Monday, July 28, 2008

Persol partners SAP

SAP AG, the world's leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution developer has through its regional operation SAP Africa and their Ghanaian Channel Partner, Persol Systems Limited launched the SAP Business One software solutions in the country.
A statement isssued by the company said the new product was targed at Small and Medium Businesses (SME) in the country and offers greater potential for that sector.
It said “SAP is the natural choice for business applications software just about anywhere in the world.”
The statement added that customers use SAP applications to connect their businesses across function, country and culture, allowing decision-makers to get a single view of their data.
In addition, SAP operates in an eco-system containing over 1,500 partner organisations, which means that customers have a choice as to how they wish to have their software delivered and deployed.
It siad SAP is the world's largest business application vendor, with more than 91,500 installations and annual revenue in excess of €10 billion.
The company has customers of many different sizes, in different locations around the world, with many different business issues.
The Channel Manager for SAP Africa, Mr Nazir Jadavji, said “because of its size, SAP has in-depth knowledge in many industries, and experience working with customers of all sizes.”
He added that SAP's global revenue supports extensive research and development, a strong collaborative user community, proven best practices, and a high level of scrutiny around partner recruitment.
SAP controls a major share of the ERP market in large enterprises and is gaining ground rapidly in the SME segment, the statement said.
The Solutions Manager for SAP Africa, Mr Patrick Kisanya, said “SAP intends to push SAP BusinessOne in Africa by providing tools to local SMEs that enables them to compete with larger companies on a level playing field thereby stimulating increased growth”.
Since its introduction in 2002, SAP BusinessOne product has grown from a customer base of 900 to 20,000 as at the end of the last quarter.
The Managing Director of Persol Systems Mr Michael Quarshie, said “SAP BusinessOne is designed for advanced SMEs, is competitively priced, flexible yet full-featured and can be implemented in record time because of available rapid implementation tools”.
Persol was selected by SAP because of Persol's strong presence, wide coverage and impressive client base in the Ghanaian marketplace thus enabling SAP to immediately access a large group of SMEs that are currently underserved in the ERP marketplace.
The statement said Persol was one of the leading software developer in the country and through this relationship with SAP could now utilise SAP SDK (Software Developer Kits) that would enable Persol to develop interfaces of its products such as Persol Human Capital Management (HCM) and Mobile Hand held software to SAP BusinessOne.
Once certified, these add-on products from Persol would be made available to the 20,000 SAP BusinessOne customers to acquire if desired, the statement concluded.

Ministry to adopt three-prong plan

Story: Boahene Asamoah & Ayisha Dah

THE Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President’s Special Initiatives (PSI), Papa Owusu Ankomah, has outlined a three-pronged approach his ministry would undertake during the last six months of the government’s administration of the economy.
These are, to improve domestic trade, rationalise tariffs and improve the marketing of agricultural products.
Speaking during a meeting with executive members of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Accra yesterday, the minister underscored the importance of these strategies to ensure the development of trade and industry in the country.
He said there was the need to improve domestic trade to ensure the development of local capacities that would develop local quality products capable of competing on the international market.
Mr Owusu-Ankomah stated that some of the policies would address the issues that affected domestic trade, such as infrastructure and other services, in order to push the industry further.
On the rationalisation of tariffs, the minister indicated that presently there were no proper procedures on tariffs and to that end, he stated that a national tariff board had been proposed to review all tariffs to ensure their effectiveness.
Mr Owusu-Ankomah mentioned for instance, the imposition of tariffs on tomato paste by the government only for the government to realise that the country lacked the capacity to produce tomato pastes to meet the local demand.
Touching on the marketing of local products, the minister stated that there was the need for a conscious attempt to market agricultural products in the country.
He called on members of the chamber to make their concerns known through the association for onward submission to the government for appropriate action.
The minister suggested a meeting with the members of the Chamber, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to brainstorm on some of the challenges that faced the private sector.
The President of the GNCCI, Mr Wilson Atta Krofah, said the chamber had undertaken a campaign to create the needed awareness through a road show on major cities in the country on the need to patronise made-in-Ghana products.
He said members of the chamber were also going through skills training in management and entrepreneurship with a university in Israel and appealed to the government to support the chamber in that area.
Mr Krofah added that the chamber together with the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund were imparting advocacy skills to its members nationwide to equip them with the skills of business advocacy.
The president stated that the chamber again was spearheading the re-introduction of the West African Chamber of Commerce to deepen trade relations between member countries of ECOWAS.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Journalists undergo advocacy training

