Business24 Newspaper 27th August, 2021

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FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2021

Absa Bank drives digital banking with new branch opening

Uphold science-based origintracing and fight Covid-19 together

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See page 9

BUSINESS24.COM.GH

NO. B24 / 240 | NEWS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

FRIDAY MONDAY AUGUST MAY 3, 27,2021 2021

Digital banking has heightened fraud risk, BoG says

By Benson Afful

affulbenson@gmail.com

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he emergence of the global pandemic, which increased the use of electronic modes of transacting business in the country, has also led to a higher exposure of financial institutions to fraud, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revealed.

In its 2020 Banking Industry Fraud report, the central bank said there was a total case

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in the use of digital/electronic platforms for financial transactions.

Cont’d on page 2

GEPA promotes services as export growth pole

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

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he Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) says it is promoting the export of services as part of the nation’s drive to boost exports to help strengthen the economy.

“Realising the potential of the services sector, the authority

GEPA boss Ms. Afua Asabea Asare interacting with an exhibitor at the event

Thriving MSMEs critical to economy’s growth, says GNCCI boss

By Patrick Paintsil p_paintsil@hotmail.com

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here is the need to empower micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to recover quickly from the harm of the virus pandemic to enable them serve their Cont’d on page 3

New payment platform to be introduced at the ports

By Eugene Davis ugendavis@gmail.com

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he Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has announced that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority is in the process Cont’d on page 5

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Cont’d on page 3

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Editorial / News

FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2021

Editorial

Collection action needed to salvage the struggling MSME sector

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study conducted by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the business performance of some 3,000 companies across 17 industries has reiterated the relevance of the sector to the national economy.

It is estimated that about 92percent of registered companies in the country are MSMEs and they are responsible for close to 85percent of manufacturing employments.

But businesses in that space are mostly fragmented and short-lived in the absence of a workable succession plan, whilst other operational risks get them paying high interest on loans which stifles their growth and makes them uncompetitive.

Small and medium enterprises are the drivers of every economy but it has long remained the sector with relatively less stability and negative response to economic cycles and industry shocks.

Most of these businesses have weak cashflow and value orientation, signaling an industry in dire need of capacity building.

The SME landscape has not been spared by the pandemic obviously due to their poor resilience mechanisms.

According to the Business Tracker survey report on the impact of the virus crisis on small and medium enterprises in the country, about 35percent of businesses in that category did not survive the grip of the

pandemic on their operations.

Such a critical economic backbone must not be allowed to succumb to the pandemic; SMEs must be guided and groomed to survive the virus crisis to continue to serve their pivotal role of driving the socioeconomic transformation.

Admittedly, the highly informal nature of activities in that space makes it even riskier but that doesn’t take away the fact that it contributes the largest chunk of GDP, creates majority of the nation’s jobs and keeps the informal economy afloat.

It’s time for both government and the private business community critical attention on the sector.

Digital banking has heightened fraud risk, BoG says Continued from cover

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count of 2,670 last year compared to 2,311 cases in 2019.

“The reported value of fraud for 2020 was GH¢1bn as compared to GH¢115.51m recorded in 2019,” the BoG said, adding that the notable increase in the value reported was as a result of high values recorded in attempted correspondent banking fraud.

The banking sector regulator said even though the sector did not suffer any losses from any of the correspondent banking fraud attempts, it posed a reputational risk to some banks, whose staff were found culpable in two of the three reported incidents.

Losses incurred as a result of fraud stood at GH¢25.4m in 2020 as compared to an estimated loss of GH¢33.44m in

2019, representing a 24 percent decrease, BoG said.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in the use of digital/electronic platforms for financial transactions.

In an effort to contain the spread of the virus, financial institutions encouraged customers to take full advantage of the various digital products and services available to execute financial transactions.

According to the BoG, the surge in usage led to an increase in the incidence of fraud related to digital/electronic products and services and, consequently, an increase in losses emanating from products such as e-money and ATM/card fraud.

The regulator added in the report that submission of fraud returns recorded a slight improvement, adding that the banks continued to maintain a 100 percent rate of submissions and the rural and community banking sector recorded a remarkable increase of 75 percent in the rate of submissions due to administrative sanctions issued against non-submitting banks in the first half of the year.

“The submission rate across the Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) will improve marginally if reporting institutions are adjusted to exclude the distressed institutions,” the BoG said.

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GEPA promotes services as export growth pole Continued from cover has commenced the promotion of services with the sole mandate to streamline, promote and strategically position Ghana’s services offer in the NTE [nontraditional export] basket,” Chief Executive Officer Afua Asabea Asare said at GEPA’s Infotech Fair on the theme “Growing our own: the need to use African tech solutions”.

According to her, the authority, in line with its National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), and with the goal of impacting positively on the services sector, has identified some strategic services sub-sectors for intense market development and promotion across both the regional and continental markets.

She mentioned medical tourism, consultancy/ professional services, education, business process outsourcing, and information technology as some identified services that the authority seeks to explore, promote and sell to the single continental market.

“The IT and IT-enabled

sector has seen a tremendous transformation over the last decade, with the establishment of small and medium-sized tech enterprises with interesting and export-oriented projects and concepts,” Ms. Asare indicated.

She said GEPA has identified the Accra Digital Centre (ADC) as a key stakeholder to develop and promote the services of players in the IT space.

With its low-cost yet highquality professional talent pool,

ready plug-and-play enclaves, and existing Free Zones regime that offers investment-friendly regulations, Ghana is poised to take the lead role in the subregion when it comes to IT and ITenabled services, Ms. Asare said.

She added: “The larger GEPA strategy is to develop the IT services sector to the extent that it can contribute an amount representing more than 10 percent of total NTE earnings annually.

Our longstanding reputation of

facilitating and linking SMEs to international markets through the organisation of market linkage programmes such as trade missions, exhibitions or trade fairs has yielded tremendous results over the years, and we are resolute to do more.”

The Infotech Fair sought to create the necessary business linkages, partnerships and collaborations for Ghanaian tech firms within the IT and IT-enabled space.

Thriving MSMEs critical to economy’s growth, says GNCCI boss Continued from cover critical role as growth drivers of the economy, Clement OseiAmoako, President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), has said.

