Business24 Newspaper 3rd December, 202

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

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Friday December 3, 2021

One per cent e-levy acceptable – Haruna Iddrisu

NO. B24 / 282 | News for Business Leaders

The supply-chain mess

See page 5

See page 13

Fin. Comm. vice chair expects budget drama to end ahead of appropriation

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

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he Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central and vice chairman of the Finance Committee, Patrick Yaw Boamah, is hopeful the drama surrounding the approval of the 2022 budget will come to an end as lawmakers get ready to consider sectoral appropriations from next week.

The past few days in Parliament have experienced a rejection and approval of the 2022 Budget Statement by the minority and majority respectively, with either caucus justifying their actions Cont’d on page 2

The past few days in Parliament have experienced a rejection and approval of the 2022 Budget Statement by the minority and majority respectively

FDA boss tasks industry to produce quality goods for AfCFTA

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

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hana will only be able to tap the opportunities of the single continental market if its producers and manufacturers build healthy and quality brands and products that can survive the

Greek businesses invest over US$100m in Ghana

By Henry Martinson

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nvestments by Greek businesses in the Ghanaian economy have so far reached over Cont’d on page 3

Cont’d on page 3

Cont’d on page 2 Cont’d on page 2

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Editorial / News

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Editorial

A right call to produce quality goods for the single market

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hana’s effective participation in the single continental market will be underpinned by its level of exports to other participating markets. Trade in goods will require that we build a robust industrial base for the biggest market on the continent.

One thing that is hindering public taste for locally made goods and products has been quality and taste and that has given rise to the influx of imported consumables on the domestic market. But this trend cannot continue with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

It must be noted that promoting quality global brands is a shared responsibility of both

regulators and manufacturers who will be required to play their respective roles in ensuring the highest quality of goods are provided for both local and global consumption.

There must be a conscious effort for Ghanaians to enjoy and consume goods that meet the taste of sister imported commodities that have flooded our markets. But this can only be achieved with the strict adherence to culture of standards.

The Food and Drugs Authority is leading this charge by ensuring that locally-made products for both domestic and global consumers are produced and marketed at the highest standard and will.

What is left is the streamlining of its regulatory processes and ease roadblocks to ensure quick access to the market for clients whilst safeguarding public health.

Our local industries and manufacturers must produce goods, especially consumables that are quality and of the right standard for both the local and continental markets; that is products that can survive the competition from similar or like products that will be coming to the single market from other African nations.

We believe strongly that it is only when we produce quality and standard goods and products that we can fully take advantage of the AfCFTA

Fin. Comm. vice chair expects budget drama to end ahead of appropriation Continued from cover

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and interpreting the laws to suit them.

Following the approval of the budget by the majority caucus, next up are the budget estimates and appropriations, which will require both sides of the divide to examine and approve.

An appropriation act provides for the withdrawal of sums

of money necessary to meet government expenditure from the consolidated fund and other public funds. Appropriations are decided by Parliament through various committees.

Speaking with the press on the recent happenings in Parliament in relation to the budget, Mr. Boamah said he hoped and prayed that the situation would normalise as the

budget’s consideration enters the appropriations stage.

The government has said it will not hesitate to make changes to the portions of the budget being opposed by the minority and some industry players.

It said it was prepared to engage all parties and stakeholders to have concerns about the budget resolved in the best interest of the populace.

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FDA boss tasks industry to produce quality goods for AfCFTA Continued from cover test of time and compete strongly in the Africa-wide market, says Delese Mimi Darko, the Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

Speaking at the 5th Global Business Quality Awards and Conference in Accra, she indicated that quality brands enable producers and manufacturers to benefit from the local market, and also expose local goods and services to massive patronage in international markets.

“The government’s agenda to establish more industries and to create job opportunities is yielding positive results. This, coupled with the opportunities that the African Continental Free Trade Area presents, sets the stage for businesses to work shoulder-to-shoulder with regulators to engender the culture of quality required for the sustainable growth of the Ghanaian economy,” she said.

“Businesses must remain committed to excellence and seek out collaborators in the journey

towards growth. The effects of the global pandemic have been harsh, but it has also created new opportunities and challenges for businesses by forcing us all to innovate,” she added.

According to the FDA boss, promoting quality global brands and business leadership in Ghana is a shared responsibility, urging regulators and manufacturers to play their respective roles in ensuring the highest quality of goods is provided for both local and global consumption.

She said the FDA remains committed to ensuring that

locally-made products for both domestic and global consumers are produced and marketed at the highest standard and will, for that reason, streamline its regulatory processes and ease roadblocks to ensure quick access to the market for clients whilst safeguarding public health.

“Africa is also fast uniting and very soon we will have harmonised quality standards across the continent, making doing business even easier. This has already been accomplished with Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation Initiative, one that

covers all medical products,” she added.

Mrs. Darko said FDA remains committed to its topmost priority of achieving global excellence in regulation of food and medical products to provide world-class services locally for made-inGhana products.

The Global Business Quality Awards and Conference is an initiative of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana to recognise and reward makers of top-quality products and goods on the Ghanaian market.

President and Founder of EFG, Sam Ato-Gaisie, said the awards seek to promote the culture of quality across the local industrial landscape amid the influx of substandard imports that do not offer value for money.

“We seek to encourage both local and foreign businesses that are producing top-quality goods and services to drive the nation’s import-substitution agenda.

We believe that is one way of reducing the pressure on the cedi and wastages from imported cheap and fake products on the local market whilst promoting the creation of lasting businesses for job creation,” he indicated.

Greek businesses invest over US$100m in Ghana Continued from cover US$100m, says Greece’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias.

He disclosed this when he paid a visit to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, in

Accra.

The visit is considered historic as it is the first time in the history of Ghana-Greece relations that a Foreign Affairs Minister from Greece has visited Ghana.

Mr. Dendias urged his Ghanaian counterpart to reciprocate the

gesture by visiting his country.

He also extended an invitation to President Akufo-Addo to visit Greece.

The two ministers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on political and socioeconomic cooperation between

the two countries. As part of the MoU, the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister donated about 150,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from his country’s government to the government of Ghana.

“The purpose of my visit is also to open the way for Greek businessmen to invest and do more. I believe there is a lot we can do together. Africa will be the power house of the world, and Ghana is already the power house of West Africa,” Mr. Dendias said.

For her part, Ms. Botchwey expressed delight at the level of Greek investments in Ghana. “$100m in investment already, and your visit here means we can increase that. Ghana hosts the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, and so investing in Ghana means investing in a potential 1.2bn African market that is expected to grow to 2bn by 2050. And so we hope the Greek businesses will continue to invest in West Africa, which is a 350m market, in the areas of agriculture and tourism.”

According to Ms. Botchwey, Ghana can also learn best practices from Greece’s tourism sector to improve Ghana’s.

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

One per cent e-levy acceptable – Haruna Iddrisu

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he Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, says his side will readily accept a reduction of the proposed electronic transaction levy (e-levy) to one per cent from the 1.75 per cent.

"A week ago, it was no no no, we won't accept e-levy but having listened to officials in government, including the Minister of Finance ... I am convinced to accept a departure from my original no to accepting a one per cent e-levy," he said.

Mr Iddrisu said this at the 10th Anniversary launch of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications in Accra on Thursday.

Pegging the e-levy at one per cent was a great contribution to fiscal consolidation and would ensure the economy did not collapse going forward, he said.

The digital economy was doing well and had facilitated a revolution in financial inclusion, hence it was unwise to overburden the telecommunication sector, Mr Iddrisu said.

“We are not against it but we want it fixed at one per cent.

We fear for double taxation because we already have the communication services tax," he said.

The Member of Parliament of Tamale Central initially disagreed with the deduction fee for business transactions not exceeding the

GHc100.00 threshold a day and called for it to be pegged at Ghc 500.00.

But in a similar vein, he suggested that the money be pegged at Ghc300.00 after revising his notes.

Mr Iddrisu said Ghanaians needed to pay tax to help develop the country but not one that would further put constraints on their tight purse.

Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, alluded to the responsibility of paying tax for development considering the

budget deficits and debts.

However, he said the way taxes were introduced to generate revenue must be looked at so it did not become inimical to government's digitisation drive and financial inclusion.

Government's push for entrepreneurship amongst the youth for job creation in the face of a 1.75 e-levy was a matter of concern, Dr Ashigbey said, and that the Chamber was engaging government to see the best way out.

On the issue of widening the tax net, he said merchant payment should be exempted completely from the e-levy.

