Cabinet approves long-term savings scheme
Otumfuo Education Fund yields ¢2.2bn
Legislation for National Identification System in the Offing
Government, VALCO to talk about power supplies
Cabinet approves long-term savings scheme
Accra (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - Cabinet has given approval for the implementation of a Long-term Savings Scheme that would be tied to retirement of the holders.
The structure of the savings scheme would soon be placed before the Finance Committee of Parliament for study and iron out some few rough edges before the law was promulgated.
Dr. Samuel Nii Ashong, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning announced this at a press conference on Monday to inform the public about the annual review of the National Economic Dialogue scheduled for next Tuesday.
The Minister said, the new scheme would provide incentives for both workers in the informal and formal sectors to set aside some money in a long-term saving scheme that could only be withdrawn at the time of retirement.
It said the scheme had become necessary because of the inability of the banks to provide long-term finance for businesses to take off. "This, we believe, will solve the problem of start-up companies, which may require long-term capital to become really established companies."
Dr Ashong said the banks in the country were not currently in a position to provide such long-term capital, leading to the demise of most companies with long gestation periods. Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Energy said the savings scheme constituted the foundation building of the economy since it would provide the needed resources for economic growth of industries.
He said investment advisors would expertly manage the scheme. Dr Nduom said education was an essential factor in getting workers in the informal sector to get involved in the scheme.
Touching on the National Economic Dialogue, Dr Ashong said the secretariat had played a key role in initiating the National Identification System, Action for Employment Generation, Mobilisation of Resources from Non-resident Ghanaians, Restructuring of the Domestic Debt and the Long Term Savings Tied to Retirement.
These, he said, had been achieved despite the lack of active participation of some stakeholders due to human and financial resources needed for the implementation process.
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Otumfuo Education Fund yields ¢2.2bn
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 20 May 2003 - The Otumfuo Education Fund (OEF) has collected a total of ¢2.2bn cash from individuals and organisations since it was established in 1999.
Nana Brefo-Boateng, Executive Secretary of the Fund, announced this at a press briefing in Kumasi on Monday, to launch Otumfuo Education Fund Week and Fund Raising Dinner Dance, starting from 2 June.
He said a total of 1,450 pupils and students were being sponsored at a cost of ¢600m while 17 schools and institutions had benefited from the fund as a result of pledges made by the Asantehene.
Nana Brefo-Boateng said the fund's board had also provided financial assistance ranging from 11 to ¢15m to 13 Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) throughout Asanteman to undertake various infrastructure projects.
He said 11 other SSS in non-urban areas had also been selected to receive ¢15m each o procure materials for teaching and learning. The fund had also distributed a number of dual desks, computers and books to a number of schools in the region.
Nana Brefo-Boateng, however, expressed regret about the inability of some paramount chiefs to collect contributions from their subjects towards the fund. He said under the directives of Otumfuo, all the paramount chiefs in Asanteman were tasked to collect ¢2,400 a year or ¢200 a month from each taxpayer within their areas of jurisdiction on behalf of the fund.
Nana Brefo-Boateng said some individuals and organisations including some paramount chiefs who collected receipt books when the fund was launch, had either refused to submit monies collected to the fund or account for the receipt books collected.
He said the names of such chiefs and organisations would soon be published in the media to enable them wake up to their responsibilities. Nana Brefo-Boateng, however, commended some of the paramount chiefs who had been working hard to collect contributions from the people.
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CEPS to prevent malfeasance and increase
revenue
Tema (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - The Ghana Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) has put in place effective measures to enhance revenue mobilization. The innovation would help prevent over-declaration and under –invoicing at the ports and other entry points.
The system known as Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) and the related Ghana TradeNet system would also help in automating CEPS clearance and payments processes.
The system provides an electronic data interchange platform for users to transmit declarations as well as receive relevant responses from agencies involved in the clearance process without going through the long process that delayed the clearance of goods.
Brigadier R.E. Baiden, Commissioner of CEPS announced this at a press conference held on Monday at Tema, to outline the economic advantages of the new system, which would eventually phase out the old one.
He said the new system has worked effectively at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) that was used as the initial pilot area in 2002. The project has now been introduced to Tema Port and thereafter to Takoradi, Elubo and Aflao, Brig. Baiden stated, adding that 150 companies and shipping agencies have been targeted and that 50 are presently using the system.
An amount of $7m is to be spent on the project. According to Brig. Baiden, the operational results so far have been very impressive, for a total of 9,593 declarations that were validated by the system at KIA during the first quarter; nearly half of them were released from CEPS within two hours.
Revenue collection at the KIA for the first quarter showed a significant growth of 33.97 percent and 32.64 percent over the same period last year, for import and import duty and the VAT.
With the new system, the CEPS Commissioner claimed that clearance time has improved significantly, so CEPS could not be blamed for delays. To avoid delays in the declaration process, the Commissioner entreated shipping companies and their agents to ensure that their manifest declarations into the system are accurate to ensure efficiency.
"In this way they help CEPS to make Ghana the gateway to Africa", he said. Brig. Baiden announced that the laws and regulations guiding CEPS activities are being reviewed for efficiency and conform to internationally recognised standards in service delivery, procedures and application.
