Vodafone Ghana has re-affirmed its commitment to provide the right customer service despite the persistent complaints from its clientele with regard to the company’s decision to cap fixed broadband usage.
It says although the company is being touted as charging exorbitantly for data usage on the fixed broadband network in recent times, measures being employed are geared towards making it compete favourably in the market.
Addressing the media in Accra, the Head of Consumer Marketing at Vodafone Ghana, Mr Tara Squire, said the ongoing agitation by the various consumer groups with respect to the broadband service stemmed from an increase in the charges as well as switching from unlimited access to specified data usage.
He said businesses and Internet café owners using the service were paying the same as home users whose average data consumption was only about 7GB a month, something which he said was unfair to the home users.
The company has thus introduced a fixed broadband package which offers an unlimited fixed broadband service specifically designed for the high data consumption for these businesses at GH¢180.
He said the move was to ensure fairness in payment for data usage as people most at times burned more data than what they were actually paying for, which is a loss to the company, looking at the cost incurred in installation and maintenance of the internet usage.
Vodafone Ghana, he said, had thus resorted to capping so that customers who used beyond the specified limit would pay commercial prices so those who used less would also be given a fair opportunity to get value for what they paid for.
He said the company capped higher than the average usage of data by consumers and were giving them the opportunity to still have access to the Internet so they could go about their normal businesses.
Currently, the telecommunication company is offering 15 gigabyte of data on the fixed broadband service for GH¢65, 25 gigabyte for GH¢100 as well as others for businesses.
Vodafone Ghana would also be meeting some of the agitated consumers who go by the group name “Internet Users Association of Ghana” to reach a consensus on how best the conflict could be resolved.
The group is, however, calling on Vodafone Ghana to maintain the unlimited data package for GH¢70 at a speed of 2 megabits/sec and the package for GH¢180 at a speed of 12 megabits/sec instead of capping it at 15MB a month for GH¢65.
They are of the view that if Vodafone wants customers to move to higher packages, the company should rather improve the speeds to attract people to move, instead of using customers’ consumption rate to determine how much they pay.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Market flooded with imitated goods
The Ghanaian market is gradually turning into a fake market with the high influx of imitated products with the authorities doing virtually nothing to curb the incidence, Jessica Acheampong reports.
The local market is currently being flooded with different kinds of imitated and substandard commodities, including textiles, beverages, mobile phones, detergents which are mostly imported into the country.
While some of the imported items have their local substitutes, others have both the imitation and the original imported onto the local market, with such an impunity that leaves one wondering whether Ghana understands globalisation and free trade more than any country.
Interestingly, these imported items come with lower prices; hence have become the preference of a lot of people much to the detriment of local producers who are currently struggling to match the competition from their imported counterparts.
GRAPHIC BUSINESS checks at the Makola market in Accra, the wholesale and retail selling points of most of such products provided unambiguous evidence of imported items such as milk, detergents, mobile phones and most prominently textiles with pirated local designs of different competing kinds. For instance Aluworks and other aluminum companies have been struggling with competition from cheaper aluminium imports from China.
Again an unknown brand of imported milk was being sold at GH¢1.50 for three tins as against a locally produced brand, which goes for GH¢1.50 a tin. Again, while an original Nokia mobile phone goes for GH¢85, its imitated version sells at GH¢40, the GRAPHIC BUSINESS market survey revealed.
The local textile dealers have also had a fair share of this as pirated textiles are selling far cheaper than the original. The original of Da Viva wax print, a product of Akosombo Textile Limited (ATL), is sold for GH¢8 a yard, the imitated one is sold at GH¢3 a yard, implying patrons will need almost three times the amount of the pirated one to get an original print.
In the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures released by the Statistical Service, the agricultural sector recorded the highest growth rate of 4.6 per cent, followed by industry with 3.6 per cent, with the services sector recording a decline of negative 2.2 per cent.
However, the main contributors to the industry sector was not the manufacturing sub-sector but the construction sub-sector, which recorded 19.2 per cent growth, followed by mining and quarrying with 5.2 per cent and water and sewerage activities with 0.6 per cent.
The local textile industry is perhaps, the most perfect example of how unbridled imports, piracy and dumping have negatively affected the economy.
The textile industry used to be vibrant in Ghana with over 20 textile firms employing more than 25,000 people. Currently, only four of the textile companies remain and are even struggling to survive, with less than 3,000 people in employment.
Sadly, due to their affordability and how they have been expertly mimicked to look like the original, many people as well as the traders selling them prefer buying them despite being aware that they are the pirated ones.
The surviving companies have been running plethora of advertisements in recent times to educate the public in the dangers of patronising imitated products. Unfortunately, these commercials alone are not enough to save the local textile industry from extinction.
As the adverts keep increasing, so are the pirated textiles flooding our market giving the local companies uneven playing field that is gradually pushing them further out of business.
A retailer at Makola market, Madam Vivian Sowah, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that the textiles from China, namely, Sikaprint, Hi-target, Ordine are still in the market because they were cheaper and people patronised them a lot.
She expressed her preference to selling them because they were cheaper and gave her value for money as customers do not patronise the local prints as much.
Clearly, the textile industry is at an ailing stage struggling to survive and several calls by industry players for interventions have yielded no results.
The President of Spinnet Textile and Garment Cluster, Mrs Edwina Assan, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that because Ghana had a liberalised trade, it was not able to fully regulate what was imported into the country and therefore called for a review of the policy so it regulates what is imported into the country.
A taskforce set up to rid the market of these pirated textiles, comprising representatives of the security agencies, the Ghana Standard Authority, the local manufacturers and the trade unions seem to have made no headway as they have to deal with persistent resistance from traders, who sometimes endanger the lives of the group.
The continued extinction of the textile industry would throw people out of jobs and have revenue implications for the government, as since they are not able to pay taxes, a typical example which occurred just last year.
The Ghana Revenue Authority closed down the premises of the Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) for not honouring its tax obligations after the company had laid off several workers to be able to meet its costs and stay in business.
Information available to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS by the Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Union (TEGLEU) indicate that local textile manufacturers enjoy only 30 per cent of the market share in Ghana, while imported/smuggled/under invoiced dealers get 70 per cent market share, a clear indication that the industry is suffering.
It also said as of 2002, the Budget Statement of the government indicated an annual loss of GH₵30 million to the state as a result of illicit textiles imports, adding that the high level of graduate unemployment could be worsened if the textile industry was allowed to lay off more workers.
The General Secretary of the Union, Mr Abraham Koomson, told in an interview said that the monitoring activity of the task force had been halted due to the festivities and that paved the way for the pirated textiles to flood the market.
According to him, they are currently waiting for government to settle so they could continue solving the outstanding issues with them and the taskforce would now gear for action.
He explained due to the elections, they had to suspend their activities since attempts to seize pirated textiles were politicised which was an impediment on the path of government hence their decision to strategically calm it down.
