Business24 Newspaper-June19-2020

EDITION B24 | 64

FRIDAY JUNE 19, 2020

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Self-service platforms to redefine banking—GAB Embrace digitisation or risk your job security, bank staff advised

BY EUGENE DAVIS

BY DOMINICK ANDOH

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the rate of adoption of digital banking channels and hastened the transition from brick-and-mortar banking to selfservice platforms, the Ghana Bankers Association (GAB) has said.

John Awuah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GAB, speaking as a guest on Business24’s Ghana Banking Sector Report (GBSR) webinar on digital baking, said: “We will be seeing the beginning of the end of the palace-style bank branches in the glamour we currently have them, as most banking services, in our estimation, will transition onto selfservice platforms in the near-term. This is certain to

happen because the overwhelming convenience that is afforded by the alternate channels for delivering banking services far outweighs the trappings of flashy banking premises.”

A central bank-initiated clean-up has seen the total number of banks reduced from 30 in 2018 to 23 presently. This has also led to a shrinking of the number of physical bank branches.

A recent study by Deloitte on the potential implications of COVID-19 on banking and capital markets revealed that the number of physical bank branches in Ghana has reduced from 1,342 in 2016, when there were 33 banks in operation, to 1,145 branches as at end-2019.

This, Mr. Awuah believes, is a foretaste of what

MORE ON PG 3

Finance Minister to present mid-year budget next month

BY EUGENE DAVIS

MORE ON PG 3

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Watchdog urges gov’t to deny licences to new Chinese trawlers

We have handed over all data to GRA – GCNet

MORE ON PG 11

MORE ON PG 11

Ghana’s economy likely to recover fully in 2024— Standard Bank PG 5

*EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

USD$1 =GHC 5.6230*

*POLICY RATE

14.5%*

GHANA REFERENCE RATE

15.12%

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

6.6 % OF GDP

PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE PRIMARY BALANCE.

1.5% -1.1% OF GDP

AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

GHc 5.13*

INTERNATIONAL MARKET BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL

41.50

NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS

1.78

GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

1,722.69

CORN $/BUSHEL

329.50

COCOA $/METRIC TON

2,270.00

COFFEE $/POUND:

+5.70 ($108.30)

COPPER USD/T OZ.

220.15

SILVER $/TROY OUNCE:

17.07

Copyright @ 2020 Business24 Limited.

All Rights Reserved.

Tel: +233 030 296 5297 editor@thebsuiness24online.net

NEWS/EDITORIAL

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EDITORIAL

Bank staff must prepare for coming transformation 1 Banking as we know it today is changing rapidly. Technology, which is now seen as an enabler, is shaping up to be an integral part of banking.

These expected changes require technology savvy bankers who also have a mastery over data analytics.

Wash your hands 2

Head of Channels at UMB Bank, Myles Hagan, has rightly urged bankers to enhance their education and skills in digital banking operations.

“Presently, certain institutions have adopted working from home, which means you do not necessarily have to come to the office but can use digital tools to execute your functions. Moving forward, in terms of workforce and digital adoption, staff who can equip

themselves with knowledge to use technology are in a better position to remain in their jobs, as against those that may find challenges in adopting digital tools,” he said.

Several major technological trends are converging and transforming digital banking services for businesses. The result is that banks across the country and beyond are waking up to growing competition and the changing demands of their clients.

Mr. Hagan said companies of all sizes across the continent are embarking on their own digital transformations.

Businesses want faster and more convenient methods to transfer funds and analyse their

Cover your cough 3

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LIMITED Copyright @ 2019 Business24 Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Editorial Team Dominic Andoh: Editor Eugene Kwabena Davis (Head of Parliamentary Business & Commodities) Benson Afful (Head of Energy & Education) Patrick Paintsil (Head of Maritime & Banking) Nii Annerquaye Abbey (Online Editor) Marketing Alexander Lartey Agyemang (Business Development Manager) Ruth Fosua Tetteh (Dept. Business Development Manager) Gifty Mensah (Marketing Manager) Irene Mottey (Sales Manager) Edna Eyram Swatson (Special Projects Manager ) Events Evelyn Kanyoke (Snr. Events Consultant) Finance/Administration Joseph Ackon Bissue (Accountant)

This shows that Bankers now have very little time to upgrade their skills or risk losing their jobs in an industry where less and less human intervention will be needed.

Self-service platforms to redefine banking—GAB (…CONTINUED FROM COVER )

Wear a mask

financial data. This means shifting away from manual paper-based processes and adopting electronic, increasingly automated payment processes that also allow more sophisticated, data-driven decisions, he said.

Indeed, the onset of Covid-19 has spurred growth in digital adoption, with most entities in the ecosystem (banks, fintechs and allied services like telcos) reengineering their existing portfolio, which has affected processes.

is to come—where technology will not just be an enabler but will become the business of banking.

“What was missing that COVID-19 has helped propel forward is the acceptance and adoption of digital banking channels.

For instance, customers who once resisted digital banking are fast realising that they are treading on lonely grounds in this period. Our projections from the association’s perspective is that, as they experience more and more of the digital channels made available by banks, the less likely it is that they will want to go back to visiting brick-and-mortar bank facilities in the future.”

Major banking areas to be affected Mr. Awuah noted that likely areas of banking operations to be affected include: customer on-boarding activities, product and service origination, bank performance assessment, and work environment design.

Other critical areas are staffing requirement in banks and the fluid opportunity for customers to compare and contrast banking services.

Business24 GBSR-Digital Banking webinar The first in the series of planned webinars was organised by Business24 e-Newspaper and powered by Business24 Events. It brought together key actors in the digital banking space to review the landscape of banking/financial services digitisation in Ghana, highlight

innovations and their benefits to customers, discuss customer service expectations in a digital banking age, how policies and regulations are encouraging and responding to digitisation trends, the likely future path of digitisation, and the link between digitisation and government’s financial inclusion agenda.

In addition to Mr. Awuah, other

speakers and panelists on the webinar were Mr. Kwaku Tettey, Head of Project Management Office, Ghana Interbank Payment & Settlement Systems (GhIPSS); Mr. Sampson Akligoh, Director, Financial Sector Division, Ministry of Finance; Mr. Myles Hagan, Head of Channels, UMB; and J.N. Halm, Service Consultant.

