Business24 Newspaper 19th March, 2021

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FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

BUSINESS24.COM.GH

NO. B24 / 173 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

World Bank projects public debt to hit 81.1% S of GDP in 2023

FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

Int’l trade revenue to decline by 19% on AfCFTA implementation

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

ubsequent to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, revenue derived from international trade is expected to decline by 19 percent to GH¢6.6bn this year.

Cont’d on page 3

Lands Minister pledges close ties with large-scale mining firms

Samuel Abu Jinapor says government is committed to supporting the mining sector.

By Eugene Davis

Pierre Laporte, Country Director, World Bank

By Joshua Worlasi Amlanu macjosh1922@gmail.com

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he World Bank has projected that Ghana’s fiscal path will result in continued debt accumulation, with public debt reaching 81.1 percent of GDP in 2023 before starting to decline.

The bank, in its 5th Ghana Economic Update, said this is mainly driven by a continuous need for government support to the economy, high levels of public investment, and restructuring costs of the energy sector.

The bank further stated that pandemic-induced fiscal

ECONOMIC INDICATORS EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

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POLICY RATE

14.5% 14.77%

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

11.4% OF GDP

AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

4.2% GHC 5.13

ugendavis@gmail.com

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he Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has underscored his strong commitment to work closely with large-scale mining companies to build a sustainable,

Cont’d on page 2 INTERNATIONAL MARKET

US$1 = GHC 5.7606

GHANA REFERENCE RATE PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE

deficits will remain elevated in the medium term.

“The crisis has already led to the suspension of the fiscal rule and substantially driven up financing needs. To meet these exceptional financing needs and maintain macroeconomic stability,

BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

Follow us online: $57.79 $2.6801,922.57 $1,836.62

CORN $/BUSHEL

$543.75

COCOA $/METRIC TON

$123.55

COFFEE $/POUND:

Cont’d on page 3

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Editorial / News

FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

Editorial

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Private sector key to AfCFTA

here is no denying that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides a large market for trade, investments, innovation, equal trade and economic transformation that could give the continent’s youth the needed jobs and opportunities.

But for that to happen, everyone’s commitment is needed especially the private sector.

That point is reechoed by Francis Mangeni, Head of Trade Promotion and Programmes at the AfCFTA Secretariat.

Addressing a webinar on AfCFTA organised by the SpainGhana Chamber of Commerce (SGCC), he stated that Africans must trade, invest, innovate and own the single continental market and make it a channel of growth for their respective

economies.

Like Mr. Mangeni, this paper believes that a strong partnership between the public and private sectors as well as academia will birth practical mechanisms that will drive the nation’s AfCFTA journey.

Indeed, much as the focus is on building a common market for trade, Mangeni also reiterated that member countries must equally pay critical attention to policies that would enhance industrialisation.

“AfCFTA must be transformative and functional; with strategies that tap into the large market to push industrialisation and one with all trade-related infrastructure in place to facilitate a working single market,” he said.

It is very important that a working single market must

be innovative and offer equal opportunities for trade giving priority to women, the youth and small and medium enterprises.

“Innovation will bring niche products and niche markets that can be tapped into,” he indicated.

AfCFTA provides the opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area, with the potential to unite 1.3 billion people, in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development.

Its main objectives are to create a continental market for goods and services, with free movement of people and capital, and pave the way for creating a Customs Union.

It is through such strategic partnerships that the goal of AfCFTA will be realised.

World Bank projects public debt to hit 81.1% of GDP in 2023 Continued from cover

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the government will need to resume fiscal consolidation efforts as soon as possible, with particular focus on reforms to increase public revenue,” said Pierre Laporte, Country Director of the World Bank.

“Authorities should consider reforms to widen the tax base, strengthen tax administration, reduce tax exemptions, plug revenue loopholes and leakages, and combat tax evasion.”