That notwithstanding, however, Mr Koomson explained they were waiting for who would be appointed the Minister of Trade so they can work in collaboration with that person.
He lauded the efforts by the administration of the government to help salvage the industry, adding the Akosombo Textiles Limited had been able to pay part of the debt it was owing, stressing that all those problems were caused by the influx of pirated textiles.
“For instance, one can easily come across a Chinese fabric with a GTP, Printex or ATL name and logo on it, therefore making it a hot commodity on the market, due to their relatively cheaper price,” Mr Koomson said.
The Head of Public Relations at the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Mr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on January 18 said the plethora of brands seen on the market was a reflection of the country’s liberal trade policy.
“Our trade policy allows various manufacturers and importers to come into the country to compete with the local manufacturers. And to this extent you cannot get up and stop anybody from bringing in a product, provided the person follows the approved channel,” he explained.
Mr Amponsah-Bediako said that goods brought into the country which did not measure up to standards set by the GSA were seized at the ports and not allowed entry into the country.
He said imported products were controlled under the Destination Inspection Programme which subjected goods arriving into the country to examination and testing to find out whether they conformed to local standards.
“The problem is sometimes they are not stored under proper hygienic conditions, often displayed in the hot sun, and as such even if they are good at the point of arrival, they go bad in a few days,” he said.
On the influx of textiles, he explained the Ministry of Trade and Industry was taking steps to ensure local textiles were not pirated and imported into the country. GB
The local market is currently being flooded with different kinds of imitated and substandard commodities, including textiles, beverages, mobile phones, detergents which are mostly imported into the country.
While some of the imported items have their local substitutes, others have both the imitation and the original imported onto the local market, with such an impunity that leaves one wondering whether Ghana understands globalisation and free trade more than any country.
Interestingly, these imported items come with lower prices; hence have become the preference of a lot of people much to the detriment of local producers who are currently struggling to match the competition from their imported counterparts.
GRAPHIC BUSINESS checks at the Makola market in Accra, the wholesale and retail selling points of most of such products provided unambiguous evidence of imported items such as milk, detergents, mobile phones and most prominently textiles with pirated local designs of different competing kinds. For instance Aluworks and other aluminum companies have been struggling with competition from cheaper aluminium imports from China.
Again an unknown brand of imported milk was being sold at GH¢1.50 for three tins as against a locally produced brand, which goes for GH¢1.50 a tin. Again, while an original Nokia mobile phone goes for GH¢85, its imitated version sells at GH¢40, the GRAPHIC BUSINESS market survey revealed.
The local textile dealers have also had a fair share of this as pirated textiles are selling far cheaper than the original. The original of Da Viva wax print, a product of Akosombo Textile Limited (ATL), is sold for GH¢8 a yard, the imitated one is sold at GH¢3 a yard, implying patrons will need almost three times the amount of the pirated one to get an original print.
In the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures released by the Statistical Service, the agricultural sector recorded the highest growth rate of 4.6 per cent, followed by industry with 3.6 per cent, with the services sector recording a decline of negative 2.2 per cent.
However, the main contributors to the industry sector was not the manufacturing sub-sector but the construction sub-sector, which recorded 19.2 per cent growth, followed by mining and quarrying with 5.2 per cent and water and sewerage activities with 0.6 per cent.
The local textile industry is perhaps, the most perfect example of how unbridled imports, piracy and dumping have negatively affected the economy.
The textile industry used to be vibrant in Ghana with over 20 textile firms employing more than 25,000 people. Currently, only four of the textile companies remain and are even struggling to survive, with less than 3,000 people in employment.
Sadly, due to their affordability and how they have been expertly mimicked to look like the original, many people as well as the traders selling them prefer buying them despite being aware that they are the pirated ones.
The surviving companies have been running plethora of advertisements in recent times to educate the public in the dangers of patronising imitated products. Unfortunately, these commercials alone are not enough to save the local textile industry from extinction.
As the adverts keep increasing, so are the pirated textiles flooding our market giving the local companies uneven playing field that is gradually pushing them further out of business.
A retailer at Makola market, Madam Vivian Sowah, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that the textiles from China, namely, Sikaprint, Hi-target, Ordine are still in the market because they were cheaper and people patronised them a lot.
She expressed her preference to selling them because they were cheaper and gave her value for money as customers do not patronise the local prints as much.
Clearly, the textile industry is at an ailing stage struggling to survive and several calls by industry players for interventions have yielded no results.
The President of Spinnet Textile and Garment Cluster, Mrs Edwina Assan, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that because Ghana had a liberalised trade, it was not able to fully regulate what was imported into the country and therefore called for a review of the policy so it regulates what is imported into the country.
A taskforce set up to rid the market of these pirated textiles, comprising representatives of the security agencies, the Ghana Standard Authority, the local manufacturers and the trade unions seem to have made no headway as they have to deal with persistent resistance from traders, who sometimes endanger the lives of the group.
The continued extinction of the textile industry would throw people out of jobs and have revenue implications for the government, as since they are not able to pay taxes, a typical example which occurred just last year.
The Ghana Revenue Authority closed down the premises of the Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) for not honouring its tax obligations after the company had laid off several workers to be able to meet its costs and stay in business.
Information available to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS by the Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Union (TEGLEU) indicate that local textile manufacturers enjoy only 30 per cent of the market share in Ghana, while imported/smuggled/under invoiced dealers get 70 per cent market share, a clear indication that the industry is suffering.
It also said as of 2002, the Budget Statement of the government indicated an annual loss of GH₵30 million to the state as a result of illicit textiles imports, adding that the high level of graduate unemployment could be worsened if the textile industry was allowed to lay off more workers.
The General Secretary of the Union, Mr Abraham Koomson, told in an interview said that the monitoring activity of the task force had been halted due to the festivities and that paved the way for the pirated textiles to flood the market.
According to him, they are currently waiting for government to settle so they could continue solving the outstanding issues with them and the taskforce would now gear for action.
He explained due to the elections, they had to suspend their activities since attempts to seize pirated textiles were politicised which was an impediment on the path of government hence their decision to strategically calm it down.
That notwithstanding, however, Mr Koomson explained they were waiting for who would be appointed the Minister of Trade so they can work in collaboration with that person.
He lauded the efforts by the administration of the government to help salvage the industry, adding the Akosombo Textiles Limited had been able to pay part of the debt it was owing, stressing that all those problems were caused by the influx of pirated textiles.
“For instance, one can easily come across a Chinese fabric with a GTP, Printex or ATL name and logo on it, therefore making it a hot commodity on the market, due to their relatively cheaper price,” Mr Koomson said.
The Head of Public Relations at the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Mr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on January 18 said the plethora of brands seen on the market was a reflection of the country’s liberal trade policy.
“Our trade policy allows various manufacturers and importers to come into the country to compete with the local manufacturers. And to this extent you cannot get up and stop anybody from bringing in a product, provided the person follows the approved channel,” he explained.
Mr Amponsah-Bediako said that goods brought into the country which did not measure up to standards set by the GSA were seized at the ports and not allowed entry into the country.
