Business Analyst - June 7

BUSINESS MARKET RATES
US$ 1 – GH¢7.80
GHANA STOCK MON, 6 JUNE. 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%
COCOA: US$2,473.00 per tonne
CRUDE OIL: US$104.6 per barrel
GOLD: US$1,851.99 per ounce
Tuesday, June 7, 2022. Vol. No. 162
GH¢2.50
• Prof. Samuel Ato Duncan
• John
Awuah,
President of
the Ghana
Association
of Bankers
• AGI President,Dr.
Humphrey Kwesi Ayim-Darke
Aconsortium of nine
banks is
collaborating with
the government to
provide credit to
existing youth-led companies
and, in the process, create one
million jobs in the next three
years.
Under the commercial
programme of the YouStart
initiative, the government will
provide support for existing
youth-led businesses with
between ¢100,000 working
capital and ¢500,000 for those in
need of capital expenditure.
Interest rate will not be more
than 10%.
Speaking to the media, John
Awuah, President of the Ghana

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Tory MPs voting now on
prime minister's future
Ex-Scottish secretary votes
against Johnson staying as PM
DAvID Blundell, the Scottish
Conservatives MP for
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale
and Tweeddale - and a
former Scotland secretary -
has announced he voted against Boris
Johnson continuing as prime minister.
In a tweet, Blundell said his vote came
after "a difficult couple of years" and he
had voted for "a fresh start and new
leadership".
Another Scottish Tory MP has also
announced he has made "the extremely
tough decision" to vote against the prime
minister.
Andrew Bowie said it was the "only
choice for the good of the country".
Boris Johnson arrives for
confidence vote
The PM has arrived to vote with
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and
Johnson's chief of staff Steve Barclay.
Entering the voting room, he was asked
“are you going to vote for yourself?” And
“for or against”?
There was no answer from the PM,
though we can safely assume which way
he’ll be voting.
What's happening with
the vote?
There's now just under an hour to go
for Conservative MPs to take part in the
vote of confidence in Boris Johnson's
leadership. Here's what's happening:
Tory MPs are voting on whether they
want Johnson to continue as party leader
and prime minister
voting closes at 20:00 BST and the
result will be announced at 21:00 by the
chairman of the 1922 Committee of
backbench Conservatives, Sir Graham
Brady
Johnson needs to secure the backing of
180 of the 359 Conservative MPs in the
secret ballot to stay on
Ahead of the vote the PM urged MPs to
give him their support, promising future
tax cuts and vowing to lead them to
"victory again"
Aide to foreign
secretary quits role
Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont
has resigned as a ministerial aide to
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
The MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh
and Selkirk ran Jeremy Hunt's leadership
campaign in Scotland in 2019.
In a statement, Lamont said he was
voting against the prime minister in the
confidence vote.
What's the view in Sheffield?
As MPs cast their ballots in the
confidence vote - what are people in
Sheffield thinking about the leadership of
the prime minister?
How's the voting going?
MPs are standing outside the room in
Parliament where they will go in to vote on
the future of their party's leader.
Those queueing for the start of voting
at 18:00 BST included Foreign Secretary Liz
Truss, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps
and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab
reportedly skipped the queue and went
straight in to vote.
At the start of voting, 30 MPs were
waiting to cast their vote.
MPs have until 20:00 tonight to vote.
141 MPs have publicly said they will
back Boris Johnson.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister
Theresa May turned to up to vote in a
formal evening dress.
Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire has a lot
of engaged voters - the turnout in the 2019
general election was 78.5%, which was
more than 10% higher than the national
turnout. That may explain why almost
everyone I have stopped today has had a
view on the prime minister’s predicament.
However, that doesn’t mean they all
agree. This may be a solid Tory seat, but
opinion appears to be split on whether
Boris Johnson should remain.
Hilary Graham, 77, from West Bridgford,
says she has been a Conservative voter for
many years. She told me: “I think he needs
to go because he’s lied. He lied to the
government and he lied to the population
when he said there were no parties and no
rules were broken.”
On the other hand, Jitendra Bhundia,
75, from Wilford village, believes Tory MPs
should back the PM tonight. She says: “I
like him and I think he’s looking after the
country well… He has paid his fine so I
think he should remain."
Where do other Scottish
Tories stand?
Ruth Davidson was Scottish Tory leader
until she stepped down in 2019
Douglas Ross, who is the MP for Moray
as well as an MSP, is one of six Scottish Tory
MPs who are able to vote on Monday night.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has said
he fully supports Boris Johnson.
The other four Tory MPs with Scottish
constituencies have not publicly stated
how they will vote.
And as it's a secret ballot, the public
may never find out whether they gave Mr
Johnson their backing or not.
But Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish
Conservative leader, has already said Mr
Johnson's position is untenable.
Nigeria Owo church attack: Blood on the altar
Grace was being shared when the first
shot rang out. For dozens of worshippers at
the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo,
south-western Nigeria, the Lord's prayer
turned into a viaticum - the final prayer.
The armed men that burst through the
church doors around 11:30 on Sunday set
off dynamite that had congregants
scampering to escape the explosions.
As worshipers rushed for the other two
exits in the chaos, they were met by more
armed men, followed by more shots and
loud bangs.
At the end, eyewitnesses say at least 50
bodies - some of them children - were left
strewn across the church floors, while
many more were injured.
There was blood on the altar, blood on
the floor, bodies on the pews.
It is still not clear how many people
have died and or were injured. But the
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo
says the church, which is one of the
biggest parishes in Ondo state, can hold up
to 1,200 people. It was full at the time of the
attack.
Ondo State governor Rotimi Akeredolu
(3rd L) points to blood on the floor after an
attack by gunmen at St Francis Catholic
Church in Owo town, south-west Nigeria,
on 5 June.
This attack will feel personal for Ondo
State governor Rotimi Akeredolu (3rd L), as
he comes from Owo
"They killed to their satisfaction before
leaving," chorister John Nwovu told the
BBC.
He hid in the sacristy with others
while the attack - which lasted for around
30 minutes - was going on and said he was
only saved by God's grace.
An explosion blew up the ceiling above
him, burying him and several others, he
said.
They bore the weight and pain in
silence while the killers went about,
picking off worshippers hiding under the
pews.
Mr Nwovu's brother, also a chorister,
was shot in the leg and is recovering in
hospital.
"I don't think the shock of what I saw
will leave me for the rest of my life," he
said.
Dynamite residue still litters the
church, while the vestry - where many hid
- bears testimony to the chaos.
Shoes, bible pages soaked in blood,
purses and other personal belongings are
still scattered about.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
9 Banks partner govt
• Continued from front
Association of Bankers, listed the
participating banks as Ghana Commercial
Bank (GCB), Consolidated Bank Ghana
(CBG), Access Bank, Absa Bank, FBN Bank,
ADB, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank and Bank of
Africa.
He was confident that with time, more
banks would come on board.
He said, the community of banks was
aware of the difficulties faced by
entrepreneurs in accessing credit, and so
the scheme aimed at making lending
conditions less stringent to enable
businesses to scale up and create jobs.
“The banking sector Is convinced that
• To support YouStart
• Youth-led businesses to receive ¢100,000
the Government wants to build an
entrepreneurial nation through youth
entrepreneurship. We have decided that
this is good, and we want to grow with the
private sector,” he said.
“Our advantage is that we are already
dealing with the private sector, so we have a
fair knowledge of all that goes into making
a business work. We are confident that with
the well-crafted conditions we are offering
and our ammunition of funding, we can
make fund accessibility easier to enable
young entrepreneurs to launch into the
deep.”
