Boahene Asamoah reviews the insurance industry since 2006, highlighting the significance of new entrants to the industry
There is a new buzz about the insurance industry today. As an important industry to everyone, businesses and individuals, one would have expected more serious activity until now. The industry seems to have been late responding to change, but it seems that it was worth the wait.
The Ghanaian insurance industry is expected to get more exciting as new players storm the market, and in most cases, as part of their market penetration strategy, taking over existing companies. It all seems to be working together for Ghana at the moment, with some industry watchers attributing the current foray into the insurance industry by bargain-hunting investors to the oil find.
The rush has got some industry experts talking, with some worried that if firms are not properly capitalised, they could collapse the industry in the future. Capitalisation is important for many reasons. As the Ghanaian economy develops with more people taking up insurance policies, some for the very first time, it is important that insurance companies are well endowed to meet the growing demand. What is important about capitalization also is that if the firm is well capitalised, it will be able to have more funds set aside for capacity development for example, all helping the industry to mature and grow fast.
But the worrying part if the new entrants, mostly foreign, do have the financial muscle to meet the growing challenges. In fact, they seem to have more capital than the local ones, which is causing anxiety among local industry players.
New entrants from especially Nigeria have made their presence felt in a big way, with more serious-minded approach to the business. It seems that they have taken a cue from their counterparts in the banking industry who have changed the face of banking in Ghana.
So far six major insurance companies have pitched tents in the country, and all of them in a big way. They are Capital Express Assurance Ghana Limited, who has bought controlling interest in Benefits Life Assurance Sector, while Regency Alliance Insurance Limited, another Nigerian firm has also bought controlling interest in Benefits Non-Life Business.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Ghana Limited, which is a subsidiary of IGI Plc of Nigeria has bought controlling interesting in Network Assurance in both the Life and Non-Life businesses.
However, two other firms have set up their own operations in the country entirely from scratch, without taking over an existing trade. They are International Energy Insurance Company (IEI) and Equity Assurance Limited.
Other banking entities like Zenith Bank Plc, that already has a banking business in Ghana is expected to follow that by setting up an insurance company in the country. Zenith Bank has a subsidiary that deals in insurance.
Following the Insurance Law of 2006, Act 724, the separation of the Life and Non-Life business of insurance companies and the raising of the minimum capital to US$1 million for each of the businesses, the number of companies in the industry has increased from 24 to 37.
Interestingly, the oil find has brought about new businesses in the country with some experts in the oil insurance underwriting becoming a new hot bed for the insurance industry.
Again, the general good business climate in the country over the past five years that has led to a construction industry boom also presents some tremendous opportunities for insurance companies.
And performance has been good also. Over the past five years there has been a general increase in premium income. From 2002 to 2007 gross premium income for all businesses increased from GH¢47.2 million in 2002 to GH¢1.64 billion in 2006.
This represents a yearly average growth rate of 36.7 per cent; total gross premium for non life business however, increased by 270 per cent from GH¢38. 2 million in 2002 to GH¢141.5 million at the end of 2007.
For the life business gross premium increased from GH¢8.9 million in 2002 to GH¢68.6 million at the end of last year.
Analysts say the continuous increase in growth in the sector is an indication of the increase in public awareness and confidence in insurance products.
Over the past few years, there has been an emergence of new products that are tied to other investments such as the funeral insurance, which has received a lot patronage.
However, some industry players still believe that a lot more attention needs to be given to the life business because of its spiral effects.
According to market reports on the industry, the life business has the potential to generate wealth for the industry and encourage investments as a whole in the insurance industry because of its potential appeal to people looking at the premium income by class of business for the period 2002 to 2006.
Market watchers also believe that the companies from Nigeria could have a lot of impact on the Ghanaian market because of the excess funds they have for the industry. The Nigerian authorities on September 5, 2005, announced the recapitalisation of Insurance and Reinsurance companies. The new minimum paid-up share capital is as follows:
Class of Business, New Capital Base Life Insurance business 2 billion Naira, General Insurance Business 3 billion Naira, Reinsurance companies to 10 billion Naira.
It was also identified that the total market capitalization for the insurance industry then which stood at about N34 billion spread among 103 direct insurers and 4 reinsurers.
Indeed this is the present situation in Ghana; at least four international banks in the country, with the new capitalisation requirement could take more than half the number of insurance companies in the country.
However some industry experts believe that it would not be prudent for Ghanaian insurance firms to recapitalise only to take advantage of the oil business, although the experts believe that recapiatlisation was necessary.
The argument is that the oil business is a risky business and that should all the insurance companies underwrite such a business in the likely event of a disaster, claims from such disaster could wipe off the whole industry.
Experts say Ghanaian insurance firms must be encouraged to spread their risk, so that the industry is protected. Re-insurance provides that safety net for insurance companies, but there are always other pitfalls that should be checked.
While the economy presents some opportunities for the insurance industry, the challenge is how best to educate the Ghanaian public on the need to take insurance policies to protect themselves and their families.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Value added products to transform economy
The government of Ghana is committed to adding value to cocoa produced in the country, so it introduced a policy to ensure that 40 per cent of production is processed locally, Boahene Asamoah explains.
Adding value to raw cocoa beans has always been the plan of successive governments but it has not always been successful.
So the announcement by the government some few years back to introduce policy initiatives that would ensure that over 40 per cent of cocoa produced locally would be processed into semi-finished goods so as to increase its price value was received with mixed reaction. But generally, the initiative holds a lot of promise for the country. Ghana's cocoa is of premium quality on the international market and as a result, many analysts and commentators believe that its semi-processed form could add as much as 40 per cent more to the price currently offered on the international market.
The current cocoa processing activity in the country is not encouraging. In 2007, Ghana exported about 730,000 tonnes of cocoa beans out of which about 13 per cent was processed into semi-finished products like cocoa liquor, butter and cake.
Again, only one per cent of total annual cocoa production is processed into finished products like chocolate, and other confectionery products.
Until recently, the West African Mills (WAMCO), Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebaut were the only major companies producing semi-finished cocoa products on a large scale for exports. However, over the past three years as a result of the government's policy initiative, new companies have taken advantage of the government's policy and entered the industry to process cocoa beans into finished and semi-finished products, while the major companies already in the industry have made significant investments into their operations to increase their capacity.
CPC for instance has embarked on an expansion programme that would see its production capacity increased to 64,500 metric tonnes of cocoa powder, liquor and cake.
Barry Callebaut has also undertaken an expansion programme that would double its capacity to 60,000 metric tonnes per annum all in anticipation that the government policy would spike up the industry further.
Furthermore, WAMPCO 's capacity has increased tremendously, since it was divested and currently has a capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes.
New companies such as Gergens Cargilm, ADM, Afrotropic and Commodity processing are currently putting up capacities of 60,000; 60,000; 15,000 and 15,000 metric tonnes respectively to process raw cocoa into semi-finished products.
So far Afrotropic and Commodity Processing Industries, which is a joint venture between some Ghanaians and their foreign partners, has started operations, to take advantage of the government's policy and by the end of next year, Cargil and ADM should be in full operations. The combined production of these companies is expected to reach 354,500 tonnes by the end of next year, nearly 50 per cent of total production.
According to some industry experts, this new policy initiative will not only benefit the country, but also the companies themselves. Some of the locally registered cocoa processing companies are already processing beans for their parent companies abroad, which analysts see as a cost-saving measure. Due to the high labour cost in most advanced countries, processing the beans locally saves cost on transportation and labour.
Cocoa importing firms, it seems, are looking up to Ghana to process cocoa for the European and the US market, so as to improve their own bottom-line profit.
Strong demand from China and India has stimulated interest in cocoa products especially from Ghana and West Africa.
Ghana's cocoa enjoys high patronage especially from Japan and other Asian countries.
The only glitch, industry experts have warned, is the rising cost of the price of cocoa beans on the international market. It is believed that if prices keep rising, like they are today, financially it could become more beneficial to sell the raw beans than the processed product.
On the international market, cocoa price currently stands at US$2,862 per metric tonne, the same price local processing firms have to pay for cocoa beans.
Cocoa sales in Ghana are effected through forward sales, which involve contractual arrangements for future delivery of the beans. Cocoa has a long history in Ghana and from 1911 to 1976 Ghana was the world's leading producer, contributing between 30 and 40 per cent of the world's total output.
It is a major export earner for the economy. Since the mid 19th century, cocoa has contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of the country and there are currently around 1.6 million people involved in growing cocoa and many more in associated industries.
Processing of cocoa in the country, however, started in 1947 and in the late 1970s the world market price for cocoa plummeted by two thirds. Ghanaian cocoa farmers were getting less than 40 per cent of the world market price from the state agency responsible for the industry — Cocobod — and so many stopped producing cocoa altogether.
The situation worsened after the droughts and accompanying bush fires of the early 1980s and production in Ghana fell from a third of the world's total in 1972 to just 12 per cent of total world production.
At this stage the World Bank and International Monetary Fund intervened with a Structural Adjustment Programme to "rescue" the economy, and the industry, as it was a major sector for any structural reforms.
Today the government offers over 70 per cent of the producer price to cocoa farmers.
Cocoa production has soared since the government introduced mass spraying of cocoa farms throughout the country, a policy that started in 2002; culminating in record production in 2005.
Due to smuggling, the volume of export from Ghana has reduced in this light crop season.
Cocobod purchased about three per cent less beans from farmers during this year's light-crop season. Cocobod bought 13,613 metric tons of beans from growers by the eighth week of the season, compared with about 14,000 tons in the same period a year earlier, according to sources at Cocobod.
In July, the board said it expected to receive as much as 40,000 tons of the beans, compared with 50,000 tons last season. Fewer controls and poor quality beans in neighbouring Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa grower, enable Ghanaian farmers to fetch higher prices for their crop in that country. Cocobod is working with security agencies in Ghana to reduce smuggling.
Adding value to raw cocoa beans has always been the plan of successive governments but it has not always been successful.
So the announcement by the government some few years back to introduce policy initiatives that would ensure that over 40 per cent of cocoa produced locally would be processed into semi-finished goods so as to increase its price value was received with mixed reaction. But generally, the initiative holds a lot of promise for the country. Ghana's cocoa is of premium quality on the international market and as a result, many analysts and commentators believe that its semi-processed form could add as much as 40 per cent more to the price currently offered on the international market.
The current cocoa processing activity in the country is not encouraging. In 2007, Ghana exported about 730,000 tonnes of cocoa beans out of which about 13 per cent was processed into semi-finished products like cocoa liquor, butter and cake.
Again, only one per cent of total annual cocoa production is processed into finished products like chocolate, and other confectionery products.
Until recently, the West African Mills (WAMCO), Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebaut were the only major companies producing semi-finished cocoa products on a large scale for exports. However, over the past three years as a result of the government's policy initiative, new companies have taken advantage of the government's policy and entered the industry to process cocoa beans into finished and semi-finished products, while the major companies already in the industry have made significant investments into their operations to increase their capacity.
CPC for instance has embarked on an expansion programme that would see its production capacity increased to 64,500 metric tonnes of cocoa powder, liquor and cake.
Barry Callebaut has also undertaken an expansion programme that would double its capacity to 60,000 metric tonnes per annum all in anticipation that the government policy would spike up the industry further.
Furthermore, WAMPCO 's capacity has increased tremendously, since it was divested and currently has a capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes.
New companies such as Gergens Cargilm, ADM, Afrotropic and Commodity processing are currently putting up capacities of 60,000; 60,000; 15,000 and 15,000 metric tonnes respectively to process raw cocoa into semi-finished products.
So far Afrotropic and Commodity Processing Industries, which is a joint venture between some Ghanaians and their foreign partners, has started operations, to take advantage of the government's policy and by the end of next year, Cargil and ADM should be in full operations. The combined production of these companies is expected to reach 354,500 tonnes by the end of next year, nearly 50 per cent of total production.
According to some industry experts, this new policy initiative will not only benefit the country, but also the companies themselves. Some of the locally registered cocoa processing companies are already processing beans for their parent companies abroad, which analysts see as a cost-saving measure. Due to the high labour cost in most advanced countries, processing the beans locally saves cost on transportation and labour.
Cocoa importing firms, it seems, are looking up to Ghana to process cocoa for the European and the US market, so as to improve their own bottom-line profit.
Strong demand from China and India has stimulated interest in cocoa products especially from Ghana and West Africa.
Ghana's cocoa enjoys high patronage especially from Japan and other Asian countries.
The only glitch, industry experts have warned, is the rising cost of the price of cocoa beans on the international market. It is believed that if prices keep rising, like they are today, financially it could become more beneficial to sell the raw beans than the processed product.
On the international market, cocoa price currently stands at US$2,862 per metric tonne, the same price local processing firms have to pay for cocoa beans.
Cocoa sales in Ghana are effected through forward sales, which involve contractual arrangements for future delivery of the beans. Cocoa has a long history in Ghana and from 1911 to 1976 Ghana was the world's leading producer, contributing between 30 and 40 per cent of the world's total output.
It is a major export earner for the economy. Since the mid 19th century, cocoa has contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of the country and there are currently around 1.6 million people involved in growing cocoa and many more in associated industries.
Processing of cocoa in the country, however, started in 1947 and in the late 1970s the world market price for cocoa plummeted by two thirds. Ghanaian cocoa farmers were getting less than 40 per cent of the world market price from the state agency responsible for the industry — Cocobod — and so many stopped producing cocoa altogether.
The situation worsened after the droughts and accompanying bush fires of the early 1980s and production in Ghana fell from a third of the world's total in 1972 to just 12 per cent of total world production.
At this stage the World Bank and International Monetary Fund intervened with a Structural Adjustment Programme to "rescue" the economy, and the industry, as it was a major sector for any structural reforms.
Today the government offers over 70 per cent of the producer price to cocoa farmers.
Cocoa production has soared since the government introduced mass spraying of cocoa farms throughout the country, a policy that started in 2002; culminating in record production in 2005.
Due to smuggling, the volume of export from Ghana has reduced in this light crop season.
Cocobod purchased about three per cent less beans from farmers during this year's light-crop season. Cocobod bought 13,613 metric tons of beans from growers by the eighth week of the season, compared with about 14,000 tons in the same period a year earlier, according to sources at Cocobod.
In July, the board said it expected to receive as much as 40,000 tons of the beans, compared with 50,000 tons last season. Fewer controls and poor quality beans in neighbouring Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa grower, enable Ghanaian farmers to fetch higher prices for their crop in that country. Cocobod is working with security agencies in Ghana to reduce smuggling.
Middle-income status by 2015 an illusion?
If Ghana is to achieve a per capita income of US$815 and US$1020 by 2010 and 2012 respectively, its growth rate must increase three-fold from the current level, writes Boahene Asamoah.
Analysts and market watchers agree that Ghana has enjoyed impressive growth rates over the years, significantly improving on an annual growth of 3.7 per cent in 2000 to 6.4 per cent by the end of 2007.
The government has projected a per capita income of US$1,000 by 2015, a tall order that many analysts see as unrealistic, looking at the current economic development. Analysts at Renaissance Capital, for example, are of the view that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has to triple to attain this feat.
This means that economic expansion, which will have to involve all sectors, must be firm.
It is true that the economy has held its own quite well, and that despite all the problems or credit crunch and its attendant problems in some economies, it has managed to steer clear of trouble — at least for now.
“We think that the US$1,000 threshold in income per capita [by 2015] will represent an important psychological boost at a time when oil production starts accelerating structural change,” the analysts said.
In fact, what are needed mostly in the Ghanaian economy are structural changes, since the economy has not changed structurally for more than 50 years.
Analysts are also not sure how even a GDP per capita growth could affect the lives of ordinary Ghanaians, many of whom live below the UN-backed poverty line of less?????????????? than US$1 dollar a day.
GDP per capita growth may not be fully indicative of actual income dynamics as a result of endowment differentials. Even with cross-border comparisons this distortion exists, notably in countries with small populations or oil exporters, leading, in some cases, to inflated GPD per capita levels.
According to Renaissance Capital, in terms of inequality, Ghana's Gini-Co-efficient stands at 40.8 on a scale of 100, thus Ghana is ranked 135th among 177 countries.
This is far below that of most sub-Saharan African countries having a relative level of development.
Research has revealed that recent economic reforms have sustained the consolidation of a domestic middle class, which would become more evident when the results of new surveys are released in the future.
The other worry with the structure of the Ghanaian economy is that there are a large number of people in the informal sector who constitute the bulk of the population whose lives may not be necessarily improved by a GDP growth. Therefore, the anticipation is that any increase in per capita income could be skewed and may only affect the small middle class and so may not be indicative of a real growth in GDP.
???According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report for 2007-2008, Ghana has one of the lowest shares of income held by the 10 and 20 per cents richest segments of the population in the group of the sub-Sahara Africa frontier markets.
It was expected that Ghana would achieve a growth rate of seven per cent at the beginning of the year, but this has been revised downwards to 6.8 per cent as a result of the effects of the volatile oil market and rising food prices.
????The rising food and oil prices have taken a serious hit on the economy, threatening the macro-economic stability at has achieved so far.
This, however, does not derail the focus of the economic managers as government officials are adamant that the economy is strong enough to withstand such external shocks.
Inflation soared in the past months, but has recently shown signs of marginal decline.