He said imported products were controlled under the Destination Inspection Programme which subjected goods arriving into the country to examination and testing to find out whether they conformed to local standards.
“The problem is sometimes they are not stored under proper hygienic conditions, often displayed in the hot sun, and as such even if they are good at the point of arrival, they go bad in a few days,” he said.
On the influx of textiles, he explained the Ministry of Trade and Industry was taking steps to ensure local textiles were not pirated and imported into the country. GB
some major economic events of 2012
THE year just gone by has seen some major activities that cut across several sub-sectors of the economy.
Anchored on the medium term development blueprint, the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), the year 2012, saw the implementation of key projects in the areas of agriculture, social services and infrastructure, electricity, infrastructure rehabilitation and expansion, oil and gas projects, investments in water and sanitation; as well as railways, roads and ports.
The private sector also delivered its part of the bargain with major projects that would serve the natural interest, while bringing returns to the investors.
MACROECONOMIC TARGETS
Against the inflows that the government received from domestic economic activities and development partners, the expenditures on the various projects were estimated to lead to a real overall GDP growth of 9.4 per cent; (real non-oil GDP growth of 7.6 per cent); average inflation of 8.7 per cent; end-period inflation of 8.5 per cent; overall budget deficit equivalent to 4.8 per cent of GDP; and gross international reserves of not less than three months of import cover for goods and services.
Electricity
On electricity, 2012 saw the continued implementation of the Ghana Electricity Development and Access Programme, which underpinned the electricity for all programme of the government.
The project involved the rehabilitation of energy distribution infrastructure in the country, including the refurbishment of old sub-stations and the construction of new ones, the replacement of certain obsolete equipment as well as the installation of certain modern and digitised electricity infrastructure to improve efficiency and check losses.
Oil and Gas
It was in 2012 that the construction of infrastructure to convey natural gas from the Jubilee Oil Field at Cape Three Points in the Western Region started. Construction works at the site for the gas processing plant located at Atuabo in the Jomoro District is currently progressing steadily. It is being funded by part of the $3 billion China Development Bank (CDB) loan, which has been signed by Parliament, with subsidiary agreements for the various projects being approved by the house one after the other.
Water and Sanitation
The government started the implementation of a project to provide 4,000 new boreholes countrywide as part of a plan to provide 20,000 boreholes over the next five years.
In addition, the government also sourced donor funding to provide 670 new boreholes, rehabilitate 400 existing boreholes, construct 20 new hand-dug wells, four small community pipe systems and 18 small town pipe systems, as well as rehabilitate 13 existing small town pipe systems.
The works for the Esakyire, Konongo-Kumawu-Kwahu Ridge Water project and Kumasi water expansion project, started in 2011 and continued in 2012.
However, the government could not finalise its attempt to source funding to complete the 4,720 government affordable housing projects at Borteyman, Kpone, Koforidua, Asokore-Mampong, Tamale and Wa, which were started by the previous administration.
Railways, Roads and Ports
Besides, drawing works for port expansion and tabling of various subsidiary agreements for a China Development Bank (CDB) loan, including the $800 million for port expansion and the construction of landing bays for fishing for about six coastal towns, not much was executed in the areas of ports and harbours.
The year 2013 is most likely to mark the beginning of serious implementation works to be funded by the CDB loan. These include the port expansion works.
On railways, the government created the Ghana Railways Authority, which is currently recruiting staff to start the implementation of ambitious railway infrastructure, rehabilitation and construction that is expected the oil the industrial revolution that beckons the economy?????.
The rehabilitation works include the Western Railway lines, linking them to the middle belt of Ashanti Region as well as the rehabilitation of the lines that link the Western Region to the Port city of Tema.
Agriculture
Agriculture used to be the mainstay of the economy of Ghana, accounting for more than 50 per cent of its GDP. However, this changed a couple of years ago after the economy was rebased, shrinking agric’s contribution to the economy to about 34 per cent.
Being a pro-poor sector, agriculture still enjoys a lot of the attention of governments. In 2012, the government advanced additional GH¢30 million to the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), a major vehicle to change the face of agriculture and infrastructure of the three northern regions and parts of the middle belt.
According to the 2012 Budget, “in addition government will create an investment fund window for long term investment in the SADA zone; the government will raise an additional amount of GH₵200 million as seed money for the SADA Investment Fund.”
The government also expanded the Agriculture Subsidy Programme to include liquid fertilisers (bio-fertiliser) and improved seeds, during which the Ministry of Food and Agriculture subsidised about 165,000 metric tonnes of chemical and liquid fertilisers.
The year also saw the continued implementation of the Youth in Agriculture Programme, particularly the cultivation of about 60,000 hectares of Block Farm across the country for the production of staples such as maize, cassava, rice, yam, sorghum and cowpea by 100,000 farmers.
BIOMETRIC REGISTER AND PAYROLL REFORM
Toward the fourth quarter of the year, the government also completed the biometric registration of the public sector workers to clean ghost names off government payroll.
Officials at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP) told the Daily Graphic that the biometric registration exercise was to collate a photo biometric register of government workers for the 10 regions to minimise payroll fraud and reduce government expenditure on personnel emoluments.
The 2012 budget estimated savings of about GH¢512 million from the biometric registration exercise and payroll audit.
The biometric data registration of government employees identified a lot of anomalies, including about 100 staff members on the payroll of the Ghana Education Service that have been assigned to two different persons.
The situation, some of which dates as far back as 2003, means either the 100 personnel work with different names, hence receive double salaries or there are 100 more personnel who have been receiving salaries wrongly.
FISCAL DECENTRALISATION AND SINGLE SPINE
Under the new pay reforms at the ministry, ministries, departments and agencies manage their own payrolls, and only forward vouchers to the Controller and Accountant General’s office to effect payment.
In the year just gone by (2012), personal emoluments were projected to end the year at about GH¢5 billion, 10.6 per cent higher than the 2011 budget estimate and about seven per cent of the total value of goods and services produced within the country, also known as gross domestic product (GDP).
This will be as a result of the full implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) for public sector workers.
The government also implemented what is called the fiscal decentralisation programme which has been on the drawing board for decades. The policy allows local assemblies as well as ministries, departments and agencies to draw their own budgets, which are brought together in one composite document for a particular district or municipality.
This allows for decentralised spending and tracking of projects and expenditure.
To make for smooth implementation and close monitoring, the government has set up a Fiscal Decentralisation Unit within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Millennium Compact
In February 2012, the country saw the successful completion of the $547 million United States Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) grant programme. Implemented by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) of Ghana, the programme saw a near 100 per cent disbursement of the funds to various infrastructural and agricultural projects.
The execution of the integrated compact saw the simultaneous development of three key activities, namely agriculture project; transportation project and rural development project.
Under agriculture, some of the achievements included the training of 67,000 smallholder farmers on agronomic and business practices; the rehabilitation and construction of four irrigation schemes that has now put 2,465 hectares of land under irrigation to ensure a sustainable exports sector.
