BoG wants banks, others to be risk-averse

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has directed all banks and other financial institutions to create risk management units that will ensure effective management of transaction related risks.
The regulator’s directive is to ensure that financial institutions have adequate risk management strategies commensurate with the risk profile of the business they wish to undertake.
The Assistant Director of Banking Supervision of the BoG, Mr Philip Cobbinah, who made this known, reiterated that it was imperative for financial institutions to have policies in place to support the management of the risks inherent in their lines of business.
The expansion in the financial services market comes along with increased risk, hence the need to develop a culture of vigilance and respect for internal controls within an organisation.
To control this risk, Mr Cobbinah suggested that management should assess the company’s overall risk profile, especially when the institution is expanding and ensure the adoption and management of strict control measures.
The directive was made known at the commissioning of the Tema Branch of First Capital Plus, an indigenous savings and loans company.
Risk management is an important part of every business activity as failure to manage risk efficiently could result in losses leading to decline profits, reputation, trust and confidence.
The regulator thus hinted that the BoG was fully committed to the viability and sustainability of the financial system in Ghana and to this end would ensure that financial institutions maintain adequate capital, adopt good credit organization and administration practices, robust treasury/liquidity management policies, good corporate governance and sound internal control measures.
“Thus one sure way of survival in Ghana`s competitive financial environment is for players to know and forge closer relationships with their customers,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr John Kofi Mensah, said the company is set to expand to other areas in the country in order to establish its presence.
He also hinted of plans to acquire a to acquire a universal banking license soon following the implementation of the requisite systems and structures necessary for its transition from a savings and loans company to a bank.GB

Youth unemployment still prevalent – Census Report

Unemployment among the youth emerged as one of the economic challenges that needs to be addressed, accounting for about a quarter of the population over the past 50 years, an analytical report on the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) has revealed.
The proportion of the population aged 15 years and over that is economically not active decreased from 27.0 per cent in 1960 to 17.5 per cent in 1984, increased to 25.3 per cent in 2000 and again to 28.9 per cent in 2010.
The report went on further to state that among males, the proportion increased from 11.0 per cent in 1960 to 27.2 per cent in 2010 and for females the proportion decreased from 43.3 per cent in 1960 to 18.4 per cent in 1984 and then increasing to 30.4 per cent in 2010.
It however explained that the pattern in the female economically not active population could reflect socio-economic and cultural changes over time, including for example, declining emphasis on the homemaker role and increased opportunities for further study.
According to data collected in 2010, about 59 per cent of unemployed persons were seeking for work for the first time and 41.0 per cent had worked before and were no longer in employment.
The breakdown was that more than 60.0 per cent of unemployed males and 55.0 per cent of the unemployed females were first time job seekers.
The report said the pattern was reflected in all regions, for males and females, though with varying proportions: ranging from 56.1 per cent in the Greater Accra Region to 47.4 per cent and 47.4 per cent in the Upper West and Northern Regions respectively
“Unemployment was found to be high among those aged 15-29 years, most of who were seeking for jobs for the first time. That age at which unemployment is highest coincides with the transition from various levels of education to the world of work,” it said.
The report was put together by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the national data compilation body of the country after the 2010 PHC.

ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE POPULATION
One of the factors which emerged is the increase in the absolute numbers in the economically active population.
This  increased from 5.6 million in 1984 to 10.9 million in 2010. The increase in the economically active population was due to the increase in the overall population which was basically from natural increase
The economically active population was concentrated in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions, the three regions with the highest populations in the country. Furthermore, the proportion of the economically active population in rural areas was more than those in urban areas in 2010, although the proportion of the population in urban areas was more than those in rural areas.
According to the report, the regional distribution of the economically active population is about the same as that of the total population for all the years specified and for all the regions. For instance, in 2000 and 2010, Ashanti Region accounted for 19.4 per cent and 19.1 per cent respectively of the economically active population followed by Greater Accra with 16.6 per cent and 18.1 per cent respectively.

OCCUPATION OF EMPLOYED POPULATION
The census report indicated that about 40 per cent of workers were engaged as skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, followed by service and sales workers with 21 per cent and craft and related trade workers accounting for 15.2 per cent of the population.
It however explained that the two leading occupational categories did not require highly skilled expertise and therefore high educational training. The proportions of the occupations which required high skills and years of training such as professionals, managers and technicians accounted for 9.5 per cent of the employed persons.

SELF- EMPLOYMENT
The proportion of the employed population aged 15 years and over which was self-employed declined from 80.6 per cent in 2000 to 65.9 per cent in 2010, the report indicated.
The proportion of females which were self-employed females was 86.8 per cent in 2000 and 69.4 per cent in 2010 and that of males were 74.5 per cent in 2000 and 60.2 per cent in 2010.
“In 2010, 75.3 percent of the employed population in the Volta Region was self-employed, the highest in the country. This was followed by Eastern Region with 72.4 percent. The two regions which reported the lowest percentages of self-employed populations were Greater Accra region (55.7%) and Upper West (55.5%)”, the report said.
Among males, Greater Accra Region had the lowest proportion of self-employed persons (44.4%) and for females it was Upper West region (55.5%). Volta Region had the highest proportion of self-employed for males and females: over seven in every ten for males and nearly eight in every ten for females.

