US special envoy Jackson arrives with trade delegation

Ghanaians need more education on insurance - Asabigi

Active trading in SSB shares on stock exchange

Ghana needs partnership with leaders of global economy - Abodakpi

Unfavourable gold and cocoa prices threaten Ghana’s economy - Abodakpi

Rise in GSE index due to offshore investments, GSE official

Tema striking industries resume work

Accra (Greater Accra) 7 Feb 2000

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, United States (US) Special Envoy for Africa arrived in Accra on Sunday at the head of a 20-member private trade and investment delegation on a three-day investment promotion mission.

The delegation, made up of representatives of major U.S. companies, is on a three-nation African investment tour including Nigeria and South Africa under the theme "Connecting telecommunications and media market through U.S. minority and African business partnership".

Speaking to the press at the airport, Rev. Jackson said the visit is a follow-up to that of President Bill Clinton to Africa two years ago.

It is also to further strengthen U.S. trade links with the continent.

Rev. Jackson said the visit is focusing on information technology because Africa never got the foundation for the take-off in telecommunications, which is retarding the progress of her development.

With a surge in the information industry, Rev. Jackson said there was the need for Africa to catch up.

The U.S. special envoy, also the Chief Executive Officer of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Incorporated based in the U.S., said the trade mission will in addition explore the financial and insurance sector and assist Ghana in its AIDS eradication campaign programme.

"Ghana has the market resources, the location and the talent to enable her joint partnership with Rainbow/PUSH to enhance her development status".

Welcoming the delegation, Mr John Mahama, Minister of Communications, said he was delighted that it was exploring the telecommunications market in Ghana.

He said Ghana is at a critical stage of her AIDS control programme because of the rate at which it is spreading and that any form of assistance in this area was welcome.

The delegation will pay a courtesy call on President Jerry John Rawlings, hold meetings with officials of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and visit historical places of interest.

Also at the airport to meet the delegation were the two Deputy Ministers of Communications, Commander Pius Griffiths and Mrs Rebecca Adotey, the Minister of Trade, Mr Dan Abodakpi, Ghana's ambassador to the U.S. Mr Kobby Koomson and the U.S. ambassador to Ghana, Catheryn Dee Robinson.

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Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Northern Regional Minister has urged Insurance companies to increase public education on their products and services and their benefits.

Speaking at the commissioning of new offices of the Enterprise Insurance Company (EIC) Limited at Tamale on Saturday, the deputy Minister noted that most people are conversant only with motor insurance.

He advised the management of the EIC to spearhead the public education by organising workshops and seminars for the business community on the need for insurance.

"As more and more people enter into private business ventures, there is the need for them to insure their businesses against risks."

He advised the people in the northern regions to desist from keeping livestock as family wealth, and consider selling some to engage in other viable business ventures.

The regional co-ordinating council is convinced that with the involvement of private investors, the region can develop its resources, the deputy Minister said.

Mr Asabigi said for Tamale to develop and attain the status of a metropolis, there was the need for the people to change their attitudes and be receptive to new ideas.

Mr George Otto, managing director of EIC, said through dedication and hard work the company has chalked successes in its 76 years of existence. At present it is the only insurance company listed in the Ghana Stock Exchange.

He gave the assurance that the company would continue to work with honesty, efficiency and faith in its policyholders, especially in the settlement of claims

Mr Otto called on the business community to lend support for the expansion of the company to enhance the development of the region's potentials.

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End-of-week trading on the stock market on Friday saw active trading in SSB shares that sent the total shares traded soaring to more than 1.278 million from 9,300 shares traded on Wednesday.

This is the third time since the year began that SSB has made a block sale involving more than a million shares.

A broker at Data Bank Limited, who represented investors said the sale indicates a good outlook for the Bank whose first half-year result for 1999 gave a promising future in the form of both capital yield and good profits.

