GRi Business, Economics
& Finance 31 - 07 - 2003
Confusion at ICU meeting in Tema
Govt is current on GETFund payments- Minister
Asebu Fruit Processing Factory reacts to ban on operations
Mining beneficial for the economy- Chamber of Mines
Vice-President launches International Trade Fair
Kufuor pledges to maintain peace within the sub-region
Confusion at ICU meeting in Tema
Tema (Greater Accra) 31 July 2003 - The issue over who should preside over an emergency meeting of the Tema branch of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Unoin (ICU) of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Wednesday at Tema generated into confusion.
While Napoleon Kpoh General-Secretary of the ICU was pleading with journalists covering the meeting to excuse them because it "was a house affair", Wilson Agana, Greater Accra regional chairman disagreed and wanted the press to remain.
This led to insults against each other but the delegates at the meeting restored peace for the meeting to begin. When Kpo took the floor, he explained that he was chairing the meeting because he called for the meeting on some clarification of the Union's finances.
Agana insisted that since he was the regional chairman he would chair the
meeting. Members of the press covering the meeting decided to leave to enable
them to put their house in order.
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Govt is current on GETFund payments- Minister
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 31 July 2003 - The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Yaw Osafo-Maafo has stated that the government is current in respect of payments into the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).
He said a total of ¢386.283bn had been transferred into the GETFund and payments for June, this year would be made at the end of July.
Osafo-Maafo was addressing the mid-year review conference of Regional Ministers in Kumasi on Tuesday. Giving details on the payments, Osafo-Maafo said on 9 June, a total of ¢204.073bn was transferred into the GETFund in respect of January to April 2003.
On 3 July, ¢43.843bn was transferred in respect of May 2003. Osafo-Maafo explained that in April, a total of ¢138.367bn was released into the GETFund in respect of the fourth quarter of 2002.
He declared that government had decided to release funds into the GETFund on monthly basis with a month's lag. On the DACF, the Minister said an amount of ¢135.034bn was transferred into it for the first quarter while an amount of ¢125.935bn was released into the fund for the second quarter of the year.
Osafo-Maafo said as at the end of June 30, a total amount of 124 million dollars had been lodged into the HIPC account at the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Government was also expecting ¢535.92bn to be lodged into the account from July to the end of 2003. He said so far, a total amount of ¢721.08bn had been approved for disbursement from the HIPC account.
Out of this amount, ¢266.79bn was disbursed in 2002 while ¢454.29bn had been disbursed for the first half of 2003. Osafo-Maafo said ¢482.15bn was disbursed to various sector ministries while ¢157.53bn was allocated to local government agencies.
An amount of ¢81.4bn had also been disbursed for domestic debt reduction. He said government was committed to ensuring that the full benefits of the enhanced HIPC initiative was accomplished and channelled to poverty related projects.
Osafo-Maafo gave the assurance that the government was taking steps to ensure
that management of the economy remained professional and relevant to the
priorities of the government.
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Asebu Fruit Processing Factory reacts to ban on operations
Cape Coast (Central Region) 31 July 2003 - The General Manager of Fruits and Flavours Limited at Asebu, near Cape Coast, Letsinam Dziedzoave, on Wednesday, stated that the factory has not received any official notification from the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) that it had been banned from operating.
A publication on the front page of Wednesday July 30 issue of the 'Ghanaian Times', quoted the Board as saying it had banned the factory from operating, following the discovery of unwholesome 'fresh-taste cola drink' produced by the factory, in the Upper West Region.
Reacting to the publication in a telephone interview with the Ghana News Agency at Cape Coast, Dziedzoave, explained that about three weeks ago, one of the factory's distributors based at Wa, informed him that a batch of the drink supplied him on 16 June, had "fermented".
He said the distributor also informed him that FDB officials had asked that the product be withdrawn from the market, which he, the distributor, had subsequently done.
According to him, at the factory, he examined the remainder of the batch, which had been sent to the distributor, but he found nothing wrong with them. He said, he however, sent a driver to Wa to retrieve the drinks from the distributor, but the driver came back with a note from the FDB officials that the drink, numbering 650 satchets, had been impounded.
Dziedzoave, further told the GNA that officials from the Board's head office in Accra, followed up with an inspection of the factory, on 21 July, during which they were shown the remainder of the batch sent to Wa.
He said they were also informed that the cause for the fermentation of the drinks sent had been detected, and that after the inspection, the FDB officials took away some samples of the drink to conduct tests.
The general manager, regretted that although the understanding was that the Board would "report back to them", after the tests, nothing had been heard from them, until the publication about the ban on the factory.
He said he has therefore, contacted the factory's representative in Accra, to get in touch with the FDB for the " clarification of the publication".
The General Manager said nothing adverse has been found about the quality of the drinks since production started about a year ago, and that the problem with the batch found at Wa, was an isolated case.
He said the factory, which has about 5,000 out-grower lime and orange farmers and more than 150 employees, also produces 'orange flavoured' drinks in satchets, alongside the cola drink for the local market, through more than 50 distributors nationwide.
For the export market, it produces lime concentrate and lime oil, and also exports lime peels from which 'pectin' is extracted for the production of jam. The company, was established as far back as 1929 under a private ownership, then called 'L. Rose and Company. The name was later changed to Emil Ghana Limited in 1980.
It was liquidated in 1987, and was revamped in 1993, and became 'Fruits and
Flavours' Limited.
