Business Analyst - June 21

Tuesday, June 21, 2022
REVIEW CURRICULA TO
PRODUCE INNOVATIVE
GRADUATES
In the recent past, graduates from our
universities formed an unenviable association
known as the Unemployed Graduates Association
of Ghana.
As is to be expected, the graduates came out
of the various universities with high hopes of
landing jobs mainly from the government.
However, that hope was short-lived as most of
them found themselves back home after their
mandatory national service.
So they decided to form a pressure group and
that birthed the association.
Really, we cannot blame them, paticularly,
because of some of the courses most of our
universities offer.
The curricula some of the universities run give
no room for students to be creative, think outside
the box and, indeed, prepare to establish
themselves after school.
Well, the situation is not peculiar to Ghana,
but also to other African countries, as was
articulated by the Secretary General of the
Association of African Universities (AAU),
Professor Olusola Bandele Oyidowole, at the
maiden edition of the African Academic and
Heritage Fair in Accra on May 27, 2022.
On that occasion, the professor did not mince
words when he called for the review of the
curricula of our universities to help produce
innovative graduates.
He justified his call by saying that the
universities needed a system that would produce
young people with a different orientation for a
new market.
The newspaper believes that the call by the
Secretary General is timely and managers of
universities must begin to take a second look at
the courses they offer in their respective
institutions.
It is in this regard that we commend the
managers of our educational system for turning
the attention of learners to science technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) education,
and technical vocational education and training
(TVET).
Surely, the government’s direction of
education with a focus on TVET and STEM is the
way to go if we as a nation wish to rub shoulders
with other countries globally.
The current unemployment situation
worldwide truly calls for a sober reflection on the
programmes offered in our tertiary institutions.
We need critical thinkers and skilled
individuals who will complete their courses, set
themselves up and become employers and not
employees.
We need critical thinkers who will use their
knowledge to reshape and inject new ideas to
improve themselves anywhere.
How mortgage
interest rates can
further be reduced
Dan Mohenu, Senior
Manager for
Commercial &
Retail Banking of
Republic Bank
(Ghana) PLC has offered some
explanations as to why interest
rates on mortgage facilities, and
for that matter all loans may not
go down as significantly as some
members of the public expect. .
according to Mr. Mohenu,
“mortgage loans are usually long
term in nature, however Banks
tend to finance these loans using
short term funds mainly due to
reliable flow of such funds. Banks
and other financial institutions
have invested in innovative
solutions to mobilize deposits,
however, after these deposits are
mobilized, depositors demand
high returns on funds placed with
financial institutions. Most often,
their expected investment
rates are benchmarked to the
risk free investment instruments
issued by Government”, he said.
according to him,
Government is competing with
Banks in the same domestic
market, borrowing from the
market at relatively high rates, for
example, 364-day treasury bill is
priced at 16.2% p.a., 2-year at
17.25%, 18.3% for the 5-year bond
and 20% for the 15-year bond
issued in 2019. “It is therefore
practically impossible for Banks
to lend lower since Banks will
have to price higher in order to
compete for the same funds and
will end
up being crowded out. after
factoring in various provisions,
rollover risk and making the
necessary reserves, it ends up
pushing the rates high,” he added.
Specifically, on mortgage rates,
Mr. Dan Mohenu offered some
recommendations that may lower
the cost of mortgage financing.
He advocated for long term
cheaper funding from
Government to financial
institutions.
Government could issue
“affordable Housing Bonds” at
lower rates with incentives for
investors to compensate them for
the relatively low returns.
He acknowledged the
partnership with national
Housing and Mortgage Fund
(nH&MF), where Government has
provided funding to subsidize
mortgage interest rates for Public
Sector workers. “Republic Bank is
currently offering an interest rate
of 11.9% p.a. for mortgages per
this arrangement. as a Bank, we
have currently exhausted the
funds allocated to us, and
awaiting new allocation,” he
added.
Mr. Mohenu applauded the
move by Government to acquire
lands for the construction of
affordable homes.
according to him, this will
drive down the cost of houses to
enable qualifying individuals to
purchase. “where land is
available, Government could go
into a partnership with the
private sector to develop and sell
at lower prices”, he said.
according to the Senior
Manager, Republic Bank has also
made mortgage loan repayment
flexible for mortgagors.
“we appreciate the high
interest rates and its impact on
customers; reason we have
introduced two (2) additional
mortgage repayment options to
allow customers save up to 40%
on their mortgage interest cost, by
helping them to pay their
mortgage even faster and thus
reducing their repayment period.
this is available
to existing and new
customers”.
Republic Bank continues to be
your Bank of choice for housing
finance and we appreciate the
trust customers have reposed in
us over the past 31 years.
“affordable housing is
possible. However, it must involve
partnership and buy-in from all
stakeholders and ultimately
guided by Government policy.
Once each partner knows their
role, we will be getting there as a
country” Dan Mohenu explained.