Story: Boahene Asamoah

Twenty-five journalists drawn from six regions in the country have attended a three-day training workshop in Business Advocacy at Koforidua.
The workshop was organised by the Ghana Journalists Association with support from the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund and KAB Governance Consult and forms part of the GJA/BUSAC Fund programme on using the Media to strengthen business advocacy.
Journalists were drawn from the Central, Western, Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra regions.
According to Mr Kwesi Afriyie Badu of KAB Governance Consult, the training workshop was meant to equip journalists with the requisite skills of advocacy to support the nurture and growth of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
He said it was also to equip a group of business and financial journalists to understand the concept of advocacy to support SMEs.
The lead facilitator of the workshop, Mr Kofi Asante Frimpong, took participants through a number of training modules such as Micro and small business definition and type; constraints of small enterprise sector; promotional institutions and instruments and instruments for micro and small-scale development and the concept and practise of advocacy????.
Mr Frimpong encouraged journalists to advocate for support for SMEs for the common good of the whole economy.
He underscored the importance of the SME sector to the country’s economic development.
Other speakers were Dr Ben Kumbour, Member of Parliament and Minority Spokesperson on Finance, who spoke on “The Role of Parliament in the Public Policy Process.
The Head of Civil Service, Mr Joe Issachar, also gave a presentation on “Public Policy Making”, while Dr Esther Ofei Aboagye, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government, spoke on “The Role of District Assemblies in Local Economic Development”.
A consultant and past president of the African Institute of Public Relations, Mr Allotey Pappoe, spoke on using the media for effective business advocacy.
Two follow-up meetings are expected to be held during the course of the year to assess the impact of the journalist’s work on advocacy.


NB: Use semi-colons to separate the various training modules (See the bolded section)

ETI moves a step further

Story: Boahene Asamoah

ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the pan African bank, has signed a joint venture agreement with Computershare Limited, a global leader in share registration and custody, to offer investor services across the African continent.
The agreement would provide shareholder registry and custody services for clients in Africa, excluding South Africa, through Ecobank’s e-Process Centre in Accra.
The agreement will initially offer registry services to the three markets where Ecobank has been listed.
At a signing ceremony in Accra on Wednesday, the Group Chief Executive of the Bank, Mr Arnold Ekpe, in a satellite link from his base in Lome, welcomed the partnership between the bank and Computershare.
He said the joint venture was important because “it brings together Ecobank’s platform and local knowledge of areas where we operate and the expertise of Computershare in registry across the world”.
“The joint venture further demonstrates the commitment of Ecobank to leveraging strategic global alliances to provide convenient, accessible and reliable services for our customers who will derive immense value from the registry and custodial services of the joint venture company”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Computershare’s South African Office, Mr Stand Lorge, said the company was delighted to have found a partner like Ecobank with whom it could realise its African strategy.
He added that the Ecobank offered unrivalled market access across Africa, while Computershare added technology, product knowledge and expertise that had developed across the world over the past 30 years.
An Executive Director of the ETI in charge of Operations, Technology, Transation Banking and Retail Bank, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, said “the setting up of the joint venture company to deliver cross-border registry and a custody and settlement system, will leverage the bank’s knowledge and experience of the African market, as well as our unique technology and shared services platform”.
Mr Akinwutan initialled on behalf of the bank while Mr Lorge signed on behalf of Computershare to seal the agreement.
e-Process is the technology and central processing arm of the Ecobank group, providing the technology and telecommunications platform for operations across the group’s network of 22 countries in Africa.
Computershare is a global leader in share registration, employee equity plans, proxy solicitation and other specialised financial, governance and communication services.
Computershare is listed on the Austrialian Stock Market and has a market capitalisation of about $4.8 billion.
The company recently was involved in the world’s largest Initial Public Offer of about $19 billion through its shares registry services to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
The Ecobank Group currently operates in 22 African countries and it is Africa’s biggest bank in terms of coverage with its over 450 branches.

