Rising public debt: Terkper asked to get tough with ministers
Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has been asked to be tough on his colleague ministers to keep expenditure within approved budget limits.
Former Finance Minister, Dr. Osafo Marfo, says if Mr Terkper is really committed to checking the rising public debts his advice is the best way to go.
He told Joy Business Mr. Terkper must press hard even if it will cost him his job.
“The Minister of Finance should not put the country in difficulty by supervising the abuse of the limits,” he said.
He adds: “You will become unpopular but if you are doing the right thing then you are not really being unpopular, you are being disciplined”.
The former finance minister also maintains Parliament and Auditor General’s department cannot be excused from the current rising public debts which stood at GHC83 billion as of July this year.
The Former Minister of Finance was speaking to Joy Business after Chairing a program put together by the Ayisi Associates on alternative ways to raise funds during challenge
First emergency power barge from Turkey sets sail
The power barge constructed by Turkish Power Company, Karpower set sail after a ceremony earlier today.
It is expected to add some 225 megawatts of power to the national electricity grid when it arrives on November 12.
The power barges were originally scheduled to dock at the Tema Port in the first quarter of this year but this has since been rescheduled twice.
The emergency power barges form part of government’s immediate interventions to address the country’s struggling power sector.
Minster of Power Kwabena Donkor who was in Turkey to see the power ship set off says he is optimistic the arrival of the ship in Ghana will improve electricity supply.
Lawyer advocates creation of Ministry of Business
A Lawyer and council member of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr David Ofosu-Darte, has advocated the creation of a ministry for business to formulate and implement policies that would make Ghanaian businesses competitive at the world stage.
Mr Ofosu-Darte, therefore, called on the private sector to lead the way in advocating the ministry to help remove the barriers that businesses faced. He was speaking at a public forum organised by the AGI to discuss how the Ghanaian private sector could be made more relevant and competitive in Africa.
The forum, which had the topic: “Business competitiveness – Is the Ghanaian Private Sector its Own Enemy?” brought together people from different business communities.
IMF warns of African economic slowdown
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is slowing sharply, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.
In its latest African Economic Outlook, the fund forecasts growth in the region of 3.75% this year, the slowest growth in six years.
Next year, the report forecasts growth of 4.25%.
Low oil and commodity prices, together with a slowdown in the Chinese economy, are the main reasons for the overall downturn, the IMF says.
China is the region’s largest trading partner and many African countries have benefited hugely from exporting raw materials to the country.
“The strong momentum evident in the region in recent years has dissipated,” says the report, titled Dealing with the Gathering Clouds.
“With the possibility that the external environment might turn even less favourable, risks to this outlook remain on the downside.”
GPHA seeks tax waivers to support investments
The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is set to obtain parliamentary approval through the National Budget and Economic Policy of the government for tax waivers on some of its operational areas.
The waivers are expected to cushion the authority against some of the concessions it gives to state agencies and essential services which use the services of the harbour.
While the concessions it offers the agencies sap its revenues, the tax waivers would serve as buffers which could be reinvested to improve port operations through expansion of infrastructure and modernisation.
The Director General of the GPHA, Mr Richard Anamoo, said the appeal was to enable the port authority to cover part of the revenues it lost to concessions offered other state institutions, especially essential services and agencies that provided public goods without necessarily making profit.
For instance, the agricultural sector enjoys waivers on rent and port handling charges on products such as fertilisers and tractors. The security services also enjoy similar services from the port authority.
It, therefore, makes fiscal sense to enable the port authority to enjoy certain tax waivers, at least on the equipment that it uses directly on port handling.
UMB ranked bank with the worst customer care in new survey
Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) has been adjudged the bank with the worst customer care in Ghana. This is according to a survey conducted by the Customer Service Academy.
The survey which was conducted on all 27 banks and 22 Savings and Loans Companies placed UBA and Prudential as the second and third banks respectively with the worst customer care.
According to the survey, on service quality UMB scored 22.2 while UBA and Prudential scored 26.7 and 31.1 percent respectively.
Sahel Sahara bank was placed fourth on the list of banks with the worst customer care, while NIB, Ecobank and Access bank occupied the fifth, sixth and seventh positions on the list.
Sahel Sahara bank scored 35.6 while NIB, Ecobank and Access bank all scored 40 for service quality.
Fidelity bank, First Atlantic bank, Societe General, HFC, Bank of Baroda, Energy bank and Bank of Africa follows suit from the eight to the 14th position.
All of them scored 44.4 for service quality.
Margaret Takyi-Micah whose outfit Customer Service Academy conducted the survey tells Citi Business News, this should be a wakeup for all the banks.
SA’s Hollard acquires 51% stake in Metropolitan Insurance
Insurers are entering Africa at breakneck speed and with good reason. They are being lured to the region by the “perfect storm” of strong economic growth, low insurance penetration and the ascendance of the African middle class.
On the first count the International Monetary Fund predicts that Africa will top regional economic growth tables over the next five years. “All businesses like to trade in a positive growth environment and insurers even more so, due to their profitability being a complex mix of underwriting margin (operational ability) and the rates of domestic inflation and GDP growth,” says Frans Prinsloo, Managing Director at Hollard International.
Swiss RE’s World Insurance in 2014 reports a total insurance premium penetration (as a percentage of GDP) for the Africa region of 2.8% as compared to the double digit penetrations achieved in many developed markets.
“Low insurance penetration is both an indication of business potential and an opportunity for new entrants to a country market to achieve solid premium growth off a low base,” he says.
Hollard has found that the best approach to expanding into Africa is to partner with experts in their preferred territories. The insurer entered the Ghanaian market, following the acquisition of a majority stake in The Metropolitan Insurance Company (Met Insurance). Hollard will be supporting Met Insurance to optimise operations in Ghana and grow market share.
Brussels Airlines resumes flights to Ghana
Brussels Airlines is optimistic patronage of its flights to Ghana will see an increase. This follows the successful resumption of operations yesterday after the airline halted operations to Accra in 2012.
The company is confident the current market conditions in the aviation industry in particular, presents a fine opportunity for success.
Speaking with Joy Business at a press conference, the elated Vice President of Sales Africa Cargo Phillipe Saeys-Desmedt said Brussels Airline is happy to celebrate new Brussels-Accra-Brussels connection and is going to fly 4 times a week for the time being. He said the flight on the 26th of October was a great success because out of the 286 seats on the aircraft, there were only 6 seats left, in business class.
The airline which operated the Accra route from 2009 until late 2012 halted its operations following a ‘group decision’ to allow Lufthansa to grow further in Accra so that Brussels Airlines could also grow further in the East. “This has now been reversed and Lufthansa is now going to the East and we are going to grow further here in Accra” he explained.
Credit: Grahic, Joy Online, Citi Online