Listing the conditions for accessing the
scheme, Mr. Awuah said it was open to
existing businesses whose prime movers
were youths between ages 18 and 40.
He added that entrepreneurs aged above
40 would have to prove that their employees
were SSNIT contributors and that 50% of
their employees were between 18 and 40.
They would also have to show that their
businesses when supported, will be
profitable and create youth employment.
“YouStart will not fund any business
that is into buying and selling,” Mr. Awuah
said, explaining that “we don’t want to
create import-dependent enterprises.”
He said through the commercial
module of the YouStart programme, young
people with business ideas or those who
had started businesses would be trained by
professionals at the Banking College,
Chartered Institute of Bankers, and other
institutions.
Beneficiaries who successfully graduate
from the training will be assisted to obtain
product certification and quality assurance
for their products and services, to ensure
that their businesses conform to standards,
regulations, and the laws of their industry.
Entrepreneurs will be trained,
supported with business development
services, and funded over the next three
years.
On how interested applicants can
access the fund, Mr. Awuah said a website
would soon be launched. All a potential
applicant has to do is fill out the form.
Successful applicants can access funding
“within a short period after applying.”
The YouStart commercial programme
will take off in the latter part of June 2022.
COA Mixture grabs top award
• As Best Quality Plant Medicine of the Year 2021
FAMOUS herbal supplement
(now herbal medicine) COA Mixture
is set to be named the Best
Quality Plant Medicine of the
Year Award 2021 at the Sixth edition
of Global Business Quality
Award 2022
COA will be recognized as
“one of the best immune booster
herbal medicine for general
well—being for the treatment of
sickness, disease, or infection”
The awards event is slated
for Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at
the Movenpick Ambassador
Hotel in Accra at 8.30 am. The
theme for the event is "Celebrating
Decades of Quality Global
Brands in Ghana".
A letter from the organizers
of the event, Entrepreneurs
Foundation of Ghana to the
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
of COA Research and Manufacturing,
Professor Samuel Ato
Duncan, said, “We have the
honor to inform you of the advisory
board's decision based on
our assessment to honour COA
MIXTURE as the Best Quality
Plant Medicine of the Year Award
2021 at the Sixth edition of Global
Business Quality Award 2022, a
breakfast business Summit and
Awards event, as one of the best
immune booster herbal medicine
for general well—being for
the treatment of sickness, disease,
or infection. The Global
Business Quality Award is an initiative
of the Entrepreneurs
Foundation of Ghana (EEG), organizers
of the prestigious
Ghana Entrepreneurs & Corporate
Executive Awards and Made
in Ghana Awards”
Global Business Quality
Awards 2022
The Global Business Quality
Awards 2022 sixth edition is an
Awards and bus *less breakfast
summit networking event designed
to promote and advertise
premium quality and most valuable
global brands in Ghana for
decades that have met the standard
of premium quality and
seemingly thrived during the
pandemic.
Business breakfast Summit
The business breakfast Summit
will also present a great business
and investment networking
opportunity for CEOs, Business
executives, Entrepreneurs, diplomatic
Corps, and Government officials
to access new ideas and
successfully grow their business
in Ghana. The award and Summit
will measure global quality
brand strength based on three
key criteria: economic success in
the market; best—selling quality
brand; and popularity among
consumers. The distinctive feature
of the event is that the winner
is not selected by a jury but
by the consumers themselves.
We take this opportunity to
congratulate you and would be
grateful if you could kindly confirm
your availability and acceptance.
All COvID—19 protocols
would be strictly observed. Please
find attached the award details.
The COA Research and Manufacturing
Company Limited recently
re-launched COA Mixture,
the world-acclaimed herbal
medicine that supports the general
wellbeing of people.
COA Mixture is a well-researched
plant medicine that is
scientifically developed for general
wellbeing and has also been
approved by the Food and Drugs
Authority (FDA).
The re-launched COA Mixture
is an upgrade in drug development
and after going through
the processes from the FDA, it
has been upgraded from a food
supplement to herbal medicine
for general wellbeing.
Speaking at the launch, the
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of COA Research and
Manufacturing Company Limited,
Professor Samuel Ato Duncan
debunked notions that the
COA Mixture is a cure for HIv.
However, he noted that the
COA Mixture is so powerful that
it preserves itself and has unique
phytochemicals that can support
the immune system for healthy
living.
He also made it known that
the COA Mixture is a 100 percent
natural product from plants and
has no artificial preservative.
Professor Ato Duncan announced
that the COA Research
and Manufacturing Company
Limited is close to a research
breakthrough, adding that when
successful, Ghana stands to realize
not less than 32 billion dollars
annually from this plant medicine.
"This is what I want to
achieve for Mother Ghana as part
of my Global peace Mission Project.
This will bring economic relief
to Ghana and also get
treatment for some diseases the
world is struggling to treat," he
said.
He, therefore, called on the
government, research institutions,
and investors to collaborate
with the Company in order
to carry the above vision to reality.
Firms operating in other
regions obtain licenses faster
than Greater Accra — Survey
A survey conducted by accounting
and auditing firm, pwc, for
UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce
has revealed that companies
operating in other regions
find it much easier to deal with
the government and its agencies
as well as obtain operating and
trade licenses faster than those
in the Greater Accra region.
The reason is due to the
higher number of companies
operating in the Greater Accra
compared to other regions,
hence a greater volume of license
applications and companies
for government officials
and authorities to deal,
In terms of the average time
respondents spent in dealing
with business requirements, it
said only 10% of large companies
and no small companies indicated
that they could receive all
the required approvals to commence
business within a month.
This indicates that there is
room for improvement as speeding
up the time it takes for companies
to commence businesses
will attract potential investors
to Ghana.
Key areas of concern for
companies with blended operations
are the difficulties encountered
with clearing imported
goods and the time taken for the
export of goods.
This pointed out that the difficulty
of clearing imports could
possibly be due to the government
wanting to encourage
companies to source factors of
production locally. Longer times
taken to export goods would
serve as a non-tariff trade barrier
and reduce the ability of respondents
to compete in the
global marketplace.
According to respondents,
product-based companies are
able to receive all required approvals
to commence business
faster than services-based companies,
with 14% of services
companies indicating that it
could take between 7-12 months
to commence business.
The survey recommended an
inquiry to identify why this is
the case and solutions proposed
to reduce the time period for
service companies to commence
operations.
Again, the majority of new
firms are able to achieve the required
approvals to start business
within a month or between
one and three months.
However, there is still a lot of
room for improvement, with
18% of respondents indicating
that achieving approvals for
business commencement can
take between four and six
months which is far too long.
The survey was conducted
among member companies of
the UK – Ghana Chamber of
Commerce with 47 members
taking part in the survey.
This was a reduction from
the 67 businesses in the prior
survey of 2021. Respondents represented
16 industries and
ranged from small to large companies.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
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.
Artisanal fishers blame
dwindling fish stock
on climate change
KOBINA Atta has been
fishing in Sekondi on
the western coast of
Ghana since age 20. Now
at 51, he complains
about the changes in the seasons, rise
in sea level, and dwindling stock of
fishes, having a toll on his livelihood.
“These days, the seasons have
changed, we cannot differentiate
between the Harmattan and the
rainy seasons. It can rain today and
in the next minute, the sun will be
blazing. This really disrupts our
activities,” he said.
This, he believes, has brought in
its wake an increasing decline in fish
stock and catch as fishing boats often
returned from sea almost empty.
Atta, like many other artisanal
fishers, has a strong conviction that
changes in the climate is one of the
driving forces behind the
phenomenon.