Graphic pays ¢800,000 dividend and earns praises all over

Story: Boahene Asamoah & Sahadatu Atintande

SOME government officials and stakeholders have commended the board and management of the Graphic Communications Group Limited for the efficient running of the company that has ensured its continued profitability in the face of stiff competition.
At the annual general meeting of the company in Accra yesterday, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the State Enterprises Commission (SEC) and the National Media Commission (NMC) were full of praise for the management of the company for delivering another set of good financial results for the 2007 operational year.
The Chief Economic Officer of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Dominic Donkor, expressed his appreciation for the efficient manner the company was being run.
“This is a good performance of the company and we encourage you to maintain your strategic focus,” he stated.
He commended the company for exceeding the minimum threshold of dividend payment of 30 per cent requested by the government.
The company paid GH¢800,000 as dividend for the year 2007, representing a 32 per cent increase of the previous year’s figure.
An Executive Director of the SEC, Mr David Djanie, said the company’s performance indicators, such as renewal of the organisation, conformed to the indicators set by the SEC, adding that “we are very much happy with your performance”.
A representative of the NMC, Mr Joseph Dottey, who is the Deputy Executive Secretary, said the NMC was delighted at the financial results of the company and expressed the hope that the company would deliver even better results in the ensuing years.
Delivering the financial results, the Board Chairman of the company, Osahene Offei Kwasi Agyeman IV, said the company achieved a 14 per cent increase in net profit from GH¢2.2 million in 2006 to GH¢2.5 million during the period under review.
Turnover also increased by 20 per cent from GH¢17.1 million to GH¢20.5 million, adding that shareholders’ funds increased from GH¢11.4 million in 2006 to GH¢13.1 million last year, representing an increase of 15 per cent.
He said the company would complete the installation of a new web press by the end of the year in response to demands by customers for more colour pages for advertising.
“A design centre would also be set up very soon within the adverts and business development unit to assist clients with artwork and designs for their advertisements,” Osahene Agyeman IV stated.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said the year saw a remarkable performance in advertising sales with increases in both revenue and volume, which accounted for nine and eight per cent respectively.
He said revenue was 21 per cent higher than the previous year’s figure and constituted about 50 per cent of the 2007 turnover.
Mr Awal stated that sales of the company’s publications, especially its newspapers, achieved 95 per cent of the target, while subscriptions for the Daily Graphic and The Mirror increased by six and three per cent respectively.
Revenue from circulation was up by 20 per cent from last year’s figure and the Daily Graphic, the company’s flagship, contributed 80 per cent of the total newspaper sales of GH¢10.3 million achieved in 2007.
Touching on the company’s subsidiary, G-Pak, the managing director said the company made a sales revenue of GH¢1.3 million as against the GH¢900,000 it recorded the previous year, representing a 45 per cent increase.
“Even though the company did better in 2007 than in 2006, its board has begun a massive restructuring exercise in order to improve upon its performance in the coming years,” Mr Awal stated.
Mr Awal said in spite of the growth of various media organisations, Graphic would always strive to remain the best in the media industry.
He said by weighing its core competencies and stretching its ability beyond its competitors, Graphic relied on its ability to take advantage of its leadership role to ensure continuous growth and competitiveness of the company.
He said given the aggressive marketing posture and professional services, as well as the introduction of new and exciting products, the company was poised to maintain its status as the leading media company in the country.
On corporate social responsibility, Mr Awal stated that the company donated food items, used clothing and wax prints worth GH¢9,000 and presented a cheque for GH¢3,000 to flood victims in the three northern regions.
The managing director said the company also collaborated with Pepsi Cola Ghana Limited to hold a free medical screening exercise for 540 residents of Adabraka and also presented specially designed desks worth GH¢15,000 to the Ghana Medical School.

Standchart to refresh its brand

Story: Boahene Asamoah

STANDARD Chartered Bank, Ghana, one of the leading banks in the country has undertaken a week long activity to refresh its brand.
The Blue and Green Week celebration which is being observed through out its network of branches in the world is meant to reinforce its brand values among its staff and other customers.
At a media interaction, the Area Head of Corporate Affairs for West Africa, Nii Okai Nunoo, said the Blue and Green colours which represent the colours of the bank were to align its human resources with its brand and core values.
“It is not just about the colours but about what we stand for, our people, our culture and how we treat our customers and how we contribute to our communities”, he stated.
He emphasised the need for the group-wide brand initiative which was vital in the face of stiff competition which could be the defining feature of success.
“To achieve this success therefore, we continue to highlight the very essence of our brand values, which are; courageous, responsive, international, creative and trustworthy”, Nii Nunoo stated.
He said as part of the activities marking the week’s celebration, refresher workshops for all managers and unit storming sessions of the values of the bank were being undertaken.
Again, he said the staff town hall and “people in action” night, staff competition and internal and external communication on the uniqueness of the bank’s brand has been done.
In her intervention, the Area Head of Human Resources, West Africa, Mr Florence Hutchful said the values expoused had made the bank distinct in the competition
“It is the combination of leading by example and being the right partner that makes us different, she stated, adding that “it is our people that make the difference”.
Mrs Hutchful said the company had developed a workplace culture which engenders trust, engagement, diversity and inclusion.
She said the celebration of the brand values went beyond the weekly celebration, adding that “ our vision is to double the brand value by 2011”.
The brand value of the bank currently stands at $4 billion.
Mrs Hutchfull stated that the bank would continue to deliver more quality services to its customers as outlined in the core values of the bank’s brand.
As part of the celebration, staff of the bank are wearing a combination of the two colours, while customers of the bank who unknowingly wear or dresse in colours of the bank receives a surprise branded promotional materials from the bank.
The bank will use the occasion to reward some gallant workers who have performed execeptionally at a programme dubbed the Staff Town Hall.

