Business24 Newspaper 2nd November, 2020

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

NO. B24 / 121 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Sacrificing capex to rein in fiscal deficit worrying -T Economist

Lands Commission told to expedite work on automation of lands registration

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

he Parliamentary Committee on Lands and Forestry has advised the Lands Commission to work towards its 2022 target of ensuring that persons seeking to register their lands are able to complete the process within 30 days.

Cont’d on page 3

Int’l flights rise steadily after ease of restrictions

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu Ken Ofori-Atta, is poised to hold back government’s spending next year to control the widening fiscal deficit

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

A

Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Dr. Said Boakye has said a faster reduction in the fiscal deficit next year could mean that government will

yet again sacrifice its capital expenditure.

The impact of the coronavirus has seen government revising its deficit target for this year from 4.7 percent to 11.4 percent – exceeding the five percent target contained in the fiscal responsibility act which has

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since been suspended.

Government’s desire to return to compliance with the five percent fiscal rule in the short term means that drastic measures would have to be taken.

Cont’d on page 2 INTERNATIONAL MARKET

USD$1 =GHC 5.7027

BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL

POLICY RATE

14.5%

NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS

GHANA REFERENCE RATE

15.12%

GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

11.4% OF GDP

PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

0.9% GHC 5.13

S

ince the reopening of the country’s air borders in September, information from the Ghana Airports Company has revealed that 19 airlines have fully resumed flight operations to the Kotoka International Airport.

CORN $/BUSHEL COCOA $/METRIC TON COFFEE $/POUND:

Cont’d on page 3 Follow us online:

$41.26 2.622 1,922.57 329.50 $2,339.27 $109.65

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22

NEWS/EDITORIAL Editorial / News

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2020 MONDAY NOVEMBER 14 2, 2020

EDITORIAL Editorial

Pay before boarding order needs a rethink

Land administration reforms must be thorough

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Wash your hands 2

Cover your cough 3

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The new directive for all condition for boarding of flights country� s COVID-19 testing hana’sto pay for land changed. This affects regime.

While it is a fact that reforms to KIA.” passengers their has administration system of project such as the Land Administration COVID-19 test online before their predictability T h e n e w d i re c t ive , h a s The CPA� s Chief Executive arrival has at Kotoka International undergone several completion and projection of Officer, Project Kofi have yielded some however, been described by Kapito, said in as Airport has been meet with reforms over the years. And cashflow. fruits,asthere is no doubt want that we airlines as detrimental to the much the government to resentment by airlines and renewed efforts to stimulate curb imported cases of the rightly so because the land Also worrying is the lack need to consolidate these gains passengers. demand for air travel, given that respiratory disease, it must not tenure system has been the of information as far as the and work even harder.

At a time when passengers are cash payments remains the burden the passenger but charge cause several to disputes. of registering Lastisweek, the to Parliamentary predominant mode of property payment what enough cover their still coming terms with the process Indeed,� GHC the 900� land market in in Ghana.

Most travelers. landowners cost commitee Lands for most Ghanaian and not on to profit from and the US$150 mandatory passenger. payment for COVID-19 test upon Ghana is characterised by a doAnnotairline know the processwho of Forestry has advised the Lands operator arrival at KIA, the new directive wishes to remain anonymous, “Look around you number of issues relating to land registering property. These Commission to Africa work and towards has generated more debate. told Business24 that “The cost is see that what is paid in Ghana for title insecurity, encroachment challenges in the land market its 2022 target of ensuring that Passengers travelling to Ghana already too high and now this the test is the highest. Why of public multiple sale of with going factorstothat persons to register newassociated policy is also be should thatseeking be� ” will from lands, Tuesday, September 15 are residential lands, property productive lands are able to complete i m p l eunlocking m e n t e d .theT h e r e a r e their be required to high make online delay He also raised questions about hundreds of Ghanaian traders payments for the mandatory registration cost, and general capacity of land. the process within 30Memorial days. why the Noguchi to organised buy goods recently to retail Institute C O Vmarket I D - 1 9 indiscipline. t e s t a t K o t o k a who land At travel a forum The Committee in its report for Medical Research of International Airport prior to in the country. the University of Ghana, was not One of the challenges by policy think tank IMANI on the budget performance boarding of their flight, a “Most of them don� t carry that any made handle the a people panelists agreed of theto Ministry of testing Landsfor and d i r e c t iface v e bin y Fregistering r o n t i e r Ghana, electronic payment cards to be reasonable fee but rather a H e a l t h Cisa rthe e � t inability h e c o mof p athe ny a property robust administration Natural given Resources last able to payland online.

They should contract to a for foreign contracted to carry out the Lands Commission to provide system provides opportunities year, expressed dissatisfaction have the flexibility to pay cash company to do what Noguchi antigen test at KIA--to all airlines when they arrive.” handle. information on the true owners to unlock the productive could with adequately the progress made to on Friday has revealed.

The Consumer Protection expedite Business24 would like of to urge of the land. capacity of land. automation land B y t h e n e w d i r e c t i v e , Agency � CPA� has also raised a flexible approach that allows In some are cases, one to would In countries where secured administration services.

“Passengers required show critical questions about the passengers to either pay online have negotiated and purchased land title is guaranteed, land This paper believes that the proof of payment to airlines as a relatively high cost of the or cash on arrival. materials to begin construction serves as collateral for small and committee’s dissatisfaction is of a project, and later have to medium businesses to access understandable as the country contest ownership of the land in finance, sell property and cannot afford any more delays court because the information support broader community to completing these key CONTINUED FROM COVER on ownership received earlier development goals. reforms. that the desired outcomes are outbreak had transformed their team structures to the new way of achieved and the economy operations, the bank chiefs working in order to maximise brought back on track.” responded that the immediate efficiencies of digital banking, Mr. Awuah� s remarks were response was to enforce remote and ensure less-paper operations reinforced by majority of the top working while realigning workers� and requirements for social distancing. In the long run, these bank executives who responded roles.

For instance, in 2017, GDP base.

Continued from cover measures may result in possible While the majority, 69 percent, to the survey. The respondents government spent about GH¢6.4 Mr. Martey explained said: layoffs for some whose jobs of respondents indicated that advised Bank Minister of Ghana on CAPEX against a target “if revenue is going to the perform, But as the Finance Kento billion report remote working will become a become automated,” increase stakeholder consultation of about GH¢7.2 billion.

During without a significant push Ofori-Atta appeared before permanent said. option going forward, in order to propose more 2018 2019consensus fiscal years, economic on recovery, thenof Parliament last week to deliver the the findings there wasand general that in Commenting beneficial policies. spent GH¢3.33 have scale government’s estimates for government the survey, may which wasto on the the new norm will only ultimately lead government This, they said, will help and GH¢4.6 billion, on“The somenew of normal� its tax reliefs theme banks� to the shedding of workers whose back the first three months of 2021, billion estimate the timelines and extent jobs have become response PwC� s automated. against targets of in order to to saveCOVID-19”, further revenue a lower capital expenditure, respectively, to which the policies of the Country Senior Partner, Vish “ M o s t b a n k s i n t e n d t o among other measures, as a way GH¢8.53 billion and GH¢6.2 losses or maybe even reintroduce regulator will remain available. permanently incorporate remote Ashiagbor, cautioned that for billion. some tax handles. But all these of S obringing m e r e the s p ofiscal n d e ndeficit t s s idown m p l y working as an option available to workers that survive the digital measures might be coming to 8.3 percent looked probable. thought that there was the need staff based on their roles. 12.5� of tax p roearly g re s sfor i o n an , talready hey h ave Other options too feebleto “It looks like taming the deficit for detailed guidelines from the banks confirmed that they have upgrade their skills to remain economy which is yet to recover is becoming and veryBank difficult and government of Ghana already begun and will continue relevant. to a senior to optimum levels.” usually government does on thewhat implement ation of toAccording realign the job roles and work with Databank, He stated that would mean that measures putcapital in place to curb the economist is to reduce expenditure impact ofOur theCapex pandemic.

