Business Analyst - May 10

BUSINESS MARKET RATES

US$ 1 – GH¢7.50

GHANA STOCK TUES, 4 MAY. 2022

Indices and Market Cap Level Previous Level Change % Change

GSe Composite Index 2,810.01 2,798.27 +11.74 +0.42%

GSe Financial Index 2,073.63 2,073.63 0.00 0.00%

GSe Market Cap (GhS 'mn) 63,883.61 63,760.71 +122.90 +0.19%

Tuesday, May 10, 2022. Vol. No. 155

GH¢2.50

COCOA: US$2560.38 per tonne

CRUDE OIL: US$98.93 per barrel

GOLD: US$1,931.96 per ounce

• Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for

Communications and Digitalisation

• Former

President,

John

Dramani

Mahama

The electricity Company of

Ghana (eCG) is bargaining for

a 148% tariff increment. In a

proposal to the Public Utilities

Regulatory Commission, the

eCG explained that the figure covers the

period from 2019 to 2022.

“The result of eCG’s tariff proposal for

the next five years shows an

approximately 148% increase on the

current DSC1 in 2022 and an average

increase of 7.6% year on year from 2023 to

2026.

“The high increase in the DSC1 for the

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Russia-Ukraine War Update

Intense fighting around

towns in eastern Ukraine

Putin's speech - fact-checked

eaRLIeR today, President

Vladimir Putin made several

claims about Ukraine and Nato

during his speech at a military

parade in Moscow.

These include the assertion that

Ukraine says it wants to get hold of nuclear

weapons.

But our Reality Check team has found

no evidence of the Ukrainian government

expressing an intention to acquire such

arms.

They've fact-checked this and other

statements made by the Russian leader

today. You can read their article here.

France and Germany envisage new

politics post-Ukraine

France's President emmanuel Macron

and Germany's Chancellor Olaz Scholz

address a news conference

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The leaders of France and Germany are

meeting in BerlinImage caption: The

leaders of France and Germany are meeting

in Berlin

France's President Macron has proposed

a new political community in light of the

Ukraine crisis - an idea described as "very

interesting" by his German counterpart Olaf

Scholz.

Visiting Berlin, Macron spoke of

speeding up cooperation between the eU

and other, non-eU european nations to

build peace and stability. he said the status

could apply to Ukraine as well as nations

that did not want to join the 27-country bloc.

Macron has said that it could take

Ukraine decades to be confirmed as an eU

member.

The european Commission will "aim to

deliver its opinion" next month on

Ukraine's bid for membership, the body's

chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted earlier.

'Progress' made with hungary on

Russia oil ban - von der Leyen

Talks with hungary over a proposed eU

ban on Russian fossil fuel imports saw

progress but more work is needed, the

european Commission President Ursula von

der Leyen says.

as we reported earlier, she travelled to

Budapest this afternoon. She has now

tweeted: "This evening's discussion with

PM Viktor Orban was helpful to clarify

issues related to sanctions and energy

security".

Von der Leyen also said she would hold a

video conference with other countries in

the region.

The eU has faced some opposition on a

sixth package of sanctions from a number

of member states - including hungary -

who rely heavily on Russian energy.

Russian troops making slow

progress - US official

Two militias from the self-declared

Donetsk People's Republic walk down a

Mariupol street

Russian-backed militias patrol in

MariupolImage caption: Russian-backed

militias patrol in Mariupol

The Pentagon has delivered its latest

briefing on fighting in Ukraine - claiming

that Russia was making slow progress in its

invasion.

a senior US defence official said:

Russian gains in Ukraine's eastern

Donbas region had been uneven and

incremental over the past few days

The result was "single-digit kilometre

kind of progress" for Moscow

The Kremlin's troops have been trying

to advance from Izyum in the direction of

Lyman - and to assault Sloviansk

as for the situation in the south - there

was "virtually no progress" for Russia there,

as many of the troops that had been

committed to the Mariupol offensive were

struggling to advance northwards as far as

the town of Velyka-Novosilka

Despite Russian efforts to capture the

city, Ukraine was still in control of Kharkiv,

and its troops were still successfully

resisting attacks there and elsewhere in the

country

among other remarks, the official also

said 85 of the 90 howitzer weapons america

had pledged for Ukraine were now in the

country

What's the latest?

here's what's been happening this

afternoon, if you're just joining us or need a

recap:

Russian forces have continued to shell

Ukrainian towns in the eastern Donbas

region

The southern city of Odesa, which has

seen several Russian missile strikes over the

past few days, is under curfew until 05:00

(02:00GMT) on Tuesday and european

Council President Charles Michel had to

take shelter while visiting the city because

of a missile strike

France's emmanuel Macron has met

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin

and says Franco-German co-operation is at

the heart of europe and especially

important when it comes to the Ukraine

conflict

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky

has called for immediate efforts to unblock

the country's ports so wheat can be

exported overseas

earlier, President Putin marked Russia's

Victory Day and reiterated his justification

for attacking Ukraine

Polish protesters threw red liquid over

the Russian ambassador in Warsaw

eU's von der Leyen heads to

hungary

european Commission President Ursula

von der Leyen is in hungary to meet Prime

Minister Viktor Orban, as the eU struggles

to agree new energy sanctions against

Russia.

The european Commission’s chief

spokesperson said the pair will “discuss

issues related to european security of energy

supply.”

Member states have so far failed to agree

on a sixth package of sanctions – the

sticking point is a proposed, phased, ban on

Russian oil imports.

eU ambassadors met over the weekend

but there was no breakthrough.

earlier hungary’s Secretary of State for

International Communication, Zoltan

Kovacs, reiterated hungary wouldn’t

support the sanctions saying it would be

“like an atomic bomb” for the hungarian

economy.

Ukraine conflict shifts europe's

balance of power

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz

welcomes France's President emmanuel

Macron with military honours during a

ceremony at the Chancellery in Berlin,

Germany, on 9 May 2022

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Returning to the talks we saw in the last

couple of hours between France and

Germany now... it’s eU tradition for their

leaders to visit each other as the first trip

abroad following their election. It's an

intentionally symbolic display of the bloc’s

Franco-German motor purring, even

roaring ahead.

But the Russia-Ukraine crisis has

fundamentally shifted not only europe’s

security dynamics, but the balance of power

too.

During his first term in office,

emmanuel Macron often appeared the

intern to the then German Chancellor

angela Merkel. But her successor, Olaf

Scholz, has handled Russia sanctions and

weapons deliveries to Ukraine slowly and

clumsily - frustrating voters at home and

allies abroad.

Freshly re-elected, President Macron

believes then that this is his moment of eU

leadership - in Brussels and globally.


Tariff increment

ECG pushes for 148%

• Continued from front

year 2022 could be attributed to

the gap that has developed over

the years between the actual

cost recovery tariff and the

PURC approved tariffs as well as

the cost of completed projects”.

“Similarly, eCG’s proposed

DSC2 shows a higher increase

of 28.4% in the first year (2022)

while that of the subsequent

years increases by an average of

2% from 2022 to 2026”, the eCG

said

according to the eCG, “The

financial sustainability of the

electricity Company of Ghana

is important as it impacts on

the entire energy sector. With

the huge investment needs

facing the distribution industry

over the next five years, it is

expected that the proposed

tariff increases would

inevitably be approved to

sustain efficient and reliable

electricity service.”

“Over the next five years,

the DSC will need to increase

consistently (average of 7.6%) to

cover distribution cost. It is

expected that the approved BGC

would correspond with the

commercial terms of PPas

(Power Plant agreements)”, it

added.

TOR rehabilitation

COPEC asks govt

for timelines

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers

Ghana (COPeC) has asked the

government to provide accurate

timelines regarding when the rehabilitation

of the Tema Oil Refinery

(TOR) will be completed.

This follows President Nana addo

Dankwa akufo-addo’s announcement

on Sunday that his government

has started upgrading the TOR which

has not been in full operation for

some years now

The President explained that the

upgrade was to help stabilise the

prices of petroleum products in the

country.

Though excited at the news, the

executive Secretary of COPeC speaking

to journalists indicated that it

was crucial timelines were provided

regarding when the project will be

completed.

“We’ve said this time without

number that you cannot be an oilproducing

country and crown your

refinery the way we have done. The

way forward is to get the refinery up

and running. Get a portion of your oil

entitlement to be refined locally so

that there’s that petroleum security

that also takes away the logistical

cost of importing fuel from europe. If

you don’t do these things, your fuel

prices would continue to be a cost

rising thing that any time there’s an

inconvenience geopolitically, your

people will have to pay more,” he

said.

“So, fixing the refinery is paramount.