Agriculture
Procredit to support sector
Procredit Savings and Loans Company Limited, Ghana, a member of the Procredit Group and a leading savings and loans company in Ghana, has earmarked 50 per cent of its total loan portfolio to support the agricultural sector in the next five years.
According to Ms Edwige Takassi, Managing Director of Procredit Ghana, currently Procredit Agro Loan (which is loans specifically earmarked for the agriculture sector) stands at GH¢1.5 million, representing just eight per cent of its total loan portfolio.
Procredit has made commitment to the agricultural sector, and according to Takassi, even though the current Procredit agro loan was its single largest loan portfolio, it was still not enough to meet the growing need for credit in agriculture.
"Procredit projects that within the next five years, agro loans would account for at least 50 per cent of the institution's loan portfolio," she said.
It estimates that if it is able to raise its funds available for disbursement to a portfolio of GH¢500 million, about GH¢250-million increase within the next five years, GH¢250 million would go to farmers, food processors and other stakeholders in agriculture.
Agriculture continues to be the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy, but it is also the sector that is so much dominated by peasant farmers who are unable to secure the needed credit to expand their farms. However, Procredit hopes to change all this, by providing them with the much needed credit facilities.
"Procredit is determined to become the leading provider of financial services to the agricultural sector," she said. According to Takassi, even though the agricultural sector is the backbone of the Ghanaian economy and employs over 60 per cent of the country's workforce, the sector is hugely underserved by traditional banks and financial services institutions, probably due to the inherent risk in the sector.
"Our agro loans would target farmers and people in agriculture-related businesses who constitute a very significant part of the sector, providing jobs and food for our people and yet do not have access to credit because banks usually require expensive business plans and huge collaterals from them," she said.
"The minimum loan amount is 50 Ghana cedis - loan amount will vary from one farmer to another, depending on the size and value of what the farmer already has," she said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ernest Debrah, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, on Thursday said in order for Ghana to achieve a middle income status by 2015, the country should not only increase its traditional agricultural export, but also diversify and modernise the agricultural sector.
"The horticultural sector, especially the fruits, vegetables and ornamentals, therefore presents an opportunity for the needed diversification, modernisation and accelerating economic growth due to its high potential economic returns," he said.
Mr Debrah said this at the Ninth Annual General Meeting and Scientific Workshop of the Ghana Institute of Horticulturists organised on the theme: "Achieving Middle Income Status in Ghana; The Role of the Horticultural Industry in the Millennium Challenge Account." The workshop, which was organised on September 11, brought together about 200 professionals and students in the industry to deliberate on issues affecting it and find common grounds for advancement.
He said the horticulture industry could play an important role in supporting the government's efforts at wealth creation and poverty reduction.
"The Ghanaian horticultural industry has grown rapidly within the last decade and has enabled Ghana to establish herself among the top six exporters of horticultural produce to Europe."
Databank left off the hook
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 10 announced that it had resolved the impasse between the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and Databank Brokerage Limited (DBL) over the sale and purchase of Cal Bank shares.
A statement issued by Mr K. Okwabi, Deputy Director General, SEC, said subsequently the penalty levied on Databank by the GSE had been waived.
DBL was suspended from trading on the exchange by the GSE in what many analysts see as “improper” their conduct with regard to the Cal Bank shares.
The statement assured the public that the parties in the dispute, as industry participants in the capital market, were committed to the growth of the stock market.
SEC, the statement said, would continue to ensure that conflicts between market participants would be resolved in good time to foster the development of the market.
Analysts and market watchers agree that Ghana has enjoyed impressive growth rates over the years, significantly improving on an annual growth of 3.7 per cent in 2000 to 6.4 per cent by the end of 2007.
The government has projected a per capita income of US$1,000 by 2015, a tall order that many analysts see as unrealistic, looking at the current economic development. Analysts at Renaissance Capital, for example, are of the view that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has to triple to attain this feat.
This means that economic expansion, which will have to involve all sectors, must be firm.
It is true that the economy has held its own quite well, and that despite all the problems or credit crunch and its attendant problems in some economies, it has managed to steer clear of trouble — at least for now.
“We think that the US$1,000 threshold in income per capita [by 2015] will represent an important psychological boost at a time when oil production starts accelerating structural change,” the analysts said.
In fact, what are needed mostly in the Ghanaian economy are structural changes, since the economy has not changed structurally for more than 50 years.
Analysts are also not sure how even a GDP per capita growth could affect the lives of ordinary Ghanaians, many of whom live below the UN-backed poverty line of less?????????????? than US$1 dollar a day.
GDP per capita growth may not be fully indicative of actual income dynamics as a result of endowment differentials. Even with cross-border comparisons this distortion exists, notably in countries with small populations or oil exporters, leading, in some cases, to inflated GPD per capita levels.
According to Renaissance Capital, in terms of inequality, Ghana's Gini-Co-efficient stands at 40.8 on a scale of 100, thus Ghana is ranked 135th among 177 countries.
This is far below that of most sub-Saharan African countries having a relative level of development.
Research has revealed that recent economic reforms have sustained the consolidation of a domestic middle class, which would become more evident when the results of new surveys are released in the future.
The other worry with the structure of the Ghanaian economy is that there are a large number of people in the informal sector who constitute the bulk of the population whose lives may not be necessarily improved by a GDP growth. Therefore, the anticipation is that any increase in per capita income could be skewed and may only affect the small middle class and so may not be indicative of a real growth in GDP.
???According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report for 2007-2008, Ghana has one of the lowest shares of income held by the 10 and 20 per cents richest segments of the population in the group of the sub-Sahara Africa frontier markets.
It was expected that Ghana would achieve a growth rate of seven per cent at the beginning of the year, but this has been revised downwards to 6.8 per cent as a result of the effects of the volatile oil market and rising food prices.
????The rising food and oil prices have taken a serious hit on the economy, threatening the macro-economic stability at has achieved so far.
This, however, does not derail the focus of the economic managers as government officials are adamant that the economy is strong enough to withstand such external shocks.
Inflation soared in the past months, but has recently shown signs of marginal decline.
Agriculture
Procredit to support sector
Procredit Savings and Loans Company Limited, Ghana, a member of the Procredit Group and a leading savings and loans company in Ghana, has earmarked 50 per cent of its total loan portfolio to support the agricultural sector in the next five years.
According to Ms Edwige Takassi, Managing Director of Procredit Ghana, currently Procredit Agro Loan (which is loans specifically earmarked for the agriculture sector) stands at GH¢1.5 million, representing just eight per cent of its total loan portfolio.
Procredit has made commitment to the agricultural sector, and according to Takassi, even though the current Procredit agro loan was its single largest loan portfolio, it was still not enough to meet the growing need for credit in agriculture.
"Procredit projects that within the next five years, agro loans would account for at least 50 per cent of the institution's loan portfolio," she said.
It estimates that if it is able to raise its funds available for disbursement to a portfolio of GH¢500 million, about GH¢250-million increase within the next five years, GH¢250 million would go to farmers, food processors and other stakeholders in agriculture.
Agriculture continues to be the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy, but it is also the sector that is so much dominated by peasant farmers who are unable to secure the needed credit to expand their farms. However, Procredit hopes to change all this, by providing them with the much needed credit facilities.
"Procredit is determined to become the leading provider of financial services to the agricultural sector," she said. According to Takassi, even though the agricultural sector is the backbone of the Ghanaian economy and employs over 60 per cent of the country's workforce, the sector is hugely underserved by traditional banks and financial services institutions, probably due to the inherent risk in the sector.
"Our agro loans would target farmers and people in agriculture-related businesses who constitute a very significant part of the sector, providing jobs and food for our people and yet do not have access to credit because banks usually require expensive business plans and huge collaterals from them," she said.
"The minimum loan amount is 50 Ghana cedis - loan amount will vary from one farmer to another, depending on the size and value of what the farmer already has," she said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ernest Debrah, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, on Thursday said in order for Ghana to achieve a middle income status by 2015, the country should not only increase its traditional agricultural export, but also diversify and modernise the agricultural sector.
"The horticultural sector, especially the fruits, vegetables and ornamentals, therefore presents an opportunity for the needed diversification, modernisation and accelerating economic growth due to its high potential economic returns," he said.
Mr Debrah said this at the Ninth Annual General Meeting and Scientific Workshop of the Ghana Institute of Horticulturists organised on the theme: "Achieving Middle Income Status in Ghana; The Role of the Horticultural Industry in the Millennium Challenge Account." The workshop, which was organised on September 11, brought together about 200 professionals and students in the industry to deliberate on issues affecting it and find common grounds for advancement.
He said the horticulture industry could play an important role in supporting the government's efforts at wealth creation and poverty reduction.
"The Ghanaian horticultural industry has grown rapidly within the last decade and has enabled Ghana to establish herself among the top six exporters of horticultural produce to Europe."
Databank left off the hook
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 10 announced that it had resolved the impasse between the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and Databank Brokerage Limited (DBL) over the sale and purchase of Cal Bank shares.
A statement issued by Mr K. Okwabi, Deputy Director General, SEC, said subsequently the penalty levied on Databank by the GSE had been waived.
DBL was suspended from trading on the exchange by the GSE in what many analysts see as “improper” their conduct with regard to the Cal Bank shares.
The statement assured the public that the parties in the dispute, as industry participants in the capital market, were committed to the growth of the stock market.
SEC, the statement said, would continue to ensure that conflicts between market participants would be resolved in good time to foster the development of the market.
Zain implementing millenium villages
Telecommunications giant Zain Ghana is implementing a mobile communications and internet connectivity to the Millennium Village of Bonsaaso in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region to help improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of this cluster of villages and lift them out of extreme poverty.
The project is being implemented through its partnership with Ericsson and the Earth Institute.
The project, after completion, would help the people to access health and education services through their mobile phones.
The initiative, which Zain, Ericsson and the Earth Institute first outlined in September 2007 at Columbia University in New York City, has already had a positive impact on health, education, social well-being and livelihoods in Dertu, Kenya
The villagers of Dertu, who are mainly pastorialists, can now access health and education services through their mobile phones.
Mobile communications have also helped them to identify safe sources of water, mobilise emergency transportation, find employment and get accurate information on the prices of goods and services before taking their livestock and other produce to the market.
For its customers, the benefits include improved access to health and education services, direct access to livestock and employment markets, and increased social contact with family, friends and the outside world.
The project has enabled villagers to be closer to their social network.
By putting the community in touch with and closer to their friends and family, it is integrating the village into the broader environment, which is all part of Zain's theme of creating a wonderful world.
The Dertu Millennium Village is located in north-eastern Kenya, a mainly rural and nomadic area approximately 140 km from the Kenya-Somali border.
Zain has a temporary network with a 20m, diesel-run tower that covers up to 20km and brings mobile communications, enabled by EDGE, to Dertu's estimated 5200 people.
Call volumes as of July 2008 increased by 30 per cent from June, with more than 1000 individual customers using the service so far. In June alone, 22,000 calls were placed.
By the end of 2008, a permanent “green” network will be up, with a 60m tower covering 50km. The permanent site will leverage renewable power sources and will reduce reliance on the diesel generator by up to 80 per cent.
For Zain, the benefits of supporting this cause include positive public relations, improved customer relations, closer community ties, positive stakeholder engagement, and additional marketing opportunities. In the long term, it's still a recipe for a profitable business.
The project is being implemented through its partnership with Ericsson and the Earth Institute.
The project, after completion, would help the people to access health and education services through their mobile phones.
The initiative, which Zain, Ericsson and the Earth Institute first outlined in September 2007 at Columbia University in New York City, has already had a positive impact on health, education, social well-being and livelihoods in Dertu, Kenya
The villagers of Dertu, who are mainly pastorialists, can now access health and education services through their mobile phones.
Mobile communications have also helped them to identify safe sources of water, mobilise emergency transportation, find employment and get accurate information on the prices of goods and services before taking their livestock and other produce to the market.
For its customers, the benefits include improved access to health and education services, direct access to livestock and employment markets, and increased social contact with family, friends and the outside world.
The project has enabled villagers to be closer to their social network.
By putting the community in touch with and closer to their friends and family, it is integrating the village into the broader environment, which is all part of Zain's theme of creating a wonderful world.
The Dertu Millennium Village is located in north-eastern Kenya, a mainly rural and nomadic area approximately 140 km from the Kenya-Somali border.
Zain has a temporary network with a 20m, diesel-run tower that covers up to 20km and brings mobile communications, enabled by EDGE, to Dertu's estimated 5200 people.
Call volumes as of July 2008 increased by 30 per cent from June, with more than 1000 individual customers using the service so far. In June alone, 22,000 calls were placed.
By the end of 2008, a permanent “green” network will be up, with a 60m tower covering 50km. The permanent site will leverage renewable power sources and will reduce reliance on the diesel generator by up to 80 per cent.
For Zain, the benefits of supporting this cause include positive public relations, improved customer relations, closer community ties, positive stakeholder engagement, and additional marketing opportunities. In the long term, it's still a recipe for a profitable business.
insurance industry to reward excellence
THE First ever insurance awards has been launched in Accra with a call on the insurance companies to brace themselves up for challenges that comes with new businesses especially the oil find.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), Dr Joe Abbey, stated that the oil presents opportunity for the insurance sector, however, he stated “to seize these opportunities, insurers will need to move up the value chain by providing innovative products, value-added services and holistic risk management.”
He said the increase in wealth and life expectancy would lead individuals to demand a range of wealth protection and health insurance, as well as property casualty coverage.
He said the economic growth, coupled with the higher usage of automobile in the country would give rise to new risks requiring insurance coverage from factory owners to cover property and casualty and to car owners that needed automobile insurance.
According to Dr Abbey, Ghana’s growing wealth and increasing sophistication of economic activities would lead to a sharp growth in the volume and complexity of risks adding that investors and individuals would be more conscious of managing these risks.
He said even as more complex insurance products were being introduced in the market, insurance intermediaries had a duty to ensure that consumers were only offered products they could understand and find suitable.
“Any undesirable sales practice such as churning and inappropriate switching will undermine the reputation of the insurance industry, with adverse consequence for its ability to attract good quality talent,” he said.
Dr Abbey said the industry faced important challenges in the current environment, but said the growth prospect for the industry was promising.
Giving an overview of the awards, the Head of Planning of the Ghana Insurance Awards, Mr Boahene Asamoah stated that 15 awards would given out best performing insurance companies.
He said the awards would be based on 2007 performance and stated as part of effforts to ensure transparency in the awards a technical committee has been set made up of all representatives of the methodology and approach.
He mentioned that the Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER) has been contracted to undertake the survey and stattiscal analysis.
Mr Asamoah commended the media partners, which are Daily Graphic, Metro Television and Joy FM for the continued support of the awards.
Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG), is a non for profit organisation aimed at ensure a high financial service delivery in the country.
The organisation has been organising the prestigeous Ghana Banking Awards over the past seven years.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), Dr Joe Abbey, stated that the oil presents opportunity for the insurance sector, however, he stated “to seize these opportunities, insurers will need to move up the value chain by providing innovative products, value-added services and holistic risk management.”
He said the increase in wealth and life expectancy would lead individuals to demand a range of wealth protection and health insurance, as well as property casualty coverage.
He said the economic growth, coupled with the higher usage of automobile in the country would give rise to new risks requiring insurance coverage from factory owners to cover property and casualty and to car owners that needed automobile insurance.
According to Dr Abbey, Ghana’s growing wealth and increasing sophistication of economic activities would lead to a sharp growth in the volume and complexity of risks adding that investors and individuals would be more conscious of managing these risks.
He said even as more complex insurance products were being introduced in the market, insurance intermediaries had a duty to ensure that consumers were only offered products they could understand and find suitable.
“Any undesirable sales practice such as churning and inappropriate switching will undermine the reputation of the insurance industry, with adverse consequence for its ability to attract good quality talent,” he said.
Dr Abbey said the industry faced important challenges in the current environment, but said the growth prospect for the industry was promising.
Giving an overview of the awards, the Head of Planning of the Ghana Insurance Awards, Mr Boahene Asamoah stated that 15 awards would given out best performing insurance companies.
He said the awards would be based on 2007 performance and stated as part of effforts to ensure transparency in the awards a technical committee has been set made up of all representatives of the methodology and approach.
He mentioned that the Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER) has been contracted to undertake the survey and stattiscal analysis.
Mr Asamoah commended the media partners, which are Daily Graphic, Metro Television and Joy FM for the continued support of the awards.
Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG), is a non for profit organisation aimed at ensure a high financial service delivery in the country.
The organisation has been organising the prestigeous Ghana Banking Awards over the past seven years.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Zain to double investments in Africa
Story: Boahene Asamoah, back from Nairobi, Kenya
DR Saad Al Barrak, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Zain, the new owners of Westel and international mobile telecommunications company operating in the Middle East and Africa, has said the company plans to double its investments in Africa and double its customer base throughout its operations.
He said the company had, over the past few years, invested over $10 million in its operations in Africa, adding that “we will continue to invest more in our operations across Africa”.
Speaking at a news conference which brought together some international media across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Dr Barrak said as part of its vision, the company hoped to attract 110 million customers by 2011.
Zain, which operates in 14 other African countries, was previously known as Celtel.
He said the company had undertaken a strategy to re-brand its global business, adding that “by re-branding to Zain, we are bringing together our African and Middle East operations under a single, strong and unique identity”.
He said the re-branding was consistent with the strategic vision of the company to become a leading global brand in the next few years.