As at end-December 2020, public debt stood at GH¢291.61bn, representing 76.1 percent of GDP. This huge debt accumulation, partly caused by the pandemic, has increased the government’s interest expenditure to nearly half of its total revenue in 2021, raising concerns about the crowding out of much-needed spending on investment and social services.

The government’s 2021 budget announced on March 12 signalled the beginning of post-pandemic fiscal consolidation to control the growth in the public debt, with the budget deficit estimated to fall from 11.7 percent of GDP in

2020 to 9.5 percent of GDP this year.

The budget also announced tax rises and new taxes to boost

revenue collection, including levies to fund liabilities in the energy and financial sectors.

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FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

Int’l trade revenue to decline by 19% on AfCFTA implementation Continued from cover Last year, taxes on international trade, which earned GH¢8.1bn or 50 percent above the outturn in 2019, were the main driver of nonoil tax revenue. This followed the implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), which has ensured more efficient management and collection of revenue at the country’s ports.

It is estimated that in 2018, Ghana exported and imported goods to and from the rest of Africa to the value of US$2.5bn and US$1.2bn, respectively. The exports to Africa accounted for 15 percent of Ghana’s total exports, while the imports represented 11 percent of the total.

In an interview at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (GNCCI) virtual seminar on the 2021 budget, Dr. Samuel Nii-Noi Ashong, Senior Policy Advisor to the Finance Minister, said: “With the AfCFTA, duties on the intra-African trades have been removed, and this is

why we are seeing the decline in the revenue, despite the outstanding performance last year.”

Notwithstanding the revenue loss, government is optimistic that the AfCFTA will enhance its current industrial development agenda, contribute to the

diversification of the economy, and open up new market access opportunities under preferential terms for Ghanaian producers, particularly small- and mediumscale firms.

AfCFTA seeks to increase intraAfrican trade through better harmonisation and coordination

of trade within the continent.

The AfCFTA agreement will create the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of participating countries. The pact will connect 1.3bn people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4tn.

Lands Minister pledges close ties with large-scale mining firms Continued from cover viable mining industry.

“I intend to work closely with large-scale mining companies as partners to ensure we realise the vision of the President, which is to build here, in Ghana, a sustainable, viable, mutually beneficial mining industry,” he

said at the presentation of a dummy cheque of GH₵120.7m

by Gold Fields Ghana Ltd. as government’s dividend for the 2020 financial year.

According to him, the postCovid economic recovery requires that all stakeholders support government so the country can rebound from the

pandemic.

“It is very crucial to receive money for government around this time. This will support government’s economic recovery efforts at this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Government has a 10 percent carried interest in all large-scale mining companies including

Gold Fields, for which it receives dividends out of declared profits.

Gold Fields has three mining operations in the country, comprising Damang, Tarkwa and Asanko, which is a joint venture.

The Executive Vice President and Head of Gold Fields West Africa, Alfred Baku, said the company will continue to meet its obligations to government despite the challenges facing the mining sector.

He said Gold Fields makes a significant contribution to Ghana’s economy not only by way of paying taxes, dividends and royalties, but also through offering direct and indirect employment to thousands of people.

He pledged the company’s firm commitment to all its stakeholders, including government, communities, employees, and investors.

The mining sector is estimated to contribute 37 percent of export revenues and 19 percent of all direct tax payments in Ghana.

Gold is the most commercially exploited mineral in the country, accounting for about 95 percent of mineral revenue.

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News

FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

Tax expert urges gov’t to resurrect exemptions bill

By Nii Annerquaye Abbey abbeykwei@gmail.com

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tax expert with audit firm PwC, Abeku GyanQuansah, says government must aggressively pursue the rationalisation of tax exemptions if it is to meet this year’s revenue target.

According to the 2021 budget presented to Parliament last week, government wants to raise nearly GH¢71bn in domestic revenue—a target which is more than 32 percent of what was collected last year.

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who presented the budget, explained that revenue reforms such as intensification of tax audits by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) would help the state to achieve its target.