We are happy that he’s now

indicating that there are plans to fix

it. Timelines will need to be given so

the people can at least hold authorities

accountable for this.”

The Tema Oil Refinery, which is

Ghana’s first and only refinery, has

not been operational for a while now

due to many challenges.

It has the capacity of producing

45,000 barrels per stream day but is

currently producing about 26,000

barrels.

Several Civil Society Organisations

such as the Chamber of Petroleum

Consumers and the africa

Centre for energy Policy (aCeP), have

been at the forefront of calls on the

government to do all it can to get the

refinery back on its feet.

COPeC, for instance, keeps stressing

that when the capacity of TOR is

built, it would be able to help cushion

Ghanaians when fuel prices on the

global market go up.

The Minister for Public enterprises,

Joseph Cudjoe, earlier noted

that the government was currently

receiving proposals from potential

strategic investors for a possible restructuring

of the

The proposals from these investors,

according to Mr. Cudjoe, will

see them provide funding and other

technological know-how on how better

to manage the refinery.

Ban export of crude palm oil!

STaKehOLDeRS in the

Crude Palm Oil Industry

(CPOI) have called on the

government to ban the export

of Crude Palm Oil

(CPO) from Ghana.

This, according to the

players in the CPOI, will

protect local processors to

have access to the raw material

for their business.

according to them, the

current ban on the export

of the product by countries

like Indonesia required

that Ghana also takes steps

to protect its local stock.

Indonesia’s ban on

palm oil exports which

started on april 28, 2022, to

address an ongoing shortage

of cooking oil in the

country, if not lifted, is expected

to be most punishing

to sectors

manufacturing consumer

products in Ghana and

other parts of africa, such

as cooking oil, detergents

and snacks.

Because Ghana is a net

importer of palm oil, any

pressure from the ban will

weigh on the supply chain

and drive prices up and affect

availability.

available data shows

that Ghana produced about

45,000 mtns of palm oil at

its peak and imported over

400,000 mtns as of 2019 for

local consumption and export

of refined oil and byproducts.

The stark difference in

the numbers has led some

stakeholders in the crude

palm oil industry warning

of supply disruptions for

cooking oil and imported

crude palm oil on the

Ghanaian market in the

next 2 to 3 months if the

ban on the export of palm

oil from Indonesia isn’t

lifted soon.

Speaking to Citi Business

News, the Managing

Director of Wilmar africa

Limited producers of Frytol,

Kwame Wiafe, urged

the government to ban any

export of the product to

minimise the supply risk

for Ghana.

“a lot of the local plantation

prefer selling their

Crude Palm Oil outside

where they will get better

prices, that selling to local

refineries like us. So I can

tell you about 60% of locally

produced Crude Palm

Oil was being exported, so I

had to go outside and bring

in the stock at a higher

cost. Talking about the current

ban on CPO, it is happening

in other countries

like Ivory Coast and Indonesia

and the likes.

These countries are taking

steps to assure themselves

of food security because of

the current situation the

world finds itself in.”

“So the government

could decide that in the

meantime, in order to mitigate

the supply risks, CPO

exports should be banned.

This will enable the refiners

in the country to get

some stock to mitigate the

risk that will emanate

from this ban,” he added.

“A lot of the

local plantation

prefer selling

their Crude Palm

Oil outside

where they will

get better prices,

that selling to

local refineries

like us. So I can

tell you about

60% of locally

produced Crude

Palm Oil was

being exported,

so I had to go

outside and

bring in the

stock at a higher

cost.


CEOS, BOARDS OF SOES

MUST BE SUBJECTED TO

STRICT KPIS

REPORTS from the Finance Ministry have

revealed that state-owned enterprises

(SOEs) reported a ¢5.3-billion loss in their

operations in the 2020 fiscal year.

It further emerged that some SOEs had

been reluctant to submit annual accounts

since 2017, a development which means

that the loss position of SOEs could be

worse.

To fix the poor state of some of the

entities, the Finance Ministry has warned

that it will no longer support request for

assistance by SOEs that fail to meet the

reporting requirements specified in the

Public Financial Act.

Speaking at a forum in Accra a couple of

months ago, a Deputy Finance Minister, Dr

John Kumah, said SOEs consistently posted

aggregate net losses from 2015 of ¢2.1

billion to the latest figure in 2020, ¢5.3

billion, in the Draft 2020 SOE Report.

The state of some SOEs in the country

has, in recent times, become a matter of

concern to policy analysts, who have

described the development not only as

unfortunate but also unacceptable.

Particularly at a time when the public

debt has risen beyond what the Bretton

Woods institutions describe as sustainable

levels, the last thing we should see are the

incessant losses being recorded by SOEs

which are capable of making profits or at

least breaking even to free the public purse.

The Newspaper is appalled by the report

of losses by some SOEs and would want the

government to take drastic action to stop

the financial hemorrhaging.

It has become increasingly clear that

some of the appointees to the boards and

executive positions of these enterprises are

not capable of managing them.

Since the inception of the Fourth

Republic, it has become clear that whenever

there is a change in government, the first

thing the incoming administration considers

is drive away all appointees of the previous

government and fill some of those

vacancies with people who are not only

politically tainted but also completely lack

the business and management acumen to

run the enterprises they have been placed

in.

Much as we do not entirely fault that

move, we strongly believe that managers

who had proved to be doing well; that is,

making profits for the enterprises they

superintend, should be made to continue,

instead of bringing new people who will

turn those enterprises from profit ways to

become loss-making institutions.

Bank branches will

be dead in 5 years

The research, based on

a recent survey of 305

senior global banking

executives, highlights

how Covid-19 branch

closures, new technologies and

increased competition from

fintechs, super-app platforms and

tech giants have accelerated

digital transformation and

triggered a shift in banking

priorities and business models.

New technologies such as

cloud, artificial intelligence (aI),

and application processing

interfaces (aPIs) were identified

by 65% of the bankers surveyed as

the trend that will have the

biggest impact on the sector over

the next four years, ahead of

regulation and changing

customer demands. Moreover, 81%

think unlocking value from aI

will be the differentiator between

winning and losing banks. Banks

are focusing their technology

investment on cybersecurity, aI

and cloud computing as they

accelerate digital transformation

projects.

Customer experience

The report finds that 81% of

bankers believe banks will seek to

differentiate on customer

experience rather than products.

With this, many established

banks are turning to strategic

partnerships and investments in

technology to become trusted

banking partners and the

purveyors of consumer-friendly

banking experiences.

The pandemic has been a

catalyst for collaboration and

experimentation. The report

states that nearly half (47%) of

bank executives expect their

businesses to evolve into

“The big shift

for us was our

belief that we

could change

fast if we really

wanted to. We

would have

never done the

partnerships we

are doing now,”

says Aalishaan

Zaidi, global

head of digital

banking at

Standard

Chartered.

ecosystems in the next two years,

whereby banks offer third-party

products and services, together

with their own, to customers and

other financial organizations.

“The big shift for us was our

belief that we could change fast if

we really wanted to. We would

have never done the partnerships

we are doing now,” says aalishaan

Zaidi, global head of digital

banking at Standard Chartered.

New business models

The report also shows how the

pandemic has emphasised the

societal role of financial services.

Findings show that bankers view

microfinance for entrepreneurs

(34%) and accounts for the

unbanked (33%) as the most

promising inclusion-related

business opportunities.

“Open banking and increased

competition from big tech and

new entrants are causing banks to

rethink their business models.

Many now aspire to develop

digital ecosystems that bring

more human, differentiated

experiences to their customers

using the power of cloud, SaaS

and aI. This report shows that

bankers now understand that

technology will be an enabler for

these new business models and is

critical to their competitive

differentiation,” says Kanika

hope, chief strategy officer,

Temenos.

Source: Bizcommunity


Hold Mahama accountable

over E-levy promise

The Managing editor

of the Insight

newspaper, Kwasi

Pratt Jnr., has asked

Ghanaians to hold

President Mahama accountable

over the promise to abolish

the controversial electronic

levy (e-levy).

Mr. Pratt’s comments follow

a promise by former President

Mahama that, his party will

cancel the controversial e-levy

if it wins power in 2024

Delivering an address titled

“Ghana at Crossroad” on Monday,

May 2, John Dramani Mahama

noted that a new NDC

government, God willing and

with the votes of the sovereign

people of Ghana – in 2025 – will

• Kwesi Pratt asserts

repeal the e-Levy act.

“We in the NDC do not oppose

taxation as a principle.

We will not be pretentious and

couch fanciful slogans to condemn

the principle of taxation

like the NPP did in the past. We

are, however, implacably opposed

to distortionary and burdensome

taxes like the e-levy

that only force Ghanaians to

endure more suffering.

