From Nehemia Owusu Achiaw, New
York
New York (USA) 16 September
2002-The Ghana Embassy in Washington has set up the Ghana Equity Investment
Fund to mobilise capital from Ghanaians in the USA for investment in the
Ghanaian economy. In addition, the embassy has established the Ghana Credit
Union to provide a channel for remittances from Ghanaians in the US to Ghana.
Mr Allan Kyeremateng, Ghana's
Ambassador to USA, who disclosed this in an interview in New York on Thursday,
said the two initiatives are the first major financial instruments established
and owned by Ghanaians. He said already the embassy has established the Ghana
Skills Bank to compile and mobilise Ghanaian expertise abroad which can be
accessed and used for the country's development.
He said the responses to the
investment initiative, credit union and skills bank are very encouraging. Mr
Kyeremateng said remittances of Ghanaians abroad to
Ghana amount to $400 million
annually and indicated that a substantial part of the amount comes from
Ghanaians in the US.
This, he said, gives an indication
of the enormous financial resource which can be mobilised for Ghana's economic
development. On Ghana's relationship with the US, Mr Kyeremateng said the
relationship between the two countries has been strengthened.
He said Ghana is now ranked third
among African countries that are able to attract trade and investment from the
US. He explained that the major reason is that accounts for the strategic
positioning of Ghana in its relationship with the US is the NPP government's
commitment to freedom of speech, liberalised economy and enhancement of
humanity which are consistent with the values of the US Government.
In a related development, the US
Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Mr Walter Kansteiner, has affirmed the
commitment of the US government to encourage direct foreign investment in Ghana
as well as open US market to Ghanaian products.
He said although the economic
policies being pursued by the Ghana Government are tough and may take some time
to bear fruits, they are in the right direction. Mr Kansteiner made the remarks
in an interview with a team of Ghanaian journalists after he had held a closed
door meeting with President J. A. Kufuor in New York on Thursday.
The Assistant Secretary said the
US Government wants to use the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) to
encourage countries such as Ghana to take advantage of the huge US market to
promote economic growth.
On the meeting with President
Kufuor, Mr Kansteiner said he had fruitful discussions with the Ghanaian leader
on regional issues, peace keeping, and Ghana's economy. He said Ghana is
extremely important to the US and the country is gradually emerging as a
regional leader.
In a related development,
President Kufuor and President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagascar have held
discussions on recent political development in Madagascar. He said the decision
of the African Union not to recognise the government of President Ravalomanana
was not meant to ostracise Madagascar.
GRi…/
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Wa (Upper West) 16 September
2002-Hospital in the Upper West Region have been hit by an acute shortage of
medical doctors, following the departure of 16 Cuban doctors after a two-year
programme in the region.
Currently, the Regional Hospital
at Wa, which had six Cuban doctors, has only four Ghanaian doctors while
Nadowli, Jirapa, Nandom and Tumu District hospitals which had two Cuban doctors
each are now left without medical doctors.
This was made known by Dr Edward
Gyader, the Medical Director of the Wa Regional Hospital, when the Regional
Minister, Mr Sahanun Mogtari, paid a familiarisation visit to the hospital on
Thursday.
Dr Gyader said as a result,
patients in the four districts are flocking the Regional Hospital for medical
attention. He said the Cuban doctors left in two batches at the end of July and
early August, this year. The medical director said the hospital authorities
have convinced some private medical practitioners in the region to assist the
hospital to cope with the workload.
The regional minister commended
the doctors for their sense of duty and sacrifice to save the lives of rural
dwellers instead of leaving the country to seek greener pastures.
GRi…/
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By Naomi Chartey & Larry-Alans
Dogbey
The government is working out
modalities with the African Development Foundation, a US-based organisation,
for the establishment of 50 industrial companies throughout the country. The
establishment of the companies will focus on agricultural production, textile
manufacturing and agro-based industries, among other sectors of the economy.
The Minister of Economic Planning
and Regional Co-operation, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, said this at a consultative
seminar for the Greater Accra Region in Accra.
