Ghana, Exim Bank sign credit agreement on Keta Sea Wall
First Personal Finance Show to be held in October
GSE all share index goes further down
Ghana, Exim Bank sign credit agreement on Keta Sea Wall
Accra (Greater Accra) 8th July '99
The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday signed a formal agreement with the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States and the Private Export Funding Corporation for a long-term credit of 93.8 million dollars for the Keta Sea Defence project.
The loan will be used to purchase US-made equipment to build a sea defence wall and other infrastructure to protect the Keta beach and lagoon from erosion.
Finance Minister Kwame Peprah signed for the Government while U.S. Ambassador in Ghana Kathryn Dee Robinson signed for the United States.
The facility comes with a five-year moratorium on interest payment and will be repayable over a 10-year period starting from September 2004.
The project is expected to bring hope and prevent what could be catastrophic impact on agriculture, fisheries, commerce and living conditions of the inhabitants of Keta and surrounding areas.
The main components of the construction works to be financed are Havedzi-Keta main access roads, offshore breakwater at Keta, groynes and headlands from Kedzi to Keta.
It also provides for beach nourishment, outfall structure at Kedzi for the lagoon flood control, land reclamation and bird habitat islands.
Actual construction work is scheduled to take off in September this year.
The agreement followed Ex-Im Bank's approval of 1.89 million dollars in 1995 to finance feasibility and engineering study of the Keta project by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock under the Ex-Im Bank Engineering Multiplier Programme.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent US government agency that assists in financing the export of US goods and services to industrialising and developing markets all over the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance.
Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing, described the agreement as a major step and an important milestone towards the implementation of actual constructional works.
He said electricity supply has been extended from Afiadenyigba to Havedzi, the starting point of the wall.
Mr Adjei-Mensah expressed satisfaction at efforts made to implement the project, saying "we have come a long way, and treaded a very difficult path to reach this stage of the Keta Sea Defence Project today".
He commended the Presidency for its profound interest and commitment that has seen to the take-off of the project.
Mrs Robinson noted that the project is a major one, the largest civil works by the bank in West Africa in recent years.
Mr Richard Lowry, Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice-President of Great Lakes and Dredge, said they are excited by the project and are looking forward to it.
Mr Dan Abodakpi, MP for Keta, said he was happy with the signing of the agreement and looked forward to the actual start of the project.
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First Personal Finance Show to be held in October
Accra (Greater Accra) 8th July '99
The first Personal Finance Show aimed at giving financial and Industrial sectors an opportunity to exhibit their products and services will be held in Ghana from October 14 to 16.
This follows the recent three-day Computing and Telecommunications Exposition, which attracted almost 6000 visitors, according to a statement issued in Accra by the organisers.
The Show, which is being supported by professional associations representing finance and insurance institutions, will be held at the National Theatre.
Running alongside the exhibition will be an Investor Advise Forum where exhibitors will have the opportunity to provide a free information service to visitors to the show.
The statement said the show is targeted at the fast growing group of middle to upper income earners with high levels of disposable income available to provide themselves and their families with long term financial security.
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GSE all share index goes further down
Accra (Greater Accra) 8th July '99
A huge loss by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and a general downward pressure on some major equities on Wednesday pushed the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share further down from 806.44 to 796.58.
The market index lost by 10.86 points and brokers attributed this to a continuous decline in prices as investors are willing to sell at any price.
Despite the bearish atmosphere surrounding the market, total shares traded was up from 30,910 shares to 40,900 shares but this was nothing compared to the high offers of 2.8 million shares displayed on the exchange.
Bids closed trading higher at 324,700 shares up from Monday's 263,710 shares.
Market capitalisation finished lower at 3,291.86 billion cedis down from 3,308.94 billion cedis.
On the broader market, five equities made losses but there was no gain.
SCB lost a whopping 1,000 cedis at 21,000 cedis. It opened the year at 25,000 cedis but, however, remains the highest priced equity.
Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL) and Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL) lost five cedis each to close at 1,725 cedis and 920 cedis respectively.
Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) closed trading at 998 cedis incurring a loss of two cedis with Aluminium Company Limited (ALW) losing a cedi to finish trading at 2,599 cedis.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 600
AGC 18,700
ALW 2,599 -1
BAT 380
CFAO 40
EIC 1,990
FML 1,250
GBL 1,879
GCB 998 -2
GGL 920 -5
HFC 750
MGL 220
MLC 200
MOGL 16,800
PAF 280
PZ 850
SCB 21,000 -1,000
SPPC 210
SSB 1,950
UNIL 1,725 -5
UTC-E 125
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