“a new National Democratic

Congress Government,

God willing and with the votes

of the sovereign people of

Ghana – in 2025 – will repeal

the e-Levy act,” he said while

delivering an address titled

“Ghana at Crossroad” on Monday,

May 2, 2022.

however, speaking on

accra-based atinka FM yesterday,

Kwasi Pratt Jnr said the

debate as to whether or not

Mahama will be voted into

power is not important.

according to him, the most

important aspect is for Ghanaians

to hold Mahama to his

words when he is voted into

power.

“all the opinion polls I have

seen show that Ghanaians are

against e-levy and so we

should not focus on whether or

not he will be voted into power.

What we should do is to ensure

that he is held accountable

when he becomes President,”

Kwasi told Kaakyire Ofori

ayim.

Market women and farmers need ICT

in new economy — Ursula Owusu

The new economy needs the use of technology

in trade and business activities to

make a good living hence the role of government

in ensuring ICT education for

girls across the country.

These are words of the Minister for

Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula

Owusu-ekuful to the

female students participating in the

Bono Regional Girls in ICT initiative.

One thousand girls are benefiting

from the Bono region’s programme

which is part of the quest by

government to bridge the gender gap

in technology with support from the

Ghana Investment Fund for electronic

Communication, GIFeC.

“The direction in which the world is

moving demands the use of ICT, whatever

you want to do, even as a farmer or trader,

ICT education is very important.

ICT has become an enabler in the

new economy and the government is

bent on exposing you girls and

other young ones to the new trend,”

she said.

Madam Owusu- ekuful challenged

the students participating in the regional

Girls in ICT programme

to take advantage of the initiative to

excel in the field of ICT and Science.

“It’s a privilege and an opportunity

some have been fighting for but haven’t

gotten so if you have it,

make the best use of it now.

She advised the students to work hard

because hard work doesn’t kill but will

rather make you adept in whatever you

do.

You are an apple of God’s eye, God created

you well therefore women are very

important. We are the perfection of the

creation so try to reinforce yourself with a

positive image as a perfect creation of

God and never be discouraged”.

She also took inspiration from the 11-

year-old Princess Kumi, winner of the

Bono east Girls in ICT to

share some experiences with the girls

on the programme so far.

The Minister used the theme for this

year; access and Safety to inform the girls

about the risk of abusing the internet.

Selected Schools from all the twelve

Districts in the region participated in the

mentorship programme with support

from the regional education service.

Some teachers from the various districts

were also trained as part of the initiative

to impart the knowledge to other

students that may not get the opportunity

to participate.

Chairperson of the Mentorship programme,

Dr Seyram Blossom Setufe, acting

head, Department of Fisheries and

Water Resources, School of Natural Resources

boosted the morale of the girls

and

urged them to become scientists and

IT experts in the future.

“I will like you to pay attention, take

note and develop an interest in the field

of engineering. Let your

ears be open for the reason we are

here and have that character and mindset

that you can do it as an IT specialist or

engineer” she advised.

There was training in coding which

gave the girls the opportunity to explore

the world of technology, through the creation

of websites, computer games, interactive

arts, mobile apps, and animation

stories, using various programming languages.

She challenged the girls to stay

focused and develop an interest in ICT

subjects. Dr Mercy Badu from the Department

of Chemistry at the Kwame

Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

exposed the girls to some tips that

will support their learning process in the

field of Science and ICT.

according to her, there are limited

ladies in the field and the need to bridge

the gap through the Girls in ICT initiative.

Other mentors include Juanita ahia

Quarcoo, Lecturer at the Department of

Computer Science,

Sunyani Technical University, Faiza

Umar Bawah, Lecturer Department of

Science and Informatics,

The University of energy and Natural

Resources

Female engineers from MTN were

given the platform to share some experiences

with the girls as well.

The Mentorship Day event is part of

the Girls in ICT Initiative aimed at giving

the girls the opportunity

to interact with ladies in the field of

ICT and Science education.

as part of strategies to ensure that

Ghana achieves the Sustainable Development

Goal (SDG) 5,

and Ghana’s ICT4aD Policy on bridging

the gender digital divide, the Ministry

of Communications and Digitalisation,

through its agencies – GIFeC, NCa and

the Kofi annan ICT Centre of excellence,

has expanded the scope of the GIICT

event.

Interestingly, over 60 per cent of the

girls trained, have no prior knowledge or

experience in the use

of computers.

The Girls in ICT programme, was introduced

in 2012 by the International

Telecommunications Union

to empower and encourage girls and

young women to acquire digital skills and

consider studies and careers in the growing

field of information and communication

technologies.

Ghana has adopted this initiative and

observed it on a regional basis. It has already

been celebrated

in Greater accra, ashanti, Northern,

Volta, Western, Western North, North

east, Central and Oti Regions.


Attempted prophesies:

Acrobatics in law

The party starts in fifteen

minutes. So naturally, this friend of

mine goes for mischief. Being himself

a non-drinker, and sensing his

colleagues’ anticipation for the

party—chiefly the alcohol, he felt this

early afternoon was the right time to

open the Bible. He quotes Ephesians

5:18. “And do not get drunk with

wine, for that is dissipation, but be

filled with the Spirit…” “Be filled!”

He repeats, placing extreme

emphasis on the ‘filled’. His

colleagues retort with the first

miracle: How about the Messiah

Himself of the New Testament,

choosing his first miracle to be the

chemical conversion of water into

wine? This friend of mine, he has his

own retort ready. “Jesus’ wine wasn’t

alcoholic!” And just like that a whole

other debate was brewed—one that

could not be found solely in the Bible.

SO, each debater takes to their

phones, each Googling and

providing evidence. One

group provides search results

indicating that Biblical wines

were in fact alcoholic. The other group

(the group of one, comprising just this

friend of mine), produces evidence that

Biblical wines contained no alcohol.

Stalemate. So, my friend attempts a

checkmate with this: “See, these wines

were made of grapes. and aren’t wines

produced from a fermentation

process—in this particular case, a

fermentation of grape juice?. The

company agrees with this premise. and

tell me, isn’t fermentation a process

that takes days to occur, eh?” Once

again, the interlocutors agree. So now

answer me this, how can a grape juice

instantaneously and miraculously

squeezed by Jesus become fermented

the same day?” The company disagrees

with this rhetorical conclusion.

“But do not forget this one thing, dear

friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand

years, and a thousand years are like a day.” I

chip in with 2 Peter 3:8. My friend looks at me,

disappointed, as though I had just broken the

‘teetotaler code’.

You would think 2 Peter 3:8 would have

done my friend in. No. Insisting still to choose

mischief this early afternoon—playful

mischief—he bizarrely comes out with some

Biblical calculations that sum up to “Four

percent!” Four percent, he

insists, is the Biblically

acceptable alcoholic content

a child of God is allowed.

Miraculously, another

divergent happens in the

day’s debate. Marriage. how

many wives is a man

allowed to have? enjoying

these intentionally

pointless debates, I quickly

chip in, “…and woman.” So

yes, the topic went: how

many wives and husbands

can a man and woman

respectively have. This

friend of mine, a strict

adherer of the Word

(hallelujah!), insisting that

all God’s people worldwide

be stripped off alcohol,

responding to quotations

from the New Testament on

the matter, retorts: “The

Bible is not our culture. We

can’t use it as yardstick for

our Ghanaian marriages!” a

shocking turn of events.

Maybe, not so shocking—because, you see, our

gentleman here hones this secret desire:

“When I become a rich man, I would really like

to marry more than one woman…” So yes, one

down for the Bible.

Of course, while this friend of mine

named after Goliath’s opponent is making all

these arguments, he is giggling here and

there—not taking himself seriously.

But this is telling, is it not? how

interesting we, humans, are. how we choose

interpretations of texts—in this case, the

Bible—to suit whatever desires we may have at

any particular point in time. My friend,

laughing heartily at his own acrobatic

proclamations, nods in agreement.

how to Treat Your employees

It is the same with the law. Last week we

saw how easily and accurately the same texts

of the law can be open to varied

interpretations—sometimes complete polarended

interpretations. Polar end

interpretations that have the capacity of

eliciting endless debates—quite literally—

should they be left open for these debates. But

luckily, we have the courts. Our time as

citizens being finite… We, not being

blessed with the free time Socrates

and co. had on their hands—to engage in

endless philosophical debates… We, the

people, have, with the 1992 Constitution,

tasked the courts with this duty of

interpretation. and with articles 2(1) and 130,

we have chosen the Supreme Court specifically

to be in charge of interpreting the Constitution

when the issue of its ambiguity is brought, and

ensuring adherence of subordinates laws,

institutions, acts, omissions, etc. to it. We the

people, being no-nonsense bosses, requiring

always, excellence, have every right to keep a

supervisory eye over the courts in their

performance of this duty. Yet, we must always

try to make our criticisms of their works

informed. More on that later…

Legal acrobatics

It has come up a lot in the courts of public

opinion, in an attempt to make sense of the

ruling in Justice abdulai v. a-G, these words:

“This is how they do it everywhere in the

world!” Let me quickly add that this sentence

has been used by both opposing teams—those

for and against the Supreme Court’s ruling.

absoluteness cannot concurrently occur on

two opposing fronts, can it? It’s safe to say then

that this attempt by us, the general public, have

been largely uninformed.