Ghana’s fisheries sector
According to the Ministry of Food
and Agriculture there are more than
two million people in Ghana, or
around 10 per cent of the population,
who rely directly on fishing and
related activities for their livelihoods.
A report published by the
Environmental Justice Foundation
(EJF) in 2018 said Ghana accounts for
about 11 per cent of the total artisanal
canoes in West Africa with smallscale
fishing employing around 80
per cent of all fishers in the country.
The EJF said widespread illegal,
unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing and destructive practices
such as the use of dynamite,
monofilament nets, DDT, and light,
continually cause irreplaceable
damage to marine ecosystems.
The impact of climate change
In Ghana, ocean warming and
acidification, arguably the two most
dramatic effects of climate change on
oceanographic conditions, are
already wreaking havoc on those
who make their living from the sea.
This is coupled with widespread
IUU fishing, which spans from
indiscriminate use of chemicals and
explosives by canoe fishermen to
increasing light fishing by both
small-scale and tuna vessels.
Most fishermen complain that
surface water fishes appear to be
disappearing with reduction in the
sizes of the fishes, attributing it to
the changes in the marine
environment.
The rise in sea levels has also
resulted in coastal erosion, high tides
in recent times, tidal waves affecting
fishers, and storms making fishers
unable to go for fishing expeditions
as they wished.
“Nowadays we have noticed some
changes in the sea. We have realised
that the seawater has become
warmer than it used to be,” said Atta.
Another fisherman, Samuel
Tetteh, who has been fishing since
age 15, said: “These days the fishes do
not stay at the surface of the sea, they
go deep down. You know for us in
artisanal fishing, we have to see the
fishes before we cast our nets, so
sometimes we have to go long hours
before we can see some fishes and
cast our nets”.
At age 41, Tetteh said though
climate change was a contributory
factor, it could not be solely blamed
for the decline in fish stock and
mentioned engagement in light
fishing among other IUU practices as
other factors.
“The concentration of carbonic
acid at the surface of the seawater
makes it uncomfortable for fishes to
stay at the surface. The fish now
prefer to stay at the bottom than at
the surface,” he said.
Another challenge has to do with
the rise in sea levels, which the
fishermen say is destroying many
coastal lands.
“Sometimes we are unable to go
to sea because of the high tides. We
believe that the tidal waves as we
have been witnessing in recent times
are all as a result of changes in the
climate,” Mr Tetteh said.
Nana Kweigya is a fisherman at
Anomabo in the Central Region and
the Chairman of the Canoe and
Fishing Gear Owners Association of
Ghana.
He said climate change is
impacting negatively on artisanal
fishing.
“Climate change has affected
fisheries and continues to affect
small-scale fisheries especially. There
are pieces of evidence that point to
the fact that it has increased acidity
of the seawater and has, in turn,
affected the production of fish,” he
said.
Nana Kweigya said the sizes of
fish had reduced and also believed
that they were all as a result of global
warming and climate change.
That, he said, had affected fish
production because many of the eggs
were destroyed long before they
matured, resulting in a decline in fish
stock.
Nana Kweigya explained that it
was the reason fishermen had
resulted to using light to attract fish
before they cast their net.
“General I will say climate
change is negatively impacting on
fishing and limiting access to fish by
artisanal fishers,” he said, and called
for serious discussions on how to
mitigate the impact of climate
change on fishing and related
activities.
However, in contrast, Mr. Socrates
Segbor, the Fisheries Programmes
Manager of EJF, believes that there
are not enough scientific data to
prove that climate change is
impacting fishing.
Though he did not rule out its
possible negative impact, he said the
stories of the fishermen remained
their opinion until they were
scientifically proven.
For him, the lack of scientific data
about the impact of climate change
gave people the opportunity to
speculate and lux about what to do to
address the issues of IUU.
He, therefore, appealed to Ghana’s
Fisheries Commission and other
academic institutions to undertake
scientific research on the impact of
climate change in the fisheries sector
to confirm or reject the opinions of
the fishermen.
By Afedzi Abdullah
Source: GNA

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
AGI cautions govt
Following rising cost
of doing business in
the country, the Association
of Ghana
Industries (AGI) has
warned that Ghana could miss
out on the expected benefits
from the African Continental
Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Available data from the
Ghana Statistical Service indicates
that the year-on-year
producer price inflation which
measures the average change
in the prices of goods and
services received by domestic
producers for their production
activities increased to 31.2%.
Meanwhile, a closer look at
the data shows that in April
2021, the producer price inflation
rate for all industries was
10.9 %.
The rate increased to a
record 11.8 % but decreased
continuously to a record 8.1 %
in August 2021. Subsequently,
it resumes an upward trend
for 8 straight months to record
31.2 % in April 2022.
The 31.2 % year-on-year
• Over losing out on AfCFTA benefits
producer price inflation for all
industries indicates that between
April 2021 and April
2022, prices received by domestic
producers for the production
of their goods and
services increased by 31.2 %.
Speaking on Citi Business
News, the Greater Accra Regional
Chairman of the Association
of Ghana Industries
(AGI), Tsonam Cleanse
Akpeloo, called on the government
to take a cue from other
countries like Kenya to help
drive down the cost of production
in Ghana.
“Dividends from the recent
increase in excitement
around the AfCFTA may not be
realised. This is because producing
locally in Ghana is not
competitive compared to
other African countries. The
cost of inputs is increasing at
a rate that can’t be compared
to anywhere else in the subregion.”
“For us to be competitive
and for us to favourably trade
and benefit from the AfCFTA
we need to make sure steps
are taken to produce cheaply
because at the end of the day
consumers in the open market
will only consider price and
quality. Our competitors in
other countries like Kenya are
receiving massive support
which makes us uncompetitive,”
he added.
The producer price inflation
in the Mining and Quarrying
sub-sector increased by
1.6 percentage points over the
March 2022 rate of 33.6 percent
to 35.2 percent in April 2022.
The producer inflation for
the Manufacturing sub-sector,
which constitutes more than
two-thirds of the total industry,
increased by 2.6 percentage
points to 38.6 per cent. The
utility sub-sector recorded a
1.1 percent inflation rate for
April 2022.
In April 2022, two out of
the sixteen major groups in
the manufacturing sub-sector
recorded inflation rates higher
than the sector average of 38.6
percent. Manufacture of coke,
refined petroleum products,
and nuclear fuel recorded the
highest inflation rate of 76.1
percent, while the Publishing,
printing, and reproduction of
recorded media recorded the
least inflation rate of 2.6 percent
In April 2021, the producer
inflation rate in the petroleum
sub-sector was 28.0 percent.
The rate then fluctuates between
May and August 2021.
Thereafter, it increased continuously
to 58.4 percent in November
2021 but dropped to
36.0 percent in January 2022.
The rate resumed an upward
trend to record 76.1 percent in
April 2022
Rising inflation due to fiscal policies
THE Government Statistician has underscored
that the current rising inflation
in the country has more to do with
the country’s fiscal policies rather than
monetary policy.
According to Prof. Samuel Kobina
Annim, confirmed data collected by his
outfit indicates that the rising cost of
goods could only be tackled through
policy decisions taken by the government
on the supply side of things.
“If you want to resolve the inflation
rate [issue] in Ghana, it’s not a monetary
policy argument. Thankfully, the
Governor of the central bank has indicated
that we should begin to think of
the supply side,” he said while delivering
his inaugural lecture at the University
of Cape Coast last week.
