Business24 Newspaper 11th June, 2021

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FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

mediaReach OMD Ghana wins Pitcher Festival of Creativity awards

13 million people to receive COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana

See page 7

See page 9

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NO. B24 / 207 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

MONDAY FRIDAYMAY JUNE 3,11, 2021 2021

Inflation forecast to stay below 10% after May drop

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

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macjosh1922@gmail.com

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o v e r n m e n t ’s flagship agricultural programme Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has clearly shown the need to prioritise value addition in the nation’s agribusiness

he second consecutive drop in consumer inflation to 7.5 percent in May signals the indicator is not likely to exceed the Bank of Ghana’s target band of 6–10 percent this year, Courage Kingsley Martey, senior economist with Databank, the money manager, has said.

According to data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the drop in inflation last month, from 8.5 percent Cont’d on page 2

Skills and technology will drive PFJ, says ITA director

Cont’d on page 3

Amin Adam backs proposal to merge PURC, Energy Commission

By Eugene Davis

Kobina Anim, Government Statistician

ugendavis@gmail.com

Analyst wants upfront payments by oil companies reduced

By Benson Afful affulbenson@gmail.com

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he Institute for Energy Security (IES) has urged government to review the upfront payment of up to US$7m that the country takes from oil companies as technology transfer and training fees as part of the terms of petroleum agreements (PAs).

FPSO Kwame Nkrumah at the Jubilee Fields operated by Tullow Oil

Cont’d on page 2

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deputy ministerdesignate for Energy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, who served in the same position from 2017 to January 2021, has endorsed a proposal to merge the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Energy Commission, saying it will “lessen the burden investors go through” to Cont’d on page 5

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Cont’d on page 2

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Editorial / News

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

Editorial

Fisheries governance need stronger oversight

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est Africa is endowed with fisheries resources that have to be harnessed for the benefit of the sub-region.

Harnessing this potential has been hampered by the prevalence of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing – leading to the depletion of the fisheries stock.

One of the major solutions to address these challenges is the development of a coordinated strategic plan for the sub-region – a plan that will provide the governance framework for fishing.

In the quest to have this framework properly implemented, a regional workshop on the popularisation and dissemination of a

comprehensive strategic framework for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development for the West Africa region was held in Accra.

The two-day meeting was to improve awareness of the regional framework and also to solicit the inputs and concerns of ECOWAS member states to ensure its smooth implementation.

The workshop is to help member states develop a roadmap that will facilitate the alignment of national strategies towards the harmonisation of fisheries governance across the sub-region.

The comprehensive strategic framework for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development (CSF SFAD)

framework was adopted by ECOWAS ministers in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture in November 2020.

There is no denying that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, the weak development of aquaculture are some of the key challenges across the region.

Business24 believes that, indeed, promoting sustainable fisheries, will be highly necessary to the development of Africa with more than two million people relying directly or indirectly on the sector.

At the end of the day, organisers of the event believe that the strategic framework will create an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in fisheries and aquaculture.

Inflation forecast to stay below 10% after May drop Continued from cover

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in April, was largely driven by base effects and a slowdown in imported inflation arising from the relative stability of the local currency during the period.

Inflation had risen from 9.9 percent in January to 10.3 percent in February and March, before falling in April.

“Generally, the market expects inflation to end 2021 below 10 percent, well within the BoG’s target band of 6 percent to 10 percent,” said Mr. Martey in an

interview.

“Although there’s still a sizable number of expectations that inflation could pick up in the second half of the year, the general expectation now is that the upward pressure might not push inflation back above 10 percent,” he added.

Some market analysts hold the view that from June, the upside pressure from increased fuel cost, higher transport fares, and the recent tax increases could cause some modest increase in inflation, before a slowdown

is seen again in August and September.

During May, food inflation was 5.4 percent, which was both lower than April’s 6.5 percent and the average of the previous 12 months of 11.3 percent. This led to a fall in the contribution of food inflation to total inflation to 32.3 percent, the lowest since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was rebased in 2018.

Like food inflation, non-food inflation also dropped in May, from 10 percent 8.8 percent.

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Analyst wants upfront payments by oil companies reduced Continued from cover According to the Executive Director of the institute, Nana Amoasi VII, these upfront payments, which oil companies are expected to make within 90 days before undertaking seismic surveys, serve as a disincentive to the companies, particularly the smaller ones.

“If the upfront payments that

go as high as US$7m are reviewed downwards, the savings could serve as free cash flow to the oil companies to deploy into their operations,” he said.

Nana Amoasi added that the government should also take a look at the exploratory period and extend it from the current 7 years (should there be no force majeure) to possibly 10 years.