I quote one commentor whose insight I

found altogether interesting. “This case was

clear as a daylight so why are still cannot

understand is the same in Ghana, same in

australia, Canada, america, Britain, Kenya,

South africa. even a student marking class

register will mark students in the class who are

prent [present] and mark himself too…” [The

typos contained in this quote are not mine].

This impassioned citizen wrote online in allcaps

in a comment that has now, to my dismay,

been deleted. But that will not stop us from

taking a trip through the rest of the world, as

suggested by our colleague-citizen.

Interestingly, all the examples he cited have

bicameral parliaments. Yet, that spoils

nothing—it gives us more parliamentary

examples to work with in fact.. Let’s quickly go

to these countries now, because, as he bizarrely

noted in this comment intended clearly for the

NDC, “IGNOOOORaCe IS DeaSe.” Ignorance is

a disease, true. So naturally today, we attempt a

cure.

Pro Supreme Court Ruling Team v. Pro

Justice abdulai Team

USa

The federal nation, USa, has a bicameral

parliament comprising a Congress broken into

two divisions: the Senate and

the house of Representatives. Of

course, this decision to opt for a

two-parliament system was

born from the nation’s own

experience, the necessities it

was challenged with, its history,

etc. having liberated

themselves from Great Britain’s

rule, the new world, USa, sought

to create a government far from

the monarchical state of

Britain. hence a democratic,

Presidential system was

agreed upon. a system

comprising a Legislature,

executive, and Judiciary—all

playing separate yet

complementary roles.

This new nation,

attempting to break free

from the monarchical

system, interestingly began

its democracy with a

Legislative body that had

some form of monarchical

traits. For instance, the early

US Parliament consisted of

unelected, elite members

who made decisions for the

ordinary people of the land.

The Great Compromise of

1787 happened, and this

situation was rectified—it

was agreed upon, this

bicameral system of

parliament. a system

comprising of a Senate and

house of Representatives,

with the latter being elected

representatives of the people.

Yet this system was still flawed as the Senate

was still not elected by the public. Rectification

came in the form of the Seventeenth

amendment of 1913, a law which provided that

the Senate also be an elected house—with

every state presenting two Senators each.

and in these two separate legislative

houses, there are leaders steering operations.

The Senate is headed by—interestingly—the

Vice President of the country, who when

serving this role is styled the ‘President of the

Senate’. In his absence the ‘President pro

tempore’ (meaning ‘president for a time’)—

being the oldest serving member of the

majority side in Parliament—acts as leader of

the house.

Now to the actual matter at hand: the issue

of voting rights… In the US Senate (comprising

100 Senators), when there is a tie, the President

of the Senate (i.e., the nation’s Vice President)

has the right to give the casting vote—a vote to

break the tie. Now, this is in sharp contrast to

Ghana’s very own articles 104(2) and (3). article

104(2) reads: “The Speaker shall have neither an

original nor casting vote.” and 104(3) says:

“Where the votes on any motion are equal it

shall be taken to be lost.” In america, it is the

complete opposite. Can you imagine that? For

Ghana’s Vice Presidents to be, first of all, made

Speakers of Parliament; and then, worse, be

given the right to cast decisive votes to break

all parliamentary ties…The massacre!

The President Pro Tempore, on the other

hand, is, unlike the Vice President, an elected

member of the Senate, and retains his or her

voting rights even when sitting as leader of the

Senate. They, however, unlike the Vice President

(President of the Senate) do not have the right

to exercise a casting vote—vote to break a tie. In

summary, they have an original vote when

acting as president, but not a casting one. This,

in effect, is the effect Ghana’s Supreme Court’s

ruling will create in the country.

The US house of Representatives, on the


other hand, consisting of no more

than 435 members, is headed by a

Speaker. and the Speaker,

appointed by the Majority of the

house, remains a Representative

of a district, and has a right to

debate and vote on all matters.

Their role is shamelessly partisan.

This is nothing like Ghana and

Britain where the Speaker’s role is

strictly impartial—more so in

Britain than in Ghana, by the way.

In fact, when the Speaker’s party is

not in power, she/he serves as the

most powerful member of their

party—building up political

hurdles for the incumbent

opposition. The Speaker’s deputies

are the Majority Leaders of the

house, who of course, like the

Speaker retain their votes. This is a

political system far from the

intentions of, again, nations like

ours and Britain’s. The american

Senate is designed to be very

partisan, hence law and practices

regarding the voting rights of its

leaders (the Speaker and Deputies)

are enacted to serve this end.

Ghana’s court of public

opinion—those who rule in favour

of the Deputy Speaker retaining

their votes are best advised not to

look unto this US house of

Representative example as

persuasive backings for their

decisions, because a ruthlessly

partisan legislative arm isn’t

perhaps the best of democratic

recipes—especially for a

developing nation such as ours.

Let us quickly note that in the

USa, these rules guiding the

legislative arm are largely not

codified in the Constitution. For

instance, the Constitution does

not stipulate the political role of

the Speaker of the house of

Representatives (e.g., indicating

whether or not they retain their

political offices). Rather, the

narrative of the ‘political Speaker’

is one that has evolved and

solidified from the nation’s own

traditions—parliamentary

traditions. I would very much like

to be alive to witness that day

when the matter of the political

role of the US Speaker

would be brought before

the Judiciary, praying for

a ruling of

unconstitutionality. It’s

mighty hard to see that

happening. The matter

of the selection of the

President pro tempore is

another thing that is not

expressly provided for in

the american

Constitution. Rather,

parliamentary traditions

has evolved over the

years and the decision

arrived that the longest

serving Majority

member be chosen as

head.

In the United States

Constitution, the

Legislature is the first

arm that is provided for,

leading many to argue that that

makes it the most important

organ. Yet, with the country being

a Presidential system, we can

safely dismiss this as mere

conjecture. however, it cannot be

denied, the enormous power given

the US legislature—to be in charge

of managing its own affairs; to

come up with its own rules when

not expressly provided for in the

Constitution. and as noted, most

of these matters are not provided

for in the Constitution anyway.

Britain

enough of the United States,

now to Britain—the nation with a

parliamentary system of

government; a system of which

the US, for one, borrowed much of

its structure from. Britain also has

a bicameral parliament consisting

of an upper house (house of

Lords), and a lower house (house

of Commons). The house of

Commons is headed by the

Speaker, whose role is, as earlier

indicated, unlike the american

system—a strictly non-partisan

one. and this strict adherence to

impartiality in the British

legislative process is very much

expected. Because, you see, the

Parliamentary system that is

Britain has no written

Constitution—no codified,

sovereign law as seen in countries

like Ghana and USa for example.

This makes the nation’s

Parliaments the supreme law of

the land. So then, in so exercising

this sovereignty, they must

naturally do so as impartially as

possible.

So naturally, the Speaker, being

the leader of the house, is expected

to be the very fountain of this

impartiality. and they are required

to resign from their political

parties when they take this office.

The Speaker has no original vote,

but may exercise a casting vote—

vote to break a tie. and even with

that, he/she is guided by what is

termed the ‘Speaker’s Denison

rule’, where as a matter of

precedent, it is required that the

each year, the

people voted him

their

representative.

“Yet,

At

this point, the

supposed prophet

in me sees you,

who is in favour of

Ghana’s Deputy

Speakers losing

their vote when

acting as Speaker,

smiling like a baby.

Speaker in giving this casting vote

of theirs, must necessarily either

vote in favour of the continuance

of the debate, or in favour of

preserving the status quo—leaving

situations as they are.

But interestingly, the Speaker,

being themselves appointed from

the ranks of Members of

Parliament, may still stand for

their constituencies. They may

still run to be elected as Members

of Parliament of their

constituencies in every election.

They run unaffiliated with any

political party—with their typical

campaign signs indicating

something to the tune of ‘the

Speaker seeks reelection’.