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Embrace digitisation or risk your job security, bank staff advised

BY EUGENE DAVIS

Staff of banks and financial institutions have been urged to adapt to the rapid developments in digitisation in order to stay relevant in the industry.

Speaking at the maiden Ghana Banking Sector Report Webinar organised by Business24 Media Limited, the Head of Channels at UMB Bank, Myles Hagan, cautioned that any banker who wants to remain employed would need to enhance their education and skills in digital banking operations.

“Presently, certain institutions have adopted working from home, which means you do not necessarily have to come to the office but can use digital tools to execute your functions. Moving forward, in terms of workforce and digital adoption, staff who can equip themselves with knowledge to use technology are in a better position to remain in their jobs, as against those that may find challenges in adopting digital tools,” he said.

Several major technological trends

are converging and transforming digital banking services for businesses. The result is that banks across the country and beyond are waking up to growing competition and the changing demands of their clients.

Mr. Hagan said companies of all sizes across the continent are embarking on their own digital transformations.

Businesses want faster and more convenient methods to transfer funds and analyse their financial data. This means shifting away from manual paper-based processes and adopting electronic, increasingly automated payment processes that also allow more sophisticated, datadriven decisions, he said.

He also explained that digital channels such as ATMs, internet banking, and mobile apps have always been around, but it was the adoption and uptake that was missing.

However, he said, the onset of Covid-19 has spurred growth in digital adoption, with most entities in the ecosystem (banks, fintechs and allied services like telcos) reengineering their existing

portfolio, which has affected processes.

“For example, if there was patronage initially of a mobile app, customers now want a little bit more than what used to be on the app. Most banks will be recording about 90 percent uptake in digital services—and that is very good.

It helps us drive more uptake by advising customers and putting up educative materials so most customers will move towards digital rather than analogue.”

He added that banks need to provide a better, more relevant service, and invest in products that meet the changing customer needs of real-time, mobile, frictionless and

simple banking.

On how well banks are prepared to meet the dynamics of customer expectations, he stated: “Most banks are enhancing their levels of investments in the adoption of predictive analysis, artificial intelligence and business analytical tools, which can help us preempt customer expectations. So what is going to happen is most banks can forecast that this customer per his strength may need this.”

At UMB, Mr. Hagan indicated, they have pushed digital uptake to 90 percent, and for the future they plan to ensure that all banking services are done digitally.

Finance Minister to present mid-year budget next month

BY EUGENE DAVIS

Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta is expected to present the mid-year budget review and supplementary estimates for the financial year next month.

According to Parliament’s Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-MensahBonsu, the Finance Minister will use the opportunity to explain how government intends to replenish advances it took from the contingency fund and the stabilisation fund due to the COVI19 pandemic, which has affected the economy badly.

In April, Parliament granted a request by government to withdraw an amount of GH¢1.2bn, equivalent to US$219m, from the contingency fund to finance the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP).

Government also received a US$1bn rapid credit facility from the IMF, part of which is being used to provide an electricity relief package for Ghanaians. The rest will go into supporting the 2020 budget.

Ken Ofori-Atta has to come up with strategies to mitigate the economic impact of the virus during his mid-year review statement.

Addressing the press at Parliament on Thursday, the Majority Leader added that the minister will also use

the opportunity to explain how the government intends to pay back the GH¢10bn it borrowed from the Bank

of Ghana (BoG) to help deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the issues the finance minister is expected to update lawmakers on include successful implementation of reforms introduced by government in the banking sector, post-recovery plans in the education sector, health matters, maintaining fiscal discipline ahead of the December general elections, and stabilising the economy and mitigating the impact of the coronavirus on businesses.

The country’s economy grew 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 6.7 percent in the same period last year, according to provisional data from the state statistics service.

Ghana has had one of sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest-growing economies in recent years, but the central bank last month downgraded its 2020 growth forecast to between 2 percent and 2.5 percent, from an earlier expectation of 6.8 percent, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The economy grew 6.5 percent in 2019.

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UBA Foundation Commemorates 2020 International Day of the African Child UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, on Wednesday joined the rest of the world to celebrate African children in this year’s edition of the International Day of the African Child.

June 16 every year, has been set aside by the United Nations as the International Day of the African Child to celebrate children in Africa where it recognises the courage of students who marched for their right to better education in Soweto South Africa, and as an institution that cares about the education and welfare of the African child, UBA through its Foundation marks this all important event annually.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown on educational institutions, UBA Foundation was not able to visit schools and community centres as is its usual practice, however, the Foundation held activities online, where students of secondary schools were afforded the opportunity to watch and listen to virtual mentoring and reading sessions.

During the virtual session, the Managing Director, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, spoke to the students on various issues, ranging from financial literacy and the importance of imbibing good reading culture to nation building. She also explained why UBA Foundation centres on three key pillars of Education, Empowerment and Environment, adding that the bank through its foundation, recognises the huge role that education and indeed a good reading culture has to play in

the lives of the youth.

She said, “These days school children barely make out time to read and are easily distracted by the presence of electronic social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others; and to curb this declining culture of reading across the continent, UBA Foundation came up with the ‘Read Africa’ project, designed to resuscitate the reading culture amongst our youths across the African continent.

“As a pan-African institution, we believe that the future of Africa lies in her youth and for this reason, UBA Foundation is actively involved in facilitating educational projects and bridging the literacy-wide gap on a pan-African scale, and is helping to rekindle the dwindling reading and literacy culture amongst African youths as they pursue their education,” Atta said.

While emphasising the belief that a highly educated and wellinformed youth is critical to the future of Africa, Atta seized the opportunity to read a few passages of the recommended novel to students and encouraged them to visit the UBA Foundation website on www.ubagroup.com/ubafoundation, register and gain access to read some more at their leisure.

UBA through its Foundation believes that quality education is crucial in developing the manpower needed by Africa to exploit emerging opportunities and propel the continent to higher levels of development.

