Ghana has been lauded for its performance under African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA); more than doubling its exports to the United States to about $300 million between 2016 and 2017, reflecting a general growth of African exports to the US under AGOA.

A senior research fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. Kojo Asante, has warned the youth that unemployment will not end “anytime soon” hence the need to work towards a society which can take care of them.

Millicom International Cellular S.A. ("Millicom"), the parent company of mobile operator Tigo Ghana Limited, announced today it has completed the transaction announced on March 3, 2017, with Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”), the parent company of Airtel Ghana, to combine their operations in Ghana.

The successful closing will see both companies hold equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity. 

The Airtel - Tigo merged entity in Ghana will be the second largest mobile network operator in the country.

It is envisaged that the combined business will offer improved coverage and better quality of service to customers in both urban and rural Ghana, enabling wider access to communication solutions for businesses and mobile financial services to the Ghanaian customers.

Through an efficient delivery of superior customer experience, high-speed data, innovative product mix and wider network coverage the new combined business will challenge the market leader, improve the competitive dynamics of the telecoms sector and in the long-term, strengthen the mobile ecosystem.

The shareholders have appointed Roshi Motman as CEO for the merged entity.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The Head of Banking Supervision at the Bank of Ghana, Raymond Amanfu, has hinted that there will be some layoffs at UT Bank and Capital Bank due to the transfer of deposits and assets to GCB Bank.

But essentially all staff of the two banks will become staff of GCB Bank, he suggested.

The Central Bank on Monday announced a Purchase and Assumption transaction with GCB Bank as a result of the revocation of the licenses of UT Bank and Capital Bank.

In a statement issued on the deal, the Central Bank said new terms of contract will be reached with staff.

The statement said one of the key factors in finally settling on GCB Bank – out of three bidders – as the purchasing bank is its ability to employ staff of the two banks.

Addressing the media on Monday, Mr Amanfu said the situation is not unusual with banks.

“Every bank has its ups and downs in seasons,” he observed.

“It is your ability to resolve the issues when they occur [that counts].”

Customers of the two banks will henceforth be customers of GCB Bank.

“The Bank of Ghana reassures customers of UT Bank and Capital Bank that their money is safe and they can continue to do business at their respective branches which are now the branches of GCB Bank,” the Central Bank’s statement concluded.

Source: 3news.com

A former Managing Director of Amal Bank (now Bank of Africa) Menson Torkonu has urged customers of UT and Capital banks not to panic in the wake of news that the Bank of Ghana has approved the takeover of the two banks by GCB.

“I don’t believe anybody is going to lose money,” he said Monday August 14, 2017 on Morning Starr, adding: “I will tell all customers not to panic at all.”

A statement from the BoG approving the takeover said the “Bank of Ghana has revoked the Licenses of UT Bank Ltd and Capital Bank Ltd.”

It added, “This action has become necessary due to severe impairment of their capital. The remaining assets and liabilities will be realised and settled respectively through a receivership process to be undertaken by Messers Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nana Nipah of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Meanwhile, the BoG has given assurance that it will be business as usual at both banks today.

“The main offices and branches of UT Bank and Capital Bank will be under the control of GCB bank and will be opened at 1pm today for normal business transactions. Customers of UT Bank and Capital Bank are now customers of GCB bank.

“All deposit customers will continue to have access to their funds. UT Bank and Capital Bank branches and ATMs will continue to operate as normal as GCB bank branches and ATMs. All staff in the interim will become staff of GCB bank and GCB Bank will negotiate the terms of their contract.

“GCB was selected amongst 3 others on the basis of purchase vice, cost of funding, branches to be retained, staff to be employed and impact on the acquiring bank’s capital adequacy ratio.”

Source: starrfmonline.com

Adom News can confirm on authority that Sudan Telecom (Sudatel) has finally sold all of its shares in Kasapa Telecom Limited (Expresso Ghana) to a buyer who still remains a mystery.




The deal has been indicated on page nine of the company's 2016 Third Quarter Financial Report dated September 2016 and published November 2016 on its website.

The Report stated clearly that shares held in a Kasapa Telecoms in 2015 was 82% but shares held in 2016 is 0%.

