Chambas on need to integrate markets within ECOWAS
Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2002- Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS on Thursday said integration of markets within the sub-region was vital for its socio-economic development.
"African countries cannot continue to adopt individualistic approach to development while developed countries form regional blocks to widen the scope of their economic ventures for sustainable development", Dr Chambas observed in an interview with newsmen in London, according to a statement from the Ghana High Commission in London.
Dr Chambas called for commitment from African leaders to push forward the agenda for the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) by improving governance through the evolvement of systems based on democratic principles and respect for human rights.
He said the realisation of the objectives of the African Union and NEPAD would depend on the success of integration programmes in the five sub-regional groupings in Africa. These are ECOWAS in West Africa, COMSEA, for Central Africa, SADC for the southern countries and the MAGREB Union for North Africa
Dr Chambas appealed to Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS to show the necessary political will by removing barriers to free movement of goods and people to facilitate trade in a common market of over 250 million people. He urged governments in the sub-region, to commit themselves to the generation of economic opportunities for their people by evolving viable projects in partnership with the private sector.
"We need to build systems that would enable us to exploit the resources of the sub-region for the benefit of our people." Dr Chambas said the introduction of a single currency for the sub-region remained a central focus of ECOWAS and urged all member states to meet the convergence criteria by the set date.
He commended President John Agyekum Kufuor for nominating him from a different political party for the post and said; "we need more of such "confidence-building" gestures in the political arena to enable Ghanaians to accept multi-party democracy as a viable and credible system of governance".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2002- Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Private Sector Development on Wednesday urged Ghanaians to make the patronage of locally produced goods a personal crusade to support the government’s efforts to reduce the level of import-based consumption.
He said Ghana's success as a nation in the import reduction drive would depend, to a very large extent on the patronage Ghanaians would give local Ghanaian products and gave an assurance that the Private Sector Development Ministry would collaborate with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, all relevant state agencies to push forward the agenda in most practical terms.
Mr Bartels was speaking in Accra on behalf of the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Major (rtd) Courage Quashigah at the official launching of three brands of locally produced rice. The brands-Goldstar, Silver Line and Omu Tuo-were produced by the Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP) with financial support from the MOFA. They are distributed by IMEXCO Ghana Limited, a rice and grains distribution company.
Each of the brands is bagged in 25 kilograms. The Omu Tuo brand is 100 per cent broken while the Goldstar is seven per cent broken. The showroom prices are 85,000 cedis for Goldstar, 75,000 for Omu Tuo, and 80,000 cedis for Silver
Star.
Wednesday's launching brings to three, locally Ghanaian produced rice launchings this year in an effort to raise the level of rice production in the country and reduce its importation by 30 per cent by the year 2004, as promised by the Food and Agriculture Minister upon his appointment in 2001.
The first was the launching of Sikamo, True True and Generation brands in Kumasi for the Northern sector, and the second the Afife No.1 brand rice in Accra. Mr Bartels commended the MOFA for taking concrete actions to reduce rice imports, but told local rice producing groups that the battle had just begun and it would be too early to start patting themselves on the back, saying the launching was just a mere symbolic event.
He said reduction in rice imports would reduce the drain on the national economy and also ensure food security and possibly turn the country into a net exporter of rice and other staples. Mr Mike Gizo, MP Shai Osudoku Constituency, in which the project is located, expressed satisfaction at the success of the project.
He said Asutuare, one of the project sites has been noted with problems bordering on rice and rice production. Mr Gizo commended the government for its support to the project and expressed the hope that the project would become a living testimony for the people of the area, and urged the rice growers working on the project to work within the order of the day by listening to technical advice to increase their yields.
The Reverend Father Jones Okai, Financial and Administrative Manager of IMEXCO Ghana Limited warned unscrupulous distributing outlets to stop bagging the rice brands as US No.5 and selling them for higher prices, saying a police task force team has been formed to arrest and prosecute such distributors.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2002 - Dr Majeed Haroun, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture on Wednesday threw a challenge to the World Bank Resident Director, Mr Peter Harold, to substantiate and clarify a statement attributed to him by the British Broadcasting Corporation that Ghana is not competitive in the production of rice.
He raised the issue of giving of subsidies on agricultural production in Asian countries, against the removal of such facilities in Ghana, and challenged him to weight the competitiveness of foreign production of rice in terms of subsidies in the respective countries and let the world know again how overseas production compares with Ghana's unsubsidised production in the global competition.
Dr Haroun dared the Resident Director in a remark at the launching of three brands locally Ghanaian produced rice, at the official launching of three brands of locally produced rice. The brands-Goldstar, Silver Line and Omu Tuo-were produced by the Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP) with financial support from the MOFA. They are distributed IMEXCO Ghana Limited, rice and grains distribution company.
Each of the brands is bagged in 25 kilograms. The Omu Tuo brand is 100 per cent broken while the Goldstar is seven per cent broken. The showroom prices are 85,000 cedis for Goldstar, 75,000 cedis for Omu Tuo, and 80,000 cedis for Silver Star.
Wednesday's launching brings to three, locally Ghanaian produced rice launchings this year in a effort to raise the level of rice production in the country and reduce its importation by 30 per cent by the year 2004 promised by the Food and Agriculture Minister upon his appointment in 2001. The first - the launching of Sikamo, True True and Generation brands in Kumasi for the Northern sector and the second, the Afife No.1 brand rice in Accra.
Dr Haroun expressed happiness about the local initiative to increase the production of rice to reduce imports and increase its competitiveness. e described Mr. Harold statement as unfair and said a country like Japan has been told to patronise expensive Japanese beef than cheaper foreign supplies, adding that there is still a case to encourage domestic rice production.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2002 - A 30-cedi gain by Ghana Commercial bank (GCB) on Wednesday sustained the upward push of the Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index during active trading.
The GCE led five gainers in the trading that saw 782,000 shares changing hands, up from a mere 13,700 shares at the previous trading on Monday. The Index, the key market gauge, went up by 2.08 points to close at 1,062.39 points. Change for the year responded positively going up to 11.13 per cent from10.92 per cent.
On the broader market, GCB gained 30 cedis at 1,950 cedis, Home Finance Company was up five cedis at 955 cedis, Super Paper Products Company inched up by one cedi at 370 cedis, SSB Bank appreciated by three cedis at 3,007 cedis and Patterson Zochonis gained nine cedis at 1,220.
The market capitalisation closed trading at 4,097.92 billion cedis. The following are the closing prices of the equities in cedis:
ABL 328
AGC 18,800
ALW 4,300
BAT 800
CFAO 60
EIC 3,550
FML 1,200
GBL 1,000
GCB 1,950 +30
GGL 910
HFC 955 +5
MGL 250
MLC 147
MOGL 18,810
PAF 750
PBC 450
PZ 1,220 +9
SCB 20,500
SPPC 370 +1
SSB 3,007 +3
SWL 280
UNIL 2,916
CMLT 430
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2002
Currency Buying Selling
US Dollar 7,687.45 7,858.55
Pound Sterling 11,130.66 11,383.11
Swiss Franc 4,769.94 4,874.78
Canadian Dollar 4,934.02 5,042.58
Japanese Yen 60.05 61.37
S/African Rand 749.42 762.44
Euro 6,944.51 7,095.37
CFA Franc 10.59 10.82
Naira 67.12 68.61
Ecowas/WAUA 9,868.11 --------
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