The aim of the seminar was to
sensitise the public, seek opinions, ideas and inputs with a view to reaching a
national consensus on a shared vision towards the realisation of a national
vision for the country.
Dr Nduom, who is also the Chairman
for the National Development Planning Committee, said five industrial companies
will be established in each region as a means of ensuring equitable
distribution in the development of each region.
He said the Greater Accra Region
is well endowed and that accounts for people from all the regions who migrate
here, and added that "if we want to reduce the pressure on the
infrastructure facilities in this region, there is the need to develop all the
other regions in the country."
He said statistics show that 90
per cent of people in the Upper West, 85 per cent in the Upper East, 70 per
cent in the Northern and 50 per cent of people in the Central Region live below
the poverty line and therefore called for concerted efforts aimed at developing
all the regions in the country.
Dr Nduom said the greatest problem
facing the country is poverty, adding that only 10 per cent of Ghanaians live
above one dollar a day which is below the United Nations Poverty Threshold. He
said issues which must be critically examined are how to produce more as well
as add value to the products, reasonable depreciation of the cedi as well as
efforts to check the rise in population.
He said as for the government's
excessive borrowing, the practice has been put to a stop by the Bank of Ghana's
law which sets a ceiling as to how much a particular government can borrow
within a year.
Dr Nduom urged Ghanaians to show
interest in development issues and how to create jobs, adding that there is too
much politics in the system which does not augur well for the growth and
development of the country. He urged the participants to come up with solutions
as to the way forward in wealth creation in the country.
The Greater Accra Regional
Minister, Sheikh I.C. Quaye, said if development is to alleviate poverty and
satisfy basic needs, promote social justice and observe human rights, then it
is crucial that local people are directly involved in decision-making
concerning projects and programmes that affect them.
He said "the new focus of
national development is on the human person, where emphasis is on the state of
human well-being rather than on the state of the national economy," adding
"that the human person is the source, centre and purpose of all
socio-economic life".
About 70 participants are
attending the seminar. Among them are the Deputy Minister for Works and
Housing, Ms Theresa Tagoe, the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Nana Akomea, the
acting president of the Ga Traditional Council, Nii Adote Obour, the acting
paramount chief of the Shai Traditional Council, Nene Nagai Kasa, the Mayor of
Accra, Mr Solomon Ofei Darko, the District Chief Executive for Dangme West, Mr
Kwame T. Agban and other dignitaries.
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Nankese
(Eastern Region) 16 September 2002- The Bank Of Ghana (BOG) has expressed
concern about reports of fraud and embezzlement in the country's banking
system, especially by officials of rural and community banks. According to the
BOG, fraud has been identified as one of the potential factors that could
precipitate the collapse of the banks.
Mr Dela
Selormey, Chief Manager, Banking Supervision Department of the BOG, made this
known at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders of the South Akim
Rural Bank at Nankese in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar District in the Eastern
Region on Saturday.
The BOG, he
said, "is not happy when rural/community banks fail to investigate the
backgrounds of their potential management employees from the Banking
Supervision Department when considering their applications.”
This, he
said, leads to the re-cycling of such people with dubious character who are
threats to the effective functioning of the banks. Mr Selormey said the BOG
required from the rural banks quick and prompt report on any malpractices by
all manner of staff to the Department for quick investigations.
Additionally,
names of management personnel being recruited should be submitted to the
Banking Supervision Department for clearance before approval and final
appointments are effected.
Mr Selormey
said the BOG would continue to exercise its supervisory role over rural banks
to further improve on their performances and ensure that public confidence in
the system is maintained. He further expressed concern about poor credit
appraisal structures, unreliable feasibility reports on credit proposals and
weak monitoring and supervision processes of rural banks.
The Chief
Manager lamented that board members of rural banks who are supposed to be
worthy examples, borrow money and fail to pay up when its is due and therefore
warned board members to desist from such practices.