(Capex). in itself is not Courage Kingsley Martey, the the country may have to sacrifice big,Intotheir beginview, with. clear If indeed they government must explore full all its recovery, hence, pushing back guidance [government] to reduce was missing, want and though this other options available to bring the time the economy returns to full capacity. c o udeficit, l d b eCAPEX s h a rwould ed du r i n g down the deficit. the suffer stakeholder Dr. consultation, they Mr. Martey said that in order “If government also choose drastically,” Boakye told could not fully embed the new for government to achieve to scale back spending, we Business24 in an interview. policies in government operational projects strategy the desired compression in could face the risk of a relapse Although without detailed documented to spenda GH¢13.05 billion on the deficit ratio to GDP, there in economic recovery because directive.

CAPEX in 2021 and GH¢1.9 would be a need for at least government spending had been ADVERTISE WITH anchor US for aggregate pick a critical billion during the first quarter, three conditions, namely; Post-pandemic banking TEL: +233 024 212 2742during these uncertain demand it has over the previous years up in revenue performance, failed to meet its own projected containment of expenditure or times,” the senior economist When asked by the audit firm the sufficient expansion www.thebusiness24online.net of the said. expenditure. about how the pandemic� s

COVID-19: Banks deferred GH¢3bn in loan repayments

Sacrificing capex to rein in fiscal deficit worrying -- Economist Wear a mask Brought to you by

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News

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Lands Commission told to expedite work on automation of lands registration Continued from cover The Committee in its report on the budget performance of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for last year, expressed dissatisfaction with the progress made to expedite automation of land administration services.

It is expected that the automation of land administration services will go a long way to address challenges relating to land tenure system in the country – an issue which has been the source of multiple disputes.

The 2022 deadline is part of a raft of reforms to transform Ghana’s land administration system.

Notwithstanding, the Committee commended the Lands Commission for reducing the turnaround time for other services such as deeds registration.

The average time for deeds registration reduced from 42 days in 2018 to 30 days by the end of 2019 with official searches also

Francis Manu-Adabor is Parliament’s Chairman on Lands and Forestry

reducing from 15 days to 10 days during the same period.

Budget performance The committee’s report revealed that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources exceeded its revenue collection target in 2019 with Internally Generated Funds (IGF) for the

year under review being exceeded

by GH¢88.9m.

The Ministry had projected collecting GH¢374.6m but ended up with GH¢463.5m.

An amount of GH¢90.7m out of the IGF collected was paid into the Consolidated Fund while a total of GH¢298m was retained

by the agencies and GH¢74m was paid to third parties including the Traditional Authorities as stipulated by the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands.

Furthermore, the report revealed that although an initial amount of GH¢525.9m was approved by Parliament for the implementation of the Ministry’s activities for the 2019 fiscal year, the amount was revised downwards to GH₵506m during the mid-year budget review.

Nonetheless, as at the end of the year 2019, an amount of GH₵696m representing an increment of GH₵189.7m was released to the Ministry and its agencies.

The Ministry attributed the budget overruns to the payment of allowances for beneficiaries recruited for the Youth in Afforestation Programme.

Sufficient funding was not provided under the Ministry’s budget to pay for the allowances of the beneficiaries, the Ministry of Finance’s attention was consequently drawn to the issue and additional funding was released to cater for the shortfall, the report indicated.

Int’l flights rise steadily after ease of restrictions Continued from cover In the past two months, the frequency of flight schedules has ranged between twice a week to 14 times weekly.

TAP Portugal, Emirates Airlines and RwandAir are reported to be operating thrice a week; Middle East Airlines, Egypt Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Air Burkina and Kenya Airways are operating twice a week with Turkish Airlines and Air France operating four times in a week.

The others Air Cote D’ Ivoire and KLM operate five times weekly flights to the country, whereas Ethiopian Airlines, Delta Airlines and British Airways operate seven times in a week.

Qatar Airways, which started its operation to Ghana last month does between three to four flights to the country. So far, ASKY Airlines is the only airline operating a 14 times weekly flight

schedule.

Ghana’s own Africa World Airlines (AWA) is said to operate a two, three, four and fivetimes weekly flight schedules to destinations like Abidjan, Freetown, Abuja, and Lagos, respectively.

Air Maroc is the latest flight to

fully resume flight to Ghana after the reopening of Kotoka.

COVID Testing Upon lifting of the reopening of Kotoka, government-directed that all travelers coming to Ghana are to pay an amount of US$150

for instant Covid-19 testing which is carried out at the port of entry.

The mandatory testing, which is to be conducted for passengers coming into the country, forms part of directives to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and ensure that the deadly disease is not imported into the country.

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

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News

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

MTN Group reports growth in Q3 amid COVID-19

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TN Group in a statement on Friday announced a set of financial results for the third quarter of 2020, which was supported by the performance of its larger operations in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, and good group-wide growth in subscriber numbers despite challenging trading conditions which have taken a toll on people everywhere.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact lives and livelihoods across our markets, the Group has demonstrated strong operational execution and resilience,” said MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita.

To meet the increase in data and digital usage, he added that MTN had focused its investment on network capacity and resilience and modernising its IT systems, spending R16 billion in the year to the end of the third quarter.

Service revenue grew by 11.4 percent to more than R43 billion.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 13.9 percent and the group EBITDA margin widened by 1.4 percentage points to 43.3 percent, in line with medium-term targets.

“We recorded solid growth in voice revenue of 3.9 percent,

which reflects an encouraging recovery supported by the easing of lockdown restrictions,” said Mupita. “Data revenue grew by 31.9 percent, bolstered by increased demand for workfrom-home services, digital entertainment as well as online education offerings.”

The Group also reported growth of 21.0 percent in fintech revenue and 37.5 percent in digital revenue, driven by the increased adoption and usage of digital offerings.

In the quarter, MTN added 12 million subscribers to reach a total of 273 million across 21 markets, as well as adding 5.3 million active data users to 107 million. In our work to enable greater financial inclusion, we reached a significant milestone

by surpassing the 40 million MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) user mark, an addition of 3.5 million in the quarter to 41.8 million at end-September.

“Apart from greater adoption brought on by COVID-19, more people used MoMo because of enhancements to the functionality of the MoMo app, the large increase in registered MoMo agents, as well as the integration of MoMo into our instant messaging platform Ayoba in some of our markets,” said Mupita.