The programme also implemented a pilot programme to register 2,500 rural land parcels for which a total of 1400 titles have been issued.
To cure post-harvest losses, the Millennium Challenge Account grant funded the construction of modern 1000 tonne privately managed Perishable Cargo Centre at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, with storage and cold rooms to handle fresh agriculture produce.
In furtherance of efficient post-harvest handling, the programme also funded the construction of three public pack houses at Akorley, near Dodowa, and at Mariakrom and Otwekrom in the Akuapem South Municipal Assembly and the Gomoa East District respectively, to serve the needs of disadvantaged small holder farmers growing mango, papaya and pineapple for local and export markets.
There was also a component of the programme that channelled much-needed credit to farmers; provided information and communications technology solutions to all rural banks in the country for automation through wide and local area networks.
A total of 357.4 kilometres of feeder roads were also completed in the Northern, Eastern, Central and Volta regions to make for easy transportation of farm produce across the country and for export.
Perhaps, the one project that still endures in many minds is the Motorway Extension-Mallam express road, the N1 or the George Walker Bush Highway, which was about the last project to be completed under the compact.
Working over the last 30 months, we have completed the upgrading of 14.1 km into a three-lane dual carriage highway, costing US$173.2 million.
GSE’s parallel market for companies
In its quest to offer more companies the opportunity to use the capital market to raise funds for expansion, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) started the process towards the establishment of a parallel market to be exclusively focused on businesses with potential growth.
To be christened the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX), the new market would accommodate companies at various stages of their development, including start-ups and existing enterprises, both small and medium.
Managing Director of the GSE, Mr Ekow Afedzie, said the move had come about as a result of the struggles many companies in the country went through in raising funds to expand.
According to him, the structure of the GAX was such that, listing on the market would afford companies the opportunity to secure long term capital, broaden their investor base and provide liquidity for their shareholders and investors.
Interbank electronic platform launched
The banking industry also recorded a significant milestone following the introduction of the interbank electronic platform that enables banks to carry out a number of services, including the ability of their customers to use one another’s automatic teller machines (ATMs).
The interbank switching and processing system, also known as “gh-link”, inter-connects switches of financial institutions and systems of third party institutions.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhiPSS), Mr Archie Hesse, said at the launch of gh-link in Accra that the success story was part of the programme to transform the country to become an electronic payment society.
He said globally, every country was leaning towards electronic payments because of the immense benefits they brought and that Ghana could not be left behind.
LESDEP trained 40,000
The Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) also said it had assisted 40,000 people in 2012 to upgrade their entrepreneurial skills and the programme was even more committed to helping more people in that regard in 2013.
The programme is a public-private partnership under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to create local enterprises that will drive the creation of jobs and the economic growth of the country.
The training in technical and entrepreneurial skills helps the beneficiaries to establish their own businesses or improve upon the performance of existing enterprises.
The National coordinator of LESDEP, Mr Adam Gariba, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview, and noted that his outfit planned to train about 60,000 youth in 2013. The programme currently operates under 27 skills development modules which are based on the needs of the unemployed throughout the country.
Fund for housing in the offing
During the year under review, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also began the development of regulations to guide the establishment of a fund meant to help raise money from within the country to finance the construction of houses for the people.
It will be known as the Real Estate Investment Funds which will be floated on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) for the public to buy.
The Director General of SEC, Mr Adu Anane Antwi, announced this at a seminar for members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).
He said “we are doing this because we believe that we can use the capital market to raise funds to undertake housing projects that can benefit all of us.”
Govt sets up PPP projects
The government’s efforts to speedily build the country’s infrastructure through partnerships with the private sector had a shot in the arm on March 27, 2012 following the approval of US$30 million from the World Bank to kick start the project.
The credit, the first phase of the PPP credit, is to improve the legislative, institutional, financial, fiduciary and technical framework to generate a pipeline of bankable PPP projects. Such bankable projects are essential to attract the private sector partnership with the government.
The government in 2011 adopted a new Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy with which it wanted to attract private sector investments into bridging the yawning gap in the country’s infrastructure, estimated at about US$1.5 billion annually for the next 10 years.
The World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Mr Yusupha B. Crookes, said “Ghana is an important partner of the World and we are glad to be providing some of the funds needed to make this initiative possible.”
Grains Council to build 25 warehouses – in support of proposed GCX
The Ghana Grains Council (GGC) also continued the works on its planned 25 warehouses with the capacity of storing 30 tonnes of grains each in the three northern regions.
Six of such warehouses, which were inaugurated in Tamale, were part of a grand programme of the GGC, a private sector body, to certify warehouses which could be used as points of aggregation for farmers and traders.
Besides serving as guarantee markets for farmers, the warehouses will also play an important role in a well-functioning commodity exchange which the Ministry of Trade and Industry is pushing to establish by the close of the year.
The deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Joe Annan, extolled the achievements of the GGC and said they had a very important part to play in establishing a successful warehouse receipt system.
Anchored on the medium term development blueprint, the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), the year 2012, saw the implementation of key projects in the areas of agriculture, social services and infrastructure, electricity, infrastructure rehabilitation and expansion, oil and gas projects, investments in water and sanitation; as well as railways, roads and ports.
The private sector also delivered its part of the bargain with major projects that would serve the natural interest, while bringing returns to the investors.
MACROECONOMIC TARGETS
Against the inflows that the government received from domestic economic activities and development partners, the expenditures on the various projects were estimated to lead to a real overall GDP growth of 9.4 per cent; (real non-oil GDP growth of 7.6 per cent); average inflation of 8.7 per cent; end-period inflation of 8.5 per cent; overall budget deficit equivalent to 4.8 per cent of GDP; and gross international reserves of not less than three months of import cover for goods and services.
Electricity
On electricity, 2012 saw the continued implementation of the Ghana Electricity Development and Access Programme, which underpinned the electricity for all programme of the government.
The project involved the rehabilitation of energy distribution infrastructure in the country, including the refurbishment of old sub-stations and the construction of new ones, the replacement of certain obsolete equipment as well as the installation of certain modern and digitised electricity infrastructure to improve efficiency and check losses.
Oil and Gas
It was in 2012 that the construction of infrastructure to convey natural gas from the Jubilee Oil Field at Cape Three Points in the Western Region started. Construction works at the site for the gas processing plant located at Atuabo in the Jomoro District is currently progressing steadily. It is being funded by part of the $3 billion China Development Bank (CDB) loan, which has been signed by Parliament, with subsidiary agreements for the various projects being approved by the house one after the other.
Water and Sanitation
The government started the implementation of a project to provide 4,000 new boreholes countrywide as part of a plan to provide 20,000 boreholes over the next five years.
In addition, the government also sourced donor funding to provide 670 new boreholes, rehabilitate 400 existing boreholes, construct 20 new hand-dug wells, four small community pipe systems and 18 small town pipe systems, as well as rehabilitate 13 existing small town pipe systems.