Despite several interventions by the government, MSMEs are still saddled with several challenges, including high taxes and operational costs which impede their growth and resilience.

“Micro, small and medium enterprises are the drivers of growth in every economy, but they are less stable and more sensitive to market volatilities, coupled with weak cashflow and value orientation,” said Mr. OseiAmoako at the chamber’s SME Business Forum on the theme “Redefining Business Success: The Case of SMEs in Ghana”.

“Given the sector’s importance to the economy, we have to collectively put our shoulders to the wheel to ensure that the MSME sector thrives, due to its relevance as the engine of economic growth [and] in terms

GNCCI boss Clement Osei-Amoako urges collective action towards the creation of a resilient MSME sector

of its contribution to both GDP and job creation,” he added.

A study conducted by the chamber’s research department on the business performance of some 3,000 companies across 17 industries showed that MSMEs are generally growth drivers.

It is estimated that about 92 percent of registered companies in the country are MSMEs, and they are responsible for close to 85 percent of manufacturing

employment.

The SME Business Forum is part of efforts to promote publicprivate dialogue on pertinent issues affecting commercial and industrial interests in the country.

“The chamber is committed to courting well-grounded support to the nation’s aggressive industrialisation agenda through advocacy, policy dialogue and networking engagements,” said

Mr. Osei-Amoako.

The forum discussed tailored solutions and recommendations that will benefit struggling micro, small and medium enterprises, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankey Ayeh, in her remarks, reinforced the calls for a robust MSME sector, pledging her agency’s commitment to partnering such businesses towards their growth and success.

She said the GEA, working with its partner agencies, will build the capacity of businesses in digitalisation to enhance market access opportunities and their overall productivity and resilience.

“MSMEs’ development is at the heart of government’s efforts to build a thriving economy.

They are the backbone of every economy, and their operations offer numerous opportunities across the business value chain and towards a Ghana Beyond Aid,” she sindicated.

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Ghana, North Rhine-Westphalia sign co-operation agreement

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he Governments of Ghana and the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia, have signed an agreement to cooperate in seven specific areas.

The areas include; nongovernmental, not-for-profit, and private-sector organisations; diaspora organisations; religious organisations of all denominations; business corporations; local councils; educational establishments; and GIZ development agency.

The agreement, which was signed in the presence of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

by Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, and the Minister-President for North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, is guided and informed by the principles and goals set out in the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

As part of the G20 Compact with Africa, Ghana and Germany signed a reform-oriented partnership designed to promote joint, African-style development projects involving public and private players. This partnership has provided the framework for cooperation between Ghana and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Both sides seek to intensify, at governmental and civilservice level, a dialogue that will foster exchanges between local communities and localauthority institutions, and support cooperation between non-governmental organisations (NGOs), churches, and not-forprofit organisations from the two states.

Additionally, Ghana and North Rhine-Westphalia will support collaboration between colleges of Higher Education, particularly with regard to the universities of applied sciences and technical universities newly established by the Ghanaian government.

Activities will centre on

measures to enhance the organisation and profile of the new universities of applied sciences and assist in the creation of courses focusing on practice over theory.

The two sides will also consider training, the promotion of business, and job creation in growth sectors to be essential fields of cooperation.

As part of the agreement, companies from North RhineWestphalia are to be notified of opportunities afforded by the Ghanaian market, whilst the benefits of collaboration with North Rhine-Westphalia are to be advocated in Ghana.

The partnership also aims to

foster discussion and mutual exchange on the subjects of entrepreneurship, start-up support, and the realisation of new labour-market potential.

The agreement stresses the protection of resources and sustainable business practices, which can be pursued and achieved as part of joint educational and training initiatives and through additional funding for social and technological innovation.

The two sides further reiterated their commitment to “trusting cooperation when it comes to managing migration”, together with expanding their interaction in the health sector, “for instance as joint partners in a clinic initiative and by providing funding for health projects run by civil-society groups”.

On matters relating to enhancing collaboration between tax authorities of the two sides, the sides jointly decided to continue and enhance collaboration between their tax authorities in matters relating to the decentralisation of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the steady flow of tax revenue, and general good governance.

President is on a working visit to Germany on the behest of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

New payment platform to be introduced at the ports Continued from cover of introducing a new e-payment platform for the payment of fees and charges at the ports.

The platform, she said, will facilitate cargo clearing at the ports and afford stakeholders the opportunity to validate invoices, calculate port charges and facilitate secure transactions through mobile money and other payment systems.

Speaking at the maiden Africa Digital Forum, Accra Edition, under the theme “The Digital Challenge: Africa’s Opportunity under AfCFTA”, she stated that arrangements have been made for payment of taxes to be made through all the banks on the Ghana.gov platforms.

This initiative is part of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) efforts to improve tax collection and remove all bottlenecks that impede payments.

The Director-General of the National Information Technology

Agency (NITA), Richard OkyereFosu, revealed that his agency intends to collaborate with other regulators to develop and enable cross-sector regulatory high-level principles that will fast track the adoption of e-commerce, e-agriculture, e-health, and e-education to realise a digitally transformed country.

“As the host of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Ghana has the opportunity to be the model country for developing ICT experts and providing quality and security of ICT services to facilitate trade across our continent,” he said.

Prof. Alex Dodoo, CEO of the Ghana Standards Authority, said Africa must lead in the development of standards and rules for e-commerce globally.

He argued that e-commerce enhances competition within Africa and in the global market, and that the ability to use digital payments and other payment methods makes e-commerce

attractive and fully inclusive for African traders.

E-commerce, he further noted, overcomes the challenges of high logistics and creates newer models for intra-Africa trade.

Speaking at the same programme, the Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Justice Bawole, argued there was the need to improve acquisition of digital skills among the youth.

Prof. Robert Yennah, chairman of the AIDEC Group of Companies, organisers of the event, said that going digital is the new norm for

doing business and engaging with customers.

“The digital mindset and technical resources enable the harnessing and use of data to make better and faster decisions in order to grow, blossom and be more profitable.”

The Africa Digital Forum was held under the auspices of the Africa Integrated Development and Communications Consultancies (AIDEC) and aimed at fashioning out ways to embrace digital solutions for Africa, with Ghana playing a leadership role.