MTN South Africa performed particularly well, sustaining its turnaround, with an acceleration in its core consumer and enterprise business units.

MTN Nigeria recorded a solid result with some recovery in

revenue growth under difficult operating conditions, and MTN Ghana delivered another good performance.

As part of its asset realisation programme, MTN Group completed its exit from its 18.9% investment in e-commerce venture Jumia as well as the localisation of an 8% shareholding in MTN Zambia, realising net proceeds of approximately R2.3 billion and R204 million respectively.

Looking ahead, Mupita said the Group remained focused on managing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on its staff, customers, networks and the balance sheet and liquidity profile of the Group. Through its Y’ello Hope initiative, it would continue to support those stakeholders who have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

“Despite the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, the operating environment remains challenging and uncertain.

We will continue to build on our operational and financial resilience. We have now increased our full year forecast for capital expenditure to R26 billion, to ensure that our networks provide reliable connectivity and digital services to all of our 273 millionand-growing subscriber base,” he said.

MSMEs to benefit from funding under new Enterprises Agency law

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

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icro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country will soon benefit from a fund that is expected to be established by the Ghana Enterprises Agency, a parliamentary report has revealed.

According to the report, through the Ghana Enterprises Agency Bill, 2020, which is under its second reading in parliament, government intends to provide funding for the MSME sector especially those in rural areas.

Contributing to the discussions in Parliament, the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay explained that the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) as it is today is not structured to meet requirements of MSMEs going forward hence the need to give it more impetus under the new law.

“The new Enterprises Agency

Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay flanked by Ato Panford (MP for Shama and board chairman for NBSSI and Mrs. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, Executive Director of NBSSI

has part of its responsibility to create a fund that is directly targeted at the MSMEs. This is very important because we know that many businesses require GH₵1,000 to GH₵3,000 to do their businesses.

If parliament passes the bill and the President assents to

the bill, we will then have an agency that has the tools, arms, legs and the ability to be able to truly impact our MSMEs,” he told Business24 in parliament.

Given the significance of the bill, it may be passed under a certificate of urgency as soon as practicable.

MSMEs play a critical role in national development and economic transformation. They constitute about 92percent of businesses in Ghana, account for about 85percent of manufacturing employment and contribute about 70percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

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News

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Government gets US$200m World Bank support to establish Development Bank

T

he World Bank Board of Executive Directors last Friday approved US$250 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to support the establishment of the Development Bank of Ghana (DBG) to increase access to long term finance and boost job creation for 10,000 enterprises in key sectors including agribusinesses, manufacturing and high value services.

“By offering long-term wholesale financing, credit guarantees, and other services, the Ghana Development Finance project will help increase overall lending to priority sectors and market segments,” said Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

“The project is aligned with government priorities outlined in the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies and is an integral part of the World Bank Group’s efforts to promote sustainable growth in Ghana. “ The Ghana Development Finance project is expected to increase the number of viable Micro, Small, Medium and Enterprises (MSMEs) with access to long-term financing. It will provide financial services to about

Pierre Laporte

10,000 enterprises, including 2,000 women-led MSMEs, and therefore contribute to economic growth and diversification.

The project will also strengthen the oversight of development finance institutions and the adoption of Environmental and Social standards by financial institutions.

In addition, DBG will finance multiple interventions to attract private sector financing for credit-constrained MSMEs and small companies based in Ghana.

“These interventions will include

the establishment of a Partial Credit Guarantee facility and a digital financing platform to leverage private sector financing by making it more efficient and less risky for private financiers to lend to MSMEs,” said Carlos Vicente, World Bank Senior Financial Sector Economist.

The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zerointerest loans for projects and programs that boost economic

growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.

IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa.

Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries.

Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $21 billion over the last three years, with about 61 percent going to Africa.

FBNBank Ghana supports fight against polio

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BNBank Ghana, a subsidiary of First Bank of Nigeria, has donated an amount of GH¢20,000 to support Rotary Ghana, the Ghana National Polio Plus Committee and selected Rotary Clubs mostly in the Ashanti region in the fight against polio in Ghana.

This is to help Rotary and

its partners roll out a polio immunization exercise for children between zero months to infants of up to 59 months.

Even though Africa has now been declared polio free, there remains work to be done to ensure polio stays out.

Making the presentation to mark the International Polio Day

celebration in Kumasi, Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana, Victor Yaw Asante, emphasised the bank’s commitment to promote the health and wellbeing of children.

“FBNBank Ghana, a bank that continually strives for excellence, drives the financial industry through offering of innovative

Nana Yaa Siriboe of Ghana National Polio Plus Committee receiving the cheque from Mr. Victor Yaw Asante, FBNBank Ghana MD/CEO. Looking on are Philip Afari and Isaac V. Asante-Kwatia of FBNBank Ghana

solutions to our customers, opportunities for our employees and support the communities in which the bank operates finds it important to partner with Rotary International to tackle head-on, and eradicate Polio in Ghana and beyond,” he said.

He said he is optimistic that the bank’s support to Rotary in the fight against polio will go a long way in changing the world and ensure that the gains achieved over the years are sustained.

Mr. Asante urged Rotary and its partners not to relent in the fight against polio. He commended the efforts of Rotary and its partners on the huge amount of work it has done to make Africa polio free.

He underscored the need for all benevolent entities to come join in supporting the fight against Polio.

“We hope by this gesture, other well-meaning players in corporate Ghana will also support the drive to completely eradicate polio” he added.

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

MODEC and Partners support 4 National COVID-19 Testing Centres with over USD 600,000 Bolstering the efforts of government and critical institutions in managing the transmission of COVID-19 in Ghana

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ccra, October 28 2020 MODEC, Inc. (“MODEC”), a leading provider of floating solutions in the upstream petroleum industry, and its partners namely, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui”), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (“MOL”) and Marubeni Corporation (“Marubeni”) through their partnership in the FPSO Prof.

John Evans Atta Mills are throwing their weight behind national efforts in protecting lives and livelihoods from the COVID-19 pandemic by providing over USD 600,000 (approx. 3.5 million Ghana Cedis) to support the four (4) National Testing Laboratories/Centres in Ghana.

The USD 606,600 donation comprises PCR testing kits to test over 10,000 samples, laboratory equipment, consumables, reagents and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (“NMIMR”), Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (“KCCR”), Takoradi Veterinary Laboratory (“TVL”), and National Public Health Reference Laboratory (“NPHRL”) in Sekondi to augment their critical work of testing, detecting and tackling the spread of COVID-19 across the country.

This donation by T.E.N. Ghana MV25 B.V., a joint venture company which engages in a charter project of the FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, goes further to also help to fund the set-up of the Sekondi NPHRL, under the Ghana Health Service, by providing essential laboratory equipment and consumables for testing an additional 1,000 samples in its initial operations. Some of the equipment include state of the art PCR Testing Machine/Optical Reaction Module and Thermal Cycler, BIOHAZARD vertical laminar airflow cabinets and Centrifuge with aerosoltight

Rotor worth over USD 78,000.

Besides delivering basic molecular testing, the startup of this new laboratory offers a second COVID-19 testing facility and capabilities to supplement the efforts of TVL and to support the Central and Western regions of the country, reaching approximately 5.6 million people.