Famously, the immediate-past

Speaker of the house of Commons,

John Bercow, while serving as

Speaker of the house from 2009 to

2019, remained still the Member of

Parliament of Buckingham for the

entirety of that period. Yes, that

means that for the entirety of

those ten years, the good people of

Buckingham had no original vote

in Parliament, and they were not

represented in parliamentary

debates… But oh, did I hear you

mentioning them being indirectly

entitled to a ‘casting vote’ through

the Speaker? Well, scarcely. Just

look at the claw-back that is the

‘Speaker Denison rule’ we just

discussed…

Yet, each year, the people voted

him their representative. at this

point, the supposed prophet in me

sees you, who is in favour of

Ghana’s Deputy Speakers losing

their vote when acting as Speaker,

smiling like a baby. Because you

are thinking: if elsewhere a whole

Speaker can for ten good years

remain a non-voting MP, without

the representatives of their

constituency feeling

disenfranchised, then surely for

that brief period in which Ghana’s

Deputy ascends to the seat of

Speaker, and loses a voting right,

the people of his/her constituency

would not be facing a plight so

abominable that it is unheard of in

the world. The human mind is

bound to wander—so you must be

wondering this.

The Deputies to the Speaker

(being three in all), are political

representatives. Yet when

temporarily ascending to the role

of Speaker, they take on, and lose

the same rights as the Speaker.

They inherit the Speaker’s

impartiality. They are unallowed

their original votes just like the

Speaker; and again, just like the

Speaker, they are given a casting

vote—which they exercise

following this same Denison rule.

I am sure you are showing your

friend or colleague this portion of

the article, once again, you who is

on the ‘pro Justice abdulai team.’

When it comes to Britain’s

upper chamber (house of Lords),

the Lord Speaker is, here also,

expected to be an impartial leader.

They are to resign from their

political parties. They lose their

original votes. and unlike the

Speaker of the house of Commons,

they have no casting votes. That

means, not only is the Lord

Speaker barred from voting on all

matters, he/she is also barred from

voting to break a tie. In the Lord

Speakers absence, there a Deputies

who ascend to the hot seat.

however, a Deputy

Speaker acting as Lord

Speaker retains their

rights to partake in

parliamentary

debates, and their

original votes. Where

are our ‘pro Supreme

Court ruling team’?

This portion is clearly

for you.

Canada

Let’s quickly run

through Canada, as

time is far spent. This

is yet another federal,

bicameral legislative

system. The nation’s

Parliament consists of

a Senate and a house

of Commons. The

Speaker of the

house of Commons

is expected to be impartial,

although they are not required to

resign from their political parties

as we see in Britain for instance.

They have no original votes, but a

casting one. Like Britain’s Speaker

of the house of Commons,

Canada’s Speaker in so voting to

break a tie must follow the

Speaker Denison’s rule. The

Deputy Speaker, when they take

on the role of the Speaker, has the

same rights as the Speaker…

So then, does the Deputy

Speaker of Canada’s house of

Commons, when acting as

Speaker get to vote to break a tie?

Do they then also retain their

original votes—being still

Members of Parliament? Does the

Canadian Deputy Speaker then get

the best of both worlds—both an

original vote (from the seat of an

MP) and casting vote (from the

Speaker’s seat), a fate altogether

unheard of worldwide? I am not

about to provide an answer—I am

asking you. Because the nation’s

parliamentary Standing Orders

seem mute on the matter. This

would not be merely a loophole if

this conundrum is not really

provided for in the Canadian

Constitution, Standing Orders, or

in tradition—it would be a pothole.

Come to think of it, no, a whole

borehole of legal wahala. But that’s

beside the point.

Canada’s upper chamber, the

Senate, is modelled after Britain’s

house of Lords. Yet, unlike the

British system, the Canadian

Speaker has the right to

participate in house debates, and

they retain their original voting

rights, since they remain a

representative of their Provinces

even as Speakers—this is in sharp

contrast to the nation’s own lower

chamber (the house of Commons).

again, unlike the nation’s own

lower Chamber, the Speaker of the

Senate has no right to vote to

break a tie.

a Speaker pro tempore is

appointed from the members to

act in the Speakers stead when

absent. Naturally, they retain their

original votes, and are unable to

give a casting vote. here too, our

‘pro Supreme Court ruling team’ I

see you smiling.

a Useless Journey

These case studies are, of

course, not intended for the court

of law, but that of public opinion. It

was necessary, in this court of

public opinion of ours, that if we

are going to go about citing other

nations worldwide as examples in

an attempt to resolve our local

conundrum, that we did so

empirically—i.e., we had to

actually go around the world in

search of insights from other

parliamentary systems. and this

short journey we were sent upon

by this commentor of ours proves

• Continued from Page 11


MINING

Connecting mining to the

wider Ghanaian economy

For over a century Ghana’s

mining industry has been

regarded as an enclave one,

contributing to the country’s

economy directly but adding very

little to economic activity outside

of the mining sector itself. Now

however, through the self

regulatory efforts of the mining

companies themselves, under the

guidance of the Ghana Chamber

of Mines, the industry is not only

joining mainstream economic

activity , but is actually

empowering the manufacturing

sector to become internationally

competitive in both product

quality and pricing. TOMA

IMIRHE examines the potential

impact Ghana’s mining industry

has started asserting over the

country’s manufacturing sector.

IT may have taken close to a

century, but finally, Ghana’s

vibrant mining industry – the

country is now the biggest gold

producer on the entire african

continent – is being brought into the

mainstream of economic activity across

the nation. This is crucial; for most of the

past 100 years the mining industry had

correctly been criticized for being an

enclave one, generating more to Ghana’s

tax revenues (Ghc4.172 billion in 2020)

and foreign exchange inflows (US$3.67

billion in 2020) than most – if not all – of

the other sectors of the economy but not

offering significant knock-on business

opportunities for the rest of the

economy.

By its very nature, the mining

industry relies much more on

technology than human resources to

extract solid minerals from the ground

which means its ability to generate

employment opportunities is very low.

Last year, for instance the mining industry

directly employed 8.760 and another 25,803

indirectly. By comparison Ghana’s cocoa

industry is responsible for the livelihoods of an

estimated 800,000 entire households.

Furthermore, with the development of a

gold mine requiring hundreds of millions of

investment into equally large values of physical

infrastructure and equipment, Ghana’s local

financial services industry lacks the capacity to

fund more than working capital requirements

and the relatively cheaper

aspects of project finance

such as acquisition of

vehicle fleet. The sheer size

of mine development

financing costs requires that

mining firms are listed on

foreign, more developed and

liquid stock markets than

the Ghana Stock exchange,

although a couple have

listed locally in addition to

their foreign listing to give

Ghanaians a chance to buy

into (insignificantly) small

portions of their equity.

add to this the fact that

the end products of their

activities are necessarily

sold on international

commodity markets rather

than local markets which deprives the

domestic commerce community from deriving

business opportunities.

however, over the past half a decade,

Ghana’s mining industry has taken deliberate,

concerted steps toward mainstreaming it into

the wider economy and this has produced

impressive successes. Key here has been the

drawing up of a Mining List which identifies an

ever increasing array of production inputs

which mining companies are required to

procure locally. This has dramatically increased

the local sourcing of such iputs, giving local

enterprise huge production and sales

opportunities.

In 2020 alone, mining companies in Ghana

spent US$4.387 billion in the local economy

through payments to manufacturers and

suppliers of goods and services (including

labour), government taxes and financing of

corporate social responsibility projects. This

amounts to 85.7% of their total expenditure for

last year.

Specifically, last year mining companies in

Ghana spent US$ 2.670 billion on the

procurement of non-energy goods and services

from manufacturers and suppliers domiciled

in the country, this translating to 51/93% of

their revenues for the year. Importantly the incountry

spend on locally procured goods and

services continues to rise – in 2019 the

proportion of the industry’s revenues spent on

local procurement was 42%.

There are still problems though. Most

notably, a significant proportion of locally

procured products are actually

imported and only qualify as locally

procured because they were secured

through enterprises registered and

domiciled in Ghana. although this too, adds to

business opportunities and wealth generation

by local firms along the supply chain , it is not

an optimal situation.

Crucially though, Ghana’s mining

companies, operating through their industry

association, the Ghana Chamber of Mines, are

determined to change the situation for the

better. “Locally produced goods should mean

locally manufactured goods, as much as is

possible” asserts Sulemanu Koney, the

Chamber’s chief executive officer.

This however requires deliberate

affirmative action to dramatically upgrade the

capacity of local producers of mining industry

inputs, with regards to production volumes,

product quality and price competitiveness.