The Zain Group, which has operations in 22 countries in the world, including 14 operations in Africa, with Ghana as its new destination, has over 50 million customers throughout its operations.
Dr Barrak described the branding as a significant milestone in the history of the company from the company’s humble beginnings.
He said the company had, over the past few years, evolved from a regional company to become an international brand.
The group CEO said it had expanded its operations and now had operations in Africa and the Middle East, with Ghana and Saudi Arabia being the new subsidiaries of the group, adding that “we will long for opportunities to extend our brand and services”.
Dr Barrak stated that the company presently had a consolidated revenue of about $3.488 billion, with net income of $551 million.
“For us to become a global company, we need to have one identity that reflects our unique direction and reflects our values,” he said.
He explained that the Zain concept of one network was to create a seamless network across its operations with the offering of one local tariff, thereby abolishing the high cost of roaming charges.
Dr Barrak stated that its brand would bring about performance and place the company as the number one mobile company in Africa and among the top 10 global brands in the world.
Zain presently is the number one player in 14 out of 20 of its active operations in Africa and the Middle East.
He stated that it was part of the strategy of the company to list part of its operations on the local stock markets and mentioned, for instance, that the Ghana operations planned to list part of its shares on the Ghana Stock Market within two years.
He added that the group hoped to list shares on some international stock markets, adding that its initial public offer in Zambia achieved greater success.
Dr Barrak stated THAT the company had embarked on a number of sustainable projects under its corporate social responsibility to reach out to help deprived communities across Africa.
He mentioned its projects in Dertu in the northern part of Kenya where it had provided affordable handsets and installed a network service to help the farmers to do business.
Again, he mentioned the low-cost, affordable handset projects in Uganda to help the fishing communities along Lake Victoria to carry out their activities with low cost phones.
DR Saad Al Barrak, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Zain, the new owners of Westel and international mobile telecommunications company operating in the Middle East and Africa, has said the company plans to double its investments in Africa and double its customer base throughout its operations.
He said the company had, over the past few years, invested over $10 million in its operations in Africa, adding that “we will continue to invest more in our operations across Africa”.
Speaking at a news conference which brought together some international media across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Dr Barrak said as part of its vision, the company hoped to attract 110 million customers by 2011.
Zain, which operates in 14 other African countries, was previously known as Celtel.
He said the company had undertaken a strategy to re-brand its global business, adding that “by re-branding to Zain, we are bringing together our African and Middle East operations under a single, strong and unique identity”.
He said the re-branding was consistent with the strategic vision of the company to become a leading global brand in the next few years.
The Zain Group, which has operations in 22 countries in the world, including 14 operations in Africa, with Ghana as its new destination, has over 50 million customers throughout its operations.
Dr Barrak described the branding as a significant milestone in the history of the company from the company’s humble beginnings.
He said the company had, over the past few years, evolved from a regional company to become an international brand.
The group CEO said it had expanded its operations and now had operations in Africa and the Middle East, with Ghana and Saudi Arabia being the new subsidiaries of the group, adding that “we will long for opportunities to extend our brand and services”.
Dr Barrak stated that the company presently had a consolidated revenue of about $3.488 billion, with net income of $551 million.
“For us to become a global company, we need to have one identity that reflects our unique direction and reflects our values,” he said.
He explained that the Zain concept of one network was to create a seamless network across its operations with the offering of one local tariff, thereby abolishing the high cost of roaming charges.
Dr Barrak stated that its brand would bring about performance and place the company as the number one mobile company in Africa and among the top 10 global brands in the world.
Zain presently is the number one player in 14 out of 20 of its active operations in Africa and the Middle East.
He stated that it was part of the strategy of the company to list part of its operations on the local stock markets and mentioned, for instance, that the Ghana operations planned to list part of its shares on the Ghana Stock Market within two years.
He added that the group hoped to list shares on some international stock markets, adding that its initial public offer in Zambia achieved greater success.
Dr Barrak stated THAT the company had embarked on a number of sustainable projects under its corporate social responsibility to reach out to help deprived communities across Africa.
He mentioned its projects in Dertu in the northern part of Kenya where it had provided affordable handsets and installed a network service to help the farmers to do business.
Again, he mentioned the low-cost, affordable handset projects in Uganda to help the fishing communities along Lake Victoria to carry out their activities with low cost phones.
One Africa to award organisations
From the Business desk
THE One Campaign, a global advocacy organisation, has announced an award to recognise best practice by African organisations or individuals promoting the effective use of development resources to help the continent to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A statement issued by the organisation said winners of the awards would receive a one-time grant of $100,000.
It said individuals, organisations or other groups based in Africa that had demonstrated commitment and success in assisting Africans to meet one or more of the MDGs would be assessed and rewarded.
It recalled that all of the world’s countries and all leading development institutions agreed to work to achieve the MDGs which ranged from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, by the target year 2015.
The statement said qualified recipients may either be engaged in implementing programmes to address health, clean water/sanitation, agriculture, education, economic growth or employment generation for poorer communities.
“Throughout Africa, there is amazing progress to end extreme poverty and preventable disease”, the Africa Outreach Manager of the One Campaign, Edith Jibunoh, said in the statement.
It added that the One African Award would celebrate progress toward achieving MDGs.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the One Campaign, David Lane, said: “We applaud the progress made in Africa and look forward to solutions for the challenges still ahead.
“By honouring the commitment and progress on the ground we hope that new efforts can be inspired and more lives can be saved,” he said.
The statement said the first recipient of the award would be announced at the Accra conference on aid effectiveness in September, this year, adding that the conference would be an ideal opportunity to announce the award as both conference and the award focus on ensuring assistance to Africa.
The application process is open until August 15, 2008 and interested persons can obtain more information on one.org/africaaward/.
THE One Campaign, a global advocacy organisation, has announced an award to recognise best practice by African organisations or individuals promoting the effective use of development resources to help the continent to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A statement issued by the organisation said winners of the awards would receive a one-time grant of $100,000.
It said individuals, organisations or other groups based in Africa that had demonstrated commitment and success in assisting Africans to meet one or more of the MDGs would be assessed and rewarded.
It recalled that all of the world’s countries and all leading development institutions agreed to work to achieve the MDGs which ranged from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, by the target year 2015.
The statement said qualified recipients may either be engaged in implementing programmes to address health, clean water/sanitation, agriculture, education, economic growth or employment generation for poorer communities.
“Throughout Africa, there is amazing progress to end extreme poverty and preventable disease”, the Africa Outreach Manager of the One Campaign, Edith Jibunoh, said in the statement.
It added that the One African Award would celebrate progress toward achieving MDGs.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the One Campaign, David Lane, said: “We applaud the progress made in Africa and look forward to solutions for the challenges still ahead.
“By honouring the commitment and progress on the ground we hope that new efforts can be inspired and more lives can be saved,” he said.
The statement said the first recipient of the award would be announced at the Accra conference on aid effectiveness in September, this year, adding that the conference would be an ideal opportunity to announce the award as both conference and the award focus on ensuring assistance to Africa.
The application process is open until August 15, 2008 and interested persons can obtain more information on one.org/africaaward/.
GT bank introduces instant money transfer
GT Bank (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah
GUARANTY Trust Bank, Ghana Limited, has introduced a new instant money transfer for its customers within the sub-region.
The new money transfer known as Guaranty Trust Monetary Transfer (GTMT) would offer common platform for all of the bank’s subsidiaries.
Speaking at the launch of the programme in Accra on Tuesday, the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Dolapo Ogundimu, stated that the new product was expected to add value its money transfer by offering lowest fee, ensure safety and was available at all its branches in the country.
“GTMT is a service for both customers and non-customers in Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon, Sierra Leone and Nigeria,”, she stated.
He said the bank has a network of 143 branches across its subsidiaries and stated that its services would be extended to its operations in Liberia as well as the London offices.
The Managing Director said one unique feature of the product was that the transaction was instant as compared to other money transfers available.
“A customer will receive instant cash from a sender sending money from any of our subsidiary anywhere”, he stated.
He said the product was intended to facilitate trade and economic growth in the sub-region and assured customers of the high quality service to support their businesses.
Research has revealed that about $300,000 of remittances are received from Nigeria to Ghana especially for Nigerian students in Ghana.
The Board Chairman of the bank, Alhaji Yusif Ibrahim, who launched the product said the product would lead to what he described as the “emancipation of African trade”.
He said “this promote would promote trade, harmony and deepen south-south co-operation.”
The Gambia Ambassador to Ghana, Alhaji Mohammed Jafah, stated that the product was a good business idea that needed the support of all stakeholders.
He reiterated earlier submissions that the product would further deepen economic relations between the countries within the sub-region of West Africa.
Story: Boahene Asamoah
GUARANTY Trust Bank, Ghana Limited, has introduced a new instant money transfer for its customers within the sub-region.
The new money transfer known as Guaranty Trust Monetary Transfer (GTMT) would offer common platform for all of the bank’s subsidiaries.
Speaking at the launch of the programme in Accra on Tuesday, the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Dolapo Ogundimu, stated that the new product was expected to add value its money transfer by offering lowest fee, ensure safety and was available at all its branches in the country.
“GTMT is a service for both customers and non-customers in Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon, Sierra Leone and Nigeria,”, she stated.
He said the bank has a network of 143 branches across its subsidiaries and stated that its services would be extended to its operations in Liberia as well as the London offices.
The Managing Director said one unique feature of the product was that the transaction was instant as compared to other money transfers available.
“A customer will receive instant cash from a sender sending money from any of our subsidiary anywhere”, he stated.
He said the product was intended to facilitate trade and economic growth in the sub-region and assured customers of the high quality service to support their businesses.
Research has revealed that about $300,000 of remittances are received from Nigeria to Ghana especially for Nigerian students in Ghana.
The Board Chairman of the bank, Alhaji Yusif Ibrahim, who launched the product said the product would lead to what he described as the “emancipation of African trade”.
He said “this promote would promote trade, harmony and deepen south-south co-operation.”
The Gambia Ambassador to Ghana, Alhaji Mohammed Jafah, stated that the product was a good business idea that needed the support of all stakeholders.
He reiterated earlier submissions that the product would further deepen economic relations between the countries within the sub-region of West Africa.
ETI partners ACCION international
Story: Boahene Asamoah
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the pan-African bank, has partnered ACCION International, an international micro-financing institution to assist in providing services to micro-lending institutions in the country.
The $1.5 billion investment is known as EB-ACCION Savings and Loans Company limited, with equity participation from the two companies.
The company, which is started in Ghana, will be replicated using ETI’s Africa operations which currently has 25 operations in Africa to support micro-, small-and medium-scale enterprises.
At the launch of the new company in Accra over the weekend, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, stated that the partnership was in line with the government’s vision of supporting the micro sector of businesses in the country.
“We need partnership to move forward this nation,” he said, while making references to the GT and Vodafone deal.
He said the economy had been growing at a steady pace and stated that there had been improvements in the financial services delivery.
Mr Baah-Wiredu called on beneficiaries of the loan facilities from the loan company to ensure early repayment of loans to enable the fund support other people.
The minister called on management of the company to ensure good corporate practices that would make the business more viable.
A Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD) and the President’s Special Initiative (PSI), Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu, stated that the partnership between the two companies would complement government’s initiative to support the micro and small industries in the country.
She said the government had signed a €20 million loan agreement with the Italian government to support the development of the private sector.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ETI, Mr Arnold Ekpe, said the mission of the group was to offer world-class banking service that would make a difference as well as contribute to the economic development of the region.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCION International, Ms Maria Otero, said the event carried several messages to support micro and small businesses in the country.
She said ACCION operated in over 24 countries with 35 partners and had 3.3 million customers.
Ms Otero added that the company had so far granted $3 billion in loans to customers and had repayment rate of 96 per cent of all loans granted.
The CEO stated that partnership with ETI was to reach the low-income earners in the Ghanaian society, and stated that the company was honoured to partner ETI to provide financial services to the people.
The Managing Director of EB-ACCION, Mrs Frances Adu-Mante, stated that within the short period of existence, the company had 4,000 savings deposits and had granted about 1,000 applicants credit to turn around their businesses.
She said the partnership, primarily, was to identify an opportunity to support individuals and micro and small businesses in the country.
ACCION is an innovator in financial access, pioneering many of the best practices and emerging standards in the industry.
The company provides a full range of technical assistance and management services, as well as investment and governance support to help financial institutions build institutional capacity and financial strength in order to serve low-income households on a broad scale.
Over the past 35 years, ACCION has helped to build and strengthen some of the most successful micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in the world.
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the pan-African bank, has partnered ACCION International, an international micro-financing institution to assist in providing services to micro-lending institutions in the country.
The $1.5 billion investment is known as EB-ACCION Savings and Loans Company limited, with equity participation from the two companies.
The company, which is started in Ghana, will be replicated using ETI’s Africa operations which currently has 25 operations in Africa to support micro-, small-and medium-scale enterprises.
At the launch of the new company in Accra over the weekend, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, stated that the partnership was in line with the government’s vision of supporting the micro sector of businesses in the country.
“We need partnership to move forward this nation,” he said, while making references to the GT and Vodafone deal.
He said the economy had been growing at a steady pace and stated that there had been improvements in the financial services delivery.
Mr Baah-Wiredu called on beneficiaries of the loan facilities from the loan company to ensure early repayment of loans to enable the fund support other people.
The minister called on management of the company to ensure good corporate practices that would make the business more viable.
A Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD) and the President’s Special Initiative (PSI), Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu, stated that the partnership between the two companies would complement government’s initiative to support the micro and small industries in the country.
She said the government had signed a €20 million loan agreement with the Italian government to support the development of the private sector.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ETI, Mr Arnold Ekpe, said the mission of the group was to offer world-class banking service that would make a difference as well as contribute to the economic development of the region.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCION International, Ms Maria Otero, said the event carried several messages to support micro and small businesses in the country.
She said ACCION operated in over 24 countries with 35 partners and had 3.3 million customers.
Ms Otero added that the company had so far granted $3 billion in loans to customers and had repayment rate of 96 per cent of all loans granted.
The CEO stated that partnership with ETI was to reach the low-income earners in the Ghanaian society, and stated that the company was honoured to partner ETI to provide financial services to the people.
The Managing Director of EB-ACCION, Mrs Frances Adu-Mante, stated that within the short period of existence, the company had 4,000 savings deposits and had granted about 1,000 applicants credit to turn around their businesses.
She said the partnership, primarily, was to identify an opportunity to support individuals and micro and small businesses in the country.
ACCION is an innovator in financial access, pioneering many of the best practices and emerging standards in the industry.
The company provides a full range of technical assistance and management services, as well as investment and governance support to help financial institutions build institutional capacity and financial strength in order to serve low-income households on a broad scale.
Over the past 35 years, ACCION has helped to build and strengthen some of the most successful micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in the world.
GDP to slow down
growth forecast (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah
ECONOMIC analysts expect the government growth projections of 7 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2008 year to miss its target narrowly on account of slow growth during the last quarter.
According to Databank research though economic expansion during the first quarter of 2008, as measured by the Composite Index of Economic Activity [CIEA], improved by 3.0%; business and consumers expectations went
down on accounts of higher inflationary expectations.
‘We expect the higher outturn of inflation in the first half of the year to slow growth. Consequently, we project real GDP growth at 6.8% this
year; which is marginally below the budgetary target of 7%’.
Inflation deteriorated during the first half of the year, as the global
food and energy price hikes intensified. The pass through effects of
crude oil price increases on the international market was severe for
Ghana. Inflation for May was 16.9%, compared to 12.7% in
December 2007; and we project inflation for June at 18.4%.
A relatively loose fiscal policy, lower gross international reserves,
and a sharp depreciation of the local currency made the economy
less resilient to external shocks. Given that external volatility still
persists in the global economy, we do not expect the goal of single
digit inflation to be achieved by the end of the year. Our end year
forecast for inflation is within the band of 17.5% and 18.49%.
Inflation could rise above 21% by September if the current fiscal
mitigating package is not sustained and transport fares remained
stable. The domestic harvest season is likely to ease food inflation
in the last quarter, and we expect this to soften overall inflation
during the period. This could facilitate a disinflation process in the
last quarter, though the extent is expected to be marginal.
We, however, expect the fiscal mitigation package to strain
government budget. Essentially, in the absence of expenditure
shifts in favour of the package, additional spending in support of the
package could worsen underlying inflation.
National elections are due in December this year, and we expect
a keen contest between the ruling New Patriotic Party and the
main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress.
Events leading to the election date indicate that the democratic
structure of the country is deepening. The Institute of Economic
Affairs, an economic and governance think tank in the country
has conducted its first round of fora for the main candidates to
interact with the public on policy issues.
While it may be difficult to predict the outcome of the elections,
we are confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power
after the elections irrespective of the political party that wins.
POLITICAL RISK OUTLOOK
Leadership
INFLATION RATE OUTLOOK
GROWTH OUTLOOK
We expect real GDP growth to accelerate to 6.8% in 2008, from
the 6.3% registered in 2007; mainly on account of favorable
export prices and strong domestic demand.
conti
The first half of the year witnessed more fiscal expansion compared to
the same period in 2007. Government’s fiscal deficit as a percentage of
gross domestic output (GDP) stood at 2.94% by March compared to
0.91% for the same period in 2007.
The fiscal slippage occurred as a result of interest payments on the
US$750 million euro bond issued in September 2007, expenditure on the
CAN 2008 tournament, higher than expected expenditure on crude oil
imports, increased expenditure on wages and salaries, and increased
capital expenditure, among others.