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FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2021

IFC invests record $10.4bn for private sector development in Africa and the Middle East

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FC provided record financing in fiscal year 2021 in the Middle East and Africa to help thousands of small businesses access finance, connect people and businesses to reliable digital infrastructure, trade and services, and help to meet critical health needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The financing reached $10.4 billion.

IFC's financing included shortterm finance ($2.9 billion) and mobilization ($4.2 billion), with 70 percent of IFC's own account financing going to low-income and fragile and conflict affected states. Under the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), IFC committed $2.7 billion aimed at supporting trade flows between countries and helping to connect small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to value chains in the Middle East and Africa.

IFC responded quickly to the regions' health needs providing $1.6 billion in the Middle East and Africa, including $732 million to partners in sub-Saharan Africa from its Global Health Facility.

The health response is supporting the expansion of diagnostic and laboratory testing, increased access to critical medical equipment, and partnerships to support leading vaccine manufacturers on the continent.

Among the key initiatives, in April, IFC announced the Africa Medical Equipment Facility, a partnership that so far includes

Philips, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, GE Healthcare and NSIA to strengthen medical equipment financing across Africa.

IFC also worked across countries to help improve infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa. In February, IFC invested in a bond issued by Liquid Telecommunications Financing, PLC to help the company expand access to broadband Internet and digital and cloud services across Africa. In June, IFC announced a landmark loan to Iraq's Basrah Gas Company to help reduce gas flaring, boost energy access and power homes and businesses across Iraq.

Within the financial services sector, IFC invested $26 million in Africa to support financial technology development, and supported projects aimed at increasing climate finance, including a $150 million loan to KCB Kenya to help the bank increase lending for climate-

friendly projects.

"IFC is working with partners across the Middle East and Africa to support countries to create stronger, more resilient, and more connected economies. The past 15 months have shown how critical it is to ensure that small businesses can access finance, that homes and businesses are connected to the Internet, and that trade and supply chains remain open to help countries respond to critical food and health needs. We stepped up our efforts in the past year to help our partners and will continue to support them through the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery," said Sérgio Pimenta, IFC Vice President for the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to its investments in the Middle East and Africa, IFC provided Advisory and Upstream Services with a portfolio of more than $520 million for 338 projects aimed at improving the business

environment, investment policy and promotion and creating markets in priority sectors. Of the advisory and Upstream projects IFC supported, 45 percent were focused on improving gender equality and 20 percent supported climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where country leaders have called for greater support for vaccine manufacturing in the region, IFC committed $8.7 billion in investments, the largest ever annual commitment in the region, with the financing going to attract private investment in regional vaccine manufacturers, greater access for small businesses to life-saving medical equipment, and to climate-smart development projects and digital connectivity.

In the Middle East and North Africa, where the COVID-19 pandemic has led to declines in oil production, tourism revenues, and remittances, IFC invested $1.8 billion, including $100 million in Egypt's first private sector green bond to increase lending to businesses seeking to invest in eco-friendly initiatives, including green buildings, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Financing also went to improve healthcare infrastructure, support digital start-ups and small businesses and improve infrastructure development in countries like Morocco.

South African Airways to restart regional flights from September

By Ben Smithson

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n a small but significant step toward the return of normal international travel, South African Airways will restart commercial flights from Sep. 23 for the first time in more than a year — but only within the African continent.

The airline has long struggled to be profitable, particularly on long-haul routes where it’s faced fierce competition from Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways. The airline has also received hundreds of millions of dollars in the form of local government bailouts and debt guarantees.

Before the pandemic, South African Airways operated flights to such major international hubs as New York-JFK, London (LHR)

and Frankfurt (FRA).

Flights to Hong Kong (HKG), Munich (MUC) and São Paulo (SAO) were cut before the pandemic even began.

South African aviation regulators have now restored the Star Alliance members’ operating

license, allowing it to rebuild some of its route network. The airline is starting slowly with flights from its Johannesburg ( JNB) hub to Cape Town (CPT), Accra (ACC), Kinshasa (FIH), Harare (HRE), Lusaka (LUN) and Maputo (MPM).

The airline had previously been

majority-owned by the South African government, though in June 2021 a majority take was sold to a local jet-leasing company, Global Airways, and privateequity firm Harith General Partners.

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Absa Bank drives digital banking with new branch opening

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o offer enhanced and superior financial solutions to customers, Absa Bank Ghana has opened a new ultramodern branch office at North Industrial Area in Accra.

The new branch is one of the first branches to provide a full bouquet of services across Retail Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking and Business Banking. The branch also offers services such as forex exchange, money transfer, bills payment, digital services among others.

Located on the Abotia Street, North Industrial Area, opposite Qualiplast Company Limited, the new branch has an unmatched vibrant ambiance with installed digital automated queuing system, cash accepting ATMs and a 24-hour transaction zone.

At a short ceremony to officially open the branch, Mr. Charles Addo, Retail Banking Director at Absa Bank Ghana indicated that the new branch will deliver hassle free banking and friendly customer service within the industrial enclave and beyond.

“This new edifice is Absa’s

validation of our promise to continuously offer state of the art technology, secure platforms and innovative products to ensure our customers have excellent banking experience anytime they interact with us,” said Mr. Addo. “Our key focus is to be a top-of-mind bank for the customer. In doing so, we are strongly driving the agenda of becoming a total digitally-led bank with all branches getting an uplift in terms of ambience and services for our customers so they can get things done.”

The new branch will be a

one-stop-shop for all banking products and services offered by Absa Bank.

“Customers will not only be delighted but also enjoy world class banking experiences at the branch, driven by our purpose of bringing possibilities to life. The new branch offers a lot of digital and self-service facilities to help our customers do business,” said Michael Ahele, Branch Manager for North Industrial Area.

Absa Bank Ghana Limited is one of Ghana’s leading financial institutions offering an integrated

set of products and services across Corporate and Investment Banking, Business Banking with solutions for SMEs, and Retail Banking. Absa Bank Ghana is part of Absa Group Limited, one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups. The Group has a presence in 12 African countries and representative offices in London and New York.

Absa is a truly African brand with global reach, inspired by the people it serves and driven by its purpose of bringing possibility to life.