Adom News had earlier reported that Sudatel had admitted in its 2014 Fourth Quarter Financial Report that in 2013 it entered into a shares purchase agreement (SPA) with an unknown buyer, and the buyer initially paid $5 million for 18 per cent shares.

The remaining 82 per cent shares were transferred to an escrow agent pending the fulfillment of the conditions set out in the SPA for onward transfer to the mystery buyer.

Sudatel also stated categorically that "At December 31, 2014, the operations of Kasapa Company Limited (Expresso Ghana) have been classified as discontinuing operations and a disposal group constituted for the sale."

Indeed, the report on Kasapa Telecom Limited then was clearly labeled "DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS" in the Q4 2014 report.

Sudatel's various financial reports indicate it has held 100% shares in Kasapa Telecoms (Expresso Ghana) since July 2008.

But the company has since been struggling to survive, largely because of international sanctions on Sudan, which made it difficult for Sudatel to transfer cash to recapitalize its Ghana operations.

As a result, the company has declined into insignificance over the past nine years and that has been characterized by the frequent change of Managing Director, the consistent monthly decline in customers, huge and numerous debts, months of unpaid salaries, staff agitations, and a number of legal battles over ownership.

The last caretaker Managing Director of the company was a former National Security Capo, Col. Larry Gbevlo. Currently, it is not clear who is at the helm of affairs at Expresso operationally, but popular senior Ghanaian Journalist and social commentator, Kwasi Pratt is the Board Chairman.

Frustrated workers, creditors, retailers

Currently, the workers of the company are still oblivious of who the new owners are, meanwhile months of salary arrears remain unpaid.

When Adom News contacted a top management member of the company about the sale (name withheld), he admitted to being completely ignorant about the sale which was announced way back in November 2016 on the company's website.

Meanwhile, the company's long list of creditors, including real estate owners, devices dealers, vendors, utility service providers and others have been chasing the company for debts.

The sole CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) players also continue to lose hold of its stake in the market as customers continue to abandon the network by the day due to bad service.

As of April 2017, it subscriber level had declined to a paltry 23,264, from about 400,000 at the time Sudatel took over.

Recently, recharge card retailers likened Expresso Ghana to the embattled micro finance company DKM, because the retailers said they invested heavily into Expresso products and now it has become bad debts for them because no one is buying those products and Expresso has also refused to take them back and refund their money.

NCA

Sudatel has still not announced who the buyer is and the telecoms regulator in Ghana, National Communications Authority (NCA) has also not been informed of the sale and who the buyer is.

Indeed, the NCA itself had said it has no formal notice of any transfer or sale of shares in Kasapa Telecom to and from Sudatel.

As of December 2013, the only company known to have gone into exclusive negotiations with Sudatel for the purchase of a Kasapa Telecom was Ghanaian-based Jospong Group's Subah Infosolutions Limited.

Following the expose of conflict of interest in the Jospong Group's attempt to buy Expresso the company came out to admit it wanted to buy Expresso but had pulled out.

That claim was subsequently confirmed by the then Expresso Ghana Managing Director, El Amir Ahmed El Amir in an exclusive letter to this writer.

Later on, it emerged, as per a press release on Sudatel's website, that it had concluded the sale of Expresso Ghana to an unnamed buyer.

But Sudatel later denied that information as well, citing translational error, from Arabic to English, in their own press release.

The current Q3 Report on its zero per cent shares is in English and in figures so it is clear Sudatel has sold all of its shares in Kasapa Telecom. The buyer, however, still remains a mystery.

Source: adomonline.com

The government has earmarked GH¢456 million as seed capital to support 80 private enterprises approved by the one-district, one-factory Secretariat to participate in the implementation of the one-district, one-factory programme.



According to a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Perry Kwabla Okudzeto, the secretariat under the Ministry of Trade and Industry had so far received 350 applications from local and international investors for consideration under the policy, explaining that 80 of the private enterprises had been given approval while others were still under discussions.

Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting organised by the Sunyani West District Assembly at Odomase in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Okudzeto expressed the government’s readiness to start the programme.

The meeting, which brought together assembly members, traditional authorities and a cross-section of people, afforded the participants an opportunity to interact with the deputy minister and ask questions for clarification on government policies and programmes.