Ecobank managers visits Graphic

Story: Boahene Asamoah

FOUR senior Managers of Ecobank Ghana Limited have paid a familiarisation visit to Graphic Communications Group as part of efforts to deepen relationship between the two organisations.
The four are Mr Enoch Osei-Sarfo, Head of Wholesale Banking; Mrs Ama Serwa Kwakwa, Relationship Manager, Wholesale Banking; Mr Carl Selasi Asem, Head, Public Sector Unit of the Wholesale Banking; and Mr Yves Rutayisire, Head of Wholesale Banking of Ecobank Rwanda.
They paid a courtesy call on the General Manager, Finance, Mr Baah Adade; and the General Manager, Newspapers, Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh took the delegation round the company’s production cycle to familiarise themselves with the operations of the company.
He again took them to G-Pak, a subsidiary of the company.
Mr Osei-Sarfo stated that the visit was to acquaint themselves with the operations of the company and lay the foundation for a much stronger relationship between the two companies.
Ecobank is providing the $7 million medium-term loan to Graphic Communications Group to purchase a new printing machine.
Mr Osei-Sarfo stated that the bank was desirous to partner the company in its operations, especially the strategic focus to reach the West African sub-region through its products.
He said the bank offered the company tremendous opportunity to reach out to the sub-region due to its network of branches across West Africa and beyond.

Merril Lynch tours Aluworks

Merrill Lynch, one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies, has led a delegate of institutional investors to visit the country.
The 10-member delegation’s visit formed part the investor’s visit to Africa to meet leading African companies and to find attractive investment opportunities in the region.
As part of their investment tour, the company visited Aluworks Limited, a leading manufacturer and exporter of aluminium products in West Africa.
The group was led by Mr Winston Monale, Merrill Lynch’s, Global markets & Investment Banking Group.
Other members are Mr John Storey, also of Merrill Lynch, Global Markets & Investment Banking Group, Mr Michael Konstantinov and Mr Thomas Orthen of Allianz Global, Frankfurt, Germany, Mr Ryui Takezaki, Mr Yutaka Kontani and Mr Isao Uesaki of Nomura Asset Management, Tokyo,
The rest are Mr Peter Heilner of RP Capital Group, London, Mr Urban Larson of F& C Investments, London and Mr Mr William Pang of ING Investment Management. The Hague , The Netherlands .
Mr K. Venkataramana, the Managing Director of Aluworks and Mr Francis Agboada, Chief Finance Officer of Aluworks Limited took them through the operations of the company and later walked them through the company’s facilities including the new projects and explained the growth potential of Aluminium Industry in Ghana.
A Group photograph of the distinguished investor team with Aluworks Management team.

PNC will pursue industrial development

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE presidential aspirant of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr Edward Mahama, has said a government under his administration would work in partnership with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to develop industrial infrastructure and zones to favour industrial development, efficiency and competitiveness.
His government, he said, would also develop the human resource base of industries, to improve financing opportunities for industrial development as well as reforming the tax system of the country.
Speaking at a meeting with members of the AGI in Accra yesterday, Dr Mahama said “a priority area for me would be working with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited to ensure reliable and efficient supply of these two essential commodities of industrialisation”.
He stated that industries in Ghana today were in crisis, adding that the high level of unemployment, the high number of companies filing for bankruptcy and the recent escalating oil prices were clear indications of the crisis industries were faced with.
Dr Mahama, whose paper was titled “Creating Giants -The PNC Commitment”, said his vision would be creating giants in industry, stressing that creating giants would bring about economic growth and national development, which required partnership between the government and industries.
He said his government would usher in the Golden Age of increased productivity with focus on two primary areas, namely agriculture and industry.
“There cannot be development economically or socially without increased production of food and other goods and services, he stated, adding that “government must partner the agricultural sector to lead an increased food production”.
Dr Mahama stated that agro-based industry must be firmly established to anchor the country’s industrial take-off which would follow the petrol chemical industrial complex waiting to be developed.
“A solid agro-industry industry will partner the petrol-chemical industry to create an African Industrial Giant in Ghana,” the presidential aspirant stated.
Dr Mahama underscored the need to link science and technology to agriculture and industry to ensure accelerated growth and development.
Dr Mahama, after his presentation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the AGI.

