Unilever commissions one million pounds soap plant
British Airways appoints Ghanaian as Country Manager
Bosomtwe Rural Bank invests in tourism
"Tomorrow's World" exhibition opens
Unilever commissions one million pounds soap plant
Tema (Greater Accra) 8 Dec. ’99
Mr Niall Fitzgerald, Chairman of Unilever PLC on Tuesday commissioned a one million pounds new laundry line at the Lever Brothers Division at Tema.
The new line forms part of Unilever Ghana Limited’s investments of about 30 billion cedis for 1999 and 2000 to enhance its manufacturing capability to meet the growing consumer demand.
The new line, which will turn out eight tonnes of Key Soap in an hour, replaces an old one that had the capacity for 3.75 tones per hour.
Mr Michael Charamba, Technical Director of Lever Brothers, said the company was responding to the growth in demand with the use of the new equipment, which is expected to raise efficiency to between 80 and 90 per cent.
The old plant had an efficiency of 67 percent.
Mr Charamba said the expansion would affect the food and personal products units as well as the company's plantations under a total business expansion programme.
Under the programme, new plodders and long conveyor are to be installed at the toilet soap line. The food factory will get a new Physical Refining plant while a new toothpaste filling machine has been installed.
The company has also installed a new Boiler to replace two 30 year old ones and this has considerably reduced fuel consumption giving the company savings of 150 million cedis per annum.
Mr Charamba said, so far, the company has spent half of the projected amount. Mr Fitzgerald, who is on three-day visit to Ghana, was accompanied by Mr Manfred Stach, President, Unilever Africa Business Group.
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British Airways appoints Ghanaian as Country Manager
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 Dec. ’99
The British Airways has appointed Mrs. Essie Anno Sackey as its country manager, the first Ghanaian to hold such a position.
Mrs Sackey takes over from Mr Charles Forsyth, who is now posted back to London.
Until her appointment, Mrs Sackey was the Sales and Distribution Manager of the Airline, a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said.
British Airways described the new manager as a Ghanaian with varied experience in the aviation industry, which will further enhance the services the airline offers to its passengers.
Mrs Sackey said, "my vision is to continue to build British Airways in Ghana, to make it the first choice carrier for passengers travelling between Ghana and the world."
She holds a degree of economics from the University of Ghana and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Brigham Young University in Utah, USA.
She has worked with the airline for the past 10 years and " her promotion to the top position is in recognition of her dedication and hard work," the statement said.
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Bosomtwe Rural Bank invests in tourism
Kuntanase (Ashanti Region) 8 Dec ’99
The management of Bosomtwe Rural Bank has acquired a 4.5-acre plot of land at Adwafo, near the Lake Bosomtwe in the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma district to be developed into a tourist resort.
Mr Paul Kwaku Antwi, chairman of the board of directors of the bank, who announced this said feasibility studies on the proposed Bosomtwe Recreational Centre project by the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has proved that the project is viable.
Mr Antwi was addressing the 11th annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Kuntanase in Ashanti last Tuesday.
He said the bank recorded a net profit of 91.7 million cedis in 1998 as against 59.4 million cedis in 1996, an increase of about 54.4 per cent.
The total assets of the bank rose from 1.4 billion cedis in 1996 to about 3.6 billion cedis in 1998, a growth of about 120 per cent.
Investments by the bank also increased from about 574 million cedis in 1996 to 1.3 billion cedis in 1998 representing 120 per cent growth.
The bank granted a total of 1.4 billion cedis in loans and overdrafts to its customers in 1998 as against 804 million cedis in 1996.
He explained that about 570 million cedis went into agriculture, 347 million cedis, in trading activities, 339 million cedis to salaried workers, 195 million cedis in transport and 10 million cedis for cottage industries.
Mr Antwi said since 1997, about 890 million cedis has been provided under the IFAD/SCIMP project to the bank for lending to 119 poor rural small-holder farmers' groups and agro-processing and marketing groups.