Instructively, it is the mining industry itself

through its Chamber, rather than government

that is leading this drive. For instance the

Chamber has been engaging the Ghana

association of Bankers to facilitate the

provision of competitively priced funding to

support the local content agenda. Consequently,

the two associations are noe developing special

purpose vehicles for the provision of supply

chain financing for local mine support services

companies.

even more instructively, the Chamber’s

producing members are deliberately turning a

blind eye to the availability of cheaper imported

alternatives to the locally produced versions

they tend to, opt for. Regulations frequire them

to opt for the local version rather than the

foreign alternative as long as the former is not

more than 5% more expensive than the latter

but mining companies in Ghana willingly

accept local versions that are up to 10% more

expensive, without prodding from anywhere.

however product quality cannot be

compromised on like pricing can and this is

where the Chamber is making potentially its

most promising interventions, having devised a

product quality improvement strategy for local

manufacturers that not only stands to make

them quality – competitive for Ghana’s mining

industry, but for all industries they are involved

in and for markets all across africa.

This strategy is based on quality

standardization through collaborative action

between the Chamber, manufacturers, product

standards institutions and government itself. It

has already been applied for the electrical cables

industry – the quality if which is crucial to the

mining industry but which hitherto was not

subject to universally accepted international

quality standards. It involved a procedure

developed and implemented over half a decade

of intensive research, conceptualization and

actual implementation and has produced

excellent results – Ghana now produces

electrical cabling that is accepted worldwide for

its quality.

But even more importantly, the procedure

used to arrive at the standards for locally

manufactured electrical

cables can be used for all sorts

of other locally made

products too. Indeed this goes

far beyond their usefulness to

Ghana’s mining industry; it

shows that the mining

industry can play a vital role

in ensuring that locally

manufactured products meet

quality standards that would

enable them be

internationally competitive.

Coming at a time that the

african Continental Free

Trade agreement is opening

up markets all around the

continent to made in Ghana

products on preferential, duty

free terms, this can prove

pivotal.

here the mining industry thus goes far

beyond providing a market for Ghanaian

manufacturers. Through the product quality

standards it is setting, such as with electrical

cables, is challenging them to meet the

standards than can make them competitive all

around africa and indeed globally.

Given that transnational firms demand

that their inputs meet globally acceptable

standards, ultimately with the appropriate

development programmes in place, local

companies will not only be in a position to be

competitive in producing for the local

transnational firms but also be able to compete

in the regional and african markets.

“The presence of transnational firms such

as large-scale mining companies in a

developing country as ours provides a fillip for

building the local capacity of local producers of

their inputs” asserts Sulemana Koney.

“accordingly, whilst deepening local content is

a desirable goal, the building blocks to a

competitive, sustainable and thriving local

production base is predicated on a sound

strategy that includes appropriate supply

development programmes.”

This is precisely what Ghana’s mining

industry has facilitated with regards to

electrical cables; and having identified a most

effective process, is now positioned to replicate

with regards to a host of other products which

it uses and which can be made in Ghana and

sold world wide.

This may turn out to be the biggest and

longest lasting legacy of Ghana’s mining

industry, and its members, through their

Chamber, are leading by example. The Chamber

is already heavily invested in a comprehensive,

thoroughly workable initiative aimed at

making the industry a hub for mining support

services across the whole of West africa.

Indeed, even as Ghana’s mining industry

has proven hugely successful in

mainstreaming it into the wider national

economy it has already embarked on the next

step – facilitating the capacity of local industry

to compete in foreign markets, using the local

mining industry as the staging post. Thus it is

establishing a legacy that will prove crucial yto

Ghana’s economic performance well into the

future.

Tuesday, May March 10, 2022 1, 2022

ThE WorK plACE

How to overcome startups

obstacles in Ghana

BY DA ABOAGYE

IN recent years, africa is making great

strides to become the launch pad for

high-growth innovative companies.

This is evidenced by the increasing

number of tech startups to have

received financial backing, which grew by

46% annually. This is six times faster than the

global average, according to Partech Partners

(a venture capital firm in the US).

Unfortunately, africa has not done well in

sustaining and scaling up startups. even

though startup development has been

progressive, there is only three “unicorns” on

the continent, including Nigeria’s fintech

Flutterwave. Unicorns are privately owned

tech companies valued at more than $1

billion. Whereas such unicorns are common

in advance economies; 200 in United States,

100 in China and 50 in europe.

also, there are less than 20 african

‘zebras” including Ghana’s only JUMO. Zebras

are privately companies with valuation of

more than $200 million.

according to the Boston Consulting

Group (BCG), african startups rarely survive

beyond the Series B funding stage and return

on venture capital investment remains weak

at a continental average of 3% compared to

16% and 11% in europe and asia-Pacific

respectively.

The situation is worse in Ghana, which is

one of the growing economies in africa.

according to Briter Bridges

(briterbridges.com), there were less than 20

disclosed deals in Ghana valued at $19 million

at close of Q3 2020 whereas the likes of South

africa and Nigeria closed over 70 deals valuing

more than $200 million.

The Ghanaian startup faces various

structural challenges including low consumer

purchasing power, inconsistent and complex

regulations, inadequate infrastructure, and

scarce capital. however startups manages to

surmount these challenges, there is fierce

competition from incumbent companies,

especially from large companies in -toconsumer

sectors, such as retail, financial

services and energy.

Instead of established companies using

their privileged position to advance the

national interest, they often use their market

power to push new entrants with disruptive

business models out of business. Such

hostility against startups do not only

threatens competitiveness and kills

innovative technologies, products and

business models, it also deprives job creation

and economic development.

Notwithstanding, Ghana remains a very

fertile ground for entrepreneurs. It is

politically stable, fast increasing internet

penetration, fast growing economy in the

africa, and also part of africa’s young

population. This presents tremendous

opportunities for innovators to develop

product and services to improve social and

economic development. however, startups

will need to develop new strategies, and

Ghana’s national champions, investors and

governments will need to work together to

tackle the challenges of startups.

Scaling up through Corporate

Partnerships

Large companies have demonstrated the

ability to overcome structural challenges

affecting business. They have access to capital,

the human expertise to steer complex

regulatory environment, and the ability to

expand into other markets. Therefore, rather

than Ghanaian startups competing with

incumbents for consumers, it is advisable to

collaborate with such large entities by

providing innovative business-to-business

solutions to survive and be successful.

On the other hand, large enterprises must

be willing to open up and engage startups as

partners. Such partnership model is already

well-established in financial and

geographical technology. For instance tech

companies such as JUMO and Vokacom have

partnered with large corporations and

government respectively to provide data and

addressing services.

With such collaborations, incumbents

can nurture startups by providing direct

investment or partnerships with external

incubators and accelerators. an example of

such collaboration is that of Indonesia

companies Lippo Group, a conglomerate, and

OVO, a leading digital payment service. Lippo

Group provided financial support to OVO in

its early stage. OVO benefited from Lippo’s

ecosystem, which include hypermarkets,

telcos, e-commerce marketplaces, content

streaming, and banks serving small and

medium enterprises. Lippo also got valuable

help from OVO to bring merchants onto its

platforms and provided incentives for

consumers.

Incumbents can also form strategic

alliances with startups to develop new

technologies or

innovative business

models. Such

partnership can be

revenue-sharing,

joint-venture, or

technological

alliances between

two or more

companies. JUMO,

the Ghanaian

mobile financial

services is a perfect

example of how

such partnership

can be a win-win

and could enable a

startup grow into a

zebra. JUMO, which

holds creditscoring

algorithm,

collects behavioral

data from willing

customers and

share with telecom

operators.

It then collect

mobile-wallet data

from telcos to

provide credit scores to partner financial

institutions such as ecobank and Letshego to

enable them review loan applications. This

alliance is helping telcos to earn revenue from

data sharing, banks to reached out to

untapped markets and JUMO is gaining

access to wider customers within the

informal sector.

In addition to the above strategies,

established companies can also set up

startups on their own. This enables

companies to overcome internal processes

and cultures that inhibit innovation.

established companies can set up in-house

incubators or accelerators to attract and

develop new businesses or products. For

instance, In Ghana, companies like Kosmos,

Stanbic Bank and ecobank has in-house hubs

setup to invest in local talent and capacity.

Such initiatives have benefited the likes of

ecobank to come up with various Fintech

Products to enhance services delivery and

revenue generation.

Support from Governments and Investors

Governments and investors are important

players to improve startup development and

growth in Ghana. For instance large

companies can help new businesses to scale

up through strategic alliances. Financial

incentive from government, such as tax

reliefs, cash grants, is a good initiative to

entice investors and large companies to

support the growth of new ventures.

Ghana, through government initiatives,

has established innovation hubs such as the

accra Digital Centre to drive digital

innovation in Ghana. however, to further

improve the development of the startup

ecosystem, there is the need for government

to collaborate with development institutions

such as the african Development Bank to

develop bigger innovation hubs to enable

partnership between larger companies and

new venture and attracts and investments.