The works for the Esakyire, Konongo-Kumawu-Kwahu Ridge Water project and Kumasi water expansion project, started in 2011 and continued in 2012.
However, the government could not finalise its attempt to source funding to complete the 4,720 government affordable housing projects at Borteyman, Kpone, Koforidua, Asokore-Mampong, Tamale and Wa, which were started by the previous administration.
Railways, Roads and Ports
Besides, drawing works for port expansion and tabling of various subsidiary agreements for a China Development Bank (CDB) loan, including the $800 million for port expansion and the construction of landing bays for fishing for about six coastal towns, not much was executed in the areas of ports and harbours.
The year 2013 is most likely to mark the beginning of serious implementation works to be funded by the CDB loan. These include the port expansion works.
On railways, the government created the Ghana Railways Authority, which is currently recruiting staff to start the implementation of ambitious railway infrastructure, rehabilitation and construction that is expected the oil the industrial revolution that beckons the economy?????.
The rehabilitation works include the Western Railway lines, linking them to the middle belt of Ashanti Region as well as the rehabilitation of the lines that link the Western Region to the Port city of Tema.
Agriculture
Agriculture used to be the mainstay of the economy of Ghana, accounting for more than 50 per cent of its GDP. However, this changed a couple of years ago after the economy was rebased, shrinking agric’s contribution to the economy to about 34 per cent.
Being a pro-poor sector, agriculture still enjoys a lot of the attention of governments. In 2012, the government advanced additional GH¢30 million to the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), a major vehicle to change the face of agriculture and infrastructure of the three northern regions and parts of the middle belt.
According to the 2012 Budget, “in addition government will create an investment fund window for long term investment in the SADA zone; the government will raise an additional amount of GH₵200 million as seed money for the SADA Investment Fund.”
The government also expanded the Agriculture Subsidy Programme to include liquid fertilisers (bio-fertiliser) and improved seeds, during which the Ministry of Food and Agriculture subsidised about 165,000 metric tonnes of chemical and liquid fertilisers.
The year also saw the continued implementation of the Youth in Agriculture Programme, particularly the cultivation of about 60,000 hectares of Block Farm across the country for the production of staples such as maize, cassava, rice, yam, sorghum and cowpea by 100,000 farmers.
BIOMETRIC REGISTER AND PAYROLL REFORM
Toward the fourth quarter of the year, the government also completed the biometric registration of the public sector workers to clean ghost names off government payroll.
Officials at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP) told the Daily Graphic that the biometric registration exercise was to collate a photo biometric register of government workers for the 10 regions to minimise payroll fraud and reduce government expenditure on personnel emoluments.
The 2012 budget estimated savings of about GH¢512 million from the biometric registration exercise and payroll audit.
The biometric data registration of government employees identified a lot of anomalies, including about 100 staff members on the payroll of the Ghana Education Service that have been assigned to two different persons.
The situation, some of which dates as far back as 2003, means either the 100 personnel work with different names, hence receive double salaries or there are 100 more personnel who have been receiving salaries wrongly.
FISCAL DECENTRALISATION AND SINGLE SPINE
Under the new pay reforms at the ministry, ministries, departments and agencies manage their own payrolls, and only forward vouchers to the Controller and Accountant General’s office to effect payment.
In the year just gone by (2012), personal emoluments were projected to end the year at about GH¢5 billion, 10.6 per cent higher than the 2011 budget estimate and about seven per cent of the total value of goods and services produced within the country, also known as gross domestic product (GDP).
This will be as a result of the full implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) for public sector workers.
The government also implemented what is called the fiscal decentralisation programme which has been on the drawing board for decades. The policy allows local assemblies as well as ministries, departments and agencies to draw their own budgets, which are brought together in one composite document for a particular district or municipality.
This allows for decentralised spending and tracking of projects and expenditure.
To make for smooth implementation and close monitoring, the government has set up a Fiscal Decentralisation Unit within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Millennium Compact
In February 2012, the country saw the successful completion of the $547 million United States Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) grant programme. Implemented by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) of Ghana, the programme saw a near 100 per cent disbursement of the funds to various infrastructural and agricultural projects.
The execution of the integrated compact saw the simultaneous development of three key activities, namely agriculture project; transportation project and rural development project.
Under agriculture, some of the achievements included the training of 67,000 smallholder farmers on agronomic and business practices; the rehabilitation and construction of four irrigation schemes that has now put 2,465 hectares of land under irrigation to ensure a sustainable exports sector.
The programme also implemented a pilot programme to register 2,500 rural land parcels for which a total of 1400 titles have been issued.
To cure post-harvest losses, the Millennium Challenge Account grant funded the construction of modern 1000 tonne privately managed Perishable Cargo Centre at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, with storage and cold rooms to handle fresh agriculture produce.
In furtherance of efficient post-harvest handling, the programme also funded the construction of three public pack houses at Akorley, near Dodowa, and at Mariakrom and Otwekrom in the Akuapem South Municipal Assembly and the Gomoa East District respectively, to serve the needs of disadvantaged small holder farmers growing mango, papaya and pineapple for local and export markets.
There was also a component of the programme that channelled much-needed credit to farmers; provided information and communications technology solutions to all rural banks in the country for automation through wide and local area networks.
A total of 357.4 kilometres of feeder roads were also completed in the Northern, Eastern, Central and Volta regions to make for easy transportation of farm produce across the country and for export.
Perhaps, the one project that still endures in many minds is the Motorway Extension-Mallam express road, the N1 or the George Walker Bush Highway, which was about the last project to be completed under the compact.
Working over the last 30 months, we have completed the upgrading of 14.1 km into a three-lane dual carriage highway, costing US$173.2 million.
GSE’s parallel market for companies
In its quest to offer more companies the opportunity to use the capital market to raise funds for expansion, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) started the process towards the establishment of a parallel market to be exclusively focused on businesses with potential growth.
To be christened the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX), the new market would accommodate companies at various stages of their development, including start-ups and existing enterprises, both small and medium.
Managing Director of the GSE, Mr Ekow Afedzie, said the move had come about as a result of the struggles many companies in the country went through in raising funds to expand.
According to him, the structure of the GAX was such that, listing on the market would afford companies the opportunity to secure long term capital, broaden their investor base and provide liquidity for their shareholders and investors.
Interbank electronic platform launched
The banking industry also recorded a significant milestone following the introduction of the interbank electronic platform that enables banks to carry out a number of services, including the ability of their customers to use one another’s automatic teller machines (ATMs).
The interbank switching and processing system, also known as “gh-link”, inter-connects switches of financial institutions and systems of third party institutions.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhiPSS), Mr Archie Hesse, said at the launch of gh-link in Accra that the success story was part of the programme to transform the country to become an electronic payment society.
He said globally, every country was leaning towards electronic payments because of the immense benefits they brought and that Ghana could not be left behind.