“The Chamber believes that artisans including masons, dressmakers, and painters get paid after work done and do not pay tax. They need to be part of the merchant ecosystem, and to do so there must be no levy on merchant payment,” he said.

“Once their wallet is taxed, they will venture into the merchant ecosystem, it gives government visibility of revenues they make.

Government then charges corporate income taxes at the end of the year if they file their expenditures.”

GNA

Arts and craft makers seek stronger push from GEPA

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

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he Accra Arts and Crafts Market, a marketplace for vendors and patrons of handicrafts, arts and other artefacts, is seeking more support from the state exports facilitator, the Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA) to become the prime destination for art and craft in Africa.

Currently, with the help of GEPA, the market holds monthly exhibitions for arts and craft producers and vendors across Africa to attract buyers from all walks of life, something that is boosting patronage and creating the right linkages for businesses in the sector.

As part of its market linkage activities, the exhibition provided the platform for makers of handicrafts and arts, such as artefacts, African wear, batik tie and dye, processed shea butter products, beaded accessories

etc. to showcase and sell their products due to restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We look forward to continuing to build on the visibility that GEPA has given to the arts and crafts business and hopes to deepen collaborations with the state’s exports facilitator to position the monthly market as the go-to destination for

arts and crafts all over Africa,” Manager of the Accra Arts and Craft Market, Mohammed Adnan, told Business24 in an interview at the November edition of the exhibition at the Dubois Centre in Accra.

According to Mr. Adnan, GEPA’s support has impacted the market positively in terms of access to both vendors and patrons.

“They have also actively made the effort to improve the technical aspect and look of the market. We and our vendors are very grateful to them for helping to elevate the arts and craft market to the next level where most of our businesses are being approved by people from other African countries wanting to come and buy from us,” he added.

Mr. Adnan said the market has been very impactful to exhibitors as it has enabled most of them to expand their clientele base, process orders for export and with need product addition due to collaborations amongst vendors.

He said: “Our vendors have been generating revenue via the sales they make at this market to cater for their businesses and families. We encourage them to formalize their business and to register with GEPA, some of whom have been given the opportunity to showcase their products in other markets in and out of Ghana through GEPA.”

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

PURC to factor excess capacity cost into tariffs

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nergy experts are encouraging the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to factor the cost of excess capacity accrued to the energy sector into the computation of power tariffs.

This, according to them, would help ease the burden of government in off-setting the about US$7.5 billion energy sector debt.

Based on projections made under the Energy Sector Recovery Programme, it was expected that annual sector debt would grow by US$2.7 billion with accrued debt reaching US$12. 6 billion by 2023 largely due to the Pay or Take agreement for excess capacity generated and agreements to procure more gas.

The implementation of the Energy Sector Recovery Programme which was initiated in 2019 has however helped reduce the debt by US$5.1 billion and also reduced the annual sector debt rate to US$1 billion.

Speaking on a current affairs programme, Dr Nii Darko Asante, an Energy Consultant said it was long overdue for the PURC to saddle consumers with cost of excess capacity which was currently being dealt with by the Ministry of Finance.

“In our mind, it is their problem, but we forget they will

turn around and bring things like E-levy to collect money from us,” he said.

The factoring of cost to consumers, he said, could also reduce a challenge of debt transfer where one government pays the debt of a predecessor and then proceeds to incur its own debt for another successive government.

Ghana’s debt situation has over the years been compounded by poor debt collection systems, technical and commercial losses on the part of power distributors, power theft, losing of high paid customers of ECG to Independent Power Producers, non-payment of power tariffs by some public institutions, intersectoral debt among others.

He, therefore, urged the Ghanaians to pay their bills as that could help the country procure slightly cheaper power with low-interest cost payment as

well as avoid the importation of expensive prepaid meters.

“When we have a poor payment culture and. it makes life really expensive for us. And until we change our attitudes, we will pay slightly more” he said.

Any power procurement, he advised, must go through a competitive tendering process while calling on electricity distribution companies to do more in revenue collection as the process of collection was quite unpleasant due to the human elements and interactions involved.

Mrs Harriette Amissah-Arthur, Co-Founder, Executive Partner at Arthur Energy Advisors, indicated that the debt situation was avoidable, adding that “no sector procures power it needs four or five years ahead of time and accrues the debt till we can use the capacity. ”

She also attributed the challenge to “chronic” inefficiencies in decision making which were characterised by decisions without due diligence and proper cost-benefit analysis.

“In the energy sector, the size of the projects is such that, you only need a few to get into trouble.

And also, when we make these decisions, they are long term and so if it does not augur well you have to live with it for a very long time,” she said.

The Executive Director, Institute for Energy Policies and Research, Kwadwo Poku, said Ghana was coming out of its excess capacity situation due to growing consumption of power where 2800 megawatts (MW) in 2019 had grown to about 3200 MW with a total installed capacity of 4000 MW. He however identified the foreign exchange rate as a key determiner of the debt situation where the constant depreciation of the dollar against the cedi affected the amount of debt accrued.

He also called for the installation of prepaid meters on all public facilities especially those with revenue generation capacities to reduce the debt burden.

GNA

Akufo-Addo receives first-ever international nation-builders award

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he National Black Caucus of State Legislators of the United States Congress have presented President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, with the first-ever International Nation Builders Award of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

Presenting the award to President Akufo-Addo, the President of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators of the United States Congress, Congressman Billy Mitchell, explained that the “Nation Builders Award” was established “to recognize those African-Americans who have distinguished themselves to livelong service and dedication to enfranchisement and inclusion of Americans of African discent into the national body of politics.”

Speaking at the award ceremony on Wednesday, 1st December 2021, at the 45th Annual National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Atlanta, Georgia, Congressman Billy Mitchell explained the nation build award ceremony

was renamed in 1995 to honour the late David P. Richardson, a twenty-three-year member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and NBCSL’s third President.

“I must say as the President of NBCSL, it is my belief, that we must unite and partner with our brothers and sisters of the continent and throughout diaspora. It is not lost on me that Ghana is widely regarded as the hub of pan-Africanism and the final resting place of many of our great thinkers, yes, even W.E.B. Du Bois,” he said.

Describe himself as “a student of Kwame Nkrumah”, Congressman Mitchell, I know we are stronger together and when we unite and advance the causes of our people, internationally, we are all better.

“It is for this reason I present to you this award Mr. President, for your commitment to working collaboratively to achieve the liberation of African people despite where we were born. Mr. President, I present to you, the

first International Nation Builders Award of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators,” he added.

In his remarks, President Akufo-Addo noted that Ghana’s connection with the African Diaspora pre-dates her independence, stating that “currently, we are creating platforms for adoption of legal frameworks in key sectors to drive diaspora engagements. This has culminated in the Homeland Return Bill, on which we are currently working.”

The Homeland Return Bill, he explained, recognises Ghana’s moral and spiritual obligation, as an African nation, to facilitate the return of diaspora Africans to Ghana and the motherland, and to initiate the legal and regulatory processes for integrating them into Ghanaian society.

“When enacted, the Law will provide the much needed regulatory and practical changes to improve the requirements for the acquisition of Ghanaian

citizenship and permanent residence by diasporan Africans.

Indeed, in the Year of Return, I granted citizenship to one hundred and twenty-six (126) members of the diasporan community in Ghana of AfricanAmericans and Caribbeans,” the President stressed.

He continued, “It will, in fact, be a critical indication for business and investment, presenting an avenue for Africa in the diaspora to work towards partnerships, and establish Ghana as a launchpad to the rest of the continent of Africa through the AfCFTA”.

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Focas wins Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation award in Rwanda

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n innovative software for real time customer feedback and staff performance monitoring, Focas has been adjudged the most innovative software in tourism and hospitality at the Africa Tourism Leadership forum ATLF2021 during the Rwanda Tourism Week exhibition and conference held in Kigali. Focas was designed by Dr. Kobby Mensah, a Senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Ghana Business School and built

by Creative Bibini, a technology development company in Ghana, co founded by Eugene Allotey.

According to Dr. Mensah, Focas is a typical example of “from theory to practice” demonstrating the power of theory as the solution was conceived and designed from the classroom. This makes the story of Focas different from the tech cliche of innovations beginning from garages. Focas is a multi sector customer feedback and staff performance appraisal system. Currently, the company has Focas finance for the banking, insurance and investment sector, Focas hospitality for the hospitality and tourism sector, Focas Health and Focas education.

During the Rwanda Tourism Week, a number of companies across Africa that attended the exhibition in Kigali expressed deep interest and signed up to using the software, and others expressing a working partnership with the Ambition limited, the

parent company of Focas in designing digital solutions for their various markets.