For instance, the african Development Bank

and Rwanda have invested $400 million to

develop the Kigali Innovation City on a 70-

hectare land size.

Government also needs to support or

direct state agencies such as the National

entrepreneurship and Innovation

Programme and the Ghana enterprise agency

to educate and build the capacity of

entrepreneurs on initiative and programmes

happening within the West african Region

and africa. Such as the afCFTa and the

implementation of a comprehensive legal and

regulatory framework for private equity and

venture capital fund being developed by the

West african economic and Monetary Union

and the World Bank.

The government has undertaken

initiatives to advance the development of

startups in Ghana. however, more needs to be

done by the public and private sector to

release the wave of innovation to create jobs

and improve economic opportunities in

Ghana.

**Credit to Boston Consulting Group**

WRITeR

The writer is a Chartered Accountant

(ICAG) and an MBA holder from the University

of Warwick Business School in the United

Kingdom. A Staff of Ghana Export Import

Bank and a freelance entrepreneurship trainer.

I have been assisting businesses to develop

proposals to raise funding and improve their

financial management. My research interest

include entrepreneurship and small business

development. I can further be reached on the

mobile number 050 8887688 or email at

daaboagye@gmail.com.


ENTrEprENEUrShIp

Africa’s unfinished

trade agenda

The african Continental Free

Trade area (afCFTa), which

entered into force on January 1

last year, promises to accelerate

the diversification of the

region’s economies and reduce the impact

of commodity-price cycles on growth.

Whereas africa’s external trade is

dominated by primary commodities and

natural resources, the first shipment

under the afCFTa – from Ghana to South

africa – comprised manufactured goods of

the sort that largely drive intra-african

trade.

Many therefore hope that the afCFTa –

by creating a single market of 55 countries

with a total population of more than 1.3

billion and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion

– will catalyze industrialization as firms

take advantage of economies of scale to

spread the risk of investing in smaller

markets. To that end, the trade agreement

will eliminate tariffs on 90% of goods (the

ultimate goal is 97% liberalization).

The afCFTa will likely boost foreign

direct investment across africa – empirical

evidence elsewhere shows that joining a

free-trade area could increase it by around

a quarter – and shift its emphasis from

natural resources toward labor-intensive

manufacturing industries. Moreover, the

pact has the potential to transform african

economies, significantly increase the

continent’s share of global trade, and

strengthen its bargaining power in

international trade negotiations.

But while many have touted the

afCFTa as a game changer for africa, trade

liberalization alone will not necessarily

guarantee economic success.

To be sure, the agreement has rightly

attracted much attention in academic and

policy circles. The World Bank, the

International Monetary Fund, the United

Nations Conference on Trade and

Development, and the african export–

Import Bank have all compiled extensive

studies on the afCFTa’s potential impact.

and the Journal of african Trade recently

published a special issue on “The afCFTa

and african Trade,” which I co-edited with

andrew Mold of the UN economic

Commission for africa.

all these analyses point to the

agreement’s significant and positive

impact on economic development.

Specifically, the empirical results

according to computable general

equilibrium models – which allow for

trade-diverting and trade-creating effects

of tariffs and non-tariff shocks by

exploiting countries’ comparative

advantage and price adjustments – are

highly encouraging. aggregate headline

estimates derived from these models show

that the afCFTa would increase africa’s

GDP by 0.5% after full implementation in

2045, relative to a scenario without

continental trade integration.

Real wages would increase for both

skilled and unskilled workers, and

especially for the latter, suggesting a shift

toward more inclusive growth. The World

Bank estimates that the afCFTa could lift

30 million people out of extreme poverty

and around 68 million out of moderate

poverty by 2035, with women benefiting

more than men. Trade integration could

also have a significant impact at the

household and corporate level: Combined

consumer and business spending is

projected to reach $6.7 trillion by 2030.

Trade within africa is expected to

grow strongly under the afCFTa, with

intracontinental exports increasing by

34% (equivalent to around $133 billion

annually) compared to a scenario without

the agreement. Moreover, around twothirds

of intra-african trade gains will

likely be realized in the manufacturing

sector – historically the most effective

elevator out of poverty. This would set the

stage for a welfare-enhancing and

mutually reinforcing relationship between

intraregional trade and industrialization,

resulting in sustainable growth of wellpaid

manufacturing jobs while

broadening countries’ tax bases and

improving their external accounts.

But substantial non-tariff barriers,

regulatory differences, and divergent

sanitary, phytosanitary, and technical

standards increase the costs of crossborder

trade within africa by an estimated

14.3%, well above the average tariff of 6.9%.

Removing these constraints and

deepening the integration of african

businesses into global value chains will

significantly boost intra-african trade and

drive growth. The World Bank estimates

“Overcoming Africa’s

chronic infrastructure

deficit – both physical and

digital – will boost the

power of trade creation

and help to ensure the

successful implementation

of the AfCFTA. By tackling

the continent’s supplyside

constraints,

policymakers can enhance

both production and

logistics in a region with

more landlocked countries

(16) than any other.

that full implementation of the afCFTa

could raise africa’s real income by 7%

(about $450 billion) by 2035, with trade

facilitation measures to cut red tape and

simplify customs procedures responsible

for $292 billion of this increase.

Overcoming africa’s chronic

infrastructure deficit – both physical and

digital – will boost the power of trade

creation and help to ensure the successful

implementation of the afCFTa. By tackling

the continent’s supply-side constraints,

policymakers can enhance both

production and logistics in a region with

more landlocked countries (16) than any

other. as investors seek to capitalize on the

economies of scale offered by the afCFTa,

integrating markets and improving

connectivity must be a top priority.

Clarifying the afCFTa’s rules of origin

– which determine whether products are

duty-free under the agreement – also is key

to accelerating industrialization and the

development of regional value chains.

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19,

negotiators have made significant

progress on the rules-of-origin agreement,

which should be concluded later this year.

That will pave the way for phase-two

negotiations on key drivers of future

growth, including protocols on

investment, competition policy, and

intellectual-property rights.

But, as the rush to conclude bilateral

trade agreements with third-party

countries suggests, africa’s most

important trade-integration challenge

may be the perennial one of putting the

region’s collective interest first. although

the afCFTa does not bar member countries

from entering such negotiations, bilateral

deals with third parties could affect

african trade patterns and set precedents

for regional trade and investment rules. In

practice, they could lead to trade

deflection, given that the afCFTa’s mostfavored-nation

clause automatically

extends tariff concessions granted to a

third party to afCFTa members.

as Jeffrey Sachs has argued, “Without

a doubt, if africa becomes economically

integrated, it will be a global leader and the

largest economic region in the world.” as

of this writing, 41 countries have ratified

the afCFTa. But if the pact is to become

the launchpad for africa’s deeper

integration into the global economy,

governments must complement trade

liberalization with robust trade facilitation

measures, and strengthen regional

coordination in order to engage with

external partners as a unified trading bloc.

hippolyte Fofack is Chief Economist

and Director of research at the African

Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 PAGE 11

Attempted prophesies:

Acrobatics in law

• Continued from Page 7

one thing: nations, though mostly

inspired by one another, in the end,

have their own ways with the law.

What is right in one country, is total

garbage in another.

Sometimes we see similarities

between one country’s upper

chamber and another’s lower house.

Most times we see dissimilarities

between a country’s upper house

and its own lower house—

specifically on the matter of the

voting rights of the leader of the

house and their deputies when

acting in their steads. It seems that

even with a country’s own legislative

system, they cannot make up their

minds on this point of voting—there

is no uniformity on this matter. So

many inconsistencies that one is

tempted to dismiss nations as

clueless when it comes to their

parliamentary systems… So many

inconsistencies that you are actually

torn as to whether or not to show

this article to your opponent

debater—because doing so would

mean feeding their arguments too.

But there is beauty behind each

nation’s ‘parliamentary madness’,

you will find. a beauty forged from

their histories, intentions, unique

political, economic, sociological

realities, etc., and sometimes, their

outright follies even.