WAY FORWARD
The report thus recommended that the area of youth unemployment would need to be managed with pragmatic policies such as apprenticeship and start-up capital so as to reduce the proportion of unemployed youth. GB

QUICK READ
- The economically not active population increased from 2.8 million in 2000 to 4.3 million in 2010.
- Unemployment was found to be high among those aged 15-29 years, most of who were first time job seekers.
- That age at which unemployment is highest coincides with the transition from various levels of education to the world of work.

First Capital to embark on expansion drive

FIRST Capital Plus, an indigenous savings and loans company is to establish 10 more branches as part of efforts to position itself strategically in the financial services market.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr John Kofi Mensah who gave the hint at the commissioning of their Tema Branch said they would also extend services to two more regions before the year ended.
He said the expansion drive was to present customers with several avenues to transact business with the company who had Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as its core clientele.
Aside the physical presence strategy, the company is also set to acquire a universal banking license soon having implemented the requisite systems and structures necessary for its transition from a Savings & Loans to a fully-fledged universal bank.
The newly established Tema Branch which is located in Community 1 comes with a SME Loan Centre signaling their strategic intent to Focus on the SME sector.
He said the establishment of the SME loan centre was to help ease the difficulties in accessing fast credit faced by SMEs in the metropolis and its environs adding that loans at the centre were processed within 24 hours.
The Managing Director of Agapet Petroleum Limited, Mr Emmanuel Abledu, who was the chairman of the occasion, urged people to patronise the services of indigenous company in order to help such companies grow.
The Assistant Director of Banking Supervision of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Philip Cobbinah commended First Capital Plus for making tremendous strides in its operations among the Non- Bank Financial Institutions, Savings and Loans category, maintaining the number one position in terms of total assets and total credit with a market share of 19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

Fact Sheet
- First Capital Plus grew its deposit by 117.79 per cent to GH¢211,110,964 in 2012.
- Its total assets also increased to 286,797,625 in 2012.
- Loans and advances also grew to 107,635,665 in 2012.

Airtel launches “supa star” promotion

Mobile Telecommunications Company, Airtel Ghana, has launched its national consumer promotion to reward both customers and prospective ones.
The promotion, dubbed, “supa star,” is to run for the next three weeks and would be characterised by weekly draws and a grand draw at the end of each month, with the winner driving home a BMW car.
Speaking at the launch at the Ring Road office of Airtel Ghana, the Managing Director, Mr Philip Sowah, said the promotion was designed to allow everyone who owned an Airtel SIM card to have a chance to win any of the three BMWs, 30 Samsung S4 phones, trips to Brazil in 2014, cash, shopping vouchers and thousands of cedis in airtime. 
According to him, their customers look forward to receiving and winning goodies from the company, like what is being offered currently, adding that “it is important for us at Airtel that just as we continuously work to improve our network, increase our coverage even wider, strengthen our Airtel Money platform, we are mindful of what customers look forward to from us.”
He explained that Airtel Ghana would continue to be responsive to the customer and would continue to be responsive to the customer and would continue to roll out various services that were customer centered.
Explaining the dynamics of the promotion, the Marketing Director of Airtel Ghana, Mr Ashish Malhotra, said customers accrued points when they used a minimum of 50 pesewas daily.
A top up of GH¢2 or more could be earned via airtime reload, voice calls and SMS. Data usage also earns customers points.
He said customers would be sent their points accrued daily and also have the option of opting out of the daily SMS.
“The short code *450# would be used for customers to find out their accrued pints. Winners would be declared weekly, with a customer winning a BMW at the end of each month,” he added.

12th banking awards lives up to billing ... Ecobank crowned best bank

The 12th edition of the Ghana Banking Awards held at the Event Haven at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre in Accra once again lived up to expectation as deserving banks in the country were rewarded for their excellent perofrmance in the sector.

The awards, under the auspices of Corporative Initiative Ghana (CIG), was on the theme, “Promoting Ethics, Integrity and Compliance in the Financial Services Sector” and also attracted many captians of the banking sector among many others.

After what could be described as a tensed night, Ecobank Ghana Limited, beat all other competitors to annex the most prestigious award, “Bank of the Year 2012” a category sponsored by the Graphic Communications Group Limited.

The Bank of the Year goes the bank with the highest weighted scores for the customer survey, corporate social responsibility and financial perfoemance. Scores earned by each bank in Corporate Bank of the year, Retail Bank of the Year and Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Peroprmance were used, based on weightings agreed to by the banks. The single most indicative factore is the Financial Perofmance.