The Ghana delegation won BIG at ATLF2021 Rwanda Tourism Week with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) winning the Innovative Business Tourism

Destination Award and also the leading Ecowas exhibitor.

America based Ghanaian, Cassandra “Coach Cas” Nuamah and her mother Kukua won the Outstanding Entrepreneurship award with their Africa dance fitness organisation.

Eddy Akrong leads GIFF for the second term

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he Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) has re-elected Edward Akrong as President of the Institute for a second and last term in office at the 24th Annual General Meeting of the Institute.

Eddy Akrong polled 326 votes out of a total valid vote of 559 ahead of his contender and former 1st Vice Chair of GIFF, William Tuckson who had 233.

The Institute also elected one of its Council Members from the Takoradi District, Paul Kobina Mensah as 1st Vice President. The former Chairman of the Tema District of GIIF, Alex Asiamah won the 2nd Vice President position.

John Adu Jack, also a Council Member of GIFF won the National Treasurer position.

The two-day event which was themed “Embracing Change Management, a prerequisite for the survival of the Freight Forwarder in the new normal” was held at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho. The well attended event featured seasoned practitioners & experts in Finance & Investment,

Freight Logistics and International Trade practice including Prof.

Issah Baluch of Harvard Kennedy School, Emmanuel Ohene, Assistant Commissioner of Customs in Charge of Suspense Regimes, Wallace Akondor, former Commissioner of Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and Paul K. Mantey, MD, EDC Investments Ltd (Ecobank) who exchanged ideas on the future of freight forwarding in Ghana and how forwarders can embrace the new normal in Global transport and logistics.

Prof. Issah Baluch of Harvard Kennedy School recounted the many changes that has characterized the transport and logistic supply chain in the past two decades and charged the forwarders to embrace, Science, Technology and Innovation to remain dynamic and relevant in the chain.

The head of Suspense regimes of Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Emmanuel Ohene assured the freight forwarders of very close collaboration in the coming years

and bemoaned the laidback attitude of state agencies towards freight forwarders. He acknowledged the important roles of the freight forwarder without which the job of the customs division is virtually non-existent but tasked the freight forwarders to adapt to professionalism and eschew unscrupulous behaviors.

Wallace Akondor, a former Commissioner of Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority advised state agencies to work towards eliminating impediments in the ways of freight forwarders as brokers in order to enhance efforts aimed Trade Facilitation in Ghana.

The re-elected President of GIFF, Eddy Akrong promised to unite the freight forwarding fraternity to create a formidable front to address all issues confronting the industry for effective Trade Facilitation.

His contender, William Turkson assured him and all freight forwarders of his immense support in executing his two-year mandate.

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Cabo Verde to host hybrid 2021 African Economic Conference

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frican heads of state and government together with senior policymakers will share their perspectives on how to reshape Africa’s development financing models at the 2021 African Economic Conference, which takes place on Thursday, 2 December.

Cabo Verde Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Olavo Correia said the conference offered “an extraordinarily important moment” to chart the continent’s development course, including ways to mobilize domestic resources, and create modern and efficient fiscal and tax systems.

He said this was especially important because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Correia added that the time was right to explore ways to fight tax evasion, fraud and other offences that drain national resources.

The 2021 edition of the African Economic Conference is being hosted by the government of Cabo Verde in a hybrid format, in line with pandemic health guidelines.

A small group of conference participants will gather in Sal, a popular tourist destination in the archipelago nation. Others will take part virtually. The conference is jointly organized by the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for

Africa, and the United Nations Development Programme.

The partners have assembled notable thinkers, including Nobel laureate Roger Myerson, Center for Global Development President Masood Ahmed and Africa Development Solutions Group CEO Samba Bathily to deliberate on Africa’s most pressing challenges. Discussions will cover such subjects as enhancing Africa’s position in the international financial system, reimagining development financing, and domestic public and private resource mobilization in the age of the digital revolution.

Africa’s economy is projected to grow on average by 3.4% this year, after the worst recession in 50 years in 2020. However, growth could be negatively impacted by the slow pace of vaccination

and the uncertainty of emerging variants like Omicron.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us that business as usual will lead to failure,” said Raymond Gilpin, Chief Strategy, Analysis & Research Team of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa.

“This conference provides the space to look at innovative solutions and sustainable options that are available to financing development for African countries.

During the conference we will explore 36 innovative empirical analyses that propose ways to do development differently.

The 2021 African Economic Conference will provide us with a unique opportunity to contribute to a much-needed reset across Africa.”

Bartholomew Armah, Director

of the Macroeconomic and Governance Division at the Economic Commission for Africa, said: “Increasingly, Africa is looking to capital markets as a source of financing, taking into account how Africa’s financial structure or landscape will look going forward, with debt sustainability considerations.

We hope that this conference will provide an opportunity for African governments to structure projects that the private sector can finance as part of the recovery process.”

Hanan Morsy, Director of Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research at the African Development Bank, said: “Financing Africa’s development post-Covid-19 will require outof-the-box solutions to mobilize more domestic resources, attract more private investments, and utilize external resources more efficiently. This year’s Africa Economic Conference will provide concrete and implementable policy recommendations on how to achieve that triple objective, by leveraging the rich and extensive experience of highlevel policymakers, development practitioners, private sector actors, academics and other stakeholders who will attend the conference.”

Collaboration is the new competition - Absa Bank MD

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anaging Director of Absa Bank Ghana, Abena OseiPoku, says collaboration is the new competition in the digital financial services space across the continent. She made the comments during a panel discussion on how Africa can build resilience and drive differentiation in the financial sector at the ongoing Financial Times Global Summit.

Africa’s financial services sector has transformed from a decade ago with digital technology leading a revolution that is impacting every facet of human life. Three players in the ecosystem – Banks, Fintechs and Telecoms – are at the forefront of this unique opportunity. Whilst the orientation of these three players is diverse in several ways, the overall assessment has been for them to collaborate with their complementary skills in creating an ecosystem that reflects

scalability, accessibility, and convenience for the customer.

Fintechs and telecom companies have consistently displayed creativity, agility and an innovative mindset that tend to cause positive disruption for the benefit of the customer.

Banks, on the other hand, have a robust system of stringent governance and stability at their disposal, which is critical to the partnership.

Taking her seat alongside Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive of Standard Bank Group and Aishah Ahmad, Deputy Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, Abena Osei-Poku said: “Collaboration will always prove to be the way forward for these key stakeholders to co-exist and create sustainable synergies for the benefit of customers, clients and the financial inclusion agenda. It is a shared responsibility and there

is no one size fits all. Regulation is also of extreme importance in this dynamic and already we are seeing Central Banks continuously proving assertive, proactive and transformative in their work in this space.

Thanks to the global pandemic as well, awareness around digital payments and collaboration is becoming mainstay, which is a good thing. Essentially, we continue to see a gradual harmonisation of the ecosystem thanks to the understanding of all key stakeholders and this is quite satisfying.”

Led by David Pilling, Africa Editor of the Financial Times, the panellists covered several areas, including impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on African economies, financial sector regulation and cross-border transactions aided by digital currency.

On her views around blockchain

technology and cryptocurrencies, Abena Osei-Poku said: “We continue to take a closer look at the cryptocurrency concept as a Bank. It seeks to disrupt the entire financial system by driving regulation away from the Central banks into the hands of individuals aided by a web of computer connections. Most opponents to the model worry about the risk of decentralisation to the financial system. There is also the other important point of price volatility, which becomes an issue of concern to most mainline actors in the sector. At Absa Bank, we are still accessing the diversity of information and structure of the concept and are yet to conclusively devise a direction around it. Again, issues around closing legal loopholes to prevent cybercrime and fraud are of immense importance to us and we shall continue to keep an eye on this area.”

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Comment/Analysis

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Endangered wildlife should pay for its own protection

By Jonathan Ledgard, Erik Meijaard

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t will soon be possible to give a digital identity to individual wild animals whose species are at risk of extinction. Currently, these animals’ only economic value is that of their processed body parts. Giving them a digital wallet linked to their identity and the ability to spend money on their own protection could improve their lives and increase their chances of survival.

The Great Apes, including gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos, are ideal early candidates for an “Interspecies Money” approach. Only 700,000 of our closest evolutionary cousins survive and their numbers are in steep decline: picture a population equivalent to Washington, DC, scattered in forests along dirt roads or at the edge of thousands of isolated, poor, and fast-growing villages.

Humans and Great Apes have not lived well together in the industrial era, but we can do better in the post-industrial age.

