Accra (Greater Accra) 27 February 2002- The Association of Forex Bureaux on Tuesday attributed the depreciation of the cedi against the major trading currencies to the rather high number of Muslims, who had to buy dollars and pounds sterling to make the annual hajj.
Explaining the trend to the Ghana News Agency, Mr Kwesi Fosu Gyebi, Chairman of the Association, said the introduction of the Euro had also had a big impact on increasing demand for dollars and pound sterling since most bureaux did not have enough Euros.
He said: "We stopped buying Deutsche marks, French francs, Dutch guilders, Italian lira last December. We now buy the Euro, but unfortunately, some of the forex bureaux have very little or no Euro at all to sell. This explains for the high demand for dollars and pounds on the market."
He said fake ECOWAS Travellers Cheques, which are changed for cedis and then changed into dollars is another disturbing feature that puts pressure on the cedi. The cedi is currently going for between 7,500 cedis and 7,550 cedis per dollar for buying and 7,550 cedis to 7,600 cedis for selling.
On the inter-bank market, the cedi to the US dollar rate increased from ¢7,049.73 at the end of December 2000 to ¢7,312.24 at the end of December 2001. This indicates a depreciation of only 3.7 per cent for the year. This was far lower than the depreciation of 49.5 per cent recorded for the corresponding period of 1999 and 2000.
On the forex bureaux market, the cedi to the US dollar rate increased from ¢6,800.00 at the end of December 2000 to ¢7,322.73 at the end of December 2001, indicating a rise of 7.7 per cent.
Mr Gyebi said until enough Euros were put in the system, pressure would continue to be on the cedi, adding, " but for these reasons, the cedi would have stabilised at about 7,400 cedis."
He expressed fears that usual purchases by traders for the Easter festivities had the potential of causing more stress on the local currency when added to these ongoing trends. "This will cause some increase though, but it would not be much," he noted.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 February 2002- The State Insurance Company (SIC) and the Ghana Post Company (GP) on Tuesday launched a collaborative effort through which SIC customers could renew their Motor Insurance Cover in various post offices in the country.
Under the deal prospective customers can pay their premium and pick up their completed motor insurance certificates and stickers at the designated post offices in three days. The pilot phase of the project would, however, be limited to some post offices in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi.
In a speech read for the Minister of Finance, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo to launch the product, he said despite the significant growth experienced in the insurance industry in the past years, companies continued to face numerous challenges.
These included high levels of premium debts, especially in the non-life sector, which has significantly affected companies' cash flows, making it difficult for them to settle claims.
This, according to the Minister, had not helped to carve a very good public image for the companies and emphasised the need for them to chart new growth strategies with focus on customers to enable them to compete internationally.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the Ministry would continue to protect the interest of policyholders and asked the management of SIC to extend their unique service to other regional offices.
The Managing Director of SIC, Mr Peter Osei-Duah said a key objective of the company was to map out strategies for maintaining good customer relations that would enable it to serve customers better by making insurance products easily accessible. "It is in pursuit of this objective that a partnership agreement with Ghana post has been reached," he said.
Mr Osei-Duah further explained that the frustrations customers went through to have their insurance covers renewed would be eliminated since they could do so at a designated post office near them. "The ultimate objective is to make SIC more efficient, customer responsive and more profitable."
The Managing Director of Ghana Post, Mr Isaac Adu-Boahene said the new service would not only benefit the motoring public by avoiding inconvenience but would also reduce time spent in the renewal of their policy. He said a series of training programmes had been organised for frontline staff at designated post offices to give the officers an insight into operations of the scheme.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 February 2002- Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, on Tuesday called on entrepreneurs and businesses to help increase the volume of Ghana's export trade, saying that it was one major route for the country's development.
He said last year non-traditional exports amounted to just 300 million dollars. This compares with 112 million dollars in 2000 and 249 dollars in 1999. Dr Apraku was speaking at a day's seminar on maintaining hygiene and standards in processed foods meant for export. It was organised by the Export Promotion Council and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Accra.
The Minister urged businesses to come up with export-oriented products and access new markets by adding value to local products and produce. He said Japan imports pineapples from the US and Thailand when Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and other African countries had better resources to do such exports.
He touched on the importance of hygienic standards in the food processing industry and said there was a lot do on sanitation if such foods were to meet international standards. Mr Takashi Suzuki, Trade Commissioner of JETRO, said Ghana had a lot to offer Japan if she added more value to her exports.
He said currently, Ghana's raw cocoa exports had about 63 per cent of the Japanese market followed by Venzuela with 11.6 and Ecaudor with a little over 10 per cent. Mr Suzuki said the purpose of the seminar was to promote export and investments in the country and called for higher hygienic standards in the food processing industry.
Mr Kwaku Adu Mensah, General Manager of the Council, noted that agriculture employed over 60 per cent of Ghana's population and said much needed done to meet international standards in the agric sector and food processing industry in general.
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