But Mr. Gyan-Quansah said government has to equally prioritise the passage of the Tax

Exemptions Bill which has been in the works since 2019.

“This tax exemptions bill has been in Parliament for too long.

It has actually died and now we need to go and resurrect it. So much as you are going to intensify audits, know that you have an exemptions bill which should deal with matters of exemptions.”

According to conservative estimates, as of 2018 the country was losing more than GH¢4.6bn in tax waivers granted to individuals and organisations.

While a bill to rationalise these exemptions was laid before Parliament in 2019, the legislature’s inability to pass it means that the Finance Ministry will have to resubmit it for consideration.

“We hope that government’s commitment to passing this bill will be stronger this time around.

This bill lays down clear processes a person can go through to obtain tax exemptions and disables

other bodies from purporting to grant tax exemptions,” Mr. GyanQuansah said.

Commenting on the 2021 budget, the Senior Country Partner of PwC, Vish Ashiagbor, commended the Ministry of Finance for putting forward a budget that seeks to build on

the marginal GDP growth of 0.9 percent achieved last year amidst the pandemic.

He said government’s growth target of 5 percent for 2021 appears feasible if the progress made despite the pandemic last year is consolidated.

TOR needs private sector participation, says economist

By Benson Afful affulbenson@gmail.com

A

petroleum economist, E. K. Quartey, has asked government to invite private players to buy majority shares in the state-owned Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) if the country wants its premier refinery to compete at the regional level.

He said the petrochemical industry is very competitive, and considering how the country’s

only refinery is struggling with capital injection, the government should offload majority of its shares in the company to strategic private investors as a way of restructuring the struggling company.

“TOR must not be 100 percent state-owned because the owner is cash-trapped and TOR does not generate enough funds internally,” Mr. Quartey told Business24.

Citing the refinery the Nigerian

businessman, Aliko Dangote, is building in his country, Mr. Quartey said the billionaire’s refinery, which is expected to refine 650,000 barrels of crude per day, is 80 percent financed

by South African banks.

According to him, TOR should be refining about 200,000 barrels of crude by now, but it’s currently doing less than 30,000 barrels per day.

“Given the evolution of the oil industry and how TOR has been

operating over the years, TOR can no longer be state-owned.

We may have to reassess the way we finance this entity,” he added.

“For the purpose of energy security and uninterrupted supply of petroleum products in the country, the government must bring in private sector players.

Make it 80 percent private and 20 percent government.”

He said there is a deficit in refinery products supply in the West African market, which creates an opportunity for Ghana to ensure that TOR is operating at full capacity.

TOR, the country’s premier oil refinery, faces several challenges including lack of investment and capacity underutilisation.

The refinery currently has the capacity to produce and store 9,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Its total storage capacity for both crude oil and finished petroleum products is 769,016 cubic metres.

With the discovery of oil and gas in Ghana, the company has stated on its official website that it has positioned itself to expand and improve its infrastructure to ensure reliability of petroleum products on the Ghanaian market and also to export to the ECOWAS sub-region.

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News

FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

Private sector must invest in, own and push AfCFTA to succeed—Mangeni

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

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he African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides a large market for trade, investments, innovation, equal trade and economic transformation that could give the continent’s youth the needed jobs and opportunities but it would require the commitment of all, especially the private sector, according to Francis Mangeni, Head of Trade Promotion and Programmes at the AfCFTA Secretariat.

Addressing a webinar on AfCFTA organised by the SpainGhana Chamber of Commerce (SGCC), he indicated that Africans must trade, invest, innovate and own the single continental market and make it a channel of growth for their respective economies.

“Africa’s youth deserve decent jobs which could be derived from a structural transformation of the economy leveraging the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) but that would be possible if Africans, especially the private sector, are committed to

Francis Mangeni wants the AfCFTA to be robust, innovative, gender sensitive and transformative to be able to achieve its purpose

drive it to success,” he said.