This, he said, will give the

companies enough time to acquire seismic data, analyse the data, and establish the existence of reservoirs of hydrocarbons. It will also reduce the number of dry holes, he added.

The IES Executive Director had told Business24 earlier that oil companies are currently struggling to raise funds for projects because a substantial amount of global capital is being directed at renewable energy projects and away from hydrocarbons.

The shift, he said, follows the unprecedented political and business momentum renewable energy is currently enjoying, with the number of policies and projects around the world expanding rapidly.

“The oil majors and other international oil companies (IOCs) are diversifying into renewables, motivated to invest heavily in renewable technologies and projects because that is where the cash is drifting,” he told Business24.

It was revealed earlier this month that United States oil major ExxonMobil has relinquished its controlling stake and operatorship of the Deepwater Cape Three Points oil block in Ghana The IES boss said a possible reason for the exit of ExxonMobil could be the company’s expectation of tax exemptions from the initial exploration activities, which were not provided.

The exemptions, if offered, could have provided some form of free cash flow for the company to attempt drilling further wells to confirm the results of the initial seismic survey, he said.

Skills and technology will drive PFJ, says ITA director Continued from cover sector, Alessandro Gerbino, West Africa Director of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), has said.

The ability to increase value along the agricultural value chain hinges on a structured approach to skills development and technology, he said.

Speaking at a networking event to announce ITA’s upcoming Ghana-Italy Agribusiness Digital Lab to stakeholders in the agribusiness sector, he said Italy has the right expertise and technology to support the PFJ programme.

“PJF has shown that the priority for Ghana in terms of public policy is to create more value in Ghana, and to do that you will need to upgrade capacity in terms of technology and skills.

Italy’s approach to this agenda is the exact step to take; we are coming in with training and technology. There are several of these trainings that we are putting in place, and we are bringing this Digital Lab to showcase our approach to technology.”

The ITA will on June 22 organise virtual B2B meetings between

Italian and Ghanaian agribusiness companies under the Digital Lab project.

It is one of several initiatives that the ITA has in place to promote both Ghanaian and Italian brands through already established connections.

According to Mr. Gerbino, the event will serve as an opportunity for Italian and Ghanaian agribusinesses to meet

and discuss how they can work together for mutual benefit.

He added: “This activity is within our larger approach to Ghana. We are answering the requests by Ghanaian entrepreneurs to know more about Italian technology, with pre-selected brands that are ready to approach the Ghanaian market.”

The ITA boss commended the support from the University of

Professional Studies (UPSA) and other key partners that have rallied behind the agribusiness project. The UPSA is offering an MBA in Entrepreneurship scholarship to two Ghanaian participants of the event.

“This is another opportunity for participants to benefit from the cooperation that is already in place between Italy and Ghana,” Mr. Gerbino said.

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News

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

Netherlands Embassy joins Green Ghana campaign I n solidarity with government’s nationwide tree planting initiative, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana will be planting some trees—including two cocoa trees—at the embassy ground and ambassadors’ residences.

The act restates the embassy’s commitment to climate change actions with several reforestation interventions being spearheaded by the Dutch private sector in the country.

“This is how we want to participate in this nationwide exercise; deforestation is a very big problem all over the world but the rate of deforestation in Ghana is alarming.

So, the Netherlands Embassy is proud of this nationwide tree planting initiative which seeks to plant 5million trees and we are very glad to participate,” Deputy Head of Mission, Katja Lasseur, told Business24 in an interview.

She added: “As you know, forests are storage places for carbon which is a very important part of tackling climate change, so reforestation should be a top-

Deputy Ambassador Katja Lasseur planting a cocoa tree in her garden to support the Green Ghana campaign

most priority in Ghana.”

Mrs. Lasseur further appealed to government to save the Atewa Forest that is being threatened with all kinds of mining activities, which she said could destroy the flora and fauna in the nation’s top forest reserve.

Green Ghana is an initiative that aims at planting five million trees in a single day, a nationwide activity that is scheduled to take place today.

The project was initiated after

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, made a call to Ghanaians to plant more trees to preserve the country’s forest cover and the environment.

Policy Officer in charge of Food Security, Agribusiness and Agriculture at the embassy, Abdul-Rahman Abdulai, said the embassy has been helping to conserve green spaces through crop intensification.

“The embassy supports interventions in agroforestry.

We intervene in the production of oil palm and cocoa whose cultivation trigger a certain level of deforestation.

As part of our interventions, we try as much as possible to promote crop intensification—growing crop within a limited space and not gearing into restricted areas— instead of expanding laterally which leads to deforestation,” he said.

Amin Adam backs proposal to merge PURC, Energy Commission Continued from cover secure approvals for projects.