IOSH holds online conference September 16-17

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he Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), a chartered body for safety and health, is organising a conference in September that focuses on how safety and health at work will benefit workers, businesses and the economies of West Africa.

The two-day online conference, which is free to join, takes place on September 16-17.

The conference will discuss and debate key issues that face the business community regionally and globally and how the application of good safety and health principles at work will bring sustainable competitive advantage.

The title of the event, “A brighter, safer future – for workers, for businesses, for West Africa” highlights the benefits that workplace safety and health can create for individuals, communities and society.

Participants will be able to take part in debates and listen to keynote presentations and panel discussions involving, among many others, the World

Health Organization, the United Nations Global Compact, the Lagos State Safety Commission, the Ghana Health Service and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.

Topics to be discussed include; health and safety in the healthcare sector, health and safety in educational settings, the impact on different industries of the forthcoming occupational safety and health bill in Ghana and the leadership role of women in the occupational safety and health

profession.

It follows a hugely successful event last year, attended by over 900 representatives of government departments, nongovernmental organisations, businesses, industry and academia. Within months, IOSH inaugurated its West Africa Division, whose members include safety and health professionals working in Ghana, Nigeria and West African countries.

It is IOSH’s first network on the continent of Africa and

is continuing to attract new members and the possibility of potential collaborations with other institutions based in the region.

The conference will demonstrate the increasingly critical role of occupational safety and health professionals in business planning for all kinds of organisation, whether they are in the private, public or voluntary sector, no matter what their size, from micro-organisation to multinational.

In particular, they have a central role to play in recovering economically from the Covid-19 pandemic. This recovery is not merely tactical and operational but an imperative for long-term sustainability.

One key message of the conference will be that the protection of workers must be an essential part of business planning if organisations are to survive and prosper in the future.

Governments, businesses and organisations will be urged to plan with this consideration in mind.

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Uphold science-based origin-tracing and fight Covid-19 together

By H.E. Lu Kun, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana

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ince the COVID-19 outbreak, China, upholding the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, provided information to the World Health Organization and relevant countries in a most timely fashion, released the genome sequence at the earliest possible time, shared control and treatment experience with the world without reservation and provided more than 800 million doses of vaccines to more than 100 countries, making major contribution to protect global public health.

At the same time, China attaches high importance to the origin-tracing of the virus, actively participated in global origintracing cooperation with an open and science-based attitude and took the lead in collaborating with the WHO on global origintracing. Since last year, China has twice invited WHO experts to China for origin-tracing research.

In particular, leading experts from 10 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia, formed a joint expert team with their Chinese counterparts earlier this year. They carried out a 28day joint research in China and concluded that the hypothesis

of lab leak is extremely unlikely.

They also recommended further research on earlier cases around the world and further study of the role of cold-chain and frozen foods in viral transmission. These important conclusions were reached on the basis of following WHO procedures and rigorous scientific methodology. They are authoritative and science-based.

They should be recognized, respected and upheld and should be the basis for the next phase of global origin-tracing. Chinese experts also took the initiative to submit to WHO China's proposal on the second phase of origintracing, calling for conducting the phase II origin-tracing in multiple countries and regions on the basis of the first phase WHOconvened joint study. China’s open and transparent attitude on origin-tracing was highly praised by the international experts.

Origin-tracing is a matter of science. It should be and can only be done by scientists.

Unfortunately however, under the political manipulation of individual countries, origintracing has been politicized and used as a tool to shift responsibility and divert contradiction. They attempt to achieve the political goal of smearing and suppressing other countries by contravening scientific commonsense, fabricating groundless

intelligence information, cooking up reports based entirely on lies, sensationalizing so-called "lab leak theory" based on the presumption of guilt, and even interfering the WHO from carrying out its duties independently. These despicable acts have seriously poisoned the scientific and objective atmosphere of origin-tracing and sabotaged international cooperation in fighting against COVID-19.

"Dark clouds can not block the sun". In recent days, nearly 80 countries have recently expressed support for the WHO-China joint study report and opposition to politicizing origin-tracing by sending letters to WHO DirectorGeneral, and issuing statements or diplomatic notes. More than 30 countries voiced their opposition or reservation on the phase II of the WHO Secretariat. Political parties, groups, experts, scholars and media from many countries have expressed their stance of opposing politicizing the origintracing and upholding a scientific approach in different ways.

Over 300 political parties, social organizations and think tanks from 100-plus countries and regions in the world submitted a Joint Statement to the WHO Secretariat, calling on the WHO to conduct the study on COVID-19 origin-tracing objectively and fairly, and firmly opposing the politicization of origin-tracing.

This fully shows that the political

manipulation cannot blur the eyes of the world, and voice of fairness and justice will never be stifled.

At present, the world is facing the impact of the Delta variant, and the fight against the pandemic comes to a crucial stage. China stands ready to work with Ghana and other African countries to uphold scientific origin-tracing, oppose political manipulation by politicizing of pandemic, stigmatizing of the virus and using the origin-tracing as a tool, uphold cooperation while oppose confrontation. We need defeat not only coronavirus, but also political virus to make positive contribution to the ultimate victory against the COVID-19.

Tax assessment, payment App in the offing – VP Bawumia reveals

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he Ministry of Finance and the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, working with the Economic Management Team, have initiated work on a mobile application for the filing of taxes, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has revealed.

This is part of measures being made to make tax compliance and enforcement easier, and increase the contribution of domestic revenue to the nation’s GDP. “I am happy to announce that the mobile application for the simplified filing of taxes should be ready by end of October this year. The idea is to have a mobile app where an individual or enterprise will have to input just a few pieces of information and tax due will be automatically calculated for you and you can pay on your phone and receive a receipt immediately.”

Dr Bawumia made the disclosure in Accra on Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at the launch of the Revenue Assurance and Compliance Enforcement (RACE) Initiative, designed to increase domestic revenue mobilization in order to address the economic challenges arising from the Covid 19 pandemic and make Ghana more fiscally independent.

