GRi Business, Economics & Finance 25 –
02 - 2003
Wilson Agana,
Chairman of the Council told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday that workers
will be able to express their views on the 9,000 cedis which works up to about
27 per cent as minimum wage announced by Osafo Maafo, Minister of Finance, last
Friday.
"It is only after we have
been well briefed that workers will also know the strategy to adopt in reaction
to the government's announcement." He said. The TDCL was the first to take
to the streets when the Tripartite Committee failed to come out with the minimum
wage after initial meetings. The Tema workers demanded 100 percent increase
with effect from January, this year, citing the increase in fuel prices.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 February
2003- Ghana and South Africa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
that would allow the two countries to exchange information on mining
technologies, including scientific data in the field.
Under the agreement initialled
by the Mines Ministers at the end of an International Conference on Investing
in Africa Mining in
Kwadwo Adjei Darko, Minister of
Mines, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that further areas of co-operation envisaged
include the training and development of specialists for the mining industry,
the development of co-operative projects in the fields of mining, geology,
mineral exploration and minerals economics.
The two countries would also
promote joint projects by interested organisations, workshops, conferences and
exhibitions aimed at attracting investments in mining. The Minister said in
view of the importance attached to the MOU, a delegation from
Adjei Darko said
The aim of the AMP is to
champion mining and mineral-related initiatives under the New Partnership for
Adjei Darko said the conference
emphasised sustainable mining as a tool for poverty reduction with special focus
on small scale and artisanal mining. He said
participants believed that instead of looking for big capital inflows into the
sector, communities and small-scale miners could be assisted with proper
technology as a means of ensuring their livelihood.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 February
2003- Ghana's total mineral production dropped slightly last year, with gold,
the leader of the pack, dipping to 2,235,117.57 fine ounces from 2,381,344 fine
ounces the previous year.
K. Adomako
Baafi, Marketing Officer of the Minerals Commission,
told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk that diamond production also slipped
further from 1,090,072 carats the previous year to 940,586.62 carats, while
bauxite closed 2002 at 647,230.71 metric tons compared to the 2001 figure of
678,449 metric tons.
However, manganese production by
Ghana Manganese Company finished last year slightly higher at 1,135,528 metric
tons as against 1,076,666 metric tons posted in 2001.
Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO)
produced a total of 131,858 metric tons. Total silver production for 2002
closed at 51,716.68 ounces. Baafi said small-scale
gold mining companies made up a significant contribution of 1,109,546.80 fine
ounces.
He said the exact revenue
derived from the sale of the minerals might not be known since the various companies
sold at different prices. He said Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) Group topped
the production list with a total gold production of 964,752.04 ounces in 2002
from their Obuasi, Tebrebie
and Bibiani mines. The company has other mines in
Gold Fields Ghana Limited made
523,489.28 fine ounces. Abosso Goldfields Limited produced
306,597.00 fine ounces. Bogoso Gold Limited produced
a total of 124,393.09 fine ounces last year.
Resolute Ghana Limited,
previously Amansie Resources, whose bullion van was
attacked by armed robbers about four years ago, produced 102,454.73 fine ounces
of gold in 2002. Bonte Gold Limited posted 46,054.39
fine ounces for the year under review.
Satellite Goldfields Limited
produced 4,181.30 fine ounces during the first seven months and recorded zero
in the last five months of the year. Prestea Sankofa
Gold made 2,262.96 fine ounces during the first two quarters but did not
produce anything in the third and fourth quarters because it faced serious
problems, while Ghana Consolidated Diamonds could produce 114.05 fine ounces
only for the whole year.
Prestea Gold Resources, stalked
in a crunch of an unfavourable mining environment, did not have any production
for the period. Small-scale diamond miners produced 791,907.62 carats while
Ghana Consolidated Diamonds recorded 148,679 carats for the year.
Silver production in the country
in the last quarter was 9,006.04 fine ounces from a high of 11,770.46 fine
ounces in the third quarter bringing the total for the year to 51,716.66 fine
ounces.
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In a statement issued in Accra,
Dr Adolf Lutterdot, Greater
Accra Regional Chairman of CPP said the new minimum wage arrived at without
consensus was: "unfair, unrealistic and far in disproportionate to the
general cost of living and the recent high increases the prices of petroleum
products".
The statement said the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) made promises to "lure" the electorate to vote
for it in the 2000 election "only for the party to lose its reckoning. "Any further attempt to force Ghanaians to continue
tightening their belts while leaders of government enjoyed extravagant
lifestyles paid for largely from public funds, is the most irresponsible thing
a government can ever do to the good people of
The CPP appealed to the
government to review the increases in petroleum products and the new national
minimum wage to mitigate the hardship of Ghanaians and to ensure industrial
peace and harmony.
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The upward shift in the main
market gauge was on the back of significant gains registered by Guinness Ghana
Limited (GGL) and Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) in a market that saw a 932,600
shares change hands, up from a mere 46,400 on Friday.
GGL sold the highest of 920,100
shares followed by Aluworks Ghana Limited (ALW) with 5,100 shares. Only 600
shares of GCB changed hands despite a demand of 4,112 shares.
Market capitalisation opened the
week up at 7,046.90 billion cedis from 7,029.18 billion cedis while the change
in the year to date stood at 6.00 per cent. On the broader market, there were
three price changes, all positive.
GGL gained 80 cedis at 1,200
cedis. The darling share of 2002, GCB, gained 40 cedis to finish trading at
4,150 cedis while the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) gained two cedis at 630
cedis.
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 630 +2
EIC 4,850
FML 2,003
GBL 520
GCB 4,150 +40
GGL 1,200 +80
HFC 1,205
MGL 254
MLC 274
MOGL 19,750
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,016
SCB 28,700
SPPC 390
SSB 4,211
SWL 285
TBL 4,900
UNIL 4,901
CMLT 460
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