LESDEP trained 40,000
The Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) also said it had assisted 40,000 people in 2012 to upgrade their entrepreneurial skills and the programme was even more committed to helping more people in that regard in 2013.
The programme is a public-private partnership under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to create local enterprises that will drive the creation of jobs and the economic growth of the country.
The training in technical and entrepreneurial skills helps the beneficiaries to establish their own businesses or improve upon the performance of existing enterprises.
The National coordinator of LESDEP, Mr Adam Gariba, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview, and noted that his outfit planned to train about 60,000 youth in 2013. The programme currently operates under 27 skills development modules which are based on the needs of the unemployed throughout the country.
Fund for housing in the offing
During the year under review, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also began the development of regulations to guide the establishment of a fund meant to help raise money from within the country to finance the construction of houses for the people.
It will be known as the Real Estate Investment Funds which will be floated on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) for the public to buy.
The Director General of SEC, Mr Adu Anane Antwi, announced this at a seminar for members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).
He said “we are doing this because we believe that we can use the capital market to raise funds to undertake housing projects that can benefit all of us.”
Govt sets up PPP projects
The government’s efforts to speedily build the country’s infrastructure through partnerships with the private sector had a shot in the arm on March 27, 2012 following the approval of US$30 million from the World Bank to kick start the project.
The credit, the first phase of the PPP credit, is to improve the legislative, institutional, financial, fiduciary and technical framework to generate a pipeline of bankable PPP projects. Such bankable projects are essential to attract the private sector partnership with the government.
The government in 2011 adopted a new Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy with which it wanted to attract private sector investments into bridging the yawning gap in the country’s infrastructure, estimated at about US$1.5 billion annually for the next 10 years.
The World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Mr Yusupha B. Crookes, said “Ghana is an important partner of the World and we are glad to be providing some of the funds needed to make this initiative possible.”
Grains Council to build 25 warehouses – in support of proposed GCX
The Ghana Grains Council (GGC) also continued the works on its planned 25 warehouses with the capacity of storing 30 tonnes of grains each in the three northern regions.
Six of such warehouses, which were inaugurated in Tamale, were part of a grand programme of the GGC, a private sector body, to certify warehouses which could be used as points of aggregation for farmers and traders.
Besides serving as guarantee markets for farmers, the warehouses will also play an important role in a well-functioning commodity exchange which the Ministry of Trade and Industry is pushing to establish by the close of the year.
The deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Joe Annan, extolled the achievements of the GGC and said they had a very important part to play in establishing a successful warehouse receipt system.
US launches “Doing Business in Africa” campaign
The Acting United States (US) Secretary of Commerce Dr. Rebecca Blank has launched the “Doing Business in Africa” campaign, across the continent via a conference call.
The campaign, which is an administrative initiative is to help American businesses identify and seize opportunities that will further the United States’ commercial and trade relationship in Africa.
This initiative will hinge on four objectives; strengthening democratic institutions, spurring economic growth, trade and investment; advancing peace and security; and promoting opportunity and development.
As a part of spurring economic growth, trade, and investment, the campaign will leverage the United States’ trade promotion, financing and strategic communications capabilities to help U.S. businesses identify and seize opportunities in Africa, and to help them overcome any challenges they face to establishing a business relationship in Africa.
According to Dr Blank, the campaign is an important element of U.S. President Barrack Obama’s “U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa,” which was released on June 14, 2012.
She said US agencies would work to encourage U.S. companies and African Diaspora owned businesses to trade with and invest in Africa through expanded trade promotion programmes tailored towards Africa.
Dr Blank also stressed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) continues to support the flow of African goods to the U.S. She said more than ever before, American businesses and consumers are buying African products such as flowers, fruits, nuts, cocoa, footwear, and wine.
Again, nonpetroleum exports under AGOA have tripled to nearly US$5 billion. Compared to a decade ago, more than twice the number of eligible countries are shipping non-commodity goods under AGOA.
Dr Blank also said the Obama's administration had stated its strong support for ongoing access to AGOA to be re-signed in 2015.
She also announced the establishment of the U.S. Africa Clean Energy Development and Finance Centre in Johannesburg.
The centre she said aims to provide a coordinated approach to clean energy project development in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the centre will provide technical and financial support for clean energy project development by providing the U.S. private sector, as well as sub-Saharan African developers, with a centralised means to identify and access U.S. government support for their clean energy export and investment needs.
On access to finance for small businesses, Dr Blank said it was in part the responsibility of the national governments.
“The first responsibility for local small business has to be at a national level, but when there are opportunities for partnership with the U.S. government, we often do have financing available and, in fact, the organizations that do this within the U.S. have greatly increased their financial commitments within Africa over the last several years. So we have put literally billions of dollars of financing into a variety of African-based projects.”
Responding to concerns on the effect of labor difficulties on investment in Africa, especially South Africa, Dr Blank said “I think any business leader will tell you that their investment and commitment to an area is very strongly related to their sense of political and economic stability in that area.”
“South Africa has been a gateway for the rest of Africa, in part, because it has had a growing and stable economy. Certainly the recent labor issues that have arisen around mining and some of the deaths we have seen are a great concern. From my perspective, as Secretary of Commerce, I mean, my main concern here is you want to create a sense of stability. U.S. companies, U.S. businesses watch these things on the news, and it affects their view of whether South Africa looks like a place to bring their next investment.”
She added “So the peace and security aspects of the sub-Saharan African strategy are very closely linked to the commerce and trade aspects. You know, stable and strong and growing economies are usually also peaceful and secure economies.” GB
The campaign, which is an administrative initiative is to help American businesses identify and seize opportunities that will further the United States’ commercial and trade relationship in Africa.
This initiative will hinge on four objectives; strengthening democratic institutions, spurring economic growth, trade and investment; advancing peace and security; and promoting opportunity and development.
As a part of spurring economic growth, trade, and investment, the campaign will leverage the United States’ trade promotion, financing and strategic communications capabilities to help U.S. businesses identify and seize opportunities in Africa, and to help them overcome any challenges they face to establishing a business relationship in Africa.
According to Dr Blank, the campaign is an important element of U.S. President Barrack Obama’s “U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa,” which was released on June 14, 2012.
She said US agencies would work to encourage U.S. companies and African Diaspora owned businesses to trade with and invest in Africa through expanded trade promotion programmes tailored towards Africa.
Dr Blank also stressed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) continues to support the flow of African goods to the U.S. She said more than ever before, American businesses and consumers are buying African products such as flowers, fruits, nuts, cocoa, footwear, and wine.
Again, nonpetroleum exports under AGOA have tripled to nearly US$5 billion. Compared to a decade ago, more than twice the number of eligible countries are shipping non-commodity goods under AGOA.
Dr Blank also said the Obama's administration had stated its strong support for ongoing access to AGOA to be re-signed in 2015.
She also announced the establishment of the U.S. Africa Clean Energy Development and Finance Centre in Johannesburg.