We propose starting with orangutans. Only 120,000 of these intelligent red apes remain alive in their forest habitats of Sumatra and Borneo. Although $1 billion has been spent protecting them since 2000, more than 100,000 have been lost to deforestation, harassment, and killing over the same period. The situation could

have been worse – some 135,000 orangutans would have died without the conservation efforts – but the investments can hardly be claimed as successful.

The conservation logic for orangutans is simple enough.

The apes share the forest with people who make their living from the cultivation of crops and forest products. Both like the same products. Conflicts arise.

Asking forest people to put up with their orangutan neighbors isn’t enough. They need to know that it is profitable for them to do so. But little conservation money reaches the frontline where it can have the greatest effect.

This is where technology offers new possibilities for truer stewardship of nonhuman life on Earth. On the hardware side, a Cambrian explosion of computation, data storage, smartphones, cameras, sensors, drones, ground robots, satellites, and genomics is allowing us to track nature in higher definition at lower cost. On the software side, advances in artificial intelligence, metaverse-building gaming platforms, and distributed crypto and blockchain governance solutions will enable us to represent other species online in entirely novel ways.

There is plenty of money in cryptocurrencies available to prove a new “tokenomics” for nature; crypto innovators are astonishingly successful at

creating digital scarcity that accrues in value. It is inevitable that the living scarcity of endangered species will become an asset class for those holding cryptocurrencies. The question is how to approach this in a way that is useful for the species and for the people looking after them.

We plan to endow the first digital wallets for orangutans with the proceeds of the sale of related non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Every wallet will have scientists and other signatories charged with making decisions in the interests of the orangutan.

Over time, the process will become “Schrödingerian”: a wallet will be created when an ape is reliably observed for the first time. Interspecies Money will be paid to people from funds in the wallets for adhering to simple and verifiable rules.

These rules will be set by the orangutans (or more exactly the human and computational proxies representing their needs).

These could include such tasks as “observe me over time,” “leave my tree alone,” and “don’t kill me.”

Current conservation spending amounts to $1.30 a day per wild orangutan. We think $1 a day into an orangutan wallet would be transformative in most situations. Four hundred dollars a year is more than a child in the surrounding communities can expect in development

assistance, but the orangutans’ survival is so precarious that this imbalance may be justified.

Moreover, because Interspecies Money explicitly links nonhuman animals to human stewards, much of the money in the orangutan wallets will be passed along to farmers and their children as payment for gathering data or compensation for crop damage.

If Interspecies Money can be made to work for orangutans, it can work for other Great Apes, not least the western lowland gorilla, which is consumed as bushmeat in the Congo forest.

And other early species to receive Interspecies Money could include dugongs, giraffes, and orcas. From charismatic mammals, Interspecies Money has the potential to advance to trees, birds, and even insect and microbial populations. A digital currency for other species, operated like a central bank for biodiversity, may emerge.

Separately, NFTs of rare species could constitute a store of value that endows such an institution.

The threats to the Great Apes remind us of our lack of ambition when it comes to protecting other species more broadly. With growing human populations, apes can survive only if people agree to live peacefully alongside them.

Paying the poorest people living next to the richest biodiversity in a clear and constant way is one step toward achieving that.

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Legal

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Daniel Ofori’s Lawyer rejoins Ecobank statement

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lawyer for businessman Daniel Ofori, currently embroiled in a legal tussle with Ecobank Ghana Limited, has responded to a press release issued by the Bank on Friday, November 26, 2021, in which it sought to establish the status of the case and explain outstanding issues.

Mr. Thaddeus Sory, a lawyer for Mr. Ofori in the case, rebuts some of the claims by Ecobank in the following rejoinder issued on Wednesday, December 1. 2021.

RE: DANIEL OFORI v ECOBANK & OTHERS. REJOINDER TO MEDIA RELEASE BY ECOBANK LIMITED 1. We act for Mr. Daniel Ofori in respect of a suit against Ecobank Ghana Limited. Following a writ of fieri facias (fi-fa) which we caused to issue against the bank for its failure to pay the sum of GHS96, 304,972.41. which the Supreme Court, has ordered them to pay Mr. Ofori, based on the bank’s own admission at a hearing on 1st June 2021. After the pasting by a court bailiff of the fi-fa on the Head Office building of Ecobank on Friday, 26th November 2021, Ecobank issued a media release dated 26th November, 2021 in which false and libellous allegations are made against Mr. Ofori 2. For, instance, it is simply not true that Mr. Ofori tendered in evidence the investment agreement between Ecobank and himself at any stage in the case.

The truth, as the court records and the judgment of the Supreme Court dated 25th July, 2018, confirm, is that Ecobank itself admitted that the agreed interest rate on the investment made by Mr. Ofori with Ecobank was 30%.

The judgment of the Supreme Court was therefore based on this admission.

3. Having regard to the fact that the Supreme Court judgment was based on Ecobank’s own admission, it clearly does not make sense to suggest that Mr. Ofori has forged an investment agreement to prove his case against Ecobank. After the judgment of the Supreme Court, Ecobank surfaced with a document it described as the investment agreement in which was inserted the figure 15 as the percentage for interest on the investment. This was completely at variance with the 30% Ecobank had itself admitted to. It is Ecobank which has an interest in contradicting its earlier admission by seeking belatedly to introduce a document in which an interest rate of 15% is being put forward three years after the judgment of the Supreme Court and even after the failure of the application for review in March 2021.

4. In opposing the application for review, we drew the Supreme Court’s attention to the fact that the document Ecobank was now relying on lacked credibility, bearing on its face several hand written alterations, and having issues with dating. The Supreme Court, by a unanimous decision, refused to review its decision on the ground urged by Ecobank that it had now discovered the investment agreement.

The Court also refused to order the Police to conduct the forensic examination of the document Ecobank is now putting forward and which its media release is referring to. It is, indeed, worthy of note that Ecobank tried at

least three times without success to have the Supreme Court take into account their document with 15%. Ecobank, having failed to get a Court order for this, has apparently, by itself, taken a document for forensic examination and makes libellous accusations against Mr. Ofori by reference to this.

5. Significantly, there is no application pending before the Supreme Court to reopen that matter, as the media release of the bank suggests. The only application filed by Ecobank recently is one for review of the Supreme Court’s decision refusing Ecobank’s earlier application to reopen the decision of Supreme Court on appeal in 2018 with the introduction of “new evidence”.

We have filed an application to the Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Ofori to strike out what Ecobank filed. This is because Ecobank failed to comply with the Rules of the Supreme Court and the previous order of the court in filing the processes.

6. We should also point out that we wrote to the Registrar of the Supreme Court on 21st November 2021 and obtained confirmation that there was no pending application for a stay of execution in that court before we proceeded to have the fifa notice pasted on the head office building of Ecobank. The earlier garnishee proceedings referred to in the media release of Ecobank are a different kind of enforcement process from the fifa that is currently being pursued by us on behalf of Mr. Ofori.

7. Ecobank has, for years now, deprived Mr. Ofori of funds he had in an account with the bank and part of which he invested on

the terms admitted by the bank.

Such conduct is plainly wrong, being a breach of Ecobank obligations as a bank to Mr. Ofori as a customer. This has had serious consequences for Mr. Ofori’s business.

8. Incredibly, the Ecobank media release, as part of its imputation of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Ofori, refers to him receiving dividends on shares which, according to him, he had sold to a third party. The Supreme Court considered this issue and recognized that the dividends were received by Mr. Ofori at the time when the High Court and the Court of Appeal had decided that the share sale transaction had not successfully taken place. In the words of the Supreme Court, “by acting in reliance on those judgments and collecting the dividend he [Mr. Ofori] did nothing wrong.”

9. It is a matter of grave concern that, after the court official pasted the fi-fa notice on the Ecobank building following Ecobank failure to make the payment ordered by the Supreme Court, a member of Ecobank staff removed the notice, showing contempt for lawful court process. Ecobank should not seek to take the law into its own hands.

10. Clearly, the best way for Ecobank to give assurance to its customers, shareholders and the general public about its standing as a bank is to obey court orders, specifically, at this time, the order of the Supreme Court to pay Mr. Ofori GHS 96, 304,972.41.

Otherwise, we will have no option but to proceed with the fi-fa on the head office building.

12

News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Dr. Kobby Mensah’s software adjudged Most Innovative Software in Tourism and Hospitality

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he University of Ghana Business School’s faculty continues to distinguish themselves in all spheres of life.

One of such moments was when Dr. Kobby Mensah’s customer feedback software known as FOCAS was pronounced the most innovative software during the 4th edition of the Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) & Awards ceremony which took place from 24th to 27th November 2021 in Rwanda.