“A timely and effective test and trace system is important to mitigate the transmission and spread of the novel corona virus. This becomes increasingly imperative as the country eases restrictions and returns to some levels of normal activities,” said Theophilus Ahwireng, Managing Director, MODEC Production Services Ghana JV Ltd. (MPSG) at the presentation ceremony in Accra. “It is for this reason that MODEC and its partners are supporting the country’s commendable efforts to provide adequate opportunities through these identified laboratories and testing centres to help early detection and minimise the spread of the virus”.

Reflecting on the donation by MODEC and partners , Hon. Dr. Bernard Oko Boye the Ghanaian deputy Minister of Health, remarked, “We are very glad to have such a donation at this time, especially since some people think that the fight against the virus is over. Our objective is to reach zero active cases and we are committed to rigorous testing, detecting, and tracing. This can be achieved with such partnerships. I thank MODEC and its partners for their consistency in the area of health.”

Receiving the items, the directors of the beneficiary institutions Prof.

Abraham Anang (NMIMR), Prof.

Richard Phillips (KCCR), Dr. AduKuma (TVL) and Solomon Asante Sefa representative of NPHRL in turn commended MODEC and partners for the exemplary display of corporate social responsibility.

Together with its client, Tullow Ghana Ltd and with the support of the Ghana Health Service, MPSG has to date managed safely the impact of COVID-19 on its operations on FPSOs namely, the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah and the FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills while delivering strong operational performance this year.

In May this year, The Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber of which MPSG is a member - also donated essential PPE to the KorleBu Teaching Hospital in Accra to assist frontline health workers tackle COVID-19.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Contact: MODEC Production Services Ghana JV Ltd. Name: Maxwell Owusu Address: Unit 9 / 10 , 335 Place, Parcel No. 88, Block 6, N1, Dzorwulu Telephone: +233 244 313 598, +233 302 215 250 and +233 302 634 555.

About MODEC and Partners MODEC and its partners (Mitsui, MOL and Marubeni) make up a joint venture company known as T.E.N. Ghana MV25 B.V., which engages in a charter project of the FPSO Prof.

John Evans Atta Mills.

MODEC, Inc. (“MODEC”) has been providing competitive floating solutions for the offshore oil and gas industry and is recognised as a leading specialist for floating production systems such as Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels and Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs). MODEC has an excellent track record of EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation) as well as charter and operations projects. MODEC was responsible for the engineering, procurement,

construction, mobilization, installation and commissioning of two (2) Ghanaian FPSOs, namely, FPSO Kwame Nkrumah for Jubilee fields and the FPSO Prof. John Evans Atta Mills for the T.E.N fields.

MODEC Production Services Ghana JV Ltd. (MPSG) is a subsidiary of MODEC Inc. MPSG (which is a joint venture company with JILMEC - an indigenous Ghanaian company with expertise in exploration, production and oilfield Engineering & Logistics services is the operator of FPSO Kwame Nkrumah in the Jubilee fields and FPSO Prof.

John Evans Atta Mills in the T.E.N fields on behalf of Tullow Ghana Ltd. and its partners contributing approximately 80% of Ghana’s oil production.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui”) is one of the most diversified and comprehensive trading, investment and service enterprises in the world, with 133 offices in 65 countries.

Mitsui is multilaterally pursuing business that ranges from product sales, logistics and financing, through to the development of major international infrastructure and other projects.

Mitsui O.S.K Lines, Ltd. (“MOL”) is one of the world’s largest fullline marine transport groups with over 130 years’ experience in the world shipping industry. MOL leads the world shipping industry by responding to customers’ needs with a diversified business portfolio.

Marubeni Corporation (“Marubeni”) is one of the Japanese leading trading companies with a total of 136 offices in 68 countries around the world. Marubeni’s business interests cover a broad range of sectors and extend to investment, development and management of energy and infrastructure projects on a global level.

9

Feature / News

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020

The effortless business networking

D

o you ever find it a struggle to get up for your Business Networking meetings?

There’s not much you can do about the fact that you’re an owl rather than a lark, but wouldn’t it be that much less effort getting up if you knew that business networking itself was a good deal easier?

The thing to do is to concentrate on making it easier for others to follow up on that initial contact (your pitch). Do you have a compelling call to action? This will make your business stand out and increase the chances of others approaching you at coffee time.

The best way you can phrase your call to action is like this: • State your special offer.

• Invite anyone who wants to take advantage of the offer to simply give you their business card and you will do the rest.

This is in marked contrast to “Visit my website and sign up for my free report” or even “Come and talk to me later and I will arrange a free consultation”. A visit to your website gets added to your prospects ‘to-do’ list, which

is no doubt already longer than Mr Tickle’s arm. The invitation to come and talk to you may not be convenient if the person in question has to rush off or gets into an unexpected conversation with their own prospective client.

are sure to find more ideas in this area.

Authored by: Business for Breakfast (BforB)

Ask for their business card, and all they have to do is spend 3 seconds handing their details over.

Business for Breakfast (BforB)

There are lots more ways you can make it easier for others to start a business relationship with you. Spend time observing how the most successful networkers at your meetings operate, and you

Business for Breakfast (BforB) is internationally recognised for creating successful networking meetings, events and training for referral marketing. Our global offices are in Australia, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, Slovakia,

Ghana and headquartered in UK. We create an environment where you can build quality relationships within your group, backed up by an ongoing member support programme. BforB is committed to helping small to medium scale businesses expand. In our professional network, members meet regularly in business networks to develop relationships, support each other and to share and record referral business.

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Mobile intelligent banking enables digital transformation in Financial Services Industry

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oday, the Financial Services Industry has undergone enormous changes with more and more banks focused on developing mobile platforms which aims at providing services online conveniently.

This greatly expands the interaction between financial institutions and customers, and also creates a more unique business and service model.

Although almost all the banks are talking about digital transformation, it’s clear that different banks operate in different ways. Some focus on the retail business, some on mobile first, whiles others center on open banking but basically, the banks want to provide agile and secured banking services to customers as they get to know and serve them better.

Huawei has provided 5 business solutions based on its business model to promote services rendered by financial institutions.

The first is the Mobile banking service which enables banks to build mobile channels and offer secured mobile financial services for customers. The second solution is known as the new core banking which provides instant

services like savings and loans for customers in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

The third is the smart branch solution which leverages on cutting edge technologies like 5G, Wifi6 and AI to improve customer experience. The fourth solution is the new data lake platform.

And the last solution is the new infrastructure architecture which promotes innovative development of businesses using the Huawei Cloud Platform.

Huawei’s New Core Banking solution is dedicated to help banks in the implementation of digital transformation. And based on this practice, the banking industry are equipped to build a bi modal architecture which migrates the traditional banking software architecture to an innovation one step by step.

Huawei’s cloud strategy is a hybrid technology which supports the provision of both on premise and public cloud services making it much easier to connect Huawei’s cloud to the third parties’ cloud to meet the multi cloud strategy of customers.

Cloud, is indeed a very broad topic with many components and products.

Huawei alone has over 4,300 Private cloud customers and more than 1,000 Big Data customers.

As the Leading ICT Solutions and Equipment provider Huawei’s equipment are ranked amongst the top 3 products by third parties globally. For example, the Huawei server is ranked No.3 and their storage is ranked No.1 globally.

