This will be part of attempts to strengthen the partnership between Ghana and the UK as well as aligning with the Akufo-Addo administration’s focus on the private sector, he said on the Citi Breakfast Show.

The Commissioner said the reason he was keen to come to Ghana was the strong relationship between Britain and Ghana.

“If we want to make it stronger and better, we need to invest our efforts into it,” Mr. Walker added.

“We already have a very large presence and support a lot of work in health and education but I want to see us do more, frankly [in the private sector]. So more private sector investors, more private sector companies coming on board with the government of Ghana.”

Describing the government as having “high ambition” to complement the nation’s wealth, he, however, noted that it was fiscally constrained, hence the need for the ties.

Mr. Walker was keen to add that the partnership will not be exploitative but geared towards the government’s job-creation drive.

“This is not about asset stripping. This not about taking out raw materials. This is about building employment and creating jobs for the many young people in Ghana. When the ambition is clear and the requirement is becoming increasingly clear, it is up to us to make sure that we bring the best solutions we can.”

“As the private sector takes on a bigger role in Ghana and as the government is keen to create the right values, the right sense of responsibility for investors, I believe we have a lot more to do than we are doing at the moment and I would like to make sure we have played a very clear part in that,” the Commissioner said.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post UK High Commissioner targets private sector growth to boost ties appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

During the presentation of the 2018 budget statement, the Minister said that 191 companies have been selected for implementation.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Bzrue10c1KnAQLCaksAzDIDW5daB8Nov”]“The Ministry of Trade and Industry completed technical, financial and commercial viability analysis of 462 proposals, out of which 191 covering 102 districts were selected for implementation. It is envisaged that these 191 District Enterprise projects will collectively generate about 250,000 direct and indirect jobs,” he said on the floor of Parliament.

35 of these companies will be in the Ashanti Region, 19 in the Brong Ahafo, 21 in the Central Region and 28 in the Greater Accra Region.

The Northern Region will have 17, the Upper East 4, Upper West 5, Western Region 10, and the Volta Region with 18.

“Out of the 191 projects selected for implementation, 104 will be operating in the agribusiness sector, whilst 20 are businesses in the meat and poultry sector. 40 of these companies will be operating in the construction and building materials sub-sector, whilst the remaining 27 are businesses operating in the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals sectors.

The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, launched the one district, one factory policy on August 25, 2017. At the launch, the president said that the programme will drive industrialization across the country.

Since its launch, the Chinese government’s private sector development corporation has pumped in $2 billion, with the Turkish government promising to partner Ghana to support the programme.

On November 14, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, cut sod for the establishment of a new cement factory under the programme.

The factory is 90 percent owned by the Iranian government, whereas a Ghanaian partner has ten percent shares in it.

–

By: Jeffrey Owuraku Sarpong/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Each district to get Ghc2m for 1 district, 1 factory appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

His call follows the current scandal that has hit the Trust.

SSNIT is currently being investigated by Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) Public Procurement Authority (PPA) after it pumped $72 million dollars into a non-functional digitization project.

[contextly_sidebar id=”m6NUtFl1jAG6EBuBLGEAuqfdVkgQFxzU”]SSNIT, which used to own about 89% share in Merchant bank [now UMB], currently has less than 5% shares in the bank, after they lost a case they contested in court against the new bank’s new managers, Fortiz.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Awuni, who is also a former spokesperson to ex-president John Kufuor, said SSNIT’s recent troubles should not be taken lightly.

“It’s a big loss to the Ghanaian contributor, in fact, it should raise the flag, the alarm bells of investment profiles of SSNIT. What decisions go into their investments? If you don’t invest in the finance sector in this country which other area do you invest? Has SSNIT ever told us which area is actually doing so well that it is putting our money? Is it estate, block making, airlines, where are they putting our monies?”

“Unlike the banks …who are obliged by law to publish their accounts on 31^st of March every year, who has actually looked at the accounts of SSNIT and to find out where our contributions are going?” he asked.