Dr. Mensah is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Marketing & Entrepreneurship and is the brain behind the FOCAS software design. FOCAS was built and developed by Creative Bibini, a Software Development & Digital Marketing Company in Ghana. It’s worthy to note that Creative Bibini was co-founded

by Eugene Allotey, an alumnus of the University of Ghana Business School.

The FOCAS software collects data from customers through an array of questions based on demographics, staff performance, among others.

FOCAS allows companies to measure staff performance in five key areas. They include reliability, responsiveness, assurance,

empathy, and satisfaction.

The software can be used in various sectors and industries like

financial institutions, hospitals, human resource agencies, and educational institutions. One

important advantage of FOCAS is that it ensures objectivity when it comes to rewarding employees.

Report on employee satisfaction launched

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recruitment solutions platform, Jobberman has launched a free employee satisfaction report for companies, individuals and human resource (HR) experts.

The report is in response to the

great resignation across the world and how that has impacted the world of work, productivity, and what really matters to employees in every organisation.

This corporate phenomenon makes clear that employee

satisfaction goes beyond salary expectations and this is what this report seeks to identify.

In a press release issued in Accra on November 30, the Head of Human Resources at Jobberman, Freda Nana Embil, stated that the

most important strategic resource of every organization was its people.

He said employers should be able to create a conducive environment that allows for employee satisfaction to flourish, especially as organisations navigate a new changing world of work accelerated by the global pandemic.

“These are some of the questions we asked ourselves in our bid to ensure that report serves as a call-to-action for employers to evaluate the fundamental factors that foster employee satisfaction for both current and future employees.”

The Jobberman Employee Satisfaction Report unpacks employee satisfaction among employees and explores themes around external and intrinsic traits, employee happiness, flight risk, employer advocacy, job satisfaction and delves into insights based on age, gender, location, job level, and work experience for a demographic overview.

13

Trade

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

The supply-chain mess

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lobal supply chains used to be the last thing policymakers worried about. The topic was largely the concern of academics, who studied the possible efficiency gains and potential risks associated with this aspect of globalization. Although Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 had demonstrated how supply-chain disruptions could impact the global economy, few anticipated how central the problem could become.

Not anymore. Today’s supplychain bottlenecks are creating shortages, propping up inflation, and preoccupying policymakers around the world.

US President Joe Biden’s administration deserves credit for recognizing that supply chains are key to future economic security.

In February 2021, Biden issued an executive order directing several federal agencies to secure and strengthen the American supply chain; and in June, the White House published a 100-day review on “Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth.”

This 250-page report contains many important proposals.

Some are already part of the broader discussion on improving the US workforce’s skills and the economy’s capacity for innovation. Other ideas have been circulating for a while in international relations and security studies; for example, the document considers the nationalsecurity implications of defense and other critical industries’ reliance on imported inputs.

But the review’s most important contribution is its observation that global supply chains have imposed various social costs: “Our private sector and public policy approach to domestic

production, which for years prioritized efficiency and low costs over security, sustainability and resilience, has resulted in supply chain risks.” The review then asks whether hyper-globalized supply chains are so great for economic efficiency after all.

The default position among economists is “yes, they are.”

When two firms enter into a transaction in which each will gain something, that is good for both firms and also probably for the rest of the economy, owing to the resulting efficiency improvements and cost reductions. Whether this involves a US manufacturer offshoring the production of some inputs to a Chinese firm is beside the point.

Yet supply chains can pose a danger to an economy in two important ways (beyond the defense-related concerns mentioned above). The more complex a supply chain becomes, the greater the economic risks.

A break in any link can affect the whole chain and send prices surging if it creates sudden shortages of a necessary input.

The worst-case scenario is when a failure in one part of the chain triggers domino effects, bringing down other firms and bringing the entire sector to a standstill. Logically, this scenario is similar to what one finds in financial networks, where the failure of one bank can push others into insolvency or even bankruptcy, as happened in 2008 following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

In principle, because uncertainty is costly, businesses will take these risks into account when deciding to build supply chains. In practice, however, there are good economic reasons why firms may overextend their supply chains. For one thing, firms will account for their own

risk, but not for the systemic effects they are creating, nor for the risks they are imposing on other firms or the entire economy.

Moreover, when global competition creates powerful incentives to reduce costs, even small price differences offered by foreign suppliers can become attractive, especially in the short term. In this age of stock-market options and hefty bonuses, financial interests also factor into managers’ considerations. CEOs enjoy immediate compensation when they can achieve cost reductions and increase profits, whereas the significant costs of future uncertainty – or even bankruptcy – will likely be someone else’s problem.

A second way that companies may overextend their supply chain is subtler but no less important.

The problem, the White House review notes, is that “the United States has taken certain features of global markets – especially the fear that companies and capital will flee to wherever wages, taxes and regulation are lowest – as inevitable.” This statement echoes economist Dani Rodrik’s prescient observation that globalization is not just about trade in goods and services; it is also about the sharing of rents. As such, the globalization of supply chains is an integral part of the shifting balance between capital and labor.

The most straightforward mechanism for this process is the offshoring of inputs, the mere threat of which can be used by managers to keep wages low.

This happens on both ends of the offshoring transaction: US companies can pay less to their employees by expanding their supply chain to countries (such as China or Vietnam) where wages are already lower as a result of lax labor regulations.

A fragmented supply chain may also make it more difficult for workers to organize for collective bargaining, creating yet another benefit for businesses.

Companies may even reap tax advantages from globalizing their supply chain, if doing so allows them to book profits in lower-tax jurisdictions.

This second reason is problematic for the US economy as well. It suggests that managers will tend to globalize their companies’ supply chains even when doing so is not more efficient, simply because doing so allows them to shift rents away from workers and toward shareholders. Not only does this create an excessively overextended supply chain; it also distorts the income distribution by suppressing wages, especially for low- and middle-skill workers.

The White House report proposes keeping more of the supply chain in the US, especially in manufacturing. But how can this be achieved? A twopronged approach would be the most effective. First, the need for meaningful inducements for businesses to invest in their domestic supply chains implies that the tax advantages of offshoring inputs should be eliminated, and the opportunities for labor-regulation arbitrage should be curtailed.

But other, more fundamental changes are also needed. The global supply-chain mess is an opportunity for the US to have a broader conversation about the economy and what it is for. As long as CEOs remain obsessed with short-term stock-market performance, bolstered by the ideology of “shareholder value,” they will seek ways to shift rents away from their workers, whatever the risks.

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

15

Feature

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Omicron and what comes next

By Simon Johnson

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here is an adage that you cannot have back-toback financial crises. The implication is that a financial crisis causes people to be more careful – so any bank, investment firm, or investor who survives one crisis will not be taking big risks anytime soon. But two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced lockdowns, quarantines, and other restrictions, the arrival of the Omicron variant is forcing people to ask: Are we about to go through it all again?

Many governments’ initial reaction – attempting to ban travel from South Africa and neighboring countries, even though Omicron had already spread far and wide – seems a bit desperate. In fact, there are three reasons why governments may be much better prepared than they think for whatever comes next.

First, most policymakers have by now grasped the key importance of defending the most vulnerable people against the virus. This means, whatever happens, better protections for nursing homes and other congregate care settings. Many lives were lost in 2020 because politicians in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere struggled to understand the importance of this point. One hopes that level of miscomprehension is never

repeated.

Second, vaccines work. On this issue, there was widespread political consensus in 2020, and the vaccine development programs stand out as a historic success for public-private science partnership.

Unfortunately, in 2021, people have become confused – or perhaps deliberately misled. Still, over 68% of Americans have now had at least one shot, and boosters are widely available. The US goal remains to vaccinate as many people around the world as possible, and it should step up the pace. Omicron has shown once again that no one country can hold COVID-19 at bay by itself.

Third, governments have a considerable amount of COVID testing capacity. When this capacity was developed in 2020, some people expressed concern that there would be no long-term need. But while there is still some debate about exactly which tests to use when, epidemiologists and public-health experts have made a great deal of progress on what works for various populations.

We just need to keep at it, for example through the federal government’s Expanded Testing program. (For more data and the latest assessments of what needs to happen, I recommend Mara Aspinall’s website, HealthCatalysts.com, and her free weekly newsletter.)

Ideally, any community – childcare facilities, schools,

universities, and companies – would be protected as much as possible by vaccination, backed up by a regular testing program and thoughtful use of masks (and other mitigants). These tiers of protection improve the odds that school and work will continue in as normal a fashion as possible, even in the face of new variants.