He announced that the bank has been selected to participate in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Microstart (Ghana) Programme, saying the bank is among 68 micro-financing institutions which contested for appraisals and assessment under the programme.
Under the programme, technological equipment such as computers and banking software as well as motorbikes, power generators and funds for capacity-building and for lending to the rural poor will be received by the bank.
The chairman said about 70 million cedis has so far been received by the bank from the district assembly under the Poverty Alleviation Fund for lending to 25 farming, fishing and agro-processing, marketing and artisan groups in the district.
Mr Isaac K. Nyame, Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma District Chief Executive, said there is no doubt that the performance of rural banks in the past two decades has brought to the fore the significance of grassroots resource mobilisation towards national development.
He said hitherto, rural communities were denied the benefits that came with the establishment of banks even though they contributed very greatly to the sustenance of the banks.
"Today rural banks everywhere have become the pivot for resource mobilisation and economic enhancement of the people".
Mr Nyame said the assembly intends to allocate 200 million cedis to the bank under the poverty alleviation fund this year, adding that so far about 50 million cedis has been transferred to the bank and the balance will be transferred before the end of the year.
The DCE appealed to the directors and shareholders of rural banks to find ways of improving services to their customers by charging competitive rates.
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"Tomorrow's World" exhibition opens
Accra (Greater Accra) 8 Dec. ’99
A multi-purpose exhibition, dubbed "Tomorrow's World", opened at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Wednesday to create business avenue for exhibitors.
Mr Tim Gros, Exhibition Director, said the four-day exhibition is a "business-to-business" show to create contacts between local and foreign industries.
It is a forerunner to a series of similar events to promote the application of technology in the new millennium.
Over 60 companies, including 24 foreign companies, are expected to exhibit at the show, jointly organised by Expo Promotions and Ghana Investment Promotions Centre (GIPC), with support from WorldSpace Corporation.
It is to showcase how business organisations are preparing for the next millennium.
Many companies, including those in the telecommunication, aviation, financial, multi-media, automobile, fuel, food and beverage and computer industries have mounted their exhibits or are raising their stands.
The opening day was marred by a row between an exhibitor, the organisers and security personnel over space.
Autoparts Ghana Limited (AGL), dealers in Nissan vehicles, was stopped from displaying vehicles in front of the main building of the Accra International Conference Centre by a security man.
According to the security man, who did not disclose his name, AGL could not be allowed to exhibit in front of the conference building for security reasons.
The Marketing Manager of AGL, pleading anonymity, said his company paid and was allotted that space, adding that "if we cannot have that space then it is not worth exhibiting."
In an interview with the GNA, Mr Tim Gros, the Exhibition Director, said AGL will be allotted an alternative space, but the AGL marketing manager, who drove off one of the exhibits, said his company will no more be part of the exhibition.
"We will collect our money back," he said.
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Stock Exchange recovers
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th December 99
The Accra bourse recovered on Wednesday with increases in all the main market numbers.
The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index, the main market indicator gained 1.04 points at 746.03 points improving the change to date from negative 14.21 per cent to negative 14.09 per cent.
Total shares traded leaped from a mere 10,800 shares on Monday to 372,800 while bids jumped from 84,100 to 421,600 shares. There was no trading in 10 of the 22 listed equities.
Offers were up from 615,160 to 936,930 shares with all but two companies - Accra Brewery and Camelot - making offers. Market capitalisation improved from 3,219.30 billion cedis to 3,220.95 billion cedis.
On the broader market, there was only one price change. Ghana Commercial Bank, which has been seesawing, moved up this time with a 10-cedi gain at 760 cedis.
The market had come down with a bang on Monday after last Wednesday's record sales propelled by huge sales of SSB Bank shares.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 450
AGC 18,700
ALW 2,490
BAT 470
CFAO 38
EIC 1,880
FML 900
GBL 1,450
GCB 750 +10
GGL 950
HFC 750
MGL 200
MLC 150
MOGL 15,000
PAF 300
PZ 800
SCB 19,700
SPPC 150
SSB 1,980
UNIL 1,860
UTC-E 125
CMLT 420
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