GRi Business, Economics & Finance 23 –
01 - 2003
The delegation, led by the
Indian High Commissioner in
The Deputy Director of GJEPC, an
apex body of manufacturers, exporters and traders of gold, diamond and other
minerals, Surinder Singh indicated the preparedness of the Council to compete
in bidding for diamonds produced from Ghana Consolidated Diamond Company at
Akwatia.
A statement from the Ministry
said the Council was also prepared to assist in training personnel from the
Precious Mineral Marketing Company and the private sector. "Our doors are
also opened to new graduates who wish to acquire skills in jewellery design and
manufacturing," the statement quoted Singh as saying.
Signh disclosed that the
ultimate objective of the Council was to establish a jewellery industry in
Adjei-Darko welcomed the
establishment of industries, which would contribute to value addition to the
country's raw natural resources. He expressed the hope that the concretization
of the plans indicated would help advance the co-operation between the two
countries.
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A source close to the Ministry
of Manpower Development and Social Welfare told the Ghana News Agency that the
meeting lasted for about two hours and was attended by all stakeholders.
The committee appointed a
technical sub-committee to work out the technicalities by considering the
proposed inflation for the year 2000 by the government, through the necessary
restoration to halt the erosion of wages for workers.
The source said a technical
sub-committee chaired by a representative of the government, had also
considered the impact of the recent fuel increases, as well as the impact on
utility services that would be effected within the next few months.
It said after the appointment of
the sub-committee, another meeting was scheduled for next week Wednesday to
consider the report to be submitted. Government representatives included the
Minister of Manpower Development, Minister of Information, the Deputy Minister
of Finance and a representative of the Internal Revenue Service, while the
11-member Ghana Employers Association team was led by its President, Ato
Ampiah.
Kwesi Adu Amankwa, his two
deputies led the Trade Unions Congress team to the meeting which also had
representatives of the Ghana Civil Servants Association attending.
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Nana Owusu Bempah, National
Chairman of the ALTOPS, told the Ghana News Agency in
He gave the breakdown of revised
taxi fares as approved by the GRTCC as follows; Railways to Ahodwo, TUC,
Dakodwom and Adiebeba, 1,200 cedis. Railways to Daban Panin, Adiembra,
Fankyinibra and Paraku Estates, will now attract 1,500 cedis, he said.
Regarding 'tro-tro' fares, Nana
Owusu Bempah said 800 cedis was being charged from Railways to Ahodwo and TUC
while Railways to Daban Panin is 1,000 cedis. A railway to Jachie-Pramso is
1,500 cedis, Railways to Kuntanase, 1,600 while Railways to Onwi and Akokofe
will now attract at 2,600 cedis.
Railways to Bekwai will now cost
3,000 cedis, the chairman said. Nana Owusu Bempah said fares for some of the
routes were pegged below the 40 percent increase as directed and therefore,
appealed to the drivers to co-operate to ensure that sanity prevails in the
transport business. The ALTOPS chairman entreated commuters to co-operate and
pay the revised fares.
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The project being facilitated by
the
Dr Earl Picard, Project Director
at
The five principal objectives of
the project to be launched this year, are the marketing of
"The project will promote
public/private sector co-operation in the interest of developing
"With its rich history and
culture, friendly and engaging people and market-oriented economy, we feel that
"Tourism is a potential
goldmine, but handicapped by lack of resources" he said, and expressed
optimism that the project would identify the needs of private sector in the
industry. "I hope all the stakeholders will help make the project a success,"
he said.
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A statement from the British
High Commission in
It said the purpose of the visit
was to introduce the Minister and the members of the GIAC to the
The statement said it is hoped
that on their return, the team would be able to create the necessary conditions
that will help
Whilst in the
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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 January
2003- Shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange ended higher on Wednesday, with the
benchmark GSE-All Share Index up 2.61 points to close at 1,427.09 points as the
bourse maintained its moderate performance.
Traded share volumes were up at
143,700 shares from 105,000 shares on Monday as big time investors continued to
shy away from the market. Despite low demands, the financial stocks led a rally
of price appreciation, with five of the 24 listed equities making gains.
Home Finance Company (HFC)
gained 50 cedis at 1,200 cedis, Ghana Commercial Bank was up six cedis to close
at 3,641 cedis and SSB Bank closed three cedis higher at 4,113 cedis.
Other gainers were Unilever with
one cedi at 4,861 and Guinness Ghana Limited, which also went up by one cedi at
1,102 cedis. Market capitalisation was up at 6,378.88bn cedis from 6,373.31bn
cedis at the previous close. The change for the year now stands at 2.28 per
cent.
The following are the last
prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 390
AGC 28,000
ALW 3,700
BAT 1,001
CFAO 67
EIC 4,600
FML 1,800
GBL 510
GCB 3,641 +6
GGL 1,102 +1
HFC 1,200 +50
MGL 254
MLC 272
MOGL 19,730
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,010
SCB 28,700
SPPC 387
SSB 4,113
+3
SWL 285
TBL 4,850
UNIL 4,861
+1
CMLT 460
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,321.00 cedis 8,542.09 cedis
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,108.39 6,267.30
Canadian Dollar 5,432.21 5,574.65
Danish Kroner 1,201.09 1,232.49
Japanese Yen 70.43 72.27
South African
Euro 8,933.07 9,167.40
CFA Franc 13.62 13.98
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The Commonwealth Secretariat,
which undertook the review exercise of the current regulation established in
1984, presented a report to the GNPC in December last year for a final
discussion at a workshop of stakeholders that began in
The stakeholders deliberating on
the report include consultants, the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Finance,
the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy, the Attorney-General's
Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Customs, Excise and
Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and oil companies
in
Bryan Land, a member of the
Commonwealth team that reviewed the regime, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA)
that the exercise was necessary because about 20 years after the first regime,
the oil industry had moved on to become more competitive.
