Business24 Newspaper - August 17, 2020

EDITION B24 | 87

THEBUSINESS24ONLINE.NET

MONDAY AUGUST 17, 2020

Economists urge fiscal prudence to tame debt surge due to Covid-19 Banks must avoid verbal promises to borrowers, consultant says CEO of Meridian Legal and Financial Consult, Carl Abruguah, has tasked banks’ loan recovery officers to understand the contractual terms of the loans and credits advanced to clients to enable them deploy the requisite legal actions to recover those debts when they are due. >>PAGE 3

BY PATRICK PAINTSIL

BY NII ANNERQUAYE ABBEY

T

he suspension of the fiscal rules until 2024, as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, could lead to faster debt accumulation unless the government reins in its spending during the period, economists have said.

Courage Martey, an economist with Databank, the investment banking firm, told Business24 that managing expenditure in a prudent manner is a key requirement to keep the public debt – which stood at GH¢258.4bn (67 percent of GDP) in June – within sustainable limits.

“I think we’re treading on dangerous paths with regard to the evolution of the debt stock,

especially when I consider that we currently use almost 49 percent of our total revenue for interest payment. I think ensuring efficient spending and re-prioritisation of public expenditure is critical.

This strategy should save the country some monies to limit the borrowing requirements,” he said.

“Significantly, some of government’s COVID19-related relief packages needs to be reviewed because they may impose avoidable fiscal costs but generate limited benefits. A critical example is the water relief package. Although this kind of relief is well-intended, the level of targeting and consequent benefit is very limited,” he added. >> MORE ON PAGE 2

Some IOCs default on payment of surface rentals, PIAC reveals The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has accused some International Oil Companies (IOCs) of nonpayment and deferred payment of surface rentals, which is a source of petroleum revenue streams to the government.

BY BENSON AFFUL

President ties airport re-opening to COVID-19 test capacity

BY DOMINICK ANDOH

President Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo says the ability of port health officials to test all passengers on scheduled international flights servicing the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will inform the decision to reopen the airport by September 1, 2020. In his 15th

address to the nation on measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus, he said aviation sector stakeholders and port health officials have been working to develop modalities for reopening of the airport to commercial flights. >> MORE ON PAGE 9

>> PAGE 3

ECONOMIC INDICATORS *EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)

USD$1 =GHC 5.6734*

*POLICY RATE

14.5%*

GHANA REFERENCE RATE

15.12%

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

11.4 % OF GDP

PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

0.9% GHc 5.13*

INTERNATIONAL MARKET BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS GOLD $/TROY OUNCE CORN $/BUSHEL

43.22 1.79 1,842.40 329.50

COCOA $/METRIC TON

1,562.00

COFFEE $/POUND:

$109.65

COPPER USD/T OZ.

220.15

SILVER $/TROY OUNCE:

17.07

Copyright @ 2020 Business24 Limited.

All Rights Reserved.

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

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NEWS/EDITORIAL

MONDAY AUGUST 17, 2020

EDITORIAL

1

Wash your hands 2

Cover your cough

Best practices must be considered in airport re-opening Countries on the continent have begun opening up their airspace for scheduled flights and have instituted various measures to help contain any imported case of COVID-19.

So far, countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Egypt have had a measure of success with their respective approaches.

With the indication by President Akufo-Addo that the ability of port health officials to test all passengers on scheduled international flights servicing the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will inform the decision to reopen the airport by September 1, 2020, aviation and port health officials can assess how sister countries are managing their re-opening and adopt favorable protocols that fit our environment.

Fortunately, lessons have also been learnt through the resumption

of domestic operations three months ago. Additionally, major international airlines have operated dozens of repatriation flights which were successfully handled by airport and port health staff.

“I know many still ask when our borders, especially our international airport, Kotoka International Airport, will be opened. Under my instruction, the Ministry of Aviation, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Airports Company Limited have been working, with the Ministry of Health and its agencies, to ascertain our readiness to reopen our airport.

“I want to ensure that we are in a position to test every single passenger that arrives in the country to avoid the spread of the virus. The outcome of that exercise will show us the way and determine

when we can reopen our border by air. I am hoping that, by God’s grace, we will be ready to do so by 1st September,” President Akufo-Addo said.

The country’s land, sea and air borders were closed in March as part of a raft of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Akufo-Addo further announced in his Sunday address that, with 42,532 cases, 40,362 recoveries and 231 deaths recorded so far, the borders will remain closed.

Business24 believes the reopening of the airport on September 1 is feasible, once the various health protocols are in place.

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Economists urge fiscal prudence to tame debt surge due to Covid-19 CONTINUED FROM COVER

Wear a mask Brought to you by

LIMITED Copyright @ 2019 Business24 Limited. All Rights Reserved.

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

The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2018, which caps the fiscal deficit in a given year at 5 percent of GDP, was last month suspended as the pandemic hit government’s revenue efforts and imposed unplanned expenditure.

Another economist, Dr. Said Boakye, who is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a policy think tank, explained that though a faster pace of fiscal consolidation has become necessary to curtail the growing public debt, government would have to work extra hard to rationalise expenditure in certain areas.

He said one expenditure item that could benefit from rationalisation is wages and compensation for public sector workers.

“The first thing is that government has to recognise that there is a problem. And the people have to be made aware that this is the situation and it needs a solution.

For instance, President Kufuor didn’t get it easy in declaring the

country HIPC [Highly Indebted Poor Country] but he educated the people and it paid off.

And in the same way, labour has to be brought on board. But I have always warned if you want labour to agree in terms of the demands, they have to see some consolidation on your part as a government. Some of the expenditures of the political class must also be cut. That way government can use it to convince labour to come on board,” he said.

According to him, rationalising labour cost does not mean cutting wages, but rather allowing the annual increments to grow at a slower pace that would not burden government’s purse.

Revenue measures According to Mr. Martey, another approach to managing the rate of debt accumulation is to ramp up revenue mobilisation efforts significantly.

Even before the pandemic struck, revenue mobilisation usually fell below the set target – a situation which has since been aggravated by the measures imposed to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.

Domestic revenue collected in the first half of the year saw a shortfall of about GH¢7.7bn – leading the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to revise the annual target in last month’s mid-year budget review.

Mr. Martey said a more sustainable solution is to reorganise the revenue collection strategies.

“I say this because COVID-19 is going to give rise to a lot of business activities and transactions that would be executed digitally. If our tax administration processes do not go a step or two higher in their digital orientation, we would be missing the opportunity to collect taxes because of the obsolete nature of our tax administration.

So revenue collection is the key to slowing the rate of debt accumulation.

But our revenue collection measures must be enhanced in line with the latest developments imposed by COVID-19 on the structure of business operations,” he said.

Commenting on efforts to shore up revenue, Dr. Boakye said there is no denying that there are several leakages in the revenue system – suggesting that measures must be taken to tighten the policing of revenue collection.

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Banks must avoid verbal promises to borrowers, consultant says

BY PATRICK PAINTSIL

CEO of Meridian Legal and Financial Consult, Carl Abruguah, has tasked banks’ loan recovery officers to understand the contractual terms of the loans and credits advanced to clients to enable them deploy the requisite legal actions to recover those debts when they are due.

The financial consultant also advised banks’ credit officers to avoid giving verbal promises to borrowers, and when they do so, they must have the authority to deliver on them.

Facilitating a two-day virtual training programme on the legal aspects of loan recovery, organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana (CIB), he said failure to do this would see banks entangled in counterclaims and subsequent loss of revenue.

“The conduct of the lender during appraisal and disbursement and supervision of the facility may

very well result in liability to the bank arising from lender liability claims. Lenders must be wary of this possibility and take steps to ensure that they do not fall into the trap of borrowers,” he advised.

Adhering to these core principles, according to Mr. Abruquah, would help banks to reduce losses should the defaulter raise counterclaims in any legal action.

He shared that in other jurisdictions, borrowers have been able to make successful counterclaims against lenders, thereby reducing the amount recoverable from the customer.

In instances when the borrower decides to hide his assets, Mr. Abruquah suggested that banks may have resort to unorthodox measures such as hiring a private investigator to fish out the properties and to subsequently take legal action to recover monies owed.

Data from the World Bank on Ghana’s banking sector

nonperforming loans (NPLs) from 2008 to 2018 reveal that the average NPL ratio was 14.9 percent within the period, with a minimum of 7.7 percent in 2008 and a maximum of 21.6 percent in 2017.

The two-day virtual training programme, on the theme “Legal aspects of loan recovery”, was therefore to equip banks with the requisite knowledge and skills

to enhance their loan recovery efforts.

The participants, comprised of credit risk and recovery managers, internal managers and branch managers of banks, were taken through the regulatory requirements governing lending, key legal issues to consider in the loan recovery process as well as remedies available to judgement creditors.

