Rush for one-touch phones in Tamale
Ghana
Investment Promotion Centre to open regional offices
Accra
Bourse index closes barely unchanged
Tamale (Northern Region) 30 October 2001 - There is a mad rush for Ghana Telecom (GT) one-touch cellular phone starter-pack chip in Tamale.
As early as 06:00 hours on Monday, several people had queued in front of the GT customer services office and were arguing over the size and superiority of their cellular phones.
When the office opened at 08:30 hours there was pandemonium at the entrance. The Northern Regional Manager of GT, Mr Fordjour Baffour had to intervene to calm down prospective customers.
The customers were made to provide an identity card, passport-sized photograph, a cellular phone and 366,000 cedis before being connected.
Mr Baffour said the office has put in place a strategy that would minimise people buying and reselling the starter-pack chips but he did not elaborate.
He said the Tamale office received 100 of the chips last week and another 100 this week adding that priority was given to the security services and corporate bodies.
Mr Baffour said his office has in stock, the post-paid starter packs but that was not being patronised because it was perceived to be expensive.
Unlike the prepaid chip, which costs 366,000 cedis to get connected, the post paid costs 1.4 million cedis to connect in addition to line rental and monthly bills.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Ho (Volta
Region) 30 October 2001 - The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) would
establish Regional Antennae Offices through out the country to assist in
promoting investments in the rural areas.
Kwasi
Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister who disclosed this on Monday also said the
government would soon institute the Ghana Investment Fund (GIF) to provide and
sustain long-term capital needs of Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
He told the
Second Annual General Meeting of the Volta Region branch of the Association of
Ghana Industries (AGI) that the Volta Region was endowed with enormous resource
such as minerals, clay deposits, tourist potentials and conditions favourable
for poultry and livestock production.
The
Regional Minister said despite these advantages lack of entrepreneurial skills
and business acumen continued to affect the harnessing of the potentials in the
region.
"We
can make a rapid progress in the industrial development of the region if the
potentials are harnessed and are well packaged for both local and international
markets", Mr Owusu-Yeboa said.
He
mentioned that the region could boost of few industries such the Juapong
Textile Factory, the Aflao Diamond Cement, Adidome Brick and Tile, Tongu Fruits
factories and advised entrepreneurs to register with the Export Free Zone Board
(EFZB) for support.
Prince Kofi
Kludjeson, President of the AGI, said the association was working out a
300,000-dollar micro-credit scheme to support its members.
He called
on small-scale micro industrialists in the tie and dye, batik and handicraft
business to form co-operatives to enable them to benefit from the President's
Special Initiative as well as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
projects.
GRi./
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 30 October 2001 - The GSE All-Share Index, the benchmark
measure of the Ghana Stock Exchange, closed barely unchanged as it inched up by
only 0.01 points on Monday in another poor trading.
The Index,
which was unchanged on Friday, closed at 961.01 points from Friday's 961.00
points.
Generally,
trading continued to sloppy, and traded volumes were down at 11,100, down from
42,200 shares.
Market
capitalisation also inched up at 3,913.84 billion cedis from 3,913.82 billion
cedis on Friday.
There was
only one price change, a one-cedi gain by Metaloplastica Ghana Limited at 241
cedis. Below are the closing prices of the listed equities in cedis:
ABL 320
AGC 18,800
ALW 4,300
BAT 627
CFAO 60
EIC 3,000
FML 950
GBL 1,300
GCB 1,550
GGL 900
HFC 952
MGL 241 +1
MLC 145
MOGL 18,000
PAF 800
PBC 450
PZ 1,000
SCB 20,500
SPPC 340
SSB 2,300
UNIL 2,300
CMLT 430
GRi../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com