Meanwhile, SSNIT on its website said the Trust currently holds a number of shares listed on the Ghana Stock with about twenty-two (22) listed companies.

“The Trust has investments spread in seven sectors namely Manufacturing, Finance, Insurance, Distribution, Food & Beverage, Mining and Agriculture,” SSNIT stated on its website.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonilne.com/Ghana

The post Probe SSNIT’s investment portfolios – Andrew Awuni appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Ministry has therefore urged prospective investors, especially from Latvia, to consider Ghana as the gateway to a wider West African markets of over 300 million people.

The political and micro-economic stability were all available for the benefit of anyone seeking to do business in Ghana, Mr Edwin Adjei, Acting Chief Director of the Foreign Ministry noted.

Speaking at a Ghana- Latvia business forum hosted by the Foreign Ministry in Accra on Friday, Mr Adjei, on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, expressed government’s determination to turn the fortunes of the country around with much focus on trade, investment and industrialization.

The forum followed a political summit held between Ghana and Latvian delegation made of investors and led by Mr Andrejs Pildegovics, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Latvia and some Ghanaian business people.

Ghana and Latvia, a country with a population of two million people is one of the fastest growing economies, established diplomatic relations in January 1992, which had served as a boost for economic cooperation and establishments of contacts.

“As you may be aware, over the past decade, Ghana has witnessed impressive economic growth with annual growth rate averaging over 6.4 per cent…Estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service from April 2013 show that in real terms, the Ghanaian economy expanded by 7.9 per cent in 2012, which compares well with an average global growth of 3.2 per cent and an average sub-Saharan growth of 4.8 per cent, Mr Adjei told Latvians.

He said Ghana in recent times had also made gains in her bilateral trade, increasing by over 70 per cent the last five years, and that the European Union of which Latvia was a part, continued to be the most important trade partner for the country, accounting for around 30 per cent of the nation’s total external trade since 2012.

Mr Adjei said foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Ghana had also increased significantly in the past few years, with the country featuring among the top five recipients of FDI into Africa in 2012.

“In view of these developments, Latvia has the opportunity to share in Ghana’s economic growth success story, while we also look forward to tapping into the rich experience of Latvia, especially, with much focus on development cooperation based on our shared values and aspiration” he noted.

Mr Pildegovics, on his part said the forum afforded the opportunity for Latvia to build stronger bilateral relations with Ghana.

He said Latvia which marks 100^th years anniversary in 2018, was the 17^th most friendly country to do business and that many business opportunities existed in that country with more business people looking for new opportunities in Ghana to explore for partnerships.

He said areas of forestry which gives Latvia 2.2 billion euros of revenue annually could be explored by Ghanaian businesses while railways, ICT and technologies, transportation, agriculture and food processing, wood processing, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, among others could be further explored.

He announced that a Ghanaian, David Adjaye had won a bid to construct a national museum in Latvia by 2021.

Mr Pildegivics therefore invited Ghana to also send a delegation to Latvia to have a further interaction leading to much trade and investment opportunities.

Mr Edward Ashong-Lartey, Director of Investor Services at GIPC who briefed the delegates on the business opportunities in Ghana, said areas including, affordable housing, agriculture, and tourism were available to be explored by investors.

He also called on the Latvians to partner Ghanaians to establish a world-standard tourism training institution that could train Ghanaians to work to meet international standard and also boost the tourism sector.

–

Source: GNA

The post Ghana is the best place to invest – Foreign Affairs Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

After being exposed to treasury bills and bonds in her university days, Martha, an investment banker, has now increased her appetite for the risk-free instruments.

Oftentimes, she is either redeeming matured securities or asking her bankers to rollover maturing ones, depending on the prevailing interest rates and/or her projections for the coming months.

Despite her deep knowledge in the rules governing the sale and redemption of the risk-free instruments, Martha is deficient on the processes that her purchases or matured securities pass through before the required amount of money is credited at or paid to her by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on behalf of the government. However, she is not alone.