Some IOCs default on payment of surface rentals, PIAC reveals

BY BENSON AFFUL

The practice, the committee said, undervalues the Petroleum Holding Fund, into which all petroleum revenues are deposited prior to disbursement, and does not comply with the provisions of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).

The payment of surface rental fees by petroleum companies is regulated by the PRMA as part of petroleum receipts for any fiscal year. Defaulting on due payments under the law attracts stipulated sanctions, including penalties.

PIAC’s observation was contained in a press statement highlighting some critical issues in the management of Ghana’s oil resources.

The watchdog said as the country enters its tenth year of petroleum production in December, doing an introspection of how petroleum revenues have been managed is imperative.

Another worrying trend, it noted, is the non-utilisation of and nonaccounting for the full Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA)

allocation, even though the budgetary amount is disbursed to the ABFA account.

The committee said its visits to some projects earmarked to receive petroleum revenue revealed that they have been starved of funds at a time when revenues are reported to be unutilised and unaccounted for.

The committee also noted with concern that “10 years into oil, the effectiveness of an Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) is difficult to measure.”

The IAC is the body with the legal mandate to give advice on investment of the country’s petroleum savings held in the Ghana Stabilisation Fund and Ghana Heritage Fund.

According to PIAC, “the country is still stuck to the practice of investing (petroleum savings) in low (-yielding) qualifying instruments, a practice we believe can be better improved with a well-resourced, functional, and independent IAC.” It added that “the advice of the IAC is not mandatory on the Minister for Finance, undermining the core essence of the IAC.”

According to the committee, bringing these issues to the fore is a good way to insulate the upstream petroleum sector from the “resource curse” phenomenon that has characterised the mining sector, so as to ensure the needed socio-economic transformation.

This year the petroleum sector has suffered a setback as a result of the global pandemic. Crude oil prices fell sharply following

the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, dropping from more than US$60 per barrel before the pandemic to just about US$40 presently.

This has resulted in a large public oil revenue shortfall, which according to the mid-year budget is estimated at GH¢5.3bn, representing 1.4 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

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First Atlantic Bank launches 25th anniversary First Atlantic Bank has launched its 25th Anniversary celebration with a commitment to continue providing its customers with innovative products and services as it positions itself for bigger competition in the West African sub-region.

The Managing Director of the bank, Odun Odunfa, said, the milestone will be marked in all the bank’s 35 branches nationwide with selected CSR projects across the country which will culminate in the main celebration on 28th August 2020 with a tape cutting ceremony to commission the bank’s new head office extension at Ridge West, Accra.

Mr. Odunfa said First Atlantic Bank, has ambitions of becoming a sub-regional bank and thus commits to staying at the forefront of compliance both locally and internationally.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, Amarquaye Armar, said the bank, over the past two decades, has strived to review and renew its business model to become a result-driven organization as the needs of customers evolve.

He said the bank has adopted a youth-centric business approach, driven by a suite of robust and secure digital banking proposition

Caption (L-R): Odun Odunfa, MD/CEO and Amarquaye Armar, Board Chairman

as a response to the shift in banking customer demographics.

“We pay homage to the founding fathers; due to their foresight and commitment, First Atlantic Bank was instituted on August 28, 1995 as a Merchant Bank with 4 Branches, a few dedicated staff and customers who believed in the budding brand and thus have remained loyal through the growth phases.”

“To continue to achieve our

objectives, the coming years will demand innovation, dedication, secure and efficient technology, quality customer service and above all, dynamic engagement with the support of our customers, business partners, regulators and our shareholders.”

He called on shareholders to drive the African growth agenda as the bank continues to play a leading role in nation-building by supporting businesses in key economic sectors.

Mr. Amarquaye said the indigenous bank remains true to its “Refreshingly Different” service mantra which continually drives innovation and commits to delivering exceptional service excellence across all channels.

He called on all stakeholders to renew their pledge to further strengthen the position of the bank and set her on the wings on becoming the “Global Bank out of Ghana.”

Stanbic Bank’s virtual branch transforms retail banking in Ghana Retail banking in Ghana has received a major boost, following the opening of Stanbic Bank Ghana’s 41st branch. The latest branch is a virtual branch that is designed to make banking easier for both banks and customers.

The virtual branch, unlike online banking, combines the speed, convenience and ease of use of digital banking with the personal human touch of the banking branch.

Stanbic Bank’s Virtual Branch presents the bank with a level of flexibility that enables its staff to provide customers and the public banking services wherever and whenever they need. With Stanbic Bank’s Virtual Branch, customers can manage their accounts, loans and investments, transfer funds to their Stanbic Bank accounts or any other local bank, request for account modification, request for an ATM debit card or make a cheque book request.

Customers can also check their balance, get a bank statement, stop a cheque, stop a card or renew a fixed deposit account. Other arrangements that customers can

make include MoMo linkage, limit increase, password reset, username look-up, and set-up/ registration and product/service enquiries.

Head of Customer Channels at Stanbic Bank, Eugene Ocansey, said the initiative is meant to strike a fine balance between online banking and the human touch to banking, which is critical to some customers.

“This is an initiative that provides human contact to digital banking and the flexibility it brings allows our staff to add digital interactions to handling walk-in customers. The seamless customer experience this innovation brings across all channels makes banking a simple, convenient and simple process complemented by a human touch.

This intervention is very timely especially in this COVID 19 period,” Eugene Ocansey said.

Stanbic Bank’s Virtual Branch allows staff of the bank to bring branch services directly to the customer through any internet enabled device, which in many ways streamlines the previously tedious and time-consuming

transactions that characterize traditional retail banking.

The practice of prospective customers walking to physical branches to complete endless paperwork is replaced with bank staff going to the customer to gather information, scan identification into an app, and collect their signature digitally.

The entire process is paperless, making it faster, more efficient and more secure - not to mention the money saved in paper, printing, and shredding costs. The efficiency itself is another huge source of cost savings - no more time wasted in printing, copying, and scanning forms.

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Rotary Club supports Tetteh Ocloo State School for the Deaf in COVID-19 fight

BY BAPTISTA S. GEBU

T

he Rotary Club of Tema Meridian and the Rotary Club of Tema have donated 600 pieces of Rotary branded nose masks to the Tetteh Ocloo State School for the Deaf located at Adjei Kojo near Tema in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

The Rotary branded nose masks were sponsored by the Rotary District Office, District 9102.

The Rotarians and the Rotaractors from Tema Meridian Rotaract Club, interacting with the gathering highlighted the importance of adhering to all COVID-19 protocols, which includes but not limited to the wearing of face masks, proper washing of hands with soap under running water, observing at least a one meter social distancing, avoiding handshake amongst others.

Present at the event to hand over the items were members of The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), which is the umbrella body for persons with disabilities in Ghana. It is legally registered under the laws of Ghana. GFD is visible at the national level and has branches

in sixteen (16) regions of Ghana and in over 200 municipalities of Ghana. Other groups under the federation include: Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD), Ghana Blind Union (GBU), Ghana National Association for The Deaf (GNAD), Ghana Association Of Persons With Albinism (GAPA), Inclusion Ghana (IG) or Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Burn Survivor Association Of Ghana.

The headmaster of the School, Mr. Isaac Arthur, thanked the two clubs for the gesture and appealed to other benevolent groups for more support.

The President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organization for the Ashaiman chapter, Mr. Courage Wormenor, also thanked the two clubs on behalf of members of his associations. They appealed to government, NGO’s, Churches and other social grouping to support them.

The Rotary Club of Tema-Meridian was chartered by the Rotary Club of Tema on December 1, 2001 at an impressive Charter Bal. The former First Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Hon Freddie Blay, was the Guest of Honour. The club adopted Thursday and 6:30 pm as its meeting day and time respectively, while Rotary Centre,

Rotary Avenue Community 5 Tema was adopted as the meeting venue. Since its formation, the club has undertaken numerous projects in Ghana and beyond.

Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.

Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects.

From literacy and peace to water and health, we are always working to better our world, and we stay committed to the end.

Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues.

Rotary’s mission is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders. Rotary is made up of three parts: our clubs, Rotary International, and The Rotary Foundation. Together, we work to make lasting change in

our communities and around the world.

The heart of Rotary is the members, dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. Rotary members share ideas, make plans, hear from the community, and catch up with friends during club programs that fuel the impact we make. Rotaract clubs bring together people ages 18-30 to exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through service. In communities worldwide, Rotary and Rotaract members work side by side to take action through service. From big cities to rural villages, Rotaract is changing communities like yours.

It started with the vision of one man — Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905, so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas, form meaningful, lifelong friendships, and give back to their communities. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of its members. Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves.

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Business For Breakfast (BFORB) formally opens in Ghana tomorrow!

BforB – The Cost Effective, Sustainable Way to Generate New Business Leads and Growth!

Why are we proud of BforB? Why do we passionately believe in the principle of ‘know, like, trust’?

And why is BforB the best place for serious referral marketing?