PURC and the Energy Commission are the two main regulatory agencies in the power sector, responsible for technical regulation—including licensing and setting of standards— and economic regulation, respectively.

Dr. Amin Adam, who was speaking to the Appointments Committee of Parliament on discussions for a merger of the two regulators, said: “If we want to avoid over-regulation, then we need a one-stop shop where both economic and technical regulation takes place.

We learnt our lessons when we decided to set up Petroleum Commission. [There,] we decided to add technical and economic regulation in one institution, and this is the proposal that we discussed for the merger of [PURC and the Energy Commission].”

On the reported lack of

collaboration between Italian oil major Eni and Ghanaian operator Springfield towards unitisation of the Sankofa-Gye Nyame and Afina oil fields, Dr. Amin Adam stated: “I wish commercial partners cease releasing statements, because it is

a sensitive matter as government moves to negotiate between the two parties.”

Government last year directed Eni and Springfield to begin talks to combine their adjacent oil and gas fields, but the two are yet to

reach an agreement.

Analysts say unitisation will optimise the exploitation of the fields and increase the benefits to government.

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Companies

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

mediaReach OMD Ghana wins Pitcher Festival of Creativity awards

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ocused on developing and providing world class media planning and buying services for companies in the country, mediaReach OMD has received recognition at the Pitcher African Regional Awards 2021 -- winning a total of six awards.

The awards recognised mediaReach OMD Ghana’s pioneering creative works amid a global pandemic, uncertain economic circumstances and budget cuts. mediaReachOMD Ghana won six awards within the following categories: Silver: Integrated Campaign and Use of Media Bronze: PR & Reputation Management, Use of Insights & Strategy and Use of Media Shortlist: Use of Media “This is an extraordinary achievement for all our teams and would not have been possible without the support and close collaboration of our cherished clients. “We could never have achieved this without our clients,” said the Managing

The Managing Director, mediaReachOMD Ghana, Stephen Onaivi

Director of mediaReach OMD Ghana, Stephen Onaivi.

He explained that the company’s success lies in its philosophy, which is “delivering better decisions, faster.”

He added that translating this brand promise into practice was certainly put to the test in 2020 as the pandemic unfolded. And it is exciting to know that out

of seven cases presented for the awards, six of them were recognised.

He further explained that the achievement would not have been possible without a peoplefirst strategy. “Without the talent and dedication of the people we have, our clients would not have been armed with the invaluable, strategies developed to ensure

visionary thinking and bigpicture actions.”

Mr. Onaivi urged every talent within the organisation to strive towards continuing the winning streak by delivering good work for the benefit of our client’s businesses.

The success of mediaReach OMD at the awards was unprecedented as the Nigerian team also scooped 11 awards, including the Media Agency of the Year award.

Now in its fourth year, the Pitcher Awards has quickly become one of the most valuable and internationally respected accolades for creative work coming out of Africa.

The Pitcher Awards started as an annual celebration of creativity in West Africa, but beginning with the 2020 edition, the scope has now widened to include all work created, released or implemented anywhere on the African continent in line with its vision to provide the true and authentic benchmark for African creative excellence.

Samsung partners HD+ to offer Ghanaians impressive new way to enjoy TV

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amsung has partnered with HD+ to offer an amazing new way to enjoy TV. Samsung Crystal UHD and QLED TVs are now compatible to download the HD+ app and show free to air channels and other content in HD. Across the world, more and more people are embracing TV technology that offers immersive experiences that make you feel like you’re in every scene of your

favourite show or right in the stadium watching your team.

Currently, the broadcasting industry in Ghana is predominantly Standard Definition (SD).

However, globally, TV viewing has progressed beyond SD with most broadcasters showing High Definition (HD) and UHD content.

HD+ promises to upgrade the TV viewing experiences of local free to air channels in full HD via the HD+ service offering

“Making an additional range of programmes in high-definition accessible to more satellite TV households, in HD and UHD Premium quality TV is a wonderful way for more people to enjoy the power of Samsung’s pioneering TV technology. HD+ ‘s ‘Feeli Feeli’ offering is now seamlessly paired with Samsung TV’s immersive viewing experiences.

At Samsung, we design our TVs to give our customers cutting-

edge innovation that makes life better. This partnership does that in amazing new ways, “says Lucas Lee, Managing Director at Samsung-Ghana.

“We at SES HD PLUS Ghana, are committed to delivering world class TV viewing experiences to our customers and this integrated My HD PLUS App allows them to watch their favourite local channels in premium highdefinition quality without the need for additional devices or set up,” Theodore Asampong, Director at SES HD PLUS Ghana said.

