GRi BEF News Ghana 08 - 03 - 2001
Budget to be private sector friendly
Revenue leakage at INDUTECH on Independence
Day
GSE All-Share index makes another impressive
gain
ARB explains delay in Apex Bank formation
Indebtedness
delays tariff increases – PURC
SSNIT paid 12.41
billion cedis as pension benefits
Budget to be private sector friendly
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 March 2001
Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, on Wednesday said this year's budget is being carefully fashioned to ensure that the private sector thrives well to move the economy forward.
"We are holding meetings upon meetings over the budget, which is to be read on Friday, to ensure that the private sector is not constrained", he said.
DR Apraku was speaking at the re-launch of Domod Improved Non-stick Cookware, at the on-going Ghana Industrial and Technology Exhibition, dubbed, INDUTECH 20001.
He said under the former administration, the private sector, supposed to be the engine of growth, operated in a very difficult economic environment.
"I want to assure you here and now that you have a friend in the NPP government", he said. "If only you do your best, then you can be sure that government will do its best to ensure that your industries thrive".
He said to boost private sector growth, the government is proposing in this year's budget the re-institution of the Ghana Investment Fund (GIF) and a more proactive Business Assistance Fund (BAF) to support private sector activities.
Dr Apraku said seven billion cedis out of the ten- billion- cedi- BAF is in the hands of debtors, adding that the government is designing measures to ensure up-front payment of the debts.
He urged such debtors to start redeeming their debts.
DR Apraku said despite the trying conditions under which the private sector had operated over the past 20 years it is commendable that some industries have made it through creativity, innovation and the use of modern technology.
"I have personally talked to the Vice President and we are fashioning creative ways of assisting the innovative industries", he said. "Each industry would have to do more to ensure that government's support does not go waste".
He said the private sector and the economy as a whole can improve "if only we are committed to cutting mismanagement and corruption from the system."
Dr Apraku praised the management of Domod Company Limited for the strides they have made in the West African market with the export of quality cookware.
Touching on the HIPC initiative, the Minister said government acknowledges the sentiments of the public on the issue and would take a decision based on the best interest of the people.
Mr. Prince Kofi Kludjeson, President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), appealed to the government to take pragmatic steps to address problems facing the private sector.
He expressed confidence that given the level of expertise of the people in the new government, the problems of the economy should be a thing of the past within the next four years.
Mr. Kludjeson announced that the AGI is creating a website to promote Made-In-Ghana goods on the international market.
This he said is targeted initially at Ghanaians living abroad to buy Ghana made goods through e-commerce.
Mr. Kudjeson described this year's INDUTECH as the best in terms of professionalism and government support.
Domod Company Limited re-launched their products and introduced new brands the Regency and Risiki ranges- for both the local and international markets.
The company also presented awards to 20 distributors, comprising five foreigners and 15 Ghanaians for their loyalty to Domod.
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Revenue leakage at INDUTECH on Independence
Day
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 March 2001
Mr Samuel K. Boakye, Exhibition Manager of the Ghana Industrial and Technology Exhibition (INDUTECH '2001), on Wednesday said though attendance was very high on independence day, there was a heavy revenue leakage, as most people entered without paying.
Speaking in an interview with the GNA, he said officially, 64,000 tickets were sold on March 6.
"But we know for a fact that more than 100,000 people entered the fair grounds on that day."
He said official investigations by the organisers revealed that visitors climbed the wall at the Africa Lake side of the Trade Fair while others passed through a big gutter at that same end.
"At the main gate, there was a stampede, in which a crowd ran over myself and police officers at around 2000hours on the night of March 6," he said.
Mr Boakye said due t the massive illegal entrance the revenue generated from the tickets was far below what was expected.
He said out of the 64,000 counted, it is believed that about 50 per cent were children who paid 2,000 cedis each, and adults paid 4,000 cedis.
He said Ghana Commercial Bank, which was tasked to collect revenue at the gate has not yet provided figures.
Mr Boakye said a few exhibitors at pavilions D, E and F were affected slightly by the recent rains.
He said at pavilion D, rain leaked into an exhibitor's furniture and at pavilion E, where the universities and polytechnics are located, several books were soaked.
At pavilion F, rainwater gathered at the stand of a mining equipment exhibitor.
