Upper West exhibits its investment potentials
Unreliable data making economic assessment difficult
Accra (Greater Accra) 05 June 2003 - The African Development Bank Group (ADB) has unveiled the main lines of its Strategic Plan for 2003-2007 meant to help to operationalise the development mission of the ADB Group.
Ousmane Kane, Director of Budget and Planning, said in a statement received in
Accra on Wednesday that the ADB Group would also assist regional member
countries to put in place effectively and efficiently the Millennium
Development Goals.
"To this end, the Plan is an instrument destined to
improve and strengthen the implementation of ADB operations, particularly those
linked to important development initiatives such as the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Water Initiative," he said in the
Plan presented in Addis Ababa.
Kane said thanks to a better allocation of the Bank Group's
resources, which evolves around priority key sectors defined in common accord
with beneficiary countries, and the reinforcement of strategic partnerships,
the Plan would help the institution to improve the impact of its interventions
with regard to sustainable development.
At that stage, the Strategic Plan introduces an important
innovation in the way the Bank Group operates as the emphasis shifts from the
number of selected projects to quality, supervision, improvement, control and
follow-up.
"To achieve these objectives, the Plan would enhance
internal efficiency of the ADB Group by aligning more the specific objectives
of the various support complexes to the major strategic orientations of the
Bank."
Kane said the Plan received massive staff support, a
foundation upon which its whole implementation would be built in the next five
years. With regard to the Bank Group's financial results for 2002, Ahmad
Bahgat, Vice-President in charge of Finance, expressed satisfaction about the
institution's performances, which had scored its highest financial
achievements, with net reserves of $1.8bn and operational results of $257m in
2002.
Mrs Arunma Oteh, Treasury Director, analysed the economic
and social impact of the Bank Group's operations in regional member countries
and stressed the its catalytic role in its interventions.
The Bank Group's interventions were thus able to mobilise,
in 2002, $3bn, in addition to its own financing of $2.8bn including its
contribution to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.
Founded in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier
development financing institution in Africa. To date, the Bank Group has
financed more than 2,800 loan and grant projects for total commitments of
$47bn.
The African Development Bank Group is composed of the ADB,
non-concessional loans to regional member countries, African Development Fund,
for mobilization of concession financial resources and the Nigeria Trust Fund,
which gives out concessional loans to the less privileged countries in their
developmental efforts.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 05 June 2003
Currency Buying
Selling
U.S. Dollar
8,575.91
8,749.45
Pound Sterling
13,995.89 14,280.85
Swiss Franc 6,558.83
6,685.48
Canadian Dollar
6,309.00 6,431.37
Danish Kroner
1,357.41 1,383.94
Japanese Yen
72.31 73.74
South African Rand
1,066.00
1,080.65
Euro
10,079.13 10,274.73
CFA Franc
15.37 15.66
Naira
68.14 69.52
ECOWAS WAUA 12,198.85
GRi…/
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Ho (Volta Region) 05 June 2003 - The Unity Rural Bank at
Ziope in the Ho District is expected to increase its net profit this financial
year from ¢100m to ¢200m.
Togbui Binah Lawluvi VI, Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the Bank, expressed this optimism at the commissioning of an agency of the
bank at Fiave, a suburb of Ho.
He said the Bank, whose deposit amounted to ¢1.7bn at the end of April this year, proposed to disburse ¢32m as dividends to its shareholders this year. A new banking complex built at a cost of ¢250m at Kpetoe is almost ready for commissioning, he said.
Togbui Lawluvi said the opening of a third agency of the bank at Ho Fiave in
addition to Dakpa and Kpetoe Agencies attested to the confidence the Bank of
Ghana (BOG) had in its viability.
He called on rural communities in the Ho District to
transact business with the Bank and take advantage of the opportunities it
offered for community and personal improvement.
Togbui Lawluvi appealed to the BOG to empower rural banks to
approve loans of up to ¢30m instead of the present ¢10m in response to the
prevailing macro-economic environment in the country.