Nortey K. Omaboe, Executive Chairman of the Ghana Community Net (GCNet), partners in the new operational system called for a serious attention to the public-private investors to enable it impact positively on the national projects.
He called for an inclusion of the private sector in business in order to achieve good and rapid results and gave the assurance that with the new system everything was going on well.
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Bogoso (Western Region) 20 May 2003 - Some 1,000 cocoa farmers in the Wassa West District have been selected for a pilot project aimed at introducing farmers to a new technology in farming. The farmers would be supplied with fertilizer, insecticides and other chemicals through the Ministry of Agriculture (MOFA) for four years.
Addressing farmers at Bogoso at the weekend John Koufi, the District Development Officer of MOFA, said agricultural extension officers would introduce the farmers to the proper application of chemicals, fertilizer and maintenance of their farms.
He said the ministry would soon distribute the items to farmers in 32 cocoa societies in the district. ''More farmers will be considered for assistance under the project next year. Cocoa farms aged more than 10 years and with very poor yield would be selected for rehabilitation", Koufi said.
He said a new parasite found on farms had been referred to the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) at New Tafo in the Eastern Region.
Samuel Adjetey, the District Chief Farmer, commended the government for the efforts to revamp the cocoa industry through mass spraying of cocoa farms, regular review of the producer price of the commodity and the introduction of the high-tech pilot project. He appealed for the rehabilitation of roads in the area for easy evacuation of cocoa and foodstuffs.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - A new legislation that would give legal backing to the institution of the National Identification System would soon be put in place, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom Minister of Energy announced on Monday.
Speaking at a Press conference, the Minister said the new law would also confirm and affirm the role of the Electoral Commission in issues relating to identification and preparation of the Voters' Register. The press conference was to announce the third stakeholders meeting of the National Economic Dialogue (NED), which comes off in Accra next week Tuesday.
The issue of the national identification system became a contested one after government declared its intention to institute the new cards. The EC described the government's decision as illegal since it was the only constitutionally mandated body with the authority to issue such cards throughout the country.
Dr Nduom said useful and positive dialogue between the Government and the EC had since taken place, leading to the formation of a technical committee to look at the grey areas.
"The Committee had already submitted its report and we are looking at it and will review it and come out with a report for the public," he said. The National Economic Dialogue is a government's initiative to build consensus in setting the broad agenda with key stakeholders in efforts to accelerate national development.
Dr Nduom said government was determined to continue the process, saying changes in personnel at the helm of affairs of the NED Secretariat would not stall the process. "It will continue to be a collaborative and collective effort from all," he said.
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Elubo CEPS exceed revenue target
Elubo (Western Region) 20 May 2003 - The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) at Elubo in the Western Region, exceeded its revenue target of 28.8bn cedis for 2002 by 9.1 percent or 2.6bn cedis. Within the period CEPS also collected 1.34 bn cedis as International Transit Fee on behalf of the Ghana Road Fund Board, George Nsia, Assistant Commissioner in-charge of Elubo, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
He said it was the first time that CEPS at Elubo had exceeded its revenue collection target and commended officers for their dedication and hard work. Nsia said additional personnel had been posted to Omanpe, Sewun, Dadieso and Enchi where smuggling of cocoa is on the increase.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - Government in the West African Sub-Region have been charged to design their budgets in accordance with the parameters set to achieve the convergence criteria of the West African Monetary Zone
(WAMZ).
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk, Dr Chris O. Itsede, Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, said this was urgent if the members were to meet the criteria that had eluded all of them for almost three years now.
He was commenting on fears that none of the 15 members could meet the criteria. Dr Itsede is in Accra for a Regional Course on Economic Integration for Banking Institutions in West Africa.
He debunked claims that conditions for the convergence criteria were too stringent. "The lifestyles and way of doing things in our countries must change," adding that governments should observe stringent financial housekeeping. "If this happens we would be moving slowly, but steadily towards our goal. I believe that we are capable of meeting those parameters if we all set our minds, energies and political will towards it."
Asked what might happen if members did not meet the targets by the agreed 2005 deadline, Dr Itsede said: "I am sure that at least two countries could have met some of the targets and they would be allowed to kick-start the programme to be followed later by the other members."
He did not mention which countries might go through but said "we expect them to work and meet the target at the agreed time". The Convergence Council has pointed out that macroeconomic performance in member countries last year was unsatisfactory, with fiscal dominance being the bane of the economies.
As in 2001, no country met the fiscal deficit-GDP criterion while two countries exceeded the ceiling on the Central Bank credit to Government. Only two countries met the criterion on inflation, three met the target on external reserves. The creation of the second monetary zone is a crucial first step towards the introduction of the "ECO" a common currency in the Sub-Region of more than 200 million people.
Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone intend to form a second monetary zone that would subsequently merge with the CFA Franc Zone of French-Speaking West Africa leading to a single convertible Sub-Regional currency.
