GSE makes second move in the year in mixed trading
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 January 2002- Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, has said Ghana might reach the decision point on the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative by the end of the first quarter of this year.
"I cannot speak for them, but signals from benefactors indicate that decision point may be reached by the end of March," he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra. The government last year decided to opt for HIPC, which is strongly supported by the international community.
Substantial debt relief would be enjoyed by Ghana once the decision point is reached. It is estimated that the range of savings in annual debt service in three years could be between 773 million dollars and 875 million dollars.
Mr Osafo-Maafo, who was speaking after a luncheon with Mr Hernando de Soto, the visiting Peruvian Economist, said government had no intention of privatising the Ghana Commercial Bank under the HIPC.
"What I don't like about it is for the bank to go into private hands, where the operations of the bank would not benefit Ghanaians due to the possible closure of some of the branches." He said the privatisation programme drawn for the bank under the previous government still stood.
On achievements so far on the development of the private sector, the Minister said government declared a "Golden Age of Business" and efforts in the first year concentrated on creating an enabling environment for the private sector.
He said the private sector, whether it was small-scale or large scale, could not operate in an unstable economy. Therefore, government in its first year sought to stabilise the macro-economic situation and that the next step would be to ensure growth for a smooth operation of the private sector.
The Finance Minister said a seminar held at Elmina at the weekend was to enable policy makers be familiar with bottlenecks of the private sector and come out with measures to solve them.
"All the Ministers put aside their prepared speeches and listened to what the private sector operators had to say. This will help us make the right decision and create the enabling environment in which they will operate." On duplication of private sector funds, Mr Osafo-Maafo said government had created the various funds to assist different groups.
For instance the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) is to encourage growth in the export sector while the recently launched African Women's Development Fund seeks solely to assist women in the business sector.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said it is not true that the present government had adopted the same policy as the past government.
Rather, he said, "every policy we adopt is to improve the life of the Ghanaian. Therefore, if the we deem any policy adopted by the previous government to be good for the populace, we shall pursue it."
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 January 2002- An international legal consultant said on Wednesday Ghana must adopt competitive investment legal framework in order to benefit from global market opportunities.
Speaking at his inaugural forum on admission into the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra, Dr Samuel Date-Baah said rules and regulations played an important role in private investments. "This implies the need to integrate the right legal advice and framework into decisions on private investments in any country."
He spoke on the theme: "Private Investment and Law in a Developing Country". Dr Date-Baah, an adviser to the Commonwealth Secretariat, said Ghana lacked such competitive legal framework, even though, there were laws backing some private investment organisations such as the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), adding: "competitive policy drive must be at the heart of any market economy."
He, therefore, called for the adoption of comprehensive multilateral instruments and urged the government to take advantage of World Trade Organisation's (WTO) platforms to conclude agreements on trade to attract foreign direct investments.
Such comprehensive legal instruments were conducive to increase investment flow into the country, he said. Dr Date-Baah said the rules and regulations on investments, when promulgated, should be applicable to all sectors of the economy such as the provision of utilities, securities, banking and financial services.
"For instance, with regards to the provision of financial services in private investments, there is the need for strict monitoring and stability in the economy and the need for prudential control for fairness to users," Dr Date-Baah noted.
On utilities, Dr Date-Baah said the government must ensure that the appropriate legal framework was in place to ensure efficiency from providers and fairness to consumers and investors as well.
He urged that Ghana should strive to close the regulatory gap that existed in investment policies and to reject WTO agreements that were detrimental to foreign investment flow into the country.
Nana Dr S. K. B. Asante, Chairman of the function and a Member of the Academy, said there was a general consensus among Ghana's partners in private investment to review laws governing the sector.
The agricultural and mining sectors and the GIPC were identified as requiring such reviews in regulatory framework. This emphasised the role of the rule of law in complementing development in the country, he said.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Jasikan (Volta Region) 24 January 2002- Mr Kofi Dzamesi, Deputy Volta Regional
Minister, on Tuesday called on district assemblies in the region to give urgent attention to the Auditor General's and Regional Co-ordinating Council's monitoring reports on their operations.
Mr Dzamesi, who made the call at an emergency meeting of the Jasikan District Assembly, said observations and recommendations in those reports were meant to correct lapses and improve on performances.
Mr Dzamesi, who was on a three-day duty tour of the district, expressed regret at the failure of some assemblies in the region to treat such reports with the seriousness they deserved.
He observed that "the monitoring reports highlight the same problems of district assemblies and must not be taken for granted, they must be studied to correct lapses reported on."