Simple: because it works!

BforB is a place where businesses can develop strong and sustainable relationships that turn into potential opportunities to grow your business.

We call it referral marketing, not networking, because we’re doing a lot more than just making new contacts. Our format encourages quality collaboration that if well nurtured, will deliver your marketing goals.

Why do Referral Marketing?

Referral marketing is one of the most cost effective and sustainable ways to generate new business leads and growth, and it is also the most controllable marketing activity you can undertake.

It does take a little more commitment than your usual Open Networking activities, but if done properly it delivers tangible results.

Why should I attend a BforB meeting?

BforB meetings are relaxed and welcoming, but with a strong purpose. Our agenda is designed to deliver a successful contributions section at the end of every meeting, but without pressuring our members with excessive rules and targets.

By attending regularly, and having 1-2-1 meetings, our members develop credibility and trust with each other, so they have the confidence and knowledge to make quality introductions and refer business when they can.

The best way to decide if BforB feels right for you is to experience it!

At BforB, we believe Referral Networking shouldn’t just be confined to breakfast hours –So, if commitments keep you from breakfast meetings you can still enjoy the benefits of Referral Marketing at a time of day that works for you.

Everyone is welcome to attend two BforB meetings as a guest without any obligation. There’s no hard sell, and no one is put you under any pressure.

What do you get as a member?

If you do decide to join us you will be expected to support your group by attending each meeting, inviting guests, having 1-2-1 meetings and making every effort you can to pass referrals.

What you get in return: • Market sector exclusivity (we only accept one business per sector so none of your competitors are in the room) • Qualified referrals - total of £1.3 million worth of business referred and closed through BforB meetings between October, 2019 – January, 202o in the United Kingdom alone.

• Access to BforB Referral Training to help you maximise your membership.

• A fantastic supportive network of fellow BforB members (and their suppliers) • Personal Development • We’d love to meet you and introduce you to our friendly and supportive community.

Our Open Day is tomorrow and it’s an online event, we’ll be honored to have you onboard for the day. If you’d like to try BforB for yourself, get in touch.

Authored by: Business for Breakfast Business for Breakfast (BforB) is internationally recognized for creating successful networking meetings, events and training for referral marketing. We create an environment where you can build quality relationships within your group, backed up by an ongoing member support programme. BforB is committed to helping small to medium scale businesses expand. In our professional network, members meet regularly in business networks to develop relationships, support each other and to share and record referral business.

We are here to help you get new business from quality business introductions and referrals made through our meetings.

Contact us: 059 4 016 432 | info@ bforbgh.com | Facebook & LinkedIn: @bforbghana | www.bforb.co.uk

President ties airport re-opening to COVID-19 test capacity

BY DOMINICK ANDOH

“I know many still ask when our borders, especially our international airport, Kotoka International Airport, will be opened. Under my instruction, the Ministry of Aviation, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Airports Company Limited have been working, with the Ministry of Health and its agencies, to ascertain our readiness to reopen our airport.

“I want to ensure that we are in a position to test every single passenger that arrives in the country to avoid the spread of the virus. The outcome of that exercise will show us the way and determine when we can reopen our border by air. I am hoping that, by God’s grace, we will be ready to do so by 1st September,” President Akufo-Addo said.

The country’s land, sea and air borders were closed in March as part of a raft of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Akufo-Addo further announced in his Sunday address that, with 42,532 cases, 40,362 recoveries and 231 deaths recorded so far, the borders will remain closed.

“Until further notice, our borders,

by air, land and sea, remain closed to human traffic. For Ghanaian residents stranded abroad, special dispensation will continue to be given for their evacuation back to Ghana, where they will be subjected to the mandatory quarantine and safety protocols.”

Modalities for airport re-opening Business24 checks have revealed extensive investment in safety kits and equipment at the main international terminal at KIA, Terminal 3, in readiness for the eventual re-opening of the facility for scheduled passenger fights.

Glass and plastic screens have also been mounted on check-in and profiling counters to serve as a barrier between staff and passengers. Disinfection stations have been created at the entrance and within the terminal for use of

all passengers.

The above notwithstanding, a major challenge is the approach to adopt in terms of pre-arrival COVID-19 testing as well as the quarantine approach—home or hotel and how many days, and what to do about the peak arrival time of between 6:30pm and 10pm daily at KIA when most major airlines fly in large numbers.

The Aviation Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda, told Business24 that best practices in countries which have reopened their airports and have been able to contain the COVID-19 spread will be examined for useful lessons.

In Africa, as part of its COVID-19 protocols, Ethiopia requires passengers to have a medical certificate with a negative coronavirus (COVID-19) RTPCR test result issued at most five days before arrival, starting from the time the sample is given.

Passengers are then subjected to self-isolation for 14 days. Passengers without coronavirus (COVID-19) arriving in Ethiopia are subject to medical screening and quarantine for 14 days—the first seven days at a government-designated facility, at the traveller’s own expense, and the remaining seven at home, selfisolated.

Egypt requires mandatory use of masks for passengers throughout a flight, social distancing during embarkation and disembarkation, and a declaration form to be filled at origin. Passengers with 38-degree or above temperature, or suffering from any respiratory symptoms, are not permitted to fly to Egypt. As part of their protocol, transit passengers are not be permitted to disembark without authorisation.

Rwanda, which also reopened its international airport for commercial flights effective August 1, 2020, requires all passengers, including transit passengers, to show proof of a COVID-19 RT-PCR negative test result from a certified laboratory—a laboratory authorised to conduct the test in the country of port of commencement—within 72 hours of arriving in Rwanda.

The port health authorities in Kigali further conduct a second PCR test upon arrival with results delivered within 24 hours, during which time passengers remain in designated hotels at their own cost. The authorities also require a COVID-19 passenger information form to be completed and sent to a designated email address prior to boarding.

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Banking

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BANKING IN THE NEXT DECADE

COVID-19: A catalyst for digital transformation of traditional banks

BY EBENEZER ASUMANG (CGIA)

“The coronavirus is creating an additional sense of urgency for financial institutions that may have been on the fence about investing in digital mortgage technology before.”–Timothy J. Mayopoulos, President & Board Member of Blend

T

he novel coronavirus is expected to fundamentally change the way customers interact with their banks, retailers and other service providers and fintech businesses, which were built to operate in a fastmoving, digital-first economy, are particularly well-placed to meet their demands through the crisis and beyond. Since the onset of the virus, banks have had to grapple with how to protect their staff and customers from infection, which has meant, to a large degree, facilitating remote working arrangements and digital customer service delivery. At the heart of this fundamental shift, is the need to have robust, resilient and flexible technology infrastructure can support this new way of doing banking.

However, traditional banks that rely on inflexible, monolithic technology infrastructure will be hard-pressed to make the shifts required as quickly and effectively as digital banks, which are in a far better position to function in these challenging conditions because they were built to be responsive, adaptable and scalable. Many traditional banks operate on centralized, unwieldy, legacy technology that cannot be adjusted quickly because changing one part of the system affects the others. A research carried out by Fintech solutions company, Velmie, the global lockdown could be the last nail in the coffin of traditional banks still stuck to legacy forms of delivery. Those banks which: • Are not remote friendly • Prefer to rely on in-house development than taking advantage of the benefits of purchasing prebuilt systems and accommodating the flexibility offered by Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

• Stick to on-premises hosting over cloud-based hosting with no clear rationale and

benefits to doing so.

• Rely on their physical presence/branches rather than offering customers digital access.

• Have complex operational environments that are difficult to manage and maintain.

• Do not make use of decentralized software teams that are, or are able to, operate remotely.

Digital transformation is about more than just providing online and mobile functionality.

Traditional banking providers need to combine digital speed and convenience with human interactions that are both thoughtful and caring at crucial moments in the customer journey.

1. Traditional Banks should realize that Technology is the keystone.

Legacy systems shouldn’t be a hindrance or excuse to stifle innovation. If your delivery via loosely integrated networks is laborious to maintain or upgrade, you can’t be as agile as you need to be. Technology is key to making a digital banking transformation successful.

However, whatever technology you adopt absolutely must be human and personal. The point here is that technology should enable outstanding customer care.

Banks are being forced to shift from a product-centric to clientcentric point of view. That means adopting “customer-centricity” to satisfy evolving customer needs and expectations and using

technology to enable that strategy.

2. Be ready to Pivot You can’t predict what customers will want in 10 years, so embracing flexibility and the willingness to make changes is critical. That means new financial products need to be brought to market quickly so you can address customers’ current pain points before someone else does. Some banks are partnering with nimble Fintech innovators to get the technology they need to address challenges.

3. Strive for faster Innovation.

Successful banks in the digital world need to strive for continuous improvement and renewal. That means getting much faster in the way they learn, act, and react.

Few banks are quickly producing game-changing innovations. Most are taking the standard approach they’ve always used which means internal debates, committees, small pilots, more committees, and so on. Little wonder that these banks produce few innovations compared to their more agile peers.