A visibly elated Executive Director of the Bank, Mr George Mensah Asante later in an interview did not mince words as he explained how the bank had put what he described as a lot of hard work to ensure that it gave its customers what they wanted.

According to him, it was a proof of their hard work in the year under review and promised all existing clients and prospective ones not to look any further for best banking services than the “Pan African Bank”, which is one of the largest banks on the African continent.

Prudential Bank also bounced with a lot of force as it took home three awards and was also mentioned as runner ups in eight categories to the surprise of the mammoth crowd at the event.

It was the Best Bank in Long- Term Financing, Trade Financing and Consumer Lending. The bank was also the First Runner ups in Best Bank Retail, IT/ Electronic Banking and Short Term Loan Financing. It was also the Second Runner Up in Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Banking.

Unibank Ghana Limited was picked as the Best Bank in Short Term Loan Financing, IT and Electronic, and Retail Banking and was the first runner up under the Best Bank Long Term Loan Finance, Consumer Lending, and Corporate Social Responsibility categories.

Zenith Bank took the Best Bank in Corporate Banking and was the second runner up under the Best Bank in Long Term Loan Finance, and Short Term Loan Finance, and the first runner up in the Best Bank in Trade Finance categories.

The Trade Finance Dealer of the Year 2012 category was jointly won by Cal Bank Ghana Limited, Guarantee Trust Bank Limited, Zennith Bank, and HFC Bank Limited.

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) performanced creditably as it was adjudged the Agric Finance Dealer of the Year 2012, the Best Bank in Medium Term Loans, and the Best Bank in Corporate Social Responsibility. It was however the second runner up under the best Bank in Competitive Pricing category.

The rest are Best Growing Bank for the Year 2012; Access Bank Ghana Limited, Best Bank in Mobile Banking for Year 2012, Guarantee Trust Bank; Best in Customer Care and Best in Bank Advisory Services was awarded to First Atlantic Merchant Bank respectively.

Standbic Bank won the first runner up under the Best Bank in Financial Performance, Mobile Banking, Competitive Pricing, and Medium Term Loans Financing for the year 2012.

International Commercial Bank was the first and second runner up under the Best Bank in Customer Care and Best Bank in Advisory Services categories while Fidelity Bank was the second runner up under the Best Bank in Trade Finance category.

United Bank for Africa (UBA), and Bank of Africa were also named as the second runner up under the IT and Electronic Banking, and Consumer Lending categories respectively.

There were however no winners for the Best Bank in Innovation and Export Financing because none of the banks could accumulate the required scores.

The event also witnessed the conferment of Life Time Achievement Awards on three individuals; Mrs Stephanie Baeta- Ansah, Dr Quabina Quansah and Mr J. S. Addo for their sterling contributions to the banking sector in Ghana.

Mrs Baeta- Ansah who rose through the ranks to become the Managing Director of HFC Bank Ghana, then Home Finance Company Limited from 1990 to 2005 could not hide her joy after being honoured.

She recounted how she was able to surpass all challenges and was able to leave a legacy in home financing, something she is being rewarded for.

Mr Addo, on his part urged banks to improve their access to credit to the export finance sector, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in order to work together for the growth of the economy.

Housing deficit still chronic ... As population growth spiral

 Government is battling the scourge of a housing deficit that has hit the country and  attempts to narrow the  gap has hit a brick wall. Suleiman Mustapha and Jessica Acheampong examines the situation

The country is in the midst of an accommodation crises, despite a two fold rise in the country’s housing stock.     

 Since 2000 to 2010  house and land prices have spiralled out of control,leaving middle class workers struggling to get their feet on the property ladder.

The 2010 Population and Housing Census puts Ghana’s population at 25 million with 3,392,745 houses up from the 2,181,975 recorded in 2000. This  represents a 4.4 per cent rise, the highest annual growth rate in housing stock since 1960 when there were just a little over 636,000 houses.

Ghana’s housing sector, which had been at the centre of past policy failure has experienced an acute housing problem triggered by rapid urbanisation, population and economic growth. 

The Acting Coordinator of the Census Secretariat  of  the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Mr David Kombat in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS said “the housing stock has increased but this was not enough to offset the growing population.”

Mr Kombat explained that census report indicate that more than 50 per cent of households sleep in one room.

The number of ‘sleeping rooms’ provides an indication of the extent of crowding in households adding overcrowded rooms have health implications arising from, among others, disturbed sleep, increased risk of the spread of infectious diseases.

He added that considering the hot and humid conditions, overcrowding can lead to psychological distress; lack of tolerance, reduced levels of concentration and can affect mental health.

In 2009, the government in an attempt to provide 200,000-unit housing with US$10 billion could not start the project due mainly to boadroom wranglings.