He explained that data collected
from 54 food trading outlets across the
country in January 2018, during the
COvID-19 period in May 2020 and this
year amidst the Russia-Ukraine war in
April 2022, point to wide disparities in
prices at different outlets during the
two periods of economic turmoil.
He said while the cost of a bag of
rice across all 54 outlets in 2018 was stable
and almost the same, the prices at
the peak of the COvID-19 pandemic varied
significantly and has become even
worse presently.
“I look at the data from our 54 outlets
over three time periods; 2018, during
the Covid pandemic and in 2022
• Over losing out on AfCFTA benefits
during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
and see the disparities in prices across
these markets…In 2018, there was stability
in prices across the outlets. During
the Covd-19, you see the varying
prices and during the Russia – Ukraine
war you see stack variations across the
outlets,” he said.
“The human factor in the variations
in our prices during economic turmoil
is pretty significant… With some outlets
selling a 5kg of imported rice specifically
Gino rice over GHS108, I took the
pain to check last week and it is just
GHS63 somewhere in Accra. We look at
the numbers, and we say that, what you
need to think about is the hoarding effect
and transportation effect,” he
added.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), after raising
the interest rate to a record 17% in
March 2022, hiked the rate again to 19%
in May 2022 as a desperate measure to
stop the spiralling inflation in the
country. But economists are challenging
the view that increasing the policy
rate will arrest inflation, and have
warned that any further action in that
regard will shrink the country’s economy
by way of limiting borrowing.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana,
Dr. Ernest Addison has already hinted
of the fact that the solution to Ghana’s
current inflation challenges need to be
tackled from the fiscal policy side that
rests in the domain of the government
and the Minister for Finance, Ken
Ofori-Atta.
In May, the Bank of Ghana announced
that consumer prices rose by
23.6% in April, more than double of its
target.
Food contributes more than 50 percent
of the overall inflation and according
to Prof. Annim, incidents such as
hoarding, and transportation effects
are the reasons for the situation and
can best be tackled through government
fiscal policy intervention measures
such as those related to
government spending, public borrowing,
and taxes.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Development Discourse
with Amos Safo: Charting
the path for a new economy
IN what appears to be a
rejoinder to critics who
dared him to break his
silence on the state of the
economy, Ghana’s vice
President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumai,
on April 7, 2022, admitted the
fundamental challenges facing the
economy, partly due to the
significant global economic
slowdown. He, however, assured
Ghanaians that despite the
challenges, all is not lost.
Dr. Bawumia outlined several
measures to resuscitate the
economy, key among them being
the agenda to transform the
economy from its current old
structure since 1957 to a ‘new
economy’. According to Dr.
Bawumia, virtually every
government in Ghana’s history saw
the need to change the structure of
the economy through
diversification and by shifting from
the production of raw materials to
value addition.
The vice President points out
that changing the structure of our
economy, though, will not happen
overnight. Nonetheless, economic
transformation remains a priority
for government if Ghana is to
reduce import dependency, expand
the economy, create jobs, increase
exports, and support the value of
our currency.
The vice President did not highlight
reasons why past governments failed to
transform the structure of the economy,
but in my view the inaction can be
attributed to poor economic planning and
implementation, mostly blamed on
military interventions.
Besides, the few civilian governments
Ghana has had since 1957 have failed to
continue with the economic policies and
visions of their predecessors.
Despite the relative stability of the
Fourth Republic, the five governments that
have rotated between the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) and the National Democratic
Congress (NDC) have based the country’s
development on their party manifestoes.
The use of party manifestoes as policy
guidelines explains why Ghana does not
have a long-term economic and social
transformation vision.
So, every four or eight years when
government changes hands, Ghanaians are
compelled to live with no clearcut vision of
where the economy is heading. This raises
questions on the relevance of the National
Development Planning Commission, a
state institution charged with charting the
path for Ghana’s economy journey.
Nonetheless, Dr. Bawumia outlined the
policy guidelines under the ‘Ghana Beyond
Aid’ agenda for economic transformation.
Below is the list of interventions in the
agricultural sector:
Planting for Food and Jobs to increase
agricultural output for agro processing and
food sufficiency.
The Tono dam, and the Left and Right
banks of Kpong dam rehabilitated to
provide 13,190 hectares of additional
irrigable land for rice and vegetable
cultivation.
80 warehouses have been constructed
with a combined storage capacity of 80,000
metric tonnes to provide storage and
reduce post-harvest losses.
Reforms in the cocoa sector, including
hand pollination, has resulted in the
highest ever cocoa production (1,047,385
tonnes) during the 2020/2021 cocoa season.
Industrialisation
Dr. Bawumia said policy has made a
significant impact on the manufacturing
sector. Currently, 106 factories have been
completed and are operational, and 148
factories are under construction. This
represents the largest number of factories
established under a government
programme since independence, according
to him.
Automotive Industry
He further disclosed that under the
“the Vice President did
not highlight reasons
why past governments
failed to transform the
structure of the
economy, but in my
view the inaction can
be attributed to poor
economic planning and
implementation,
mostly blamed on
military interventions.
Besides, the few
civilian governments
Ghana has had since
1957 have failed to
continue with the
economic policies and
visions of their
predecessors.
facilitation for the
assembling of cars in
Ghana volkswagen,
Suzuki, Sino Truck,
Peugeot, Toyota and
recently Nissan, have
established assembly
plants in Ghana. KIA,
Hyundai and Renault are
also on course to start
production in Ghana this
year. In addition, Ghana’s
indigenous car
manufacturing company,
Kantanka has received
incentives to increase its
production.
Along the development
of the automotive industry
is the investment in the
integrated bauxite and
aluminum industry. Dr.
Bawumia disclosed that a
wholly-own Ghanaian
company, Rocksure
International, has started work to develop
the Nyinahin-Mpassaso hills and construct
an aluminum refinery.
Besides, government, through Exim
Bank, has committed US$60million to
support the local pharmaceutical industry,
with 75% of the approved amount already
released to various pharmaceutical
companies, according to him. In fact, the
pharmaceutical industry is one sector
Ghana potentially has the competitive
advantage in West Africa, for which
government should channel its
commitment to vitalising the sector.
As stated earlier, these interventions
may well be what Ghana needs to
resuscitate our economy; but my fear is
that once these interventions are not
within a broader national development
framework, the economy will be back to
square one if power changes hands. In fact,
the speed and ease with which new
governments dismantle ongoing projects
of their predecessors is Ghana’s biggest
economic challenge.
Knowledge economy
Countries hoping to transform to new
economies must invest in intellectual
capital. To become a key player in the new
economy, Ghana needs to develop her
intellectual capital as a strategic factor of
production. The agenda is to empower
future generations with the practical
problem-solving skills to make decisions or
take actions that are important for the
future of the country. In this regard
government’s commitment to free
secondary, TvET and STEM education is a

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
step in the right direction. The pace of
global change is so rapid that Ghana
cannot afford to remain uncompetitive
and unproductive.
Digital economy
The digital economy refers to
economic activity that uses electronic
communication and digital technologies
to provide goods and services. Emerging
economies across the world are seriously
industrialising, joining the digital
revolution of boundless information and
seamless electronic commerce.
Information is becoming readily
available around the globe at an
unprecedented pace. In other words, the
Internet technology is changing the
fundamental nature of doing business and
competition. In response to the enormous
opportunities the digital technology offers
individuals, companies and the country,
government appears to have made
prudent decisions to invest in the internet
and broadband technology.