The big digital players test and learn. They’re not afraid of failure.

They’re agile and experiment in real-time with their customer base. And they use these iterative processes to understand what works and what doesn’t. The result is they’re bringing products to market quickly, understanding if they satisfy customer needs, and then improving upon them as necessary. It’s fast, a bit risky, and, ultimately, produces a digital banking transformation.

4.Change the Culture.

Procedures are inherent at traditional banks and very little gets done without invoking them. But how does innovation successfully live side-by-side with time-worn procedures?

Innovation, by definition, means looking for a new way to solve a challenge.

Your existing procedures aren’t going to facilitate that. Embracing innovation means changing your culture to solve your customers’ challenges differently.

Banks tend to be incredibly resistant to change. You want to be nimble, responsive, and customerdriven. And that means testing, innovating, and partnering with companies that can help get you there quickly.

5. Embrace Chaos vs Order.

Entrepreneurs already know this: innovation can’t thrive in a static, orderly environment. The risk that’s needed to drive change means a good deal of chaos needs to flourish, too. This goes hand in hand with changing your culture while promoting innovation and experimentation. Entrepreneurs don’t say “it can’t be done” or “this is impossible.” Banks need to do the same by forbidding managers to repeat these innovation-killing phrases, and instead, reward their employees for taking risks and adopting a disruptive mentality.

Diane Coyle, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, is the author, most recently, of Markets, State, and People: Economics for Public Policy (Princeton University Press, 2020). Copyright: www.project-syndicate.org

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Communicating Public Health and Social Justice

BY LAURA WOTTON AND AGNES BINAGWAHO The way authority figures such as media and political leaders communicate with the public can save or endanger lives, and it can challenge or reinforce injustice.

This year, Rwanda and the United Kingdom have implemented opposite approaches.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, communication is a double-edged sword. It is one of the most powerful tools for changing behaviors. It can create awareness of – and compassion for – the plight of vulnerable groups, which suffer disproportionately during crises.

When paired with a strong equity agenda and credible leadership, it can drive positive and inclusive action. But when it is misused – distorted by false assumptions, shortsightedness, and narrow selfinterest – communication can be a dangerous weapon.

A comparison between the COVID-19 response in United Kingdom and Rwanda illustrates this dichotomy.

The UK’s response suffered from a lack of rapid coherent political engagement and action, and its population was initially less responsive to public-health messages. Communication failures played a significant role in this.

The government began undermining itself early on, when it vastly underestimated the COVID-19 death toll. Leaders continued to provide contradictory information and examples, causing widespread confusion about the guidelines and undermining faith in government further. A recent survey showed that public confidence in government has yet to recover from the flagrant violation of lockdown rules in May

by Dominic Cummings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief adviser.

UK leaders have also failed to acknowledge that the virus was disproportionately affecting black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. As a result, these groups have not received the tailored health services and targeted information they need to stay safe.

By contrast, Rwanda’s approach to communication can be described as consistent, credible, inclusive, and timely.

One month before Rwanda’s first confirmed case of COVID-19, the government was already issuing regular, science-backed updates charting testing progress and national preparedness. To ensure that everyone received essential information, these messages were disseminated digitally, by SMS, via

local radio stations, and even with the help of drones. Community health workers reinforced messages at the community and household levels.

Furthermore, Rwanda adopted a participatory approach to decision-making, which engaged those responsible for implementing the response and those most affected by the crisis, in order to understand their unique needs. The government established a national helpline and self-triage tool, through which citizens concerned about potential symptoms can access advice, and distributed the necessary resources – food, financial support, and health care – to enable vulnerable communities to comply with shelter-in-place orders.

All of these efforts have bolstered trust in the government. Equally important, they have inspired and empowered people to protect themselves and their communities.

The results are compelling. As of August 13, the UK, with 67 million people, has recorded over 315,500 COVID-19 cases and 46,791 deaths.

Rwanda, with 13 million people, has had 2,189 cases and a mere eight deaths. While many factors may account for this disparity, people’s willingness and ability to follow public-health guidelines – shaped partly by government communication and the trust it engendered – has almost certainly played a role.

Conflicting information from different sources – including media, friends, and colleagues – can create and deepen divisions.

This is especially true when flawed, contradictory, or incorrect information is coming from the government – especially its top leadership.

The United States is a case in point. During the pandemic, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly made dubious and dangerous claims. For example, in March, he publicly endorsed hydroxychloroquine as a “game changer” in the fight against COVID-19, despite a lack of scientific research backing the claim. This caused a run on the drug, leading to shortages that affected those who needed it to treat their lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Similarly, in April, Trump mused at a White House press briefing that using household disinfectants internally might be an effective COVID-19 treatment. Bleach sales – and calls to poison centers – rose.

Such claims threaten lives, yet there are few accountability mechanisms in place limiting the spread of dangerous or misleading information.

To some extent, this is beginning to change. After years of criticism, social media companies are starting to take some responsibility for the information disseminated on their platforms. Twitter was the first major platform to step up, flagging several of Trump’s tweets for misinformation.

Even Facebook – whose chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has vocally opposed fact-checking political speech – has succumbed to pressure, including an advertiser boycott, to take action. It recently removed from Trump’s official account a post containing a video clip from an interview in which Trump claims that children are “almost immune” to COVID-19.

But social media platforms should hardly bear all of the responsibility for protecting the public from misinformation. News outlets must also serve as reliable

bastions of credible information.

Personal or professional responsibility may not be enough.

In Rwanda, it is illegal for any authority to provide advice that has the potential to harm those who follow it. This should be true everywhere, with both leaders who offer such advice and the media who amplify it having to answer to the justice system.

But the issue extends beyond advice that directly threatens lives, such as inaccurate public-health information. The communication of information can also reinforce false assumptions that contribute to social injustice.

British media, for example, have rightly been criticized for stories or videos praising frontline health workers that feature only white people, even though 44% of National Health Service workers come from BAME backgrounds. In many countries, media have published Chinacentered conspiracy theories about the pandemic, hurting Chinese – and, indeed, Asian – communities all over the world.

The way authority figures such as media and political leaders communicate with the public can save or endanger lives, and it can challenge or reinforce injustice. Rwanda and all too few other countries, most notably New Zealand, have shown that in combating COVID-19, innovative, inclusive, and science-backed communication is the most powerful tool we have.

Laura Wotton is Communications, Marketing, and Public Relations Manager at the University of Global Health Equity. Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda’s former minister of health, is Professor and Vice Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity. www.project-syndicate.org

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How to Count Humans

BY ENOCH DZAH

A

major new study based on a somewhat original methodology forecasts that global population will peak well before the end of this century. Although the usual caveats apply, the authors have offered fruitful new ways to grasp crucial policy questions.

New research published this July in The Lancet forecasts that continued growth “through the century is no longer the most likely trajectory for the world’s population.” Rather, the global population is likely to peak in 2064 at 9.7 billion, before declining to 8.8 billion by 2100. The authors project that the populations of 23 countries – notably Japan, Thailand, Spain, and Ukraine – will be at most half their 2017 size by 2100, while the population of “another 34 countries will probably decline by 25-50%, including China, with a forecasted 48.0% decline.”

By contrast, Nigeria’s population is expected to grow 3.8-fold between 2017 and 2100, though its average fertility rate is expected to drop from 5.1 to 1.7 – that is, below replacement level and below that of Sweden (1.8 children per woman) in 2017. Nigeria was the only Sub-Saharan African country to rank among the world’s ten most populous countries in 2017.

Yet by 2100, that list is expected to include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

Of the four most populous countries today after China, India and Indonesia are expected to experience a population decrease, whereas the United States and Pakistan are expected to grow, albeit for different reasons. The increase in the US would be driven by immigration, making up for a decline in the fertility rate from 1.8 to 1.5. In Pakistan, the authors anticipate that population growth will be driven by the higher fertility rate, though they expect it to fall from 3.4 to 1.3 by 2100 – below the US’s current or projected rate.

But the usual caveats apply.

These country-specific forecasts are subject to even greater uncertainty than global forecasts are. As the authors point out, demographic trends could always be more or less dramatic than expected. Moreover, their “modeling framework” does not include significant variables such as the effects of climate change or the risk of pandemics like COVID-19.

Moreover, the track record of population forecasts does not inspire confidence. In 1798, the English economist Thomas Robert Malthus predicted that population growth inevitably would outpace the growth of food production, causing widespread starvation.

Then, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, many people thought that global population would go into permanent decline. Yet, by the 1950s and 1960s, the new fear – reflected in terms like “population bomb” and “Famine 1975!” – was that continuing rapid population growth would destroy humankind and the planet.

All three predictions were wrong.