Cape Verde and Liberia have observer status on the programme. The failure of most member countries to meet the criteria at the end of 2002 prompted Heads of State and Government of the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ) to shift the launch date of the Monetary Union from January 2003 to 1 July 2005.
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Atobiase (Ashanti Region) 20 May 2003 - The Board of Directors of the Atobiase Area Rural Bank in the Adansi East District has been dissolved following an alleged misuse of the bank's profits.
A six-member interim board, chaired by Mr Stephen Kwaning has been put in place to run the bank. This was an outcome of an emergency meeting of shareholders of the bank held at Atobiase.
The shareholders called on the Bank of Ghana and the police to investigate the allegations of malfeasance against members of the dissolved board. Nana Antwi Ababio, chief of Atobiase and a shareholder who chaired the meeting, told customers of the bank that their monies were safe.
He gave assurance that the alleged misapplication of the bank's profit by the old directors would be thoroughly investigated to ascertain the truth. Kwaning pledged that they would work hard to maintain the image of the bank.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - Dr Chris O. Itsede, Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) on Monday identified two elements required for a viable regional financial system.
These were the use of a single currency as a medium of exchange or unit of account for all transactions and a regulator or central bank that oversees those transactions and operations.
He said an effective and sustainable integration could be realised with key stakeholders complementing each other's effort and building institutions in the money and capital markets, which were usually private sector driven.
He said this at the opening of a regional course on Economic Integration organised by WAIFEM to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas by those, who are directly involved in the integration programme in the public sector.
Dr Itsede said experience from regional economic integration across the globe had demonstrated that successful integration was a partnership between the public sector, private sector and civil society of the integrating countries.
He said the role of the public sector was to provide the enabling environment for the private sector and civil society to facilitate the much-trumpeted benefits of economic regionalism.
He said in order to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to participate effectively in the integration process there was the need for financial infection, licensing of banks, capital market regulations and common standards for products in the Sub-Region.
He said it was imperative that all member countries of West Africa Monetary Zone translated their political commitment to the programme to concrete action by meeting the convergence criteria. "There is an urgent need for a harmonization of definition of concepts critical to the assessment of a country performance under the convergence criteria" he said.
He urged market operators to take advantage of the on-going reforms in the financial sector of the Sub-Region's economy by broadening their business horizon beyond national borders.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - A team from Kaiser Aluminium, the US-based aluminium giant, is expected by the end of this week for talks on their operations in Ghana, the Minister of Energy, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom announced on Monday.
"I wish to inform the public that we are expecting a team from Kaiser to arrive in Ghana at the end of this week to engage in discussions that we hope will help us find a way to improve the relationship between VALCO (Volta Aluminium Company) and VRA (Volta River Authority)," he said.
He was speaking at a press conference in Accra during, which he announced that the government had set up a committee to review workers' agitation at VRA. Kaiser Aluminium, the largest shareholder of 90 per cent in VALCO, said early this month that it had stopped operating its remaining pot line with effective 5 May 2003.
VALCO said it decided to initiate the curtailment to provide VRA with additional flexibility in meeting the needs of other power users in Ghana in the light of the low level of water in the Akosombo Dam. A statement from the company said by this, VALCO would preserve its right to power later in the year when the level of the Dam rises.
VALCO said it expected this curtailment to extend through to the end of the rainy season, at which time it would resume operations by using the remainder of its 2003 power allocation including the power that it would have consumed in the absence of the present curtailment.
It said VALCO was still evaluating the financial impact of the curtailment including potential charges and cash requirement for affected employees. "The net cash impact of such curtailment is expected to be offset, in part, by a reduction in working capital, excluding special items, and the impact of the additional curtailment on ongoing operating income is expected to be modest."
It said VALCO would continue to pursue a dual-track approach to the power situation. The primary track is through arbitration under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris with both the VRA and the Government of Ghana, concerning past curtailments and the volume and price of power available to VALCO under existing long-term contracts.
The second track is direct negotiation with the VRA and the Government of Ghana to find a mutually beneficial solution short of arbitration. VALCO has five pot lines, each with a capacity to produce 40,000 metric tons of primary aluminium annually. Although VALCO has a long-term power contract with VRA the number of operating pot lines varies from year to year depending on the power allocation.
In 2000, 2001 and into early 2002, VALCO had operated four pot lines. In March 2002 VALCO responded to VRA allocation cuts by reducing its operating level to three pot lines. It further reduced its operating pot lines to two and then one after December 2002.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 May 2003 - The following are the average inter-bank exchange rates of major currencies against the cedi issued by the Ghana Association of Bankers on Tuesday, 20 May:
Currency Buying (Cedis) Selling (Cedis)
U.S. Dollar 8,548.00 8,742.45
Pound Sterling 13,956.32 14,278.17
Swiss Franc 6,579.76 6,727.69
Canadian Dollar 6,292.58 6,433.93
Danish Kroner 1,339.52 1,369.61
Japanese Yen 72.88 74.52
South African Rand 1,067.29 1,087.69
Euro 9,942.52 10,169.64
CFA Franc 15.16 15.50
Naira 67.84 69.38
ECOWAS WAUA 11,793.31
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