In his speech, Dr. Bawumia alluded to
his government’s decision in 2017 to build
a new digital system as a springboard to
transform the economy. Some of the key
digital systems achieved so far include the
issuance of biometric national ID cards to
both Ghanaians and non- Ghanaians with
resident permit. So far, 15.9million people
have been enrolled on the Ghana card by
the National Identification Authority
(NIA).
This was followed by the ‘Property
Address System for Ghana’. Prior to the
institutionalisation of the National
Address System, a civilised country Ghana
had no working address system. This is
one of the key reasons why banks were
reluctant to grants loans to individuals,
since they could not be traced to
permanent locations. But with the GPS
technology every square inch of land in
Ghana has been captured. So far, The Land
Use and Spatial Planning Authority
(LUSPA) has provided unique addresses for
7.5million properties in Ghana along with
street names and house numbers.
Promoting financial inclusion
Another significant milestone is the
operationalisation of the Mobile money
interoperability ((MMI). As a result,
everybody with mobile phone can transfer
money seamlessly across different mobile
money providers and between bank
accounts and mobile wallets. Ordinary
people now use the tool for buying and
selling goods and services. Additionally, the
MMI has made it possible for everyone to
own a bank account.
The figures indicate that 90 percent of
Ghanaians now have bank accounts or
mobile money accounts. According to Dr.
Bawumia, at the end of 2016, total
cumulative value of mobile money
transactions was GH¢78.5billion; however,
due to MMI, the cumulative value of
mobile money transactions reached
GH¢978.3billion in 2021. “We have
practically solved the problem of financial
exclusion in Ghana”, Dr. Bawumia said.
Digitalisation and public
service delivery
One significant achievement of
digitalisation, according to Dr. Bawumia, is
the improvement in public service
delivery and the reduction in corruption
through minimising human contact.
Passport Office
One of the sectors that attracted
headlines for corruption, favouritism and
nepotism was the Passport Office.
However, with digitization, the average
turnaround time for the acquisition of
passports has reduced significantly.
Currently, Ghanaians can apply for
passports online, which can also be
delivered at digital addresses through
courier services. The modernisation and
digitisation of the passport application
process has resulted to a quantum
increase in the number of passports
processed annually.
In 2017 the passport office processed a
total of 16,232 applications with revenue of
GH¢1.1m, while in 2021, the Passport
Office received and processed 498,963
online passport applications, with a total
revenue of GH¢56.7m. Digitisation has,
thus, dealt a severe blow to corruption at
the Passport Office. Obviously the speed in
processing and issuing passports has
yielded higher revenue for the state, a
chunk of which would have gone into
private pockets.
Dr. Bawumia further noted that the
digitalisation also reduced the
bureaucracy and the associated corrupt
practices in the clearing of goods at
Ghana’s ports. Hitherto, importers
underwent harrowing experiences at the
ports. “The introduction of a paperless
port system has reduced several layers and
simplified the process, reduced the time
needed to clear goods and the avenues for
corruption, and increased efficiencies and
revenue mobilisation at the ports”, says the
vice President.
DvLA
Another hotspot for bureaucracy and
corruption was the DvLA, which offers
Driver Licensing and vehicle Registration
related services. Due to essential services it
delivers, it was obvious that DvLA would
be a candidate for digitalisation. Dr.
Bawumia disclosed that with the
digitalisation of the drivers’ licenses in
2019, the DvLA recorded an increase in
service by 109% in 2020. Comparatively,
while the DvLA generated an average
revenue of GH¢71.5million in the four
years (2013-2016) prior to digitisation, its
average reached GH¢168.4million in the
four years (2017-2020) with digitisation.
Motor Insurance
The National Insurance Commission
has also implemented the Motor
Insurance Database to curb the use of fake
motor insurance stickers plying our roads.
Digitalisation has introduced key security
features, which have been synchronised
with a national database, and can be
accessed simply with any mobile phone
by the police.
As a result of the innovation, the
growth of the motor insurance industry
increased from 19% in 2019 to 37% in 2020,
and 26% in 2021. The value of the business
undertaken increased from
GH¢566million in 2017 to GH¢1.165billion
in 2021. “Thus, digitisation has dealt a
severe blow to corruption in the insurance
industry, with no room for fake insurance
certificates”, says Dr. Bawumia.
The benefits of digitalisation are so
enormous that no country that aspires to
be globally relevant and competitive can
afford to ignore the evolving technology.
Some of the benefits include: multiplicity
and choice of information, reduction in
cost of doing business, lower barriers to
entry, and enables people to work from
home, among others.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
FEATURE
How to choose a Bank
that will be useful to you
By Toma Imirhe
Just understand this; Not all
banks will be useful to you and
your business!
A few decades ago a large
number of Ghanaians and
especially self-employed
people in the informal
sector didn’t want
anything to do with a
bank. Cocoa farmers
would just go to the bank
because that is where they
were paid. Farmers could
spend days before having
access to their money.
They will just withdraw
all their monies, just turn
around and walk away,
till the following year.
“Choosing a bank” was
not part of the
conversation then.
SOME formal sector employees used to
collect their salaries and wages over
the counter or table top. There were
many reasons people did not
patronize the services of banks;
• There were few banks
• The banks didn’t really do much to attract
customers because there was very little
competition
• If you are self-employed the banks gave
you very little attention and when making
withdrawals it was very frustrating because of
long waiting times (which is still the case
though).
• People preferred handling cash as
opposed to recent financial education on the
need to go cashless and still be able to transact
business.
• Prohibitive bank charges
• Laborious account opening procedures
(even without anti-money laundering
requirements)
In effect, it appeared banks just excluded
individuals who were in retail businesses. The
informal sector and rural Ghana were not
traditionally part of their target. Their
corporate accounts were just enough.
Small business owners (informal sector)
mainly didn’t show much interest in dealing
with the financial institutions. People
preferred keeping their monies in their safes,
lockers, under pillows, with a trusted partner
and any other place apart from the financial
institutions.
WHAT CHANGED?
Ghana had a change of government in 2000
and in came President Kuffour. His
liberalization of the banking sector opened up
the banking industry. Treasury rates dropped
from the 40s to the 20s.
Foreign banks rushed in, lower-tiered
banks emerged, the Savings and Loans as well
as the Microfinance sector blossomed. All of a
sudden, the informal sector and rural Ghana
had what they can call their ‘bank’. They began
taking up some of the valued customers of the
then existing banks.
The traditional ‘elephant’ banks were
caught napping. They all realized that they
have to evolve to begin doing banking outside
of their plush and crowded halls.
They went on customer hunting,
scrambling for new accounts from the markets,
picking customers’ cash in specie operations
and credit giveaways (which was also a
blunder).
In addition to the industry trends, changes
in the way we do business and modern
advancements in technology also fueled the
need for businesses to maintain a bank
account.
This is the time customers should now
choose their banks. In the past decades, banks
in Ghana chose their customers. But now the
tables have turned.
Now customers have the option to choose
their banks. Though the recent bank failures
have dented the opportunities, there are still
credible options. Suffice to say that financial
institutions do share some similar
characteristics, they can be different in certain
specifics. The specifics are what you go for. Do
not just allow some bank’s sales executive to
sell you any misfit service.
There are many banks in existence now
and businesses have a choice as to which
institution to bank with. Banks have now been
categorized into different bands serving
different needs.
There are;
• Universal banks
• Savings and loans institutions
• Rural banks
• Microfinance institutions
• Cooperatives associations
• Others
To have a fruitful relationship with your
bank, look for a bank that best serves your
needs and do business with them. Not every
bank would be ideal in providing a service that
will be the best for you. Banks in themselves
have interests, specialities and sectors or
industries they see as profitable. They,
therefore, target such businesses and clients.