According to him,  the current deficit was a reflection of the levels of income of people as a result of a high unemployment rate and the low incomes of workers.

The private sector through the real estate developers and agencies are building and offering luxurious apartments at high prices to people. For instance, a two bedroom house could cost as much as US$65,000 which automatically the average worker cannot afford.

But a consultant and former head of infrastructure at the country office of the World Bank, Mr Charles Boakye, estimates that if the current trend continued, the country shall have a housing deficit of about 2.8 million by 2025.

According to Mr Boakye if the country is to solve its housing problems by 2025, the country should have been constructing 160,000 houses every year since 2000 to meet new demands and replace dilapidated structures.  Over the 13 years since 2000 the country has accumulated to 1.4 million houses. 

Unfortunately, Ghana has constructed only 378,000 since 2000, at 42,000 per year.  This leaves a deficit of 1.9 million houses as of the end of 2012. Infact If the situation remains the same, the country shall have a housing deficit of 2.8 million by 2025, analysts fear.  

“At this rate, if Ghana maintains the status quo, the country shall have a housing deficit of 2.8 million by 2025”, he said adding that, the  construction industry was bedeviled with multiple problems that hinder the development of the housing industry.

Mr Boakye suggested  an overhaul of the country’s construction industry  for it contribute to the housing delivery, which he says could be done by improving the classification system of  developers and instituting  an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to measure the performance of  developers.

Other measures he suggested was the establishment of a body by an act of Parliament to classify contractors and developers in civil engineering, building and road works and regulate the sector. 

He also want the government to develop a comprehensive approach to tackle the housing issue by providing  state credit systems and encourage a savings culture.

“All the mining tailings that are buried and used to cover our arable lands in the mining area should be excavated and the material used as aggregates, base or sub-base material in the construction of houses and roads in every part of the country.  These materials could constitute savings of about 20 to 30 per cent in the construction boom that the state shall credit to building and road contractors, and real estate developers.”

“In the case of the mining areas, the government should set housing standards required for mining communities, and every mining community should be planned and developed into a community or township comparable to any mining town in the world”, he added.

Low level of literacy poses problems for agric sector - Census Report

An Analytical report on the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) has revealed the challenge that the low level of literacy poses for the agricultural sector. Jessica Acheampong writes

In the 2010 PHC, data collated on agricultural activities in the country showed that the population of agricultural households in 2010 was 13,366,340 and accounted for 54.2 per cent of the total population.

For the purpose of the census, an agricultural household was defined as where, at least, one person in the household was engaged in any type of farming activity, be it crop farming, tree growing, livestock rearing and fish farming.

The report which was put together by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the national data compilation body, said 31.5 per cent of the agricultural household members had no formal education, 60.3 per cent had up to middle school level education and 8.2 per cent had secondary school education or higher.

Also, among the heads of the agricultural households, 44.1 per cent had no formal education, 35.2 per cent had up to middle school education and the remaining 10.7 per cent had post-middle school education.

These statistics are worrying for a country that is touted as an agriculture dominant economy because it employs a large per cent of the population.

Again, with the call for the introduction of mordenised farming technologies in the agriculture sector to help improve yield, it becomes a challenge if the people intended to use it do not have the needed capacity to do so.

“The high proportion of low level of education among agricultural population has implications for the sector as the adoption of modern farming technologies requires relatively higher levels of education and literacy, particularly, in English language,” the report explained.

It also posited that with the low level of formal education and literacy among heads of agricultural households as well as the other members engaged in farming activities, there should be a concerted effort to improve the literacy level of agricultural and rural populations.

OVERVIEW

In the 2010 PHC, specific questions were asked, for the first time, on households in farming activities, namely, crop farming, tree growing, livestock rearing and fish farming.

The report showed that of the agricultural households, 95.1 per cent were engaged in crop farming, 40.5 per cent were in livestock rearing while only 1.1 per cent was in tree growing and 0.2 per cent in fish farming.

In six of the regions, the proportions of agricultural households engaged in crop farming exceeded 95.0 per cent with the highest proportions in the Ashanti (96.8%), Upper East (96.7%), and Brong Ahafo regions (96.6%) while the lowest proportion was 80.2 per cent in the Greater Accra region.

On tree growing, the report revealed that 4.5 per cent of households practiced in the Greater Accra and 2.0 per cent in Brong Ahafo region. “In six of the regions, the proportions were below 1.0 per cent with the least being in the Upper East (0.4%), Western (0.5%) and Volta regions (0.6%).”

Forty per cent of the agricultural households were in livestock rearing and the regions with the highest proportions are the three in the northern savannah agro-ecological, namely, Upper East (82.8%), Upper West (63.7%) and northern regions (60.9%).

In the rest of the seven regions, the proportions were below 40.0 per cent except the Eastern region which had a proportion of 41.5 per cent. The lowest proportions were in the Ashanti (25.4%) and Western regions (29.1%).