Mr. Mangeni is therefore calling for a strong partnership between the public and private sectors as well as academia that will birth practical mechanisms that will drive the nation’s AfCFTA journey.

Much as the focus is on building a common market for trade, Mangeni also prompted that member countries must

equally pay critical attention to policies that would enhance industrialisation.

He noted: “AfCFTA must be transformative and functional; with strategies that tap into the large market to push industrialisation and one with all trade-related infrastructure in place to facilitate a working single market.”

Mr. Mangeni further said that a working single market must be innovative and also offer equal opportunities for trade giving priority to women, the youth and small and medium enterprises.

“Innovation will bring niche products and niche markets that can be tapped into,” he indicated.

He also called for a robust AfCFTA that ensures the full implementation and compliance to the laid down rules and regulations for trade relating to the market backed by a strong system for dispute settlement.

AfCFTA provides the opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area, with the potential to unite 1.3 billion people, in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development.

The main objectives of the AfCFTA are to create a continental market for goods and services, with free movement of people and capital, and pave the way for creating a Customs Union. It will also grow intraAfrican trade through better harmonisation and coordination of trade liberalisation across the continent.

Amewu assures railway sector of positive growth policies

M

inister for Railway Development and Member of Parliament for the Hohoe Constituency, John-Peter Amewu has disclosed that he had good policies for the sector which would bring to realisation the legacy of President Akufo-Addo to build a modern rail network across the country.

He therefore urged management and staff of the Ministry of Railway Development (MORD) to back his policies with strategies and programmes to bring Ghana’s rail transport back to active service.

The Minister made these remarks during his maiden meeting with Management and Staff of the Ministry on Wednesday, 17th March 2021 in Accra to formally interact with them while discussing the future of the Ministry and the Railway Sector as a whole.

According to him, politicians would always come and go with policy directions and guidelines but it was prudent for management to ensure staff

develop love and strategies to implement these policies.

He added that it was the vision of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to leave a legacy for generations to enjoy as was done by the late President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah with the construction of the Akosombo dam, stressing that although there were a lot of flagship programs, the impact of the railway to the economy was evident.

The Sector Minister commended his predecessor and his deputies for establishing a solid foundation for the railway industry as he recalled that the railway sector had collapsed due to poor maintenance culture of Ghanaians.

He indicated that per his observation, he can confidently say that a lot of resources has been invested in the construction of the railway lines, giving a 100 percent score for progress of work. He added that what was left is the motivating factor and funding. The Minister called for ‘all hands-on deck’ approach to move the sector forward.

John-peter Amewu, Railway Minister with management of MORD

“I’m coming with good policies and must be backed by implementation. It is important to carry everyone along, work together and put in innovation,” he said.

He urged management and Staff to continue to demonstrate the spirit of team work and dedication in their duties to enable the Ministry succeed.

Touching on some pertinent issues affecting the Railway Sector, management of the Ministry mentioned land acquisition and encroachment on railway lands as some of the major challenges which have caused delays in the progress of some on-going railway projects.

Human resource capacity challenge was also mentioned

to be affecting the Ministry. For instance, the limited number of Engineers makes it difficult for the Ministry to closely perform its role in supervising and monitoring project execution on site.

Mr. Amewu gave the assurance that regular Management meetings would be held to address issues bothering on the Ministry and hindering the construction of the railway lines.

The Acting Chief Director at the Ministry, Mr. Desmond Boateng and the entire Staff assured the Minister of their unflinching support, commitment and cooperation to enable the Minister achieve the mandate of the Ministry and the vision of President Akufo-Addo.

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FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

The Future of Work Capsules: Decent work and economic growth for the African region - part 2

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s the World celebrates the contribution of women this March, I take this opportunity to also congratulate all women in Ghana, Africa and in the world. A world where we invest in girls and women looks prosperous, more economically stable and full of healthy mothers and newborns. To reduce poverty in Ghana and SubSaharan Africa, women must be allowed to become key decisionmakers. This is because, women and girls are critical to achieving all the global goals.