Mr Okudzeto took his time to explain to the participants how the government was going to implement some of its flagship programmes such as the Free SHS Education policy, the one-district, one-factory programme, Planting for food and jobs, the Zongo Development Fund, and the $1 million per constituency among several others.

Some of the issues raised by the participants included the criteria for qualification under the Free SHS education policy and the sustainability of the programme and when projects under the Zongo Development Fund were going to be implemented.

There were also issues such as the rehabilitation of feeder roads to ensure smooth transportation of foodstuffs under the Planting for food and jobs and calls for support of traditional rulers towards the president’s fight against illegal mining among others.

Mr Okudzeto said the government would ensure that it establishes factories in the districts to process raw materials, as well as create employment for the teeming youth in the country.

He said the government was working hard with development authorities to ensure the disbursement of the funds under the one million dollars per constituency programme, adding that measures were put in place to ensure smooth implementation of the programme.

“We are also going to create the Northern Development Authority, Middle Belt Authority and the Costal Development Authority to spearhead and coordinate how the one million dollars per constituency is implemented,” Mr Okudzeto stated.

He explained that under the policy, opportunities would be given to people at the local level in collaboration with the district and the Members of Parliament (MPs) to select a project for their constituencies for implementation.

Mr Okudzeto added that the one million dollars per constituency fund was not a replacement of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DAC) but rather an additional fund to support the already existing funds for the various assemblies.

Mr Okudzeto assured Ghanaians that the government would continue to engage them in its decision-making process and charged assembly members to educate the public on government policies and programmes.

The Sunyani West District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Martin Obeng, explained that the assembly had put in place modalities for the successful implementation of the various policies and programmes.

He also called on assembly members to interact regularly with their communities to identify and feed the assembly with the pressing needs of those communities.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

MTN Ghana on Wednesday held its Mobile Money stakeholders conference, as part of activities for the month-long celebration on the need to address barriers in mobile transactions.



The conference held under the theme: “Addressing barriers to mobile money payment adoption in Ghana’’, was to find solutions to improving mobile payments and service in the country.

Mrs Georgina Asare- Fiagbenu, Senior Manager, Sustainability and Social Impact, MTN, said the workshop was an integral part of the mobile money month activities which is aimed at gaining insight into the mobile money industry from critical industry players.

She said the mobile money month is an annual campaign with a month long series of activities organised in August to promote and sensitize the public on the benefits of a cashlite society.

Mrs Asare- Fiagbenu said the mobile money economy in Ghana is growing at a rapid pace and by 2016 MTN recorded about 485 million mobile money transactions adding that the growth did come with its own challenges.

She said it is important to engage stakeholders to bring out ideas and solutions to help steer and navigate through the challenges that hinder the adoption of mobile payments in the country.

“We at MTN hope to rope in a greater percent of Ghanaians on the mobile money platform at the end of the year in line with the Bank of Ghana’s national policy for a cashlite economy.”

Mr Eli Hini, General Manager, Mobile Financial Service, MTN, said the mobile financial service is gradually taking a centre stage in the financial banking sector and this is making banking more convenient.

He said the time has come for Ghanaians to move from cash into a cashless society, where all business transactions would be done through mobile money.

Mr Hini said the introduction of mobile money service in 2009 had a vision of making financial transactions fast, simple, convenient, secure and affordable through the use of mobile phones.

He said in addressing the barriers there is the need to put in place regulations, as well as government support and digital address systems, customer education, security, technology merchant acceptance, partnership as well as connectivity.

Mr Hini said “mobile money would deliver value for all of us, but putting in the right processes in place would lead us to the point of addressing all the barriers associated with the payment adoption.

Dr Settor Amediku, Head of Payments, Bank of Ghana, said some of the challenges facing the mobile money industry include network failures, agent liquidity or float.

“Electronic money issuers, agents, guidelines, branchless banking guidelines, as well as the passage of the Payment Systems and Services Bill 2017, would help address the barriers to mobile money payment adoption”, he said.