pursue policies to absorb economy from shocks

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE World Bank’s Country Director, Mr Ishac Diwan, has said that the country must pursue efforts that will saveguard the economy from external shock, by taking advantage of price increases in agricultural products and gold on the international market.
He said although the economy had been resilient in spite of the multitude of shocks, macro balances had been pushed to the limit.
Speaking at the Annual Ghana Consultative Group/Partnerships Meeting in Accra yesterday, Mr Diwan stated that high food prices had a great potential for agriculture, adding that it was important therefore that ambitious programmes were put in place to take advatage of the situation.
The one-day meeting on the topic “Ghana’s Aid Policy-A Joint Approach to Accelerate Development” was attended by the country’s developmental partners.
The aid policy is set against the background of the country’s vision of becoming a middle income country by 2015.
The World Bank Country Director said the global context of development offered both challenges and opportunities adding that “leadership, policy and serious implementation will make all the difference.”
Mr Diwan said according to the bank’s research there were mounting evidence that the country was a star performer with a rating of four out of six.
“The past six years have put Ghana in an enviable position”, he stated and outlined some of the achievements as the stable macro, good growth rate and shared growth.
Mr Diwan stated that the economy was more resilient and had a better stabilisation as witnessed by the recent safety net packages.
He said there had been progress on some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) such as poverty reductions, which he said had declined from 40 per cent to 28.5 per cent in 2005, good improvements in health and education among many others.
He congratulated the government for its forward looking long-term development plan, describing the document as rightly outlining several areas where systematic progress was required.
Mr Diwan mentioned some of the challenges as the infrastructure agenda, with difficulties in the energy sector, effective decentralisation and the use of technology in all efforts.
He said with the discovery of oil the country could more confidently envisage the path to middle income, adding that “the government must commended for the preparatory work to make oil a blessing rather than curse.
Mr Diwan called for the need to factor in the private sector more into the infrastructure gap especially in the area of energy, information technology and water.
The country director underscored the importance of Overseas Development Assistance (ODAs) and said there was the need to work together on harmonisation and aid effectiveness.
He said there was the need for ODAs as the country progressed because it had the potential to support inclusive societies by investing in the poor, reducing financing costs and could reduce risks linked to the international market.
“But the role of ODA will need to continue to evolve. It must foster and not crowd out local capacities”, he stated.
Over the last two decades, external assistance has constituted an important source of financing Ghana’s development and would continue to play a vital role over the medium to long-term.
Currently,\ aid accounts for about 20 per cent of the total annual government budget resources.

Vepp urges development partners to align procedures

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE Vice-President, Alhaji Alui Mahama, has called on the country’s development partners to re-organise their support to the country to ensure the proper alignment and the harmonisation of procedures.
That he said would also help strengthen the public financial management systems.
Delivering the keynote address at the annual Ghana Consultative Group/Partnership Meeting in Accra yesterday, Alhaji Mahama said “we are all witnesses to how instrumental aid delivery can be to the development of a nation when it is delivered on the principles of ownership alignment while using country systems”.
He again called on the international community to take up the challenge of addressing the difficult but necessary policy and procedural reforms required to maximise the development impact of aid.
Speaking on the topic Ghana’s Aid Policy- A joint Approach to Accelerated Development”, the Vice-President at the meeting offered to take account of the national development process and reminded the country of where it had come from and where it was headed.
He said “the government had achieved some impressive results in our development agenda for the various sector”.
Alhaji Mahama stated that the economy had been under severe pressure due to the escalating crude oil and food prices, as well as wage agreements necessary for the stable governance of the country.
“It has remained fairly resilient due to the strong macroeconomic fundamentals sustained in 2001”, the Veep stated.
He said it was as a result of the global crises that the government announced mitigation measures to lessen what the Vice-President described as “harsh global crisis”.
“It is estimated that the government will loose about GH¢92.47 million in revenue as a result of the mitigating measures on food and oil”, adding that the government would subsidise the cost of fertiliser to farmers and increase subsidies on energy.
He said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture had been directed to hasten the supply of tractors at subsidy rates and to also fast track the creation of small irrigation dams and improved seedlings to farmers.
The Vice-President urged the discussants to deliberate on the type of aid architecture the country had with its partners and the response needed to move the economy to a middle income status by 2015.
On the oil find, the vice president said the government would work with the various oil and gas sub-committees to evolve a policy and strategic position on how to utilise the resources to harness the transformation of the economy prudently with a positive impact on the national development agenda.
THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has said that the pressure from the global crises could potentially wipe away the country’s macro-economic gains.
He said Ghana’s crude oil import bill had risen from $500 million in 2005 to $2.1 billion at the end of 2007 and is currently moving to $2.5 billion for the same quantity of oil imports.
Ghana imports about 60,000m barrels of oil annually to the country.
He said the government had used price and tariff adjustments, restructuring of normal government business and tightened its fiscal stance to address the problems and was currently implementing new measures to ensure that these measures were sustained and mentioned some of the measures as the adjustments in electricity special load tariffs.
“In additionally the increase in tariffs for the high voltage users, the use of the hydro component for generation will be increased, while the emergency power plants will be shut down”, Mr Baah-Wiredu stated.

a Community to expand operations

THE La Community Bank, a community and rural bank in La is to open two new branches in order
to bring banking to the door steps of its customers.
The new branches will be sited at Teshie Nungua and Mamprobi respectively.
Speaking at the annual general meeting of the bank, the board chairman, Mr K.B. Asante said “this strategy will achieve increased net results”.
He said among its branch expansion drive the bank would also pursue policies to ensure a more active accounts, increase its loan portfolio and improve operating standards.
Giving the financial performance of the bank for the 2007 financial year,Mr Asante said the bank recorded a net profit of GH¢282,257 as compared to the figure of GH¢223,376 in 2006, representing a 26 per cent increase.
He said total income rose by 43.6 per cent from GH¢831,750 in 2006 to Gh¢1,194,685, at the end of last year.
Mr Asante stated that the bank saw its assets increased by 32.3 per cent from GH¢7,289,376 in 2006 to Gh¢9,643,356 for the year under review.
He explained that the growth was mainly accounted for by increase in loans and advances as well as investments in government securities and other instruments on the money market.
Total deposits increased by 43.01 per cent from Gh¢5.043 million in 2006 to Gh¢7,212 million last year
The bank paid 86,999 of its net profit as dividend to shareholders, representing a GH¢0.006 per share, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year’s figure.
Mr Asante urged shareholders to increase their stated capital by buying more shares in the bank to enable it expand its branch expansion.