Last month, the bank also held its UBA Conversations, an annual event commemorating the Africa Day, where world presidents and

leaders contributed to discussions aimed at propelling African growth post covid-19.

As a Pan African Institution, UBA is in the forefront of promoting Africa and African values, especially in the areas of economic development

for the continent. Operating in 20 African countries and globally in the United Kingdom, the United States and France, the bank has a strong record of supporting its communities, through challenging times.

Ghana’s economy likely to recover fully in 2024—Standard Bank Economic analysts at Standard Bank, parent company of Stanbic Bank Ghana, have indicated that Ghana’s economy is likely to see full recovery in 2024 due to the impact of COVID-19. This was contained in the May 2020 edition of the bank’s African Monthly Report (AMR).

According to the report, the 6–8 per cent year-on-year growth that seemed reasonable in the beginning of the year is no longer likely.

“COVID-19 undoubtedly will affect economic growth meaningfully.

Whereas growth of 6% – 8% y/y in the next 2 – 3 years seemed reasonable before, now 1.0% y/y seems likely this year, with a recovery only next year. In our base case, we see economic growth topping 5.0% y/y only by 2022,”the report said.

The report further indicated that

the economic situation will make it difficult for the government to control the fiscal gap, which will in turn affect the strength of the local currency.

The report noted that “Our bear scenario sees an economic contraction this year, then recovering to over 5.0% y/y growth by 2024. In this scenario, the government would find it hard to arrest a widening fiscal deficit, triggering significant portfolio outflows that would lead to faster depreciation of the Ghana Cedi than in our base scenario”.

Furthermore, the report indicated that the fall in oil prices will further undermine long-term economic growth particularly because oil revenues are a significant part of government revenue.

According to the report “Naturally, given the oil price collapse, and the flux in that market, Ghana’s oil production will be restrained too.

A significant source of uncertainty is how long oil prices will remain as depressed. The longer so, the greater the likelihood that investment in the oil sector will dwindle, undermining long-term growth”.

The report continued that “Oil revenues are a significant source of government revenue, at 5.5% of total revenue, with dividends from oil accounting for an additional 6.8% of revenue. Also consider the service suppliers to the oil industry.

Were oil prices to remain depressed for long, overall economic activity would suffer”.

These conditions notwithstanding, the report predicts less pressure

on inflation this year and foresees the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee easing its policy stance in a bid to boost economic activity.

The report also sees strong official financial inflows, which will likely leave the country’s balance of payment in a healthy position this year despite pressure on the current account.

The African Markets Report is a monthly report issued by the Standard Bank Group, parent company of Stanbic Bank Ghana and focuses on the economic and financial outlook of African countries. The report also reviews current economic situations and makes short to medium-term predictions about the economies of African countries.

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Insurance

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What value do you place on your car?

ELSY ADADEY

O

ne wonderful afternoon l was driving towards the central business center of Accra, when l saw a brand new black Chrysler 300.

Immediately l saw the vehicle l said to myself “waoow” this car is really nice. As l kept driving l was eager to see who the driver was.

Fortunately, at one of the traffic lights, we happen to stop adjacent to each other as the traffic light turned red. I rolled down my window and waved at the driver, he also rolled down his window and waved back at me.

Then l said to him you have a nice car, he nicely smiled and said thank you. Just after he made that statement the traffic light turned green and we all drove off. I must confess l wish l was driving that car!

As l kept driving, one thing kept lingering on my mind: what type of Insurance cover will this young driver have for his car? Will it be a third party cover or comprehensive cover?

I know most people have third party cover or comprehensive cover on their vehicles, but have no idea what it really means. I conducted a survey among a few of my friends to assess their understanding of this subject, and to my surprise, most of them said they have the Insurance on their vehicle to stop the police from harassing them.

Few of them also said they have the Insurance for the Insurance Company to replace their vehicles when it is involved in an accident.

These two major views expressed by my friends mean that as Insurance professionals, it is important we educate everyone to better appreciate the value of Insurance.

It is estimated that over 40,000 vehicles are registered annually in Ghana. This this means that between the year 2000-2020 over 800,000 vehicles have been registered, and by law all of them are expected to be Insured. ‘How many of these vehicles have motor insurance and how many of the owners understand the type of coverage they have bought?

Now the question is: What is Third Party Insurance Cover?

Third Party Insurance cover is simply the most basic and most affordable form of motor insurance.

It is also the minimum form of motor insurance required by law in Ghana to use a motor vehicle.

Just as the rich may decide to modify some of the features of the vehicle, the average person may just want to buy a car with standard features without any additional cost. This means that if you have a third Party cover, you have fulfilled the requirement of the law and as my friends said, they wouldn’t be harassed by the police.

By now, I am sure you are wondering what the Third Party policy covers.

Insurance is a legal relationship established between the person who takes the Insurance and the Insurance Company. The two are considered as two parties, this means that any person outside these two parties are third parties to the contract.

I can liken it to two people in marriage recognized under the laws of the Country. In the event of any dispute, they may invite a third party to intervene. This may be a family member, close friends, pastors etc.

Though there are others involved in mediation, the law recognizes only the two parties in marriage.

Now bringing it back to Insurance, no Insurance contract names any individual as a third party, but the contract recognizes anyone who suffers injury or property damage as a result of an accident in which the person who took up the insurance is involved, a third party.

The third parties include other motorist, pedestrians, passengers etc. For instance, carelessly opening a car door into a passing vehicle can cause damage to it. Likewise, careless reversing can make you run your car into another person’s house or car.

The third party insurance covers the financial cost of damages and injuries to such third parties.

When damages occur, the law enforcement agency which is the police, determines who is at fault, for the damages to be repaired by the culprit’s Insurance Company.

In the case of injuries to persons, compensations are given. A broken leg, arm or eye cannot be replaced like the car light, bumper or any part of the car, hence the need to compensate victims. The injuries suffered can cause total/permanent disability or death to victims. This is what is covered under the personal accident cover. This is a provision that every Third Party Insurance covers mandatorily.

Though this is the minimum mandatory cover, the policy can be

extended to include fire and theft.

