GRi Business, Economics &
Finance 20 – 02 - 2003
Pay attention to Ghana Airways
Pay attention to Ghana Airways
Accra (Greater Accra) 20
February 2003- Italy has asked government to demonstrate greater interest in
solving the problems bedevilling the Ghana Airways to warrant Italian
government support to the ailing national carrier.
Senator Alfredo Mantica, the visiting Italian Vice Minister of Foreign
Affairs for Africa and Middle East was reacting to a request from the Minister
of Roads and Transport for support from Alitalia for
the Ghana Airways.
He said even though Alitalia from whom support is being sought is a private
entity," we believe we can help and advice in one-way or the other to get
support for Ghana Airways.
He said
"It is essential that the
problems facing
He said the problem was
important for two reasons since when it is solved; it "would lead to an
increase in flights between the two airlines, something which is being stalled
by the debt.
"Secondly, for Italian
investors to come here to invest, we need a satisfactory atmosphere, confident that
problems like what Alitalia is facing now do not
occur." Senator Mantica is accompanied by a
private business delegation of eight, and will hold discussions with the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Food and Agriculture, Works and Housing, Private
Sector Development, Senior Minister and private sector operators.
He said
"What we would like
On the road sector, he said it
is a major focus of government, adding that, investment by private sector
operators is welcome. "The roads where we require investment from
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Solomon Boateng,
Programme Co-ordinator of the United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIDO), said the bill, when enacted will compel multi-national
and larger companies to procure part of their raw materials and inputs from
local sources.
Boateng, who was speaking at a
The one-day seminar was organised
by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in collaboration with the UNIDO
and sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the
Government of Ghana private sector development programme.
The seminar was designed to
educate and sensitise members of the business community in the
Ernest A. Debrah,
the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, called on small and large industrial
companies in the country to cease operating in isolation of each other. They
should rather begin forming linkages and partnership with one another.
He explained that it is only when
small and medium companies in particular, start to partner and collaborate with
one another that they could expand production and add value to their products
and thereby guarantee their effective competition and entry into the global
market.
"Without this sense of
partnership, our companies in the country will find it difficult to enter the
global or external markets", Debrah added. Miss
Harriet Osei-Amoah, AGI Regional Manager for Ashanti
and Brong-Ahafo, said even though the SMEs form 90
percent of industries in the country, their inability to transform into larger
and bigger industries coupled with the lack of knowledge about sub-contracting,
had made their performance ineffective.
Miss Osei-Amoah,
however, gave the assurance that with the numerous programmes embarked on by
the AGI, backed by practical implementation of government policies, she was
optimistic the trend would soon change for the better.
Andrew Lawson, Executive
Director of the AGI, disagreed that the woes of industries in
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The GSE All-Share Index closed
at 1,469.86 points from Monday's figure of 1,463.72 points. Traded shares
almost doubled to 109,700 from 57,200 shares in trading that saw only eight out
of the 25 listed equities making sales.
On the broader market, there
were four price changes, all positive. GCB was 80 cedis richer at 4,100 cedis,
Unilever rose by 14 cedis at 4,890 cedis, SSB Bank appreciated by 10 cedis at
4,210 cedis and Guinness Ghana Limited inched up by one cedi at 1,116 cedis. Market
capitalisation ended at 7,024.54 billion cedis from 7,009.63 billion cedis. The
change for the year went up to 5.34 per cent from 4.90 per cent.
The following are the last
prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 410
AGC 28,110
ALW 3,500
BAT 1,102
CFAO 67
CPC 626
EIC 4,850
FML 2,001
GBL 520
GCB 4,100 +80
GGL 1,116 +1
HFC 1,205
MGL 254
MLC 274
MOGL 19,750
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,016
SCB 28,700
SPPC 390
SSB 4,210 +10
SWL 285
TBL 4,900
UNIL 4,890 +14
CMLT 460
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,420.00 cedis
8,607.55 cedis
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,132.93 6,267.21
Canadian Dollar 5,557.81 5,680.10
Danish Kroner 1,213.97 1,240.73
Japanese Yen 70.77 72.32
South African
Euro 9,024.86 9,221.34
CFA Franc 13.76 14.06
Naira 67.07
68.56
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