GRi Business, Economics
& Finance 28 - 08 - 2003
Untrained Accountants wrecking the economy - Deputy Min
Stock Index registers gains
Footwear manufacturers urged to explore international market
Untrained Accountants wrecking the economy - Deputy Min
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 August 2003 - Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on Wednesday said untrained accountants were harming the integrity of the profession and the national economy.
He said as custodians of the nation's finances, it was vital that accountants
were trained formally to make the lifeline of organizations more useful to
society based on their integrity and honesty.
Agyeman-Manu said this when he cut the sod for the construction of the
Accountancy Village Complex at Legon in Accra as part of the 40th Anniversary
celebrations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He said the work of chartered accountants in the country was important and asked
the Institute to do well to expose untrained accountants.
Agyeman-Manu, who is also a management accountant, congratulated the ICA for
running courses to update the knowledge of its qualified members and train new
members. "I wish to commend the Institute for the bold initiative it has taken to
rectify the accounting deficiencies in the system."
He said he was aware of the huge foreign exchange that was being spent on
students to complete their accountancy courses outside the country and expressed
the hope that the Complex would bring the cost down considerably.
"I wish to entreat the Institute to put in place measures that will ensure
that professional accountants are given good remuneration and good conditions of
service that will attract and sustain people to teach and lecture at the
School."
John Kilinogo, President of ICA Ghana, said the economy currently needed more
professional accountants than it currently produced. He noted that a lot of financial resources were being deployed to schools and
districts through the GETFund and district assemblies.
However, he warned, these funds were at risk of being misapplied or mismanaged
where there were no professional accountants in these establishments to help
reduce financial losses.
He expressed regret that there were many organizations, such as NGOs, bilateral
donors and other projects, which needed professional accountants.
Klinogo said the Stock Exchange, investment drives by the President and the
President's Special Initiatives were laudable. "I do not believe that we want all these laudable efforts to collapse on
account of bad financial management or, indeed poor corporate governance."
He explained that the project sought to create a framework to develop the needed
manpower to enhance better financial management across all sectors of the
economy.
Klinogo asked government to aid the Institute to complete the Complex. The Village Complex is made up of an Apex School, which will offer courses to
students at the final levels of ICA examinations. This will be higher than what
the universities currently offer.
Facilities will be available for research, a library, a computer laboratory,
examination halls and an administration block.
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Stock Index registers gains
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 August 2003 - Impressive gains by 10 equities led by the Trust Bank
Limited (TBL) of the Gambia on Wednesday gave the All-Share Index of the Accra
bourse another upward push. The main market index gained 14.61 points to end trading up at 2,524.17 points
from 2,509.56 points.
Shares traded also saw an upward shift from 70,500 to 869,500 with
British-American Tobacco (BAT) offloading the highest of 788,800 shares. The change for the year to date reached 80.90 per cent while the market
capitalisation closed up at ¢9,963.85bn from ¢9,926.97bn.
On the broader market, there were 10 price changes, all positive. TBL gained ¢400 at ¢7,000, Unilever Ghana went up by ¢149 at ¢8,650, Ghana Commercial Bank rose by another ¢50 at ¢8,100 and Mobil Ghana Limited gained ¢48 at ¢24,050.
Guinness Ghana Limited gained ¢11at ¢3,611, Produce Buying Company and SSB Bank gained ¢10 each to close at ¢850 and ¢7,810 respectively with Fan Milk Limited picking ¢4 at ¢2,930. The other gainers were BAT with ¢3 at ¢2,060 and Standard Chartered Bank, which made ¢2 at ¢58,502.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 460
AGC 28,650
ALW 4,000
BAT 2,060
+3
CFAO 74
CPC 630
EIC 6,701
FML 2,930
+4
GBL 670
GCB 8,100
+50
GGL 3,611
+11
HFC 2,650
MGL 270
MLC 600
MOGL 24,050 +48
PAF 750
PBC 850
+10
PZ
2,254
SCB 58,502
+2
SPPC 390
SSB 7,810
+10
SWL 286
TBL 7,000
+400
UNIL 8,650
+149
CMLT 490
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Footwear manufacturers urged to explore international market
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 28 August 2003 - Local manufacturers of footwear have been advised not to confine the sale of their products only on the local market but strive to improve upon the quality of their products to acceptable international standards in order to attract foreign markets.
Oppong Kyekyeku, Ashanti Regional Officer of the Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives, said local manufacturers of footwear needed to develop products that would meet international quality to enable them attract foreign markets and expand their businesses.
He was speaking at a day's workshop on quality of locally manufactured footwear organised by the Ghana Standards Board for some selected footwear manufacturers in the Kumasi metropolis on Wednesday. The workshop was to introduce the participants to good and professional techniques of making wearable footwear that would meet consumer needs.
It was also designed to let them appreciate the wide variety of materials and
equipment needed for good shoe making, as well as promote awareness of the
principles of good production planning, quality control and management as tools
for enhancing good industrial relations and increased productivity.
Kwame Bour, chairman of the Footwear Manufacturers Association, said the
association was liasing with the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI)
to organise trade examinations of which certificates would be awarded to
qualified members.
He said the association would acquire an industrial estate at Old Tafo for
members and urged other manufacturers who had not joined the association to do
so.
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