This is called Third Party Fire and Theft policy. Most people have lost their cars through fire and theft, hence has resulted in the addition of features to include those as well. (Please talk to your insurer to enquire how you can access this additional cover).

It would be great for you to check how much is stated on your Insurance policy, so that you can appreciate the value you have placed on third parties. By so doing, you can also ascertain if it is sufficient or not.

With this understanding, l am sure the next question on your mind is: what is Not covered?

There have been several instances where people assume that once they have an accident the Insurance Company must compensate them. In many instances they get disappointed to know that their insurance does not cover what they expected.

I simply want to indicate that the third party insurance cover does NOT include repair costs to your vehicle. Your regular servicing and repairs are not covered. Worn out brake pads, oil filters, lower arm bushings, worn out car tyres and so on are not covered.

I recall receiving a client in our office few years back. This client indicated that, he had to travel to Kumasi for a funeral, hence a request for the Insurance Company to pay for the servicing of his vehicle before the trip. He believed he had the right to make such request because he had paid his premium for over seven (7) years without any claim. I remember vividly the look on his face when l explained to him that such events were not covered under the insurance policy. I am sure if he understood what was covered, he wouldn’t have made that request.

The “Third Party Insurance Cover” only covers accidental damages to third party life and property. This

means that if your motor vehicle or motorcycle is for instance worn out, you would have to bear the cost of repairs.

Insurance provides financial security and peace of mind. It is important you read your policy document to be well informed.

Are you still wondering the type of Insurance cover the brand new black Chrysler 300 will be having?

Will it be third party insurance cover or comprehensive?

Watch out for more information about Comprehensive Insurance in our next article. Please stay safe and exercise care on the road because every life matters to their families and the nation.

Elsy Adadey is an experienced insurance professional with extensive expertise in Operational Management, Corporate Communication, Marketing and Sales and Event management. She is a member of Chartered Insurance Institute, UK, and holds a diploma in Insurance.

She also holds an MBA in Marketing from Graduate School of Business, Central University College. She is a business coach, a sales trainer and event consultant. She was formerly the Executive Head of Programmes at First Insurance Company Ltd. For comments, please contact Elsy via mail through kobels99@yahoo. com

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Significant market power in Ghana—A case of delayed implementation

BY SAMUEL HANSON HAGAN

On the 8th of June 2020, the National Communication Authority (NCA) of Ghana issued a press themed: “Declaration of Intent to Classify Scancom (MTN) as Dominant/Significant Market Power”. According to the release, “The NCA in the exercise of its mandate under Section 20 (13) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, (Act 775) declared its intention to classify MTN as a dominant/ Significant Market Power”. This release was issued after government (represented by the Minster of Communication) had directed the NCA to enforce provisions of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) to address disparities in the market and revenue share in the telecommunication sector.

Portions from the National Telecommunications Policy relevant to this issue at stake states that “…The NCA will define regulations to establish significant market power (SMP), but in general, SMP will be determined to exist for an organization providing telecommunications service that controls at least 40% of a relevant market segment”. From the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) Section (3), The act states that “where an operator has significant market power, as determined in accordance with the criteria set out in this Act, the operator shall make available to other operators of electronic communications networks or providers of electronic communications services, technical information regarding the network or service, including planned deployment of equipment and other information relevant to the other network operator or service provider”.

In the same act, Section (8) lists the obligations of any SMP. These obligations are (a) disaggregate its network or its service or its network and service and on a cost-oriented basis specified by the Authority establish prices for its individual elements and offer the elements at the established prices to other operators and service providers, (b) publish, in the manner specified by the Authority the prices, technical, commercial and other terms and conditions pertaining to its offer for elements of interconnection, and (c) permit other network operators and service providers to have equal access to directory listing, operator services, directory assistance and directory listing without unreasonable delay, in accordance

Table 1: Mobile Data Subscriptions from January to March 2020. (Source: NCA Ghana)

Table 2: Mobile Voice Subscriptions from January to March 2020 (Source: NCA, Ghana)

with requirements specified by the Authority.

The Electronic Communications Act 2008, defines Significant Market Power as a network operator or service provider, either individually or jointly with other operators or providers, has a position that allows it to behave in a way that is appreciably independent of its competitors and customers Now there has been an outcry by some industry players indicating that NCA and government by this release, are looking forward to drawing back the successes chocked

by MTN. MTN is arguably a pace setter in the industry. Amongst other things, they were the first to rollout LTE as a Major Mobile Network Organization (MNO) in Ghana and the first to publicly float on the Ghana Stock Exchange. They started Mobile Money over a decade ago and finally, is the company to have made access to Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) very affordable and accessible. The latter was the reason they accumulated a high number of subscribers in the very few years they started operation in Ghana. At the time when owning a SIM card from other MNOs (Ghana Telecom now Vodafone) and Mobitel (Millicom International Cellular) was considered a luxury and in some instances, difficult to acquire. MTN changed the face of telecommunication in Ghana by proving easy access to its SIM cards at very affordable rates, and rolled out quickly to all major towns and

cities. They marketed their brand excellently which made the masses buy into their product.

Ghana borrows the policy of SMP from the ITU-T, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and especially the European Union’s 2002 Common Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications Services. All these organizations have capped the market share for an operator to be determined as a SMP to 25%. In Ghana, our NTP caps it at 40%. Even with this significant huge percentage difference, we never had any operator being classified as SMP until recently. MTN Ghana currently has approximately 68% and 57% of data and voice market share respectively (NCA, March 2020 Communication Industry Statistics). Data available from NCA indicates that MTN has over 45% market share for both voice and data since 2013 (See Table 1 and 2).

The question one needs to ask is why NCA failed to classify MTN as a significant market power until now?

Figures available indicates that MTN has invested a lot in expansions and upgrades of their network to achieve what they currently have.

Presently there seems to be very less competition in the space.

Competition provides choice and lower prices for users. In the event an operator grows and becomes a dominant force in the industry, it is the citizenry that suffers. The dominant force could grow and force the other smaller operators

to shut down. When this happens, consumers get less choice and higher prices.

In the spirit of checking SMP, some mergers and acquisitions can be blocked. Assuming MTN in its current form acquires or merges with Vodafone in Ghana. The combined market share of this new organization would be over 85%.