Huawei’s IT Infrastructure products helps in the sustainable and robust growth of economies.

From 2014 to 2019 the (CAGR) Compound Annual Growth Rate of their IT products have been 48.5 percent.

Huawei also provides Industry Leading Enterprise Network Products. As ranked 3rd in the report, Huawei’s network Platform for SDN ranked in

the position of leadership. The Huawei Data Center switches ranked No. 2; Wi-Fi 6 No. 1; Routers No. 2; Campus Switches No. 2 and Optical Transmission No. 1 which has changed the dynamics making more and more customers opt for Huawei.

In the Financial Services Industry, more than 1600 companies and 45 of the top 100 banks have chosen Huawei as their digital transformation partner.

As a long-term goal, Huawei is committed to helping customers achieve efficient, agile and cost-effective services by reconstructing the ICT architecture and promoting innovation in mobile financial sector.

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What is our right to health?

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rof Renata Schoeman, head of the MBA in Health Care Leadership programme at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB), says COVID-19 highlights the need for people to take personal responsibility for their health.

The public health crisis of COVID-19, requiring citizens to be vigilant about hygiene measures like hand sanitising, has not only turned the spotlight on the basic human right of access to healthcare, but also on the need for people to take personal responsibility for their health.

“If nothing else, the vulnerability to COVID-19 infection of people with serious underlying medical conditions that are not well-managed, such as respiratory conditions, asthma, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and compromised immune systems,[i] has shown that achieving the healthy nation that South Africa needs for productivity and economic growth will take more than universal free healthcare,” says Prof Renata Schoeman, head of the MBA in Health Care Leadership programme at the University of Stellenbosch Business School

(USB).

Social determinants of health – such as safe living environments, access to healthy food, education, employment, and the health of the surrounding environment – play as much of a role in creating healthy communities, along with lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise and substance abuse. “...we confuse health care with health – having access to care is not a promise of health.”

“The continued focus on health as a human right, and on the accessibility of care, disempowers people from taking responsibility for their own health. And we confuse health care with health – having access to care is not a promise of health,” she said.

Prof Schoeman, a practicing psychiatrist said that viewing health as a personal and social value, rather than exclusively as a right, would increase personal responsibility and “investment” by people in their health – a critical factor in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

“When people are given the opportunity to be active participants in their own care, instead of passive recipients, and

their human rights respected, the outcomes are better and health systems become more efficient.

“It doesn’t help to have free healthcare, such as the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI), but people make poor lifestyle choices – in terms of healthy eating, exercise and substance abuse, for example – and don’t take responsibility for their own health,” she argues.

“The NHI alone, as a strategy to fund healthcare, is only part of the solution.”

Prof Schoeman points out that health goes beyond the absence of disease and is influenced by genetics along with social and economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, housing, education, nutrition and the health of the surrounding environment.

The NHI alone, as a strategy to fund healthcare, is only part of the solution, she says.

Pointing to the success of disincentives to unhealthy lifestyles, such as “sin taxes”, and incentives such as discounts and loyalty rewards for healthy food purchases, as measures for promoting health and preventing disease should be extended to the public sector, and would be

“significantly more affordable” than the NHI. “Ensuring access to healthcare is a social and government responsibility, but this needs to go along with promotion of health, which goes beyond the health system to entrenching health as a shared, social value, and this is the task of all those involved in shaping and influencing values – families, schools, the media and the legal system,” Prof Schoeman said.

She emphasises that governments need to think beyond simply the accessibility and funding of healthcare, to the quality of the health care as well as “getting the basics right” in terms of addressing poverty and unemployment, health promotion and prevention strategies, and safe and healthy living environments.

Reference [i] https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/needextra-precautions/people-athigher- risk.html CONTACT DETAILS Dr Marietjie van der Merwe USB Representative Marie@ globalnatives.com +230 606 2341 / +230 5 701 1362

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Aviation

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SpiceJet: Indian airline turns to seaplanes to boost travel T he country’s biggest regional airline has approval for 18 seaplane routes.

One of these routes is to Kevadia, the site of the world’s tallest statue - an 182-metre tribute to the country’s first home minister, Vallabhbhai Patel.

During the pandemic, SpiceJet is focusing on new sources of revenue, including transporting cargo and regional flights using smaller planes.

Airlines have struggled during the coronavirus to remain profitable and many have gone bust, including the UK’s Flybe and Virgin Australia. Many others are on the brink of survival and have made severe job cuts.

Some airlines have been looking at alternative ways of generating revenue. These include flights to nowhere and airplane meal delivery.

SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh said the seaplanes would help improve regional connectivity an initiative being encouraged by the Indian government - “without the high cost of building airports and runways”, thanks to the planes being able to take-off and land both on small water bodies and short airstrips.

India’s Prime Minister

Narendra Modi is expected to join the first flights from Ahmedabad to Kevadia on Saturday, the 145th anniversary of Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth.

The landmark built in his honour, referred to as the Statue of Unity, sits in the state of Gujarat and is double the height of the Statue of Liberty.

The 30-minute flights will operate through its subsidiary Spice Shuttle and start from 1,500 rupees (£15.40) one-way.

Twin Otters SpiceJet will be using Twin Otter 300 seaplanes, built by planemaker de Havilland Canada. They can seat up to 19 people, including passengers and crew.

“The Twin Otter is very popular among smaller operators, and is frequently used as a seaplane, most notably in the Maldives,” said Greg Waldron at FlightGlobal magazine.

“Its small size allows it to

reach locations that would not be accessible or practical for larger aircraft.”

SpiceJet started conducting seaplane trials in India in 2017 in Nagpur, Guwahati and Mumbai. It has been exploring air connectivity through water bodies such as rivers or inland waterways.

During national lockdowns in India, SpiceJet remained active flying repatriation flights for more than 1m Indians.

Japan’s first passenger jet in decades put on hold

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lans for Japan’s first homegrown passenger plane in more than five decades have been frozen as the airline industry suffers from a deep drop in demand.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the company behind the new SpaceJet, is cutting its budget for the project.

Long-delayed, the Mitsubishi SpaceJet has missed six delivery deadlines going back to 2013.

Test flights in the US were suspended this year due to the virus pandemic.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Friday it would freeze development of its SpaceJet regional jet to bolster other parts of its business.

The company posted a 62.5% fall in its second quarter operating profit.

The SpaceJet suspension will help it lower costs by 120bn yen

Big rivals

(£900m), the company said.

Severe downturn The decision to cut back on funding was prompted by the downturn in the airline industry brought on by coronavirus travel curbs.

Airlines around the world have been forced to shrink

operations to survive.

While Japan has seen some rebound in domestic demand helped by government travel subsidies, international travel is still a fraction of what it was before the outbreak.

Japan’s biggest carrier ANA Holdings was due to be the new plane’s first customer.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a key supplier to commercial aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus who dominate the industry.

The Japanese government encouraged the SpaceJet programme in a bid to establish itself as a global commercial plane maker.

“Airbus and Boeing have global reach. This is critical in terms of after sales service and maintenance support,” said airline industry consultant John Strickland.

“It’s difficult for others to attempt to replicate this.”

