GRi Business, Economics & Finance 18 –
03 - 2003
Low purchasing
power affects trade in W.A.
Tema (Greater Accra)
He said small and medium-scale
entrepreneurs should be assisted to grow their business to become large scale,
adding, "With such encouragement the country would be pushed forward to
succeed".
President Kufuor made the appeal
when he commissioned the first Ghanaian firm to export locally made goods under
the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on Garments and Textiles and the
African Growth for Opportunities Acts (AGOA) at Tema.
The one-million dollar Network
Knitwear Fabrics Limited, manufactures of sporting socks for export established
in March last year, has so far exported about 400,000 dozens of socks.
The company, which employs about
360 workers, is expected to export about four million dozens of socks this year
and plans are under way to expand its production with the importation of more
equipment soon.
It is a joint venture between
the Company and Kentucky Derby Hosiery and Southern Textile Exchange, both in
the
President Kufuor said the NPP's philosophy had been that the way forward for the
country's socio-economic development should be a nation that would be launched
into the creation of wealth for its citizens to prosper.
He said to achieve such an
objective, the private sector should become the sector to be developed, hence
the government's programme on the Golden Age of Business being implemented
through the President's Special Initiatives (PSI) to encourage the private
sector as the engine of growth of the economy.
President Kufuor said the
government would abide by its policy to encourage the private sector to use all
the available resources and opportunities in the country to realise the
objectives of the Golden Age of Business and move the country from its current
status of a developing country to a more advanced stage.
President Kufuor said he was
optimistic that with the necessary support to the private sector the upward
push of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) levels from 300 dollars to 1,000
dollars as being pursued by the government could be achieved within a decade.
He expressed appreciation to the
"We should be
self-confident and conscious of our responsibilities to take our work seriously
to procure our share of the global market and try to make full use to our
vantage," he added.
President Kufuor said government
was determined to support all worthy ventures but appealed to
He called on the management and
staff to be more efficient and competitive than before, produce quality
products and continue to be shining example in the private sector.
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, said AGOA holds a lot
of promise to achieve the government's export-led development goals. The Ministry
had, therefore, undertaken some initiatives to maximise the benefits of AGOA,
he added.
He said one of the initiatives
was the establishment of a Textiles and Garments Training Centre last year at
the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) to upgrade skills of the small scale
manufacturers in the garment sector to help them export apparel to the
Dr Apraku
said Belin Textiles International Limited, a
Ghana-Mauritius joint venture project, had been incorporated to establish a
T-shirt and Jeans factory at Adjabeng in
He said proceeds from
Non-Traditional Exports which had stagnated at 400 million dollars over the
past four years, had increased from 418 million dollars in 2001 to about 537
million dollars by last year 2002.
He expressed optimism that the Ministry's
target of 575 million would be achieved. Prosper Adabla,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, said the idea to set up the
company began about two years ago.
He said the company had plans to
expand its operations to employ additional 150 people while a second company
would be established soon. Sam Adabla, Chief
Executive of the Company, told the GNA that their major problem had been delay
at the port during the delivery of raw materials and export of finished
products. He said they need more supplies of hydrogen peroxide, which is one of
the raw materials and expressed the hope that these problems would be eliminated.
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The new network would be
competing with the Ghana Telecom and Western Tele Systems. In a brief on the
alternative telecommunications network, Bing Aidoo,
Chief Executive of One Dial Communications,
"This would be a simple,
affordable and efficient communication service to each region in
He said the team is poised to
redefine how business is carried out and establish a system in
Bing was keen to bring the deal
to
Bing said the transaction would
represent the largest wireless backbone with substantial gateways to allow speed
and uninterrupted wireless communication network within and outside
He said the Multi-nation
Communication Network would enable One Dial Communication,
Bing told the GNA that their
alternative would not hurt the
Access to Internet would be more
affordable and subscribers and café operators would no longer be charged twice.
"A fixed fee for the telephone line, which goes to the ISP
would be negotiated between the ISP and the national communication carrier, he
added.
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The 25-member MOWCA has most of
the countries represented paying averagely between 100,000 to 200,000 dollars
annually. Moses Addico, Secretary-General of MOWCA
told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Business Desk in
He was speaking just after the
opening of the 3rd Regional meeting to Promote Sub-Regional Cooperation to Combating
Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships.
He said Cote d'Ivoire had just
passed a law to ensure the collection of monies for the fund when the civil
unrest started, saying, he hoped things would return to normal to enable the
country get back on to the path of economic prosperity.
The Fund is to be used to
implement projects and programmes designed to meet the rapid technological and
structural changes in the maritime industry. Some of these are the funding of
maritime institutions in the sub-region.
Addico said other member countries
were also paying up satisfactorily, adding that, " with
25 members if everyone pays on time and regularly, we definitely would make
it." Revenue for setting up the Fund is derived from deductions of 10
cents per ton charged on goods that come into the various ports.