A recent study by the World Bank (November 2020) has shed more light on the startling gap between what is due the public purse and what is actually collected, with the total corporate tax gap equivalent to between 9.4 percent and 12.6 percent of GDP (approximately between Gh¢35.7 billion - Gh¢47.88 billion); VAT compliance gap of 39.3 percent of total VAT revenue; Import duty tax gap of 32.5 percent of tax revenue; and potential tax revenues from sole proprietors, who usually operate in the

informal sector, amounting to 12.6 percent of GDP. “We need to remind ourselves that Government’s ability to extend much-needed support to Ghanaians during this pandemic owes a lot to the prudent management of the economy in the three years leading to the pandemic. And government’s ability to continue with some of the social interventions and much needed support to the private sector depends on our ability to accelerate our domestic revenue mobilization.

“The unfortunate reality is that our progress in domestic revenue mobilization could be better than what we have now.

The reasons: the commitment to paying taxes is low. Some tax laws are complex and do not encourage compliance. There is also a school of thought that those who must enforce compliance are not without blame. Our

challenges are in enforcement and compliance.”

Government, he stressed, will continue to take proactive measures to broaden the tax base and make it easier for individuals and businesses to fulfil their obligations without major stress.

“We have addressed the issue of the narrow tax base by making the Ghanacard number the TIN. This has increased the percentage of the adult population with a TIN from 4% in 2016 to 86% today. The question that we have is how to convert this 86% into actual tax payers.

“A simplified flat tax payment system will provide the basis of data building at the ground level as the first step to formalizing the large segment of the informal economy. It will surely increase compliance and reduce the perception of heavy handedness in enforcement.”

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GRA donates PPEs to 160 selected schools

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he Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Wednesday donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to 160 selected schools to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The items are 640 handwashing units, 480 gallons of liquid soap, and 320 packs of tissue.

Rev John Ntim Fordjour, the Deputy Minister of Education, received the items and presented them to Professor Kwasi OpokuAmankwa, the Director-General of Ghana Education Service, for onward distribution to the schools.

Rev Ammishaddai OwusuAmoah, the CommissionerGeneral, GRA said the gesture was part of the Authority's corporate social responsibility to respond to the needs of the students in protecting them from the New Delta Variant of the pandemic.

He said the Authority, over the years, had supported schools in diverse ways to improve teaching and learning to help in the development of the country.

The Commissioner-General said even though the Authority aimed to collect revenue for the country's development, it was necessary to respond to societal

needs for national growth.

He said the gesture would endure, adding that the Authority would continue to partner with the Ministry of Education to support underserved schools in the country.

Rev Owusu-Amoah advised the students to take their lessons seriously and observe

the COVID-19 health protocols to protect themselves from the virus.

Rev Fordjour commended the Authority for the gesture and appealed to other corporate organisations to support in curbing the virus.

He said since the outbreak of the pandemic, the government had made huge investments through the purchase of vaccines and provision of PPEs to protect the lives of the citizenry.

The gesture, the Minister, said would imbue in the students the civic duty of paying tax and remaining law-abiding for the development of the country.

He said the government would soon deploy the COVID-19 Tracker to monitor and track cases of the virus for the prompt response and called for stakeholder's support for the initiative to be successful.

Africa's Travel & Tourism Summit slated for 19th to 21st September

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he Department of Tourism and South African Tourism will host the first ever Africa's Travel and Tourism Summit, which is set to take place from 19th to 21st September 2021, coinciding with Tourism Month in South Africa.

Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit aims to be a catalyst for engagement on the current state of tourism on the African continent. Taking into account challenges facing the global tourism industry, Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit will, through various engagement sessions, gather the tourism sector to share insights and ideas to explore collaborative efforts that can lead to recovery.

With an array of issues currently facing the sector, Africa's Travel and Tourism Summit aims to attract African community delegates, African Tourism Ministers, industry Associations, Tourism Boards, Destination Marketing Organisations as well as various partners across the tourism value chain.

Some of the major topics for discussion at the Summit include aviation, innovation, technology, the health and safety protocols currently in place, as well as the continent's positioning post the COVID-19 pandemic for the African continent.

SA Tourism’s Acting CEO, Sthembiso Dlamini, highlighted that the African continent is resilient and that this Summit is

important as it will contribute towards picking up the momentum within the sector, as it works towards an inclusive recovery.

“The COVID-19 pandemic may have dealt tourism, both business and leisure tourism, a heavy blow, but we are now in the recovery phase, and a summit of this nature is critical in ensuring that we are aligned as a continent whilst reigniting the tourism industry,” says Dlamini.

The Summit will be hosted in a hybrid format, over a two-day period. Delegates will have the option of attending virtually, or at identified venues across South Africa, or at three additional locations on the rest of the African continent, pending COVID-19 lockdown regulations. All venues will have COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place.

“We have opted for the hybrid format in order for us, as a continent, to lead the way in demonstrating how tourism can be enjoyed safely whilst adhering to health protocols. It is important that we are diligent in reigniting the sector, as it contributes significantly to the African economy,” adds Dlamini.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Tourism as well as South African Tourism were not able to host the MICEfocused Meetings Africa and leisure-focused Africa’s Travel Indaba 2021 editions which usually take place in February

and May annually.

While Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit should not be seen as a replacement, it does provide a platform to showcase the African continent’s leisure tourism offerings and business event capabilities.

"In the absence of Africa’s Travel Indaba in 2020 and 2021, Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit is an innovative initiative for promoting intraAfrica tourism and also for sharing insights into the “state of readiness” for South Africa and the rest Africa to welcome the world during and post-COVID-19 pandemic,” says Kwakye Donkor, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Tourism Partners.

“I commend South African Tourism and the South African National Convention Bureau, for once again, showing commitment and leadership in tourism promotion across the continent. It will be so great to meet traditional and emerging trade partners again during the Summit. Well done to Team South Africa Tourism! We look forward to a very fruitful Summit,” concluded Donkor.

The SA Tourism Acting CEO also emphasised that Africa's Travel and Tourism Summit will act as a think tank for the continent, creating a platform for Africa’s tourism leaders to create solutions for Africa and contribute to global solutions for

the industry.

Committed to ongoing transformation and development of the South African tourism industry, Africa's Travel and Tourism Summit will feature a dedicated day to empower SMMEs in the sector on 19 September 2021, as a precursor to the two-day conference which takes place on 20th and 21st September 2021.

Open to delegates from all countries, this Summit is an invitation to the world to join in as the African continent not only gears itself for recovery, but also to share in the African story.