China also has ambitions to be a major planemaker with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac).

BBC

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The growing animus between Information Technology and Information Security

By Sherrif Issah Introduction The rapid need for Information Security (IS) in the operations of organizations has led to the formation of Information Security Departments or units (ISDs).

ISDs are gradually becoming ubiquitous in organizations due to business requirements, regulations and legislations.

Information Technology (IT) has been an integral part of most organizations due to its importance and enormous benefits. To help realize the benefits of IT, Information Technology departments or units (ITDs) have been existent in most organizations. ITDs have always predated ISDs in most organizations, especially in Africa and Ghana in particular.

With my experience in both IT and IS, I have realized that in organizations where the ISDs are younger than the ITDs, there always seems to be some level of animosity between them.

This development ultimately affects the overall progress and productivity of the organization within which they operate.

This article seeks to dissect this development and propose solutions for curtailment.

Responsibilities of ITDs & ISDs ITDs and ISDs undertake several responsibilities based on the industry or organization within which they operate.

ITDs are generally responsible for effective internal and external communications, data management, technological innovations, increasing productivity, and ensuring the security of IT systems. They support the attainment of business goals and expansion

plans, solve complex business problems through technology, provide data to support better decision making, and help the organization to be competitive.

They also provide customer support, enhance customer relationship and experience, support effective management of organizational IT resources, and the continuity of IT dependent business processes.

ISDs are generally responsible for ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all organizational data/information.

They ensure adequate protection of all information assets and business processes across the organization. They also implement and maintain IS policies and standards, provide IS awareness training and education for all employees, identify IS related risks and recommend countermeasures, and continuously monitor and protect the organization against IS threats. They support business continuity activities as well.

The issues It is evident from the preceding section that, both ISDs and ITDs have information security related responsibilities. However, some level of animosity is eminent when undertaking their respective responsibilities. This sometimes feeds into the corporate politics of the organization and degenerates into something else.

This animosity arises for various reasons; including the under listed.

In situations where the IS team are persons who migrated from the ITD, it becomes difficult for their former team members to easily corporate with them, especially when it comes to enforcing IS policies and standards. The IT team sometimes

see their former colleagues as becoming “powerful� within the organization, hence some level of animosity sets in. I have witnessed a situation where the Head of ITD was very adamant to cooperate with his/her former subordinate(s) who had migrated to the ISD. His/her case was more of a superiority complex.

Also, in situations where the IT team shows some consistent level of non-cooperation with the IS team, the IS team also tends to develop some level of animosity towards them. This generally leads to squabbles and pettiness among them.

Some members of the IS team seem to abuse or become too bossy in dealing with the IT team, which easily degenerates into animosity, as not everyone is capable of accommodating such attitudes.

There is sometimes a lack of good human relation skills on the part of both teams. Some of the team members lack communication, negotiation, decision making, and conflict resolution skills. Mutual respect is also sometimes minimal or nonexistent.

In organizations where there are weak IS policies and enforcement regime, individuals in these teams tend to do things their own ways, thereby resulting in conflicts between them.

Finally, lack of understanding is also a key factor. Team members from these two departments sometimes are unable to easily relate or comprehend the issues under discussion: either genuinely or deliberately.

They are sometimes unable to compromise their stands on very petty issues.

How to ensure cordial cohabitation

In order to ensure cordial cohabitation of the ISD and the ITD, both team members need to have mutual respects for each other, put away their egos and put the interest of the organization first, acquire and demonstrate good human relation skills and comply with organizational IS/IT policies and standards.

Top Management needs to properly conscientize the two teams to peacefully coexist, train them on human relation skills, institute strong IS policies, and ensure strict enforcement. They should also ensure that violators of IS policies and standards are dealt with, and ensure proper governance of IT and IS. Conclusion The role of ISD is to complement the work of ITD, and not to antagonize it. ITD should not see ISD as an obstacle to its business processes; but a value addition.

The role of ISD is to ensure that all the responsibilities of ITD are delivered in a secure manner.

They need to work in tandem to enhance the productivity and security of the organization.

Both teams need to take cognizance of the fact that, good human relation skills are key to the success of their business functions.

When top management refuses to institute measures to curtail this situation, the organization will be the ultimate loser in this battle.

Author: Sherrif Issah – (IT GRC Consultant | PCI-QSA | Trainer @ Digital Jewels Ltd., | Editorial Board Member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana) For comments, contact author mysherrif@gmail.com | Mobile: +233243835912

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Globalization needs rebuilding, not just repair

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second term for US President Donald Trump would complete the demolition of the post-war international economic system.

Trump’s aggressive unilateralism, chaotic trade initiatives, loathing of multilateral cooperation, and disregard for the very idea of a global commons would overpower the resilience of the web of rules and institutions that underpin globalization. But would a victory for Joe Biden lead to a repair of the global system – and, if so, of what kind? This is a much harder question to answer.

There will be no lack of eagerness to erase Trump’s legacy, either in the United States or internationally. But an attempt merely to restore the preTrump status quo would fail to address major challenges, some of which contributed to Trump’s election in 2016. As Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute has pointed out, the task ahead is one of rebuilding, rather than repair. It should start with a clear identification of the problems that the international system must tackle.

The first priority should be to move toward a commonsoriented system. The preservation of global public goods such as a stable climate or biodiversity was understandably ignored by the architects of the post-war international economic order, and (less understandably) was still a secondary priority in the system’s post-Cold War partial renewal. Policymakers focused on visible linkages through trade and capital flows, rather than on the invisible ties that bind us to a common destiny, which helps to explain why the rules and institutions governing the latter are still much weaker.

Biden’s intention to rejoin unconditionally the 2015 Paris climate agreement is to be welcomed, but it will not by itself turn the accord into an ambitious, enforceable program. The large number of players and the strong

temptation to let others shoulder the burden make preserving the global commons notoriously hard. Even in the area of health, solutions to date do not measure up to the challenge.

Climate action is critical.

Absent an elusive global consensus, efforts will have to rely on a coalition whose members converge on hard targets and on border-adjustment mechanisms applicable to trade with third countries. Implementation will be fraught with difficulties. Success will require agreeing on which trade measures are acceptable and which are just covert protectionism. That is a high bar to reach. Having already indicated its intention to introduce a border adjustment, the European Union is on the front line here. This is a major responsibility.

The second priority is to make the global economic system as rivalry-proof as possible.

Regardless of who wins the US presidential election on November 3, great-power competition between the US and China will continue to dominate international relations.

But the Cold War analogy is misleading, because today’s protagonists are major economic partners. Whereas the Soviet Union’s share of US imports never exceeded a fraction of a percentage point, China currently accounts for 18%. Die-hard US advocates of decoupling wrongly view further Chinese development as a national security threat and want to end this interdependence in an attempt to halt China’s economic rise. As the Peterson Institute’s Nicholas Lardy has argued, however, a general decoupling from China would be a “highcost, low-benefit policy.”

The question, then, is how to recognize the reality of geopolitical tensions while containing their impact on global economic relations. The relevant comparison is not with the Cold War, but with the pre-1914 rivalry

between Britain and Germany in the context of the first major period of globalization. Contemporary claims that economic ties made war unthinkable were proved wrong. But as long as states refrain from fighting a real war, a strong multilateral regime can help repress their temptation to wage it through other means.