Government borrowing increased during the first half of the year, which
combined with the inflation rate hikes during the period led to higher
treasury market yields during the period. The higher fiscal deficit was
mainly financed through increased borrowing on the domestic treasury
auction market.
The 91-day Treasury bill reached 16.84% in July from a low of 10.6% at
the end of December, 2007. The 182-day and the 1-year note increased
from 10.8% and 12.3% at the beginning of the year to 17.76% and
17.00% respectively by July 2008; while the 2-year note increased from
12.8% to 16.5% during the same period.
The introduction of the communications service tax in June, the
government of Germany’s £39 million concessional loan and grant, as
well as, the renewed inflow of financial assistance from the World Bank
may improve government tax revenue in the second half of the year. The
inflow of divestiture receipts, especially from the sale of Ghana Telecom
will also enhance fiscal stability.
Government expenditure cut during the second half of the year is,
however, not likely due to the impending presidential and parliamentary
elections. Growth in fiscal expenditure is likely to further outpace
domestic revenue mobilization in the second half of the year; and we
expect government fiscal balance to close the year at a deficit of 14.5%
of gross domestic product.
FISCAL POLICY OUTLOOK
Databank
Leadership
EXCHANGE RATE OUTLOOK
The local currency depreciated sharply this year compared to
2007. By the end of the first half of the year, the cedi posted a
year-to-date depreciation of 6.01%, which is significantly
higher, compared to 0.59% for the same period in 2007.
The sharp depreciation of the local currency was induced by a
significant reduction in the gross international reserves position
of the economy by December, 2007. The reserve position of
the country was weak due to the energy crisis even before the
global food and energy price hikes intensified. Crude oil price
has increased from US$85 per barrel in the last quarter of
2007 to above US$140 by the end of June, 2008.
MONTHS
DEPRECIATION RATE (%)
Depreciation $ Depreciation £ Depreciation €
The local currency also depreciated against the pound and the
euro by 5.9% and 11.63% respectively by June 2008; and we
expect it to depreciate further during the year. Increased
domestic demand induced by fiscal and banking sector credit
expansion led to increased demand for imports, which has
furthered worsened the outturn of the cedi.
We expect further increases in the price of crude oil and an
easing in foreign private portfolio funds into the country during
the second half of the year to worsen the downward pressure
on the cedi. Overall, we expect the cedi to depreciate against
the dollar by 11.5% in December this year.
The Bank of Ghana’s decision to increase the prime rate to 16% in
May in response to the deterioration in inflation during the period
indicates that further upward adjustment in the prime rate should be
expected if inflation further increases in June and July.
The central bank has consistently increased its key policy rate since
November 2007, when upside risks to inflation started to emerge.
From 12.5% in August 2007, the prime rate was increased to 13.5% in
November 2007; but maintained at the same rate in January 2007. As
inflation picked up to 13.8% in March, the central bank responded by
increasing the prime rate to 14.25%. In May 2008, the prime rate was
further adjusted upwards to 16%, after inflation worsened to 15.2% in
the month of April.
We expect the prime rate to further increase in the second half of the
year amidst our inflation expectations and the fact that the central
bank is committed to an inflation targeting regime. Increasing the
prime rate further up will hurt industry, but we think that increasing the
prime rate is necessary since the current level does not reflect
economy wide risk and inflationary expectations.
We expect domestic liquidity to further increase in the second half of
the year, despite the recent increases in the prime rate. This is mainly
because of the huge spread between deposit and lending rates, which
currently averages 21% for commercial banks.
MONETARY POLICY OUTLOOK
Pressure from the global food and energy price hikes has
strained the external position of the country. The economy’s
reserve position slipped to 2.7 months of import by April this
year, which is lower than the year open level of 3.42 months of
import cover.
Despite the favourable commodity prices, windfall gains from
cocoa and gold exports still lag behind the growth in crude oil
import bills for the country. This higher import bill is likely to
worsen the terms of trade position of the economy. Remittance
inflows continue to remain strong, increasing by 35% over the
first quarter of 2007 outturn to US$2,008.
The inflow of private international portfolio funds into the
country is likely to moderate in the second half of the year due
to the impending presidential elections. Investors usually hold
back their portfolio funds from (developing) countries during
the period of elections, and we expect the country to be
exposed to this risk in the second half of the year.
Total merchandise imports for the first quarter of 2008 was
US$2,273.9 million, which indicates an increase of 33% over
the outturn for the same period in 2007. Oil imports accounted
for 23% of the total import bill for the first quarter of the year,
which is higher than the 21% outturn for the same period in
2007. Non-oil import’s share of total merchandise import was
77% in the first quarter of 2008.
We expect the current account deficit to further deteriorate in
the second half of 2008. This is likely to be induced mainly by
the continuing global price hikes and expected increases in
domestic liquidity. Inflation concerns have led both the
European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of the
United States to increase interest rates.
Databank
Leadership
EXTERNAL SECTOR OUTLOOK
Story: Boahene Asamoah
ECONOMIC analysts expect the government growth projections of 7 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2008 year to miss its target narrowly on account of slow growth during the last quarter.
According to Databank research though economic expansion during the first quarter of 2008, as measured by the Composite Index of Economic Activity [CIEA], improved by 3.0%; business and consumers expectations went
down on accounts of higher inflationary expectations.
‘We expect the higher outturn of inflation in the first half of the year to slow growth. Consequently, we project real GDP growth at 6.8% this
year; which is marginally below the budgetary target of 7%’.
Inflation deteriorated during the first half of the year, as the global
food and energy price hikes intensified. The pass through effects of
crude oil price increases on the international market was severe for
Ghana. Inflation for May was 16.9%, compared to 12.7% in
December 2007; and we project inflation for June at 18.4%.
A relatively loose fiscal policy, lower gross international reserves,
and a sharp depreciation of the local currency made the economy
less resilient to external shocks. Given that external volatility still
persists in the global economy, we do not expect the goal of single
digit inflation to be achieved by the end of the year. Our end year
forecast for inflation is within the band of 17.5% and 18.49%.
Inflation could rise above 21% by September if the current fiscal
mitigating package is not sustained and transport fares remained
stable. The domestic harvest season is likely to ease food inflation
in the last quarter, and we expect this to soften overall inflation
during the period. This could facilitate a disinflation process in the
last quarter, though the extent is expected to be marginal.
We, however, expect the fiscal mitigation package to strain
government budget. Essentially, in the absence of expenditure
shifts in favour of the package, additional spending in support of the
package could worsen underlying inflation.
National elections are due in December this year, and we expect
a keen contest between the ruling New Patriotic Party and the
main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress.
Events leading to the election date indicate that the democratic
structure of the country is deepening. The Institute of Economic
Affairs, an economic and governance think tank in the country
has conducted its first round of fora for the main candidates to
interact with the public on policy issues.
While it may be difficult to predict the outcome of the elections,
we are confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power
after the elections irrespective of the political party that wins.
POLITICAL RISK OUTLOOK
Leadership
INFLATION RATE OUTLOOK
GROWTH OUTLOOK
We expect real GDP growth to accelerate to 6.8% in 2008, from
the 6.3% registered in 2007; mainly on account of favorable
export prices and strong domestic demand.
conti
The first half of the year witnessed more fiscal expansion compared to
the same period in 2007. Government’s fiscal deficit as a percentage of
gross domestic output (GDP) stood at 2.94% by March compared to
0.91% for the same period in 2007.
The fiscal slippage occurred as a result of interest payments on the
US$750 million euro bond issued in September 2007, expenditure on the
CAN 2008 tournament, higher than expected expenditure on crude oil
imports, increased expenditure on wages and salaries, and increased
capital expenditure, among others.
Government borrowing increased during the first half of the year, which
combined with the inflation rate hikes during the period led to higher
treasury market yields during the period. The higher fiscal deficit was
mainly financed through increased borrowing on the domestic treasury
auction market.
The 91-day Treasury bill reached 16.84% in July from a low of 10.6% at
the end of December, 2007. The 182-day and the 1-year note increased
from 10.8% and 12.3% at the beginning of the year to 17.76% and
17.00% respectively by July 2008; while the 2-year note increased from
12.8% to 16.5% during the same period.
The introduction of the communications service tax in June, the
government of Germany’s £39 million concessional loan and grant, as
well as, the renewed inflow of financial assistance from the World Bank
may improve government tax revenue in the second half of the year. The
inflow of divestiture receipts, especially from the sale of Ghana Telecom
will also enhance fiscal stability.
Government expenditure cut during the second half of the year is,
however, not likely due to the impending presidential and parliamentary
elections. Growth in fiscal expenditure is likely to further outpace
domestic revenue mobilization in the second half of the year; and we
expect government fiscal balance to close the year at a deficit of 14.5%
of gross domestic product.
FISCAL POLICY OUTLOOK
Databank
Leadership
EXCHANGE RATE OUTLOOK
The local currency depreciated sharply this year compared to
2007. By the end of the first half of the year, the cedi posted a
year-to-date depreciation of 6.01%, which is significantly
higher, compared to 0.59% for the same period in 2007.
The sharp depreciation of the local currency was induced by a
significant reduction in the gross international reserves position
of the economy by December, 2007. The reserve position of
the country was weak due to the energy crisis even before the
global food and energy price hikes intensified. Crude oil price
has increased from US$85 per barrel in the last quarter of
2007 to above US$140 by the end of June, 2008.
MONTHS
DEPRECIATION RATE (%)
Depreciation $ Depreciation £ Depreciation €
The local currency also depreciated against the pound and the
euro by 5.9% and 11.63% respectively by June 2008; and we
expect it to depreciate further during the year. Increased
domestic demand induced by fiscal and banking sector credit
expansion led to increased demand for imports, which has
furthered worsened the outturn of the cedi.
We expect further increases in the price of crude oil and an
easing in foreign private portfolio funds into the country during
the second half of the year to worsen the downward pressure
on the cedi. Overall, we expect the cedi to depreciate against
the dollar by 11.5% in December this year.
The Bank of Ghana’s decision to increase the prime rate to 16% in
May in response to the deterioration in inflation during the period
indicates that further upward adjustment in the prime rate should be
expected if inflation further increases in June and July.
The central bank has consistently increased its key policy rate since
November 2007, when upside risks to inflation started to emerge.
From 12.5% in August 2007, the prime rate was increased to 13.5% in
November 2007; but maintained at the same rate in January 2007. As
inflation picked up to 13.8% in March, the central bank responded by
increasing the prime rate to 14.25%. In May 2008, the prime rate was
further adjusted upwards to 16%, after inflation worsened to 15.2% in
the month of April.
We expect the prime rate to further increase in the second half of the
year amidst our inflation expectations and the fact that the central
bank is committed to an inflation targeting regime. Increasing the
prime rate further up will hurt industry, but we think that increasing the
prime rate is necessary since the current level does not reflect
economy wide risk and inflationary expectations.
We expect domestic liquidity to further increase in the second half of
the year, despite the recent increases in the prime rate. This is mainly
because of the huge spread between deposit and lending rates, which
currently averages 21% for commercial banks.
MONETARY POLICY OUTLOOK
Pressure from the global food and energy price hikes has
strained the external position of the country. The economy’s
reserve position slipped to 2.7 months of import by April this
year, which is lower than the year open level of 3.42 months of
import cover.
Despite the favourable commodity prices, windfall gains from
cocoa and gold exports still lag behind the growth in crude oil
import bills for the country. This higher import bill is likely to
worsen the terms of trade position of the economy. Remittance
inflows continue to remain strong, increasing by 35% over the
first quarter of 2007 outturn to US$2,008.
The inflow of private international portfolio funds into the
country is likely to moderate in the second half of the year due
to the impending presidential elections. Investors usually hold
back their portfolio funds from (developing) countries during
the period of elections, and we expect the country to be
exposed to this risk in the second half of the year.
Total merchandise imports for the first quarter of 2008 was
US$2,273.9 million, which indicates an increase of 33% over
the outturn for the same period in 2007. Oil imports accounted
for 23% of the total import bill for the first quarter of the year,
which is higher than the 21% outturn for the same period in
2007. Non-oil import’s share of total merchandise import was
77% in the first quarter of 2008.
We expect the current account deficit to further deteriorate in
the second half of 2008. This is likely to be induced mainly by
the continuing global price hikes and expected increases in
domestic liquidity. Inflation concerns have led both the
European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of the
United States to increase interest rates.
Databank
Leadership
EXTERNAL SECTOR OUTLOOK
Savings in cheque now acceptable
By Boahene Asamoah
Previously it was not possible for savings account holders to pay in cheques into their bank accounts at any of the commercial banks operating in the country., and this had posed great problems for businessmen who have transacted business and receive cheques for payments.
Now, most savings account holders who had encountered the difficulty of lodging cheques into their accounts will be smiling following a directive by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) that all banks in the country should accept cheques as deposits into savings accounts in order to stimulate and encourage sound financial services in the country.
A Deputy Governor of the bank, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who announced the directive in Accra at the inauguration of the EB-ACCION, a savings and loan company, stated that “from now on, if someone issues you a cheque, you will be able to deposit it into a savings account”.
Dr Bawumia described the practice where banks refused to accept cheques as deposits into savings as inimical to the opening of and operations of savings accounts.
“This practice is anachronistic and discourages the opening of and operation of savings accounts,” the deputy governor stated.
He said to encourage the unbanked and the underbanked public in the country, there was the need to review the Know Your Customer (KYC) policy of banks to take into consideration of the socio-economic environment.
Dr Bawumia stated that under the current situation, “many of the unbanked are turned away, because they are unable to produce evidence, such as proof of address or utility bill.”
The new KYC would encourage the least-income earners such as market porters or ‘kayayoo’ to get hooked into the banking system, saying the account opening procedures for people engaged in low-value transactions should be simplified.
“For these accounts, proof of residence such as utility bill, while desirable is not obligatory unless where the bank considers otherwise,” Dr Bawumia stated.
Turning his attention on the global oil and food prices, Dr Bawumia stated that the economy had been able to withstand oil prices of up to $147 per barrel.
Again, Dr Bawumia stated that Ghana was not the only country going through inflationary pressures and mentioned Chile, Turkey, South Africa and the US, Sweden, India and the Eurozone, which had all exceeded their inflationary targets by 216, 175, 171, 150, 115, 110 and 100 per cent respectively.
Ghana’s inflation target has been exceeded by 104 per cent.
“The major difference, however, is that while economic growth is slowing down in most of these countries, growth in Ghana is on the increase,” Dr Bawumia stated, adding that “it is important to recognise the role of fiscal and monetary policy framework supported by the structural reforms that have underpinned this performance”
Previously it was not possible for savings account holders to pay in cheques into their bank accounts at any of the commercial banks operating in the country., and this had posed great problems for businessmen who have transacted business and receive cheques for payments.
Now, most savings account holders who had encountered the difficulty of lodging cheques into their accounts will be smiling following a directive by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) that all banks in the country should accept cheques as deposits into savings accounts in order to stimulate and encourage sound financial services in the country.
A Deputy Governor of the bank, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who announced the directive in Accra at the inauguration of the EB-ACCION, a savings and loan company, stated that “from now on, if someone issues you a cheque, you will be able to deposit it into a savings account”.
Dr Bawumia described the practice where banks refused to accept cheques as deposits into savings as inimical to the opening of and operations of savings accounts.
“This practice is anachronistic and discourages the opening of and operation of savings accounts,” the deputy governor stated.
He said to encourage the unbanked and the underbanked public in the country, there was the need to review the Know Your Customer (KYC) policy of banks to take into consideration of the socio-economic environment.
Dr Bawumia stated that under the current situation, “many of the unbanked are turned away, because they are unable to produce evidence, such as proof of address or utility bill.”
The new KYC would encourage the least-income earners such as market porters or ‘kayayoo’ to get hooked into the banking system, saying the account opening procedures for people engaged in low-value transactions should be simplified.
“For these accounts, proof of residence such as utility bill, while desirable is not obligatory unless where the bank considers otherwise,” Dr Bawumia stated.
Turning his attention on the global oil and food prices, Dr Bawumia stated that the economy had been able to withstand oil prices of up to $147 per barrel.
Again, Dr Bawumia stated that Ghana was not the only country going through inflationary pressures and mentioned Chile, Turkey, South Africa and the US, Sweden, India and the Eurozone, which had all exceeded their inflationary targets by 216, 175, 171, 150, 115, 110 and 100 per cent respectively.
Ghana’s inflation target has been exceeded by 104 per cent.
“The major difference, however, is that while economic growth is slowing down in most of these countries, growth in Ghana is on the increase,” Dr Bawumia stated, adding that “it is important to recognise the role of fiscal and monetary policy framework supported by the structural reforms that have underpinned this performance”
GT bonds trade higher •Than the eurobond
Read by bs
Gt Bond (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah
THE announcement of the take-over negotiations between Vodafone and Ghana Telecom (GT) has triggered a sudden interest in its bonds on the international financial market.
Information gathered from the international media show that since June this year, the price of the sovereign bond has declined, while the price of the GT bond has increased during the same period.
A sovereign bond is a debt security issued by a national government within a given country, while a corporate bond such as the GT bond is issued by corporate organisations to raise long-term debt financing.
According to analysts, the price increase was due to the perception that the current ongoing negotiation with vodafone would eventually lead to a deal favourable to GT.
