GRi Business, Economics & Finance 17 – 04 - 2003

Ghana hosts Regional Conference

Inter-bank exchange rates

Aliu urges Switzerland to support rural transport

Ghana Stock Exchange index inches up

Vegetable traders get packaging cases

 

 

Ghana hosts Regional Conference

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 17 April 2003- Ghana would host a European Union (EU) – West African Regional Ministerial meeting on Thursday 24 April a statement by the Trade and Industry Ministry said in Accra on Wednesday.

 

The conference aims at deepening the process of establishing a unified regional market for the purpose of eradicating poverty and smooth integration of the Region into the global economy.

 

It would involve Ministers of Trade and Finance and EU Commissioners for Trade, as well as National Authorising Officers of the European Development Fund (EDF), the ECOWAS Secretariat and the UEMOA Commission.

 

The conference is in furtherance of the decision of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to negotiate a Regional Economic Partnership Agreement between West Africa and EU as stipulated under the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement.

 

It would deliberate on key issues including objectives, achievements, and preparations for the second phase of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations; development finance in the West Africa plan of action and negotiations of the Doha Development Round and its relations with ACP-EU Economics Partnership Agreement.

 

It would also negotiate a regional EPA between West Africa and The EU as stipulated under the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. The Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Initiatives; Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Minister for Regional Co-operation and NEPAD would represent Ghana, the statement said.

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Inter-bank exchange rates

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 17 April 2003

 

Currency                      Buying Selling

                                    Cedis                Cedis

U.S. Dollar                   8,524.45           8,714.00

Pound Sterling              13,399.58          13,701.89

Swiss Franc                  6,152.52            6,288.16

Canadian Dollar            5,892.00            6,020.43

Danish Kroner             1,245.08            1,272.49

Japanese Yen               70.97                 72.53

South African Rand      1,110.45            1,127.79

Euro                             9,244.92           9,449.58

CFA Franc                   14.09                 14.41

Naira                            68.45                 69.97

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Aliu urges Switzerland to support rural transport

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 17 April 2003- Vice President Aliu Mahama on Wednesday commended the Swiss Government for giving Ghana 10 million dollars budgetary support and called for its assistance to build of steel bridges to facilitate rural development.

 

He also appealed to the Swiss Government to support NEPAD to promote good governance, eliminate poverty, illiteracy and diseases in Africa. Vice President Mahama made the appeal when Georg Zubler, (Editor correct) Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle.

 

He also thanked the Swiss Government for its assistance to small and medium sized companies and the health and education sectors. "You also provided logistics towards the resolution of the Ivorian crisis," he said. "We are grateful, but we do not want you to be discouraged by the hitches in the peace process. We are determined to restore long-lasting peace to Cote d'Ivoire and we need your support."

 

Vice President Mahama tasked the Ambassador to link Swiss business people to their Ghanaian counterparts for their mutual benefit and to promote the "Golden Age of Business". He pledged government's determination to ensure the rule of law and the growth of democracy.

 

Zubler said his government's assistance to the budget was in recognition of the good policies being pursued by Ghana. "Our bilateral relations has flourished in the past months because we have taken note of the positive developments in Ghana and not by accident," he said.

 

"Our decision to support the budget for the first time was based on the determination of your government to promote the rule of law and ensure good governance." Zubler mentioned the agreement it signed last year to extend a credit facility with the Ghana Commercial Bank to refinance a credit facility in aid of small and medium sized companies as another indication of his government's commitment to support Ghana.

 

Additionally, he said, Switzerland was sponsoring training programmes to build the capacity of Ghanaian negotiators to become more effective in international trade agreements. He expressed content that Ghana was in the process of introducing a new Procurement Law, saying his government would help to build technical capacity in public procurement.

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Ghana Stock Exchange index inches up

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 17 April 2003- The Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index, the benchmark index of the Accra Bourse, jumped 7.64 points during mid-week trading on Wednesday to close 1,722.58 points.

 

The rally was recorded on the back of Unilever, which gained 292 cedis ahead of an Annual General Meeting on Thursday. A total of 213,800 shares changed hands, with Cocoa Processing Company selling 162,000 shares to lead the pack. Unilever and Ghana Commercial Bank were among equities that had their shares traded selling 30,100 and 8,300 shares, respectively.

 

There were four positive price changes. Unilever gained 292 cedis to close at 6,300 cedis, PZ went up by eight cedis at 2,040 cedis, Mechanical Lloyd made two cedis at 312 cedis and Fan Milk was up one cedi at 2,201 cedis. Market capitalisation was up at 7,696.88 billion cedis compared to 7,678.31 billion cedis on Monday.

 

The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:

ABL                            426

AGC                  28,500

ALW                  4,300

BAT                          1,300

CFAO                   72

CPC                     630

EIC                     5,005

FML                   2,201                        +1

GBL                            531

GCB                   5,400

GGL                         1,218

HFC                         1,230

MGL                           258

MLC                           312                   +2

MOGL               19,761

PAF                            750

PBC                      390

PZ                       2,040                        +8

SCB                   32,001

SPPC                    390

SSB                    6,621

SWL                     285

TBL                    5,010

UNIL                  6,300                        +292

CMLT                        460

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Vegetable traders get packaging cases

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 17 April 2003- The Ministry of Trade and Industry is negotiating with some local companies to manufacture packaging cases that would conveniently carry and preserve perishable foodstuffs.

 

Kwesi Osei-Adjei, outgoing Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, who announced this at a meeting with various market queen mothers in Accra mentioned such foodstuffs as tomatoes, pepper, garden eggs, onions and okro.

 

Three companies have already been identified to manufacture the packaging cases with funds from the Export Development Investment Fund (EDIF). The market queens, representing the various vegetables associations in Makola, Agbogbloshie, Kaneshie and Kantomato, all in the Greater Accra Region attended the meeting, which was a follow-up to a previous interactive meeting held a week earlier.

 

A representative from Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and some representatives of drivers, who transport the vegetables to the market centres were also at the meeting, which sought to know problems being faced by the traders and to explain government's domestic trade policy to them.

 

Osei-Adjei said to ensure that domestic trade activities flourished there was the need for such interactions between the Ministry, which directly handled trade activities and the traders who sold to consumers.

 

He said the government's "Golden Age of Business" initiative did not only cover the big firms but the activities of the traders, who also paid taxes to generate revenues for national development.

 

He advised the traders to ensure that foodstuffs were sold at reasonable prices to make life comfortable for both the consumers and the traders. The Deputy Minister also urged the traders to negotiate well with the farmers and to pay them well for produce sold to them.

 

He again advised the various market associations to ensure that their vehicles that transported them to and fro were insured and were properly maintained before they travelled on them. Madam Lydia Afoley Anum, Spokesperson for the queens and Treasurer of the Makola Tomato Traders Association, said the main problem they faced was lack of enough space to off-load foodstuff, which led to some of the produce perishing.

 

She said most times, their produce got spoiled because of poor packaging and thus making them to go bankrupt. She, therefore, thanked the government for its decision to help in that direction and appealed to it to do all it could to make trade activities flourish.

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