GRi BEF News Ghana 27 - 11 - 2000
Bank shareholders angry over low dividend
Payments Systems
Bill drafted - Duffour
Duffour calls for
export diversification
There are 11 Free
Zone enterprises in WR – Regional Minister
Five bank employees arrested for
embezzlement
Bank shareholders angry over low dividend
Shama (Western Region) 27 November 2000
Shareholders of the Lower Prah Rural Bank on Saturday expressed their disgust at a dividend of 25 cedis per share, paid to them by the bank and threatened to withdraw their money.
"This, cannot buy water, let alone serve as an incentive for my investment," a shareholder told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the 13th annual general meeting at Shama.
According to some shareholders, to give them such low dividends, after several years of investment is a mockery and that they see no future for their investment.
They urged the management and Board of Directors to give them between 150 and 200 cedis per share to entice others to invest in the bank.
"Dividends declared for 1998 have still not been paid and they appealed to management of the bank to pay promptly.
The shareholders expressed their indignation that five employees of the bank had embezzled 821,213,747 cedis.
They unanimously asked the management and the Board of Directors to find means to reverse the trend.
"If it is possible, please give them higher salaries, to reduce the incidence of embezzlement among the staff," a shareholder told the management and board.
Meanwhile, the Bank made a net profit of 254,233,000 cedis last year as against 80,994,000 million cedis in 1998. This represents an increase of 173.2 million cedis or 214 per-cent.
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Payments Systems
Bill drafted - Duffour
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 November
2000
A new Payment Systems Bill to give
legal backing to the ownership, operation and supervision of payment and
settlement systems by the Bank of Ghana (BOG), has been drafted for passage.
Dr Kwabena Duffour, Governor of
the Bank, who announced this said BOG has also revised the Bills of Exchange
Act under a new name, the Bills and Cheques Bill.
"The new Bill now reflects
modern trends in trade and commercial practices.
"It also allows for
electronic transfers of funds, cheque truncation and the storage of information
in electronic forms," he said.
The two Bills, he explained, are
necessary to fashion out a new payment system in the country.
He was delivering the annual
Governor's Address to members and fellows of the Chartered Institute of Bankers
(CIB) at the Annual Dinner Dance to climax the CIB Week on the theme:
"Effective Financial System, An Engine For Strong Economic Growth."
Although the Payments Committee
has made a lot of progress, more should be done to promote non-cash payment
systems, Dr Duffour said adding, "the enforcement of criminal laws would
to a large extent determine whether customers use cheques and other non-cash
modes of payment."
The governor said a review of
other laws to advance payment systems and instruments would be necessary to
complement the laws drafted by the Central Bank.
Dr Duffour said the BOG views
wholesale payments systems, as its responsibilities while retail payment is the
domain of the commercial banks.
Dr Duffour urged commercial banks
to co-operate in developing common infrastructure and then compete in the
packaging and presentation of products and services.
The BOG would implement an
Inter-bank High Value Payment System based on the Real Time Gross Settlement
Principles, which would allow all retail payment systems' net clearing results
to be settled through it over the books to the Central Bank, next year.
"This will form the nerve
centre of Ghana's domestic payment system," Dr Duffour said.
Other projects envisaged are: a
paper clearing system to complement the clearing system, automation of cheque
clearing in Kumasi and Takoradi and a payment instrument printer accreditation
scheme to ensure that instrument standards remain high.
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Duffour calls for
export diversification
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 November
2000
Dr Kwabena Duffour, Governor of
the Bank of Ghana, has underscored the need to add value and diversify the
country's export to stem the rapid depreciation of the cedi.
He said although foreign inflows,
restrictive monetary and fiscal measures have enabled the country to halt the
fast depreciation of the currency since July, a long-term solution would be to
increase export earnings to contain the demand for foreign exchange.
Dr Duffour was speaking at the
Annual Dinner Dance of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Accra to climax a
weeklong celebration of the Institute on the theme: "Effective Financial
System, An Engine for Strong Economic Growth."
He said the continuous reliance on
peasant farming and the export of cocoa in its raw form is killing the
sub-sector.
"In fact, the export of raw
farm produce to commodity markets abroad has become an obsolete practice in
some emerging markets," he said.
Dr Duffour said Ghana has the
potential to export ten other products, including cashew nuts, sunflower seeds,
rubber, fruits and salt on a large-scale.
Quoting from a recent Bank of
Ghana (BOG) study on the salt industry, he said the country can earn between
150 and 200 million dollars annually if proper infrastructure, appropriate
policies and good business arrangements are put in place.
Dr Duffour said to promote
increased salt production, the BOG is facilitating access of salt producers to
foreign credit.
"The Bank has brought two
local banks and the National Salt Producers Association of Ghana together to
explore this possibility," he said.
He said there is also the need to
encourage tourism and the production of non-traditional exports. "The arts
handicraft sub-sector is still in the hands of unorganised peasant operators,
with little or no technical education."
Dr Duffour said batik, tie and dye
and traditional garment exporters, who are mostly neglected in terms of
organisation finance, must be encouraged and supported.
Dr Jean Nelson Aka, President of
the Institute, asked bankers to be at the forefront of the savings and
investment mobilisation efforts to help stabilise the cedi and ensure growth.
He told the members that the
Institute takes a serious view of fraud adding that appropriate sanction would
be meted out to those, who misconduct themselves in the performance of their
duties.
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There are 11 Free
Zone enterprises in WR – Regional Minister
Sekondi (Western Region) 27
November 2000
Eleven companies operating as Free
Zone Enterprises in the Western Region, exported approximately 44.4 million
dollars in 1999 and employed about 1,000 workers in 1999, Mrs Esther Lily
Nkansah, Regional Minister, announced in Sekondi, on Friday.
Opening the Regional Trade,
Investment and Tourism Fair, in Sekondi, she said the Takoradi harbour has been
declared a free port and 2,015 acres acquired for the Sekondi Free Zone
project.
The Regional Minister said a
United States-based Petro-chemical refining and marketing company, has been
allocated 500 acres to set up a refinery to process crude oil from Nigeria for
export.
Over 200 companies have mounted
stands at the 10-day Fair under the theme: "Western Region - Ghana's
Investment Destination."
Mrs Nkansah said a Regional Investment
Promotion Co-ordinating Group, has been established to promote investment. With
44 percent of the country's closed forest and producing 47 percent of the
Ghana's timber, the Region offers opportunities in the sector, she said, adding
a re-afforestation programme has been put in place to protect forest resources.
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Five bank employees arrested for
embezzlement
Shama (Western Region) 27 November 2000
Five employees of the Lower Prah Rural Bank have been arrested for allegedly embezzling 821,213,747 cedis.
They are Moses Denson, Thomas Sekyi, Nathan Yankey, George Assefuah and Abraham Denson.
Mr. John Kutubebi, Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors announced this at the 13th annual general meeting at Shama on Saturday, said the Bank of Ghana (BOG) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have been asked to investigate.
Mr. Kutubebi said they would be put before court after the investigations. Meanwhile, their assets have been frozen. "Our Board of Directors could not declare or recommend any dividend for the last year, because of the fraud that nearly destroyed our bank," he added.
He said the alleged fraud created severe capital problems, which have made the payment of dividends very difficult.
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