The smartest thing to do as a nation and or continent is to invest in women and girls. Let’s all start supporting women in our own small ways. An African proverb has it that; one can’t be on both side at the same time, you are either part of the solution, or part of the problem. Let’s be purposive in our approach to being part of the solution. Let’s lift ourselves together also as women and girls. It helps us grow and it’s the healthiest and smartest thing to do.

Create a workable plan to helping you train, mentor, coach and or set at least one woman up between now and next year.

The rippling effect is that, in all we will be consciously changing our continent to becoming the kind of world we all desire. It is possible. It is doable. Be the change you envision to be and or see.

Last week, I commenced the part one of decent work and economic growth for the African region.

From the United Nations Economic and Social Council,

I virtually joined the hybrid 7th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development held from Congo Brazzaville from Monday March 1-4, 2021. This was convened under the theme “Building forward better: Towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.” The background papers on decent work and economic growth; progress report on sustainable development goal 8 in Africa submitted by the International Labour Organization caught my attention. Let’s discuss the progress made as reported by the ILO. The ILO’s 14th African Regional Meeting held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from December 3-6, 2019 had governments, employers’ and workers’ delegates from 49 African countries commit to the Abidjan Declaration – “Advancing social justice: shaping the future in Africa”. This call for a human centered approach to the future of work conversation was to unleash the potential of Africa for inclusive growth and create a future of work with social justice.

This declaration was building on the ILO’s Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work which calls for dedicated actions on some five (5) priorities for the African Region.

1. Making decent work a reality for Africa’s youth, developing skills, technological pathways and productivity for a brighter future in Africa, transforming Africa’s informal and rural economy for decent work, and respecting international labour standards,

promoting social dialogue and ensuring gender equality; 2. Strengthening the capabilities of all people to benefit from opportunities of a changing world of work.

3. Strengthening the efficiency of the institutions of work to ensure adequate protection of all workers 4. Promoting inclusive and suitable economic development and growth, full and productive freely chosen employment and decent work for all; 5. Strengthening synergies between ILO and institutions in Africa, namely the African Union Commission, regional economic communities, and the three labour and administration training centers.

The priority areas are just five for now but are very dense and demanding. The conversation on decent work is introduced here again and respect for international labour standards added. How are we as a country implementing the ratified ILO conventions? “Knowing and not doing, is not knowing” they say. We need to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring these ratified conventions are respected.

Ghana has since May 20, 1957 been a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and has ratified a number of the ILO’s convention. What really does it mean to say a country has ratified an ILO convention?

According to the ILO, “Ratification is a sovereign act of a member State of the ILO expressing the State’s intention

to be bound by the terms of an international labour Convention.

Protocols can be ratified together with the Convention with which they are associated or after the ratification of that Convention”.

To date, Ghana has ratified 51 ILO conventions. Out of the 51 Conventions ratified by Ghana, 37 are in force, 10 Conventions have been denounced; 4 instruments abrogated; none have been ratified in the past 12 months. The 51 conventions ratified include the fundamental, governance and technical conventions.

The country ratified all 8 Fundamental Conventions, 2 out of 4 Governance Conventions (priority) and 41 out of 178 Technical Conventions.

The 8 Fundamental conventions ratified include; C029 - Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) since 20 May 1957, C087 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), since 02 Jun 1965, C098 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), since 02 Jul 1959, C100 - Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), since 14 Mar 1968, C105 - Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) since 15 Dec 1958, C111 - Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), since 04 Apr 1961, C138 - Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Minimum age specified: 15 years, since 06 Jun 2011, and C182 - Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), since 13 Jun 2000.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 From the Governance (Priority) Convention we see convention number 081 { C081 }Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) – Since 02 Jul 1959 and C144 - Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) since 06 Jun 2011 are ratified.

However, C122 - Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) 12 Aug 1996 and C129 Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) – since 09 Dec 1997 are not ratified

by Ghana.