With time, all the other MNOs would fold up, and the Ghanaian consumer would be the loser.

It is therefore prudent that the regulator takes steps to implement the guidelines that comes with the classification of MTN as SMP and ensure the other MNOs are protected and supported to grow.

The economy needs all the MNOs to grow with significant share of the telecom economy and market.

Although the NCA should have implemented the law several years ago, it is better late than never. As an industry person, taking cognizance of ITU-T D.261 recommended principles of minimum intervention and proportionality in respect to identified SMPs and to increase competition, I recommend the following: a. Provision of subsidized LTE licenses or authorization for deployment by MNOs who have not been able to deploy LTE b. Invitation of more mobile virtual network operations to take advantage of the capacity available from the SMP c. Support the implementation of local roaming for all operators d.Maintain a fixed amount for all interconnect calls e. The state should facilitate the provision of fiber optic networks to all areas in the country. This should be led by the state and priority given to the smaller MNOs to connect more homes and offices to their network to enjoy voice, data and over the top products. This would give them a competitive advantage in the fiber space to have a significant share in that space.

Samuel Hanson Hagan is a telecommunication consultant | Member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana. Send comments via email: shhagan@ gmail.com | WhatsApp: +233507393640

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Watchdog urges gov’t to deny licences to new Chinese trawlers

BY BENSON AFFUL

Watchdog Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has deepened its call on government to resist any attempt by the Fisheries Commission to issue licences to three Chinese trawlers that have been registered to the Ghanaian flag and are awaiting licensing, despite a moratorium on new fishing vessels due to extreme over-capacity in the existing fleet.

The pressure group alleged that already, 90 percent of Ghana’s industrial trawl fleet is linked to Chinese ownership, saying “Ghana has the largest registry of Chinese distant-water vessels outside China.”

The new vessels—Yu Feng 1, 3 and 4—were all built in China in 2016 and were all flying the Chinese flag before arriving in Ghana.

To bypass Ghana’s laws, which prohibit foreigners from engaging in joint ventures in the industrial trawl sector, Chinese corporations operate through Ghanaian “front” companies, using opaque corporate structures to import their vessels, register and obtain a licence, EJF said.

Ghana’s Fisheries Management Plan states that 48 trawlers are the most that the fishery can sustain; yet EJF said 72 trawlers are currently licensed.

A government moratorium on fishing licences for new or replacement trawl vessels has been in force since 2012.

The Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council has also opposed the licensing of the new trawlers in an open letter the council sent to the Fisheries Commission.

“Our fish stocks in Ghana are in crisis and the small pelagic fishery— the lifeline of our artisanal fishing communities—is on the verge of collapse. As identified in the 20152019 Fisheries Management Plan, there are already too many trawlers fishing in Ghana’s waters,” the council said in the letter.

The canoe council highlighted in its letter that the new trawlers are registered to local companies established in 2019, with only a PO Box as their address.

“Respectfully, we ask how it is possible that a newly established fishing company in Ghana can suddenly acquire one or two trawlers of this size with the costs involved?

Is the Fisheries Commission able

We have handed over all data to GRA – GCNet

The Management of Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) says it has handed over all data from year 2002 to May 31, 2020 to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in an appropriate format.

The management said the data was transformable, manageable, acceptable and transportable to any relational database management system for consumption and use in accordance with international acceptable standards, i.e. Comma Separated Values (CSV) format.

A statement issued in Accra and signed by Mrs. Aba Lokko, Corporate Communications Manager of GCNet said there was a trail of irrefutable evidence of confirmed receipt by

GRA of all such data from GCNet/ GCMS to this effect.

It said as part of the data submission to GRA, GCNet provided on two separate occasions the Column Names and Data Types and therefore, it was totally false to suggest that GCNet did not hand over data to the GRA. The statement said GCNet was proud of the service it has rendered through its smart end-to-end e-Customs Single Window system, which facilitated trade, improved business competitiveness and ensured sustained improvements in revenue mobilization for the Government for national development over the years.

to confirm that it has investigated the beneficial ownership of these companies to ensure that only Ghanaian citizens will be controlling and profiting from the operations?” the letter said.

Ghana has a severe issue with a type of illegal fishing known as “saiko”. Small pelagic fish, known as the “people’s fish”, are subject to targeted illegal fishing by trawlers.

They are then transferred at sea to specially adapted boats and sold back to local communities at a profit.

The EJF cited a similar situation in Senegal, where the country has rejected licensing requests for 52 new industrial fishing vessels, after Senegalese small-scale fishers and

industrial shipowners raised the alarm.

Executive Director of the EJF Steve Trent said: “Senegal made the right choice in declining these licences and thereby protecting its fisheries and the livelihoods and food security of its coastal communities.

In Ghana, illegal and unsustainable fishing is already driving fish stocks to the brink of collapse. Approving new licenses now—when by the government’s own admission, the fleet is already over-capacity—would be a catastrophic, unjustifiable mistake. I firmly hope that the Ghanaian government follows the good example set by Senegal and declines these requests.”

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The great lockdown through a global lens

BY GITA GOPINATH

T

he Great Lockdown is expected to play out in three phases, first as countries enter the lockdown, then as they exit, and finally as they escape the lockdown when there is a medical solution to the pandemic. Many countries are now in the second phase, as they reopen, with early signs of recovery, but with risks of second waves of infections and re-imposition of lockdowns. Surveying the economic landscape, the sheer scale and severity of the Global Lockdown are striking. Most tragically, this pandemic has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide. The resulting economic crisis is unlike anything the world has seen before.

This is a truly global crisis. Past crises, as deep and severe as they were, remained confined to smaller segments of the world, from Latin America during the 1980s to Asia in the 1990s. Even the global financial crisis 10 years ago had more modest effects on global output.

For the first time since the Great Depression, both advanced and emerging market economies will be in recession in 2020. The forthcoming June World Economic Outlook Update is likely to show negative growth rates even worse than previously estimated.

This crisis will have devastating consequences for the world’s poor.