For every client segment they serve, they
choose which of their services or products that
best suit them.
In all of these, it is the duty of the business
owner or manager to decide, looking at what
the business has set out to do, to figure out
which financial institution will best serve their
needs.
In choosing a bank what do you look for?
• Look at your business needs, e.g. do I have
payments by cash, cheques, mobile money,
• How do you also pay people? Do they have
the facilities to do seamless and safe
transactions? It may shock you to know that as
of 2021, some banks do not have reliable mobile
money integration. Sometimes you have to
walk to the bank to effect simple transactions.
This is the stone age!
• If you collect cash, are you safe with it?
There are savings and loans companies that
visit businesses for cash collection purposes.
This saves time and money journeying to their
office to make those same deposits.
• If you travel out do you have to carry
plenty of cash? You might want to consider a
financial institution with good nationwide
coverage to leverage on transactions when
travelling for business. This reduces incidences
of carrying of cash and eases the risks of cash
lost in transit.
• How often do you need financial support
to meet your obligations? You should not do
business with a financial institution that
always refuses you financial assistance, when
in need of support for supplies and meeting
operational expenses. You can do a simple
background check and ask around about the
financial standing of the particular institution
you want to do business with. The smaller
banks and Savings and Loans have generally
proven more responsive in that regard.
• How much am I prepared to pay for
banking services? Some banks charge for every
transaction you make. As a small business, it
could cost you a fortune. Get the full details and
seek advice from someone who can help you to
understand and interpret the charges.
• Do I even have time to visit the bank?
You will be better off doing business with a
bank that provides mobile banking services. It
saves you time and money.
• Do you usually get spare cash that
can sit? You may need a bank that has an
investment arm that could advise you to do
some investments apart from the old
uninspiring Fixed Deposit.
• Test their responsiveness. Send any
request to any of their customer channels and
see how long it takes for them to come back. It
took a bank 3 days to respond to our Whatsapp
message. You know that the bank will give you
a run for your money when you need attention.
All the institutions talk of good customer
service but you can bet, some do not know
where customer service was born. From such
FLEE!
One warning, however; if you are start-up a
business, don’t approach any of them for
financing. They won’t and can’t help you.
Banks are not for startups. venture capital or
Equity finance can help better.
We have not mentioned, the overcrowded
banking halls while only one cashier sits in the
cage. That is more for particular branches than
an entire bank’s attribute. Therefore be
conscious of which branch you will choose to
physically do your transactions.
Choosing a Bank – Final Hints
Once some of these questions are answered
you know that you have something to hold on
to even before you venture to work with a bank.
It may even be necessary to work with more
than one bank but don’t do more than three.
That is diversification but it can be costly in
terms of account maintenance fees.
Some business owners mistakenly open
multiple accounts because perhaps they
couldn’t resist the good customer service
by the sales and marketing reps of a
particular bank so they rush to open
accounts.
Don’t let a bad experience let you
begin to put your money in pillows or
safes in your room. You know if you
placed GHc10 million in a safe in 2010
and open the safe in 2021, you would
have lost over 50 percent of purchasing
power, which is the real value of your
money.
Apart from the bank giving you
some interest to preserve purchasing
power, it would also be safe for you. So
you obviously need a bank, and you
deserve to have a fruitful relationship
with your bank. You need to choose your
bank, don’t let your bank choose you.
SOURCE: Ghana Talks Business

Tuesday, June March 7, 2022 1, 2022
EDUCATION
Academic Diary with
Dzifa: letter reversal
Smart lookup
Reversing letters is
common until around age 7
WRITING
letters
backward
does not
necessarily
mean your child has dyslexia.
There are recommended
activities you can practise at
home to help your child stop
writing reverse letter.
It is not unusual for young
children to reverse letters when
they read and write. But when
they frequently write backward
or upside down beyond age 7, it
could raise red flags with
reading or language.
More often than not, people
are of the view that if a child
write letters backward it is a
sign of dyslexia but that is not
often the case. This article will
help us understand more about
letter reversals and what they
can mean.
What is letter
reversal?
Reversing letters means
your child writes certain letters
or numbers backwards or
upside down. This is sometimes
referred to as ‘mirror writing’.
This is different from
transposing letters, which
means switching the order of
letters.
The most common letter
reversal is b and d. In this
instance, the child writes a b for
a d or vice versa. Another
common reversal is p and q. An
example of an upside-down
reversal is m for w.
Let me be quick to mention
that reversing letters or mirror
writing is not necessarily a sign
of dyslexia. Some children with
dyslexia have trouble with it,
but many don’t. In fact, most
children who reverse letters
before age 7 end up not having
dyslexia.
A child might reverse letters
because of a poor memory for
how to form letters. Another
possible cause is that the child
might have issues processing
visuals. Children with visual
processing disorders may find it
difficult to interpret and
understand visual information
which includes form and
direction. In this case, a child
might have trouble identifying
how images are different (visual
discrimination) or which
direction they face (visual
directionality).
“I do not know how else to
teach my five-year-old how to
stop writing p as 9 and 9 as p, I
am really frustrated, will he ever
grow out of it? – Sylvia, a parent.
The majority of children
outgrow reversing as they get
stronger at reading and writing.
Writing letters in reverse is
typical and fairly common in
children till they reach second
grade. This is because the letters
b, d, p, and q are basically the
same letter. They are just flipped
and turned around to form
different letters. As adults and
experienced readers, we have
learnt and have come to the
understanding that the
positioning of these letters
makes a big difference.
Young children and
beginning readers on the
other hand, do not always
make that distinction
right away. Being able to
place that clear distinction
is part of the learning and
development process. It
will fall in place as
children build their
phonics skills and become
more experienced readers
and writers.
“Should I take a waitand-see
approach with my
wards reverse writing?” –
Kwame, a concerned
guardian.
There’s no downside to
helping young ones learn to
write their letters correctly, at
any age. Even if your child does
not have dyslexia or other
difficulties in writing or
reading, you still need to put in
the effort.
If it turns out your child
does have some type of language
or visual processing difficulty,
the sooner you address letter
reversals, the less ingrained the
habit will be. Your child will be
better off by breaking the habit
early.
Activities that can help
Work on one letter at a time.
For example, if your child is
reversing b and d, start with b.
Don’t introduce d until your
child is having much less
difficulty with b. After that, you
can work on other significant
reversals, such as p or q.
Do the same with numbers.
Work on only one at a time.
When your child is having
much less trouble with that
number, then you can move on
to the next.
When focusing on a letter,
try to engage more than one of
your child’s senses. This is
known as multi-sensory
approach. For instance, your
child could trace the letter b in
sand, or ‘skywrite’ it while
saying aloud the sound for b. As
your child is practising, offer a
strategy for remembering how
to write b, such as “the bat
comes before the ball.”
(Meaning that the vertical line
of the b, or the bat, comes before
the round part, or the ball.)
Other fun activities
The rice tray
Spread dry rice on a tray or
plate and have your child trace
or copy the letter with their fore
finger. Alternatively, you can use
gari or sugar in a Ziploc bag and
have your child do the activity
on it.
Spongy letters
Fill a sponge with thick soap
lather and ask your child form
letters on the tiled wall. For a
more tactile experience, let your
child use the whole hand as well
as just the fingers! You need to
do this under supervision so
your child does not get soap into
the eyes.
Wet and Dry
All you need is a chalkboard.
Draw the letter with chalk and
then have your child trace the
letter with a piece of wet cotton.
Your child can also use their
index finger to trace your letter
before or after the wet sponge is
used.