Notable among the Technical conventions ratified includes, C148 - Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977, C149 - Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149), C151 - Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) , C184 - Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184) 0 6 Jun 2011, MLC, 2006 - Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) among others.

Other priority areas on the Abidjan declaration are calling for strengthening of the capabilities of all people to benefit from opportunities of a changing world of work and strengthening the efficiency of the institutions of work to ensure adequate protection of all workers. Are our workers protected as a country? Are employees take home pay really able to take them home? It appears, some employees pretend to work as some employers also pretend to pay. Workers’ protection must be top on the government’s agenda. The issue of targeting with Covid-19 relief intervention has been the major discussion point around this topic since its publication. The ministry in charge of this relief should review some targeting proposal on intervention management and be guided accordingly.

Partisan politicization of these interventions will not support the situation as most businesses

are already ailing due to the covid-19 pandemic, let’s be agile.

The ILO framework for tackling economic and social impact of the Cocvid-19 crisis issued in May 2020 has organized its key policy messages and recommendations on four (4) pillars to responding to the pandemic. Pillar one, is calling for stimulation of the economy and employment, supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes, protecting workers in the workplace as well as relying on social dialogue for solutions respectively.

Unemployment rates are largely low on the African continent because of low household incomes coupled with limited social safety net driving many to just accept any kind of job just to be able to make a living with the exception of middleincome countries in Southern and North Africa. According to the ILO report, Women are generally far worse than men, in terms of vulnerable employment and both unemployment with a significant proposition of college and university graduates struggling to find formal jobs.

The rate of young people in Africa not in education, employment or training is estimated to be 20.7%. This means that, 1 in 5 young Africans neither have a job nor are participating in education or

training. In the year 2020 alone, the ILO estimates 12.4 million young people were unemployed in Africa with 53.5 million not in education, employment or training. This number is estimated to increase as a result of the Covid-29 pandemic.

This is because the disruptions experienced due to pandemic caused schools, universities, colleges of education, technical and vocational universities and institutions of training and education to close down temporary.

On Child labour, the report highlighted that “Child labour remains a stubborn challenge on the African continent. Child labour has many characteristics, including forced labour, prostitution and work in mining, agriculture and small family businesses. The 2016 global estimates of child labour show that 20% of all African children are involved in child labour, a figure which is more than twice as high than in any other region.

Furthermore, 9% of African children are in hazardous work, the highest such proportion anywhere in the world. In absolute numbers, 72.1 million African children are estimated to be in child labour, while 31.5 million are in hazardous work.

On the African continent, the agricultural sector contributes

about 85% to total child labour statistics, which in absolute terms means 61.4 million children.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened economic fragilities, especially given that most of the workforce is in the informal economy with limited social safety nets” As a result of the considerable modifications in the world of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, and the related Abidjan Declaration for Africa have increased in relevance and should continue to guide Member States work towards SDG 8.

Hence, there is need for African Governments to continue in their commitment to implement these declarations and their objectives.

COVID-19, the implementation of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, and fast-tracking the digitalization of economies will create scope for African Governments to rethink and prioritize the creation of youth employment”.

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FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2021

How are human brains different from computers?

By: Prince Andrew Livingstone Zutah

E

ric Emerson Schmidt once said, “People assume computers will do everything that humans do.

Not good. People differ from each other, and they are all really different from computers.”

There have been debates on the fundamental nature of the human brain and its similarities and differences with computers.

The debates result from the scientific attempt to understand the human brain and replicate its functionality and capability into computer systems. Although the brain-computer metaphor has been dominant in the neuroscience field for a long time, cognitive neuroscience research presents various ways in which the human brain differs from computers. Let us take a moment and look at some differences below.

Energy Efficiency The human brain’s energy consumption is less than that of a computer. The brain is over ten times more energy-efficient than computer systems. It requires about ten watts to function, while a computer requires over one hundred watts to run. The human brain improves its energy efficiency by storing memories in an initially transient form.

