GRi BEF News Ghana 26 - 02 - 2001
World Bank to
support small and medium term enterprises
Government says
concern with huge domestic debt
GSE index
continues strong performance
World Bank to
support small and medium term enterprises
Ho (Volta Region) 26 Feb. 2001
The World Bank has secured a
300,000-dollar assistance for the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA)
towards capacity development and strengthening of private sector participation
in the Rural and Small Water and Sanitation sector.
The two-year pilot initiative will
focus on the provision of technical assistance to the CWSA to involve small and
medium scale enterprises in providing goods and services in rural water supply
throughout Ghana.
Mr Arthur Swatson, Water and
Sanitation Specialist of the World Bank who disclosed this to the Ghana News
Agency in Ho on Thursday said the project is to ensure private sector
participation in management, operation and maintenance and possibly providing
investments for small town water supply systems.
He said a lot of investments have
been made in the rural water sector through the construction of new and
rehabilitation of old water systems over the years.
There is therefore the need to
provide a sustained and continuous operation of the systems through proper
management by the communities, "but some of the systems are so complex
that the operation and maintenance is beyond the community".
Mr Swatson said the fund was
therefore secured to enable the CWSA to involve the private sector in the
delivery of services to communities to manage their systems to guarantee a
sustainable operation of the facilities constructed.
He said the Bank had been involved
in the construction and rehabilitation of 36 small town water supply systems in
the Upper East and West, Northern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions.
"In these regions there has
been the active involvement of the district assemblies, private sector and
community based Water and Sanitation Development Boards to address the issue of
sustainable operation and maintenance" he added.
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Government says
concern with huge domestic debt
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February
2001
Government said on Saturday it
considers the huge domestic debt it inherited as the biggest single obstacle
facing the nation and called for support to critically addressed it.
Finance Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo
said the debt stock has negatively affected crucial areas of business and
investment and has particularly jeopardised the viability of state banks.
He was briefing reporters shortly
after President John Agyekum Kufuor and some top ministers met with Baroness
Linda Chalker at the President's residence in Accra.
Official figures put Ghana's total
debt stock at 41.1 trillion cedis at the end of December 2000. Out of this
amount, 31.7 trillion, or 5.8 billion dollars, was external and 9.4 trillion
cedis or, 1.7 billion dollars, was domestic.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the meeting
underscored the need to strengthen the private sector to enable it play an
effective leading role in the growth of the economy base.
He restated that government will
not relent in its determination to place a special tag on the private sector
and made this known to the Baroness. "Of course, the appointment of a
minister solely responsible for that sector is a clear indication," he
added.
He said Baroness Chalker, who is
also Board member of some international groups including Ashanti Goldfields and
Unilever International, pledged to further push the determination of those
companies to assist Ghana.
She has expressed the good will to
help attract direct foreign investment into Ghana and also help government to
identify certain institutions that would improve areas such as procurement to
ensure value for money.
Baroness Chalker, however, asked
Ghana to seriously consider the issue of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
initiative.
Citing Uganda as a successful
country after opting for the initiative, she dismissed the notion that the it
is likely to harm the private sector if adopted.
Government has stated that it
would make its decision regarding the HIPC initiative before its maiden
financial policy statement and budget, slated for early next month.
"We're still looking for some
numbers to take that decision," Mr Osafo-Maafo said, adding that whatever
decision that is taken, will be in the nation's interest.
Among those present were Vice
President Aliu Mahamah, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Presidential
Affairs and Mr J.H. Mensah, Majority Leader and Minister of Government Business.
President Kufuor also had
discussions with Mr Abbas Mirakhor, Executive Director of the International
Monetary Fund in Ghana.
The talks centred on how the
institution could contribute to the revamping of the economy with special focus
on reducing poverty as well as
improving the general well being of the people.
It was a follow-up to last week's
meeting between West African leaders and heads of the Bretton Woods institutions held in Bamako, Mali.
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GSE index
continues strong performance
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February
2001
Major indices rallied during
trading on Friday as the Accra bourse struggled to shake itself from bearish
sentiments. The GSE-All Share index, the key stock gauge, rose by 3.53 points
to close at 871.12 points, up from 867.59 points on Wednesday.
Traded volumes for the first time
this year, climbed beyond the one million mark, pushed by sales by Pioneer
Aluminium Company, which sold 1,043,800 shares to propel total volumes to close
at 1,058,400 shares, compared to 280,300 on Wednesday.
Bids were up at 1,143,600 from a low
of 531,400 shares.
On the broader market, there were
four price changes - three positive and the other negative.
ALW made a gain of 100 cedis at
5,400 cedis and Enterprise Insurance went up by five cedis at 2,895 cedis. SSB
Bank appreciated by 75 cedis to close at 2,200 cedis. PAF was the sole loser,
going down by five cedis to close at 240 cedis.
Market capitalisation shot up at
3,679.94 billion cedis compared to 3,673.27 billion cedis at the previous
close.
The following are the last prices
of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 630
AGC 18,600
ALW 5,400 +100
BAT 380
CFAO 57
EIC 2,895 +5
FML 855
GBL 1,350
GCB 1,545
GGL 850
HFC 952
MGL 210
MLC 140
MOGL 18,700
PAF 240 -5
PBC 490
PZ 500
SCB 21,550
SPPC 296
SSB 2,200 +75
UNIL 1,598
CMLT 425
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