Accra (Greater Accra) 12 July 2001
About 400 local and foreign exhibitors are expected to participate in this year's grand sales, Mr Gabriel Kamasa, Exhibitions Director of Ghana Trade Fair Company said on Wednesday.
The fair, which opens at the Accra International Trade Fair Centre on July 26, will attract exhibitors from West Africa and the Far East.
At a forum to discuss the regulations and conduct of the fair, Mr Kamas asked the exhibitors to make prices of their goods affordable to enable people to patronise them.
He said a reduction is necessary if the exhibitors are to derive the maximum benefit from participation in the fair.
"The public will shun the fair if they realise that the prices are the same as those ruling in the market," he said.
Mr Kamasa said exhibitors would pay a little more for electricity following the recent increase in tariffs, which was not factored in the cost of stands allocation.
Consequently, exhibitors with stand areas covering one to 48 metres square are to pay 50,000 cedis in addition to what they had already paid.
GRi../
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Tamale (Northern Region) 12 July 2001
The Northern Regional minister, Mr Ben Bukari Salifu on Wednesday said inadequate promotion of "made-in-Ghana goods" both within and outside the country, tend to discourage local entrepreneurs.
Local manufactured goods face steep competition with imported ones while taxes impose on them erode the interest of entrepreneurs, Mr Salifu said at a workshop on rural trade and industry promotion organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry for 50 small-scale entrepreneurs in the Northern Region at Tamale.
Mr Salifu asked the participants to examine taxes imposed on trading and industries whether they favour local industries or not.
The Regional Minister said finance marketing and storage were of great concern to both farmers and the government and urged participants to come out with a workable formula to enhance the industrial sector.
It was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and it is expected to select three pilot districts in the region to benefit from the Rural Trade and Industry Promotion Programme (RTIPP).
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 12 July 2001
The Management of African Ground Operations (AFGO) Ghana Limited says it is not threatened by the government's decision not to encourage the monopoly being enjoyed in the handling of cargo.
The competition, according to officials, is good for the development of good business practices and innovation in business procedures.
Briefing journalists in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Koen Neven, Managing Director of AFGO said, "we welcome any competitor into the business; and as the contract between us and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) stipulates, competitors will be involved when it becomes due."
The briefing was meant to expose journalists to the procedures and outline of programmes of AFGO and throw light on how it has performed since its inception.
The first contract between AFGO and GCAA was in October 1994 after which a new one was signed in 1997 for seven years. The current monopoly ceases in 2004 after which other industry players would be welcomed to participate.
He debunked allegations that Mr M. Traboulsi owns AFGO and said, " The documents are there at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Registrar General for all to see. I do not know why people keep making this reference all the time."
Mr Neven said the idea was that competitors would be welcomed into the industry when cargo traffic rises.
"The contract enjoins that there is no need for a large number of cargo handlers especially when the volume is small. When the volume of cargo rises, the monopoly clause in the contract agreement will be opened. We at AFGO agree to this and are OK with it."
He said the existing situation is in line with the agreement the Ministry of Trade and Industry had at the time to justify the huge investment of the UK government's loan of 10 million dollars, which required the right company with the requisite ability to enable GCAA to get its returns on the investment.
He said it is standard practice in the cargo industry that one company should handle an airport with less than 75,000 tons of cargo per annum.
"Given our current state, we do not even handle 45,000 tons. What we have is between 25,000 to 30,000 tons per annum."
Mr Neven said AFGO, with 500 permanent workers and 50 casuals each week, after investing five million dollars in the company, has set standards comparable to those required and practised in Europe and America, adding, "Our system is the best in Africa so far."
He said Ghana is fast becoming a major hub for cargo handling activities in Africa with the major airlines making use of facilities at the nation's cargo village.
He urged exporters to come together and set up a cold storage plant for their products in order to make them attractive and acceptable during shelf life.
Mr Wisdom Dorcoo, Administrative Manager expressed disgust at the presence of clearing agents at the cargo village who dupe unsuspecting clients, charging them very huge sums which they (clearing agents) claim is what AFGO is charging.
He said in certain instances, AFGO only charges about 75,000 cedis per kilo. But clearing agents charge their clients three to four times the price citing handling charges.
"It is time the ministry and others regulated the activities of clearing agents to make clearing of goods less cumbersome."
Mr Dorcoo said AFGO is waiting for the green light from GCAA to build another shed for exports.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 12 July 2001
The GSE All-Share Index finished mid-week trading slightly higher by 0.12 points at 934.30 points from 934.18 points, but the bourse continued to struggle under bearish sentiments.
Total shares traded were also up almost three times at 32,000 shares from a low of 11,100 shares on Monday.
There were two price changes, both positive. Mobil Oil Ghana Limited gained 50 cedis at 19,550 and Fan Milk Limited (FML) was up one cedi at 853 cedis.
The change for the year to date inched up at 8.90 per cent.
Market capitalisation was up slightly higher at 3,788.72 billion cedis compared to
3,788.50 billion cedis at the previous close.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 630
AGC 18,500
ALW 12,100
BAT 550
CFAO 60
EIC 2,890
FML 853 +1
GBL 1,300
GCB 1,600
GGL 900
HFC 952
MGL 240
MLC 130
MOGL 19,550 +50
PAF 350
PBC 450
PZ 640
SCB 21,000
SPPC 306
SSB 2,300
UNIL 1,805
CMLT 425
GRi../
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