The HD+ app will be available on the newer TV models and customers will not have to download it. During Euro 2021 through HD+’s partnership with a local TV station, Multimedia, which has the rights to air the game, customers will be able to enjoy the games in HD quality.

Better still, it is offered at an affordable price. During the finals, they can watch the games in 4K from the comfort of their homes.

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Maritime, Trade and Logistics

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

13 million people to receive COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana

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he World Bank today approved a $200 million Ghana COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project Second Additional Financing.

In collaboration with the COVAX Facility COVID-19 vaccine acquisition the project will provide financing to support the Government of Ghana to procure and deploy COVID-19 vaccines for 13 million people in Ghana.

The project will also strengthen the resilience of Ghana’s health systems to better prepare for the future pandemic and to secure the continuation of essential health and nutrition services, including routine childhood immunisation.

Ghana experienced a surge in infections and fatalities in January 2021, entering a second wave of rising infections of COVID-19.

The number of daily active cases in February 2021 was as high as the peak of the first wave in June 2020. Furthermore, Ghana was also confirmed to have recorded the COVID-19 variant, which first appeared in South Africa.

“The World Bank is happy to support this second additional financing, given the importance of preventing deaths and reducing

transmission of COVID-19 among the population by providing access to COVID-19 vaccines towards accelerating economic and social recovery in Ghana.” said Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana.

“We are also aware of the continuing difficulties in having access to COVID-19 vaccines and logistics due to the global vaccine market challenges and will continue to work to address the inequity in vaccine supplies that

is impacting Ghana and other developing countries.”

The Ghana COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project Second Additional Financing will enable the country to explore the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines from a range of sources to support Ghana’s target to vaccinate 17.5 million people in a way that ensures value-formoney. The project will also support an equitable and effective

distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in line with Ghana’s National Vaccine Deployment Plan.

“The project will build on efforts of the existing Ghana COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project by scaling up and strengthening surveillance of the pandemic; case management; increasing public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine; and COVID-19 vaccine deployment.

It will help to strengthen cold chain equipment, vaccine safety monitoring and medical waste management,” said Gaston Sorgho, Manager of Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice for West Africa Region.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank Group has committed over $125 billion to fight the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic, the fastest and largest crisis response in its history.

The financing is helping more than 100 countries strengthen pandemic preparedness, protect the poor and jobs, and jump start a climate-friendly recovery.

The Bank is also providing $12 billion to help low- and middleincome countries purchase and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments.

Gov’t urges Cocobod to address delayed payments to farmers

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

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overnment has asked the country’s cocoa regulator, Cocobod, to review its sales and delivery strategy to ensure timely drawdown of its syndicated loan facility to pay farmers.

This came to light on Wednesday, when Dr. Afriyie Akoto, the Minister

for Agriculture, addressed Parliament in response to concerns over delayed payments for cocoa beans purchased by Cocobod from farmers.

He blamed the delay on Cocobod’s inability to expeditiously draw down its annual syndicated loan facility due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as other effects of the pandemic on the regulator’s normal operations.

He revealed that Cocobod is building an internal revolving fund that will be used to support cocoa purchasing operations to supplement drawdowns of its syndicated loan.

For the 2021–2022 season, the board has received approval from government to borrow US$1.5bn to fund cocoa purchases, he added.

Addressing other issues in the sector, Dr. Akoto said Cocobod

has targeted a total of 91,400 hectares of diseased cocoa farms for rehabilitation, with financing from the African Development Bank and Credit Suisse.

The rehabilitation entails treatment and replanting of cocoa affected by the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease (CSSVD).

This year, Cocobod has covered a total of 22,375.25 hectares of farms under the rehabilitation programme, with a total of GH₵10.3m paid as compensation to 11,289 affected farmers.

“Equally, 418 landowners with a total land size of 454.48 hectares of cocoa farms have been compensated with an amount of GH₵454,480 at the time of reporting. Processes are still underway to pay additional landowners in due course,” the Minister said.

He assured MPs that his ministry would ensure prompt payment of due compensation to farmers affected by the rehabilitation programme.

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News

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

Agribusinesses need more time, support to recover from COVID-19 --survey

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new study by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) suggest that agribusinesses, which form an important part of the economy of Ghana, requires more time and support to recover from the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.

The data revealed an estimated 16,000 agribusiness firms remain closed with over 78,000 estimated staff laid-off and more than 267,000 workers having their wages reduced between May 2020 and January 2021.

The findings reveal an increase in the estimated number of job losses for agribusiness workers, from 51,111 during the lockdown to 78,412 in the post-lockdown period. In the same vein, workers with reduced wages increased from 175,255 during the lockdown period to 267,211 within May 2020 and January 2021.