Making Ghana the Financial Hub-Banks urged to integrate financial services into global economy.

Story: Boahene Asamoah

A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto-Osei, has challenged banks in the country to ensure that the sector becomes a robust and sophisticated one that will anchor the country’s integration into the global economic and financial system.
He said “the country lacks a financial sector, well robust and sophisticated enough to anchor Ghana’s integration into the global economic and financial system.”
Speaking today at the inauguration of the new branch office of Amalgamated Bank at Osu, one of the booming economic centres in Accra, Dr Akoto-Osei stated that the government, on the other hand, was committed to providing the necessary environment to ensure that the country had the expected robust, financial sector.
He reiterated the government’s vision of making Accra the financial hub of the sub-region, with a world class, globally competitive financial services sector.
The minister said banks had deepened financial ???intermidiation??? in the country by expanding credit to worthy individuals and businesses, adding that “all these help fuel economic activities and give crucial momentum to the growth of our economy”.
He said the vibrancy of the financial sector being witnessed was as a result of the forward-looking reforms of the government.
Dr Akoto-Osei commended the bank for expanding its operations in the country and for doubling its staff strength in two years.
The opening of the new branch office at Osu brings the bank’s branches to 12.
The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Oluwole Ajamole, said “we set ourselves the mission to lead the market in providing customer-focused financial services to meet the peculiar needs of our dear customers.”
He said the bank’s decision to open a branch at Osu was part of its drive to make its convenient, customer-centred brand of banking solutions available to a wider range of the Ghanaian public.
He assured the banking public that the bank would by the end of the year add eight more branches to its network of branches and bring the total to 20.
Mr Ajamole stated that new branch was equipped with modern and state-of-the-art facilities and a team of smart and committed staff to serve the needs of customers.
The managing director said this was an exciting time to do business in the country and referred to the economic growth that the country was witnessing, the opening of new businesses in the country as well as the oil find.
“These provide a dynamic environment with constantly changing opportunities and threats to businesses”, he added.
He said the bank would continue to expand in all spheres and increase its footprint, business lines and capacity to offer better services to its customers.

Uphold good corporate, hygienic practices— Prez urges companies

Story: Boahene Asamoah

PRESIDENT J.A. Kufuor today inaugurated the $40 million Accra Mall, a shopping centre, with a call on the companies it hosts to ensure good corporate and hygienic practices.
The President acknowledged the employment generation that the mall had brought to Ghanaians and used the occasion to woo foreign investors to take advantage of the prevailing investment friendly atmosphere to invest in the country.
The pioneering retail venture is the brain child of Mr Joseph Owusu-Akyaw and supported by Actis, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets.
The shopping mall is situated on a 20,000-square metre retail space at the Tetteh-Qaurshie roundabout, it accommodates 65 line shops, of which about 30 per cent is operated by Ghanaian retailers.
It is home to some international brands such as Shoprite, Game, Mr Price, Barcelos, Ocean Sting, Rhapsody, Puma, Sony and luxury car dealers.
President Kufuor urged the youth to take advantage of the industry with specific skills in order to brace themselves for more of such opportunities.
He said the government’s policy had been a public-private partnership to develop the economy.
He said the government had embarked on reforms such as reforming the public sector to be more efficient to respond to private sector needs.
The Chairman of Accra City Hotels, the local partners of the mall, Mr Owusu-Akyaw, said the inauguration of the mall was borne out of a long time vision to build a shopping mall to meet needs of the burgeoning middle and upper classes in Accra.
“It was borne out of the determination to prove that the surest way to attract foreign direct investment is when local entrepreneurs themselves identify the felt needs of our people,” he stated.
He said the Accra Mall would be an instrument for growing new entrepreneurs for the creation of jobs estimated for 5,000 people and generate revenues from over 64 enterprises under one roof, adding that “the Accra Mall points to the future of the retail sector”.
A Partner of Actis, Dr Nkosana Moyo, stated that the company had so far invested $1.6 billion in the project and had about $6 billion investible funds, stressing that access to capital was longer a problem for businesses in Africa.
The Accra Mall is the second of such investments in Africa after the one in Lagos, Nigeria.
He said Africa was open for business and that Actis, would partner local investors who had the requisite skills and business strategy to develop.
The Accra shopping mall is the first large-åscale shopping centre in the country and one of the modern shopping malls in West Africa.
The design of the mall is contemporary and incorporates trradional internal mall circulation with open skylights, modern flush plastered ceileing and tiled floors.