Registration for the summit will open on Friday, 20th August 2021.

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From mineral resources to achieving competitive diversification of Ghana’s economy

By Dr Samuel Frimpong Boateng CEO, Afrideg Ghana Limited President, Centre for Investments, Trade and Industry

L

istening to discussions and reading presentations on the Agyapa deal, it’s easy to state that the intended reinvestment targets development and mining, with a risk distant away from exploration (where capital mostly shies off ).

This means exploration project spons0rs will struggle to rubble through the risks to bring exploration to development stage before inviting any Agyapa-like investment.

After more than a century of mining in the five different belts of gold deposits or in the various geological formations (be it Birimian or Tarkwaian) in Ghana, a lot of exploration risks have been duly indicated and profiled either through licenced mineral exploration and geological mapping or during mining proper.

Decades of exploration, geological and mining activities in Ghana has reasonably signalled risks arising out of mineralisation (inferred, indicated or proven) and mineral associations (oxides or sulphides), type of geological formation and structural discontinuities.

Given that Agyapa’s investment readiness targets post exploration points (where financial and geological risks are less), it’s reasonable to state that policy innovations can be structured to invite other forms of capital – other

than mining royalties – containing a well-designed financial product capable of mitigating risks at the various nodes of the mining value chain.

What we see in Ghana in terms of lack of derived value and little mining related development from our mineral resources have more to do with mineral resource governance challenges than lack of risk capital.

Ghana would be better off if mining investment policies targeted projects that retain value using a stylised knowledge of mining spending by stage of production and percentage cost breakdown by cost type knowing that over 50% of mine operational costs go to suppliers but taxes and royalties to the public purse only amount to less than 5% of these operational expenditures.

Three projects, therefore, can give Ghana a good slice of the mining resource value: detailed extractives value chain development for faster, visible, feasible, and cheaper upstream investment and; optimal local content programmes designed to dive deeper into the supply stretch of mining and to cut a greater portion of the value on the mining chain.

The other, and the most important project set, is a fiscal diversification and industrialisation agenda configured to monetise resource revenue into non-resource, built capital.

Given that mining experience curve in Ghana is flatter, in our

view, than perceived in all the various geological formations and types of mineral associations, and considering the country’s favourable geology, it is noteworthy to state that we can structure more innovative, risk indexed capital to finance and manage the different tipping points along the mining value chains, thus attracting more optimal local and international capital than anticipated; a. At the Exploration stage, the main risks are structural discontinuities, topographic difficulties, mineralisation and mineral associations.

Policy support may include investments in road infrastructure, investments in geological and minerals mapping, innovations in exploration regulations and tax exemptions to help in reducing transaction and exploration costs; b. At the Mine Development stage, the main risks are topographic challenges, likely shifts in geological structures (faults and folds) during deep drilling, liquidity, operational and market risks. Investments in infrastructure, supply chain and receivables financing hold the key; c. Liquidity, supply chain, credit, operational and market risks at the Mining Production stage can be managed using supplier development strategies, supply chain finance, asset backed financing and guarantees. d. At the Processing and Smelting stage, the operational, liquidity and market risk

exposures can be managed using asset backed loans, supply chain finance, commodities finance, investments in logistics and infrastructure finance.

A tactical conflation of policy innovation, mineral resource governance and optimal extractives financing techniques premised on quality risk management has the key to attracting local and international capital into value retaining mining in Ghana.

Golden Star’s investment of over US$15 million in exploration alone to develop the Wassa underground is a testimony and typical case of investor’s confidence and readiness to inject capital into upstream mining if risks are well documented and visible along the extractives value chain.

It is for this reason that the innovators of investment policies must run a simple options valuation exercise to develop a pecking order of valuable investments targeting other industries other than gold – design a diversification strategy that doesn’t only target the minerals linkages but the broader economy using natural resource revenues as the basis to spawn the industrial development and diversification drive.

This will free up the mining royalties to serve as liquidity catalyst to finance the much needed diversification for more sustainable trade, industrial and economic development.

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Bank of Ghana wins arbitration against Sibton Switch Limited

A

Tribunal constituted under the auspices of the London International Court of Arbitration has dismissed all claims brought by Sibton Switch Systems Limited against the Bank of Ghana for terminating the Master Agreement for the Ghana Retail Payment Systems Infrastructure in 2017.

The Tribunal also ordered Sibton Switch to make a substantial payment to the Bank in respect of its legal fees and costs of the arbitration.

On the 9th of April 2018, Sibton Switch filed a Request for Arbitration with the LCIA against the Bank of Ghana for breaching the Master Agreement for the Ghana Retail Payment Systems Infrastructure entered into by the two parties.

Following the 2016 elections and on the appointment of a new Management of the Bank of Ghana, it became necessary to review the terms of the contract entered into by the previous administration.

In reviewing the contract, the new Management of the Bank reached the conclusion that Sibton had neither acquired the licence nor fulfilled the condition

precedent for the effectiveness of the rights and obligations of the parties.

The Agreement, which dealt with the grant of exclusive rights to Sibton Switch to build, operate and own the Ghana Retail Payment Systems Infrastructure was therefore terminated on the basis that it never came into effect.

The Claimant, Sibton Switch, went to the LCIA seeking relief in the sum of USD 478 million from the respondent, Bank of Ghana.

A statement from the Bank of Ghana said the contract awarded to Sibton Switch was one-sided in favour of Sibton Switch and was severely detrimental to the

interests of Bank of Ghana.

For example, the Public Procurement Authority approval for the project provided that the Bank of Ghana's maximum liability was to be GH¢300,000.

“Contrary to this approval, the corruptly-procured contract with Sibton Switch provided that the Bank of Ghana had a huge potential liability of USD $478 million (GH¢2.6 billion).

In addition, the tender price of Sibton Switch was more than 33 times more expensive than the next most expensive bid.

Following the termination of the contract with Sibton Switch in 2017, the Bank of Ghana's subsidiary, GhIPSS, was able to

deliver mobile payment systems interoperability at a small fraction of the cost, saving the Ghanaian taxpayers billions of Cedis.

