World Bank official says sale of gold will proceed
Financiers and businessmen hold dialogue
Mim (Brong Ahafo) 23 July '99
Scanstyle Mim Limited, a leading manufacturer and exporter of furniture, is to import timber logs from Gabon and Cameroun due to increasing shortage of the raw material, particularly Odum in the country.
Mr Abdul Nasser Owusu, Factory co-ordinator of the company, said the decision was due to the "dwindling presence of certain timber species in the country".
"My company is compelled to resort to log imports to sustain its operations", Mr Owusu told Dr Christina Amoako-Nuama, Minister of Lands and Forestry at Mim on Wednesday.
Dr Amoako-Nuama is on a familiarisation tour of timber firms in the Brong Ahafo Region .
Mr Owusu said because the company has no concessions of its own, it has been relying on other firms for logs "but massive reduction in the population of certain timber species in recent times has resulted in irregular and inadequate supplies".
"We have therefore been compelled by the situation to initiate arrangements for the importation of logs from either Gabon or the Cameroun so as to sustain our production to meet our contractual agreements with our foreign customers."
Mr Owusu said the company currently losses about 1.5 million pounds steeling annually because it is unable to get adequate raw materials from local sources to meet the demand of its new international customers.
Mr Owusu appealed to the ministry to give a favourable response to the company's application for a timber utilisation contract to enable it to source raw materials from within the country.
"The company is doing so much to add value to our timber in addition to boosting the country's export revenues and it is important that it is assisted to acquire a concession of its own to enhance its efficiency'' he stressed.
Mr Abraham Adjei-Mensah, the personnel manager, said the company has established tree farms on a massive scale but its efforts were being hampered by the lack of seedlings of timber species such as Odum.
Mr Edward Obiaw, the operations manager of the Forestry Department, said the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), has successfully developed seedlings of Odum and other species.
He therefore advised Scantyle and other companies interested in establishing plantations to contact FORIG for assistance.
Dr Amoako-Nuama commended the company for its integrated approach to production and for adding value to Ghana's timber as well as reducing wastage to the barest minimum.
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World Bank official says sale of gold will proceed
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 July '99
The World Bank Office in Accra on Thursday said there is no sign that the proposed sale of gold by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be halted despite indications that it may jeopardise the economies of many developing countries.
Rather, nations with stronger economies and willing Central Banks might be encouraged to increase their gold reserves as a mitigating factor to meet the imbalances that have arisen due to the low world gold price.
Mr Peter Harrold, Country Director of the Bank, said these at a meeting called in Accra at the instance of the Institute of Finance and Economic Journalists (IFEJ), to throw light on the performance of the Ghanaian economy and how it is being affected by international market trends.
"It looks as if the sales will proceed, and then we will focus attention on the mitigation factors," Mr Harrold said.
He said the IMF sale is currently a decision and it is not possible that it can be reversed. "The World Bank and IMF are owned by member governments and we will listen to what their views are about this proposed sale and then we will know what fashion exactly things will take".
Mr Harrold said the IMF's portion of the total gold sale "forms a very small fraction compared to what the UK and Swiss governments intend to sell."
He admitted that nations such as Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and others within the Southern Africa Development Co-operation zone would be severely affected by the sale since revenue from the metal forms a huge chunk of the national budgets.
The IMF has proposed to sell about 10 million ounces of its gold reserves over the next couple of years while the UK government is selling 25 tons of its gold reserves which is a first part of a 450 ton sale of a total 750 portfolio.
Mr Harrold said Ghana's economy in the last two years has seen an enormous progress resulting in strict monetary discipline and low inflation of 9.4 per cent.
"There has also been political, economic reforms, cocoa reforms and implementation of the Medium Term Economic Financial Programme and Price Waterhouse salary Report.
He described the idea of Business Focus that will see the transformation of Tema into a Free Zone area as a major step that will move Ghana's economy forward.
The World Bank Country Director said the government's programme for the economy is on course and everything is within prescribed limits.
"Relations between the Bank and Ghana at the moment are very strong and good. We have thus approved a 280 million-dollar credit, which runs up to the year 2001.
"We are ready to work with the government and the society at large and are confident that we will be able to work at it."
Mr Harrold said this year's Paris Donors' conference has been shifted to Accra and will be held in November.
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Financiers and businessmen hold dialogue
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 July '99
The business community on Thursday expressed concern about the difficulties in accessing long term credit in Ghana.
One factor militating against business growth is the fact that various companies and financial institutions do not have a common platform to source what the other has to offer, Mr Reuben Coffie, Market, Trade and Investment Operations Officer of
Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) said at a forum between businessmen and financiers in Accra.
"As a result, most people do not know what is happening in the sector and what the other is doing".
The forum discussing ways of financing companies, representatives of the business community said the difficulties in getting long term credit is a major obstacle to their expansion.
Forty participants are attending the two-day meeting, which is the first ever, business and finance sector partnership programme to be organised by the (GNCCI). It is under the theme "Finance and Business Dialogue".
It aims at creating a platform for the various players in industry, especially in agro-processing, exporters, importers and financiers to find out how best they can source funding for their businesses.
Mr Coffie said the GNCCI will, after the meeting, compile information on products of the companies and where to source funding and improve upon their relations.
Mr Ato Ampiah, President of GNCCI, told participants to be principled in their dealings, especially in time management, saying, "at a period when interest rates are so high, there is no time to waste".
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