The MOWCA Secretary-General said
a conservative figure of nine million dollars is expected to be collected this
year from the 90 million tons expected in the MOWCA region.
He said a nine-member
Ministerial Committee had been set up to oversee the Fund. Addico
said the Fund is vital since previously a number of projects had failed to see
light because government could not secure funding for them.
He said a major step of zoning
the coastline is in the offing to post Coast Guards for the effective combating
operations. "In the United States (US), there is only one Coast Guard
system but here in
Addico was happy that a number of MOWCA
states had taken measures to support the organization, a trend he noted would
make MOWCA play a major and effective role in the maritime industry.
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,454.82 cedis
8,651.00 cedis
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,245.95 6,389.02
Canadian Dollar 5,753.55 5,884.12
Danish Kroner 1,233.15 1,261.60
Japanese Yen 71.78 73.43
South African
Euro 9,160.16 9,371.82
CFA Franc 13.96 14.29
Naira 67.46
69.03
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There were three price changes -
all positive. UNIL was 149 cedis richer at 5,160 cedis, SSB Bank rose by 85
cedis at 5,900 cedis and Ghana Commercial Bank picked up five cedis at 4,831
cedis. Market capitalisation ended the day at 7,370.97 billion cedi.
The following are the last
prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 420
AGC 28,500
ALW 3,500
BAT 1,102
CFAO 67
CPC 630
EIC 5,005
FML 2,009
GBL 520
GCB 4,831 +5
GGL 1,205
HFC 1,205
MGL 257
MLC 280
MOGL 19,751
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,016
SCB 30,001
SPPC 390
SSB 5,900 +85
SWL 285
TBL 4,900
UNIL 5,150 +149
CMLT 460
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A. A. Blay
and Dominic Adoboli,
Lome (Togo) 18 March 2003- ECOWAS
trade fairs are to be held every two years instead of the current four years,
Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas,
Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, said this when he closed the Third ECOWAS Trade
Fair in Lome on Sunday.
He said
Non-West African countries at
the fair were
He noted that the private sector
was assuming an important role and said firm and practical measures were being
taken to encourage it to lead in the integration process of the Sub-Region.
He appealed to the business
community to follow up contracts, agreements and deals concluded at the Fair. Dr
Chambas announced the creation of an Internet
facility, SIGOA-TOPS, for ECOWAS to provide information on business opportunities
and urged operators to visit the Website frequently to exploit the
opportunities on offer.
He pledged the commitment of
ECOWAS to promoting private sector development and regional business
transactions. "We are determined to build a strong partnership with the
West African business community.
"In doing this ECOWAS would
also foster close and mutually beneficial partnership between the private and relevant
government agencies and institutions." Dr Chambas
said this partnership was vital to making the private sector the driving force
of West African development.
The ECOWAS chief expressed ECOWAS's appreciation to President John Agyekum Kufuor of
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Low
purchasing power affects trade in W.A.
A.A Blay
and Dominic Adoboli, GNA
Lome (Togo) 18 March 2003- Mrs
Theresa Koroma, Sierra Leone's Deputy Minister of Trade,
on Sunday said the weak purchasing power of West Africans was a major reason
for poor trade and economic development in the Sub-Region.
Mrs Koroma,
who led her country's delegation to the closing ceremony of the 10-day third
ECOWAS Trade Fair in
"We have to facilitate
trade and industrialisation for increased income for the people, who can then
purchase regional goods for a buoyant regional economy to evolve." Mrs Koroma called for a common customs tariff and currency in
addition to the elimination of the numerous checkpoints along Sub-Regional
routes to allow free movement of people, goods and services.
She said ECOWAS states must
remain focused and committed to the ideals of the ECOWAS trade liberalisation
scheme to push trade in the Sub-Region beyond the current 12 per cent level.
Mrs Koroma
said
She said her country's
participation in the Fair was a message to the world that
She said the Sierra Leone
Chamber of Commerce was preparing to organise another trade fair in April in
Mrs Koroma,
who attended a trade fair in
Madam Violette
Elliott, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Trade of
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Walter Djokoto,
Chief Executive of Driwald, a marketing and communication
consultant, said this would help in promoting made-in-Ghana goods. He made the
appeal when he spoke to newsmen after he had paid a courtesy call on the
Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at his
Dzokoto informed the Asantehene about
the outcome of two events - the Super X'mas Trade
Fair and the General Buying and Selling Fair – the consultant organised last
year at the Prempeh Assembly Hall.
Driwald donated two million cedis into
the Otumfuo Education Fund. Djokoto
said giving priority to the patronage of made-in-Ghana goods would not only
help re-activate the local manufacturing industries like the garments, leather
and shoe industries but would also create jobs.
Djokoto said Driwald
Consult had drawn up a programme to hold two separate fairs in
Djokoto said in view of the marketing
potential in
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