The report also showed that the proportion of agricultural households engaged in fish farming was low in all the regions. The highest proportion was only 0.5 per cent in Greater Accra region, followed by Western region (0.4%) and Eastern region (0.3%). In three regions, namely, Central, Volta and Northern, the proportions were the same as the national average (0.2%). In the remaining four regions, namely, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West, the proportion was 0.1 per cent.

WAY FORWARD

The Acting Census Cordinator of the GSS, Mr David Kombat explained to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that Agriculture was still the main employer of the economy, with about 42 per cent and as such efforts must be made to address the issue of illiteracy currently facing the sector.

The report also recommended the reactivation of the non-formal adult education programme which has been stalled and to be targeted to rural areas where agriculture is predominantly practiced.

The 2010 Census gathered information from each individual present in Ghana on 26th September, 2010; the Census also collected data on all living quarters in Ghana as at 26th September, 2010.

Beyond providing benchmark data for planning released in the final results of the 2010 census in May, 2012, the detailed analysis according to Mr Kombat was aimed at enhancing understanding of the effectiveness of the various interventions initiated by government and its collaborators to improve the lives of Ghanaians. GB

ICT contributes to economic growth despite low usage

The impact of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the economic and social transformation in the country has yielded positive results.

The contribution of ICT to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country increased from 2.3 per cent in 2009 to 10.5 per cent in 2011 while the industry has created 3,500 additional jobs in 2011 compared to 3,050 in 2010.

According to an analytical report of the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC), a module was included in the 2010 Census to access the ownership and use of ICT facilities among the populace.

It also said the mobile penetration rate increased from 74 per cent in 2009 to 84.6 per cent in 2011while the number of internet subscribers also increased from 1,296,047 to 4,086,428 during the same period.

Despite the contribution of the sector, accessibility to computers remained low. For instance, only, 7.9 per cent of households in the PHC owned a desktop and laptop computers which are necessary tools for accessing and processing information.

On the utilisation of the internet, the 2010 Population and Housing Census recorded 1,312,971 users of internet facilities out of 16,886,306 population who are 12 years and above.

This indicates that only 7.8 per cent of the population 12 years and older had access to internet. The highest percentage of internet users in the country, 42.3 per cent, resided in the Greater Accra region, followed by Ashanti region with 22.5 per cent, with the lowest in Upper East Region with 1.2 per cent and Upper West recording 1.1 per cent.

With respect to ownership of mobile phones, the report said 47.7 per cent of the population 12 years and older owned mobile phones. Meanwhile, at the regional level, Greater Accra had the highest proportion of mobile phone owners (73.5%), followed by the Ashanti Region (56.1%).

USE OF ICT IN AGRICULTURE

The report further indicated that, a total of 23,729 agricultural households had access to with fixed telephone lines adding that “with a total count of 2,503,006 agricultural households in the census, it implies that less than one percent (0.95%) of agricultural households had access to fixed telephone lines.”

It said the highest proportion of agricultural households with fixed telephone line lived in the Ashanti Region (20.7%), followed by the Eastern Region (16.0%) and Greater Accra Region (14.0%).

RECOMMENDATIONS

The report recommended that efforts be made to bridge the digital dive between Ghana and the rest of the world as well as the internal urban-rural divide which accounts for the low rate of usage of internet facilities.

It also said the penetration of mobile phones among agricultural households offers an opportunity for government agencies, private companies and community organizations to disseminate important public information through that medium and as such there is the need to include the use of ICT in the agriculture sector.

“To increase the use of Internet, the government, especially the District Assemblies, and private organization, may need to set up internet centers in public places such as libraries and community centres. The use of internet, however, is closely linked with regular supply of electricity,” it said.

Export Authority calls for state support

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has called for an increase in funds from the government to help improve the export sector as well as key export trade facilitating institutions.

The GEPA which is the National Export Trade Support Institution of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) is responsible for the facilitation, development and promotion of Ghanaian exports.

The call was in response to the declining earnings from the country’s Non Traditional Exports (NTEs) which comprises mainly agriculture, processed and semi- processed products and handicrafts for 2012.

The country’s revenue from NTEs in 2012 recorded a decline of 2.43 per cent to US$2.364, but Acting Chief Executive Officer of the GEPA, Mr Quarcoo is optimistic the GEPA can achieve its 2013 set target of US$3.3 billion with increased funding from Government. 

The funding is to enable the GEPA assist the private sector to drive the anticipated increases in Non Traditional Exports (NTE) revenue for 2013 and beyond.

He was speaking at the 74th National Exporters’ Forum and the launch of 2012 NTE statistics in Accra. The forum since its inception in 1987 has served as a suitable platform for interaction between exporters and facilitating institutions to identify the constraints besetting the export sector and finding solutions thereto.