There is a myth that humans only use ten percent of their brain capacity. Most of the brain’s neurons remain inactive for a long time, waiting to be activated. If the number of neurons activated at any given time is tripled, the oxygen requirements would increase significantly. Keeping

most neurons inactive makes the human brain more energyefficient than modern computers.

However, the energy efficiency in computers will improve progressively with advancements in technologies.

Storage Capacity Another significant difference between the human brain and a computer is that the human brain processes more information than current computers. In the early 21st century, the internet was compared to a single brain of a human being. However, today, there has been significant progress in computer systems development such that computers can outperform humans in activities that we equate with smarts, such as calculating square roots and playing chess or checkers.

Despite such technological breakthroughs, which have left humans wondering whether they will soon battle robots for survival, the human brain still has a massive storage capacity than any computer in the world.

An average adult’s brain can store trillions of bytes of information.

According to a Scientific American study, the human brain has an equivalent of 2.5 petabytes of memory capacity. This means that the capacity of an average adult human brain can hold about 2.5 million gigabytes of information.

Such enormous storage capacity is more than what a modern single computer can hold, giving the brain more capabilities than humans can imagine.

Processing speed In terms of processing speed, computers have a Central

Processing Unit with a fixed processing speed. This differs from a human brain’s processing speed, which is not fixed. The brain’s speed in processing information is subject to various factors, such as the speed at which electromagnetic signals can move through various neuron parts, synaptic efficacy differences, neurotransmitters availability, and many other factors. As a result, the human brain’s speed can vary from one person to another and from time to time. Based on the speed of basic operations, computers are more advantaged over the human brain. Modern computers can perform a simple arithmetic operation at speeds of 10 billion operations per second. The human brain can perform the same arithmetic operation about ten million times slower than the computer. Human brains are less disadvantaged in terms of precision of basic operations compared to computers.

Computers can represent numbers using any required precision based on the binary digits assigned to each number.

Most numbers in the human nervous system have variability that results from factors such as biological noise.

Reliability Computers have limits.

Although there has been significant progress in Artificial Intelligence to mimic the human brain, it is difficult to replicate every feature of the brain. Much of what has been achieved today is the development of computer systems that can help humans complete their jobs easily and efficiently. The human brain has

various features that make them more reliable than computers.

For example, the brain is selfmaintaining, self-organizing, and self-correcting. On the other hand, computers perform monotonous jobs. They cannot maintain themselves, cannot correct themselves, and do not have the potential to self-organize.

This means that computers cannot be used as a substitute for the human brain. Maybe future technological developments will achieve systems that function entirely as the human brain, but as of today, computer systems are not very reliable as the human brain. They can only help human beings to complete complex tasks quickly and efficiently.

Conclusion Despite the brain-computer metaphor being dominant in the neuroscience field because of various similarities, the human brain has many features that distinguish it from a computer.

The brain is better in terms of energy efficiency. Its storage capacity is higher than any computer available in the world today. However, computers have better processing speeds than the human brain, especially when dealing with simple arithmetic operations. Lastly, human brains are more reliable than computers because they can maintain, correct, and organize themselves.

Computers lack such capabilities.

Author: Prince Andrew Livingstone Zutah | Software Engineer | Member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana For comments, contact andrewp@palztechnologies.com | +233544111100

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Tackling the global learning crisis

By Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg

E

ducation has emerged as one of the most consequential casualties of the pandemic. According to estimates from UNESCO, around 1.6 billion students across more than 190 countries were forced out of school at the peak of the crisis.

In higher-income countries, school closures have disproportionately harmed students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, raising concerns about the longrun implications for learning and earnings inequality. There is a visible and widening gap between students with educated parents and access to computers and the internet, and those lacking such resources.

But the picture is even bleaker in low-income settings. In 2019, the World Bank estimated that 53% of children finishing primary school in low- and middle-income countries (and as many as 80% in some low-income countries) still could not read and understand a simple text. In light of these findings, the bank introduced a new concept: “learning poverty.”