Analysts also believe that the reason for the sudden interest in GT bonds by investors was due to the creditability and the financial muscle of Vodafone as well as in its image on the international market.
Graphs from Bloomberg indicate that the GT bond was trading on the international market much higher than the Ghana sovereign bond
The last recorded yields of the GT bond was 8.021 per cent, while that on the sovereign bond was slightly higher at 8.32 per cent.
In effect, GT was trading at a better yield than that of the Government of Ghana (GoG).
According to market watchers, there was, however, a caveat.
That the GT yield reflects a five-year instrument with an even much shorter average life of between two-and-a-half to three years.
According to the analyst, the maturity of the GoG bond is 10 years. For the same maturity or average life as the GT bond, the GoG bond would probably trade much lower than GT.
Reports from JP Morgan show they were arranging for the refinancing of the GT bond.
GT floated bonds worth $200 million from the international market last year to finance its projects in the country.
The GoG last year also sourced a sovereign bond worth ¢1.2 billion, which was oversubscribed.
Caption: a graph depicting the appreciation of GT bond on the international market.
Gt Bond (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah
THE announcement of the take-over negotiations between Vodafone and Ghana Telecom (GT) has triggered a sudden interest in its bonds on the international financial market.
Information gathered from the international media show that since June this year, the price of the sovereign bond has declined, while the price of the GT bond has increased during the same period.
A sovereign bond is a debt security issued by a national government within a given country, while a corporate bond such as the GT bond is issued by corporate organisations to raise long-term debt financing.
According to analysts, the price increase was due to the perception that the current ongoing negotiation with vodafone would eventually lead to a deal favourable to GT.
Analysts also believe that the reason for the sudden interest in GT bonds by investors was due to the creditability and the financial muscle of Vodafone as well as in its image on the international market.
Graphs from Bloomberg indicate that the GT bond was trading on the international market much higher than the Ghana sovereign bond
The last recorded yields of the GT bond was 8.021 per cent, while that on the sovereign bond was slightly higher at 8.32 per cent.
In effect, GT was trading at a better yield than that of the Government of Ghana (GoG).
According to market watchers, there was, however, a caveat.
That the GT yield reflects a five-year instrument with an even much shorter average life of between two-and-a-half to three years.
According to the analyst, the maturity of the GoG bond is 10 years. For the same maturity or average life as the GT bond, the GoG bond would probably trade much lower than GT.
Reports from JP Morgan show they were arranging for the refinancing of the GT bond.
GT floated bonds worth $200 million from the international market last year to finance its projects in the country.
The GoG last year also sourced a sovereign bond worth ¢1.2 billion, which was oversubscribed.
Caption: a graph depicting the appreciation of GT bond on the international market.
Passion for Excellence
abena amoah(fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah
She is the embodiment of passion for excellence, hard work, dedication and commitment. She is also one of the youngest female CEOs in corporate Ghana to have emerged recently.
At 36, Ms Abena Amoah, the Chief Executive officer of Newworld Renaissance, a financial and investment banking firm, an affiliate of one of the world’s leading financial and investment banking firms has chalked a lot of first positions, through her academic and professional life in such a rather ‘ young life’.
Even after barely three months at her new post, she has led the team to transact the single largest transaction in a day in the history of the Ghana stock exchange, involving the transaction of $300 million in ETI shares on the July 25th 2008 trading on the floor of the Ghana Stock exchange.This transaction even surpasses the whole of the 2007 transaction on the Ghana Stock Exchange both in value and volume.
At a tender age of 27, whiles a national service person at Strategic African Securities (SAS), she ‘ cut her teeth ’ in what was then a new term to her, that is, ‘rights issue’ by leading a team that successfully raised $30 million for a rights issue and listing of additional shares of Accra Brewery Limited on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Ever since then, Abena has never looked back.
Abena swept all the awards at the School of Administration, now Ghana Business School, University of Ghana, Legon at the 1999 graduation which coincidentally also marked the 50th anniversary of the school.
She won the ‘Anim Addo Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Business School, the KPMG Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Business School, the Unilever Ghana Limited Award for the Best Graduating Student in Business School and the Volta Hall Alumnae Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Volta.
During her first year at the University, she had already showed great signs of brilliance, winning the Shell Ghana Limited award for the Best First year Student in Business School in 1994.
She was then given a scholarship to study at the University of Denver, Denver Colorado, for two years after which she came back to complete her first degree in Accounting and Finance at the School of Administration.
Before then, Abena emerged as the best Advance level student obtaining three A’s and a B in the Advance Level School examinations at the St Rose’s Secondary School. That also earned her a scholarship for a one-year AFS exchange programme to Iceland in 1992 to study for one year before coming back home to begin her tertiary education.
Indeed not until the ABL transaction was over, seasoned investment bankers she worked with on the deal did not know that Abena was a national service person.
As of today, Abena, has been involved in most of the landmark transactions on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
‘My drive is the satisfaction I derive from seeing a client happy. Being part of raising capital to help businesses grow’, she stated.
That was not all, ever since her 10 years stint with SAS, there is no major financial or major transaction on the stock market that Abena has not participated in.
‘It feels good to do successful transactions’, she stated, recounting with happiness the joy in seeing companies raise capital for their expansion programmes.
Talk about the $65 million rights issue and Listing of Ghana Commercial Bank last year. Abena stated that the GCB case was even peculiar.
‘It performance on the market has slumped’, she stated but due to the hard work Abena and her team did, the shares were oversubscribed by....
SAS were appointed lead managers and Co-sponsoring broker for the Initial Public Offer and listing of Ecobank Ghana Limited worth $10 million. That was also oversubscribed.
She was again involved in the issue and listing of $54 million shares of Total Petroleum Ghana Limited on the GSE as a result of merger of Total and Mobil.
One of her fondest memory was that Guinness Ghana Limited and the Ghana Breweries Limited, saying that that transaction generated a lot of issues and was a complex one. That was also one of the challenging moments in Abenaäs life.
Abena had to deal as she stated with a lot of stakeholders, but admitted that she learnt a lot on regulation on investments in the country, from both parties, shareholders and issues that had to deal with the structuring of the offer.
‘That deal was a landmark transaction’, she stated.
Other deals included the $10 million Ghana IPO and $700 million listing on TSX and AMEX, where SAS were the financial advisor and sponsoring broker, with Abena leading the deal. That was another success story.
Abena love for her passion was not coincidental. After graduating, she was a ‘hot cake’ for most of the multinational companies because of her academic brilliance. She turned job offers from Unilever and KMPG among many other offers.
Although, she knew little about stock market and investments analysis and rights issues, she turned down many offers to join SAS, then a growing company.
She recounted that a friend introduced Mr James Akpo now Togbe Afedi to her in 1999 and after a two-hour meeting, she was offered a job the next day.
‘I was inspired about the vision and direction of Mr Akpo’, she stated.
Much to the displeasure of her parents, who had hoped Abena would join one the multinational companies, Abena rather choose to start ‘small’ and after ten years, she has achieved a lifetime dream.
‘Everyone thought I was crazy choosing SAS, a relatively young and private company’, she stated.
She remember when she had to work late and the parents had to complain why she was working so late.
For the ten years that she stayed at SAS, she rose quickly from Investments Analyst and broker to become the Executive Director of SAS. She was promoted every eight months due to her hard work and professionalism.
It is no wonder that Renaissance Group, head-hunted Abena to head its operations in Ghana.
Today, she supervises over a group of talented professionals taking major corporate decisions and transactions in the country.
Among her many other accomplishements, she serves as a director of the Venture Capital Trust Fund, Director, the Ghana Stock Exchange, Assessor (capital Market experts), Commission Division of the High Cour of Ghana, Accra, Executive member of the Ghana Securities Industry Association.
Abena was also a Governor of the Millennium Excellence Awards in 2005.
In 2006, Abena was awarded the Newmont Gold Ghana Highest Award for Excellence (National Youth Excellence Awards).
She said it is good news for Renaissance to turn its investments to Ghana especially now that the GSE is presently the best performing market.
Indeed, Abena’s profile is very impressive for such a young lady.
She has served as capital market advisor to the SEC, GSE and even the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning,
Abena has offered business development projects advise especially to the Golden Jubilee Bonds and the Ghana Educational Loans.
Her passion for the growth of the capital markets in the country had led her to host the television programme ‘Investments Digest’ which is being aired on GTV.
But Abena’s life is not all work, she has a soft side. Her first national service in 1994 after Advance level school certificate was at the Princes Maria Louis Hospital, in the heart of Accra has led her to have a kind heart for needy children.
She still find time in spite of her busy schedule to do some charity work for the hospital and describes herself as Ghanaian, refusing to be associated with any tribe in the country.
She has been involved in touring some senior secondary schools in the country to educate them on investments.
Abena is the first born of five children born to Mr and Mrs David Amoah, which is made up of four female and one male.
Having gone through such an elaborate professional training and carrier challenging jobs, is it any wonder that Abena is a success in today’s corporate Ghana. She is certainly a role model worthy of emulating.
Story: Boahene Asamoah
She is the embodiment of passion for excellence, hard work, dedication and commitment. She is also one of the youngest female CEOs in corporate Ghana to have emerged recently.
At 36, Ms Abena Amoah, the Chief Executive officer of Newworld Renaissance, a financial and investment banking firm, an affiliate of one of the world’s leading financial and investment banking firms has chalked a lot of first positions, through her academic and professional life in such a rather ‘ young life’.
Even after barely three months at her new post, she has led the team to transact the single largest transaction in a day in the history of the Ghana stock exchange, involving the transaction of $300 million in ETI shares on the July 25th 2008 trading on the floor of the Ghana Stock exchange.This transaction even surpasses the whole of the 2007 transaction on the Ghana Stock Exchange both in value and volume.
At a tender age of 27, whiles a national service person at Strategic African Securities (SAS), she ‘ cut her teeth ’ in what was then a new term to her, that is, ‘rights issue’ by leading a team that successfully raised $30 million for a rights issue and listing of additional shares of Accra Brewery Limited on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Ever since then, Abena has never looked back.
Abena swept all the awards at the School of Administration, now Ghana Business School, University of Ghana, Legon at the 1999 graduation which coincidentally also marked the 50th anniversary of the school.
She won the ‘Anim Addo Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Business School, the KPMG Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Business School, the Unilever Ghana Limited Award for the Best Graduating Student in Business School and the Volta Hall Alumnae Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Volta.
During her first year at the University, she had already showed great signs of brilliance, winning the Shell Ghana Limited award for the Best First year Student in Business School in 1994.
She was then given a scholarship to study at the University of Denver, Denver Colorado, for two years after which she came back to complete her first degree in Accounting and Finance at the School of Administration.
Before then, Abena emerged as the best Advance level student obtaining three A’s and a B in the Advance Level School examinations at the St Rose’s Secondary School. That also earned her a scholarship for a one-year AFS exchange programme to Iceland in 1992 to study for one year before coming back home to begin her tertiary education.
Indeed not until the ABL transaction was over, seasoned investment bankers she worked with on the deal did not know that Abena was a national service person.
As of today, Abena, has been involved in most of the landmark transactions on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
‘My drive is the satisfaction I derive from seeing a client happy. Being part of raising capital to help businesses grow’, she stated.
That was not all, ever since her 10 years stint with SAS, there is no major financial or major transaction on the stock market that Abena has not participated in.
‘It feels good to do successful transactions’, she stated, recounting with happiness the joy in seeing companies raise capital for their expansion programmes.
Talk about the $65 million rights issue and Listing of Ghana Commercial Bank last year. Abena stated that the GCB case was even peculiar.
‘It performance on the market has slumped’, she stated but due to the hard work Abena and her team did, the shares were oversubscribed by....
SAS were appointed lead managers and Co-sponsoring broker for the Initial Public Offer and listing of Ecobank Ghana Limited worth $10 million. That was also oversubscribed.
She was again involved in the issue and listing of $54 million shares of Total Petroleum Ghana Limited on the GSE as a result of merger of Total and Mobil.
One of her fondest memory was that Guinness Ghana Limited and the Ghana Breweries Limited, saying that that transaction generated a lot of issues and was a complex one. That was also one of the challenging moments in Abenaäs life.
Abena had to deal as she stated with a lot of stakeholders, but admitted that she learnt a lot on regulation on investments in the country, from both parties, shareholders and issues that had to deal with the structuring of the offer.
‘That deal was a landmark transaction’, she stated.
Other deals included the $10 million Ghana IPO and $700 million listing on TSX and AMEX, where SAS were the financial advisor and sponsoring broker, with Abena leading the deal. That was another success story.
Abena love for her passion was not coincidental. After graduating, she was a ‘hot cake’ for most of the multinational companies because of her academic brilliance. She turned job offers from Unilever and KMPG among many other offers.
Although, she knew little about stock market and investments analysis and rights issues, she turned down many offers to join SAS, then a growing company.
She recounted that a friend introduced Mr James Akpo now Togbe Afedi to her in 1999 and after a two-hour meeting, she was offered a job the next day.
‘I was inspired about the vision and direction of Mr Akpo’, she stated.
Much to the displeasure of her parents, who had hoped Abena would join one the multinational companies, Abena rather choose to start ‘small’ and after ten years, she has achieved a lifetime dream.
‘Everyone thought I was crazy choosing SAS, a relatively young and private company’, she stated.
She remember when she had to work late and the parents had to complain why she was working so late.
For the ten years that she stayed at SAS, she rose quickly from Investments Analyst and broker to become the Executive Director of SAS. She was promoted every eight months due to her hard work and professionalism.
It is no wonder that Renaissance Group, head-hunted Abena to head its operations in Ghana.
Today, she supervises over a group of talented professionals taking major corporate decisions and transactions in the country.
Among her many other accomplishements, she serves as a director of the Venture Capital Trust Fund, Director, the Ghana Stock Exchange, Assessor (capital Market experts), Commission Division of the High Cour of Ghana, Accra, Executive member of the Ghana Securities Industry Association.
Abena was also a Governor of the Millennium Excellence Awards in 2005.
In 2006, Abena was awarded the Newmont Gold Ghana Highest Award for Excellence (National Youth Excellence Awards).
She said it is good news for Renaissance to turn its investments to Ghana especially now that the GSE is presently the best performing market.
Indeed, Abena’s profile is very impressive for such a young lady.
She has served as capital market advisor to the SEC, GSE and even the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning,
Abena has offered business development projects advise especially to the Golden Jubilee Bonds and the Ghana Educational Loans.
Her passion for the growth of the capital markets in the country had led her to host the television programme ‘Investments Digest’ which is being aired on GTV.
But Abena’s life is not all work, she has a soft side. Her first national service in 1994 after Advance level school certificate was at the Princes Maria Louis Hospital, in the heart of Accra has led her to have a kind heart for needy children.
She still find time in spite of her busy schedule to do some charity work for the hospital and describes herself as Ghanaian, refusing to be associated with any tribe in the country.
She has been involved in touring some senior secondary schools in the country to educate them on investments.
Abena is the first born of five children born to Mr and Mrs David Amoah, which is made up of four female and one male.
Having gone through such an elaborate professional training and carrier challenging jobs, is it any wonder that Abena is a success in today’s corporate Ghana. She is certainly a role model worthy of emulating.
Inflation closes at 18.31%
Story: Boahene Asamoah & Sahadatu Atintande
THE Consumer Price Index which measures the rate of price increases over time has for the first time this year shown a marginal sign of decline.
The rate fell by 0.1 percentage points from 18.41 in June to 18.31 per cent for the July figure.
Announcing the figures for this month, the Deputy Government Statistician, Prof Nicholas N.N. Nsowah-Nuamah, attributed the marginal decline in the inflation rate to the low prices of food.
The rate of inflation which had been rising since January this year had seen the figures increased from 12.8 per cent in January to 13.2 per cent in February and 13.8 per cent in March. In the month of April the rate went up to 15 .3 per cent while in May the rate stood at 16.88 per cent.The figures for June closed at 18.41 per cent.
Prof Nsowah-Nuamah said the rate continued to be higher for the non-food group than for the food group.
He said the non-food group which was 14.40 per cent in January this year increased to 18.97 per cent in July and contributed 2.59 percentage points higher than that of the food group.
The Deputy Government Statistician did not rule out the government’s policy intervention announced in May as a result of soaring food prices as a factor in the lower prices of the food component of the index.
He said the monthly changes in the CPI from the previous month to the present recorded a rate of 1.08 per cent in July this year, which is the lowest monthly rate since January.
Prof Nsowah-Nuamah added that the change in the monthly inflation rate increased from 1.17 per cent to 3.20 per cent between January and May, and declined in June at a rate of 2.06 per cent.
On the regional inflation figures he said Ashanti Region recorded the lowest inflation rate of 12.96 per cent, while the Central Region recorded the highest rate of 27.95 per cent with six regions recording inflation rates above the 18.31 per cent national rate.
“ The inflation rate in the rural areas is significantly higher at 23.77 per cent than the urban areas which records an inflation rate of 13.68 per cent. This however, does not mean that prices of goods in rural areas are higher than in urban areas” he said.??????????
THE Consumer Price Index which measures the rate of price increases over time has for the first time this year shown a marginal sign of decline.
The rate fell by 0.1 percentage points from 18.41 in June to 18.31 per cent for the July figure.
Announcing the figures for this month, the Deputy Government Statistician, Prof Nicholas N.N. Nsowah-Nuamah, attributed the marginal decline in the inflation rate to the low prices of food.