The truth is that we cannot know precisely how many children will be born during the rest of this century. What we can do, however, is make a greater effort to ensure better nutrition, health, housing, education, prosperity, peace, security, equality of opportunity, environmental quality, climate stability, and freedom for all people. The future of childbearing and childrearing, population health and survival, and trends in migration and social integration will depend on the investments and commitments that countries make now and in the coming decades. Sound political leadership and support for high-quality mass education are of the utmost importance, as are basic nutrition, accessible contraception and health care, and constructive international

relations.

The Lancet study is not the first to forecast a likely end to world population growth before 2100. But the authors have made a uniquely valuable contribution by also offering several original proposals for improving population projections more generally. Most important, the new research uses external factors to predict future birth, death, and migration rates. The fertility forecasts, for example, depend on future commitments to education and available contraception. Similarly, the migration forecasts have accounted for per capita incomes, education, fertility, deaths due to conflict and natural disasters, and other variables.

It remains to be seen whether these external factors – themselves uncertain – will improve the accuracy of population projections compared to those issued by the United Nations Population Division, which are based on demographic extrapolations and professional judgment.

Over the past half-century, the UNPD’s projections have proved reasonably accurate for the global population, though less so for individual countries.

Although population projections from different agencies disagree on whether and when global population growth will end, there are a few points on which pretty much everyone is in accord.

All anticipate that by 2100, the average number of children each

woman has in her lifetime will have declined globally. The debate is over how much, how fast, when, and where this will occur.

Future population trajectories are understandably very sensitive to future fertility. We can be reasonably confident that in the future, a much higher proportion of the world’s people will live in cities and in today’s poor countries. A much higher proportion of the world’s people will be chronologically old, though not necessarily functionally or mentally old. The share of working-age people, conventionally defined as 15-64 years old, will shrink dramatically, and the definition of “working age” will likely have to change.

Finally, a much higher proportion of the world’s people will be of African origin, compared to people of European, American, or East or South Asian origin.

And, as a result of migration, many societies will be much more heterogeneous in origin, language, religion, customs, and expectations. However many of us there turn out to be, we will have to learn to live together peacefully, or we will not live at all.

Joel E. Cohen, Professor of Populations at The Rockefeller University and Columbia University, is the author of How Many People Can the Earth Support? Copyright: Project-syndicate.org

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Nigeria: Federal Government steps in to prevent job losses in the aviation sector The Federal Government has called for social dialogue between the employers and the employees in the Aviation industry to prevent job losses.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, made the call in a statement signed by Charles Akpan, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry, on Friday in Abuja.

Ngige made the call during a conciliatory meeting with airline operators and the trade unions in the aviation industry to discuss contentious issues, especially pay cut and laying off of workers.

The Minister appealed to them to join hands to make sure there were no job losses in that industry.

According to him: “The cardinal principle of this administration is to prevent job losses.

“The government on its part will honour its obligation to the industry by providing palliatives in the form of tax reduction, tax exemption, and elimination of custom duties on aircraft spares and logistics.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria will also provide stimulus package to encourage the operators in the industry.”

Ngige, therefore commended the efforts of the airline operators, especially Air Peace and Bristow Helicopters, in keeping faith and paying the salaries and allowances of their staff, when necessary, for the period of the COVID-19 epidemic.

He urged the operators to allow their employees exercise their right to unionisation as Section 40 of Nigerian Constitution guaranteed that.

He said: “We encourage the airline operators to allow members of staff who desire to go into unions to do so, as belonging to unions is a voluntary thing.

“Obstructing them from doing so, is to curtail their fundamental

rights as enshrined in our Constitution.”

Ngige, however noted that the management of Air Peace, the Minister of Aviation and the trade unions had already agreed that Air Peace would dialogue with their workers on the re-absorption of some of the sacked pilots and engineers.

He also added that those who had already got employment elsewhere would be allowed to go peacefully with their entitlement.

Ngige further directed the unions in Turkish Airlines to forward in writing their complaints about victimisation of officers in the unions to the Minister of Aviation, and copy the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The minister also said that on Bristow Helicopters, 90 per cent 95 per cent of the issues had already been solved through social dialogue.

He said “We understand the plight of the employers, being that the volume of work in that organisation has dwindled, from 50 aircraft business to an all-time low of 12 aircraft. (Source: Eagle)

Travel Alert: important notice for travelling to Egypt

Kenya Airways to resume flights to China from Oct 25

EGYPTAIR has announced that effective August 15, non-Egyptian passengers are required to provide negative PCR Test certificate for (COVID-19) issued not more than 72 hours prior to arrival to Egypt.

This requirement shall not be applied to: Foreign customers flying direct to Sharm El- Sheikh, Taba, Hurghada, Marsa Allam,

Kenya Airways is planning to resume its fifth freedom flight to China from the week beginning October 25.

Fifth freedom flights allow an airline to carry passengers between two countries, neither of which are the country where the carrier is based.

Kenya Airways is expected to resume services between Nairobi and Guangzhou, China, stopping over at Bangkok, Thailand. The service will enable travelers to take advantage of the carrier’s fifth freedom rights between Bangkok and Guangzhou, as

Marsa Matrouh; or transit passengers to the above Airports.

All passengers arriving from the Republic of Iraq of various nationalities, including Egyptian nationality, must present a negative PCR test certificate conducted maximum 72 hours before arriving at any of the Egyptian Airports.

(Source: EgyptAir)

per anna.aero.

From October, the airline will be running its regular daily service operated by B787-8s. Guangzhou is the most in-demand city in China for travellers to and from Africa and is known as the ‘African capital’ of the country.

An estimated 138,545 passengers flew from Guangzhou and Bangkok with Kenya Airways last year, which is a seat load factor of 81 percent.

On August 1, Kenya resumed international air travel. Since the pandemic began, the carrier has been doing repartition and cargo flights.

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Are you a “pocket insurer”?

BY ELSY ADDY

T

here have been several instances when people who are not lawyers but express a legal opinion are conferred the title “Pocket Lawyer”, and in Ghana, there are several people holding that title. I have always said to myself it is better to be a “pocket lawyer” than being ignorant of the law. Similarly, there have been instances where the police have arrested people for road traffic offences and these offenders have struggled to express their opinion due the ignorance of the law.

Wouldn’t it better to understand few Insurance terminologies to aid your interactions with insurers?

You may own a car or even be a passenger in someone’s car. You may also own assets like laptop, house, equipment, etc and there will be the need to insure them.

The Insurance Policy contains the complete promises made by the Insurance Company. This is legally binding and recognized by law. The Insured is also expected to make regular or periodic payments to keep the contract active. For example, the Insurance Company may direct that you pay Gh327 for a third party cover for your vehicle. A cover like that is for a one-year period. This means that when losses occur to the third party like damage, injuries etc as a result of accident, the Insurance Company is expected to pay for the loss.

Some of the commonly used Insurance terms are: Insurance: Insurance is the transfer of the possibility of a loss from an individual to Insurance company, who spreads the risk among a large number of individuals. For example, the risk of a road accident occurring is so high that all drivers transfer that risk to an Insurance Company. The Insurance Company then spreads the risk among large number of individuals. If there are two million drivers, nobody can say with certainty that driver A or B would be involved in an accident.

The insurer promises to pay a financial benefit to the insured.

The promise to pay is dependent on several factors which will be discussed in our subsequent publication. The parties involved in the Insurance contract are the Insured (the person or Company buying the insurance) and the Insurer (the Company selling the Insurance). The symbol of the relationship is represented in a contract called a policy.

Insurance Premium: These

are the monies you pay to the Insurance Company for the promises made on the policy contract. Depending on the type of policy you have, you may pay your premiums either monthly, semi-annually or annually. Most premiums are paid in advance.

Claim - is a request made by the insured to the insurer for payment due to loss suffered and covered under the policy agreement. Once you insure your car and there is an accident, it has to be reported to the police for investigations to be conducted to determine who is at fault, the Insurance Company pays the claim to the person who suffered the loss. In the event that you take a life Insurance policy, the claim payment would be made to the people who are named on the Insurance policy as beneficiaries.

Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) -claims that have occurred but the insurer has not been notified of at the reporting date.

Someone’s car may have been damaged by another driver who never reports the incidence, but agrees to repair the damage for the other party. Someone may have a life insurance policy where the family may have no knowledge of.

When all these happen the insurer will not pay a claim to anybody. It is however advised that we try and disclose some of our investments to our spouses or a trusted party to enable you or your family benefit from the proceeds.

Insurance Agent - an individual who sells, services, or negotiates insurance policies either to individuals or Companies.

Traditionally Insurance Companies hire agents who sell insurance policies for them.

As businesses evolve, there are various institutions like the banks who serve as corporate agents to Insurance Companies. They facilitate the sale of Insurance products on behalf of the Insurance Companies. They are paid commissions for their work.

Insurance brokers can be described as specialists in insurance and risk management who act on behalf of their clients by providing advice on insurance with the view to promoting the interests of their clients. There are several insurance brokers in Ghana who provide technical advice on Insurance to individuals and corporate institutions.