Like Martha, many people with rising appetite for T-bills, public or corporate bonds barely know what goes on behind the scenes after their purchases go through.

All they know is that their commercial banks take the money to the government through BoG, which keeps or uses it and refunds the said amount together with the interest or principal amount upon maturity or termination of the purchase. What transpires in-between is virtually none of their business.

This is not surprising. In a country where financial literacy is still a luxury (less than 30 per cent of adults have access to bank accounts), not many will care to know about the nitty-gritties of investments.

The same applies to the equity market, where shares of listed companies are traded on and/or bought from the Ghana Stock Exchange.

So what happens after an investor successfully pays for a particular type of investment instrument such as T-bills and bonds?

Middleman’s job
For every purchase made of any of the short-term securities, an account comprising the details of the investor is often opened at the Central Securities Depository (Gh) Limited (CSD). Thus, in-between the purchaser and the issuer BoG, which acts on behalf of the government in matters of this nature, is the CSD, which holds the data of all patrons.

At the last day of trading in September 2016, the CSD had opened 828,048 of such accounts, which it managed on behalf of the investors, their partner banks and the BoG.

These accounts comprised individual and institutional, as well as local and foreign investors, who had invested in one or more of the debt securities — T-bills, GoG bonds, Ghana Cocoa Board or BoG or any of the corporate bonds on sale and equity instruments in the market. As a safe haven for investor information in the country, the CSD keeps track of such purchases, their respective dates of maturities and the amounts involved.

It then uses that data to advise the BoG, in the case of GoG securities, of maturing debts that require settlement.

The advice is done through a technique called Corporate Action Payment or Settlement.

Benefits

Although barely known, corporate action settlements ensure that investors in government securities are paid their respective due principal and the interest amounts on the designated maturity and interest payment dates for their investments.

Given that securities keep changing hands, an efficient corporate action settlement process, as currently exists, helps the BoG to determine the real owners of the securities after they have been moved in-between owners on the secondary market.

“This helps the issuer or the paying agent to ensure that the right investor is paid when the time comes,” the CEO of CSD, Mr Stephen K. Tetteh, stated.

“When the security matures, we generate the entitlement file. It is that file that will tell you the investor that qualifies to receive payment and the bank through which the investor will receive payment.”

“The file is then sent to BoG and they will pay the bank involved and the bank also pays the clients,” he added.

At the moment, the depository undertakes two forms of corporate actions — the interest payments and maturity payments.

Interest payment is limited to bonds and notes, which are interest or coupon bearing, because payments to bond/fixed note investors are done after every six months. The CSD normally ensures that the interest on any interest bearing security purchased is divided into two – semi-annual periods – in the case of a one-year bond, and paid to the investor in two tranches.

This it does by generating, in tranches, the payment schedule on the note and forwarding same to the BoG or the issuer for payment.

However, in the case of maturity payment, which applies to T-bills and other securities that are not interest-bearing, the CSD normally advises the issuer to pay the nominal value or the principal amount to qualifying investors.

Instilling investor confidence
Money is a coward and so are investors. As a result, market infrastructure such as the CSD and its array of services are needed to assuage the fears of investors from some difficulty that may arise from tracing records of their investments.

This is where corporate action payments come in handy.

At optimal level, the process ensures that the investor gets what he/she is entitled to.

As the CSD pointed out, “It will be catastrophic if you buy something and in the future it cannot be traced to you.”

“It will derail confidence and that is basically what we (CSD) guard against.”

Beyond ensuring smooth settlements and reconciliation of ownership, corporate action settlements also give the BoG and the government a clearer picture of the appetite the investor community has on short-dated instruments.

This plays a key role in policy direction, both at the fiscal and monetary level and that goes a long way to boost economic growth.

That not said, the CSD would have to keep on upgrading its security systems to ensure that the safety of investor details with it is properly guarded against.