The centre she said aims to provide a coordinated approach to clean energy project development in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the centre will provide technical and financial support for clean energy project development by providing the U.S. private sector, as well as sub-Saharan African developers, with a centralised means to identify and access U.S. government support for their clean energy export and investment needs.
On access to finance for small businesses, Dr Blank said it was in part the responsibility of the national governments.
“The first responsibility for local small business has to be at a national level, but when there are opportunities for partnership with the U.S. government, we often do have financing available and, in fact, the organizations that do this within the U.S. have greatly increased their financial commitments within Africa over the last several years. So we have put literally billions of dollars of financing into a variety of African-based projects.”
Responding to concerns on the effect of labor difficulties on investment in Africa, especially South Africa, Dr Blank said “I think any business leader will tell you that their investment and commitment to an area is very strongly related to their sense of political and economic stability in that area.”
“South Africa has been a gateway for the rest of Africa, in part, because it has had a growing and stable economy. Certainly the recent labor issues that have arisen around mining and some of the deaths we have seen are a great concern. From my perspective, as Secretary of Commerce, I mean, my main concern here is you want to create a sense of stability. U.S. companies, U.S. businesses watch these things on the news, and it affects their view of whether South Africa looks like a place to bring their next investment.”
She added “So the peace and security aspects of the sub-Saharan African strategy are very closely linked to the commerce and trade aspects. You know, stable and strong and growing economies are usually also peaceful and secure economies.” GB
Customs calls for automation of freezone system
A Collector of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mrs Sharon Acquah, has advocated the need for policy makers to automate and modernise the customs dispensation which allows some semi-finished raw materials to enter the country free without duties.
She said with the full deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) enabled system in the freezone operations, also known as the suspense regime, the country can save millions of cedis of revenue that could be lost to abuse in the system.
Currently, all operations by the Customs Division of the GRA are done on an electronic data interchange, known as GCNet, which allows for effective monitoring of the entry and exit of goods. The system, however, does not capture the operations of the freezones sub-sector.
Speaking at a tax education programme on Suspense Regimes for customs officials in Accra, Mrs Acquah said the manual system of monitoring and controlling of goods was laborious and prone to avoidable mistakes which must give way to an electronic data interchange.
The freezones concept, one of the International Customs Regimes, is an isolated area within a country considered by law to be outside the customs territory of that country and whose operations are not subject to custom controls.
In Ghana, it is characterised by a lot of “paper work” which needs to be revised to meet requirements of the Revised Kyoto Convention, an international agreement of custom standards and best practices which calls for modernisation and maximum use of ICT in freezones operations.
The Suspense Regime allows imported goods to undergo processing or further treatment, including domestically produced goods or local importation for eventual exportation or re-exportation without paying taxes.
Highlighting the benefits the country derives from freezone operations, Mrs Acquah said Ghana could attract foreign direct investments, create employment opportunities as well as provide business opportunities for foreign and local investors to undertake joint ventures.
A Chief Collector at the Customs Division of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Mrs Gloria Farmer, educated participants on Transit Trade in Ghana and said the issue of transit trade had become very important and crucial as it inured to the benefit of landlocked countries.
She explained that landlocked countries, many of which rely on Ghana’s ports, had limited capacities and dependend on a very limited number of commodities for their export earnings.
Mrs Farmer pointed out that Ghana had benefited from transit trade as transit cargo had added to the cargo at the ports, thereby increasing the revenue of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
“Investment opportunities have arisen as the GPHA has expanded container terminals and car parks, as freight stations outside the port also increase in number. This has brought in private sector involvement, which has created jobs for Ghanaians as a result of the increase in cargo at the port,” she explained.
The KIA chief customs collector, however, explained that although transit goods were not subject to import duty, “if the consignment fails to exit the region within the prescribed period and official extension is granted, duty becomes due.” GB
She said with the full deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) enabled system in the freezone operations, also known as the suspense regime, the country can save millions of cedis of revenue that could be lost to abuse in the system.
Currently, all operations by the Customs Division of the GRA are done on an electronic data interchange, known as GCNet, which allows for effective monitoring of the entry and exit of goods. The system, however, does not capture the operations of the freezones sub-sector.
Speaking at a tax education programme on Suspense Regimes for customs officials in Accra, Mrs Acquah said the manual system of monitoring and controlling of goods was laborious and prone to avoidable mistakes which must give way to an electronic data interchange.
The freezones concept, one of the International Customs Regimes, is an isolated area within a country considered by law to be outside the customs territory of that country and whose operations are not subject to custom controls.
In Ghana, it is characterised by a lot of “paper work” which needs to be revised to meet requirements of the Revised Kyoto Convention, an international agreement of custom standards and best practices which calls for modernisation and maximum use of ICT in freezones operations.
The Suspense Regime allows imported goods to undergo processing or further treatment, including domestically produced goods or local importation for eventual exportation or re-exportation without paying taxes.
Highlighting the benefits the country derives from freezone operations, Mrs Acquah said Ghana could attract foreign direct investments, create employment opportunities as well as provide business opportunities for foreign and local investors to undertake joint ventures.
A Chief Collector at the Customs Division of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Mrs Gloria Farmer, educated participants on Transit Trade in Ghana and said the issue of transit trade had become very important and crucial as it inured to the benefit of landlocked countries.
She explained that landlocked countries, many of which rely on Ghana’s ports, had limited capacities and dependend on a very limited number of commodities for their export earnings.
Mrs Farmer pointed out that Ghana had benefited from transit trade as transit cargo had added to the cargo at the ports, thereby increasing the revenue of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
“Investment opportunities have arisen as the GPHA has expanded container terminals and car parks, as freight stations outside the port also increase in number. This has brought in private sector involvement, which has created jobs for Ghanaians as a result of the increase in cargo at the port,” she explained.
The KIA chief customs collector, however, explained that although transit goods were not subject to import duty, “if the consignment fails to exit the region within the prescribed period and official extension is granted, duty becomes due.” GB
Ethical Fashion Project launched
Ghana is set to be the hub for the transformation of traditional inputs into contemporary readymade fashion and lifestyle products from highly creative young Ghanaian designers.
Under the Ethical Fashion Initiative Ghana Project, young entrepreneurs in the fashion industry will process traditional fabrics out of organic and fair trade cotton supplied from a Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) supported programme in Burkina Faso and Mali into products of high quality.
The project which is a joint collaboration between the International Trade Centre (ITC), Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the Ministry of Trade and Industry is to improve the economic situation of poor communities by creating jobs through the establishment of a sustainable supply chain in textiles, fashion and lifestyle products.
Under the project, raw material suppliers and other artisans involved in the textile and lifestyle accessories development, the extended company concept will be applied to create a network of participants and beneficiaries from different businesses and corporate bodies by spreading out the different parts of the business entity across several local indigenous communities in Ghana.
It would also propel the products of young Ghanaian entrepreneurs and designers in the fashion and textile industry onto the international fashion value chain.
According to the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Andrea Semadeni, the Fashion and lifestyle products sector in Africa has a huge potential and Ghana, with its rich tradition in fabrics, is well positioned to respond to the prevailing market conditions to diversify.