“The Agribusiness Tracker builds on the COVID-19 Business Tracker and this is to enable us compare the data over time. This way, we are better positioned to inform Government and key stakeholders on the changes over time.

We believe this panel data will guide the implementation of the Government’s GhC100 billion COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprise Support (Ghana CARES)

Programme, seeking to enable the economy to recover,” noted Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, Government Statistician.

The data also show slow demand for goods and services for most agribusinesses, with over 77,000 firms (61.5) reporting a decline in sales within the post-lockdown period under review. This implies that, though there is some improvement after the lock-down restriction (from 84,869 to 77,254 agribusiness firms reporting sales decline), agribusinesses are yet to recover to the level seen prior to the coronavirus pandemic. For example, sales growth was 30.2% prior to the pandemic, 10.7% during the lockdown and 15.4% after the lifting of the restriction.

Similarly, despite some improvement in inputs supply post-lockdown, about half of agribusiness firms (45.9%) still have challenges in getting supply inputs. The regional distribution shows that the Greater Accra region is the most impacted, with almost three out of ten firms (28%) reporting input supply challenges. Even though the drift in policy is relatively slow, as much as 8% of firms have started sourcing from domestic sources.

“Data is very critical in helping Ghana recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This Agribusiness Tracker results will therefore

help businesses in the recovery process, as the data will not only inform policy on building back better, but doing so inclusively”, noted Charles Abani, UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana.

However, there are some positive trends, as digital technology is beginning to play a significant role in the operations of firms, with almost 9 out of 10 firms leveraging digital platforms including social media to market their products. Similarly, mobile money and door-to-door delivery via courier services, and internet usage for business operations also increased, with about 8 in 10 firms (77%) increasing the use of the internet in marketing compared to 19% percent during the lockdown period.

It is heartwarming to know

that using digital technologies to transform data into action is at the heart of Ghana’s COVID-19 response and recovery. It will be important to consolidate this gain through the effective implementation of the National Data Roadmap process to ensure equity and the protection of more businesses”, emphasized Dr. Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative of UNDP in Ghana.

Also, though increase in access to finance is yet to get to prepandemic level (22.5%), this has marginally increased from about 12% during the lock-down to 14% post-lockdown. Despite the slight increase, three in ten agribusinesses reported decrease in accessing finances mainly due to high interest rate.

PIAC reiterates call for National Development Plan

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he Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has reiterated the call for the development of a longterm national development plan to guide the use of oil revenues in the country’s development process.

The PIAC said such a development framework would help the country to monitor progress to ensure accelerated development.

A national development plan is a key requirement for the spending of petroleum revenues in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011, (Act 815) as amended by Act 893.

The Committee has consistently made the call over the years for a Development Plan to meet the requirements of the PRMA law and to maximise the benefit of oil money but this call is yet to materialise.

In the absence of the plan, the government selects priority areas

on which to focus its spending on petroleum revenues, a situation that is open to discretion and abuse.

However, PIAC’s assessment of the management and utilisation of the ABFA mechanism over the years has revealed that even though four priority areas are selected, actual spending normally covers all the 12 listed priority areas within the PRMA. The practice has resulted in a situation where the ABFA is used to fund all manner of activities outside of the four priority areas.

Given the lack of clarity on the basis for selecting priority areas, PIAC has stressed that the selection of new priority areas must be guided by detailed impact evaluation of the ABFA expenditures.

PIAC is of the view that the National Development Plan would help ensure proper utilisation of the countries’ resources, including the petroleum funds.

The PIAC has also expressed concern about the thin spread of development projects funded by the oil money and called for a shift in focus to long term and sustainable monumental projects that can transcend generations.

Examples of projects envisaged include schools, airports, and hospitals. A clear case is the Terminal 3 of the Kotoka International Airport, which was partly funded by 30 million dollars of oil money.

Such projects have more sustainable impacts on the

economy and citizens could see its benefits to the country.

PIAC said a concrete use of the oil resources to support job creation efforts through support for the private sector to create jobs.

The Committee consists of 13 members, and a supporting secretariat headed by a Coordinator with the mandate to track the use of the revenue generated from the country’s hydrocarbon deposits, making it accessible to the citizenry towards ensuring accountability.

PIAC is celebrating its 10 anniversary this year and has outlined a number of activities to increase knowledge of its presence and activities. The activities include radio and television discussions, regional and town hall meetings, a symposium with reporting institutions, and public lectures, among others.

GNA

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Feature

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

Spanning the digital skills hole

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he expression “digital world” is normally used when characterizing digital familiarity and digital education. The digital world is the accessibility and use of digital instruments to convey on the Internet, digital devices, smart devices, and other technologies.