The rate of inflation which had been rising since January this year had seen the figures increased from 12.8 per cent in January to 13.2 per cent in February and 13.8 per cent in March. In the month of April the rate went up to 15 .3 per cent while in May the rate stood at 16.88 per cent.The figures for June closed at 18.41 per cent.
Prof Nsowah-Nuamah said the rate continued to be higher for the non-food group than for the food group.
He said the non-food group which was 14.40 per cent in January this year increased to 18.97 per cent in July and contributed 2.59 percentage points higher than that of the food group.
The Deputy Government Statistician did not rule out the government’s policy intervention announced in May as a result of soaring food prices as a factor in the lower prices of the food component of the index.
He said the monthly changes in the CPI from the previous month to the present recorded a rate of 1.08 per cent in July this year, which is the lowest monthly rate since January.
Prof Nsowah-Nuamah added that the change in the monthly inflation rate increased from 1.17 per cent to 3.20 per cent between January and May, and declined in June at a rate of 2.06 per cent.
On the regional inflation figures he said Ashanti Region recorded the lowest inflation rate of 12.96 per cent, while the Central Region recorded the highest rate of 27.95 per cent with six regions recording inflation rates above the 18.31 per cent national rate.
“ The inflation rate in the rural areas is significantly higher at 23.77 per cent than the urban areas which records an inflation rate of 13.68 per cent. This however, does not mean that prices of goods in rural areas are higher than in urban areas” he said.??????????
Citi Bank, GIB, ADB sign $60m pact
From the Business Desk
Citi Bank and the Ghana International Bank (GIB) have signed a two-and-a-half year $60 million structured remittance-backed term loan facility with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) of Ghana.
A statement issued by Citi said the purpose of the facility was to fund certain aspects of the ADB’s requirements to promote agricultural and other exports from Ghana within the overall implementation of the country’s National Agriculture and Export programmes.
It said ‘this landmark transaction is the third structured term facility that Citi has arranged for the ADB, following successful transactions in 1998, 2003 and 2005.
The 2005 facility was a US$40 million remittance backed transaction that was credit enhanced through Western Union workers remittances. The proceeds of the 2005 facility were also used towards financing the Agricultural Development Bank’s end-user foreign exchange requirements for agricultural usage in Ghana.
Ghana International Bank plc has had a long and close working relationship with ADB spanning several areas of international banking, including trade finance, cash management, treasury services and transaction services.
Commenting after the signing of the facility, Joe Mensah, Ghana International Bank plc’s Managing Director, said: “We are pleased to have been mandated jointly with Citi to arrange this landmark deal which acts as a catalyst to the growth of the Ghanaian economy, and we see it as a logical step in the development of our relationship and commitment to ADB.”
Citi’s representative office in Accra was opened in October 2002. Supported by Citi’s global footprint, it offers advisory and execution services for the full range of structured finance and debt products, and its Global Transaction Services unit offers trade services and finance, cash management and treasury services, including derivatives and foreign exchange.
Citi has received numerous awards, including Best Debt House, Best Investment Bank and Best Cash Management in Africa from Euromoney magazine.
“Citi is proud to be associated with this successful transaction which promotes the continued development of Ghana’s vital agricultural sector. Citi's commitment to Ghana also includes charitable and voluntary work funded by the Citi Foundation. This $60 million term facility to Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) adds to this positive history of collaboration, and allows ADB to further intensify its support to the agricultural sector in Ghana" said Joseph Carasso, Citi Country Officer for Ghana.
Citi Bank and the Ghana International Bank (GIB) have signed a two-and-a-half year $60 million structured remittance-backed term loan facility with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) of Ghana.
A statement issued by Citi said the purpose of the facility was to fund certain aspects of the ADB’s requirements to promote agricultural and other exports from Ghana within the overall implementation of the country’s National Agriculture and Export programmes.
It said ‘this landmark transaction is the third structured term facility that Citi has arranged for the ADB, following successful transactions in 1998, 2003 and 2005.
The 2005 facility was a US$40 million remittance backed transaction that was credit enhanced through Western Union workers remittances. The proceeds of the 2005 facility were also used towards financing the Agricultural Development Bank’s end-user foreign exchange requirements for agricultural usage in Ghana.
Ghana International Bank plc has had a long and close working relationship with ADB spanning several areas of international banking, including trade finance, cash management, treasury services and transaction services.
Commenting after the signing of the facility, Joe Mensah, Ghana International Bank plc’s Managing Director, said: “We are pleased to have been mandated jointly with Citi to arrange this landmark deal which acts as a catalyst to the growth of the Ghanaian economy, and we see it as a logical step in the development of our relationship and commitment to ADB.”
Citi’s representative office in Accra was opened in October 2002. Supported by Citi’s global footprint, it offers advisory and execution services for the full range of structured finance and debt products, and its Global Transaction Services unit offers trade services and finance, cash management and treasury services, including derivatives and foreign exchange.
Citi has received numerous awards, including Best Debt House, Best Investment Bank and Best Cash Management in Africa from Euromoney magazine.
“Citi is proud to be associated with this successful transaction which promotes the continued development of Ghana’s vital agricultural sector. Citi's commitment to Ghana also includes charitable and voluntary work funded by the Citi Foundation. This $60 million term facility to Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) adds to this positive history of collaboration, and allows ADB to further intensify its support to the agricultural sector in Ghana" said Joseph Carasso, Citi Country Officer for Ghana.
ETI launches public offer
Story: Boahene Asamoah
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a pan-African Bank, will next Monday launch Africa’s biggest and first regional public offer and rights issue to raise $2.5 billion for its African expansion programme.
This follows the completion of board meeting of the directors of ETI in Accra on Monday and approval received from the three stock exchanges on which the bank is listed and securities regulatory bodies in those countries.
These are the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and BRVM of Cote d’Ivoire.
The offer includes a rights issue of 3,763,759,981 shares at $0.27 per share, which constitute 40 per cent or $1 billion, while the remaining $1.5 billion would be raised through an offer for subscription at $0.029 per share.
Shareholders at the annual general meeting held in Accra early this year approved the board decision to raise $3 billion to finance its expansion programme, as well as capitalise some of its operations in Accra.
The bank currently operates in 25 countries and has targeted 22 more countries in central and southern Africa.
At a press conference to announce the completion of the board meeting, which attracted both local and international media, the Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Mande Sidibe, stated that “the offer will be used to further strengthen Ecobank’s accelerated growth plan to expand its network of branches in countries where it currently operates”.
He said the exercise would offer Africans the opportunity to own part of the African bank and ensure that the bank remained an African company.
He said over the past years, the company had seen outstanding performance of the bank and urged the investing public to buy shares in the bank.
The group Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr Arnold Ekpe, stated that the company aimed at attracting both Africans and Africans in the Diaspora and other investors in the world.
He said the amount raised would not only go into expansion of its network in Africa but also to capitalise some of its operations on the continent.
The rights issue and the public offer are at discounts of 20 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively over a period of six weeks.
Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and CIMG Securities Limited are joint issuing houses to the offer in Nigeria, while Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and First Africa SA (Pty) Limited are the financial advisers to the offer in all the three markets.
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a pan-African Bank, will next Monday launch Africa’s biggest and first regional public offer and rights issue to raise $2.5 billion for its African expansion programme.
This follows the completion of board meeting of the directors of ETI in Accra on Monday and approval received from the three stock exchanges on which the bank is listed and securities regulatory bodies in those countries.
These are the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and BRVM of Cote d’Ivoire.
The offer includes a rights issue of 3,763,759,981 shares at $0.27 per share, which constitute 40 per cent or $1 billion, while the remaining $1.5 billion would be raised through an offer for subscription at $0.029 per share.
Shareholders at the annual general meeting held in Accra early this year approved the board decision to raise $3 billion to finance its expansion programme, as well as capitalise some of its operations in Accra.
The bank currently operates in 25 countries and has targeted 22 more countries in central and southern Africa.
At a press conference to announce the completion of the board meeting, which attracted both local and international media, the Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Mande Sidibe, stated that “the offer will be used to further strengthen Ecobank’s accelerated growth plan to expand its network of branches in countries where it currently operates”.
He said the exercise would offer Africans the opportunity to own part of the African bank and ensure that the bank remained an African company.
He said over the past years, the company had seen outstanding performance of the bank and urged the investing public to buy shares in the bank.
The group Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr Arnold Ekpe, stated that the company aimed at attracting both Africans and Africans in the Diaspora and other investors in the world.
He said the amount raised would not only go into expansion of its network in Africa but also to capitalise some of its operations on the continent.
The rights issue and the public offer are at discounts of 20 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively over a period of six weeks.
Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and CIMG Securities Limited are joint issuing houses to the offer in Nigeria, while Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and First Africa SA (Pty) Limited are the financial advisers to the offer in all the three markets.
ETI launches Africa's biggest public offer
Story: Boahene Asamoah & Gifty Appiah
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), yesterday launched Africa’s biggest rights issue and public offer to raise $2.5 billion for its expansion programme.
The landmark transaction in the history of Africa share offer and rights issue was simultaneously launched in 25 African countries and is also the first-ever cross-boarder transactions on three stock exchanges in Africa.
These are the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and BRVM of Cote d’Ivoire.
The transaction consists of $1 billion rights issue and $1.5 billion offer for subscription.
This constitutes a rights issue of 3,763,759,981 shares at $0.27 per share, which constitute 40 per cent or $1 billion, while the remaining $1.5 billion would be raised through an offer for subscription at $0.29 per share.
Launching the prospectus of the offers in Accra, President John Agyekum Kufuor in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, acknowledged the immense contribution of the banking sector to the development of the economy.
“Government is proud to be associated with Ecobank as it continually seeks to contribute to employment in the country by positioning strategic affiliates in Ghana notably the EB-Accion, which is dedicated to micro finance, Ecobank Development Corporation which is the regional investment wing of the whole group and Ecobank Ghana which is a universal bank with a special focus on retail banking,” President Kufuor stated.
President Kufuor also acknowledged the establishment of the bank’s shared services centre in Ghana to process all the back office activities of the 25 countries in which the bank operates.
He assured the banking industry that the government was committed to the development of the capital market in the country, alluding to the listing of SIC and GOIL to underscore the government’s commitment.
“Government intends to continually improve the economic environment to enable the banking sector to thrive and thereby improve funding to the private the sector substantially,” President Kufuor stated.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC), lead managers of the transaction, Mr Mike Ashong, who gave an overview of the offer, stated that the bank sought to raise $500 million from the debt market in addition to the $2.5 billion to be raised on the capital market.
He said the transaction was a landmark one, being the first company to list on the three regional markets in West Africa.
Mr Ashong said the company had satisfied all the regulatory requirements from the three stock exchanges, as well as other regulators, and assured investors of value for their money should they invest in the company.
He said 52 per cent of the amount to be raised, which is $1.4 billion, would be used to capitalise existing subsidiaries, adding that “it is the vision of the bank to be among the first three banks in each market we operate”.
The remaining amount, he said, would go into acquisitions and branch expansion into new markets, and upgrade the groups technology.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana Limited, Mr Samuel Ashitey Adjei, stated that the bank was committed to Africa hence its strategy to expand its operations to other parts on the continent.
Shareholders at the annual general meeting held in Accra early this year approved the board decision to raise $3 billion to finance its expansion programme, as well as capitalise some of its operations in Accra.
The bank currently operates in 25 countries and has targeted 22 more countries in central and southern Africa.
The rights issue and the public offer are at discounts of 20 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively over a period of six weeks.
Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and CIMG Securities Limited are joint issuing houses to the offer in Nigeria, while Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and First Africa SA (Pty) Limited are the financial advisers to the offer in all the three markets.
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI), yesterday launched Africa’s biggest rights issue and public offer to raise $2.5 billion for its expansion programme.
The landmark transaction in the history of Africa share offer and rights issue was simultaneously launched in 25 African countries and is also the first-ever cross-boarder transactions on three stock exchanges in Africa.
These are the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and BRVM of Cote d’Ivoire.
The transaction consists of $1 billion rights issue and $1.5 billion offer for subscription.
This constitutes a rights issue of 3,763,759,981 shares at $0.27 per share, which constitute 40 per cent or $1 billion, while the remaining $1.5 billion would be raised through an offer for subscription at $0.29 per share.
Launching the prospectus of the offers in Accra, President John Agyekum Kufuor in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, acknowledged the immense contribution of the banking sector to the development of the economy.
“Government is proud to be associated with Ecobank as it continually seeks to contribute to employment in the country by positioning strategic affiliates in Ghana notably the EB-Accion, which is dedicated to micro finance, Ecobank Development Corporation which is the regional investment wing of the whole group and Ecobank Ghana which is a universal bank with a special focus on retail banking,” President Kufuor stated.
President Kufuor also acknowledged the establishment of the bank’s shared services centre in Ghana to process all the back office activities of the 25 countries in which the bank operates.
He assured the banking industry that the government was committed to the development of the capital market in the country, alluding to the listing of SIC and GOIL to underscore the government’s commitment.
“Government intends to continually improve the economic environment to enable the banking sector to thrive and thereby improve funding to the private the sector substantially,” President Kufuor stated.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC), lead managers of the transaction, Mr Mike Ashong, who gave an overview of the offer, stated that the bank sought to raise $500 million from the debt market in addition to the $2.5 billion to be raised on the capital market.
He said the transaction was a landmark one, being the first company to list on the three regional markets in West Africa.
Mr Ashong said the company had satisfied all the regulatory requirements from the three stock exchanges, as well as other regulators, and assured investors of value for their money should they invest in the company.
He said 52 per cent of the amount to be raised, which is $1.4 billion, would be used to capitalise existing subsidiaries, adding that “it is the vision of the bank to be among the first three banks in each market we operate”.
The remaining amount, he said, would go into acquisitions and branch expansion into new markets, and upgrade the groups technology.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana Limited, Mr Samuel Ashitey Adjei, stated that the bank was committed to Africa hence its strategy to expand its operations to other parts on the continent.
Shareholders at the annual general meeting held in Accra early this year approved the board decision to raise $3 billion to finance its expansion programme, as well as capitalise some of its operations in Accra.
The bank currently operates in 25 countries and has targeted 22 more countries in central and southern Africa.
The rights issue and the public offer are at discounts of 20 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively over a period of six weeks.
Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and CIMG Securities Limited are joint issuing houses to the offer in Nigeria, while Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and First Africa SA (Pty) Limited are the financial advisers to the offer in all the three markets.
Provide useful information on economy, Baah Wiredu
Story: Boahene Asamoah
THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, yesterday launched the Graphic Business paper and challenged the publishers to use the medium to provide useful information on the economy to the people.
He mentioned the rapid expansion of banks, resulting in the opening of several branches in the country, and the construction boom being experienced in the country and added that ‘these reflect real development of the economy, which the people must be informed about in order to appreciate the strides that the country had made over the past decade.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch of the paper in Accra, which is the eighth title of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Baah-Wiredu said “the time is ripe for a credible paper on business and finance from a credible newspaper”.
The minister said Ghana had recorded positive developments in the economy in spite of the global soaring oil and food prices and stated that “the economy is growing”.
He charged GCGL to endeavour to make the business newspaper the reference point for business people in West Africa and beyond.
He also called on the publishers to extend the same level of credibility, factuality and accuracy associated with its other seven brands to the Graphic Business.
The minister praised the management of GCGL and described the company as “a model of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) that have consistently been profitable”.
He mentioned the increase in payment of dividends yearly by GCGL as very “handsome” and expressed the government’s appreciation to the board and management of the company for their performance.
The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, who chaired the function, stated that there was the need for the media to extend what they had done for civil liberties of the ordinary Ghanaian to support the growth of the business sector.
He said the paper should go beyond the mere reporting of news to analyse the news to make it relevant to the business community.
Mr Oteng-Gyasi, however, did not doubt the ability of GCGL to extend its market leadership in news to cover the business and economic news and analysis.
The Managing Director of GCGL, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, assured the gathering that the company had assembled some of the best human resources in business and financial reporting.
He said the company would partner business to develop and grow as the country was poised for growth.
Mr Awal said with foreign direct investments at record highs, gross domestic product growing and also a growing confidence in the business sector, there was the need to provide the investors and business people with the relevant and timely information to make investment decisions.
The President of the Advertisers Association of Ghana, Mr Reginald Laryea, was optimistic that the new paper would give advertisers other options to reach out to niche market.
Mr Sameer Gupta, Managing Director of Honda Place, the major sponsors of the launch, said they were happy to be associated with the newspaper in light of the potential it holds.
He said the company as part of its efforts to support the paper had offered a 10 and 20 per cent discount respectively on any Honda and Audi vehicle for anybody who buys the paper until the end of September, 2008.
A representative of Ghana Commercial Bank, Mr Lord Badu; the Managing Director of Primex Ghana Limited, Mr Annu Gupta; and Mrs Pearl Essah-Mensah, the Finance Director of UT, all expressed their support for the paper.
The first copy of the paper was auctioned for GH¢2,000 and was bought by Mr Sameer Gupta. Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu initialled the first 10 copies of the paper, which were auctioned by Mrs Naa Norkor Duah, Chief Executive Officer of Lowe Lintas.
The GCGL launched the paper to demonstrate its commitment to meeting the increasing need for a newspaper dedicated to the business community.
THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, yesterday launched the Graphic Business paper and challenged the publishers to use the medium to provide useful information on the economy to the people.