Arbitration Award issued in favour of the Bank On 28th July 2021, a panel of three distinguished arbitrators issued an award in favour of the Bank of Ghana in the LCIA arbitration, dismissing all the claims brought by Sibton Switch Systems Limited.

The claims were dismissed due to the failure by Sibton Switch Systems Limited to comply with the orders of the Tribunal including the earlier interim award made by the Tribunal on 25th of June 2019 in favour of the Bank of Ghana, which required Sibton Switch to make an interim award payment for security of costs.

The final award also orders Sibton Switch Systems Limited to pay to the Bank of Ghana in full, the costs of the arbitration, in respect of the Bank of Ghana’s legal fees.

The Bank's current Governor, Dr Ernest Addison, said that he was pleased with the favourable outcome for the Bank in these proceedings, and for the billions of Ghana Cedis saved by the Ghanaian taxpayer as a result.

Gov’t ready to partner private sector to develop education

T

he Minister of Education has asked members of the Association of International Curricula Schools to take advantage of government's interventions, especially on tax to develop and provide improved quality education.

He said the government is ready to create an enabling environment for both the private and public actors in the country to operate without any difficulty since it is all for the good of the nation.

Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum made the call during a meeting with the National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA), and the leadership of the Association of International Curricular Schools (ASICS) in Accra.

The meeting was aimed at dialoguing on the new cost scale of fees for licensing private schools in Ghana.

The meeting was scheduled by the minister after receiving a petition from the leadership of the association regarding NaSIA's varying licensing fee-charges

for the various types of schools and the levels within which they operated.

Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum, after listening to all the parties, said he wanted fairness to prevail and therefore tasked NaSIA to engage a consultant to bring to the table a fairer system that would be accepted by all the parties.

The minister, therefore, expressed his appreciation to NaSIA for heeding his call and thanked the leadership of the association for working closely with NaSIA to ensure that they brought quality education to the doorstep of the Ghanaian child.

Background As the regulatory body, NaSIA procured the services of an education consultant who through thorough desk research, compared the existing system with international best practices and arrived at a comprehensive structure for licensing schools in Ghana.

"The Cost Scale for School

Licensing and Services" currently categorises all schools in Ghana and further classifies private schools using identified category factors such as the level and type of school, source of provision, school grade, and school enrolment ranges.

The Inspector-General of Schools (IGS) Dr Haggar Hilda Ampadu, explained that the essence of formulating the new Cost Scale was to adapt a sustainable system and ensure that some level of cost recovery in the operations of NaSIA

concerning its dealings with pretertiary schools are realised.

To this, she again stated that the new scale now sees a downward charge for most of the schools and mentioned that the cost-sharing mechanism built into the new system would ensure that weaker schools were made to bear lighter burdens while ensuring that stronger ones are made to bear relatively fairer weights.

GNA

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How to fight malaria during a pandemic

By Bill Gates Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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espite COVID-19 disruptions, Africa’s malaria programs have kept up lifesaving malaria control and treatment efforts.

At the start of the pandemic, many people feared that not only would COVID-19 itself be a disaster, but the lockdowns and other prevention methods would have an awful ripple effect: disrupting the fight against malaria in a catastrophic way.

A modeling analysis from the World Health Organization, which I shared here last year, found that annual malaria deaths in subSaharan Africa could double, returning to death rates not seen in over 20 years.

A year later, I’m happy to be able to report that this worstcase scenario, at least for now, has been avoided. This is thanks to the leadership of African countries, which quickly adapted their malaria programs to meet the challenges of the pandemic.

Practicing social distancing and other safety measures, malaria

workers were able to carry out their duties, delivering longlasting insecticide-treated bed nets, controlling mosquito populations with indoor spraying, and providing preventive treatment for pregnant women and children. In Nigeria, which still suffers from 60 million cases of malaria each year, health workers managed to even increase their delivery of malaria control, protecting millions of children in one of their largest campaigns to date.

At the same time, malaria resources have served double duty, tackling the mosquito-borne disease and helping to control the spread of COVID-19.

In Zambia, the scientists and equipment in the National Malaria Elimination Program’s genomic surveillance laboratory used to monitor malaria drug resistance quickly pivoted to find COVID-19 variants in the country.

In Mozambique, an app created for health workers to provide real-time reporting of malaria

cases and fevers has supplied critical data to the national COVID response.

Despite this progress, our work is not over. Malaria still kills more than 400,000 people each year. And pandemic lockdowns and movement restrictions have hampered some critical malaria activities, including access to diagnosis and treatment efforts in Africa.

Still, I’m optimistic that a world without malaria is within reach.

And the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us why eradicating malaria is essential. Many of the building blocks we need to fight malaria and prevent the next pandemic are the same: accurate, real-time data; reliable supply chains to bring medicines and resources where they are needed most; and cross-country collaboration.

Investments in malaria programs help build stronger health systems that will not only save lives and bring an end to malaria, but also protect us from the next pandemic. And that creates a healthier, safer world for all.

Make every drop of water count

A

s the total amount of freshwater on Earth is fixed and cannot be changed, food production and some of the world's largest cities face serious risks, making efficient and effective allocation of paramount importance, according to two new reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Climate change impacts are already impacting water supply for agricultural production systems, with symptoms ranging from floods and droughts to increased rainfall variability and rising temperatures, as well as competition between users where water stress and scarcity are already significant.

The reports, presented at Stockholm World Water Week 2021, aim to give stakeholders and policy makers around the world critical data about trends in water use and availability.

"Progress on change in water-use efficiency" and "Progress on level of water stress" both provide detailed updates on the global status and acceleration needs to achieve Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) 6.4.1 and 6.4.2, for which FAO is the UN's custodian agency.

"Water is the essence of life and at the core of the agri-food systems," FAO Director-General QU Dongyu states in the foreword.

"The path to water efficiency passes through sustainable agrifood systems."

"Water management is at the core of achieving the SDGs, not only SDG 6 - Water for all - but also SDG 2 - Zero Hunger," said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo. "Water challenges in agriculture, such as water scarcity, pollution and wastage, must be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to transform and make food systems more resilient, particularly as we confront the alarming complications of climate change."

The reports The FAO ‘SDG 6.4.2 Level of Water Stress' report assesses water stress throughout global regions, emphasizing the urgent need to develop resilient water management systems, particularly for irrigated and rainfed agricultural production.