The US, however, is still struggling to overcome the problems posed by former President Donald Trump’s persistent denial that COVID-19 posed a genuine threat. The work of public health officials was disrupted for political purposes, resulting in a great deal of confusion (and myths) in the communication of everything that matters when it comes to fighting the pandemic.

The legacy of Trump’s mixed messages has become the main weakness in US pandemic defenses, including against Omicron. Without it, the US would have more people vaccinated, more willingness to be tested, and less fighting about masks. It is a terrible irony of contemporary America that many of the people who are least protected against new variants are those who take Trump and his public health views more seriously.

In 2020, Trump and his allies claimed that fighting COVID-19 undermined the economy – for example, because it involved lockdowns. That logic was always flawed. Local economies shut

down on the order of governors only when hospitals were flooded with infected patients and unable to cope. Hospital overload is the ultimate circuit breaker and still what must be avoided at all costs.

If emergency services cannot function, people die from heart attacks and accidents at much higher rates. If cancer care and other more routine procedures are disrupted, more people die.

The bottom line is that fighting harder against COVID-19 is exactly what we need to do if we want to avoid economic turmoil. Closing and reopening economies is costly for everyone. In addition to all the obvious direct costs, supplychain disruptions fuel large price movements and appear to be contributing to inflation. Higher inflation, in turn, makes it harder (or riskier) for the central bank to support the economy, should that be necessary.

Unfortunately, Trump’s legacy has left President Joe Biden’s administration little option but to stay the course: keep the nursing homes strong, persuade as many people as possible to get vaccinated, and continue to improve the availability of highquality testing. At the same time, however, the administration must confront that legacy headon. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s campaign against health misinformation is one promising initiative. To protect themselves and the economy, Americans – and the world – need many more.

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

17

Feature

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Future of Work Capsules: It’s time to support agricbusiness. What will be the future of our farmers?

By Baptista Sarah Gebu (Mrs.)

H

appy 37th National Farmers Day wishes to all farmers. We appreciate all your effort to working to feed humanity.

Food must be abundant, available and affordable as such let’s take steps to make agriculture more sustainable, productive and resilient now and for the future.

The 1996 World Food Summit agreed on this definition of food security: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. The definition encompasses four dimensions: Availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid), the access by individuals to adequate resources (also called entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet, utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. „ Stability in the availability of and access to food, regardless of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food scarcity). What will be the future of our farmers and what factors must be critically looked at as we celebrate the 37 National Farmers Day Event in Ghana.

Today there is little appreciation of biodiversity.

Only organic food production promotes biodiversity. Some agricultural measures to protect biodiversity are already in place;

however, the policy measures are still ineffective. For the future, our farmers must be concerned about food abundance, how climate change can threaten the future of farming if care is not taking now collectively to address the issues holistically. The future will introduce us to meat alternatives. Are you a meat eater - you must learn to live without meat as protein replicas may be the future per research. Livestock monitoring and disease control is a big issue to be considered to promote food security.

Imagine coivid-19 happened only in animals currently causing about 50% - 70% of all animals to die. Nutrition levels may be affected and food security also could be threaten per its definition. Trade complexity and shift in commodity trade must propel us to address issues of transparency, honesty, secure transaction management backed by the right laws and secured payment systems developed by government for its citizenry. The future of agriculture will see us use sophisticated technologies such as robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, and GPS technology. Perhaps, for the future a simple one stop shop technological gadget can cause us to test to know the moisture content, aflatoxin levels in grains, crop production year among many other requirements.

These cutting-edge devices and precision agriculture and robotic systems will permit farms to be more profitable, efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly. This will be possible, if governments can play a key part in solving the food scarcity issue.

They need to take on a broader and more prominent role than their traditional regulatory and

facilitating function. The future of our farmers and agric business has good prospects. Are we ready for the change?

A lot has been moved online.

As the world moves online. The future of agriculture and our farmers must be considered also within this same space. How secure will the payment systems be to support our farmers should they move business transactions online? These and many other thoughts have I been thinking.

We need for the future of our farmers to consider a migration of our local stores and markets to apps and online systems and portals with the needed flexibility with consideration of drones for instance for our deliveries.

Agribusiness according to investopedia is a combination of the words "agriculture" and "business" and refers to any business related to farming and farming-related commercial activities. Agribusiness involves all the steps required to send an agricultural good to the market, namely production, processing, and distribution. Companies in the agribusiness industry encompass all aspects of food production.

The new definition of market for the future will include not only the local market you are aware of. It will encompass – virtual online markets, be agile. Climate change has placed intensifying pressure on many companies in the agribusiness industry to successfully adapt to the largescale shifts in weather patterns.

The use of new technology is vital to remain competitive in the global agribusiness sector. Farmers need to reduce crop costs and increase yield per square acre to remain competitive. New drone technology is at the cutting edge of the industry. Why is climate

change such a big deal now.

Climate change poses a major and growing threat to global food security. The expected effects of climate change – higher temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, water shortages, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, land degradation, the disruption of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity – could seriously compromise agriculture’s ability to feed the most vulnerable, impeding progress towards the eradication of hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Action is urgently needed, therefore, to prepare crop and livestock production, fisheries and forestry for the prospect of rapidly changing environmental conditions and to reduce agriculture’s own contribution to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for global warming. Even without climate change, world agriculture and food security face daunting challenges. Population growth and rising incomes in much of the developing world have pushed demand for food and other agricultural products to unprecedented levels. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that in order to meet the demand for food in 2050, annual world production of crops and livestock will need to be 60 percent higher than it was in 2006. About 80 percent of the required increase will need to come from higher yields and 10 percent from increases in the number of cropping seasons per year (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012). However, widespread land degradation and increasing water scarcity limit the potential for yield increases.

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

19 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Without heightened efforts to reduce poverty, and to make the transition to an agriculture that is both productive and sustainable, many low income countries will find it difficult to ensure access to adequate quantities of food for all of their populations.

The agriculture sectors – crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry – have unique characteristics that place them at the center of global efforts to adapt to climate change. First, agriculture is essential to our food supply and, therefore, to meeting the most basic of human needs.

Further, food production depends directly on natural resources – including biodiversity, land, vegetation, rainfall and sunlight – which are, in turn, intimately and inextricably linked to climate and weather conditions.

Since agriculture also provides livelihoods for almost two-thirds of the world’s extremely poor, or some 750 million people, climate change impacts on agriculture directly affect already vulnerable rural populations, with farreaching implications for their food security.

Climate change affects food availability through its increasingly adverse impacts on crop yields, fish stocks and animal health and productivity, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where most of today’s food insecure live. It limits access to food through negative impacts on rural incomes and livelihoods. Along with a more volatile climate, there is expected to be an increase in the intensity and frequency of climate-related natural disasters. Poor people, including many smallholder farmers and agricultural workers, are more vulnerable to the impacts of such disasters. Severe droughts or floods can sharply reduce incomes and cause asset losses that erode future income earning capacity. In addition, to the extent that food supply is reduced by climate change, food prices will increase. Both urban and rural poor would be most affected, as they spend much higher shares of their income on food. Also affected will be poor smallholder family farmers, most of whom are net buyers of food (Zezza et al., 2008; World Bank, 2008; Porter et al., 2014).

The future of agric business is to consider having access to food online on various agri business online apps to facilitate access.

For consumption and health reasons, these apps should be able to support us access the quality, source and special requirement

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

of the food. Since the Covid-19 pandemic eating healthy and organic is the way forward, so Covid will not expose ones weak immune system.

According to the FAO 2016 report on climate change, agriculture and food security, climate change appears to be an issue which can affect agric business for the future. Climate change already affects agriculture and food security and, without urgent action, will put millions of people at risk of hunger and poverty. I will add up that, let’s not only change our ways to managing the good gospel of climate change.

We need to change our diets as well and manage the issues with no hidden agenda. While impacts on agricultural yields and livelihoods will vary across countries and regions, they will become increasingly adverse over time and potentially catastrophic in some areas. The change lies in your hands. We can all change this narrative.

Limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.

We have to all make purposive attempts to changing life styles and planting more times.

Deep transformation in agriculture and food, from preproduction to consumption, are needed in order to maximize the co-benefits of climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

And this change begins with us all. The agriculture sectors have potential to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, but ensuring future food security requires a primary focus on adaptation. Supporting agric business with the right investment will propel the sector for sustainability.

The future of work must address the future of businesses and their sustainability. When businesses are protected and they survive, jobs will also be protected and they will also survive. The two work hand-inhand. For businesses to thrive now and in the future we need to make purposive attempts at protecting jobs and businesses.