Wipe Off Letters
Write a letter on a
whiteboard or chalkboard, and
have your child trace it with a
finger to wipe it off.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
FEATURE
Gov’ts need agile fiscal policies
as food and fuel prices spike
JUST as increasing
vaccinations offered hope,
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
disrupted the global
economic recovery. One of
the most visible global effects has
been the acceleration of energy and
food prices, triggering concerns
about episodes of food shortages and
increasing the risks of malnutrition
and social unrest. World food prices
surged by 33.6 percent in March from
a year earlier, according to the Food
and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations.
Our latest Fiscal Monitor
discusses how governments, faced
with record debt and rising
borrowing costs, can best respond to
the urgent needs. It stresses the call
for greater global cooperation.
Highly uncertain fiscal outlook
Economies around the world have
accumulated layer upon layer of legacies
from past shocks since the global
financial crisis. Extraordinary fiscal
actions in response to the pandemic led
to a surge in fiscal deficits and public debt
in 2020.
Moreover, the outlook remained
uncertain as the world navigated an
unprecedented environment, with rising
inflation and increasing divergence in
recoveries — and then Russia invaded
Ukraine, pushing geopolitical risks
sharply up.
Global deficits and debt are falling
from record levels, but the risks around
the outlook are exceptionally high, and
vulnerabilities are rising. Global public
debt is expected to fall in 2022 and then
stabilise at about 95 percent of gross
domestic product over the medium term,
11 percentage points higher than before
the pandemic. Large inflation surprises in
2020-21 helped reduce debt ratios, but as
monetary policy tightens to curb
inflation, sovereign borrowing costs will
rise, narrowing the scope for government
spending and increasing debt
vulnerabilities.
In advanced economies, deficits are
projected to decline and policies are
shifting from pandemic support to
structural transformation. Fiscal outlooks
in Europe face exceptional uncertainty
given the war in Ukraine and its
spillovers. In most emerging markets,
deficits will narrow, but with large
variations across countries. Low-income
countries, already suffering with scarring
from the pandemic, have very limited
fiscal space as they are hard hit by
spillovers from the war.
The different shocks have also brought
new risks to public finances.
Governments are under pressure to deal
with the rising energy and food prices. To
alleviate the burden on households,
ensure food security, and preempt social
unrest, most governments have
announced measures to limit the rise in
domestic prices.
However, such actions could have
large fiscal costs and exacerbate global
demand and supply mismatches, putting
further pressure on international prices
and possibly leading to energy or food
shortages. This would further hurt lowincome
countries which rely on imported
energy and food.
Moreover, the fight against poverty
has suffered a setback, especially in
emerging markets and low-income
countries. Relative to prepandemic
trends, the COvID-19
crisis pushed 70 million more people
worldwide into extreme poverty in 2021.
In many advanced economies,
households were protected by direct
government support or job-retention
schemes. Households spent less and saved
more because of social distancing,
mobility restrictions, and uncertainty
about the future. These excess savings are
an important buffer but, if spent quickly,
they could further add to the inflation
momentum. The situation is much more
dire in other countries with large
numbers of poor people — where rising
inflation could push more into poverty
and exacerbate the food crisis.
Managing crisis upon crisis
Governments face difficult choices in
this highly uncertain environment. They
should focus on the most urgent spending
needs and raise revenue to pay for them.
We recommend agile fiscal strategies
tailored to individual country
circumstances:
In the economies hardest hit by the
war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia,
fiscal policy needs to respond to the
humanitarian crisis and economic
disruptions. Given rising inflation and
interest rates, fiscal support should be
targeted to those most affected and
priority areas.
In nations where growth is stronger
and inflation pressures remain elevated,
fiscal policy should continue its shift
from support to normalisation.
In many emerging markets and lowincome
economies facing tight financing
conditions or the risk of debt distress,
governments will need to prioritise
spending and raise revenues to reduce
vulnerabilities.
Commodity exporters which benefit
from higher prices should seize the
opportunity to rebuild buffers.
responses to the
“Government
surge in international
commodity prices
should give priority
to protecting the
most vulnerable. A
critical objective is to
avoid a food crisis
while keeping social
cohesion. Countries
with well-developed
social safety nets
could deploy
targeted and
temporary cash
transfers to
vulnerable groups,
while allowing
domestic prices to
adjust.
• Author
Government responses to the surge in
international commodity prices should
give priority to protecting the most
vulnerable. A critical objective is to avoid a
food crisis while keeping social cohesion.
Countries with well-developed social
safety nets could deploy targeted and
temporary cash transfers to vulnerable
groups, while allowing domestic prices to
adjust. This will limit budgetary pressures
and create the right incentives to increase
supply (such as investing in renewable
energy). Other countries could allow a
more gradual adjustment of domestic
prices and use existing tools to help the
most vulnerable during this crisis, while
taking steps to strengthen safety nets.
Fossil-fuel price hikes further
highlight the urgency in accelerating the
transition to clean and renewable energy,
which would increase energy security and
help meet the urgent climate agenda —
we are dramatically off-track to limit
global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
About 60 percent of low-income
countries are either at high risk of debt
distress or already experiencing it. They
face persistent scarring from COvID-19.
They are especially vulnerable to food
price rises, given the large share of food
spending in their households’ budgets.
These countries need support from the
international community.
But the need for collective action is
broader. Global cooperation is necessary to
tackle pressing and urgent problems that
the world is facing: energy and food
crises, current and future pandemics,
debt, development, and climate change.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022 PAGE 11
ICT
Why remote working leaves us
vulnerable to cyber-attacks
ACYBER-CRIME group
known as REvil took
meticulous care when
picking the timing for its
most recent attack - US
Independence Day, 4 July.
They knew many IT specialists and
cyber-security experts would be on leave,
enjoying a long weekend off work.
Before long, more than 1,000
companies in the US, and at least 17 other
countries, were under attack from
hackers.
Many firms were forced into a costly
downtime period as a result.
Among those targeted during the
incident was a well-known software
provider, Kaseya.
REvil used Kaseya as a conduit to
spread its ransomware - a malware that
can scramble and steal an organisation's
computer data - through other corporate
and cloud-based networks that use the
software.
REvil took credit for the incident and
claimed to have encrypted more than
one million systems.
The group then demanded a ransom
of $70m (£50.5m) in Bitcoin for the
release of a universal decryption tool that
would allow those affected to recover
their crucial files.
Hacking experts warn that such
attacks are likely to become more
frequent, and suggest businesses cannot
afford to underestimate the hidden
impact the pandemic has had on their
vulnerability.
'Bad cyber-security habits'
A recent survey from the UK and USbased
security firm, Tessian, found that
56% of senior IT technicians believe their
employees have picked up bad cybersecurity
habits while working from
home. Worryingly, the survey found that
many employees agreed with that
assessment.
Nearly two in five (39%) admitted that
their cyber-security practices at home
were less thorough than those practised
in the office, with half admitting that
this is a result of feeling less scrutinised
by their IT departments now, than prior
to Covid.
"One of the main mistakes we've seen
is moving company data to personal e-
mail accounts," says Henry
Trevelyan-Thomas, Tessian's vicepresident
of Customer Success.
"When you do that, it's likely you
don't have any sort of two-factor
authentication. This then makes it easier
for attackers to exploit that data. If data
is leaked, attackers compromise it and it
can end up in the wrong hands."
'Climate of uncertainty'
Experts also warn of a significant
growth in the
number of
coronavirusthemed
phishing
emails
targeting
employees,
being
reported by
several
companies
around the
world.