He reiterated that the export sector continues to be driven by value added products such as cocoa and timber.

“However the full potential of these value added products have not been realised yet and efforts must be made to achieve higher levels of value- addition through enhanced investments in agro-processing and other productive sectors,” he said.

The GEPA he said would thus focus largely on trade fairs and trade missions as part of its aggressive export promotion means to help boost the export sector.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu who launched the 2012 NTE statistics said, the figures do not look too good hence there is the need to find out what went wrong and how best the export regime can be improved.

He said although government was committed to increasing the volume of exports largely in 2013, there is great responsibility on exporters to ensure that they comply with relevant standards and principles governing exports.

On value addition to products, Mr Iddrisu said government was ready to offer a 2year tax holiday to companies who would add value to what is produced locally before export.

OVERVIEW OF 2012 STATISTICS

In 2012, exports of non- traditional products amounted to US$2.364 billion representing a decrease of 2.43 per cent over 2011’s earning of US$2.423 billion.

The decline according to Mr Quarcoo resulted from a drop in the average price levels of some key products such as cashew nuts (16%), cocoa paste (11%) and canned tuna (33%).

Also, the lifting of the ban on exports of cocoa and its derivatives in La Cote d’Ivoire in 2012 limited market opportunities within the year for some key cocoa companies in Ghana, hence the decline.

Meanwhile, the 10 leading NTE products for 2012 were cocoa paste, cocoa butter, canned tuna, articles of plastics, cashew nuts and natural rubber sheets.

The rest were veneers, raw/lint cotton, lubricating oil and aluminum plates/sheets/coils.

A breakdown of sub-sector performance showed that receipts from agricultural products were US$276.38 million in 2012 as against, US$296.97 million in 2011.

Revenues from handicrafts grew its 2011 performance from US$3.57 million in 2011 to US$4.99 million during the period under review, while processed/semi processed exports yielded US$2083.9 million in 2012, lower than the US$2122.79 million recorded in 2011.

He also mentioned the 10 leading NTEs market destination as Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Netherlands, Nigeria, Switzerland, Togo, United Kingdom, United States of America and India. GB

Inflation moves upward

The rate of inflation moves upward from the government’s end year target of single digit to peg at 11.4 per cent in June.

Inflation has been on the rise since January 2013 recording a rate of 10. 1 per cent and has continued steadily for six conservative months to its current stand of 11.4 per cent.

The current rate is also the highest since June 2010 despite the Minister of Finance Mr Seth Terkper’s assurance in the 2013 budget statement and economic policy of the government that inflation was expected to remain in single digit in 2013, in spite of fiscal challenges and risks that confronted the economy.

According to him, strong monetary policy stance is expected to be maintained to ensure the stability of the cedi and support the single digit inflation target.

The cedi has however fared relatively well  in recent times as compared to the US dollar, although the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) reports that the Cedi depreciated by about 1.45 per cent compared to the dollar in April 2013.

Unlike the usual trend of the non-food basket contributing largely to the increase of inflation, in June a combination of the increase in the pressures of the food and non-food basket used in the computation of inflation pushed the figure.

The year -on-year non-food inflation rate was 14.0 per cent compared to 13.7 per cent recorded in May 2013 with the main drivers being, “housing, water, electricity, gas and other utilities (18.9%), education (18.1%), clothing and footwear (16.0%), and hotels, cafes and restaurants with (14.8%). Inflation was lowest in the communications subgroup with 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, the year-on-year food inflation rate was 6.4 per cent, 0.4 percentage points higher than the 6.0 per cent recorded in May 2013 largely due to oil and fats (11.7 per cent), sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate and confectionary (10.9 per cent) and milk, cheese and eggs (10.8 per cent), and the fruits subgroup recorded the lowest rate of -0.1 per cent.

At the regional level, the Greater Accra Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 13.3 per cent, followed by Ashanti Region with 11.2 per cent while the Brong Ahafo Region recorded the least rate 9.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the GSS has launched the rebased index for computing inflation figures. The rebasing was done to reflect the consumption patterns change over time in response to a change in products and/or incomes of households.

According to Acting Government Statistician, Dr Philomena Nyarko, re-basing is done every five years or at any time when the spending pattern of consumers is observed to have changed and these are mostly the appropriate time to revise the CPI basket adding this was the fifth time the CPI has been rebased in Ghana.

Stakeholders urged to protect water bodies

A SEMINAR aimed at promoting the production of quality drinking water for consumption has been held with a call on stakeholders to help protect local water bodies.

The country’s water bodies have been subjected to improper human activities, resulting in its pollution and ultimate destruction with the menace of illegal mining, “galamsey” being paramount.

Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, speaking at the seminar, bemoaned the level at which local water bodies were being contaminated, stressing that “we all have a duty to protect our water bodies.”