He said, the Ethical Fashion Initiative concentrates equally on three pillars; identification of the demand of business, response from the local market and fulfillment of social, labour and environmental standards.
The Swiss government has consequently provided a US$ 3.5million support for the project.
The Minister if Trade and Industry for her part said the programme was in line with the government’s industrial sector support programme and confirms the government’s commitment to work towards the betterment of the lives of Ghanaians in marginalised and deprived communities.
According to her, the project will contribute towards the attainment of the strategic target of US$5 billion proceeds from non-traditional exports by generating a minimum of 14 orders and establishing capacity for production of at least 140,000 pieces of fashion and lifestyle items over the life of the project.
The Ministry she also explained would provide a designated premise to host the Product Development Centre to be established under the project to train people on textile designs and fashion product designs as well.
The Ethical Fashion Initiative will be mentored by icons of the fashion world including the Ghanaian Fashion designer Kofi Ansah.
Kofi Ansah told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that, the project would give them the opportunity to compete with popularly acclaimed designers with their works adding “just because it is ethical fashion, it doesn’t make it rubbish.” GB
Under the Ethical Fashion Initiative Ghana Project, young entrepreneurs in the fashion industry will process traditional fabrics out of organic and fair trade cotton supplied from a Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) supported programme in Burkina Faso and Mali into products of high quality.
The project which is a joint collaboration between the International Trade Centre (ITC), Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the Ministry of Trade and Industry is to improve the economic situation of poor communities by creating jobs through the establishment of a sustainable supply chain in textiles, fashion and lifestyle products.
Under the project, raw material suppliers and other artisans involved in the textile and lifestyle accessories development, the extended company concept will be applied to create a network of participants and beneficiaries from different businesses and corporate bodies by spreading out the different parts of the business entity across several local indigenous communities in Ghana.
It would also propel the products of young Ghanaian entrepreneurs and designers in the fashion and textile industry onto the international fashion value chain.
According to the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Andrea Semadeni, the Fashion and lifestyle products sector in Africa has a huge potential and Ghana, with its rich tradition in fabrics, is well positioned to respond to the prevailing market conditions to diversify.
He said, the Ethical Fashion Initiative concentrates equally on three pillars; identification of the demand of business, response from the local market and fulfillment of social, labour and environmental standards.
The Swiss government has consequently provided a US$ 3.5million support for the project.
The Minister if Trade and Industry for her part said the programme was in line with the government’s industrial sector support programme and confirms the government’s commitment to work towards the betterment of the lives of Ghanaians in marginalised and deprived communities.
According to her, the project will contribute towards the attainment of the strategic target of US$5 billion proceeds from non-traditional exports by generating a minimum of 14 orders and establishing capacity for production of at least 140,000 pieces of fashion and lifestyle items over the life of the project.
The Ministry she also explained would provide a designated premise to host the Product Development Centre to be established under the project to train people on textile designs and fashion product designs as well.
The Ethical Fashion Initiative will be mentored by icons of the fashion world including the Ghanaian Fashion designer Kofi Ansah.
Kofi Ansah told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that, the project would give them the opportunity to compete with popularly acclaimed designers with their works adding “just because it is ethical fashion, it doesn’t make it rubbish.” GB
Textile industry calls for law enforcement
Players in the local textile industry have called on government to enforce regulations to prevent the influx of “cheap” textiles unto the market, which is detrimental to the industry.
The local industry for some time now has come under threat following the continuous trend of the importation of substandard textiles from outside the borders of the country, especially from Asian countries.
The President of Spinnet textile and garment cluster, Mrs Edwina Assan, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that because Ghana has a liberalised trade economy, it is not able to fully regulate what is imported into the country.
She therefore called on government to review this policy to help the industry recover from the fierce competition it is currently facing which is making the industry unfavorable for traders.
The local Textile industry she also explained has the largest value chain for development hence the need to help it forge ahead. “The government is playing its part but we just want to draw their attention once again. When we are in business, government is also in business because we will pay our taxes.”
Mrs Assan made these remarks on the sidelines of an advocacy workshop organised by the group in collaboration with the BUSAC Advocacy Fund to engage all stakeholders and members on one platform to discuss and address challenges facing the industry.
The workshop was on the theme “towards a competitive market for the local textile and garment industry in Ghana”.
Challenges she said the industry was facing included access to new technology, low raw materials base, standardization of input for production, obsolete nature of machines and less access to international fairs.
She also explained there was the need for government to form more clusters of textile associations in all the regions, since Spinnet is only based in Accra, to undertake more advocacy exercise to salvage the industry from collapsing.
The General Secretary of the textile and Leather Workers Union, Mr. Abraham Koomson told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS earlier this year, that it was worrying to note that these pirated textiles that came from China did not only carry the designs of Ghanaian cloths but were imitated to let them appear like made in Ghana cloth although the Chinese textiles were less durable as compared to the made in Ghana cloth.
He said these cheap textiles were sold far below the prices of the Ghanaian textile there by prompting most retailers of textiles from the local textile companies such as ATL, Printex, and GTP to abandon the sale of local cloths and focus on imported wax prints to increase their profit margins. GB
The local industry for some time now has come under threat following the continuous trend of the importation of substandard textiles from outside the borders of the country, especially from Asian countries.
The President of Spinnet textile and garment cluster, Mrs Edwina Assan, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that because Ghana has a liberalised trade economy, it is not able to fully regulate what is imported into the country.
She therefore called on government to review this policy to help the industry recover from the fierce competition it is currently facing which is making the industry unfavorable for traders.
The local Textile industry she also explained has the largest value chain for development hence the need to help it forge ahead. “The government is playing its part but we just want to draw their attention once again. When we are in business, government is also in business because we will pay our taxes.”
Mrs Assan made these remarks on the sidelines of an advocacy workshop organised by the group in collaboration with the BUSAC Advocacy Fund to engage all stakeholders and members on one platform to discuss and address challenges facing the industry.
The workshop was on the theme “towards a competitive market for the local textile and garment industry in Ghana”.
Challenges she said the industry was facing included access to new technology, low raw materials base, standardization of input for production, obsolete nature of machines and less access to international fairs.
She also explained there was the need for government to form more clusters of textile associations in all the regions, since Spinnet is only based in Accra, to undertake more advocacy exercise to salvage the industry from collapsing.
The General Secretary of the textile and Leather Workers Union, Mr. Abraham Koomson told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS earlier this year, that it was worrying to note that these pirated textiles that came from China did not only carry the designs of Ghanaian cloths but were imitated to let them appear like made in Ghana cloth although the Chinese textiles were less durable as compared to the made in Ghana cloth.
He said these cheap textiles were sold far below the prices of the Ghanaian textile there by prompting most retailers of textiles from the local textile companies such as ATL, Printex, and GTP to abandon the sale of local cloths and focus on imported wax prints to increase their profit margins. GB
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