There is a need to review the status of preparations for the millennium bug, to consider individual responsibilities at various levels, and to create crisis units to handle emergencies should they appear.

Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” This bitter truth is for people who find it difficult to adapt to change.

How can one get this subtle digital literacy? Digital literacy is not about only being able to navigate around social media, but the seemingly effortless way to engage with all things technological. It is easy to see why young Ghanaians live in an interactive, “on-demand” digital “culture” where they are used to accessing media whenever and wherever they want.

Instant messaging, photo sharing, texting, social networking, video streaming, and mobile Internet use are all examples where youth have led the charge in new ways of engaging online. The digital literacy needs of a person require critical thinking, collaborationthe ability to work collaboratively with others, with strong interpersonal and team-related skills, creativity, citizenship, communication, deliberateness, reflection, and willingness to take risks.

However, although young people do not need persuading to engage in Internet technologies, without guidance they remain blind users of information and communications technology

(ICT), which poses concerns about a generation of youth who are not fully digitally literate yet are intensely occupied in the digital world. Thus, it is inadequate to think that young people certainly have all the skills, knowledge, and understanding that they need to apply to their use of technology.

People need help in making sense of a fast-changing digital world that gives them access to vast amounts of information and its related activities.

The future needs new experiences in the digital world, and it takes only those who embrace such opportunities.

However, if the early bird catches the worm, then as a country, we cannot afford to take chances in the digital era in which we are. The developed nations are doing well because they have a balanced concentration on digital skills and various sectors of their economies.

The current world population is 7.9 billion as of May 2021 according to the most recent United Nations estimates elaborated by Worldometer.

Out of this population, the top ten (10) countries leading technology from the bottom include Switzerland, Israel, Singapore, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, United States, China, South Korea, and Japan.

As Rome was not built in a day, so are these nations, as they started from somewhere.

The trending technologies of today including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine learning, Robotics Process Automation, Edge Computing, Quantum Computing, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, Cyber Security are all traveling to the future but it all points to the necessity to acquire digital skills, from basic through intermediate and to advance levels.

Neil Bentley-Gockmann, CEO

of WorldSkills UK said: “The majority of our employer poll believe that their reliance on digital skills will increase in the future, yet analysis of digital skills provision in education shows that the numbers training in digital skills is on a downward trend,”.

The Digital skills gap and the absence of fitting skills in the technology sector are not recent issues. However, employers and organizations should be encouraged and supported to close future skills gaps by offering digital skills training and opportunities to young people, in line with industry expectations and requirements to meet emerging technology needs.

Hence, acquiring digital skills is significant because they support such an enormous amount of how current or modern work is led. For some advanced callings, digital skills are just fundamental skills. Just as many believe in ICT education, the Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) has taken it upon itself to create a platform for Ghana and Africa to establish a vibrant ICT ecosystem.

The aim as an institute is to mobilize professionals, students, and businesses, using their expertise to train young ones and certify professionals. A decade from now, two-third of skills that are essential in today’s workforce will have another phase. For instance, COVID-19 has changed the nature of businesses we were used to before its emergence.

Traditional marketing is gradually losing its place.

The digital skills gap is widening fast. How to bridge it or fill the vacuum is to harness technology to empower longlasting learning by empowering kids as early as age 6. This is an action IIPGH has perfected over the years and continues to close the gap by focusing on young ones and females. Not only that, but young tutors are also drawn from tertiary institutions,

primary and secondary schools, and are trained in new technology teaching methods over a period.

Zeroing in on coding, for example, blows up the significance of tracking down the “right” strategy to take care of tasks (problem-solving skills).

Considering everything — one will become more informed and appreciate not only the lines of codes in a program but also take inspiration from the related issues while arriving at structured solutions to designs and problems.

In conclusion, we are not trying to create a new generation of 100 percent geeks but more essentially understanding the fundamentals of coding, for example. Critical thinking and general technology literacy are essential to becoming involved in our present communities and the future workforce.

“Digital skills are critical to earning income in the future economy as the formal and informal economies are digitizing. According to Digital Skills Observatory, digital skills (e-skills) are among the most sought after by businesses Digital skills for the modern century workplace - (iipgh.org)”.

Coders are in high demand and coding as a digital skill provides a competitive advantage when applying for jobs. With coding knowledge, students better understand the world, making the future smile. But like anything, it is a process and VICTORY REQUIRES PREPARATION. On the off chance that your child (ren) learns to code, there is an onward assessment and exposure to propose that will equip them with unique skills.

Author: Jeffrey Vava Tutor, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana | IT/Digital Officer, The Capital Group Limited For comments, contact (+233)50 851 3316/54 348 8197 or email j.vava@capitalgroupghana.com

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News

FRIDAY JUNE 11, 2021

ECOWAS pushes for workable fisheries governance across sub-region

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

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regional workshop on the popularisation and dissemination of a comprehensive strategic framework for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development for the West Africa region has been held in Accra.