The seminar was organised by Merck Millipore, with the help of its local partner, PKF Scientific Limited, who are into hospital and lab solutions, and brought together companies and institutions whose water quality was paramount to their success in their business, research and policy.

He said the destruction of these water bodies affected the Ghana Water Company Limited as it had to spend huge sums on water treatment for consumption, adding that the high cost of production would ultimately be transferred to the consumer.

He thus mentioned the importance of sensitising the populace on the need to preserve water bodies, recounting the importance of safe water to human existence.

Alhaji Dauda commended the organisers of the seminar, saying “the seminar comes at an opportune time when the country is facing drastic destruction of water bodies.”

The Head of Management Systems Certification at the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Mr Kodjo Eshun, reiterated the need for enterprises to certify their products and have a management system certification.

This, he explained, was to help local businesses to get access to international markets, compete fairly with foreign counterparts, as well as ensure efficiency in their operations.

He said companies needed to have both the quality management and food safety management certification, that is, the ISO 9001 and ISO 22,000, in order to instill confidence in their customers about their products or services.

Mr Eshun, however, informed business owners of the surveillance audit, which is carried out every year after certification to ensure that the conditions under which they were certified were still being adhered to.

The General Chemicals Manager of Merck Millipore, Mr Willi Moor, told the Daily Graphic that everyone needed access to healthy and safe water and that was what Merk sought to achieve with the seminar and products it was offering.

He said the company sold analytics and methods that would help their customers to develop and offer the best water to the final consumer.

The Chief Executive Officer of PKF Scientific Limited, Mr Kodjo Eshun, said the company was committed to developing new ways of doing things, as well as introducing new technologies and products to ensure that the quality of water being consumed was the best.

He said the partnership with Merck Millipore was to afford them the opportunity to bring about the positive growth that the economy needed.

Merck Millipore is a leading pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company that offers solutions that enables scientists to conduct life science research easily and efficiently.

‘Expedite Public Procurement law’

Players in the construction industry have called on the government to expedite the review of the Public Procurement Law, aimed at giving advantage to local businesses.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Berock Ventures Limited, civil engineering and general building contractors, Mr Courage Dogbegah, the initiative was a laudable one. He has, therefore, urged the government to speed up the process to make it a reality.

At the launch of the 20th anniversary of the company in Accra, he said governments everywhere had the power of procurement which they use strategically to support and grow indigenous businesses.

“We are not asking to be pampered but to be given some support that foreign players tend to enjoy,” he said .

Mr Dogbegah also said the industry wanted the government to see procurement or its purchasing power as a catalyst to grow local companies by ensuring that local construction firms are paid promptly for work they had done, and promoting partnerships with other local firms for major infrastructural projects.

He stressed it was sad that over 95 per cent of the major infrastructural projects in the area of airports, roads and energy, among others, were done without local partnership or involvement being made mandatory.

The Board Chairman of the company, Mr Rockson Dogbegah, stressed the need to support indigenous companies to give them an even playing field with their foreign counterparts.

He also called for an apex body to develop, regulate and grow the construction industry in the country.

Looking ahead, he said Berock wanted to establish its presence beyond Ghana so it planned were fa to help achieve this feat.????

Activities earmarked for the 20th anniversary celebration include the renovation of a headmaster’s bungalow at Keklebeshie in the Volta Region, seminars in various tertiary institutions, as well as increase in the intake of interns to help bridge the widening gap between academia and industry.

The company would also lead a national debate on the development of the construction industry in Ghana.

Berock Ventures Limited started its operations in 1993 and its celebration has the theme, “20 years of Construction Excellence, Berock your dependable partner.”

Berock Ventures is the mastermind behind projects such as the 12-storey structures, the first ICT Park, the Accra Shippers Centre and the National Blood Bank at Korle Bu.

Inflation figures go up after rebasing

INFLATION figures from January to May 2013, shot up after the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) released the rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI), using 2012 as its base index.

Using the new index, inflation for January went up to 10.1 per cent from 8.8 per cent for the old index, February’s rate was 10.5 per cent as against 10.0 per cent for the old index and March’s rate also went up to 10.6 per cent from the 10.4 per cent recorded using the old index.

April’s rate using the old index was also 10.6 per cent but after rebasing was 10.9 per cent and the rate for May was 11.1 per cent as against 10.9 per cent recorded using the old index.

Inflation rate is measured by the CPI and looked at the change over time in the general price levels of goods and services that households acquired for the purpose of consumption.

The acting government Statistician, Dr Philomena Nyarko, who announced this said the CPI was rebased to make the indices reflect current household consumption patterns, adding that household consumption patterns changed over time in response to a change in products and/or incomes of households.

As a rule, Dr Nyarko said rebasing should take place every five years or at any time when the spending pattern of consumers is observed to have changed; these are the most appropriate times to revise the CPI basket. The rebasing of the CPI was the fifth time in Ghana.