Even though there are similarities in some of the roles performed by brokers and agents, brokers work more on behalf of their clients whilst agents pay more allegiance to the insurer.

Accident - An unexpected event,

which happens by chance and is not considered a normal course of event. Accidents may lead to bodily injuries, death and damages.

Someone may be working in a factory with high powered machines. These machines in the course of operations can develop faults which may cause injury to the staff operating it.

The Insurance for the institution may cover that injury. There are technical experts like Doctors who assist the insurance companies in determining the degree of injuries for the appropriate compensation to be made.

Act of God - A sudden and violent act of nature, which could not have been foreseen or prevented.

Examples: Flood, Earthquake, Tsunami. These events are excluded from the insurance policy due to the magnitude of the damage they cause.

Exclusion: An exclusion in the insurance policy is also called policy provision.

Insurance Companies do not cover certain risk. Some of the reasons for the exclusion of certain risks may include: In certain instances, where the uninsured risk may affect very large number of policyholders at the same time, for example, an act of war. In the event of war, quite a large number of lives may be lost at the same time. The Insurance Companies will not be in a position to pay for the losses when it occurs. Just as drug manufacturers clearly indicate on the label the illness that a particular drug can cure, insurers also list specific things the policy does not cover.

It is important people read their policy documents and have a good understanding of the policy terms and conditions.

Beneficiary is the person named in the Insurance policy to receive death proceeds when the risk occurs. Usually when a husband or a wife takes up a Life Insurance policy, the Insurance Company expects someone to be named to receive the death benefit. A husband can name his spouse and

children as beneficiaries, likewise the wife naming the husband and children as people to receive the death benefit.

There have been several instances where people who take up Life Insurance policies hide the policy document from their partners, hence deaths are never reported to the Insurance Companies when it happens. It is within your right as a policyholder to inform your beneficiaries about the policy to enable them claim when death occurs. As a policyholder you must regularly check on the status of your Life Insurance policy, this can be done at least twice or once a year. When your circumstances change you can also update your policy. There have been some instances where people take life Insurance policies when they get married, however, forget to update the policy to cover the children or even name them as beneficiaries when they are born.

Insurance is a beautiful subject which requires patience to learn.

At some stage in our life, we may take either a Life Insurance policy, Motor policy, Home Insurance or Health Insurance and ignorance of the simple terms denies you the opportunity to fully exercise your rights. I believe we are on a journey and l am committed to safely cruising you to a safe landing. Remember it is better to be a pocket Insurer than an ignorant one.

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FBN Bank opens Tip Toe Lane branch in Accra The FBN Bank Ghana has opened its Circle Tip Toe Lane branch at Kokomlemle in the Greater Accra Region as part of the bank’s effort to bring banking closer to it customers.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Victor Yaw Asante, said despite the bank’s focus on driving it digital agenda, it will not lose sight of the fact that there should also be comfortable and convenient touch points for its clients who occasionally need to physically interact with the bank.

He said the bank has a proud heritage spanning 126 years of excellence. “ While FBN Bank entry to Ghana has been for seven years, we continue to leverage our mother’s unparalleled experience in the industry to offer the very best of service to our clients.

He said the bank is currently one of the most capitalised banks in Ghana, saying “something we are leveraging to ensure we offer the very best to our customers.”

He added the bank is positive about the future and believes it customers can succeed with the bank’s depth of experience and sound financial

knowledge.

“We have interacted with our customers to understand their need. Based on this understanding, we provide tailored products and services to suit their need in our quest to seek relevant ways of growing customers, our business and ourselves.

It is no wonder that for 126 years, our brand has become a constant financial partner through our customers’ lives. Indeed, for traders that have need to make transfers to their suppliers in Nigeria, China and other parts of the world for the purchase of goods to sell, FBN Bank is the one to choose because our transfer to your trading partners is fast and second to none,” Mr. Asante said.

He said for the past six months, the global pandemic has dramatically changed the way businesses were conducted, saying the bank has put measures in place to help prevent the spread of the virus at it locations.

“We urge you to observe these protocols, which are in place for your safety. FBN Bank assures all stakeholders of the bank of their health and security as the work through this time,” Mr. Asante said.

Port Authority ready to support infrastructural investments Authorities of Tema Port say they are ready to support any logistical and infrastructural platforms geared towards improving export and import of goods.

Mrs. Sandra Opoku, Director of Port, Tema, giving the assurance said “we are happy to support any logistic and infrastructure platform that would aid in trade facilitation from the ship side right into the hinterlands”.

Mrs. Opoku said this on Saturday during the commissioning of a GHS10 million weighbridge and Truck Park constructed by the Q & Q Services a subsidiary of Kingdom Exim Group of Companies and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.

She disclosed that the Tema Port in 2019 handled over 17 million metric tonnes of cargo, an indication that such facilities would serve a good purpose in the maritime business as it would complement the one in the port and the those belonging to the Ghana Highway Authority.

She noted that there was the need to ensure that trucks were properly weighed before and after they loaded to prevent early deterioration of roads in the country, saying “we will support them and the TMA to ensure that cargoes meant for the port and leaving the port will have the requisite weight so that our roads are not damaged”.

She said “when you are leaving

Tema to Accra, you will notice that the road from Tema is more damaged than the one from Accra it is because of the load, so we are happy to support such a venture”.

Mr Daniel Titus Glover, a Deputy Minister of Transport, said the project came at an opportune time when the country was struggling to ensure that its roads were safer.

Mr Titus Glover urged the TMA and the Port authorities to ensure that every truck that loaded from the Tema Port passed through the weigh bridge.

Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, Minister of Work and Housing, the guest speaker, commended the company for investing into the various sectors of the economy, saying government would always remember the company’s social interventions as it showed humanity over corporate profit.

Mr Atta Akyea urged them to consider venturing into the provision of affordable housing to help bridge the deficit in the housing in Ghana.

The facility is situated near the harbour roundabout and close to the Port and other major terminals, had an in-house weigh bridge, security, CCTV camera, drivers sitting area, hygienic washrooms as well as drinking water for drivers.

GNA

Victor Yaw Asante, the CEO of FBN Bank Ghana

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Are consumers already living the future of health?

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has turned the health care system upside down and challenged consumers’ sense of well-being. In many ways consumers are taking charge of their health more than ever before.

They are learning about their health risks, communicating with their doctors in new and different ways, and changing their attitudes about data privacy. Each of these factors has a significant influence on how consumers are feeling and interacting with the health system.

Going forward, how will these events and factors change consumer behavior? Are we more or less likely to see empowered health care consumers?

We gained an understanding of current US consumer behaviors and attitudes through the 2020 Deloitte Center for Health Solutions’ biennial survey (the Deloitte 2020 Survey of US Health Care Consumers). Since 2008, Deloitte has been conducting this survey to explore and collect longitudinal data on the subject, and this year we rolled it out just before the pandemic started. We also collected insights from a consumer survey during the pandemic (in April and early May 2020)—The Health Care Consumer Response to COVID-19 Survey.

Findings show that: Many consumers show agency and engagement: Consumers are increasingly willing to tell their doctors when they disagree with them, are using tools to get information on costs and health issues, are tracking their health conditions and using that data to make decisions, and accessing and using their medical record data.

Consumers are using virtual visits more than ever before and plan to continue using them: Consumers using virtual visits rose from 15% to 19% from 2019 to early 2020; this jumped to 28% in April 2020.

On average, 80% are likely to have another virtual visit, even post COVID-19. Most consumers are satisfied with their visits and say they will use this type of care again.

More consumers are using technology for health monitoring and are willing to share their data: A growing number of consumers are using technology to monitor their health, measure fitness, and order prescription-drug refills. After a slight decline in willingness to share data before COVID-19, new data shows that consumers are more comfortable sharing data during a crisis.

A trusted clinician relationship remains paramount: The top factors for “an ideal health care experience” in the Deloitte 2020 Survey of US Health Care Consumers mirrored

the findings of a similar study in 2016: doctors who listen to/care about them, doctors who don’t rush, and clear communication. As health systems, technology companies, and others roll out virtual services, it is imperative to provide the same personal experience as during an in-person visit. This is particularly true for organizations that are developing tools or services for those with chronic conditions, as they are most likely to value a sustained relationship.

The pandemic has accelerated consumer activation in some respects and slowed it down in others. On the one hand, patients are increasing virtual visits, interactions with health technology, and are more willing to share data. On the other hand, people are reporting increased levels of anxiety, financial and economic worries, and hesitation to go outside and get back to “everyday life” for fear of getting the virus or passing it along to others.

During this time of great uncertainty for consumers, health care organizations should recommit themselves to understanding consumers and creating a multifaceted strategy that speaks to where consumers are right now.