The
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Opanyin Kwasi Gyasi, said the bank made a
net profit after tax of 871 million cedis, last year, as compared to 377 million
cedis the previous year. Total assets, he said, increased from 7.56 billion
cedis to 12.56 billion cedis during the same period, while its investment in
government treasury bills amounted to 5.26 billion cedis.
Loans and
advances increased from 1.78 billion cedis the previous year to 3.44 billion
cedis this year, while the bank purchased Akuafo Cheques amounting to 4.20
billion cedis last year as compared to 700 million cedis in 2000.
The
Chairman said the bank had proposed to pay 10.00 cedis per share as dividend to
its customers. He said the bank had been extending credit facilities to its
organized customer groups to enable them to initiate profitable ventures. It
has also distributed five water pumps donated under the IFAD scheme to towns
and villages under its catchment area.
GRi…/
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Tema
(Greater Accra) 16 September 2002- Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, on
Friday launched the floating of 25 per cent of the shares of the Cocoa
Processing Company (CPC) to the public. Under the CPC share offer, which starts
from Tuesday, 17 September a minimum block of 100 shares at 1,000 cedis per
share would be offered to individuals and companies to buy at the various banks
in the country.
The
floatation is expected to provide over 215 million shares of CPC to the
investing public and the government would continue to be a shareholder in the
foreseeable future. CPC's shares would be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange
(GSC), the Finance Minister said.
He said the
National Trust Holding Company (NTHC), managers of the flotation and the
brokers for the listing on the GSC had put in place, the necessary logistics to
ensure that the flotation goes on smoothly and efficiently. Mr Osafo-Maafo said
the Cabinet approved the flotation of CPC in November last year and mandated
NTHC to carry out the listing process, as part of the fast track divestiture
programme.
A key
pillar of government policy was to promote private investment and create wealth
in order to move the nation forward, he said, stressing that to realise the
Golden Age of Business, the private sector was being resourced as well as
empowered to create wealth for the nation's development.
Mr
Osafo-Maafo said CPC privatisation, therefore, was to open up investment
opportunities for participation by all Ghanaians. "The flotation will
afford the citizenry the opportunity to directly invest in and own part of the
company (CPC) and share in its value creation," he stated.
He said
government had given approval for an "Employees Special Share Purchase
Agreements" (ESSPA) scheme to enable them to own part of CPC shares at
lower prices than the public, "in recognition of the efforts they have put
in to make CPC what it is today".
Government
has, accordingly, given special dispensation that allowed all employees, who
qualify to buy the shares and pay for their subscriptions over a 12-month
period, even though the public share offer ends on 25 October. Ms Cecilia
Abenaa Dapaah, Chairman Board of Directors of CPC, said in the 2000/2001 financial
year the company paid a total tax of 11.4 billion cedis to government and a
dividend of 11.8 billion cedis to COCOBOD.
She said
the Board of Directors had recently approved the CPC's expansion programme to
enable the company to increase its present capacity from 25,000 tonnes to
65,000 tonnes within the next two years representing a turnover of about 260
per cent.
Daasebre
Akuamoah Boateng II, Chairman of COCOBOD, who chaired the launching, said the
privatisation of CPC formed part of a series of reforms being carried out by
the government to restructure the cocoa industry to improve efficiency and
enhance its value-added potential, as well as to increase domestic cocoa
processing from the current 21 per cent to 40 per cent of the national output.
The cocoa
sector plays a key role in Ghana's economy and it still supports nine per cent
of GDP, contributes 40 per cent of exports revenue, and provides 11 per cent of
overall revenue. About 95 per cent of CPC's production is exported to
international markets while five per cent is sold in the domestic market. CPC
supplies inputs to the local subsidiaries of processing giants like Nestle and
Cadbury for the production of their brands of cocoa and chocolate products.
CPC was
established in 1965 as a joint venture between the government of Ghana and
Drevia Group of COS to process cocoa beans into semi-finished product. It was
incorporated in 1981 as a limited liability company, wholly owned by COCOBOD.
GRi…/
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