Oil find must yeild maximum benefits to all-GNCCI urges gov’t

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the umbrella organisation of the industry and commerce, has said that exploitation of oil in the country would yield maximum benefit for all Ghanaians.
A policy paper issued by the chamber on the impact of the oil find in the country said recent history of poorly managed oil resources in developing countries made life worse for most of its peoples, adding that, instead “the discovery of oil in Ghana should be a blessing”.
The chamber’s position was that the government’s intention to create a stabilisation fund was in the right direction, but explained that the design and operation of the fund should be based on transparent integration into the budgetary process to avoid off-budgetary spending.
“Parliamentary/legislative oversight should be included, with the aim of preventing the Executive from maintaining sole discretionary powers over the fund’s resources,” the chamber stated.
It said to ensure a proper integration of the fund into the budgetary process, there should be no independent spending authority for it.
“Moreover, the fund should be prohibited from holding public debt. Assets in the fund should not be used as collateral to increase uncontrollable fiscal spending,” the chamber stated.
The chamber suggested that an asset management strategy for the fund to be designed should be consistent with the debt management operations of the Ministry of Finance, the treasury’s management of government cash flow and the financial assets already held as part of the government’s balance sheet.
“This will help ensure that the overall net asset position of the government is maintained in an appropriate way,” the chamber added.
It said the country’s experience in this regard suggested that success lay in some combination of expenditure restraint and revenue management.
It added that the aim of these approaches was to eliminate instability in aggregate demand, and consequently the real exchange rate, by smoothing expenditure over time, which implies self-insuring against revenue downfalls.
On the impact of the oil find on the economy, the chamber urged the government to promote a diversified economy by maintaining incentives for a competitive non-oil tradable sector.
The chamber observed that currently there was a slowdown of the industrial sector in the country, as a result of competition from foreign cheap imports.
“We do not anticipate any improvement as a result of the oil find until we are able to develop the human resource capacity and provide utilities efficiently and generally upgrade the quality of locally produced goods,” the chamber stated.
It went further to state that priority must be given to investment in affordable and renewable energy sources, water and rail transport which was key to industrialisation as well as to modernisation of agriculture.
The chamber suggested that the country could use its oil wealth to manage resources efficiently, by ensuring that the country processed 50 per cent of its cocoa production, refine 50 per cent of its gold as well as train and retain 100,000 doctors and other health workers.
Additionally, the chamber said the government should use the oil to invest in affordable nuclear energy technology, construct additional oil refineries and also expand University of Mines at Tarkwa to include a faculty of oil drilling.
The chamber also urged the government to pursue modernisation of agriculture to improve real income, enhance local raw material supplier and ensure food security.
“With a successful implementation of the agricultural land management action plan, investment in large commercial farms and making use of latest technology would ensure that Ghana meets shortfalls in food security,” the chamber stated.

BANK PHB to extend its operations to Ghana

BANK PHB Nigeria, the title sponsors of the Africa format of the world famous business reality show The Apprentice Africa, says it has plans to extend its arms to Ghana and West Africa as a whole.
A statement issued by the bank said the overall winner of the Apprentice Africa TV business reality show, Mr Isaac Dankyi-Koranteng would be assigned to work on a special West Africa expansion project of the Bank, which would include its entry into Ghana.
“He will be assigned special responsibilities by the Managing Director and CEO of the bank which include research and development of products, and roll-out strategy for the bank, in new markets with supervision by the Apprentice Africa 'CEO', Mr Biodun Shobanjo,” it said.
Mr Dankyi-Koranteng is one of the three Ghanaians who competed with 15 others from six African countries including Africans who studied and lived in Europe and America.
He is a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, and holds Bachelors degree in Publishing Studies and an MBA from the University of Technology, Wuhan, China. By coming tops from this gathering of what can be described as Africa's best young minds, Isaac has lent credence to the quality of Ghanaian education.
Two other Ghanaians were also part of the maiden Apprentice Show. They are
Ms Hannah Acquah and Regina Agyare who made it to the last six.
The Group Head of Corporate Communications of the bank Mr Charles Odibo, said by producing The Apprentice-Africa, Bank PHB was living its commitment of identifying and nurturing a new crop of future leaders and also broadening the bank's continuing engagement with programmes and initiatives to extend the frontiers of education, innovation and leadership.
He also indicated that 15 other contestants have accepted to work in various job positions offered by the bank, which include its expansion roles into East Africa.