He said he was not sure whether the affected persons insured their exhibits under the special Donewell Insurance scheme for the fair.
He said out of the over 600 exhibitors, only about 100 have insured their wares.
He acknowledged that apart from the leakage on the roofs of the pavilion, there was no equipment in the pressroom.
Mr Boakye said it was the duty of the Ghana Trade Fair Company (GTFC) to have ensured that the facilities they rented were available.
Meanwhile some local exhibitors that GNA spoke to said the rates they paid for the stands, electricity and other facilities, which ranged between 900,000 cedis and 1.2 million cedis, were exorbitant.
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GSE All-Share index makes another
impressive gain
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 March 2001
The GSE-All share index, the key stock gauge of the Accra bourse, made another impressive gain on Wednesday, led by Aluworks Limited, Standard Chartered Band Limited. The All-Share Index gained 6.75 points to close the day at 895.69 points, after
leaping by 9.82 points last Friday. There was no trading on Monday.
The change for the year also went up to 4.40 per cent. Shares traded were, however, only 84,000, albeit far higher than 12,400 traded on Friday.
Offers were up at 602,340 from 229,600 shares and bids closed lower at 95,500 from 155,700.
On the broader market, there were five price changes - four positive, one negative.
Aluworks Limited (ALW) gained 600 cedis at 6,600 cedis, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) made 150 cedis at 21,700, Fan Milk Limited gained 45 cedis at 900 cedis and Ghana Commercial Bank was up by 25 cedis at 1,625 cedis. The only loser was Guinness Ghana Limited which lost 25 cedis at 825 cedis.
The market capitalisation is 3,726.50 billion cedis.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 630
AGC 18,600
ALW 6,600 +600
BAT 380
CFAO 57
EIC 2,895
FML 900 +45
GBL 1,350
GCB 1,625 +25
GGL 875 -25
HFC 952
MGL 210
MLC 140
MOGL 18,700
PAF 240
PBC 490
PZ 620
SCB 21,700 +150
SPPC 296
SSB 2,300
UNIL 1,598
CMLT 425
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ARB explains delay in Apex Bank formation
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 March 2001
Mr. Samuel N. Dzane, a member of the Transitional Apex Steering Committee (TASC) for the proposed Apex Bank to oversee rural banks, said on Wednesday the establishment of the bank has delayed because its financiers were not sure about the political future of the country.
Speaking to the GNA in Accra, Mr Dzane said the uncertainty about which party was going to form the next government was a major reason why the overseas financiers withheld their contributions until after the elections.
"Now that we have a new government which has the formation of the Apex Bank enshrined in its manifesto, the bank is ready to start full operations in July this year," he said.
Mr Dzane said cabinet has approved the Rural Financial Service Project (RFSP) under which the Bank is to be established, adding that it is currently before parliament.
"Processes for a banking license have also reached an advanced stage and the final approval is expected within this quarter," he said.
Mr Dzane said the ARB (Association of Rural Banks) Apex Bank Draft Regulations which constitute the legal and regulatory framework for the bank have been completed by the consultants and submitted to the Attorney General's Department for final review,"
Mr. Dzane said the clearing procedures, the telegraphic and mail transfer systems have also been completed, adding that prior to official opening, the headquarters office in Accra has started providing some services to the rural banks.
He said the Ministry of Works and Housing is in contact with the Ashanti and Northern Regional Co-ordinating Councils to assist in locating office spaces in Kumasi and Tamale.
"Letters of allotment of shares have been issued to 102 out of the 114 Rural and Community banks," he said. "So far, an amount of 801 million cedis has been received and paid into the share contribution account at the Bank of Ghana."
Information available to the GNA indicates that the establishment of the bank is estimated at 22.7 million dollars, out of which the government will contribute 750,000 US dollars.
The 114 beneficiary rural and community banks are to contribute a token of between one million and 20 million cedis each to make 1.95 million dollars.
Other financiers are the World Bank, five million dollars, African Development Bank (AfDB), 5.070 million dollars and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 10 million dollars.
Mrs. Eunice Osei-Bonsu, Public Relations and Marketing Manager of ARB said the bank would among other things, offer such non-banking services as training for the rural and community bank staff.
The bank was supposed to have started operation in December last year.