The consumer in the future of health Deloitte’s future of health vision for 2040 has the consumer at the center. Over time, we’ve seen increases in consumer agency and activation, which drive many of the underlying trends. But the pandemic’s widespread impacts on the health care system and consumer are bringing into clearer focus aspects of our vision for the future of health. Harder-to-imagine ideas about the ways in which consumers will engage in their health in the future proved to be realistic by the changes forced on the system by the pandemic. The public health crisis has called on the system to provide consumers access to care from home, and in some ways, encourage consumers to have more agency in making decisions about their health. We anticipate that as the crisis abates, consumers will continue to expect the conveniences and tools to which they have become accustomed during this time.

How the pandemic has affected pre-COVID consumer trends The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed consumer behaviors and attitudes along with their anxiety and comfort levels about health care globally. To gain insights into this shift, we examined both longitudinal data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and survey responses during the pandemic.

Specifically, we used the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions’ biennial survey (the Deloitte 2020 Survey of US Health Care Consumers), which we have been using since 2008 to explore and collect longitudinal data on the subject. This year we surveyed 4,522 consumers between February 24 and March 14, 2020, just before COVID-19 became widespread and before governments put social-distancing restrictions in place. Deloitte also fielded another consumer survey during the pandemic; the Health Care Consumer Response to COVID-19 Survey surveyed 1,510 American consumers about their health, experiences, and behavior in mid-April to early May 2020.(For more details on the methodology, see the sidebar “Inside the Deloitte consumer surveys”).

What the survey results say Consumers are becoming increasingly active and engaged in their health care In our vision for the future we see a more activated consumer whose attitudes and behavior demonstrate agency. We measured and explored several aspects of consumer agency in health care: Willingness to disagree with their doctor Tracking their health conditions and using that data to make decisions Accessing and using their medical record data and wanting ownership of it Engaging in healthy behavior/ prevention In early 2020, 51% of consumers said they were very or extremely likely to tell their doctors when they disagree with them (figure 1). More than half of seniors and boomers are likely to be vocal about their disagreement vs half/less than half of younger generations—63% of seniors and 57% of boomers vs 50% of Gen X and 46% of millennials and Gen Z).

Consumers are increasingly using technology and apps to measure and maintain their health In 2020, 42% of US consumers said they used tools to measure fitness

and track health-improvement goals. Though this has stayed the same since 2018, it’s a significant jump from just 17% in 2013.

In 2020, among those who used a fitness device or a monitoring device, about half shared data from it with their doctor. Those in excellent health (62%) and those with difficult chronic diseases (75%) are most likely to share their information with their doctor.

Consumers believe that devices help them change their behavior Among individuals who track their health, 77% say it changes their behavior at least moderately (figure 3). Younger generations (Gen Z and millennials) are much more likely to say it changes their behavior.

The pandemic has changed consumers’ wellness behaviors and how they feel about and access health care The pandemic has changed the way many consumers are interacting with the health care system. It has accelerated consumer activation in some respects and slowed it down in others. On the one hand, consumers have increased virtual visits and interactions with health technology and are more willing to share their personal data. On the other hand, many individuals are reporting increased levels of anxiety, financial and economic worries, increased purchasing of processed foods, and hesitation to go outside and get back to “everyday life” for fear of getting the virus or passing it along to others.

We found that in early 2020 many consumers reported engaging in prevention and healthy behavior, but some initial evidence is showing that this has increased for some but has decreased for others.

In early 2020 (pre-COVID), a good share of consumers reported actively engaging in healthy behaviors: Forty-two percent said they have a healthy diet Forty-eight percent said they exercised regularly

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Sixty percent followed their doctor’s recommendations on prevention However, since the pandemic started, we are seeing mixed responses. In our post-COVID 19 study, some consumers report increased exercise and healthy eating, and many do not. Other research has found that the consumption and sale of processed and high fat/sugar foods has increased by 30%.1 This trend is likely to continue in the short term as more individuals face stress and financial difficulties; both these factors can lead to the emotional eating,2 and purchase of less healthy food because of cost and convenience. Health care organizations are no doubt aware of these trends and these could be an opportunity to re-engage or reinforce messaging and tools to help consumers.

The pandemic’s impact on behaviors and attitudes varies by race and ethnicity This virus is exacerbating the longstanding issue of racial disparities in health and wellbeing (see the sidebar, “A public health crisis”). The most recent data at time of publication show that Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in a widespread manner; these disparities are present throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and across all age groups.3 The future of health should consider all the disparities and biases against marginalized populations and strive to improve access to well-being and affordability for all people.

COVID-19 is accelerating the adoption and use of virtual health channels Since the onset of the pandemic, the percentage of consumers using virtual visits increased from 15% to 19% from 2019 to the beginning of 2020, and then jumped to 28% in April 2020.

Even before COVID-19, we saw that consumer adoption of virtual visits has been increasing since 2018. We found that the largest increases were among Gen X and baby boomers (figure 4).

A majority of consumers (80%) who have had a virtual-care visit would choose to have another, particularly, younger people (Gen Z, 86%, and millennials, 83%) and those with a chronic disease, 88%.

The experience of the actual virtual visit is mixed for consumers. For example, more of them said they are getting the Rx and information they need from their virtual visit in 2020 vs 2018 (figure 5). However, consumers are still identifying gaps where virtual visits aren’t meeting their needs. Fewer consumers were

happy with their clinician (either comfort or confidence in their knowledge), and wait times appear to be a bigger issue in 2020.

Consumers still want the benefits of in-person health care services—a personalized clinician-patient relationship As with in-person visits, consumers expect their virtual visits to be of high quality and with clinicians who listen, take their time, and treat them well. The Deloitte 2020 Survey of US Health Care Consumers found that among consumers who wouldn’t have another virtual care visit, a third said that quality of care was not as good as with their regular doctor and one out of five said they did not like the way the clinician treated them.

We also found similar experiences during the pandemic. In the Deloitte April COVID-19 consumer survey, respondents reported holding on to traditional beliefs about the benefits of in-person health care services: • Sixty-six percent of respondents believe that a doctor or nurse needs to physically examine them to understand their health needs • Fifty-six percent don’t think they get the same quality of care/value from a virtual visit as from an in-person visit.

In our Deloitte research on consumer experience, we repeatedly found that the health care provider relationship remains the top priority for consumers.

In the Deloitte 2020 Survey of US Health Care Consumers the top four factors for “an ideal health care experience” mirrored our findings in a similar study on consumer priorities in 2016.

When asked to rank the most important factors for an ideal experience with their doctor, in 2020, consumers ranked them as follows: Even as consumers use virtual visits and other nontraditional settings, consumers still expect trusting relationships and pleasant experiences with their clinicians.

This is particularly true for people with chronic conditions, as they are most likely to value a sustained relationship.

Health care organizations could improve the virtual visit experience by training their physicians and clinicians. In the 2020 Deloitte Survey of US Physicians, 85% of physicians across the country said that training around improving virtual visit skills such as conveying empathy is essential but absent in their practice.7 After a slight decline in willingness to share data pre-COVID-19, consumers are now more comfortable sharing it From 2018 to 2020 (pre-pandemic) we saw a decrease in consumers’ willingness to share their data in all

the areas we measured, except for health care research, which stayed steady (figure 6). However, during the pandemic, our study showed an increase in consumer willingness to share data in every scenario measured. Note that though questions in the two surveys were not exactly the same, they were similar enough to help us make directional conclusions.

Implications for health care organizations The health care consumer of the future is arriving faster than anticipated, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Every person’s health journey and experience of the pandemic has been different. Yet, it is fair to say that this period has been and continues to be challenging for everyone. Even though health care organizations themselves have faced challenges, they should recommit themselves to understanding consumers and creating a multifaceted strategy that speaks to where consumers are right now. Health care organizations should tune their services to: Deploy new tools and services. With health care consumers now more willing to adopt tools and share data and adopt virtual visits, new digital tools can play an important role in the future of care—from monitoring a person’s health, to helping individuals get access to more convenient care, to giving caregivers peace of mind, and helping older adults remain in their homes rather than move to institutional care. When organizations deploy them optimally, these tools have the potential to increase consumer satisfaction, improve medication adherence, and help consumers track and monitor their health (including signs and symptoms that may alert them to the need for care).

Explore ways in which to benefit consumers through data interoperability. While consumers are more willing to share their data, organizations should ensure that the data serves consumer needs— through adequate interoperability.

Younger consumers are most likely to say they will use digital tools for their health but are also the most frustrated with the inconvenience of their data spread across various channels. Today, some organizations and developers are working together to give consumers one-stop access to their medical information and control over how the data are shared. But this will likely require interoperability between the various organizations that currently own or store the data.

