Wednesday, 15th June, 2022

Page 10
The Bank of Ghana
(BoG) has by the
end of the year 2021
secured monetary
compensations and
refunds totalling about GH72.9
million for complainants.
Regulated Financial
Institutions (RFI) paid
complainants whose complaints
were lodged, investigated, and
found justifiable based on the
The implementation
of trade facilitation
measures under the
African Continental
Free Trade Agreement
(AfCFTA) as well as reductions in
intra-AfCFTA tariffs and nontariff
barriers (NTBs) in goods
and services can boost Ghana’s
real income by 5.7 per cent,
relative to baseline.
By the year 2035, about four
per cent, representing two
third of the country’s AfCFTA
income boost will come from
trade facilitation measures,
while reductions in NTBs is set
to account for 1.7 per cent with
reduction of tariffs accounting
for only 0.2 per cent increase.
Also, about 0.2 million people
will be lifted out of extreme
poverty and 1.8 million from
moderate poverty with gains in
poverty reduction attributed to
faster growth in the wages of
unskilled workers than of skilled
workers coupled with rapid
increase in wages for women
than men.
The findings were
highlighted in the World Bank’s
Ghana Trade Competitiveness
Diagnostic report under the
theme, “Strengthening Ghana’s
Trade Competitiveness in the
Context of AfCFTA.”
The findings were based
on a simulation model study,
which uses a global Computable
General Equilibrium (CGE)
model and a microsimulation
framework to quantify the
agreement’s impact.
In line with ongoing
negotiations, the model assumes
there are reductions in trade
facilitation bottlenecks as well
as tariff and NTB.
So far, the AfCFTA Treaty only
contains the legal framework for
trade in goods, trade in services,
Business
BoG market conduct rules for its
regulated entities.
A breakdown of the total
amount, which was captured
in the annual Report on
Complaints Management
Function released by the
Financial Stability Department
of the BoG showed that
£20,414.37, USD$250,000.00 and
GH¢5,738,484.42 were paid.
In all, 857 complaints against
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 15th June, 2022
876 recorded in 2020 were
received where there were 265
credit reports complaints, 207
cases on matured investment,
134 complaints on unfair
practices, 139 reports on credit
facility and 112 complaints
relating to Automated Teller
Machine (ATM).
Most of the complaints
were made through phone
calls, emails, social media posts,
WhatsApp messages, and walkins.
“The 2.17 per cent decline
in total complaints lodged
may be attributed to the strict
enforcement of the first level
complaint handling by Financial
Institutions based on the
guidelines coupled with the
successful resolution of most of
the complaints by the RFIs” the
report stated.
The Bank of Ghana also noted
65 per cent of total complaints
recorded were resolved as at the
end of 2021 compared with 79 per
cent resolutions in the year 2020.
World Bank projects 5.7% income
boost for Ghana under AfCFTA
institutional set up and Stateto-State
dispute settlement
provisions, while the specific
terms of trade liberalisation in
both goods and services are still
being negotiated.
Substantial aspects of the
AfCFTA remain to be negotiated,
including the investment,
competition, and intellectual
property rights schedules that
make up Phase II.
The implementation of
AfCFTA tariff liberalisation,
according to the report, would
help Ghana from 2020 to 2035
see a three percentage points
decrease of the average tradeweighted
tariff imposed by
Ghana on imports from AfCFTA
partners from around 3 percent
to almost zero per cent.
It is assumed that the NTBs
imposed by Ghana are to fall by
50 per cent, while NTBs faced
by Ghana are assumed to see a
reduction of almost 30 percent,
the report further highlighted.
“Meanwhile, tariffs faced by
Ghana could decrease by seven
percentage points over 2020-
BoG oversees GH¢7.9 million
refund, compensation payments
2035 from eight percent to one
percent. Ghana initial NTBs are
estimated at around 38 percent
in 2020,” it noted.
It also projected Ghana’s
share of exports to the region
to increase from nine percent
in 2020 to 16 percent in 2035,
while without the Free Trade
Agreement (FTA), the increase
was expected to be only one
percentage point to 10 percent.
“Imports are characterised
by the same pattern, with the
share of imports increasing from
17 percent in 2020 to 40 percent
due to the FTA, while growth
relative to the baseline would be
only 11 percentage points."
“Regarding Ghana exports
within Africa, manufacturing
would gain the most, with a 219
per cent (US$ 5 billion) increase
relative to the baseline. This
would result from expansion
in sectors such as textiles and
wearing apparel (with a 644 per
cent increase relative to the
baseline), the diagnostic report
stated.
It was also revealed that 373
complaints were received from
customers of banks representing
44 per cent of total complaints
received by the Bank in the year
under review.
“87 per cent of these
complaints were resolved
compared with the previous
year’s position of 96 per cent
resolved complaints, thus
resulting in marginal drop of 9
per cent,” the report noted.
Within the year under
review, the Bank had made 50
referrals to other entities such as
a receiver, which had 19 referrals,
Securities and Exchange
Commission with 26 complaints,
Credit Union Association with
three complaints referred and
the Ghana National Fire Service
and the Teachers Fund receiving
a complaint each.
Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the Bank suspended
in-person mediation meetings
and resorted to virtual meetings
and the creation of WhatsApp
platforms to facilitate the
Newmont Ghana has
successfully sold
3,500 Koz of gold to
the Bank of Ghana,
the nation’s central
bank, in the first domestic gold
purchasing programme.
“We are very excited to be
part of this historic transaction
and to be able to contribute our
quota yet again towards the
economic development of this
country. This is a great example
of how mining is critical to
national development and we
are happy to be blazing the
trail as the country’s leading
gold producer,” Dave Thornton,
Regional Senior Vice President,
Newmont Africa said.
Launched in June 2021, the
Bank of Ghana (BOG) domestic
gold purchasing programme
intends to increase the nation’s
gold reserves as means of
maintaining economic stability
in the country, with the
intention to purchase refined
gold from mining firms within
the country.
complaint handling process.
The central bank also
indicated that it was in advance
preparation to improve
complaint lodging convenience
with the implementation of
a full-fledged contact centre,
the deployment of the new
complaint management
software and a ChatBot solution
to augment the channels of
complaints.
“Additionally, the Bank
of Ghana will continue to
organise regular workshops for
consumer reporting officers
and compliance officers of
regulated institutions tailored
on the feedback obtained, among
others, in bid to permanently
address the issues as they
emerge," the central bank said.
“The Bank of Ghana
will continue to sensitise
consumers on their rights and
responsibilities to promote
financial literacy and capability
and reduce complaints,” the
report indicated.
Newmont Ghana
made first gold sale
to Central Bank
Newmont Ghana anticipates
that its leadership in the gold
sale agreement will be emulated
by other mining firms in
the country, as the company
continues its commitment to
value creation and contributing
toward maintaining the fiscal
stability of the country.
In 2021, the Company paid
GHc1.86M in taxes and royalties
to the government of Ghana
and paid GHc574M in similar
taxes in the first quarter of 2022.
Newmont Ghana’s community
foundations in its Ahafo and
Akyem mines’ host communities
have accrued over $54.2m and
made notable contributions in
the areas of human resource
development, infrastructure
development and micro-credit
financing support.
“We will continue to partner
with all stakeholders to create
more value for our communities
and the Region through
sustainable and responsible
mining,” Mr. Thornton added.