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Indebtedness
delays tariff increases – PURC
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 March
2001
Cross indebtedness between
government utility service providers led to delay in tariff increases in the
past three years, Mr Stephen Adu, Commissioner and Executive Secretary of the
Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), said on Wednesday.
He told the GNA in an interview in
Accra that in 1999 when the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) submitted
proposals to the PURC for tariff increases, it (ECG) owed the Volta River
Authority nearly 300 billion cedis.
At the same time, the Ghana Water
Company Limited (GWCL) owed ECG about 50 billion cedis. EGC was also indebted
to GWCL.
Speaking on why the PURC has
delayed approval of tariff increases submitted to it by, especially, ECG and
GWCL, Mr Adu said there was the need to settle some of the debts to make the
companies liquid otherwise "the increases would have been
irrelevant."
He said as a result, the PURC
consulted government on how best to settle the debts most of which were owned
by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
He said the PURC requested
government to institute a mechanism to pay up the locked up cash but this
proved futile, adding that, "there was no guarantee that an increase in
tariff would improve the cash problems of the companies."
Mr Adu said PURC recommended that
government allocated money to offset the debts through the Ministry of Finance
to be paid directly to the companies to be invested in machinery to improve on
quality of services, especially in the area of electricity supply.
This, he said, was to cut power
outages and hours lost, and bridge the gap of debts between the ECG and GWCL.
"We were hoping for an
arrangement between government and stakeholders to enable us to meet statutory
requirements expected of us," Mr Adu said.
The PURC, as part of its functions
receives proposals from the utility services, subjects them to public input and
scrutiny to come out with appropriate charges for utility consumption.
However, PURC has for the past
three years not approved of any proposals submitted by EGC, VRA and GWCL. A
section of the public has condemned this and blamed it on political
intervention.
The VRA, which is the sole body
generating power in the country, has warned that it faces collapse unless it is
awarded a steep tariff increase.
It wants 432 cedis per unit, up
from 98 cedis saying it owes Cote D'Ivoire 34 million dollars and commercial
banks 25 million dollars for crude oil imports to run the Takoradi Thermal
Plant. In the meantime, ECG owes it 325 billion cedis.
Mr Adu said: "We refute any
such suggestion and wish to emphasise that PURC is very independent."
He said PURC takes independent
decisions and makes suggestions to government and the utility services from
time to time. "But we agree that we need to be a bit more forceful,"
he added.
"We are constrained by
inadequate funds, but this will be solved in the near future."
Mr Adu said that PURC would
continue to review, evaluate and investigate reports in order to protect both
consumer and the utility providers.
He called on the EGC to improve on
tariff collection and urged the public to attend Wednesday's public hearing on
VRA, ECG and GWCL's tariff proposals to share ideas.
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SSNIT paid 12.41
billion cedis as pension benefits
Nkawkaw (Eastern Region) 08 March 2001
The Social Security and National
Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in January paid 12.41 billion cedis to 42,000
contributors to the scheme as pension benefit throughout the country.
Contributors received initial bulk
payment of between eight and 12 million cedis while the monthly pension ranged
between 15,000 cedis and more than one million cedis.
Mr Ian Osu-Teye, Nkawkaw District Manager of SSNIT, announced
this at an annual get-together for over 100 pensioners in the Kwahu South and
Birim North Districts at Nkawkaw at the weekend.
He said benefits are calculated on
the contributor's last salary received before retiring, the number of months
contributed to the scheme and the age of the contributor.
The manager said every month SSNIT
processes between 450 and 500 new pension claims and annual increment on each
is calculated between January and May, taking into consideration the inflation
rate.
Mr Osu-Teye gave the assurance
that pensioners will continue to receive their monthly benefits until they die
and denied rumours that SSNIT will stop paying such benefits when they attain
72 years.
He advised guarantors of
beneficiaries of the students' loan scheme to make sure that the loans are paid
after the students have completed their studies, saying guarantors of
defaulting beneficiaries will have the payment of their pension delayed until
the loans are repaid.
The Nkawkaw District Secretary of
the Pensioners Association, Mr Edward Osei-Tutu, appealed to SSNIT to grant
members, soft loans to enable them to embark on economic activities.
He also urged SSNIT to settle
hospital bills of pensioners.
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