Aside from its unprecedented scale, the Global Lockdown is playing out in ways that are very different from past crises. These unusual characteristics are emerging all over the world, irrespective of the size, geographic region, or production structure of economies.

First, this crisis has dealt a uniquely large blow to the services sector. In typical crises, the brunt is borne by manufacturing, reflecting a decline in investment, while the effect on services is generally muted as consumption demand is less affected. This time is different. In the peak months of the lockdown the contraction in services has been even larger than in manufacturing, and it is seen in advanced and emerging market economies alike.

There are exceptions—like Sweden and Taiwan Province of China, which adopted a different approach to the health crisis, with limited government containment measures and a consequently proportionately smaller hit to services vis-à-vis manufacturing.

It is possible that with pent-up consumer demand there will be a quicker rebound, unlike after previous crises. However, this is not guaranteed in a health crisis as consumers may change spending behavior to minimize social interaction, and uncertainty can lead households to save more. In the case of China, one of the early exiters from lockdown, the recovery of the services sector lags manufacturing as such services as hospitality and travel struggle to regain demand.

Of particular concern is the longterm impact on economies that rely significantly on such services— for example, tourism-dependent economies.

Second, despite the large supply shocks unique to this crisis, except for food inflation, we have thus far seen, if anything, a decline in inflation and inflation expectations pretty much across the board in both advanced and emerging market economies. Despite the considerable conventional and unconventional monetary and fiscal support across the globe, aggregate demand remains subdued and is weighing on inflation, alongside lower commodity prices. With high unemployment projected to stay for a while, countries with monetary policy credibility will likely see small risks of spiraling inflation.

Third, we see striking divergence of financial markets from the real economy, with financial indicators pointing to stronger prospects of a recovery than real activity suggests.

Despite the recent correction, the S&P 500 has recouped most of its losses since the start of the crisis; the FTSE emerging market index and Africa index are substantially improved; the Bovespa rose significantly despite the recent surge in infection rates in Brazil; and portfolio flows to emerging and developing economies have stabilized.

With few exceptions, the rise in sovereign spreads and the depreciation of emerging market currencies are smaller than what we saw during the global financial crisis. This is notable considering the larger scale of the shock to emerging markets during the Great Lockdown.

This divergence may portend greater volatility in financial markets.

Worse health and economic news can lead to sharp corrections. We will have more to say about this divergence in our forthcoming Global Financial Stability Report.

One likely factor behind this

divergence is the stronger policy response during this crisis.

Monetary policy has become accommodative across the board, with unprecedented support from major central banks, and monetary easing in emerging markets including through first time use of unconventional policies.

Discretionary fiscal policy has been sizable in advanced economies.

Emerging markets have deployed smaller fiscal support, constrained to some extent by limited fiscal space. Furthermore, a unique challenge confronting emerging markets this time around is that the informal sector, typically a shock absorber, has not been able to play that role under containment policies and has instead required support. We are now in the early stages of the second phase as many countries begin to ease containment policies and gradually permit the resumption of economic activity. But there remains profound uncertainty about the path of the recovery.

A key challenge in escaping the Great Lockdown will be to ensure adequate production and distribution of vaccines and treatments when they become

available—and this will require a global effort. For individual countries, minimizing the health uncertainty by using the least economically disruptive approaches such as testing, tracing, and isolation, tailored to country-specific circumstances with clear communication about the path of policies, should remain a priority to strengthen confidence in the recovery. As the recovery progresses, policies should support the reallocation of workers from shrinking sectors to sectors with stronger prospects.

The IMF, in coordination with other international organizations, will continue to do all it can to ensure adequate international liquidity, provide emergency financing, support the G20 debt service suspension initiative, and help countries maintain a manageable debt burden. The IMF will also provide advice and support through surveillance and capacity development, to help disseminate best practices, as countries learn from each other during this unprecedented crisis. (blogs.imf.org)

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The pandemic must end our complacency

BY BERTRAND BADRÉ AND YVES TIBERGHIEN

W

ith an economic downturn as severe as the Great Depression and political conditions similar to those in the run-up to World War I, an international system built on globalization now hangs in the balance. The world desperately needs effective collective leadership – and not just to contain COVID-19.

A sudden shock upends routine decision-making and forces leaders to take urgent action. A combination of mistrust, misperception, and fear dissolves the bonds that sustain modern civilization.

The year is 1914, when Europe spent its summer mobilizing for war. But the description could just as well apply to the summer of 2020.

The worst pandemic since the 191820 influenza outbreak is rapidly morphing into a systemic crisis of globalization, potentially setting the stage for the most dangerous geopolitical confrontation since the end of the Cold War. In the space of just weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down one-third of the global economy and triggered the largest economic shock since the Great Depression. Looking ahead, the most important factor that will shape how this crisis evolves is collective leadership. But that crucial component remains absent.

With the United States and China at each other’s throats, global leadership will have to emerge from somewhere other than Washington, DC, or Beijing.

Moreover, to pave the way for renewed international cooperation, three myths need to be debunked.

The first is that COVID-19 qualifies as an unexpected “black swan” event for which no one could have prepared. In fact, public-

health advocates like Bill Gates and epidemiologists such as Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota have been sounding the alarm for years about the systemic risks posed by coronaviruses and influenza, as have leading intelligence agencies.

The sheer depth of the current crisis is the product of our collective failure to think in non-linear terms or to heed scientists’ clear warnings.

Worse, COVID-19 is probably just a dress rehearsal for the disasters that await us as a result of climate change – especially after we pass the warming threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, starting in the early 2030s.

The second myth is that COVID-19 has discredited globalization. To be sure, international air travel did spread the coronavirus around the world much faster than older travel methods would have. Yet globalization has also furnished us with the information, medicine, technology, and multilateral institutions needed to defeat not just viruses, but all other collective threats, too.

Because there is now a global scientific community linked through information and communication technologies, the genome of the novel coronavirus was sequenced and made publicly available by January 12, within two weeks of China’s report of a cluster of cases. And now, researchers around the world are sharing their findings in pursuit of a vaccine. Never before have so many people across so many countries collaborated on the same project.