The rebased CPI shows an increase in the number of markets covered from 40 to 42 while items covered have also been increased 242 to 267 and was computed based on the Ghana Living Standards Survey 5 (GLSS 5).

Dr Nyarko explained that the new CPI would be published side-by-side of the existing CPI until December 2013, adding that the new CPI reflected current expenditure patterns than the existing one.

Meanwhile, inflation from the producer’s perspective, also known as Producer Price Inflation (PPI), declined to 8.6 per cent, compared to 10.6 per cent recorded in April 2012.

The manufacturing sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer inflation rate of 13.2 per cent, followed by the utilities sub-sector with 0.9 per cent, while the mining and quarrying recorded a negative inflation rate of 1.9 per cent.

Businesses must attract foreign investments

THE 8th edition of the executive breakfast meeting series organised by MTN Ghana and Business World has been held in Accra with a call on businesses to strategically position themselves in order to attract foreign investment.

The programme has become the leading platform for executive briefings, networking and business matching platforms for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), senior management professionals and entrepreneurs operating in the country.

Speaking at the forum which was on the theme, “Positioning your business for investment”, a world renowned expert on trade and investment and CEO of the Whitaker Group, Ms Rosa Whitaker said businesses must continue to be competitive in their operations and capital would eventually find them, adding that Ghana was well poised for global investments.

She said although Africa was witnessing a growth, a lot of people were not connected to the progress in the region.

According to her, growth was not impressive if it was a jobless one and would eventually lead to instability.

She also said although most businesses were facing capital constraint l, the major challenge was how to connect the capital to the right projects to be executed.

She thus encouraged businesses to make internal auditing a key component of their businesses in order to ensure transparency and that will ultimately woo investors to their side.

Commenting on sectors that could serve as areas of prime focus for global investors, Ms Whitaker said they included technology, power and infrastructure.

The General Manager of MTN Business Solutions, Mr Eric Nsarkoh speaking at the meeting explained that such meetings were organised to provide the platform for corporate people to discuss issues pertaining to the business world.

He said the theme for the forum was very apt as it was at the heart of the business agenda and was optimistic that the meeting will identify opportunities pertaining to investments and present the positive side of the business climate.

The Managing Director of Boulders Advisors Limited, Mr Reginald N. France a panelist, advised businesses to manage their expectations when going out to meet investors.

He said businesses must first design their strategy and charter a business plan that would  be reviewed accordingly, adding that there was the need to determine the right type of capital structure in order to win the right investors.

A participant, Mr Spio Garbrah, urged the youth to come up with bankable ideas in order to yield the right responses from investors.

He also called for the right linkages between the educational system and the requirements of the job market.

Participants at the forum also called for measures to help young people to access funds from such investors, as well as provide opportunities through polices to help drive recruitment of the youth.

Merk combats counterfeit medicines

The General Chemicals Manager of Merck, a global pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceutical products company, Mr Willi Moor has reiterated the company’s commitment to combating the upsurge of counterfeit medicines in developing countries.

According to him, an Interpol report indicated that about 10 to 30 per cent of medicines offered worldwide was counterfeit or of deficient quality and it is very prevalent in developing countries. 

The company, he explained was thus committed to ensuring that people get the right quality for what they pay for and as such introduced the Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF), a non-profit initiative funded by Merck, dedicated to fighting counterfeit medicines.

Using the Minilab developed by the GPHF, people are able to detect counterfeit medicines quickly and easily.

At water seminar organised by Merck Millipore with the help of its local partner, PKF Scientific Limited, Mr Moor said the GPHF developed the Minilab specifically for use in regions with a simple infrastructure.

“The rapid analyses do not rely on external power sources and normal drinking water suffices for the tests. There is currently no other product like it. To date, the GPHF has supplied 578 Minilabs at cost to 86 countries. More than half of these countries are in Africa, and one third of them are in Asia,” he said.

The Minilabs he explained are primarily utilised by local health authorities, often in collaboration with labs for governmental drug inspection centers.

He said Merck participates in external research with the aim of increasing the number of medicines that can be tested. In 2011 and 2012, the GPHF developed testing methods for seven other pharmaceuticals each and updated the user manuals accordingly.

“The GPHF also offers training courses in order to familiarize users with the test procedures. In 2012, training courses were held in Russia, Myanmar, Angola, Germany, and Indonesia.” He said.

Also, a total of 77 Minilabs were supplied in 2011 and 100 in 2012. In addition to selling them at cost, which is handled via a distribution partner, Mr Moor said both the GPHF and Merck donate Minilabs in individual cases.

For instance, in 2012, Merck donated ten Minilabs to the Angolan Ministry of Health, and the GPHF donated five labs to the Ministry of Health of Zambia, five to the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Tanzania, and one to the Ghanaian Ministry of Health.