Invest in virtual health technology and training clinicians in its use. Investing in virtual health technology and facilities can also benefit both consumers and organizations. Improving telehealth capabilities and designing a process whereby consumers can access their own physicians instead of third-

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party services could help health care organizations streamline and maximize the benefits of virtual health. Our surveys show that while consumers are keen on future virtual visits, it is not just access that matters. They are still not completely satisfied with their interactions with the doctor or clinician. Training these personnel in building virtual interpersonal relationships can be a major step toward improving the virtual visit experience. And while the physicians explore ways in which to improve their virtual interactions, organizations should support them in the sustained use of virtual health, instead of returning to traditional in-person visits to ease the friction.

Create more access points to help improve drivers of health. Social determinants of health are an important factor in improving overall well-being, though they might also be among the most difficult problems to address.

However, there is opportunity for health care organizations to address the disparities that exacerbate these issues. For instance, health plans, especially those focused on Medicaid and Dual Eligibles, should consider creating more access points, potentially staffed by care extenders, deep into communities that address the drivers of health, enabling better access to traditional care as well as access to food, educational resources, connections to other social services agencies, and information.

Earn consumer trust through empathy and reliability. Although more consumers are sharing data because of the virus, as the public health crisis calms down, they might not be as willing to share it.

Organizations need strategies to build trust to make consumers feel comfortable sharing their personal health data. One strategy is to make clear that consumers own their data. We found that a large majority of consumers (65%) think that they should own their own health data vs 30% who think their doctor should own it, and even fewer who think that the government should own it. In a recent Deloitte survey on human experience, consumers ranked empathy and reliability as the top two factors when seeking out a health care experience.

To maintain or even re-earn the trust of consumers, health care organizations should demonstrate reliability, transparency, and, most importantly, a sense of empathy in how they conduct operations moving forward. As consumers consider their options for where they’ll get their care, health care leaders could inspire in them a sense of control that helps reduce uncertainty and enable the right connections to help consumers get the resources they need.

(Copyright: Deloitte Insight)

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South African leader lifts lockdown restrictions after COVID-19 infections fall In a televised address, Ramaphosa said the government would end the ban on alcohol and tobacco, allow restaurants and taverns to return to normal business, subject to strict hygiene regulations, and remove the ban on travel between provinces.

“All indications are that South Africa has reached the peak and moved beyond the inflection point of the curve,” Ramaphosa said, adding that the cabinet had decided to move to lower, “level two” restrictions from midnight on Monday.

“The move to level two means that we can remove nearly all of the restrictions on the resumption of economic activity across most industries,” he said.

Despite imposing one of the world’s toughest lockdowns when the country had only a few hundred cases, South Africa saw a surge in coronavirus infections that left it with the fifth highest number of cases in the world — currently around 579,000, of whom around 11,500 have died.

The COVID-19 crisis has battered an economy already in recession and pushed millions of South Africans deeper into extreme poverty.

But Ramaphosa said rates of new infections had fallen to an average of 5,000 a day, from a peak of 12,000 a day.

This, as well as a rise in recoveries, were “significantly reducing the pressure on our health facilities”, but he cautioned that cases could surge if people fail to maintain vigilance. Restrictions on international travel remained in place, he said.

The lifting of restrictions on alcohol will be a relief to the battered hospitality and drinks industries, some of which have been pushed close to bankruptcy and shed thousands of jobs.

“The further easing of restrictions presents us with the greatest opportunity since the start of the pandemic to breathe life into our struggling economy,” Ramaphosa said. (af.Reuters)

Siemens overhaul of Nigerian power grid draws investors Siemens AG’s overhaul of Nigeria’s electricity grid is attracting interest from private companies seeking to invest in power production, the head of the German company’s local unit said.

Siemens signed a contract with the government last year to rehabilitate and expand the West African nation’s electricity system, with the first phase costing about 2 billion Euros, according to Onyeche Tifase, chief executive officer of Siemens Nigeria Ltd..

The company is using as a model its experience in Egypt, where it increased generation capacity by more than 40% in less than three years.

The revamp in Nigeria will include upgrading dozens of power substations and building new ones, as well as installing new transformers and distribution lines, she said. The upgrades are persuading skeptical investors to see opportunity in the country, Tifase added.

“Our ability to deliver all the automation of distribution, transmission and generation has boosted investors’ confidence, and oil and gas companies that had stepped back because of a lack of benefits are reconsidering,” the CEO said in an interview in Lagos, the commercial capital.

“We see further investments being unlocked.”

Nigeria has more than 13,000 megawatts of installed electricity generation capacity but only 7,500 megawatts of that is available and less than 4,000 megawatts is dispatched to the grid each day.

The partnership with Siemens

will modernize the existing network before enlarging it until the country can produce and distribute 25,000 megawatts.

Incessant Outages The World Bank, which estimates that Nigeria loses about $28 billion or 2% of gross domestic product a year to power cuts, approved

a $750 million loan in June to create a sustainable metering and commercial framework for running the grid.

The deal agreed to last year requires Siemens to boost transmission capacity, to 25,000 megawatts by 2025, from 4,500 megawatts. That will help end incessant outages and ensure the inclusion of about a third of the population of more than 200 million people now excluded from the grid.

Siemens plans to implement the project in phases, starting with the initial phase of resolving current inefficiencies in distribution and transmission while upgrading capacity to 7,000 megawatts. The second phase will target 11,000 megawatts.

The project has attracted lowcost financing backed by the German government and creditrisk guarantees by Euler Hermes Group SAS, according to Tifase.

Lenders including Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG have indicated an interest in extending credit, she said. German lenders are expected to finance the supply of all equipment, products and systems for the project. (bloomberg.com)

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Insurance Agents think they offer value. But some customers have a different view

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usiness owners and consumers are rethinking their finances and insurance needs due to the current economic uncertainty.

However, new research suggests insurance customers and their agents are not always on the same page; there are gaps between what agents and their customers think and agents may not be giving customers everything they want.

Thus insurance agents face some challenges when helping customers, according to a report from Nationwide Insurance. At the same time as they face these new obstacles, agents have a “compelling opportunity to serve as a knowledgeable resource for current and prospective customers to strengthen and grow their portfolio or business,” the report says.

Nationwide identifies four themes in its study: • A perception gap: There are gaps between agents and customers when it comes to perception of service levels.

• Customers want more than just property and casualty support from agents.

• Understanding policy coverage and price are shared challenges across all audiences.

• The economy is a concern, and customers are looking to agents for guidance.

“Our latest research shows some emerging opportunities in the agent-customer relationship particularly when navigating

this current environment and economy,” said Jeff Rommel, senior vice president of Property and Casualty sales at Nationwide.

“But while the data pinpointed gaps, agile agents will see ways to address their clients’ concerns, enhance retention and grow their business.”

A Perception Gap There is a perception gap in the value agents believe they are bringing to their customers. Agents are confident they are meeting the needs of their customers, yet some business owners and consumers have a different perspective on the services agents should provide, indicating gaps that can be closed: • 95% of insurance agents believe they are always there when their clients need them but only 79% of customers felt the same.

• While 91% of agents said they can offer the best prices, only 74% of customers agreed.

• 94% of agents reported they are regularly checking in with their customers to make sure their policy fits their needs. However, only 69% of customers reported sufficient check-ins from their agent.

What Customers Want The research identified areas where agents can go above and beyond traditional insurance guidance. While most customers seek counsel on conventional insurance, some business owners are looking for help on succession planning, disaster recovery and employee benefits. Additionally, general property/casualty

customers are asking agents about retirement and banking advice.

• 57% of mid-market business owners are asking about employee benefits.

• 45% of mid-market business owners and 35% of small business owners are asking about safety and loss control.

• 26% of consumer customers want guidance on retirement planning.

• Physical location is something customers value.

While there is a desire for digital platforms, small business owners (68%), and consumers (51%) still prefer to have an insurance agent where they are physically located.

Shared Challenge The research identified two consistent challenges across all audiences surveyed – understanding policy coverage and finding the best price.

• 46% of small business owners, 71% of mid-market business owners and 47% of consumers said it is a challenge to understand what is and what is not covered in their policy.

• 44% of small business owners, 69% of mid-market business owners and 45% of consumers said it is a challenge to find the best price for protection needs.

• Similarly, 55% of agents say they struggle educating clients on the coverage they need and 46% of agents say

providing the level of service customers demand is a challenge.

• Many customers also wrestle with understanding different types of coverage, the time it takes to settle a claim, insurance terminology and understanding how much coverage they need.

Agents reported it particularly challenging to: • Adopt new technology to keep up with the industry (55%) • Understand the nuances between different industries (53%) • Help clients with disaster prep or mitigation practices (51%) An Economic Outlook • Over half of agents think their clients feel uncomfortable talking about economic uncertainty. However, more than half of business owners and consumers feel like their agent was prepared to have these discussions.

• 47% of agents are optimistic the economy will recover in the next year but 66% are concerned about making it through this economic climate.

• 81% of agents say their customers are unsure how the current economy will impact their business and their insurance needs.

(Source: insurancejournal.com)

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