Europe is the biggest of all bystanders. It risks suffering collateral damage from the fight between the two global giants, both of which have started bullying it. But the EU is not toothless. It should stand up for the rules-based international economic order and lead the fight against its weaponization. As the European Council on Foreign Relations argued in a recent report, the bloc should start by equipping itself against economic coercion.

The third priority is to strengthen safeguards for workers and citizens. Already prevailing doubts about globalization have grown as a result of the US-China trade conflict, rising inequality, and the realization that in a situation of acute stress such as the pandemic, advanced economies could struggle to procure simple equipment.

Citizens and workers want an economic system that better protects them. Governments have taken note, and want to show that they care. The question is how.

The primary response should be domestic: from education and training to place-based revitalization and redistribution, there is much that governments can do, but neglected in the heyday of free-market globalization. Now is the time for new policies.

But experience has shown that few national governments can carve out a complete response without a supportive global environment. Individual countries cannot curb global corporate tax avoidance and aggressive regulatory competition by themselves. Policymakers

globally should acknowledge that the sustainability of economic openness depends on whether its benefits are distributed in a fair way. And, as Harvard’s Dani Rodrik has long argued, the global system should both promote openness and allow room for national adaptation.

Each of the three goals – taking care of global public goods, containing the weaponization of economic relations, and making the system fairer – is challenging.

Combining all of them will be daunting. Never in history were rival power centers compelled to cooperate in addressing common threats of a comparable magnitude.

It is not hard to imagine how policymakers might use the commendable goals of avoiding carbon leakage or buttressing what Europe now calls “strategic autonomy” as pretexts for outright protectionism.

Moreover, how will the world avoid a global economic breakup if China is simultaneously seen as a national-security threat, a reckless polluter, and a destroyer of social rights? Such challenges will severely test leaders in the years ahead.

About the author

Jean Pisani-Ferry, a senior fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel and a senior non-resident fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, holds the Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa chair at the European University Institute.

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Restrictions in trade to contain COVID-19 have been devastating for Africa’s urban poor

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Kenyan flower exports to Europe fell 50%, affecting about 1 million people. Getty Images

rade routes have been significantly disrupted this year in efforts to contain COVID-19. The effects of this are already showing: global growth is set to contract by 4.9% and growth in sub-Saharan Africa will contract by 3.2%.

This will get worse if continued restrictions further impede trade. The World Trade Organisation has warned that at worst, global trade could collapse by a third this year, and at best, it will contract by 13%, similar to the recorded drop after the 2009 financial crisis.

This has fundamental consequences – both direct and indirect – for many. For instance, within the first few weeks in March when some trade routes were initially suspended, flower exports from Kenya to the European Union fell by 50%, affecting around a million people.

Trade enables formal firms to flourish, which will be essential for economic recovery. It also protects the urban poor operating in the informal economy against poverty and hunger. The continuation of trade is even more essential for their survival as they operate without an adequate safety net.

Restricting trade also affects supply and prices. Import disruptions have resulted in shortages, including food, and prices have spiked. This has brought economic hardship to small traders and consumers across the continent.

In the current economic climate, trade is not a luxury that can be temporarily avoided.

In Africa, there’s a growing

body of evidence showing that firms – from large to very small – have been severely affected by restrictions in the movement of goods and people. For many this means not only losing a livelihood, but a direct impact on their ability to meet basic needs.

Economic impact on formal firms A study of formal firms in Uganda found that exports fell by 57% at the start of its lockdown, compared to a year earlier. It also found that imports, which these firms rely on to produce, fell by 43%.

The researchers of the study simulated what would happen with continued import reductions of this magnitude.

The results were devastating: 6.6% of all formal firms in the Ugandan economy would likely have to close, resulting in a reduction of formal employment by 4.7%.

Fortunately, the Ugandan government ensured trade could continue throughout lockdown.

Exports and imports started to rebound relatively quickly.

The impact of slower trade has also been tracked in Ethiopia, where a survey of firms showed that trade disruptions affected a fifth of small, medium, and large firms due to a lower supply of raw materials and intermediate goods, as well as the restricted movement of workers.

The importance of the role played by formal firms can’t be overstated. Evidence suggests that in sub-Saharan Africa the labour productivity of formal

firms is four times higher than that of informal firms. This is because formal firms are able to scale and specialise in a way that informal operations cannot. In addition, across the continent, taxes on incomes, profits and capital gains accounted for around 25% of all national tax revenues.

But smaller informal firms will have an equally crucial role to play in the recovery.

Urban informal sector In developing cities, most firms operate in the informal sector, accounting for more than 66% of employment across the continent.

A 2016 census of informal firms in the Greater Kampala area showed that informal firms were very small: about 60% have only one employee and 70% have an annual turnover of UGX 10 million (US$2,700) or less. Over 90% of micro firms were operating close to, or at, the poverty line.

The challenge for the poorest of these firms operating in cities is that the majority of their income is used to buy food in urban markets. Therefore, trade is not only a question of economic activity, but more importantly of survival. It is also why the urban poor are the hardest hit by lockdown measures.

Evidence from a small-scale trader survey in Lagos showed that during the lockdown, most firms were making zero revenue.

And these effects seem to be persistent: in Sierra Leone, for example, where the economy

has reopened, profits for these firms are still nearly 50% lower than pre-lockdown levels.

In Uganda, which has by some estimates already eroded nearly 10 years of gains in poverty reduction efforts, the sharpest spike in poverty levels to date was in the capital city, Kampala.

It is also why there have been increases in hunger and malnutrition across the country.

Uganda is not alone: simulations of an eight-week lockdown across Africa show that eight million people, including 3.9 million children under five years, would be severely food deprived.

Trade is not a luxury Rethinking global guidelines on handling pandemics is not an easy task given that the contexts to which they will be applied are extremely diverse. Perhaps the most efficient guidelines will be those that allow for targeted, data-driven, flexible and localised approaches.

Understandably, however, during this pandemic and for future ones, much of the world also looks for global standards set by bodies like the World Health Orgnisation. But when setting these standards it is important to remember that for many, health versus the economy is a false dichotomy.

Rather, for many in poor urban areas, trade is not only a means of making ends meet, but of avoiding the trap of poverty and hunger.

Source: The Conversation

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How the controversial Nile dam might fix Sudan’s floods

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nprecedented flooding in Sudan this year led to the deaths of more than 100 people and affected 875,000 others.

Entire residential neighbourhoods were destroyed while power and water supplies were disrupted when the River Nile recorded its highest level in living memory.

Some experts said that if the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, upstream on the Blue Nile tributary, had been fully operational, the effect on Sudan would have been less disastrous.

Ethiopia started building the dam in its northern highlands, from where 85% of the Nile’s waters flow, in 2011 and this year the reservoir behind the dam started to fill. When it is fully operation in several years’ time it will become Africa’s largest hydroelectric plant.

But it has been fraught with controversy as Egypt, which is downstream, fears the $4bn (£3bn) dam will greatly reduce its access to water.

Negotiations, which have not reached a deal, are centred on how fast to fill the dam - and Sudan has been stuck in the middle.

