections 13 and 14 of Act 1038 for the implementation of effective cybersecurity measures, he stated.
Touching on this year’s NCSAM on the theme ‘Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach’, he said the multifaceted nature of cybersecurity requires a collaborative effort to ensure security of the country’s cyberspace.
“The nature of cyberspace and associated technologies, including the Internet, requires international collaboration for effective responses to cybersecurity incidents. Consequently, this year’s celebration is to highlight the need for such collaborations and encourage the needed partnerships as we implement Act 1038,” he stated.
He, therefore, implored stakeholders to honour their obligation to invest in cybersecurity, saying: “It is my expectation that organisations will dedicate a minimum of between 15 percent and 25 percent of their ICT budget to cybersecurity if we are to make any meaningful and sustainable progress in addressing our cybersecurity challenges”.
According to the World Economic Forum, cybercrime cost the world at least US$6trillion in 2021 and could lead to over US$10trillion in annual damages by 2025. Research by IBM also indicates that it takes 280 days to find and contain the average cyberattack, while the average attack costs US$3.86million.
On her part, the Deputy Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ama Pomaa Boateng who represented sector minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, expressed the ministry’s commitment to full enforcement of the Cybersecurity Act.
The ministry, she further noted, is committed to NCSAM and urges the public-private sector institutions and Civil Society Organisations to participate fully in the activities this October by organising awareness programmes for their stakeholders and constituents
Actors Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme, professionally known together as Aki and Paw Paw, have made their Netflix debut with a new movie.
Announcing this with a YouTube trailer on Friday, 30 September 2022, Netflix said: “The hilarious Aki and Paw Paw are back. This time, they’re on a mission to get fame and fortune by any means necessary.”
Titled ‘Aki and Paw Paw’, the 2-hour movie is, according to the makers, the sequel of the 2003 comic classic titled ‘Aki and Ukwa’, which brought the screen twins international fame beyond their native Nigeria.
Written by Ozioma Ogbaji and Stephen Oluboyo, ‘Aki and Paw Paw’ was directed by Biodun Stephen and released in the year 2021.
International rating agencies’ ongoing downgrading of the economy could hinder Ghana’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector’s ability to draw investors, scale up, and take the lead in the nation’s economic recovery, Prof. John Gatsi, dean of the University of Cape Coast School of Business, has cautioned.
Speaking to Business and Financial Times (B&FT) about the implications of Fitch Ratings’ most recent downgrading of Ghana’s Long-Term Local- and Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to “CC” from “CCC,” Prof. Gatsi also noted that this development might further impede the nation’s efforts to become a significant participant in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) through the SMEs sector.
The recent downgrade by the rating agency will likely scare away investors interested in exploring the Ghanaian SME sector, due to surging interest costs on domestic debt and a prolonged lack of access to Eurobond markets which had been the country’s regular source of external financing.
“This poses some pressure on the SME sector. Even in times when we didn’t have such downgrading leading to the kind of rates that we now have in the past, the SME sector was having it difficult accessing credit: especially as government is taking about 80-90 percent – as reported by the Ministry of Finance – of banks’ portfolios available in the financial sector, in terms of investing in the bills and bonds of government. So, that rather worsens the case with the SMEs sector,” Prof. Gatsi stated.
Citing the Bank of Ghana’s Financial Stability report, he stressed that the propensity of the domestic SME sector to default to the financial sector is already higher than that of the international SME sector – posing a serious threat to growth.
“If the SME sector is becoming anaemic as a result of these developments, then the benefits we want to get from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) will be elusive. This environment doesn’t encourage the SME sector to be supported by the financial sector to deliver on its mandate in the country’s economic activities,” he stated.
The Executive Director of Ghana Startup Network, Solomon Adjei – who also spoke to the B&FT, said the development is not a good situation for SMEs and will likely derail efforts to attract both local and international investors to the sector.
“Ratings like this which paint a deficient and somehow gloomy economic situation to foreign investors make it difficult for them to come in. And that’s a cause for worry, and it’s a big blow,” he stated.
That notwithstanding, Mr. Adjei is optimistic SMEs will respond positively to the challenge and ensure that its effect doesn’t cripple the sector and economy at large.
Meanwhile, Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen reiterated government’s commitment to nurturing and developing the capacities of SMEs in areas of profiling, matchmaking and linkage to supply chains of large enterprises to be major players in AfCFTA despite challenges confronting the sector.
Speaking at a separate event – the West Africa Connect (WAC) 2022 in Accra – through Dr. John-Hawkins Asiedu-Technical advisor at the Trade and Industry Ministry, last Tuesday, Mr. Kyerematen said as the main actor in the country’s business space, the SME sector’s importance cannot be over-emphasised in the country’s economic development.
About 70 percent of all industrial establishments in the country are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises – providing over 85 percent of manufacturing jobs and contributing to 70 percent of GDP.
Some residents of Asamang-Tamfoehave registered their displeasure with the police and the Okyeman Environmental Taskforce for unleashing violent attacks which have left many severely injured.
The taskforce, in videos that have gone viral, exchanged gunshots with residents during an anti-galamsey operation in the area.
According to him, they will also resist attempts by any group including the Small Scale Miners Association from embarking on any mining activity.
“They came to the palace to inform us they want to mine in our town, we asked them for their mining lease before we could grant them access but it’s been over ten years, they haven’t been able to produce a toilet roll,” he said.
According to him, government has granted them all the necessary support to embark on community mining to save the lands from destruction by illegal miners.
“Today is exactly three months since the Deputy Minister Mireku Duker inaugurated the community mining in Asunafo and Asamang-Tamfoe. We have since been righting the wrongs so we could start working on the concession until the Eastern miners claimed that our lands belong to them”.
“They took us to Linda Dor with my Twafohene, Nana Asenso and Okyeame Dwumor and promised to give us one hundred thousand cedis and a monthly pay but we rejected it and told them we are looking at the interest of the larger community,” he stated.
At least sixteen persons were on Thursday arrested in connection with a shooting incident at Asamang Tamfoe in the Eastern Region.
The incident occurred between some persons believed to be illegal miners and the Okyenhene Environmental Taskforce led by the Chief of Kyebi-Apapam, Nana Okogeaman Apegya Fori II.
During the operation, the police retrieved one pump action gun, two excavators, and two water pumping machines.
They were taken to the Koforidua High Court on Friday morning but the court was not in session.
A team from the Eastern Regional Police Command, led by the Regional Commander, DCOP Anderson Fosu Ackaah on Friday visited the Asamang Tamfoe community to engage the people.