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Mining beneficial for the economy- Chamber of Mines
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 July 2003 - The mining sector has injected about five billion dollars into the Ghanaian economy between 1997 and 2002, Dr Tony Aubynn, a manager at the Ghana Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday.
He said during the same period, the mining companies have paid over ¢400bn in royalties to the state. Dr Aubynn, who was delivering a paper on "Alternative Livelihood Systems: A way forward" at a two-day workshop on Artisanal Mining- Its Economic Importance and effects on the environment, said most mines continue to return well in excess of the statutory 25 per cent of foreign earnings.
Citing the year 2000 as an example, Dr Aubynn said mining companies returned about $287m of their total mineral revenue representing about 40 per cent of the foreign earnings.
"Between 1992 and 2002, the mining industry has raked an average of 12 per cent of the country's total internal revenue," he said.
Dr Aubynn said the commission was streamlining the activities of the Association of Small- Scale Miners to incorporate them into the Chamber, adding, "Our main problem now is how to deal with galamsey operators, whose activities are degrading the environment at a faster rate,"
He said due to the inability of mining firms to employ all the people within its operational areas alternative livelihood systems as been institute to provide employment for the people, especially the youth.
He mentioned some of the systems to include snail and grass-cutter rearing, agro-forestry, cassava processing and fish farming. Dr Baffour Bonney, Chairman, Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment said although galamsey was a source of employment for the youth, its devastating effects on the environment was quite alarming.
He urged stakeholders in the mining industry to come together to educate galamsey operators on the need for environmental conservation in order to preserve it for generations unborn.
Mrs Joyce Wereko- Brobey, Executive Director of the Ghana Chamber of Mines said artisanal mining has reached a stage in the country where cannot be wished away because it is a system which has been practiced in Ghana for over 2000 years.
"We however need to organise them in a way that their activities may not
have devastating effect on the environment," she said, adding that it was
not good enough to consign the small- scale miners to the usage of the crude
methods, which they continue to use.
She called for the demarcation of areas for small-scale miners, with the
provision of appropriate technology and technical know-how to ensure that their
activities did not have effect on their health and that of others.
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Vice-President launches International Trade Fair
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 July 2003 - Vice President Aliu Mahama on Wednesday said the pursuit of a comprehensive policy framework and other support measures were crucial for Ghana to attract both local and foreign private sector to be interested in its economy and to boost growth.
He said, while sound macro-economic policies were necessary, those alone could not sufficiently propel the economy on the path of sustainable growth.
It is in this direction, he said, that government was implementing a set of financial and policy measures such as the Export Development and Investment Fund, Export Credit Development Agency, among other things, to inspire investor confidence and build the necessary partnership and development for the accelerated development of the country.
Vice-President Aliu was speaking at the launch and inauguration of members of the planning council of the Ninth Ghana International Trade Fair in Accra. The fair, on the theme, "Charting New Frontiers for Trade Partnership and Investment," would be held at the Ghana International Trade Fair site from 26 February - 8 March 2004.
Vice-President Mahama expressed the hope that the fair would open up the country as an attractive destination for trade, investment and development in the sub-region in view of its strategic location, political stability, peace and influence on the international political scene.
He appealed to Ghana's foreign partners and other foreign economic operators, investors and industrialists to explore the country's conducive business and investment environment.
The Vice President also tasked Ghana's foreign missions to encourage investors in their host countries to patronize the fair. Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiatives (PSIs), reiterated government's determination to improve on infrastructure and provide the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.
He asked entrepreneurs to exploit the facilities the government had put in place to enable them to start new businesses or expand existing ones.
Asiedu called on the organizers of the fair to allocate a special pavilion to products under the various PSIs in textiles, cassava and salt to encourage their producers to participate in the fair and as a means of attracting investment and trade partnership from foreign trade investors.
Mrs Esther Ofori, Chief Executive of the Trade Fair Company said the fair would pay a special attention to exhibition of Made-in-Ghana goods and devote a pavilion that would exhibit only top quality goods. She expressed the hope that it would realise more revenue than the last international fair in 2000, which brought in ¢250m in taxes and duties, ¢21.3bn from on-the-spot sales and ¢180bn worth of orders.
The fair would highlight Ghana's new investment and trade opportunities to
the rest of the world in a bid to attract investment and expand exports. It
would also provide and sell the achievements chalked by the government in its
efforts to improve the industrial and export sectors of the economy in order to
alleviate poverty.
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Kufuor pledges to maintain peace within the sub-region
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 July 2003 - The ECOWAS Chairman, President John Kufuor, on Wednesday, pledged to offer the needed leadership to maintain peace within the West African sub-region.
He said, "I will continue to give the leadership required to maintain peace in the sub-region. It is a very difficult situation, especially the humanitarian situation we have in Liberia."
President Kufuor said this when Walter Kansteiner, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu. He said more support was needed from the US to ensure that all the parties involved in the Liberian conflict agreed to a ceasefire for the peace process to continue.
President Kufuor commended the US for its acceptance to play a major role to solve the Liberian conflict and the substantial support it had offered to enable the Liberian people go about their chores in peace.
He said the one-day extra-ordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would discuss the deployment of ECOWAS troops to Liberia and how to facilitate the process of the peace talks in Accra.
Kansteiner said the leadership provided by President Kufuor to solve the Liberian conflict was commendable and pledged the support of the US to the ECOWAS to find solution to the conflict.
He stressed the need for President Charles Taylor to leave Liberia and the US
was anxiously waiting for his departure.
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