Along the same lines, the 2018 World Development Report found that in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, three-quarters of third-grade students could not read a basic sentence such as “The name of the dog is Puppy.”

In rural India, three-quarters of third-grade students could not solve a two-digit subtraction problem such as 46 – 17.

Worse, these learning deficits seem to persist despite impressive growth in average years of schooling in the past two decades, and despite higher enrollments in primary and secondary education in most countries.

Simply put, more schooling has not translated into more

learning. And this divergence has become so large in some settings as to invite warnings of a global “learning crisis.”

As my co-authors and I show in a recent study, this alarming pattern is not confined to a handful of poor countries; it is typical of many middle- and low-income countries. Similarly, a recent study by the Center for Global Development documents learning differences between high- and low-income countries that are much larger than differences in years of schooling would predict.

The middle of a pandemic may seem like an inopportune time to tackle a learning crisis, especially in countries lacking fiscal resources, but the long-term costs of the current education gap are too large to ignore. So, what can be done?

A strategy for tackling the learning crisis must include two components. First, policymakers in countries with low learning levels must be persuaded to place a high priority on education.

This may seem obvious, but education’s crucial role in enabling economic growth and development is not always so apparent to those who control the resources.

Governments often prioritize investments in physical infrastructure over investments in people. Whereas roads and bridges yield fast, tangible returns, and often can help politicians get re-elected, the returns on education tend to materialize only over the long run – and usually after the government that spearheaded them is gone.

To address this problem of incentives, the World Bank’s Human Capital Project now computes a Human Capital Index for every country, taking account of learning levels, health, and

other important factors. The HCI lays bare the economic cost of inaction. A score of 0.40, for example, indicates that a child born today will enter adulthood (age 18) only 40% as productive as a peer who receives a complete education and proper health care. By making this information public, the World Bank aims to encourage policymakers to take education (and health) seriously.

The HCI also serves as an important measurement and research function.

Because tracking learning progress across countries requires a set of common metrics, the World Bank has built a database of Harmonized Learning Outcomes, comprising data from 164 countries between 2000 and 2017. These measures will be updated every two to three years as new learning metrics become available. Again, in addition to guiding efforts to improve learning, the aim is to spur governments to do more.

But even if governments in developing countries are committed to improving learning, how can they with the meager resources available to them, especially amid the pandemic?

This question is addressed by the second component of the strategy: a laser-like focus on cost-effectiveness.

Efficient public spending has always been important in low-income, resource-starved settings, but now that the COVID-19 crisis has depleted fiscal reserves and dragged many people back into poverty, it is more critical than ever.

To help developing countries identify strategies that deliver the most for the least, the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel, a new initiative spearheaded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the World Bank,

provides an invaluable service.

Drawing on an extensive review of empirical evidence from multiple countries, the GEEAP classifies educational interventions into three groups: “Great and good buys”; “Promising but low evidence”; and “Bad buys.”

The panel’s first report shows that the most cost-effective way to improve learning is to provide information to parents and children on the benefits, costs, and quality of education. Just as it is important for top-level policymakers to take education into their own hands, parents and students must believe in the importance of learning.

At the other extreme (“Bad buys”), outlays on new facilities, computers, laptops, tablets, and other equipment yield disappointing results relative to their cost.

This is good news, because it means that progress is feasible without exorbitant expenditures.

According to a recent World Bank paper, the most costeffective interventions deliver the equivalent of three additional years of high-quality schooling (comparable to the highestperforming education systems) for just $100 per child.

The developing world was in the midst of a learning crisis before COVID-19. Now that the pandemic’s end is coming into view, it is imperative that all countries and international institutions maintain their commitment to developing our most important resource: people.

About the author Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, a former World Bank Group chief economist and editor-in-chief of the American Economic Review, is Professor of Economics at Yale University.

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