He mentioned the rapid expansion of banks, resulting in the opening of several branches in the country, and the construction boom being experienced in the country and added that ‘these reflect real development of the economy, which the people must be informed about in order to appreciate the strides that the country had made over the past decade.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch of the paper in Accra, which is the eighth title of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Baah-Wiredu said “the time is ripe for a credible paper on business and finance from a credible newspaper”.
The minister said Ghana had recorded positive developments in the economy in spite of the global soaring oil and food prices and stated that “the economy is growing”.
He charged GCGL to endeavour to make the business newspaper the reference point for business people in West Africa and beyond.
He also called on the publishers to extend the same level of credibility, factuality and accuracy associated with its other seven brands to the Graphic Business.
The minister praised the management of GCGL and described the company as “a model of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) that have consistently been profitable”.
He mentioned the increase in payment of dividends yearly by GCGL as very “handsome” and expressed the government’s appreciation to the board and management of the company for their performance.
The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, who chaired the function, stated that there was the need for the media to extend what they had done for civil liberties of the ordinary Ghanaian to support the growth of the business sector.
He said the paper should go beyond the mere reporting of news to analyse the news to make it relevant to the business community.
Mr Oteng-Gyasi, however, did not doubt the ability of GCGL to extend its market leadership in news to cover the business and economic news and analysis.
The Managing Director of GCGL, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, assured the gathering that the company had assembled some of the best human resources in business and financial reporting.
He said the company would partner business to develop and grow as the country was poised for growth.
Mr Awal said with foreign direct investments at record highs, gross domestic product growing and also a growing confidence in the business sector, there was the need to provide the investors and business people with the relevant and timely information to make investment decisions.
The President of the Advertisers Association of Ghana, Mr Reginald Laryea, was optimistic that the new paper would give advertisers other options to reach out to niche market.
Mr Sameer Gupta, Managing Director of Honda Place, the major sponsors of the launch, said they were happy to be associated with the newspaper in light of the potential it holds.
He said the company as part of its efforts to support the paper had offered a 10 and 20 per cent discount respectively on any Honda and Audi vehicle for anybody who buys the paper until the end of September, 2008.
A representative of Ghana Commercial Bank, Mr Lord Badu; the Managing Director of Primex Ghana Limited, Mr Annu Gupta; and Mrs Pearl Essah-Mensah, the Finance Director of UT, all expressed their support for the paper.
The first copy of the paper was auctioned for GH¢2,000 and was bought by Mr Sameer Gupta. Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu initialled the first 10 copies of the paper, which were auctioned by Mrs Naa Norkor Duah, Chief Executive Officer of Lowe Lintas.
The GCGL launched the paper to demonstrate its commitment to meeting the increasing need for a newspaper dedicated to the business community.
Intercontinetal Bank to increase branch network
Story: Boahene Asamoah
INTERCONTINENTAL Bank, Ghana Limited, has said it hopes to double its branch network from the present 10 to 20 branches by the end of this year.
These branches would include two new branches at Tarkwa and Takoradi in the Western Region and eight more branches in Accra and other strategic locations in the country.
This was contained in the annual report of the bank for the 2007 financial year released to the press.
According to the report, the bank recorded a a profit of GH¢146,070, whiles the bank’s balance sheet also increased to GH¢98.7 million from GH¢19.6 million recorded in the previous year.
Profit after tax increased from a loss of GH¢693,687 in 2006 to GH¢127,307 for the year under review.
In his report, the Managing Director of the bank stated that ‘there is no doubt that this year we want to clearly take our deserved position as a leader in the industry’.
He stated that all the bank’s growth plans are to be vigorously pursued with all the necessary staff motivation benefits introduced.
The bank said to ensure high calibre of staff and professionals, the bank had trained nine senior staff in top European training institute as well as 129 staff locally to deliver quality service and sharpen their skills in various disciplines.
Again, 29 staff members were promoted to higher grades to motivate them.
The company presently employs 405 staff in Ghana, 14 of whom are expatriates.
The company last year undertook a re-branding strategy and launching of the new corporate logo.
On its social responsibility, the bank supported a number of initiatives, including the construction of the multi-purpose car park at the Ohene Gyan stadium to host the African Nations at the cost GH¢410,000.
The bank also supported the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces in its awards to its outstanding soldiers and also a hole-in-heart patient at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
INTERCONTINENTAL Bank, Ghana Limited, has said it hopes to double its branch network from the present 10 to 20 branches by the end of this year.
These branches would include two new branches at Tarkwa and Takoradi in the Western Region and eight more branches in Accra and other strategic locations in the country.
This was contained in the annual report of the bank for the 2007 financial year released to the press.
According to the report, the bank recorded a a profit of GH¢146,070, whiles the bank’s balance sheet also increased to GH¢98.7 million from GH¢19.6 million recorded in the previous year.
Profit after tax increased from a loss of GH¢693,687 in 2006 to GH¢127,307 for the year under review.
In his report, the Managing Director of the bank stated that ‘there is no doubt that this year we want to clearly take our deserved position as a leader in the industry’.
He stated that all the bank’s growth plans are to be vigorously pursued with all the necessary staff motivation benefits introduced.
The bank said to ensure high calibre of staff and professionals, the bank had trained nine senior staff in top European training institute as well as 129 staff locally to deliver quality service and sharpen their skills in various disciplines.
Again, 29 staff members were promoted to higher grades to motivate them.
The company presently employs 405 staff in Ghana, 14 of whom are expatriates.
The company last year undertook a re-branding strategy and launching of the new corporate logo.
On its social responsibility, the bank supported a number of initiatives, including the construction of the multi-purpose car park at the Ohene Gyan stadium to host the African Nations at the cost GH¢410,000.
The bank also supported the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces in its awards to its outstanding soldiers and also a hole-in-heart patient at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Story: Boahene Asamoah
‘BUILDING a pan-African bank is our core strategy’, says the Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Mr Anorld Ekpe, who is spearheading Africa’s multi-national bank.
Yet, Arnold remains humble and would rather attribute the success chalked by the bank during his time as the CEO so far to what he described as ‘a good team work’.
‘I am working with a dedicated team of professional who are passionate and committed to Africa’, he stated.
Mr Ekpe suggests that the achievement by the Pan-African bank and Africa’s own global bank is also partly due to the foresight and vision of some his predecessors, adding that ‘I have been lucky to be working with a good team of professionals’.
‘I came it at time when the group wanted to re-launch its growth strategy and expand into other African countries’, he said.
Today, that transformation has seen the bank move from 13 countries in 2006 to 25 countries at the first half of 2008, employing over 14 nationals with a workforce of 10,000 people across Africa.
Trained as a mechanical engineer, he also has a second degree in Banking and Finance, from the Manchester University in the United Kingdom and has a wide experience in banking and finance having worked for ten years with Citibank as head of Corporate and trade finance in Africa.
He described his relations with Ecobank as a ‘love story’, having joined the bank in 1996, left in 2001 and came back in 2003 as its group CEO.
Mr Ekpe and his team of executives have transformed the bank from purely a regional bank to become the biggest bank in Africa in terms of reach, with presence in over 25 countries.
The bank under his leadership was the first to list on three stock exchanges in Africa, propelling other banks in the sub-region to also look beyond their countries.
Today Ecobank is blazing the tale and has set its eyes to become the household name in Africa.
‘We have a dual mission, first, to build a world class pan African bank and secondly to help African economies to grow’, he stated.
The bank has chalked a number of success under the transformational leadership of Arnold and his team.
The recent is the landmark transactions believed to be Africa’s biggest rights issue and public offer to raise $2.5 billion for its expansion programme.
The landmark transaction in the history of Africa share offer and rights issue was simultaneously launched in 25 African countries and is also the first-ever cross-boarder transactions on three stock exchanges in Africa.
These are the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and BRVM of Cote d’Ivoire.
The transaction consists of $1 billion rights issue and $1.5 billion offer for subscription.
This constitutes a rights issue of 3,763,759,981 shares at $0.27 per share, which constitute 40 per cent or $1 billion, while the remaining $1.5 billion would be raised through an offer for subscription at $0.29 per share.
Arnold thinks, what he and his team are pioneering is nothing new but rather what the team has learnt from other global banks like HSBC and replicating such strategies in Africa.
He dismisses suggestions that the rights issue and public offer were ambitious saying, ‘three years ago when set our strategy to be in 20 African countries by 2009, back then it seemed ambitious, but today, we are in 25 countries, doubling the size of our workforce and helping African economies’.
‘We have to think big’, he stated and added that ‘We have not lacked ambition.
The bank during the past three years has made investments in other subsidiaries. Earlier this year, the bank opened its $100 million shared service centre in Accra to process the group’s back office activities.
It has also established the Ecobank Development Corporation, the investment wing of the group, as well as partnered Accion in setting up the micro-finance unit across the group.
‘Africa is our strategy’, he reiterated and explained that the group commitment to Africa was to ensure its operations were not closed down even in times of civil unrest as other businesses do.
Again, he said
One of the challenges Mr Ekpe has come to terms with at the top of the corporate ladder, he stated, is managing growth, getting the right people, service quality and culture as some of the major impediments that confront corporate leaders.
Arnold Ekpe who won African Business Leader of the Year award for last year, says Africa does not lack quality human resources capable of transforming organisations, but was quick to state that ‘some people are born ahead of time, while others live past their time.
In all his accolades, Arnold, remains a simple man and an affable personality and says Africa has good prospects, alluding to the improved good governance in most African countries, relatively stable and growing economies and an emerging middle class that offers tremendous opportunity for the bank.
Arnold prefers to have his private and family life ‘private’.
‘BUILDING a pan-African bank is our core strategy’, says the Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Mr Anorld Ekpe, who is spearheading Africa’s multi-national bank.
Yet, Arnold remains humble and would rather attribute the success chalked by the bank during his time as the CEO so far to what he described as ‘a good team work’.
‘I am working with a dedicated team of professional who are passionate and committed to Africa’, he stated.
Mr Ekpe suggests that the achievement by the Pan-African bank and Africa’s own global bank is also partly due to the foresight and vision of some his predecessors, adding that ‘I have been lucky to be working with a good team of professionals’.
‘I came it at time when the group wanted to re-launch its growth strategy and expand into other African countries’, he said.
Today, that transformation has seen the bank move from 13 countries in 2006 to 25 countries at the first half of 2008, employing over 14 nationals with a workforce of 10,000 people across Africa.
Trained as a mechanical engineer, he also has a second degree in Banking and Finance, from the Manchester University in the United Kingdom and has a wide experience in banking and finance having worked for ten years with Citibank as head of Corporate and trade finance in Africa.
He described his relations with Ecobank as a ‘love story’, having joined the bank in 1996, left in 2001 and came back in 2003 as its group CEO.
Mr Ekpe and his team of executives have transformed the bank from purely a regional bank to become the biggest bank in Africa in terms of reach, with presence in over 25 countries.
The bank under his leadership was the first to list on three stock exchanges in Africa, propelling other banks in the sub-region to also look beyond their countries.
Today Ecobank is blazing the tale and has set its eyes to become the household name in Africa.
‘We have a dual mission, first, to build a world class pan African bank and secondly to help African economies to grow’, he stated.
The bank has chalked a number of success under the transformational leadership of Arnold and his team.
The recent is the landmark transactions believed to be Africa’s biggest rights issue and public offer to raise $2.5 billion for its expansion programme.
The landmark transaction in the history of Africa share offer and rights issue was simultaneously launched in 25 African countries and is also the first-ever cross-boarder transactions on three stock exchanges in Africa.
These are the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and BRVM of Cote d’Ivoire.
The transaction consists of $1 billion rights issue and $1.5 billion offer for subscription.
This constitutes a rights issue of 3,763,759,981 shares at $0.27 per share, which constitute 40 per cent or $1 billion, while the remaining $1.5 billion would be raised through an offer for subscription at $0.29 per share.
Arnold thinks, what he and his team are pioneering is nothing new but rather what the team has learnt from other global banks like HSBC and replicating such strategies in Africa.
He dismisses suggestions that the rights issue and public offer were ambitious saying, ‘three years ago when set our strategy to be in 20 African countries by 2009, back then it seemed ambitious, but today, we are in 25 countries, doubling the size of our workforce and helping African economies’.
‘We have to think big’, he stated and added that ‘We have not lacked ambition.
The bank during the past three years has made investments in other subsidiaries. Earlier this year, the bank opened its $100 million shared service centre in Accra to process the group’s back office activities.
It has also established the Ecobank Development Corporation, the investment wing of the group, as well as partnered Accion in setting up the micro-finance unit across the group.
‘Africa is our strategy’, he reiterated and explained that the group commitment to Africa was to ensure its operations were not closed down even in times of civil unrest as other businesses do.
Again, he said
One of the challenges Mr Ekpe has come to terms with at the top of the corporate ladder, he stated, is managing growth, getting the right people, service quality and culture as some of the major impediments that confront corporate leaders.
Arnold Ekpe who won African Business Leader of the Year award for last year, says Africa does not lack quality human resources capable of transforming organisations, but was quick to state that ‘some people are born ahead of time, while others live past their time.
In all his accolades, Arnold, remains a simple man and an affable personality and says Africa has good prospects, alluding to the improved good governance in most African countries, relatively stable and growing economies and an emerging middle class that offers tremendous opportunity for the bank.
Arnold prefers to have his private and family life ‘private’.
Economy should trible to achieve middle income status
Story: Boahene Asamoah
GHANA’s rate of growth should increase by threefold in order to hit a per capital of $815 and $1020 by 2010 and 2012, analysts have predicted.
Ghana’s rate of growth has increased from 3.7 per cent in 2000 to 6.4 per cent by the end of last year.
The government has projected a per capital income of $1,000 by 2015, but analyst from Renaissance Capital thinks, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has to triple to attain this feat.
The economy has been robust according to analyst and these robust growth if triple would deliver the increased in per capital income.
‘Furthermore, we think the $1,000 threshold in income per capita will represent an important pschological boost at a time when oil production starts accelerating structural change’, the analyst said.
However, a rise in GDP capital may not be fully indicative of actual income dynamics as a result of endowment differentials, notably in countries with small populations or oil exporters, leading in some cases to inflated GPD per capital levels.
According to Rennaissance Capital, in termsn of inequality, Ghana’s Gini Coefficient stands at 40.8 on a scale of 100, that is Ghana is ranged 135 among 177 countries.
This is far below most Sub-Saharan African countries having a relative level of development, but well above the level recorded in the developed world.
Research has revealed that recent economic reforms have sustained the consolidation of a domestic middle class which would become more evident when the results of new surveys are released in the future.
According to the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), Human Development report for 2007-2008 shows cross-country comparisons were undermined by difference in survey methodology as well as the lack of updates since 2000’s.
The report reveals that Ghana has one of the lowest shares of income held by the 10 and 20 per cents richest segments of the population in the group of the SSA frontier markets.
The growth rate for Ghana is expected to hit seven per cent by the end of the year, but analyst expect that target to be review downwards.
The rise food and oil prices have taken a serious hit at the economy threatening the macro-economic stability.
However, government officials maintain the economy has been robust in the face of the global world crises.
Inflation has soared but has recently shown signs of marginal decline.
There is a large number of informal sector operators which constiute a huge number of people and as a result any increase in per capita income would only affect the small middle class and may not be indicative of a real growth in GDP.
GHANA’s rate of growth should increase by threefold in order to hit a per capital of $815 and $1020 by 2010 and 2012, analysts have predicted.
Ghana’s rate of growth has increased from 3.7 per cent in 2000 to 6.4 per cent by the end of last year.
The government has projected a per capital income of $1,000 by 2015, but analyst from Renaissance Capital thinks, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has to triple to attain this feat.
The economy has been robust according to analyst and these robust growth if triple would deliver the increased in per capital income.
‘Furthermore, we think the $1,000 threshold in income per capita will represent an important pschological boost at a time when oil production starts accelerating structural change’, the analyst said.
However, a rise in GDP capital may not be fully indicative of actual income dynamics as a result of endowment differentials, notably in countries with small populations or oil exporters, leading in some cases to inflated GPD per capital levels.
According to Rennaissance Capital, in termsn of inequality, Ghana’s Gini Coefficient stands at 40.8 on a scale of 100, that is Ghana is ranged 135 among 177 countries.
This is far below most Sub-Saharan African countries having a relative level of development, but well above the level recorded in the developed world.
Research has revealed that recent economic reforms have sustained the consolidation of a domestic middle class which would become more evident when the results of new surveys are released in the future.
According to the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), Human Development report for 2007-2008 shows cross-country comparisons were undermined by difference in survey methodology as well as the lack of updates since 2000’s.
The report reveals that Ghana has one of the lowest shares of income held by the 10 and 20 per cents richest segments of the population in the group of the SSA frontier markets.
The growth rate for Ghana is expected to hit seven per cent by the end of the year, but analyst expect that target to be review downwards.
The rise food and oil prices have taken a serious hit at the economy threatening the macro-economic stability.
However, government officials maintain the economy has been robust in the face of the global world crises.
Inflation has soared but has recently shown signs of marginal decline.
There is a large number of informal sector operators which constiute a huge number of people and as a result any increase in per capita income would only affect the small middle class and may not be indicative of a real growth in GDP.
CPC to operate second factory by the end of the year
CPC (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah
COCOA Processing Company (CPC) exporters of cocoa liquor, cake and butter says its rehabilitation works on its second factory would be completed by the end of the year.