He said the team looked at
The team also considered the tax
and fiscal issues and other issues such as environment, which has assumed
international dimensions. S. Sekyere-Abankwa, Board Chairman of the GNPC, said
the Corporation in the 1990s lost focus of its goal and rather engaged in
non-core activities that were not profitable.
To turn things around, the GNPC
has had to downsize its work force from about 500 to 89 as part of activities
to enable it to refocus on the core functions. Sekyere-Abankwa said the
workshop would also discuss two issues and make recommendations that are
expected to accelerate the development of hydrocarbons.
One of the issues, he said,
would enable the GNPC to shift its focus from only on-shore activities to
engage in deep water exploration. Sekyere-Abankwah explained that the decision
was on the basis of the fact that
"If we want to achieve our
goal, then it is necessary for us to make our regulations attractive to
investors because oil exploration is quite risky, requires a lot of
capital," he said.
Sekyere-Abankwa added that the
bottom line was for the investors to recover their investment since the GNPC
would now have the investors to fully fund its programmes.
Dr John Frank Abu, Member of
Parliament and Former Energy Minister, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that
the review was important to make
He said, for instance, gold
production in
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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 January
2003- Many drivers at various lorry stations in Accra were on Wednesday
complying with new fares agreed upon between the Ghana Road Transport
Co-ordinating Council (GRTCC) and the Ministry of Road and Transport following
new fuel prices.
When the Ghana News Agency (GNA)
visited the Accra-Bawaleshie and Accra-Tema New Town stations it found that the
confusion that arose after Friday's fuel price hike had cleared.
The GRTCC successfully
negotiated a 40 percent increase in fares instead of 30 percent agreed on
Friday after petrol prices were increased by 90.4 per cent. In an interview
with the GNA, Nicholas Sowah, Station Manager for Accra-Bawaleshie Union, said
the union and the drivers had discussed the new fares and were no longer
charging the arbitrary fares.
Sowah said they were charging
2,000 cedis when the new fuel prices were announced, but they were now charging
1,500 cedis for the same route. He expressed the hope that as time goes more of
his colleagues would understand the new measures and abide by them.
Sowah said even though
everything is going on well, some of the drivers who drive Nissan Urvan buses
have been complaining that the enforcement by police of the number of
passengers the vehicles should carry would affect their income.
At the Accra-Tema New Town
station, Eric Teye Puplampu, the station manager, said drivers in his union
were still charging the arbitrary fares because their route did not appear in
the list published on the new fares. Puplampu said they were waiting for
directives from their officers to decide on what to do.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo)
Commuters on the
Penkwase-Sunyani route have insisted on paying 1,000 cedis instead of the 1,500
cedis the drivers were demanding as the new fare and which they have been
charging since the announcement of the increases.
Before the announcement, taxi
drivers on the route were charging 700 cedis. The few drivers who are charging
the 1,000 cedis, however, spoke against the 100 per cent increase, saying,
"we are left with almost nothing after making the daily sales to our
vehicle owners".
Some passengers, including
workers in state institutions now prefer to walk to their various destinations
and workplaces because they could not afford the new fares the drivers are
demanding and this is adversely affecting productivity with associated lateness
and weariness.
Even though we knew the price of
fuel would be increased, we were not expecting a hundred percent increase; one
of he drivers said and urged the government "to do something about
it". Meanwhile the taxi drivers are taking 5,000 cedis for a
"dropping" service within Sunyani. The charge was 3,000 cedis before
the hike in fuel prices.
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Tapa-Abotoase (Volta Region) 23
January 2003- The Tapa Abotoase Boat Owners Association in the Jasikan District
have expressed concern over the fuel price increases and complained about the
poor quality of pre-mix fuel supplied to them.
Members of the Association, at a
meeting to discuss the fuel price hike and determine new fares on the lake,
called on the sector Ministry to provide them with quality pre-mix fuel and
outboard motors at affordable prices.
Kaizaro Yao Awoye, Secretary of
the Association, said boat owners had increased fares on the
Fares charged by smaller boats,
popularly known as "taxis", have also gone up by 110 per cent. Public
reactions to the fuel price increases in the Jasikan and Kadjebi, Districts,
have been mixed.
Kofi Adjei Ntim, Kadjebi
District Chief Executive, described the decision as "bold and
positive" as it would save the petroleum industry from collapse. ''I appeal
to Ghanaians to take the increase as a vital bitter pill that will help sustain
the petroleum industry.''
Divine Foli, a civil servant,
said food prices were rising, ''adding to the financial burden of civil
servants.'' Foli suggested the reintroduction of the leave allowance as part of
measures to cushion workers against the increases.
A fuel dealer at Hohoe Zongo was
worried about low fuel sales following the increases. He said the highest
quantity of fuel being bought by car owners now was two gallons while taxi
drivers bought only one-gallon at a time.
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