New tariff will worsen Obuasi’s Plight

ANGLOGOLD Ashanti has said that it would be unable to recover from its performance from its Obuasi Mine if the recent announcement of upward prices in utilities was implemented.
A statement issued by its Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr John Owusu said the situation was a delicate one, adding that “even at US$0.9cent per kilowatt-hour, power tariff is breaking our neck.”
“We do not have cash flow to talk about; so additional power cost will turn our cost structure and new projects asunder”, the statement said.
The statement mentioned two main reasons for Obuasi’s ‘unprofitability’. “Unlike surface mines, the over 100 years operation is not gaining from the current gold price due to high cost of production and the hedge book it is carrying”, the statement said.
It said total production costs, according to the company’s 2007 financial statement jumped from $481 per ounce in 2005 to $698 per ounce in 2007 and it was now in the region of $755 per ounce.
In contrast, gold price increased progressively from $410 in 2004 to $697 in 2007.
The statement said hedging the mine, which dated back to the ex-Ashanti Goldfields era, means that with its current hedge book, Obuasi was not in good stead to benefit from the current spot, which is well over $900 per ounce.
The company has launched this year a turn around strategy, backed with $44.4 million and additional $130 million for capital considerations, aimed at modernising and expanding the mine but these transformation projects may not be a reality if the new tariff is imposed on the mine, which is the only underground mine and hope that the mine’s competitiveness will be restored in three to 5 years time.
Nothwistanding, the mine continues to contribute its quota to the economy. It employs more than 7000 Ghananaians, including contractors and has paid $38 million in the past four years in the form of royalties and $15.4 million as dividends to the government.
The statement said the mining industry was talking to the VRA and other parties concerned, through the Ghana Chamber of Mines and expressed the hope that “something good, which was acceptable to all parties will come out of these meetings in the near future”.
It said Obuasi mine may be one of the richest, in terms of reserves, underground gold mines in the world.
However the statement said “at the current gold rally, which has seen a skyrocketed price from $410 per ounce in 2004 to about $900 this year, the AngloGold Ashanti operation is not making it, and is not likely to recover if the current maximum indicative power tariff announced by the Public Utility Commission is implemented.”

Review compensation Law- Joyce Aryee

Story: Boahene Asamoah & Ryan Knutson

THE Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Aryee, has called for a review of the compensation law that would ensure a sustainable livelihood of people affected by the activities of mining.
She said “ compensation should not only be monetary, but should include land”.
Speaking at the launch of the advocacy programme on the Establishment of Standards of Compensation on Mining concessions, she said there was the need to look at what she referred to as the “social dimension” of compensation.
The six-months advocacy programme, which is being funded by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC), is aimed at amending the mining law to ensure standards in compensation for mining lease.
The current mining law of 2006 leaves the negotiation of compensation to the parties involved and does not offer a standard compensation plan.
Ms Aryee stated that in most cases, the monetary compensation did not adequately cater for the needs of the people and stated that the mining law did not provide alternative lands as a form of compensation.
Ms Aryee stated that “ the Minerals and Mining law does not address the issue of compensation of alternative land”, adding that a new law could eliminate speculative land value among the communities.
She mentioned that the issue of land was an emotive one as well as a source of life, as such there was the need to have a practical way to reduce tensions between mining companies and the communities.
The BUSAC Fund Manager Dr Dale Rachmeler, told The Daily Graphic that the grant was worth roughly GH$ 100,000. He said the process of advocacy should lead to a change in the law that would ensure that businesses were able to operate within an environment devoid of mistrust.
“There is the need for actionable advocacy to solve these problems”, he stated.
A Consultant at AIDEC, Mr Ambrose Yennah, gave an overview of the issue on compensation under the Mining and Mineral law and stated that there were no clear guidelines on compensation.
The current law creates long disputes that delay mining firms access to lands to undertake their businesses, he said.
He also stated that the land owners most often felt dissatisfied with the compensation package and added that the law also deterred potential investors because of the lack of standardised compensation plan.
He said the goal of the project was to have a national policy that sets up a clear standard of compensation, adding that the current law left room for variations leading to speculative activities.
Mr Yennah stated that the project would involve stakeholder meetings, a visit to Tanzania to learn from that country’s best practises and sponsor appropriate legislation as well as establish the basis of standardisation of compensation packages.
The Social Investment Manager of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, Mr Kwesi Amponsah Boateng, shared the experience of his company with the other stakeholders.
He mentioned that the company had undertaken to ensure that compensation came with both monetary and land.
“The objective is not to them leave worse off than we found them”, he stated.
The advocacy programme got off to a running start, considering two of the men who can have a great impact on changing the law attended Tuesday’s event, Mr Edward Ennin, the Vice -Chair of Mines and Energy Commitee of Parliament and Mr Alhaji Amadu Sonogho, Ranking Member on Mines and Energy each offered their direct support to the project.
Even still, Rachmeler, the BUSAC Fund Manager, told The Daily Graphic that he thought the programme could be successful after the conclusion of the December elections when politicians could shift their attention away from campaigns.