The company in a statement on Monday said “UT Life is and has always been a completely separate entity from UT Bank, and therefore UT bank has no ownership in UT Life.”

“UT Life was acquired by Leapfrog Investments from UT Holdings in December 2015 with a majority shareholding of above 80%.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”VPxqxlo7kPJg2vuSw7OBxDekeE3oSErH”]The statement further said UT Life is strongly capitalized with about GHc36 million which is above the minimum regulatory requirement of GHc15 million adding that “our capital adequacy ratio is over 300% as of June 2017, and reflects our financial stability, strength and liquidity.”

UT, Capital banks taken over by GCB

UT Life Insurance issued the statement following acquisition of UT Bank and Capital Bank by public owned GCB bank.

A statement from the Bank of Ghana said it has “approved a Purchase and Assumption transaction with GCB Bank Ltd that transfers all deposits and selected assets of UT Bank Ltd and Capital Bank Ltd to GCB Bank Ltd’.

BoG also revoked the licenses of the two banks saying “this action has become necessary due to severe impairment of their capital.”

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) also suspended the listing status of UT Bank.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post We’re not affected by UT bank takeover – UT Life Insurance appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The cancellation of the taxes, most of which affects businesses in the aviation, finance and real estate industries, are aimed at providing a friendly environment for businesses in the country.

Below is the list of taxes that have been abolished and reviewed by the government.

Abolished

– 1 percent Special Import Levy;

– 17.5 percent VAT/NHIL on financial services;

– 17.5 percent VAT/NHIL on selected imported medicines, that are not produced locally;

– Initiate steps to remove import duties on raw materials and machinery for production within the context of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) Protocol;

– 17.5 percent VAT/NHIL on domestic airline tickets;

– 5 percent VAT/NHIL on Real Estate sales;

– Excise duty on petroleum;

– Special petroleum tax rate from 17.5 percent to 15 percent;

– Duty on the importation of spare parts;

– Levies imposed on kayayei by local authorities;

– Taxation, the gains from realisation of securities listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange or publicly held securities approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);

Reviewed

– Reduce National Electrification Scheme Levy from 5 percent to 3 percent;

– Reduce Public Lighting Levy from 5 percent to 2 percent;

– Replace the 17.5 VAT/NHIL rate with a flat rate of 3 percent for traders; and

– Implement tax credits and other incentives for businesses that hire young graduates.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post List of taxes abolished and reviewed by gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” Casely-Hayford argued.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Tuesday lamented that he inherited a $2.4 billion highly indebted power sector from the previous government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ysdXVmJCIUHNNK7r3hdFSn9oHzdWeCod”]He further disclosed that his government is considering moves of listing the GRIDCo and VRA on the stock exchange, a revelation that has been met with varied opinions.

“…We have begun to develop a national electricity master plan which will also explore the benefits of listing VRA and GRIDCO on the stock exchange,” he added.

But speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday, Casely-Hayford said the move will give the private sector too much influence in the affairs of the nation’s energy sector.

“I really think it’s a bad idea because you are going to give private sector the opportunity to shut you down. Private sector will not accept that their tariffs are capped and it’s an unprofitable cap. If it is going to worked at it has to be calculated in a such a way that the cap will make them profitable and that they will achieve profitability from cost savings and not from raising the cap. So the minute you give them the restriction of making loses…they will shut the system down and walk away,” he explained.

“As we speak, government owes VRA plenty money. VRA owes GRIDCo. GRIDco is owed by ECG. The public does not owe ECG; they have been paying their tariffs without fail except that in this instance government is subsidizing the tariff in order to be able to carry on what it considers to be an affordable rate for the public to pay.”

Don’t rush

In a related development some analysts in the energy sector have cautioned of long term costs to government should it rush through the process to list the VRA and GRIDCo on the stock exchange.

Though they contend of the benefits in restructuring the operations of the institutions, the analysts fear of a potential dip of the policy should government fail to undertake due diligence.

“This is the way to solve the inefficiencies in the country’s energy sector. We should not rush into it; there is a lot that has to be done which is why we need to undertake some market intelligence and even the timing must be taken into consideration and that is very important if you want to generate a lot of market interest,” the Co-Chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr. Steve Manteaw said in an interview.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Listing GRIDCO, VRA on stock exchange ‘bad idea’ – Casely-Hayford appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This, in PUWU’s view, could present an alternative to government’s plan to list the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) on the stock exchange as part of its master plan for the electricity sector.

[contextly_sidebar id=”L4Ey1nC6q8EbwB7HqY1aR9FhcFKRRjZv”]Government said this would strengthen the power sector along with the competitive procurement process, thus reducing the cost of power projects and ensuring value for money.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, the General Secretary of the Union, Richard Ampabeng said other countries have succeeded using pension funds.

He noted that “everywhere in the world, especially Canada that I know of, they make use of their workers’ pension money because this is long-term money and they use it in listing their electricity. The UK itself is using their workers’ pensions in driving the companies that are coming to Africa to privatise our electricity.”

“So why can’t we as a nation say that we are listing these companies but strategically, we are using our pensions to run it so that everybody will now own this company?”

Mr. Ampabeng, however, stated that governments openness to engagement and consultation on the matter was in the right direction.

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

The post Consider using pension funds to support power sector – PUWU appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.