Mr Dzamesi advised the assemblies to learn to control their expenditures. He announced the government's decision to pay the salaries of personnel of the area and town councils in the country as from this year and provide logistics towards their efficient operations in support of the district assemblies.
In an address, Mr E. K. Siaw-Ken, Presiding Member of the assembly, said deliberations at their meetings were devoid of partisanship. He said the assembly would always co-operate with the district chief executive and the government to implement policies and programmes aimed at improving the living standards of the people.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 January 2002- A United States company is to process and convert about 500,000 tonnes of waste into electricity and purified water, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry said this in Accra on Wednesday.
He said the processing would be done on barges on the high sea to generate heat to propel turbines to convert the steam into electricity while a process of distillation would be done for the production of purified water.
Mr. Osei-Adjei said this when contributing to a statement issued in Parliament by Mr. Brandford D. Adu, Member of Parliament for Okere about the sanitation crisis facing the country.
He said if the process became successful, it was likely that the country would have to import garbage from neighbouring countries for processing to ensure its sustainability.
Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker of Parliament said the issue of sanitation is of an emergency nature of life and death facing the people, which therefore, calls for immediate solutions to be found.
He called for the joint committee on Health and Local Government and Rural Development to find suitable ways of tackling the issue and to advise parliament on measures to be taken.
The Speaker said there was the need for sector ministers to be always around to provide answers to statements and urgent questions in the House, since it was not for nothing that the constitution stipulates that a third of ministers should come from the House.
Mr J. H. Mensah, Senior Minister and Chairman of the Government Economic Team said the degree of filth in the towns and cities was of concern to the government and is a subject, which demands immediate action.
He said the government was to spend between two to three billion cedis to organise about 25,000 youngsters to clean-up the country and called for suggestions and ideas from Parliament and civil society as to how to come to a lasting solution to the problem.
Mr. Stephen Manu Balado, NPP-Ahafo Ano South said it was not prudent for the nation to be engulfed in filth in view of not only the health aspects of the people, but the effort at attracting tourists. He said the activities of human scavengers must be checked since they pose a great danger of spreading diseases through their activities.
Mr Balado said the "Golden Age of Business would not be achieved if there is no good sanitation practices in the communities and suggested the need for re-introduction of hygiene in the school curriculum.
Mr David Yaw Mensah, NDC- Atebubu North said the attitude of some people in the communities on sanitation issues was appalling as they are indifferent to its consequences.
He therefore, called for public education to revive the communal spirit of the people and ensure the clearance of the garbage across the country. Mr Alex Kwaku Korankye, NPP-Asante Akim South said there was the need for clean-up exercises are maintained and for drastic measures to be taken against offenders who litter about.
Mr Victor Gbeho, Ind-Anlo said poor sanitation relates largely to waste disposal from the home and the economic position of the people since the influx of traders into the cities who even sell around traffic lights are a major source of garbage collection.
Mrs Gifty Eugene Kusi, NPP-Tarkwa-Nsuaem said children are mostly the culprits but because they do not easy access to toilet facilities both at home and in the schools and therefore defecate anywhere.
Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, NDC-Fanteakwa said there was the need for the unit and area councils to be empowered to play their expected role of maintaining good sanitation in their communities.
Dr Kwame Ampofo, NDC- South Dayi said there should be political will to adopt new technologies in waste management, construct miniature sanitation facilities and for a look at scientific reports on waste management.
Mrs Edith Hazel, NDC- Evalue-Gwira expressed concern about the unhealthy sight of the beaches which she said are engulfed with filth and should attract the concern of the government.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 January 2002 - The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index made its second move this year in mixed trading that saw the price of only one equity appreciating.
The one-cedi gain by Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL) at 902 cedis made all the difference on Wednesday as investors continued to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. The GSE All-Share Index went up by 0.14 points to 956.58 points while change for the year also appreciated to 0.07 points.
Half of the 22 listed equities sold shares, although total number traded was 11,800 compared with 26,100 on Monday. Market capitalisation also inched up at 3,905.26 billion cedis from 3,904.98 billion cedis. The following are the closing prices of the equities in cedis:
ABL 320
AGC 18,800
ALW 4,300
BAT 627
CFAO 60
EIC 3,061
FML 950
GBL 1,000
GCB 1,570
GGL 902 +1
HFC 952
MGL 241
MLC 145
MOGL 18,500
PAF 800
PBC 450
PZ 1,010
SCB 20,551
SPPC 341
SSB 2,200
UNIL 2,300
CMLT 430
GRi.../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com