The rehabiltation of its old factory which was expected to have been completed in my middle of this year had to be postponed because of the inability of the West African Pipeline project which was expected to power the new factory.
The expansion works on the second factory constitued an upgrade of the old factory to modern standards which would increase its current capacity to from 25,000 tonnes to 34,000 tonnes.
The company last year completed the first phase of its expansion work which saw the installation of a new modern cocoa milling plant with a capacity of 30,000.
The complete expansion works would move the company’s total production capacity to about 65,000 tonnes per annun and generate over $100 million in revenue.
Speaking in an interview the Managing Director of the company, Mr Richard Armah-Tetteh, said as a result of the non completion of the West African Gas Pipeline an alternative arrangement has been made to procure a steman coil to power the factory.
The company as part of its expansion programme contracted a 22 million euro for its expansion works and a another $22 million for the rehabilitation and civil works.
‘Our aim is to be build a world class factory site comparable to any other factory in the world’, he stated.
Mr Tetteh added that the rehabilitation also includes the rehabilitation of the confectionery section to upgrade its capacity to about 3,000 metric tonnes per annum from the current 1,600 metric tonnes.
The company is currently replacing old machines with new ones.
He said there has been tremendous increase in the demand for confectionery products of the company over the past few years.
‘The Ghanaian market is expanding greatly and we need to position ourselves to take advantage of that to make the products available,’ the managing director stated.
He said to ensure availability of the its confectionery products the company has in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board established a shop at the refurburshed Cocoa Houset to provide a one-stop shop for both wholesellers and retailers as well as servce as the marketing information centre.
Additionally, the company has opened new depot in Kumasi and Takoradi as part of efforts to promote its finished products.
Mr Tetteh said ‘our long term vision is process 60 per cent of the raw materials’, noting that the finished products are the high earning products.
He said the company has also embarked on a diverisfication of the markets for its products to new market areas such as Asia, Eastern Europe and other African countries.
Story: Boahene Asamoah
COCOA Processing Company (CPC) exporters of cocoa liquor, cake and butter says its rehabilitation works on its second factory would be completed by the end of the year.
The rehabiltation of its old factory which was expected to have been completed in my middle of this year had to be postponed because of the inability of the West African Pipeline project which was expected to power the new factory.
The expansion works on the second factory constitued an upgrade of the old factory to modern standards which would increase its current capacity to from 25,000 tonnes to 34,000 tonnes.
The company last year completed the first phase of its expansion work which saw the installation of a new modern cocoa milling plant with a capacity of 30,000.
The complete expansion works would move the company’s total production capacity to about 65,000 tonnes per annun and generate over $100 million in revenue.
Speaking in an interview the Managing Director of the company, Mr Richard Armah-Tetteh, said as a result of the non completion of the West African Gas Pipeline an alternative arrangement has been made to procure a steman coil to power the factory.
The company as part of its expansion programme contracted a 22 million euro for its expansion works and a another $22 million for the rehabilitation and civil works.
‘Our aim is to be build a world class factory site comparable to any other factory in the world’, he stated.
Mr Tetteh added that the rehabilitation also includes the rehabilitation of the confectionery section to upgrade its capacity to about 3,000 metric tonnes per annum from the current 1,600 metric tonnes.
The company is currently replacing old machines with new ones.
He said there has been tremendous increase in the demand for confectionery products of the company over the past few years.
‘The Ghanaian market is expanding greatly and we need to position ourselves to take advantage of that to make the products available,’ the managing director stated.
He said to ensure availability of the its confectionery products the company has in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board established a shop at the refurburshed Cocoa Houset to provide a one-stop shop for both wholesellers and retailers as well as servce as the marketing information centre.
Additionally, the company has opened new depot in Kumasi and Takoradi as part of efforts to promote its finished products.
Mr Tetteh said ‘our long term vision is process 60 per cent of the raw materials’, noting that the finished products are the high earning products.
He said the company has also embarked on a diverisfication of the markets for its products to new market areas such as Asia, Eastern Europe and other African countries.
Value addition to spur cocoa growth
Boahene Asamoah examines the government’s policy to process about 40 per cent of cocoa products locally and the response of the policy by some foreign firms.
The government over the past few years announced a policy to process over 40 per cent of cocoa production locally in a bid to add value to the raw cocoa beans being exported.
Ghana’s cocoa is of premium quality on the international market, but it is the value addition that is the high earn value of the cocoa business.
Ghana exported about 730,000 tonnes of cocoa beans out of which about 13 per cent of total production are processed into semi-finished products such as cocoa liquor, butter and cake.
Again, out of the total cocoa production, only one per cent are processed into finished products such as chocolate, and other confectionery products.
Until recently, the West African Mills (WAMCO) in Takoradi, Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebaut were the only major companies producing semi-finished products on large scale for exports.
However over the past three years, these companies have made significant investments into their operations and has subsequently increased their capacity, while new entrants have taken advantage of the government’s policy.
CPC has embarked on an expansion programme that would see its production capacity increased to 64,500 metric tonnes of cocoa powder, liquor and cake.
Barry Callebaut is also undertaken a expansion programme that would double its capacity to 60,000 metric tonnes per annum.
WAMPCO capacity has increased tremendously ever since it was divested and currently has a capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes.
New companies such as Gergens Cargilm, ADM, Afrotropic and Commodity processing are currently putting up capacities of 60,000, 60,000 15,000 and another 15,000 metric tonnes respectively to process raw cocoa into semi finished products such as cocoa butter, cake, powder and liquor.
So far Afrotropic and Commodity Processing Industries which is joint venture between some Ghanaians and their foreign partners are reported to have started operations.
Cargil and ADM which are part of a multi-national companies are expected to begin operations by the end of the year. These companies however, do process for their mother companies in Europe and America.
According to some industry experts, there is growing cost of processing raw cocoa beans in the developed countries and thereby many cocoa producing firms are looking towards Ghana to process cocoa for the european and the US market.
Again the emergence of of the Asian tigers especially China and India has stimluated the demand for cocoa products especially from Ghana and West Africa.
Ghana’s cocoa enjoy’s high patronage especially in Japan and other Asian countries. The industry presently is receiving very significant private investments and become vibrant.
The combine production of these companies is expected to reach 354,500 tonnes by the end of next year, nearly 50 per cent of total production.
However, some industry experts say the rising cost of cocoa price on the international market is source of concern for local processing companies.
Cocoa sales in Ghana are effected on contractual basis for future delivery and such products compete with other products from other major cocoa producing countries such as Cote d’Iviore, Cameroun, Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Cocoa prices on the international market currrently stands at $2,862 per metric tonne, the same price local processing firms have to pay for cocoa beans.
Cocoa has been grown in Ghana since the mid 19th Century.
Processing of cocoa in the country however, started in 1947 at the Cocoa was first exported at the end of the 19th century, and between 1911 - 1976 Ghana was the world's leading producer, contributing between 30-40 per cent of the world' s total output.
There are currently around 1.6 million people involved in growing cocoa and many more in associated industries.
In the late 1970s the world market price for cocoa plummeted by two thirds. Ghanaian cocoa farmers were getting less than 40 per cent of the world market price from Cocobod and so many stopped producing cocoa altogether.
The situation worsened after the droughts and accompanying bush fires of the early 1980s and production in Ghana fell from a third of the world's total in 1972 to just 12 per cent of total world production.
At this stage the World Bank and International Monetary Fund intervened with a Structural Adjustment Programme to "rescue" the economy.
Today the government offers over 70 per cent of the producer price to cocoa farmers.
Production of cocoa have soar on account of government intervention in the form of mass spraying of cocoa farms throughout the country since 2002, hitting record highs in 2005.
The government over the past few years announced a policy to process over 40 per cent of cocoa production locally in a bid to add value to the raw cocoa beans being exported.
Ghana’s cocoa is of premium quality on the international market, but it is the value addition that is the high earn value of the cocoa business.
Ghana exported about 730,000 tonnes of cocoa beans out of which about 13 per cent of total production are processed into semi-finished products such as cocoa liquor, butter and cake.
Again, out of the total cocoa production, only one per cent are processed into finished products such as chocolate, and other confectionery products.
Until recently, the West African Mills (WAMCO) in Takoradi, Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebaut were the only major companies producing semi-finished products on large scale for exports.
However over the past three years, these companies have made significant investments into their operations and has subsequently increased their capacity, while new entrants have taken advantage of the government’s policy.
CPC has embarked on an expansion programme that would see its production capacity increased to 64,500 metric tonnes of cocoa powder, liquor and cake.
Barry Callebaut is also undertaken a expansion programme that would double its capacity to 60,000 metric tonnes per annum.
WAMPCO capacity has increased tremendously ever since it was divested and currently has a capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes.
New companies such as Gergens Cargilm, ADM, Afrotropic and Commodity processing are currently putting up capacities of 60,000, 60,000 15,000 and another 15,000 metric tonnes respectively to process raw cocoa into semi finished products such as cocoa butter, cake, powder and liquor.
So far Afrotropic and Commodity Processing Industries which is joint venture between some Ghanaians and their foreign partners are reported to have started operations.
Cargil and ADM which are part of a multi-national companies are expected to begin operations by the end of the year. These companies however, do process for their mother companies in Europe and America.
According to some industry experts, there is growing cost of processing raw cocoa beans in the developed countries and thereby many cocoa producing firms are looking towards Ghana to process cocoa for the european and the US market.
Again the emergence of of the Asian tigers especially China and India has stimluated the demand for cocoa products especially from Ghana and West Africa.
Ghana’s cocoa enjoy’s high patronage especially in Japan and other Asian countries. The industry presently is receiving very significant private investments and become vibrant.
The combine production of these companies is expected to reach 354,500 tonnes by the end of next year, nearly 50 per cent of total production.
However, some industry experts say the rising cost of cocoa price on the international market is source of concern for local processing companies.
Cocoa sales in Ghana are effected on contractual basis for future delivery and such products compete with other products from other major cocoa producing countries such as Cote d’Iviore, Cameroun, Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Cocoa prices on the international market currrently stands at $2,862 per metric tonne, the same price local processing firms have to pay for cocoa beans.
Cocoa has been grown in Ghana since the mid 19th Century.
Processing of cocoa in the country however, started in 1947 at the Cocoa was first exported at the end of the 19th century, and between 1911 - 1976 Ghana was the world's leading producer, contributing between 30-40 per cent of the world' s total output.
There are currently around 1.6 million people involved in growing cocoa and many more in associated industries.
In the late 1970s the world market price for cocoa plummeted by two thirds. Ghanaian cocoa farmers were getting less than 40 per cent of the world market price from Cocobod and so many stopped producing cocoa altogether.
The situation worsened after the droughts and accompanying bush fires of the early 1980s and production in Ghana fell from a third of the world's total in 1972 to just 12 per cent of total world production.
At this stage the World Bank and International Monetary Fund intervened with a Structural Adjustment Programme to "rescue" the economy.
Today the government offers over 70 per cent of the producer price to cocoa farmers.
Production of cocoa have soar on account of government intervention in the form of mass spraying of cocoa farms throughout the country since 2002, hitting record highs in 2005.
More investments means more risk
Many investments firms are turning the eyes on emerging economies as mature markets offer little investment returns Boahene Asamoah examines the Renaissance Group, as its founder and CEO paids a working visit to Ghana today (Tuesday September 9)
Stephen Jennings, CEO of Renaissance Group
The founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Reniassance, the World’s leading investment banking firm, Mr Stephen visits Ghana as part of the group’s investment drive in Africa.
His visit to Ghana comes at a time when the group had recently opened a full time office in Ghana and also at a time when Ghana was increasingly becoming an investment detination within the sub-region of West Africa.
Mr Jennings is here to meet key policy makers, financial markets regulators and industry and business leaders in Ghana.
As one of the founders of Renaissance Capital in 1995, Mr. Jennings has been actively involved in building the firm's investment banking and securities sales and trading businesses.
He played a key role during the early years of the Firm's development, including serving as Head of Investment Banking, Head of Sales, and Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to establishing Renaissance Capital, Mr Jennings served as Co-Head of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), Moscow from 1992 to 1995.
He was directly responsible for Credit Suisse First Boston's investment banking during a period when CSFB was recognised as the dominant market player in developing and executing pioneering transactions in the Russian marketplace.
He has worked on numerous landmark financings and M&A transactions in Russia and throughout the CIS, many of which have won professional awards and commendations.
Before coming to Russia in 1992, Mr. Jennings was with CSFB in London, where he worked on investment banking and privatisation transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Previously, he worked for Credit Suisse First Boston and the Treasury in New Zealand
Mr. Jennings earned his Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Massey University and holds an M.Phil. in Economics with first class honours from the University of Auckland.
Renaissance Group is the number one financial institution in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The Group's core business is Renaissance Capital, a full-service investment bank founded in 1995 with leading market positions in Middle East and Africa and other markets and research.
The group also includes several other businesses, all of which are leaders in their fields: Renaissance Investment Management (asset management for institutions and high-net-worth individuals), Renaissance Credit (consumer finance), Renaissance Partners (merchant banking/private equity), and Renaissance Online (online trading platform).
Renaissance Group which is headquartered in Moscow has in the past several years, expanded to other high-opportunity emerging markets including neighbouring Ukraine and Kazakhstan, where the firm has similar market-leading positions in investment banking, asset management and consumer credit.
Over the last two years the Group has also aggressively expanded into sub-Saharan Africa, quickly becoming a leader in rapidly emerging markets like Nigeria and Kenya.
The groups’s unique strength is in combining hard-won and detailed local market expertise with very highest standards of operational and regulatory efficiency and integrity.
In Africa the group has expanded over the past 18 months to employing more than 150 people on the ground in last 18 months.
Operations across sub-Sahara including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The group currently has $6.5 million of funds unde management, and saw a nearly 100 per cent growth in assets.
The group is also a major issuer of credit cards, with more than 12,000 credit issurance centres with a total clientele of over two million customers.
Renaissance Group has built the largest and most experienced team of world-class market professionals dedicated solely to Sub-Saharan Africa and has created a fully-fledged investment banking, asset management and merchant banking operation run by Africans in Africa in the space of just two years.
Renaissance Investment Management's Africa Fund which was launched in 2007, had assets under management of approximately $110 million as of the end of June this year and is committed to bring this up to more than $200million by the first quarter of 2009.
Stephen Jennings, CEO of Renaissance Group
The founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Reniassance, the World’s leading investment banking firm, Mr Stephen visits Ghana as part of the group’s investment drive in Africa.
His visit to Ghana comes at a time when the group had recently opened a full time office in Ghana and also at a time when Ghana was increasingly becoming an investment detination within the sub-region of West Africa.
Mr Jennings is here to meet key policy makers, financial markets regulators and industry and business leaders in Ghana.
As one of the founders of Renaissance Capital in 1995, Mr. Jennings has been actively involved in building the firm's investment banking and securities sales and trading businesses.
He played a key role during the early years of the Firm's development, including serving as Head of Investment Banking, Head of Sales, and Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to establishing Renaissance Capital, Mr Jennings served as Co-Head of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), Moscow from 1992 to 1995.
He was directly responsible for Credit Suisse First Boston's investment banking during a period when CSFB was recognised as the dominant market player in developing and executing pioneering transactions in the Russian marketplace.
He has worked on numerous landmark financings and M&A transactions in Russia and throughout the CIS, many of which have won professional awards and commendations.
Before coming to Russia in 1992, Mr. Jennings was with CSFB in London, where he worked on investment banking and privatisation transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Previously, he worked for Credit Suisse First Boston and the Treasury in New Zealand
Mr. Jennings earned his Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Massey University and holds an M.Phil. in Economics with first class honours from the University of Auckland.
Renaissance Group is the number one financial institution in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The Group's core business is Renaissance Capital, a full-service investment bank founded in 1995 with leading market positions in Middle East and Africa and other markets and research.
The group also includes several other businesses, all of which are leaders in their fields: Renaissance Investment Management (asset management for institutions and high-net-worth individuals), Renaissance Credit (consumer finance), Renaissance Partners (merchant banking/private equity), and Renaissance Online (online trading platform).
Renaissance Group which is headquartered in Moscow has in the past several years, expanded to other high-opportunity emerging markets including neighbouring Ukraine and Kazakhstan, where the firm has similar market-leading positions in investment banking, asset management and consumer credit.
Over the last two years the Group has also aggressively expanded into sub-Saharan Africa, quickly becoming a leader in rapidly emerging markets like Nigeria and Kenya.
The groups’s unique strength is in combining hard-won and detailed local market expertise with very highest standards of operational and regulatory efficiency and integrity.
In Africa the group has expanded over the past 18 months to employing more than 150 people on the ground in last 18 months.
Operations across sub-Sahara including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The group currently has $6.5 million of funds unde management, and saw a nearly 100 per cent growth in assets.
The group is also a major issuer of credit cards, with more than 12,000 credit issurance centres with a total clientele of over two million customers.
Renaissance Group has built the largest and most experienced team of world-class market professionals dedicated solely to Sub-Saharan Africa and has created a fully-fledged investment banking, asset management and merchant banking operation run by Africans in Africa in the space of just two years.
Renaissance Investment Management's Africa Fund which was launched in 2007, had assets under management of approximately $110 million as of the end of June this year and is committed to bring this up to more than $200million by the first quarter of 2009.
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