Salman Mohamed, a Sudanese expert on international water law and policy, says Egypt’s Aswan dam shows how flood waters can be regulated effectively on The Nile.

“We lost people, and properties of billions of pounds, but look at Egypt - they haven’t lost a single seedling because they normally keep the flood water in their high dam and we don’t have one like that, so the Ethiopian dam could have saved all that,” he said.

Sudan does have eight dams on The Nile.

“But our dams are too small,” says Dr Mohamed, who is a fellow at the International Water Resources Association.

“Egypt has managed to use the flood water it collected for its agricultural projects in the desert.”

Safety concerns During fraught talks over the filling of the dam and how much water it should release - which recently restarted under the auspices of the African Union Sudan has tended to side with Egypt.

This stance was adopted under the government of former President Omar al-Bashir - and the generals who remain part of the transitional government now ruling Sudan after the 2019 coup

are strong allies of Egypt.

Sudan’s negotiator under Bashir, Ahmed El-Mufti, had also raised concerns about safety and security of the dam.

He said that if it was destroyed, it could damage the entire region, including Sudan’s capital, Khartoum - where the White and Blue Nile meet.

In fact Sudanese officials are walking a tight rope to avoid any conflict.

This was not helped last week when US President Donald Trump said - whilst on a joint phone call to the Sudanese and Israeli prime ministers about the restoration of their countries’ relations - that Egypt might “blow up” the dam.

Asmaa Abdallah, Sudan’s transitional foreign minister until July, has always maintained dialogue is the only solution.

Sudan wants to have a peaceful resolution as it can see the benefits of the mega dam - not only in terms of regulating flood water, which is often a problem.

‘Source of African pride’ According to Dr Mohamed,

it will also enable Sudan’s own dams to generate more electricity as well as buying cheap and clean electricity from Ethiopia.

He says it will also allow for three growing seasons - at the moment crops are harvested around October or November - but if the flow is regulated, farmers will be able to plant and irrigate more often.

In years of drought, when usually there is very little water the dam would ensure a supply.

As it is Sudan only uses about 12 billion cubic metres or 64% of the water it is entitled to annually under the 1959 treaty signed with Egypt over sharing the resources of the Nile, says Dr Mohamed.

Given that the UN says about 10 million people in Sudan are facing food shortages this year - partly caused by coronavirus lockdown measures - he can only see the long-term benefits of the mega dam project.

Opinion on the streets in and around the capital tends to be more in sympathy with Ethiopia.

“We support them because we share sentiments towards the

Ethiopian people,” said Salah Hassan, a 44-year-old father of one whose home in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, was partly damaged in the floods.

Mohamed Ali, a 37 year old living in Khartoum North, sees it as a source of African pride - and a job opportunity for many.

“There are millions of Ethiopians residing in Sudan now, but I think after the dam will be built they will go back to their country along with many Sudanese people to work there,” he says.

“I support the dam 100% as any project that benefits the African people will be great.

“People in the Horn of Africa suffered a lot and they need to have such big developmental projects.”

But until the dispute is settled over how Ethiopia’s dam is regulated, it remains unsettling and worrying for those living and farming along the world’s longest river.

BBC

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Covid: 1,700 employers planned redundancies in September

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ritish employers planned making redundancies at close to a record level in September, as the second wave of coronavirus took its toll on jobs.

Some 1,734 employers notified the government of plans to cut 20 or more posts, close to the peak levels seen in June and July.

Those were the highest levels seen since 2006, the earliest date for which figures have been published.

The data was released to the BBC after a Freedom of Information request.

September saw an increased number of restrictions introduced around the UK as a second wave of Covid-19 infections took hold.

A number of big businesses, including Lloyds Bank, Shell, Virgin Atlantic and the Premier Inn owner Whitbread were among those announcing plans to cut staff.

The total number of positions notified as at risk in September was 82,000 - down on the peak in the summer, but three times the

level of the previous September.

“What we may be seeing is firms who were intending to bring people back deciding that they

can no longer do it because of the worsening economic climate,” said Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies.

How will the end of the furlough scheme affect redundancies?

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n September, employers were asked to pay a greater proportion of the costs of staff members on furlough, with the scheme due to end completely on 31 October.

On 24 September, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a new scheme to support jobs hit by the crisis, and in early October he announced further measures to support employment at businesses in areas hit with new local restrictions.

A government spokesperson said: “Protecting jobs is an absolute priority and our Plan for Jobs will help more businesses safeguard them as we head into winter. Our updated Job Support Scheme makes it easier to keep staff on and further adds to our £200bn Covid-19 response to protect jobs, incomes and businesses.”

October’s redundancy figures will be the first to cover a full

“

If the new job support scheme goes down well, we might see some of these redundancies not being completed.

But if employers don’t take it up, we might see another uptick in October,”

month when employers have known what will replace the furlough scheme.

“If the new job support scheme goes down well, we might see some of these redundancies not being completed. But if employers don’t take it up, we might see another uptick in October,” said Mr Wilson.

Employers are obliged to notify government when they plan to make 20 or more staff redundant in any single “establishment” using an HR1 Advance Notice of Redundancy form.

This data picks up an increase in redundancy plans long before the Office for National Statistics’ redundancy figures, which appear with a lag of several months.

ONS numbers showed 227,000 redundancies between June and August, a record increase of 113,000 on the previous threemonth period, confirming the surge in HR1 redundancies reported by the BBC in the summer.

Firms often make fewer job cuts than they initially plan.

However, any redundancy process involving fewer than 20 people doesn’t need to be reported, so in the past the ONS redundancy figures have mostly been higher than the HR1 numbers.

Employers in Northern Ireland file HR1 forms with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, and they are not included in these figures.

Marriott Hotels fined £18.4m for data breach On that basis, the ICO said that hit millions

T

he UK’s data privacy watchdog has fined the Marriott Hotels chain £18.4m for a major data breach that may have affected up to 339 million guests.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said names, contact information, and passport details may all have been compromised in a cyberattack.

The breach included seven million guest records for people in the UK. The ICO said the company failed to put appropriate safeguards in place but acknowledged it had improved.

The first part of the cyberattack happened in 2014, affecting the Starwood Hotels group, which was acquired by Marriott two years later.

But until 2018, when the problem was first noticed, the attacker continued to have access to all affected systems, including: • names • email addresses • phone numbers • passport numbers • arrival and departure information • VIP status • loyalty programme numbers

Marriott had failed to protect personal data as required by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

“Millions of people’s data was affected by Marriott’s failure,” commissioner Elizabeth Denham said.

“Thousands contacted a helpline and others may have had to take action to protect their personal data because the company they trusted it with had not.”

Different types of data were exposed for different guests, and some of the estimated 339 million may have represented duplicate records for repeat guests, making an exact count impossible.

Despite imposing a fine, the ICO acknowledged that Marriott had acted quickly once it found the flaw, and had improved its systems since.

In a statement, Marriott wrote that it “deeply regrets the incident”.

“Marriott remains committed to the privacy and security of its guests’ information and continues to make significant investments in security measures for its systems.

“The ICO recognises the steps taken by Marriott following discovery of the incident to promptly inform and protect the interests of its guests,” it said.

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2020