The future of work cannot be business as usual as it was prior to the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic. As we may already be aware, the coronavirus pandemic is offering global economies what quick adjustments to make to the future of work.

It’s inevitable to ignore the concept of the future of work as many organizations have already embraced this concept, while others are lacking far behind since they cannot forestall the future,

due to lack of understanding, or knowledge on the subject matter. Of course, these present challenges, nevertheless many organizations also see it as a wonderful opportunity to create positive change and to start to build purpose-driven organizations that priorities people and planet alongside profit (PPP). In anticipation to avoid a lack of knowledge similar to this, nations will become inward-looking, human physical interactions will reduce as jobs will be moved online. There are very different and contrasting industries globally, but I’ve generally found that whatever the nature of a business or organization, they are rarely immune to change. And change is happening very fast.

The Word Bank and the International Monetary Fund have rated Ghana as the fastest growing economy in the world for 2019. Ghana has a young age structure, with approximately 57% of the population under the age of 25. Small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the Ghanaian economy as they represent about 85% of businesses, largely within the private sector, and contribute about 70% of Ghana's gross domestic product (GDP).

This should be welcome news to encourage policy makes to enact purposively policies targeted at saving our SME’s including our agric businesses and project that Ghana case as a learning curve for other countries. Policy enactment should address among other things training needs to close the knowledge gap and the know-how, scale up ideas to encouraging businesses think global and not local. At the just ended FoReal HR Services hosted Future of Work Conference 2021 organized virtually with 20 commissioned futures of work topics and speakers, there was calls to inspire a transformational mindset, causing young people to start thinking global. For the future lets learn to connect SME’s to global investors, business mentees and encourage coaching and mentoring for starts up’s as well. Businesses cannot afford not going online. The bricks and mortar era are gradually making ways for virtual online businesses.

The hybrid approach will be a step in the right direction during this era of the new normal.

Businesses cannot automatically leverage post COVID-19, they must be nurtured to grow and scale up the future of work conference 2021 adviced.

Policy enactment must consider scale up of businesses beyond

one generation to the other. We need to live to see most Ghanaian and African businesses grow and sustained beyond decades. Public and private collaboration at both national and the international level will come as a welcome idea.

Government cannot support protecting businesses without protecting jobs. Start up business initiatives must look out for and empower campus start-up, entrepreneurial clubs, and women entrepreneurial businesses as well as the vulnerable groups.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that it is more important than ever for the public and private sector to collaborate – at both international and national level – to enable businesses and the people they employ, to ride out the pandemic and to emerge more resilient and sustainable to face the future. Ghana and Africa have talents in adequate numbers and as such need that enabling playing field to excel.

Collaboration and co-existence are key to our development together. Black or white, Hispanic or Asian, we should learn to collaborate and commit to values that promote and not segregate talents as together we can all achieve. The world is increasingly African as per research. We need to take steps to highlight the positive synergy of these research findings. To this end, the FoReal HR Services Future of Work Conference 2021 has ended successfully with calls to strengthen our eco-systems and provide efficient and efficient agribusiness Solutions to support the future of our farmers.

Baptista is a human resource professional with a broad generalist background. Building a team of efficient & effective workforce is her business.

Affecting lives is her calling! She is an HR Generalist, strategic planner, innovative, professional connector and a motivator. You can reach her via e-mail on hello@ forealhrservices.com You can follow this conversation on our social media pages Facebook / LinkedIn/ Twitter / Instagram: FoReal HR Services.

Call or WhatsApp: +233(0)262213313. Visit our website: www.forealhrservices. com Follow the hashtag #theFutureofWorkCapsules #FoWC

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Markets

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 26, 2021

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

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WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 26, 2021

22

AfCFTA News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Over US$36bn worth of deals sealed at IATF 2021

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n estimated US$36billion worth of deals have been sealed at the just-ended Intra Africa Trade Fair (IATF 2021) which was held in Durban, South Africa, according to the Managing Director of the Afrexim Intra-Africa Trade Programme, Kanayo Awani.

This figure is about US$4billion more than the US$32billion that was concluded in previous event that was held in Egypt in 2018.

“Deals are still going on, we are still getting entries; as many of you know, we advertised for digital inputs into the deals, we circulated notes on the deals and they are still being compiled.

As of now, we have about US$36billion in deals concluded at IATF 2021,” Ms. Awani said, indicating that the figure could increase after the compilation of the notes.

Also, over 11,828 people attended IATF 2021 as against 10,000 in the previous event whilst it witnessed four country specific days that featured Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and

Cote D’Ivoire as against two in the Cairo fair.

In all, 59 countries participated out of which 46 were African countries.

Attendees came from about 128 countries and exhibitors numbered 1,161 against a target of 1,100.

Meanwhile the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat acknowledged that AfCFTA has Afrexim as its backbone to provide trade financing for the AfCFTA agenda which gives a strong that African economies have an opportunity through the AfCFTA to reduce and eliminate barriers to intra-Africa trade and investment.

“For the very first time, we have a trade agreement that has a very strong development dimension.

Secondly, it is supported by trade finance; Afreximbank has financed over US$25bn of trade transactions in Africa over the last two decades.

He said without trade finance, and Investment in Infrastructure, the AfCFTA dream can not materialize.

“The components that we require to make this agreement a success in both development dimension, inclusivity in terms of young people and small and medium enterprises, and trade finance. If we don’t have these components, I fear that our agreement will not succeed.

It will benefit only the large corporations on the African continent,” he indicated.

Wamkele Mene also explained that AfCFTA is an agreement for the future hence for the SMEs and young entrepreneurs.

“Small and medium enterprises and young entrepreneurs are at the heart of what we are trying to achieve. Trade agreements are not about the past; they are about capturing the future and that’s why young entrepreneurs have to be at the heart of what we are doing,” he noted.

Mr. Mene further charged African countries to leverage on the AfCFTA as a tool to be globally competitive.

“A country like Singapore’s contribution to global trade is

about 6percent whilst that of Africa, as a continent, is less than 3percent. We are not going to succeed as Morocco, Kenya, South Africa or Nigeria. Not a single country on our continent will be able to be globally competitive alone so we’ll have to leverage this market that we now have.”

At the closing ceremony of the IATF 2021, Chairman of the Governing Council of the IATF 2021 and former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, described the event as impressive despite challenges of COVID-19 as seven sitting heads of states participated in the trade fair.

“Participants were able to successfully take advantage of the unrivalled business collaborations and networking opportunities to make lasting connections that are already beginning to bear fruit. It is impressive that we had such an excellent turnout despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

23

AfCFTA News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Special economic zones remain pivotal to Africa’s industrial transformation

S

peakers at the sixth annual meeting of the Africa Economic Zones Organisation (AEZO) held in Accra, have reiterated the relevance of Special Economic Zones to the continent’s industrialization journey and the quest to connect Africa through trade.

They unanimously agreed that the effective of the SEZ regimes across the continent would create the much-needed jobs and open up Africa to investments.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Free Zones Authority, Dr. Mike Aaron Ocquaye Jnr, highlighting the contribution of the Free Zones Enclave of Ghana to the national economy, said that in the first half of 2021, Free Zone enterprises generated a total exports revenue, as regards its strategic policy of land acquisition and assistance to business, of US$1billion.

He revealed that capital investments by these enterprises also amounted to US$170million so far this year and a total of 30,000 direct jobs.

He also said that Free Zones are being created in many parts of Ghana, including the Greater Kumasi Industrial City in the Ashanti Region and a SEZ project that will be linked to the Boankra Inland Port, and works on a 4000-

acre land in Shama in the Western Region.

Fouad Brini, Chairman of Tanger Med and Honorary President of AEZO, in his remarks, indicated that over the past 20 years, Special Economic Zones have been spreading across the continent and presently present in 47 out of the 54 economies of Africa.

Many of these zones, he said, have played a vital and critical role in structural transformations and promoted greater participation in global value chains.

“This year’s edition of the African Economic Outlook has assessed more than 203 economic zones and 73 projects have been announced for completions. The significant growth of economic zones is part of the new wave of industrial policy and a response to the globalization of trade,” he added.

A special economic zone (SEZ)

is an area in a country that is subject to different economic regulations than other regions within the same country. The SEZ economic regulations are considered to be conducive to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).

Reports indicate that since its inception, African Economic Zones have given a significant boost to FDI flows by creating an attractive investment condition and supporting job creation. Most of Africa’s Special Economic Zones are found and well developed in 47 of the 54 economies on the continent with the highest number in Morocco and Nigeria with the likes of Ghana speedily catching up.

Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, called for accelerated efforts to integrate special economic zones in the AfCFTA market, revealing that member

states have agreed to develop SEZs regulations which will facilitate trade in goods produced under different zones of the continent.

SEZs are also a key actor impacting global value chain (GVC) by attracting investment, improving export performance, creating employment, and generating cluster effects among tenants.

Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, remarked that SEZs are catalysts to the industrialization agenda of Africa as they play a major role in the economies of African states as tools for economic development.

He said that over the past 25 years, Ghana has reaped the benefit of implementing an EPZ programme through attracting significant foreign direct investments, job creation, value addition to our natural resources and exports.

“Ghana is currently working with the World Bank Group to develop an SEZ policy to position our private sector to take of SEZs within the expanded regional markets under the AfCFTA and other market integration frameworks,” he said.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah added that trade facilitation plays a critical role in market integration and operationalization of AfCFTA.

Free Zone Authority ready to drive Ghana’s AFCFTA agenda- CEO OF GFZA

C

hief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA), Dr. Mike Aaron Ocquaye Jnr. Says Ghana’s Free Zone Authority is repositioned to take full advantage of the single continental market to boost investments to its enclaves.

To achieve this, he said, the authority remains ready to host and empower foreign companies that may want to set up businesses in the country to operate and produce under the scheme for exports.

In an interview with Single African Market, he said one of the major activities of the Free Zones Authority is to run the economic zones in this country which allows it to provide managerial and logistics support to companies that are not free zones but still operate under the authority because they’ve come are in their industrialization space.

“We are not only looking at taking advantage of free zones but

we also want to attract companies to come and produce in Ghana.

Whatever kind of business—be its steel, car assembling, cocoa processing etc.—the Ghana Free Zones Authority is ready to accommodate them in our industrial zones.

We help these businesses in terms of management, land acquisition and all the various things that they will need to produce,” he said.

According to Dr. Ocquaye Jnr, the African Continental Free Trade Area opens the door for the realization of this dream because it already synergizes the African conversation.

“The AfCFTA is now allowing all economic zones of the continents to know each other. This is what Africa is trying to achieve; to talk and act more together and eventually the over 1.3billion population of Africa will all be able to succeed moving together in the right direction,” he added.

The GFZA boss said they will

be monitoring applications of businesses seeking to operate within Free Zones enclaves to ensure that the regime is not abused under the AfCFTA. He said: “No business will apply to Free Zones for AfCFTA benefits but only for benefits that are prescribed under the Free Zones regime. Once you apply for free zones benefits, we’ll check our criteria and monitor if your business meets those requirements.”

He also raised concern about the seeming conundrum regarding why businesses operating in specialised economic zones cannot benefit from the AfCFTA. “The grey area is simple; there is a bit of confusion about why the SEZs cannot benefit from AfCFTA and that remains a conundrum; we have made submissions and they are highly considering it.

We want to say that there are certain disparities in terms of taxes and we want to look at that.

We want Africa to know that

apart from hosting the AfCFTA Secretariat, we also want to be seen as the hub for production,” he stressed.

SEZs are specialised zones that have been set aside for industrialization with tailored incentives for businesses that operate under the zone and produce for exports.

Dr. Ocquaye Jnr said the GFZA has already acquired lands in Kumasi to start the Greater Kumasi Industrial Park project which is in tandem with the Boankra Inland Port which will be holding inland containers that will be coming from the Tema Port towards the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

“This is a very competitive area that sister port countries like Cote d’Ivoire is doing a lot of work to capture that market. So, the earlier Ghana settles its oars and starts to get a very constant role on this matter, the better it will be for all of us,” he advised.

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BUSINESS24.COM.GH FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

NO. B24 / 283 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

MONDAY MAY 3, 2021

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3, 2021

Dambai residents benefit from Vodafone Foundation’s Healthfest

T

he Vodafone Ghana Foundation, through its Healthfest outreach programme, has provided free medical screening to 300 residents of Dambai in the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region.

The team of doctors and nurses screened hundreds of residents for ailments such as blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, hepatitis, malaria, typhoid, and HIV. As part of the exercise, residents with abnormal medical conditions were treated and given medication. As a plus, the Foundation assisted in renewing the National Health Insurance cards of residents.

Commenting on the initiative, the Head of the Vodafone Foundation, Rev. Amaris Nana Perbi, reiterated Vodafone’s commitment to contributing to the delivery of quality healthcare to Ghanaians.

"We believe our presence today at Dambai with a team of health professionals from the Ghana

Health Service will help bridge geographical barriers and provide access to quality healthcare.

One of our key commitments at Vodafone Ghana Foundation is ensuring that individuals receive free and quality healthcare services through the various initiatives we implement, "he said.

The Municipal Director of Health Services for Krachi East, Amin Abdul Muttalib, also thanked the Vodafone Ghana Foundation.

We extend our profound gratitude and thanks to Vodafone Ghana Foundation for this wonderful outreach service they have rendered to the people of Dambai. We are so grateful. It is a one-stop-shop health screening activity.

Many screening activities have taken place: from registration, to lab investigations of typhoid, malaria, HIV, and Hepatitis B, the provision of COVID-19 vaccines, the renewal of National Health Insurance cards, to free medication and ultrasound

scans. This is wonderful. The people of Dambai are grateful to the Vodafone Ghana Foundation.

This will improve our health status and ensure that we are fit.

In an interview, a beneficiary, Yaw Ansah, praised the Vodafone Ghana Foundation for the free health services.

"I am a driver who sits for long hours and because of this, I have developed waist pain. The medical team examined me and prescribed some medications.

I feel better after taking the medication.Thank you, Vodafone Ghana Foundation, "he said."

The Vodafone Ghana Foundation, through initiatives such as Healthfest, has created opportunities for residents in rural areas across Ghana to access medical services with convenience. The aim of Vodafone’s Healthfest is to offer free and quality healthcare to communities in the country.

Beneficiaries receive free medical consultation, counseling, and medication for specific ailments.

YouStart initiative game changer — Ken Ofori-Atta

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he Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has described the YouStart initiative being pursued by the government as a game-changer geared towards accelerating job creation.

He said it formed part of efforts by the government to kick-start an entrepreneurial state as it sought to remove the primary impediment to the growth of enterprises in the country — access to credit.

According to him, the initiative also incorporated the broader vision of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda under the Ghana CARES ‘Obaatan Pa’ programme.

“By working in tandem with our international development partners and financial institutions, an unprecedented GH¢10 billion will be committed to supporting entrepreneurship over the next three years.

“Over the next three years, the government will commit up to GH¢1 billion annually to the YouStart, while development partners and financial

institutions will complement it with close to GH¢2 billion and GH¢5 billion, respectively,” Mr Ofori-Atta said at a Springboard Youth Dialogue in Cape Coast in the Central Region.

Essentially, he said, the YouStart would serve as a vehicle to support the youth to develop commercially viable businesses, gain access to capital, training, technical skills and mentorship to enable them to establish and operate their own businesses.

“This rich tapestry of coordinated support is meant to ignite and unleash our young people's innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. It will also mark a conscious departure from job seeking to job creation and job ownership.

“We are nurturing a selfconfident and business savvy generation that will leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for economic transformation.

“With the anticipated multiplier effect of YouStart, we will become an entrepreneurial nation,

with a great army of curious, competent and compassionate actors empowered to conquer opportunities at home and beyond. That is our goal, and with God on our side, we will accomplish it,” the minister added.

According to him, the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) and partner financial institutions would be the implementing arms of the YouStart initiative.

Mr Ofori-Atta identified the lack of funding and insufficient partnership with industry as some of the challenges affecting the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Business Incubator programme and said through the YouStart initiative, the NEIP would provide the requisite support and also promote the establishment of new businesses within the Cape Coast municipality and the Central Region as a whole.

“We will continue to support the private sector to expand

and provide employment opportunities for our people. We will prioritise the completion of ongoing projects in the health, educational and housing sectors to drive social mobility and transformation.

“We will continue to ramp up our revenue mobilisation effort to enable us to secure quality living standards. We will continue to subject all public expenditure to thorough justification, in line with the PFM Act, to ensure value for money for every cedi spent,” he said.

On the road sector, Mr OforiAtta further said the government would pursue an aggressive road construction programme to connect communities, markets and people, while advancing the cause of digitalisation to modernise the economy for accelerated development.

He added that the government would promote Science, Technology and Innovation programmes to build competencies for a resilient future.