GRi…/
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Wa (Upper West) 05 June 2003 - A well-patronised industrial
fair was held at Wa on Wednesday to showcase the investment potentials of the
Upper West Region as one of the highlights of the week-long 20th anniversary
celebration of the creation of the region.
On display were a wide variety of products manufactured by
individuals and institutions in the region. The products included gas and saw
dust stoves, harnessing frames for weavers, bullock drawing devices, iron beds,
wooden mobile kitchen and a chair bed, all manufactured at the Nandom Technical
Institute.
Incidentally, the institute's stand attracted the largest
number of people at the fair. There were also locally manufactured groundnut
crushers, smocks of various designs, handicrafts, locally woven textiles and
cultural products such as drums and xylophones.
Taking place alongside the fair was this year's Cook Art
Competition in the region, which is organised annually by Trafix Catering
Services and sponsored by Unilever Ghana Limited.
Kwadwo Asiedu-Affram, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and
President's Special Initiatives who opened the fair, said the celebration would
not have been complete without an event of that nature.
He said an astute investor would only invest in a community,
based on what it has achieved and its potential as an investment friendly
destination.
Asiedu-Affram commended the Regional Co-ordinating Council
for organising such an impressive fair. The Regional Minister, Sahanun Mogtari
described the region as "the sleeping economic giant" and urged
district assemblies, non-governmental organisations and citizens living outside
to consider investing in the tourism sector in particular.
Mogtari said the hippo sanctuary at Wechaw in the Wa
District, which is among the exciting 14 eco-tourism sites currently being
developed by the Ghana Tourist Board offered an authentic cultural product to
tourists.
According to him, the industrial sector held a great
potential for handicraft, artefacts, metal work and brick manufacturing and
called on investors to explore those areas for investment.
On the cook art competition, the Regional Minister advised
the organisers to get down to the district and community levels, in order to
stimulate interest and popularise local dishes. Madam Hajia Saani took home a
set of silver saucepans as her prize for winning the competition.
GRi…/
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Unreliable data making economic assessment
difficult
Accra (Greater Accra) 05 June 2003 - Dr. Joseph Abbey,
Executive Director, and Centre for Policy Analysis on Wednesday said unreliable
data was making true assessment of economic performance in the country very
difficult.
He said reliance exclusively on banking sector data could
paint a rosier picture of good economic performance even at a time government
was really plagued with serious financial problems, making it difficult to meet
payment for executed projects.
"In the circumstances, healthy bank balances could be
illusory with large amounts of payments vouchers bloating up the float,"
he said.
Dr Abbey was reviewing the first quarter performance of the
economy at a business luncheon in Accra organized by the Ghana Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
According to Dr Abbey, records indicated that official
estimates of budgetary outcomes in the annual budget statements, which were
based on payments data from the Controller and Accountant General Department
also failed to paint the correct picture in as much as payment arrears continue
to mount, including statutory transfers.
Dr Abbey, who made reference to an International Monetary
Fund Report, said there were also fears that the consumer price index over the
years had been substantially under recorded.
"The practice of forcing a "no price change"
into the system when a missing observation first occurs certainly inappropriate
in periods of high inflation-is the blame for the serious statistical
blunder."
The Advisor was, therefore, working to re-compute the CPI
indices for publishing very soon. Dr Abbey, however, argued that leaving the
computing of the national income statistics in the hands of a peripatetic
advisor or outside expert was unacceptable, no matter how the situation.
On the economy, Dr Abbey said erratic fiscal and monetary
policies and persistent delays in structural reforms had left the economy in
some respects, weaker than it was four years ago.
He described as ambitious the revised end-of-year target
inflation of 22 per cent, saying it would require an exemplary fiscal
performance and sustained macroeconomic stability to achieve it.
Other factors for achieving the target are a steady decline
in petroleum prices on international markets for the first quarter average of
31 dollars per barrel to 25 dollars per barrel and an exceptionally good food
harvest.
GRi…/
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