The two-day meeting was to improve awareness on the regional framework and also to solicit the inputs and concerns of ECOWAS member states to ensure its smooth implementation.

The workshop was also to help member states develop a roadmap that will facilitate the alignment of national strategies towards the harmonization of fisheries governance across the sub-region.

Participants included key officials from member states of the Fisheries Committee of the West and Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and non-coastal ECOWAS member states, private sector actors in the fisheries and aquaculture value chain as well as observers from donor agencies in the regional fisheries sector.

Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at the ECOWAS Commission, Alain Traore, told journalists that the meeting was a platform to engage member states on priorities

and key actions that could be undertaken in the short, medium and long-term towards the implementation of the strategic framework.

“This is an interactive meeting to solicit the views and suggestions from members countries on this comprehensive strategic framework.

We will also look at other issues on fisheries governance and negotiations of fisheries subsidies, in terms of agreeing to conduct a common negotiation with the European Union on the subsidies to ensure that member states get maximum profits from the sector,” he said.

Mr. Traore mentioned illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, the weak development

of aquaculture as key challenges across the region and indicated that the strategic framework will create the enabling environment for the private sector to invest in fisheries and aquaculture.

“The time has come for the implementation of all the existing strategic action plans on fisheries attract investments, create jobs and that is the main objective of the regional framework,” he added.

Mr. Kwasi Armo-Himbson, Chief Director at the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, said the strategic framework for fisheries and aquaculture would help Ghana and other state members to tackle depleting marine fish stocks and other issues pertaining to

governance.

“As a country we are looking at how best to fill in the gaps in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and so this workshop that is looking at strategies is very useful for us.

Already, we are working to improve our marine stock by turning to aquaculture development to see how best we can use that one to fill the gaps,” he said.

The comprehensive strategic framework for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development (CSF SFAD) framework was adopted by ECOWAS ministers in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture in November 2020.

To Ndiaga Gueye, Senior Fisheries and Aquaculture Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Africa, the development of fisheries and aquaculture within the West Africa region was extremely important in both the social, cultural and economic context.

“This is what the FAO is promoting and raising awareness about so that fisheries issues would be taken into serious consideration in the formulation of policy interventions.

Promoting the sustainable use of fisheries, he added, will be highly necessary to the development of Africa with more than 2million people relying directly or indirectly on the sector.

Jobberman Ghana launches new way for employers to recruit

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hana’s leading online recruitment platform, Jobberman, has announced the launch of its new and improved Best Match product which helps employers find the best match for their roles in ten working days.

This announcement is part of its campaign tagged, #ANewWaytoMatch.

According to Kwaku Agbesi, CEO, Jobberman Ghana, “The new BEST MATCH serves as a starting point for our promise to employers to enable them to hire the right people, the right way.

And with the advent of Artificial Intelligence adoption into our platforms, we see the endless possibilities of continuous improvement and optimised service delivery.”

The new and improved Best Match product is an automated candidate matching system

that saves employers time and effort by screening, testing, and ranking the high volume of candidates received for an application, matching them with the best fit, faster. With this product, employers get a shortlist of 10 “qualified” and “tested’’ candidates who match their job description the best in only 10 working days.

With Best Match, employers get additional benefits such as a complimentary assessment worth GHS 610 increased visibility and reach by matching the job roles to both qualified passive and active jobseekers, transparency by providing realtime information, with a fully interactive view of all applicants, and an automated report which is a detailed summary of the Best Match selection. Employers get this and more for only GHS 600.

Commenting on the enhanced

Kweku Agbesi, CEO of Jobberman Ghana

product, Jobberman Ghana’s Product Lead Rita Djabatey explained that the revamped best match product will help businesses manage a high volume of unfiltered applicants to get the

most qualified candidates. Over the next four weeks, Jobberman is looking to partner with new and existing employers, introducing them to the new way to match through Best Match.

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Ghana’s electricity supply mix has improved, but reliability and cost is still a challenge

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hana has made significant progress over the past 10 years in increasing electricity generation and access.

This has supported higher levels of economic growth. However, beneath these improvements lies inefficiencies, including extraordinarily high distribution losses. Electricity is also quite expensive in Ghana. If not addressed, these issues could derail Ghana’s development agenda.

As countries transition their economies to ones that use less carbon, they need to build balanced energy systems. These must be anchored on high energy security, universal access at affordable prices and low emissions.