During the
height of the
pandemic in
2020, network
security firm
Barracuda
Networks said
it had seen a
667% increase
in malicious
phishing
emails. Google
also reported,
at the time,
that it was
blocking over
100 million
phishing emails daily.
"Social engineering and phishing
work best when there's a climate of
uncertainty," Casey Ellis, founder of
security platform, BugCrowd, tells the
BBC. "As an attacker in that scenario, I've
got a base of fear to work off of."
Mr Ellis says for example, one
method hackers may use in a postpandemic
world could be an email that
lures victims in with the promise of
appointments for those who are
currently unvaccinated against the virus.
"You've got an entire population
wanting the pandemic to end. They're
more likely to click on that," he says. "I
think that companies should proactively
consider that it's a really good time to
invest in training to work through these
kinds of scenarios."
The consequences of such phishing
attacks can often be dire. While global
multinationals may be able to recover
from substantial losses, cyber-attacks can
be catastrophic for both small businesses
and individuals.
In November 2020, a Sydney-based
hedge fund collapsed after a senior
executive clicked on a fraudulent Zoom
invitation. The company - Levitas Capital
- reportedly lost $8.7m to the cyberattack
and was forced to close.
"The hackers were able to access their
systems, sending out multiple fraudulent
invoices, and the damage was so great
that their largest client pulled out of a
planned multi-million-dollar
“"Before anyone is
allowed to use them,
or connect to any
corporate network,
appropriate analysis,
and protective
measures should be
taken to ensure
malware is not
present," she tells
the BBC. "Until that
can safely take
place, perhaps
personal devices
should not be
allowed back in the
office."
investment," says Tony Pepper, the cofounder
of security firm Egress. "With
enough pressure, businesses will fold."
Now, with many employers
demanding workers return to the office
at least part-time, experts say there are
several steps companies should take to
ensure that proper security procedures
are put in place to keep both themselves
and their employees safe.
'Prepare to face the
ramifications'
Mary Guzman, the founder of Crown
Jewel Insurance, is urging firms to
carefully screen personal devices that
have been used for work on a remotebasis
during the pandemic.
"Before anyone is allowed to use
them, or connect to any corporate
network, appropriate analysis, and
protective measures should be taken to
ensure malware is not present," she tells
the BBC. "Until that can safely take place,
perhaps personal devices should not be
allowed back in the office."
Mrs. Guzman says that employers
now have two options to consider; they
can re-train their employees so they
know how to navigate cyber security in a
post-pandemic world, or prepare
themselves to "face the ramifications are
for failing to do so."
Meanwhile, Tessian's Henry Trevelyn-
Thomas says that the most important
thing is that companies urgently take
steps to address threats if they haven't
already. He believes the current
heightened risk of cyber-attacks is likely
to become the new normal.
"This isn't a short-term phenomenon.
It's a long-term issue... this is the new
world that we live in."

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
BACK
PAGE
Policy to regulate special
economic zones in the offing
THE Ministry of Trade and Industry
(MoTI) is in the process of developing
a policy document to
regulate special economic zones
(SEZs) in the country.
SEZ is an area in a country that is subject
to different economic regulations than other
regions within the same country. The economic
regulations of special economic zones
tend to be conducive to—and attract—foreign
direct investment (FDI).
This means a policy on SEZ would help
regulate activities in the zones to enable the
country to harness its benefits by increasing
trade balance, increased investment, job creation
and effective administration.
Workshop
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the
Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA), Michael
Oquaye, made this known at a two-day workshop
on the contribution of SEZs to economic
diversification in Africa in the context
of Africa Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) in Accra on June 3.
The workshop held between June 2 and
3, 2022, was on the theme: “Special Economic
Zones in Ghana as a Tool for Industrialisation
and Diversification”.
It was organised for the dissemination of
the conclusions of the Handbook on SEZs in
Africa: Towards economic diversification
across the Continent, with the aim to share
best practices on special economic zones development
and contribute to the process of
the implementation of the AfCFTA.
The workshop provided a platform for
the diverse stakeholder community to discuss
the role special economic zones can play
in the economic diversification of the Continent
and supporting regional integration.
Site assessment
Mr Oquaye said under the Ghana Economic
Transformation Project (GETP), a site
assessment and selection exercise of Ghana’s
SEZs and Industrial Park programme was
carried out.
This, he said, was done in the context of
the government’s vision to make Ghana the
manufacturing hub of Africa, transforming
the country into a high growth economy capable
of creating decent jobs in significant
numbers, that were widespread and inclusive
enough to achieve equitable growth and
development.
He said the guiding principle underlying
GETP was to promote a strong growth model
that was conducive to economic transformation
and achieve a higher rate of investment
and productivity growth across the economy,
especially in non-resource-based sectors.
He observed that the GETP has the overall
objective of promoting non-natural-resource-based
sectors.
He said this objective was to be achieved
through; improvement in the overall business
enabling environment, as measured by
Ghana’s Ease of Doing Business score.
“Private sector investments leveraged
through project activities, including investment
to develop SEZs and industrial parks
and early-stage or risk financing for SMEs
and start-ups in non-resource sectors.
• Michael oquaye, Ceo, GFZA
Insurance knowledge goes up — Report
A research conducted by the National
Insurance Commission (NIC), has revealed
that about 78 per cent of Ghanaians
have knowledge of insurance.
This is an improvement over the
2020 figure of 60 per cent, which gives
an indication that more Ghanaians are
now exposed to insurance information.
This is coming at a time when insurance
coverage has reached an all
time high of 44.6 per cent which means
that almost half of the population of
Ghanaians have some form of insurance.
Speaking in an interview with the
Daily Graphic, the Commissioner of Insurance,
Dr Justice Yaw Ofori, said the
increased knowledge of insurance was
as a result of measures put in place by
the commission over the last six years.
He said the NIC started a nationwide
sensitisation by establishing an
office in 10 regions of the country.
“We realised our network was not
wide so we decided to extend our operations
nationwide.
“We targeted all the then 10 regions
in the country and we have branch offices
in all these areas,” he stated.
New Insurance Act
He said the commission also worked
on the New Insurance Act which allowed
it to establish an educational
fund.
Dr Ofori said the educational fund
was currently supporting the Ghana Insurance
College (GIC) to build capacity
in the sector.
“We are also working to get insurance
to be studied as part of the courses
in secondary schools and we are
still engaging the appropriate authorities
on this.
“In some of the areas where
we have our offices, we organise
quiz for the students and give
them prizes,” he noted.
He said all these would help in
demystifying what insurance really
was.
Training for agents
The Commissioner of Insurance
also pointed out that the
NIC, through the GIC, had embarked
on a campaign to train
10,000 insurance agents across
the country.
He said this was a two weeks
programme which allowed successful
applicants who pass the
exams to work for insurance companies
as sales agents.
“We have also been working
with the security agencies like
the police, fire service, immigration,
and prisons by providing
some insurance training for their
cadets and we started that about three
years ago,” he stated.
Insurance Perception Index
The NIC commissioned the first
ever public perception, awareness, and
confidence index in 2019 in conjunction
with the German international development
cooperation, GIZ.
In 2020, the NIC proceeded to conduct
the second round of research with
regard to the same indices as a way to
keep track of progress.
The third round,
termed Phase three,
was conducted in
2021.
In general, consumer
confidence,
measured by the
Consumer Confidence
Index (CCI), is
defined as the degree
of optimism about
the state of the economy
that consumers
of services, such as
insurance services,
are expressing
through their activities
of saving and
spending.
When consumers
are confident in their
futures, they tend to
spend money and
drive economic
growth higher.