Dr Amediku said in addressing the barriers to mobile money, regulators can provide support by ensuring the enforcement of market conduct and customer protection regulation, developing agents’ registry assuring consumers of protection and monitoring of float accounts, and providing enabling regulatory environment.
Mr Derrydean Dadzie, Chief Executive Officer of DreamOval, said mobile money is the most cost effective way to drive financial inclusion and with mobile money, Ghana would be able to attain 70 percent financial inclusion by 2020.

He said to achieve a cashlite society or address the barriers to mobile money, it is important to introduce the cash withdrawal tax, to make it expensive to withdraw cash and expensive to carry money, adding that public education, is needed in this effort.

Mr Dadzie said mobile money is not in competition with the banks but rather promoting financial inclusion.

He urged mobile money operators to reduce the perceived high cost of mobile money transactions, standardise some of the operational models and address the listed areas of concern.

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Pressure is mounting on the newly sworn in members of the board of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to push interest rates down.



The development follows demands from the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for them to reduce the current high-interest rates in the country.

Ghana has one of the highest interest rates in the world, with the average base rate at 26.3 percent, while its policy rate, the rate at which the central bank lends to banks is at 21 percent.

Ghana together with Argentina (24.75%), Mozambique (23.25%), Gambia (23.00%), Malawi (22.00%) and Haiti (20.00%) constitute the six countries with policy rates above 20 percent.

There has been growing agitation among depositors over the past months over the high rates, as other rates – treasury bills and policy rates keep declining.

Speaking to new board members of the central bank after he swore them in this afternoon, the Vice President Dr Bawumia said the recent decline in policy rate must be transmitted in the lending rates of banks.

‘Your mandate is to see how the financial sector can play its responsible role crowding in the private sector to get access to credit affordably which means we have to think seriously about bringing interest rates down. We know that the Bank of Ghana has been bringing the policy rate down and as we stabilize the macro economy, bring about fiscal consolidation; better anchored inflationary expectations then you will see stability in the currency. And so while we achieve that macroeconomic stability, we expect the decline in policy rate is also transmitted to lending rates in the country among the banks’.

The 13 member board has the Governor of the Bank of Ghana Dr Ernest Addison as its Chairman.

The Governor’s two deputies Dr Maxwell Opoku Afari and Dr Johnson P Asiama are also members of the board.

Other members of the board are Mr Charles Adu – Boahen, a Deputy Minister of Finance and Dr Eugenia Amporfu.

The rest are Mr Keli Gadzekpo, Dr Kwame Owusu – Nyantekyi, Dr Samuel Nii Noi Ashong, Mr Jude Bucknor, Mr Joseph B Alhassan, Mr Andrew Boye- Doe, Dr Maria Hagan and Mrs Comfort Ocran.

Source: citifmonline.com

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has bemoaned the lack of political will by Member States towards the integration process in the ECOWAS sub-region.



According to him, had it not been the lack of political will, the subregion could have attained maximum economic growth than its present state.

“In our view, since the ECOWAS integration process started in 1975, we should have made more progress than today. Because of lack of political will, member countries are not opening up to each other. It is about time we open up to each so that we all enjoy the benefits of economic integration,” he noted.

Dr. Bawumia made this observation when a delegation from the ECOWAS Parliament led by the Speaker, Hon. Moustapha Cisse Lo, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra on Wednesday.

Members on the Delocalized Joint Committees on Education, Science and Technology & Communication and Information Technology of the ECOWAS Parliament are presently in Ghana to brainstorm on the educational systems in the subregion.

The event is under the theme: “Status of harmonization of the educational systems and programs in West Africa with specific reference to the equivalence of degrees, ranks, certificates and other qualifications.”

Dr. Bawumia commenting further said it was bcause of this challenge (lack of political will) that the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has started talking to his peers in the region to open up to each to fast-track the integration process.

To live by example, he said Ghana would from September 1, 2017, remove all domestic barriers to promote the free movement of people as well as goods and services between member countries.

Ghana and Togo, he noted, have for instance, started a 24-hour border operations.

Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Moustapha Cisse Lo, on his part lauded Ghana for playing a key role in the integration process in the subregion.

He was very hopeful that with the level of commitment exhibited by President Akufo-Addo towards the subregion’s integration process, he will further work to ensure that all existing trade barriers are removed.

“We are sure that the President will assist us to achieve our goal,” he noted

Source: kasapafmonline.com