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Tag: Bright Simons

  • Should celebrities be held accountable for the ethics of their endorsement? Bright Simons asks

    Bright Simons, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, has questioned whether celebrities who endorse controversial financial schemes should also be held accountable when things go wrong.

    His comments, posted on Twitter, came after musician Livingstone Etse Satekla, popularly known as Stonebwoy, was called out by media personality, Bridget Otoo for endorsing a new crypto scheme.

    Stonebwoy tweeted a photo of a crypto scheme, Sidicoin, encouraging his followers to join the SidiCoinNFT because “every hardworking person deserves to make money.”

    Bridget Otoo, quoted the tweet and questioned why after the controversy Menzgold created, Stonebwoy, who was an ambassador for the scheme, has once again introduced his fans to another scheme.

    “You are part of the ambassadors of Menzgold who championed and led customers to lose money. Some have died as a result of the Menzgold scam. Do you think it is fair to introduce them to another “money making venture”? Do you really care about them?” her tweet read.

    The musician defended his tweet stating thus, “the core problem of the Menzgold saga has the least to do with ambassadors, please you stand in a good position as a Media Personality to seek the reality from NAM1 and the government.”

    But the mPedigree owner in joining the conversation noted that, some fans of the dancehall artiste, “seem worried about his seeming love for endorsing controversial financial & crypto schemes.”

    Simons asked, “should they (celebrities) have to add mandatory risk disclosure?” to ensure Ghanaians are protected.

    “Should they have to add mandatory risk disclosure?” he added.

    When Menzgold started in Ghana, some Ghanaian celebrities including Okyeame Kwame, Jackie Appiah, Stonebwoy, Joselyn Dumas, Kumi Guitar, and Becca, endorsed the gold dealership company owned by embattled businessman, Nana Appiah Mensah aka NAM1 before it was shut down in September 2018 by the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission.

     

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Ghana International Bank makes a loss of US$16.5 million – Bright Simons

    Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has expressed concerns over the unprofitability of the Ghana International Bank (GHIB), a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana in London.

    According to him, Ghana seems to have its state-owned enterprise gloom based on the performance of GHIB.

    In a post shared on his Twitter handle, the Founder and President of mPedigree indicated that GHIB six years ago used to make a profit of US$17 million.

    However, the performance of the bank has plummeted over the years to the extent that it is now making a loss of $16.5million.

    Bright Simons said despite making such losses, the bank had also tripled its staff cost over the 6-year period.

    “Ghana seems to have exported its State-owned Enterprise gloom. Most folks don’t pay attention to Ghana International Bank, a Bank of Ghana subsidiary in London. From profit of ~$17m 6yrs ago to a loss of ~$16.5m today. And, oh, they tripled staff costs during the same period,” he tweeted.

    Ghana International Bank (GHIB) was incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1998 to finance international trade and serve as an intermediary for the flow of funds to and from Ghana.

    Authorized and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, the bank is now owned by a consortium of major Ghanaian financial institutions, with the Central Bank of Ghana[Bank of Ghana] serving as the majority shareholder.

    GHIB focuses on six key areas: treasury and global markets, trade finance, corporate and institutional banking, retail and small business banking, correspondent banking, and payment solutions. But our focus remains the same to support the economies of Ghana and the wider African continent.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

     

  • Why is Ghana budgeting $10 per dose of coronavirus vaccines? Bright Simons asks

    Bright Simons, the President of mPedigree Network and an honorary vice-president-at-IMANI Africa, has questioned why Ghana is paying as high as $10 per dose for COVID-19 vaccines.

    “Kenya is paying $3 per dose for its vaccines (with an additional $0.07 planned for logistics). South Africa paid $5.25,” Bright Simons wrote on his Twitter timeline on Saturday, February 13, 2021. “Most EU countries are paying around $2.16 (but because of volume & bargaining power issues there, let’s discount). Why is Ghana budgeting $10 per dose?”

    Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed to the media on Thursday, February 11, 2021, that the Government of Ghana is expected to spend over 200 million dollars to procure COVID-19 vaccines for the entire population.

    He disclosed that the price of the vaccine available presently ranged from USD 4 to USD 20 and that would be the cost at which every Ghanaian would be vaccinated.

    “The goal is to vaccinate every Ghanaian and presently we are in excess of USD 200 million,” Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe told the Ghana News Agency in a report monitored by GhanaWeb that the first consignment of the vaccine would arrive in the country by the end of February.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Coronavirus: GHS must revise its peak theory – Bright Simons

    Vice President of policy think tank, IMANI, Bright Simons, says the Ghana Health Service (GHS) must revise its theory of Ghana reaching its peak in COVID-19 infections since current developments indicate otherwise.

    Last week, the Director of Public Health at the GHS, Dr Ebenezer Badu Sarkodie, said during a press conference that Ghana had reached its peak in the number of daily infections with the rate likely to decline.

    In a follow up press conference on the country’s case count and case management, the Director General GHS, Dr Patrick Kumah Aboagye, said Ghana since reaching its peak, in the number of daily infections, has consistently been recording a decline in daily numbers.

    But reacting to an update on Ghana’s case count on his Twitter page, Bright Simons said per discussions within the medical community indicating a likely jump of 20% in total case count, it is imperative that the GHS revises its peak theory as the call was made too soon.

    “It is no longer controversial to say that GHS has to revise their peak theory as they called the trend too soon. The medical community is openly discussing newly discovered positive clusters in Ashaiman, Ablekuma & Korle Klottey likely to cause total case count to jump by ~20%.” He shared in a Twitter post.

    Ghana’s COVID-19 case count as of this morning May 11, 2020 stands at 4,700 total confirmed cases, 494 recoveries and 22 recorded deaths.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com