On the outlook of the Exchange itself, he said the high interest rates on treasury bills; high inflation and depreciation of the cedi make the future look bleak.

However, individual companies such as British American Tobacco Company (BAT), Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL), Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) have very bright futures which are shown by, among other factors, the percentage of shares non-resident foreign investors hold in them.

Friday's trading also saw an upward shift in the All-Share Index by 0.37 points.

The market index closed the week at 742.70 points from 742.33 points while the change in the year to date was 0.89 per cent. Shares offered closed higher from 422,530 to 1.7 million while demand was pegged at 1.3 million, compared with 46,950 shares demanded on Wednesday.

Market capitalisation went up slightly from 3,215.15 billion cedis to 3,215.74 billion cedis.

In the broader market, there was only one price change. GGL gained five cedis to close the week at 965 cedis.

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

ABL 470

AGC 18,700

ALW 2,489

BAT 466CFAO 38

EIC 1,880

FML 935

GBL 1,450

GCB 770

GGL 965 +5

HFC 750

MGL 200

MLC 150

MOGL 14,500

PAF 295

PZ 800

SCB 19,200

SPPC 150

SSB 1,988

UNIL 1,850

UTC-E 125

CMLT 420

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Accra (Greater Accra) 7 Feb. 2000

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Dan Abodakpi, on Monday emphasised the need for Ghana to create partnerships with leaders of the global economy and people dedicated to the positive principles of the World Trade Organisation to develop its private sector and improve on exports.

He said the global market trend does not favour Africa, citing the drop in cocoa prices to its lowest in the past 25 years, and called for support to address Africa's trade problems.

Mr Abodakpi was opening a business session for interaction between 20 United States Chief Executives and senior-level decision makers from the media, telecommunication and information technology sector and their Ghanaian counterparts.

The American delegation, "Rainbow/Push Africa Trade Mission," led by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, United States Special Envoy for Democracy, arrived in Accra on Sunday to explore private-sector trade and investment as part of a three-nation mission that would also take them to Nigeria and South Africa.

Mr Abodakpi noted that though Ghana had recorded considerable economic growth since the implementation of the Economic Recovery Programme it needs to raise annual growth levels from five per cent to between eight and 10 per cent.

The export sector should be scientific and technology driven, he said, and welcomed the opportunity offered by the mission as in the right direction.

He urged Ghanaian businessmen to take advantage of the opportunities and work out modalities that would be beneficial to both parties and the nation as well.

Rev. Jackson said African-Americans and Africans are better placed to do business because of the common cultural background and identity that they share.

He gave an overview of efforts made in the past to link up Africans and African-Americans stating that it is only when these steps are effectively cultivated that the gap between them would be bridged.

Rev. Jackson said the visit is a follow-up to that of President Bill Clinton to Africa two years ago.

"It is focusing on information technology because Africa never got the foundation for the take-off in telecommunications, which is retarding the progress of her development."

With a surge in the information industry, Rev. Jackson said, there was the need for Africa to catch up.

The trade mission will also explore the financial and insurance sector and assist Ghana in its AIDS eradication campaign programme.

Rev. Jackson said: "Ghana has the market resources, the location and the talent to enable her joint partnership with Rainbow/PUSH to enhance her development status."

The participants later broke into three groups- the Media, Telecommunications and Information Technology, to discuss opportunities available for direct capital investments and arranging finance for Ghanaian businesses.

In an interview, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, said the visit, like others expected soon, is the response to the successful investment drive pursued by the government.

He, however, noted that " the fruits that would be derived would depend on how ready Ghanaian business people are to receive the offers."

Mr Ahwoi said it is unfortunate that some business executives are reluctant to disclose their profits and prepare company profiles.

"The American businessman rates himself with the size of his capital and the profits he makes, but the Ghanaian likes to be modest and withholds vital information."