So no, Ghana cannot seek lessons

in her law from the USa, Britain,

Canada, etc. We certainly cannot find

lessons on this matter in our own

classrooms, as suggested by this

passionate commentor of ours, being

him/herself a member of the court of

public opinion: “even a student

marking class register will mark

students in the class who are

[present] and mark himself …”

The science of effective

supreme court-ing

‘Straightforward’ is not a word to

be easily used in law. Scarcely is a

matter “clear as daylight…” Legal

acrobatics are endemically

rampant—and rightly so. always the

courts, they get to be the ultimate

muscle ‘flexers’. as the opponents in

court (the plaintiff and defendant)

perform legal acrobatics before the

court, judges knead the law—they

carefully craft it so that its ultimate

end is met.

and the courts, in this case, the

Supreme Court, in so performing

this duty must do so stripped off all

forms of bias. Should their decision

on a particular matter be ‘a’ or ‘B’,

public opinion being

characteristically varied, agreements

and disagreements are bound to

follow these decisions. That is

expected. Yet, what becomes in these

situations, tangents—very

unfortunate tangents—is when the

people have reason (however remote)

to suspect, or they choose, without

justifiable reasons, to suspect that

said decisions were not legally

motivated but politically so. It

becomes an unbearable tangent in

the smooth running of society if the

people did in fact believe right; and

equally so, if the people’s reason for

dismissing such decisions of the

courts are not legally motivated

(based on close readings of the law),

but politically so.

With this sheer power of having

its pronouncements becoming law,

let’s not beat around the bush, the

law is not just in the bosoms of the

Supreme Courts, but in their minds

and proceeds from its mouths. In

Britain we found the nation’s

Parliaments to be its sovereign law,

in Ghana we almost dare call our

courts, chiefly our Supreme Court

the law itself—not the supreme law,

but law still. hence, the burden and

pleasure of impartiality, we heavily

place on our courts’ heads.

We do not need the backing of

the law, the law as posited in the

Constitution or statute, to stand

firmly in this expectations of the

court—and of our own selves in fact.

Because this duty of impartiality lies

with the court of public opinion too.

Minds of Our Own

I, for one, always lose on the Osu

Badu stretch. Coming from airport

Residential and intending for the

Gimpa road, whichever lane I join on

the Osu Badu avenue all of a sudden,

it seems, that is where the traffic is

at. You should see me bouncing from

lane to lane to the dismay of drivers

behind me…

You and I would be lying to

ourselves if we do not see politics in

this. The facts could just have easily

turned. Today, political Party a is

happy with the Supreme Court

ruling on the unconstitutionality of

Order 108(3). Tomorrow, they,

needing Order 108(3) to be alive to

serve a certain political end, would

be right in court insisting that the

Supreme Court’s ruling on the

unconstitutionality of Order 108(3)

was in itself unconstitutional. again,

political party B, today being totally

unhappy with the Supreme Court’s

ruling, would just as easily,

tomorrow, find itself standing in

court, passionately arguing against

Party a, upholding this same

Supreme Court decision, saying, “Yes,

Order 108(3) was totally

unconstitutional. The Court was

right in ruling it as such!” Let’s just

go ahead and say it: Parties a and B,

for the time being, are the NPP and

the NDC. and this is the kind of

political piloolo—endemic of politics

worldwide—that our courts, the

Supreme Court to boot, are to

safeguard against. It would be a

disaster of the greatest proportion if

courts actually enable this

pilooloing. It is a political piloolo we,

the great judges of the court of public

opinion must not stand by and

watch happen.

So once again to us all, the court

of public opinion, “Your honour, the

fountain of all that’s fair and just,

may we have your ruling on this

matter?”

Fin

I must apologise for the no-show

last week Wednesday. The passing of

the e-levy bill, I must say drained the

life right out of me. You can say that

the e-levy got me all e-lazy. But what

do we have here today?—two

articles-worth in one.

GIPC courts diaspora investors to

increase FDIs, DDIs inflow

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre

(GIPC) has engaged the diaspora

community to increase Foreign Direct

Investments (FDIs) and Diaspora Direct

Investments (DDIs) inflows into the

country.

The diaspora investment campaign,

which took place in about five states in

the USa, was part of plans to meet the

Centre’s US$3billion target for investment

returns this year.

Dubbed the Ghana Diaspora Connect

Roadshow, the event took the

GIPC-led delegation to California, Washington

State, New York, Georgia and

Washington D.C. with an objective to

showcase investment opportunities in

Ghana to the diaspora, pursue opportunities

for bilateral trade and investments

in selected sectors of the

economy under the CaReS Programme,

provide a platform for diaspora investors

and entrepreneurs to engage

with government officials, and to provide

an avenue for diaspora input into

national policy.

GIPC’s CeO, Yofi Grant, said the roadshow’s

key focus was to increase the

flow of direct diaspora investment into

Ghana, mainly through the mobilisation

and engagement of diaspora investors

and entrepreneurs.

The campaign, he said, was envisaged

to augment the local economic efforts

geared at stimulating economic

growth while building partnerships for

greater mutual economic benefit.

Mr. Grant has recently said that

though the pandemic has eroded over

US$12trillion of wealth globally during

the first year of COVID in 2020, Ghana

recorded an FDI of US$2.64billion in the

same year at the height of the pandemic

– better than the US$1.4billion in 2021.

This, he said, has sparked high levels

of confidence that the Centre will meet

its 2022 FDIs target.

Some companies the Roadshow

touched base with include Overland

Tandberg, Microsoft, SpaceX, Tyler Perry

Studios, the US Chamber of Commerce

and other notable companies in the

USa.

The Roadshow also included three

Diaspora Investment Meetings in New

York City, atlanta and Washington, D.C.

The campaign concluded with the

Diaspora Investment Meeting in Washington,

D.C. on the theme ‘Connecting

Ghana to the Diaspora: harnessing Diaspora

Direct Investments for economic

Developments.’

The meeting was made up of persons

from the various groupings including

Ghanaian associations, the

Washington Metro area Business Community,

african america Community

group, including the Constituency for

africa and members of the Ghana and

american Chamber of Commerce, the

Ghana Diaspora group and other potential

investors.

“Through a series of conversations,

some of the investor groups got better

insights on the progressive policies and

conditions for business and investments

in Ghana,” the GIPC said.


BACK

PAGE

Association of Ghana

Industries pushes for discounts

on imports of raw materials

The association of Ghana Industries

(aGI) is pushing for a special

discount on imports of raw

materials to make producers

more competitive in the country.

according to the association, the move

is aimed at helping government build a

strong manufacturing sector and aid manufacturers

thrive under the african Continental

Free Trade area.

The Chief executive Officer of the association

of Ghana Industries, Seth Twumakwaboah,

who made the appeal during a

sensitisation workshop organised by the

aGI and the Ghana Revenue authority

(GRa), said the critical attention needs to

be given to the manufacturing sector to

grow to support the government’s industrial

transformation agenda initiatives

such as 1D1F, Planting for Food and Jobs,

and other export development programmes.

“For most countries that really put the

manufacturing agenda first, when you’re

importing raw materials to further process

you don’t pay taxes on the raw materials

and the machines and all that because they

are not for sale. We call that pre-production

tax. The main tax that you would have to

pay must be post production. If I import

raw materials and I process and sell and

make money, the more money I make the

more taxes I pay.

So It is not a question of giving me exemption.

It is just a matter of shifting the

tax to the post production. and that is what

some countries adopt to support their local

manufacturers. In Ghana, we import raw

materials and we are paying taxes. This is

not consistent in any serious developmental

agenda for industrialization,” he said.

The workshop

The one-day workshop to discuss and

educate members on some of the policies

implemented by GRa and recent initiatives

that impact on business.

These include, the discount values on

goods and services, the GRa taxpayers’ portal,

the four per cent flat rate and electronic

transaction levy (e-levy).

Present at the workshop are the officials

(Domestic and Customs divisions) of

GRa including the Commissioner of Customs,

Col Kwadwo Damoah (retd) and

members of aGI led by Mr Twum-akwaboah.

Faulty equipment

caused widespread

blackouts – GRIDCo

The Ghana Grid Company has explained

that the May 7 power outages

in parts of the country were a

result of a system disturbance

caused by faulty

equipment on the

Takoradi extension–

Winneba line.

In a statement, it

said this caused all

generating plants in

aboadze, Bui and

Kpong to shut down.

Plants in Tema

were also forced to

shut down, with the

exception of the

Kpone Thermal

Power Plant.

“This caused

forced outages

within the coastal

corridor of the National

Grid which

“Restoration

began

immediately

and supply was

restored to all

bulk supply

points by 23:29

[on May 7],” it

added.

led to power supply interruptions

in some parts of Greater accra,

Western/Central, Middle and

Northern parts of the country,” the

statement said.

“Restoration

began immediately

and supply was restored

to all bulk supply

points by 23:29 [on

May 7],” it added.

GRIDCo noted

that the akosombo

and Kpone Thermal

Power Plants continued

to be in service,

supplying power.

It further assured

that it will continue

to work towards the

provision of a reliable

power system for

Ghana’s socio-economic

development.

Business Analyst - May 10

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