The third myth is that our current policy tools and institutional arrangements can see us through the crisis. In fact, international organizations can mobilize only a fraction of the resources required to contain the virus and its economic fallout. Unless we change how institutions like the World Health

Organization operate and do more to leverage the resources of private actors, our expectations will not be met.

The COVID-19 pandemic has come at a critical moment, accelerating a deeper crisis of international cooperation. Resolving both will require significant innovation, and a massive cooperative effort to achieve a stable equilibrium between economic growth and social wellbeing. This will not be easy. Not only must we change our institutions and broader economic systems, but we also must change ourselves.

The agenda we need includes five parts. First, we need to work toward more inclusive leadership at the global level. Given the current difficulties in the US-China relationship, the rest of the G20 must come together to generate new ideas for addressing the crisis in the global trading system, the intensifying zero-sum competition over technology, and the collapse of trust in multilateral frameworks.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Indonesia, India, South Korea, and Brazil, in particular, must play a bigger role in filling the leadership vacuum.

Second, we need new multilevel leadership coalitions comprising civil-society organizations, the private sector, think tanks, and others. When the usual top-down leadership is not forthcoming, others must rise to the occasion.

Third, we need to ensure a smooth process of developing and distributing a COVID-19 vaccine.

G20 member states must build on their previous pledges to work with the relevant international organizations and willing privatesector partners in creating a platform for delivering a vaccine fast and equitably. This is an unprecedented challenge that demands an unprecedented coalition.

Fourth, we need more firepower

to address the looming financial crisis in emerging and developing economies.

The International Monetary Fund should immediately issue a new tranche of its Special Drawing Rights, and the Paris Club of sovereign creditors, coordinating closely with China, must address debtor countries’ increasingly unsustainable debt levels.

Finally, the international community must start building the coalitions needed to ensure success at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, and at the UN climate conference (COP26) next year.

The world desperately needs more engagement on climate and environmental issues, not least to sever the link between habitat loss and zoonotic-disease outbreaks.

The historian Margaret MacMillan concludes her analysis of the world’s march to war in 1914 with a crucial message: “[I]f we want to point fingers from the twentyfirst century, we can accuse those who took Europe into war of two things. First, a failure of imagination in not seeing how destructive such a conflict would be, and second, their lack of courage to stand up to those who said there was no choice left but to go to war. There are always choices.”

The costs of inaction today have already been staggering. Rather than simply accepting the collapse of the multilateral system, we must start imagining the new mechanisms of solidarity that this crisis demands.

Bertrand Badré, a former Managing Director of the World Bank, is CEO of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital and the author of Can Finance Save the World?

Yves Tiberghien, co-chair of the Vision 20 Initiative, is Professor of Political Science and Director Emeritus of the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia. (www.project-syndicate.org/)

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The Delse Shop – A Father’s Pride

BY EVANS ADU-GYAMFI

C

an you smell it? The fragrance of Fathers’ Day? Yes, I can. It is even more refreshing that I am hearing about it on the airwaves lately. Since my book A Toast To Fatherhood was published in 2016, every year, the third Sunday of June has become a special I look forward to. I do so for a simple reason. It is the day sons and daughters show (or ought to show) appreciation to their fathers and father figures.

You may ask: Should fathers or fatherhood be celebrated only on a Sunday in a whole year? Certainly not! That reminds me of the banner I spotted the other day in front of a shop that had the inscription: ‘every day is Fathers’ day’. Everyday indeed! Even more, the best form to show appreciation to a father is when his children turn out as responsible adults to contribute positively to society. Perhaps, that can be considered the highest return on any ‘fatherly investment’. I call it ‘a father’s pride’. Gladly enough, that is the framework upon which The Delse Shop is anchored. It is the story of how one young woman is determined to honour her father and the father of her own children by building a business that projects some of Ghana’s best natural products onto the global market.

How did it all come about? The journey started as a seed that was planted in the heart of Mrs Selasi Dzikunu, a young African woman who believes cosmetics should enhance the rich skin of the African – black or otherwise. What others saw as challenging is what Selasi identified as business opportunity.

Thus, like any other business, The Delse Shop is thriving and growing because it provides a fundamental solution to a societal problem. What is the problem?

Being a lover of natural products herself, Selasi observed how difficult it was for her fellow urban dwellers, especially those in the national capital Accra, to have access to natural beauty products at affordable prices. That observation called for action; one that would provide some solution, no matter how little. In the process, The Delse Shop idea was birthed “to present a platform that creates high quality yet affordable beauty experience for Afrocentric individuals”.

Since its launch and commencement of operations, The Delse Shop has predominantly functioned as an online retail shop devoted to made-in-Ghana products as it aspires to champion the use of natural products with special emphasis on locally manufactured products. The Delse Shop has body products, hair products and fragrances that are all made from natural products in the original state. The business offers a wide variety of natural products from

Selasi Dzikunu (Mrs), CEO of The Delse Shop

brands such as R&R Luxury, Laam Shea, Nzua Naturals and Nokware.

Products include oils, lotions, body scrubs and hair shampoos.

Gauging the Ghanaian business terrain, it could be said that quite a number of start-ups and local companies have trade limitation as a major challenge. This is to say that the local manufacturers only concentrate on a fragment of the Ghanaian market without exploring the possibilities of marketing on a global scale. The Delse shop’s solution to this problem is to become a place where these Ghanaian brands would be celebrated and marketed adequately.

To an extent, The Delse Shop serves as the hub for micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the beauty and cosmetic industry. The impact the Delse shop has is that it increases the revenue of these local manufacturers. Most of the raw materials that form the basis of these products are sourced from deprived communities where women are engaged in the production of the raw materials. The local manufacturers who deal with The Delse Shop take these raw materials, add value to them and market to people in the urban areas.

The Delse Shop operates a model that marries business sustainability with community development. In other words, “our corporate goal is tied in with our community. We believe a truly successful business is one that makes its society a better one”. With this philosophy guiding its operations The Delse Shop upholds three of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 1 (No poverty) – By paying fair wages and partnering with local farmers for ingredients such as shea butter. SDG 3 (Good health and wellbeing) – by providing purely organic products for personal health care. SDG 8 (Decent work and economic

growth) – by fostering innovation and reducing inequality through training people, especially women in the rural areas on basic good business management practices.