Ghana began reforming its energy sector in the mid-1990s to encourage competition and efficiency. Independent power producers were introduced to increase thermal generation capacity using crude oil and natural gas. Ghana had been heavily dependent on hydroelectric power from the Akosombo Dam. When rainfall patterns began to change in the mid-1980s with accompanying low water levels, energy policy shifted.

The reforms also introduced performance contracts and other energy efficiency initiatives to decentralise the value chain, which had been monopolistic.

This was also a pre-condition by development financiers such as the World Bank.

Between 2000 and 2019, electricity generation capacity increased at a rate of 6.4% a year from 1,358 megawatts (MW) to 4,695 MW. Supply capacity has nearly doubled since the 2013 power crisis. At the same time, system peak demand grew at a 4.6% annual rate from 1,161 MW to 2,804 MW. The increase in power generation supported Ghana’s economy. The economy grew in real terms by 6.67% a year between 2011-2019. Electricity demand is estimated to have grown at 7%-10% a year since 2010.

Despite energy generation being in excess of demand, power remains expensive and unreliable, and has become a constraint on doing business in the country.

We recently conducted research in which we analysed how the country’s changing

power mix affects energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability.

The three are referred to as the “energy trilemma”.

We found that Ghana has shown significant improvement from 2000 to 2019 in energy security and energy equity. It has made marginal improvements on environmental sustainability.

However, these improvements mask some inefficiencies that need addressing if the country is to have a more resilient electricity sector.

Rebalancing energy sources The World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index ranks Ghana among the top 10 countries that have improved on energy security, equity and environmental sustainability.

Only two other African countries – Kenya and Ethiopia – made the top 10.

The shift from hydro to thermal has helped Ghana to increase energy security. Whereas hydro accounted for 68% of electricity generated in 2000, it’s now 36%.

At the same time, the country has increased thermal generation capacity to 64% of the mix. Ghana also has a better balance of sources for fuel for electricity generation.

In 2019 Ghana procured 63% of gas from its own offshore fields and another 37% via the West African Gas Pipeline. Gas supply reliability is expected to improve again when the Tema LNG project is completed.

Renewable energy makes up less than 1% of the the electricity mix excluding hydro. There are a number of reasons for this. They include a lack of financing for renewable projects and a general lack of public awareness of renewable energy technologies.

Ghana is also short of experienced personnel to install and manage

renewable projects.

On equity, 85% of the population has access to electricity in 2020.

This makes Ghana one of the African countries that are most likely to achieve 100% universal access by 2030.

Despite the improvement in electricity access, we also found that changes to the energy mix, and the resulting electricity tariff structure, have been masking inefficiencies in the distribution system.

The tariff structure places a burden on some consumer categories.

These include commercial and industrial users. This creates unintended consequences of unpaid bills and electricity theft, hampering full cost recovery. Ultimately, this negatively impacts on further investments that could improve electricity supply.

Energy security is not just about increased power generation and availability. It is about the entire value chain, from generation to transmission and through to distribution. Our analysis shows a lack of investment in the country’s distribution infrastructure.

The result is that a persistent 25% of electricity generated in Ghana is lost at the retail end.

These are caused by dilapidated infrastructure (technical losses) as well as electricity theft or commercial losses. Ghana’s losses are more than double the subSaharan Africa average of 12%.

The state of distribution infrastructure has implications for integrating other variable renewable energy sources into the grid by making them even more expensive to connect. For consumers, such losses mean power outages are likely to continue.

Environmental sustainability is a composite measure of final energy intensity (the energy used to produce a particular output),

low carbon energy generation and CO₂ emissions per capita.

Thermal generation capacity now has a higher share of the energy mix but its fuel sources have improved, shifting from heavy fuel oils to gas. However, there has also been less room for low-carbon energy generation.

The target for renewable energy generation was 10% by 2020, and has now been extended to 2030.

Finally, power in Ghana is expensive, compared with some neighbouring West African countries. For example, Ghana’s tariff averages 15.5 cents per kilowatt versus 10.5 cents per kilowatt in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. This can reduce the country’s competitiveness, given that cheaper power attracts both domestic capital and foreign investment.

It’s also important in meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7 and 13 which, respectively, aim to increase access to modern energy and combat climate change. Currently, about 70% of Ghana’s population lack access to clean cooking fuels. This has severe implications for health, gender, and the environment.

A better balance Addressing inefficiencies in Ghana’s electricity sector will reduce the need to price in distribution losses, thereby enhancing affordability. This could promote industrialisation and clean cooking with electricity. Balancing the oftencompeting dimensions of the “energy trilemma” remains the central challenge of energy governance and not just about reducing carbon intensity as the sole mandate.

This article was co-authored with Doris Agbevivi who is an Energy Economist working with the Energy Commission of Ghana.

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