The Chief executive said his outfit was addressing some of the problems with the formation of the Ghana Club 100, adding that the Private Enterprises Foundation must take care of the small businesses.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 7 Feb. 2000

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Dan Abodakpi on Monday said the souring price of crude oil and plummeting price of cocoa and gold pose serious threats to the Ghanaian economy.

The price of crude oil has increased to 26 dollars a barrel from under 10 dollars a few years ago while cocoa prices are the lowest for the past 25 years.

Speaking at the presentation of Government of Ghana/United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Integrated Programme to donors and development partners, Mr Abodakpi said this calls for the reinvigoration of local industries to put the economy on track.

The Programme is a collaborative effort between the government, UNIDO and the private sector to revitalise the industrial sector for growth and competitiveness.

It is also designed to address micro, small and medium enterprise sector problems in a holistic and integrated manner and reinforces efforts at developing and promoting competition in the sector.

The budget for the programme is about seven million dollars. Mr Abodakpi said UNIDO has pledged to contribute 1.1 million dollars in support of the programme.

The Minister noted that local industries are characterised by rudimentary and obsolete machinery, equipment and technology.

He said there is the urgent need to retool, rehabilitate and modernise to make enable the industries competitive in the domestic and international markets.

"This calls for investment capital, which the industries are targeting and can hardly afford."

Mr Abodakpi called on donors to grant concessionary credits to be used to give leverage to investment activity in the country, particularly agro-processing and value added production.

This should go hand-in-hand with the granting of greater access to markets of developed countries, he said.

"It is only when our efforts are skewed in favour of production and exports that we can survive in the global market place."

Prince Kofi Kludjeson, President of the Association of Ghana Industries, said industry has a greater stake in the growth of the Ghanaian economy.

He said AGI is prepared to work closely with the government and other development partners to achieve the development target of Ghana.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 7 Feb. 2000

Mr Samuel Peprah, Operations Manager at the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), said on Monday that the current rise in the All-Share Index is due to offshore investments.

Even though the rate in rise of the market index this year is not high, operators of the Exchange and investors are looking forward to a more vibrant market.

Mr Peprah was speaking to the GNA in Accra on current improvements in the movement of the All-Share Index, the main market indicator, which reached 742.70

last Friday. It began the year at 737.16 points.

He said most foreign investors rank their portfolios in order of importance with prime investments made up of high yielding investments.

This is to spread the risk of investing on one stock market.

Some of the prime investments are made on developed stock markets such as the New York and London, which are now breaking records through mergers.

The rest of their investments are spread in frontier or emerging markets in the form of offshore investments.

Mr Peprah said the GSE as an emerging market is mainly supported by such offshore investments and what is happening on the market now is the investment of withdrawn funds from other emerging markets whose countries have faced financial crisis.

The Operations Manager noted that even though activities on the Accra bourse are improving, demand for shares is only picking up slowly as a result of other factors on the local front.

These include high treasury bill rates now running at 32 per cent.

Mr Peprah said the GSE would continue with its educational campaign to overcome the setbacks.

He advised Ghanaian investors not to look at only dividend, which may sometimes decline, but at profitability of companies for capital gains.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 7 Feb. 2000

Workers of Tema Steel Works and Crocodile Matchet have agreed to resume work after defying directives of the leadership of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) to all members to resume work last Thursday.

This followed the intervention of the National Council of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) on Friday afternoon.

Prince Kofi Kludjeson, President of AGI, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Monday that employees of the two companies were to start work this morning.

AGI at a press conference on Friday said some industries in the Tema-Accra metropolis were still on strike in spite of the termination of the ICU's industrial action.

Sources said there is a stalemate between workers and management of Paterson Zochonis (PZ) over attempts by the management to dismiss some of the workers who joined the strike action.

Workers are demanding that none of them should be dismissed thus creating a labour problem.

Mr Kludjeson said the AGI is talking with workers and management of PZ and the Tema District Council of Labour to resolve the stalemate to pave way for work to go on at the company.

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