Overall, The Delse Shop has provided support to over 2000 rural women by ensuring their suppliers or manufacturers use fair trade in procuring raw materials from them. More importantly the business organises and facilitates simple book keeping trainings for these identified rural women to streamline and strengthen their business operations. To the Management of The Delse Shop, value addition through strategic partnership is most critical.

Being an online retail shop, information communication technology (ICT) plays a major role in the daily dealings of The Delse Shop. Indeed, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made more apparent, the future of business operations depends essentially on how much investment a business is willing to make in the area of ICT to drive innovation -- the non-negotiable path to business success. Thankfully, The Delse Shop is well positioned for such a moment. How? Primarily, middle class individuals in the urban centres who have access to the internet and are tech savvy form the main customer base of the Delse Shop.

Are you an investor? Management is open for investment and strategic partnership for business growth.

The Delse Shop’s aim is to present the end products to the world on a global market. We are seeking to have a secured and trusted e-commerce platform and extending our marketing plan which will see an investment in digital marketing.

Kindly permit me to gently remind you again: This Sunday ( June 21) is the day for fatherhood. To celebrate fathers and father-figures, throughout this month of June The

Delse Shop has an array of activities and engagements on their portal and social media platforms (Facebook; Instagram). What stands out to me is the informative professional advice on how to care for the skin.

Who knows? Perhaps, one of the best if not the best gift you could offer your dad is to take advantage of this free professional offer from The Delse Shop.

Guess what? The Delse Shop has a special package of products that every father or father-figure would be grateful to receive from his son or daughter. And in the words of the CEO, “we are focusing on celebrating our fathers and encouraging them to be great role models to young men by practicing good personal hygiene”. This is your moment… ‘a convenient online beauty shopping’ experience awaits you. Just visit https://thedelseshop.com

Evans is a Communication Practitioner, Social Researcher and Writer who loves to learn and share new knowledge through self-learning, writing and public speaking. As Program Quality Director of Ghana Toastmasters (Division G; District 94) Evans supervises twenty (20) corporate and community clubs in Accra, Kumasi and Tema. He is the author of ‘A Toast to Fatherhood’ and the co-author of ‘The Dawn of Ghana Toastmasters’. Contact him on +233 (0) 246 480040 or adugyamfi.evans1@gmail.com

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WEEKLY FINANCIAL MARKET UPDATES: For the week ending 12/06/2020 WEEKLY INTERBANK FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES Currency Year Week Week Open Open Close USDGHS 5.5337 5.6230 5.6500 GBPGHS 7.3164 7.1415 7.0704 EURGHS 6.2114 6.3605 6.3546 GHSXOF 105.61 103.13 103.23

GHANA CEDI INDEX Year Open Week Open 501.5071

507.2315

Change % 0.48% -0.99% -0.09% 0.09%

20.200

2.10% -3.36% 2.31% -2.25%

Week Close

Change

YTD

507.4773

0.2457

1.19%

TREASURY SECURITIES RATES (PRIMARY MARKET) Security Current Previous Change Coupon % Coupon % 91 Day Bill 13.930 13.952 -0.022 182 Day Bill 14.036 14.057 -0.021 364 Day Bill 16.845 16.881 -0.036 2yr Fixed Note 20.200 20.200 0.000 3yr Fixed Bond 18.850 18.850 0.000 5yr Fixed Bond 21.700 21.700 0.000 6yr Fixed Bond 21.000 21.000 0.000 7yr Fixed Bond 16.250 16.250 0.000 10yr Fixed Bond 19.800 19.800 0.000 20yr Fixed Bond

YTD

20.200

0.000

Year Open Rates 14.67 15.17 17.83 19.50 19.50 16.50 21.00 16.25 17.50

LOCAL BENCHMARKS BOG – Policy Rate

14.50%

Inflation May (2020)

11.3%

Fiscal Deficit target (2020) GDP Growth Target (2020)

7.80% 2.60%

Inflation Target (2020) GDP Growth (2019)

8.0% 7.9%

EQUITY TURNOVER Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Total

Volume 54,647 1,202,849 438,555 684,809 3,173,677 5,554,537

WEEK END PRICE LOSERS Ticker Open GH¢ RBGH 0.49 FML 2.45 GGBL 1.40 GCB 4.48 EGL 1.49 GOIL 1.55 TOTAL 2.40 CAL 0.70

Value GH¢ 30,686.90 744,366.50 1,004,968.41 317,590.45 5,253,586.70 7,351,198.96

Close GH¢ 0.40 2.09 1.20 4.05 1.44 1.50 2.37 0.69

Gainers 0 1 0 0 1 2

Loss GH¢ -0.09 -0.36 -0.20 -0.43 -0.05 -0.05 -0.03 -0.01

Losers 2 2 1 5 5 15

GSE-CI 1951.41 1960.61 1958.06 1937.65 1928.66

% Change w/w -18.37% -14.69% -14.29% -9.60% -3.36% -3.23% -1.25% -1.43%

COMMODITIES (PRICES FOR THE WEEK ENDING 12/06/2020) Commodities Year Week Week Change Open Open Close (w/w) Oil Brent Crude 66.00 42.30 38.73 -3.57 (USD/bbl) Gold (USD/t oz) 1523.10 1,685.06 1,730.75 45.69 Cocoa (USD/MT) 2,540.00 2,384.00 2,319.00 -65.00 Coffee (USD/lb) 129.70 98.90 97.00 -1.90 Sugar (USD/lb) 13.42 12.09 12.04 -0.05 Rice (USD/CWT) 13.29 12.54 11.94 -0.60

YTD -41.32% 13.63% -8.70% -25.21% -10.28% -10.16%

20.20

Analyst(s): Ruth Atobrah | Emmanuel Ayim-Ahiably: NDK Capital Research | research@ndkcapital.com | www.ndkcapital.com | 0302 218 423 This is published solely for informational purposes. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice. The information is obtained from internal and external sources which NDK Capital Limited considers reliable but has not independently verified such information and does not guarantee that it is accurate or complete.

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