It is, therefore, heart-warming that the depository is ISO (27001:2013) certified by International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

The certification will help to deepen the management of the company’s Information Security Risk.

This will not only cement CSD’s role as an enabler of a conducive investment climate but a depository of repute in the arena of securities depositories worldwide.
–

Source: Graphic Online

The post The ABCs of investing in short-dated instruments appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“We don’t have good policies that will attract money into the economy, that will bring investments into Ghana. Ghanaians who have money today, they are hiding it because business environment is not good for them,” Nana Addo said.

Speaking to chiefs in the Greater Accra Region, Nana Addo said the situation has contributed to the ballooning unemployment figures in the country.

Nana Addo therefore appealed to Ghanaians to “bring their money out” to create the enabling environment for businesses to flourish.

“We want them to bring their money out. We want foreigners to bring their money into Ghana so that we can create jobs and get this economy moving again. This is where we stand. NPP is a business party.”

 Investors freezing investment into Ghana 

In April 2016, some foreign investors abandoned their investment plans for Ghana over what they described as lazy attitude by some workers in both the private and public institutions.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekow Spio Gabrah ,who confirmed the development to Citi Business News said the lack of urgency among workers is turning away investors and making Ghana lose trade opportunities.

“Entrepreneurship development requires an environment that makes people profitable. We are talking about profit as a major development of entrepreneurs and this requires policies that provide for an enabling environment that is supportive of entrepreneurs.

“But unfortunately in this country, most of the public and civil servants have not run any business before, not even managed a pay roll where they are paying 5 to 10 or 15 people a month and so they are very insensitive to many needs of business and entrepreneurs where time is money,” he said.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Ghanaians afraid to invest in ‘bad economy’ – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Citi Business News understands ten shortlisted companies; both local and foreign, are now being engaged by the transactional advisor [PwC] on site visits after which the final decision will be made on the ultimate partner for government.

“The transaction advisors have shortlisted ten companies which they are engaging in the site viewing after which the process will advance on to the next stage. I anticipate that within two weeks or a months’ time this should be completed,” CEO of the Trade Fair Centre, Dr. Ebenezer Erasmus Konney told Citi Business News.

He added, “For the whole process, I think it should be possible to be completed by the end of the year.”

Government seeks PPP

Government, in February this year, opened invitation for a Public Private Partnership in managing the Trade Fair Centre after an initial arrangement with a Dubai firm, Eagle Hills, was cancelled.

At the time, Dr. Konney explained that the Trade Minister offered for the agreement to be abrogated after the Dubai firm, Eagle Hills, failed to meet the full financial obligation of a needed amount to pay the transactional advisors.

The company has also denied earlier reports suggesting that tenants at the facility were being compelled to exit the facility to allow for renovation works.

Speaking on the latest development, Dr. Konney also maintained that the tenants will not be evicted until such a time that the process has advanced for work to commence.

“Government hasn’t yet settled on a date to eject the tenants until such a time that the investor is selected to redevelop the facility. We have not yet gotten to the stage to consider those issues,” he remarked.

Responding to concerns over a possible lay off during the private partnership, the Trade Fair boss said, ‘The Company is a legal body and it is going to in existence, the staff will still be maintained.”

Negotiations over regular power supply

The Trade Fair Centre has also been battling intermittent power cut to the company over huge debts it owes the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Dr. Konney however tells Citi Business News his outfit has introduced some interim measures to ensure constant supply of electricity to occupants of the facility.

“We have not yet resolved the incremental sum; we are yet to determine how ECG came by those figures and once we get that done we will know exactly what to do. But for the time being anybody who owes money on electricity will have to pay it. After, we the facility managers will issue a receipts based on which the ECG will arrange with them and provide them with meters.”

“So those tenants who do that have their meters are those who are normally recalcitrant.”

–

By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Trade Fair to get new owner by 2016 ending appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.