UPS launches online worldship software.
Ghana Civil Aviation detains Ghana Airways plane
Shama-Ahanta business delegation leaves for Boston
Accra Bourse index bounces back
Remove obstacles to trade- Minister
UPS launches online worldship software.
Accra (Greater Accra) 18 October 2001-The local branch of the United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's largest express carrier and package delivery company, on Wednesday launched its latest online worldship 3.0, a shipping software that allows UPS customers to maximise their shipping benefits and reduce cost.
The software, an enhanced version of UPS' shipping software, also enables customers to prepare their shipping information and carry out their tracking requests on their own computers without the use of phone calls or paper work.
Ms. Sheila Kpakpah, Marketing Manager of the company said in accordance with the UPS mission statement to offer excellence in value in all their activities, the company has built a dedicated delivery team covering Accra, Tema, Takoradi and Kumasi in order to capture a larger share of the courier market.
She said the UPS online Worldship is the first shipping software in Europe to utilise the Internet to give businesses unmatched access to shipping information and to reduce paper work.
Ms. Kpakpah said the software is ideal for the medium to large shipping companies because it offers a complete solution for both the office and the shipping room and can be used in a local area network with up to 20 workstations at a time.
She said UPS Ghana, along with every UPS operation worldwide prides itself in service quality, security and delivering packages in unbeatable transit times, despite current global upheavals. .
Mr. Joel Nii Ankrah Hyde, Systems Operator said companies must have an account with UPS and an Internet service before the new software could be installed.
He said there are two types of online worldship, the communicating and non-communicating. The communicating links directly to their systems via the Internet while the non-communicating has the shipping documentation produced on the computer but the information is not transmitted via the Internet.
He said both the software and the installation are free adding that, when installed, UPS would upgrade it periodically to meet current demands.
Mr. Ankrah mentioned some of the benefits to be derived from the software as flexibility, time saving and faster deliveries with less error.
" The simplicity of the UPS online worldship gives customers quick and easy access to information including shipping histories, tracking and delivery verification right from a desktop computer."
He said the software has a database management and default management facilities and comes in five languages- English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 18 October 2001-The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on
Wednesday detained a Ghana Airways West Coast flight for about two hours as it continues to take action to recover huge sums of money owed it by several airlines.
An official of the GCAA told the GNA that the national carrier owes some six million dollars. Last week, Air Afrique, Air Gabon, Air Cameroon and Air Morocco suffered a similar fate for defaulting in over-flight charges to GCAA.
Among passengers who were affected by the delay was the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey who was on his way to attend the African Parliamentary Union Conference in Abuja, Nigeria.
Captain Joe Boachie, Director of GCAA, said Ghana Airways' debt dates back several years and the action should not be viewed as heavy-handedness.
He said the Authority has "bent over backwards" to accommodate Ghana Airways but to no avail and this is creating difficulties for the authority to carry out its expansion programme at the airport.
Captain Boachie said recently the two institutions agreed that Ghana Airways should either pay its charges up front or on a daily basis, but the airline failed to honour its promise.
"Ghana Airways continues to fly to foreign destinations, which means that they pay their (bills) to those countries, so why not in Ghana?
"In other not to delay our expansion and rehabilitation project we will recover every debt and ensure that this project is not hampered."
A source at Ghana Airways confirmed its indebtedness to GCAA and said an initial instalment has been paid and effort is being made to pay the rest.
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Sekondi (Western Region) 18 October 2001-A ten-member delegation from the twin city of Sekondi/Takoradi left Accra on Wednesday for Boston in the United States to explore business opportunities.
Mr Philip K. Nkrumah, Shama-Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executive who is leading the delegation, told the GNA that the visit is to promote friendship between the city of Boston and Sekondi/Takoradi.
He said the delegation would hold discussions with businessmen on investment opportunities. The delegation, which would be away for seven days, comprised educationists, tour operators, health officials and industrialists.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 18 October 2001-The Ghana Stock Exchange bounced back into active trading on Wednesday with gains by five equities to push the GSE-All Share Index up a whopping 8.01 points.
The index, which was down 3.26 points on Monday, pushed stronger to close 965.12 points from a low of 957.11 points.
Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), Aluworks (ALW), Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Mechanical Lloyd Limited (MLC) and SSB Bank propelled the rise, all making gains to reverse Monday's heavy loss.
Traded volumes, which were down at 76,400 shares on Monday, sprang up to 398,800 shares as the market again witnessed the flash of institutional investors. SSB sold 270,000 shares to lead the way. ALW and AGC sold 61,100 shares and 47,000 shares, respectively.
On the broader market there were five positive price changes. AGC regained the 300 cedis it lost on Monday to close at 18,800 cedis. ALW was up 50 cedis at 4,300 cedis, GCB made 30 cedis to close at 1,550, MLC went up three cedis at 145 cedis and SSB gained 100 cedis at 2,400 cedis. Market capitalisation ended stronger at 3,921.80 billion cedis from 3,873.54 billion cedis at the previous close.
Below are the closing prices of the listed equities in cedis:
ABL 320
AGC 18,800 +300
ALW 4,300 +50
BAT 626
CFAO 60
EIC 3,000
FML 950
GBL 1,300
GCB 1,550 +30
GGL 900
HFC 952
MGL 240
MLC 145 +3
MOGL 19,000
PAF 800
PBC 450
PZ 1,000
SCB 20,500
SPPC 340
SSB 2,400 +100
UNIL 2,250
CMLT 430
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Accra (Greater Accra) 18 October 2001-Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku on Wednesday opened the mini consultative meeting of ECOWAS Trade Ministers in Accra with a call on them to act to remove the several constraints inhibiting trade in the sub-region.
He said there was an urgent need to refocus on the full and uninhibited implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services and the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS). The liberalisation scheme came into operation in January 1990 to facilitate trade in the sub-region.
The Minister said after more than 10 years in operation, the scheme is still beset with serious implementation problems and bottlenecks, especially on the part of ETLS registered companies.
Among the problems is the application of "Third Country" taxes of some 29 per cent to 53 per cent on their approved products contrary to the zero per cent tariff applicable to such products.
Another problem is the refusal by some custom officials to recognise the scheme and the products approved under it and their insistence to seek clearance from their Ministries of Finance.
Dr Apraku said the single most important factor impeding the implementation of the scheme is the high dependence of national budgets on import revenue and the absence of a compensation mechanism for the loss of such revenue.
There is, therefore, the need for early operation of the Community Levy and the Solidarity Fund meant to address the compensation problem.
The Ministers will, in the course of their deliberations, meet private sector operators to share their perceptions and experiences in the implementation of the trade framework.
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