Increasing water use efficiency practices in all sectors, particularly the agricultural sector which accounts for an estimated 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, represents a win-win strategy that promotes better water demand management practices as well as adapting to climate change impacts through strengthening system resilience.

The water stress report observes that about one-third of the world's population (or 2.3 billion people) live in countries experiencing water stress, while 10 percent (733 million) live in countries with high or critical water stress, which has a significant impact on water access and availability for personal needs.

Moreover, farmers may experience increasing inequalities in their access to water resources in a water stress situation, highlighting the need to promote not only sustainable

but also inclusive and integrated management and governance of the different water sources.

The FAO ‘SDG 6.4.1 Change in Water Use Efficiency Over Time' report provides a valuable benchmark on water efficiency, tracking recent trends - a 9 percent efficiency increase from 2015 through 2018 - and offering the potential to inform further improvements in the years ahead. This report points to trade as among the factors with potential to influence water use efficiency, and highlights virtual water exchanges as a promising possible contributor to the effort to account for water use properly.

The report emphasizes the need to seek balance between food security, sustainable water use, and economic growth.

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Africell partners with Google and Dotgo for RCS business messaging rollout

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fricell the pan-African mobile network operator, has announced that it is partnering with Google Jibe and Dotgo®, a leading cloud communications provider of Rich Communication Services (RCS) business messaging solutions, to offer RCS business messaging on its network in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

RCS, a part of the 5G standard, is the next generation of SMS that includes pictures, audio, video, and presence, combined with enhanced security and encryption.

RCS messages are delivered into the native messaging apps such as Google Messages and Samsung Messages on Android phones. RCS Business Messaging uses the rich and interactive features of RCS to enable branded and secure business messaging. As of today, RCS is available globally with over 600M monthly active users.

As part of the partnership, Google will provide Africell the cloud infrastructure for delivering RCS messages to Africell subscribers, including the Google Jibe RCS platform for business messaging. Dotgo will provide its MaaP (Messaging-asa-Platform), integrated with the

Google Jibe RCS platform, along with complete managed services needed to operate and monetize RCS Business Messaging.

The Dotgo MaaP is industry’s leading solution for offering RCS business messaging, preintegrated with all the major RCS providers, including Google, Vodafone, Orange, Mavenir, and Synchronoss. Dotgo provides all the features and services needed to monetize and deliver business messages—a suite of RCS APIs for sending and receiving RCS traffic, including the award-winning RichOTP®

API, onboarding and verification, Bot Store® for discovery and triggers to chatbots, protection of international messaging revenue, billing, reconciliation, and market evangelization.

The Dotgo MaaP also supports common APIs, onboarding, and verification across multiple carriers in a country or a region, even when they are using different RCS providers.

“Our enterprise customers expect to use the latest chat technologies when communicating with customers.

RCS Business Messaging, as a

natural upgrade to our SMS business messaging solutions, meets this demand.

We chose Google and Dotgo to provide and manage our RCS offering because they have the most advanced systems and a track record of working together to enable and monetize RCS, including for other operators in Africa,” says Milad Khairallah, CEO of Africell DRC. “RCS business messaging is growing rapidly, and we are delighted that Africell is joining our RCS network. Dotgo’s platform and services complement Google’s offering, and will ensure rapid monetization, as well as enable common onboarding across all carriers in a market,” remarks Jason Choy, Director, Partnerships, Communication Products at Google.

“RCS helps increase trust, security, and interactivity in business messaging, leading to improved customer engagement.

We look forward to working with and supporting the CPaaS providers, developers, and brands in DRC to move their business messaging to RCS when reaching out to subscribers of Africell,” says Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO, Dotgo.

World leaders, experts call for reduction in use of antimicrobial administered to animals not only drugs in global food systems

T

he Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance has called upon all countries to significantly reduce the levels of antimicrobial drugs used in global food systems.

This includes stopping the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs to promote growth in healthy animals and using antimicrobial drugs more sparingly overall.

The call comes ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit which takes place in New York on 23 September 2021 where countries will discuss ways to transform global food systems.

The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance includes heads of state, government ministers, and leaders from private sector and civil society from 22 countries. The group was established in November 2020 to accelerate global political momentum, leadership and action on antimicrobial resistance

(AMR) and is co-chaired by Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Reducing the use of antimicrobials in food systems is key to conserving their effectiveness The Global Leaders Group's statement calls for bold action from all countries and leaders across sectors to tackle drug resistance.

A top priority call to action is to use antimicrobial drugs more sparingly in food systems and markedly reduce the use of drugs that are of greatest importance to treating diseases in humans, animals and plants.

Inaction will have dire consequences for human, animal, plant and environmental health Antimicrobial drugs- (including antibiotics, antifungals and antiparasitics)- are used in food production all over the world. Antimicrobial drugs are

for veterinary purposes (to treat and prevent disease), but also to promote growth in healthy animals.

Antimicrobial pesticides are also used in agriculture to treat and prevent diseases in plants.

Sometimes antimicrobials used in food systems are the same as or similar to those used to treat humans. Current usage in humans, animals and plants is fueling an alarming rise in drugresistance and making infections harder to treat. Climate change may also be contributing to an increase in antimicrobial resistance.

Drug-resistant diseases already cause at least 700,000 human deaths globally every year.

Whilst there have been substantial reductions in antibiotic use in animals globally, further reductions are needed.

Without immediate and drastic action to significantly reduce levels of antimicrobial use in

food systems, the world is rapidly heading towards a tipping point where the antimicrobials relied on to treat infections in humans, animals and plants will no longer be effective. The impact on local and global health systems, economies, food security and food systems will be devastating.

"We cannot tackle rising levels of antimicrobial resistance without using antimicrobial drugs more sparingly across all sectors," said co-chair of the Global Leader Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados.

"The world is in a race against antimicrobial resistance, and it's one that we cannot afford to lose."

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The promise of open financial data

By Olivia White, Anu Madgavkar

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stablishing and expanding digital financial datasharing systems presents complex technical and regulatory challenges. But secure and trusted schemes also offer a large potential upside for consumers, financial institutions, and the economy.

From Australia and Brazil to Nigeria and the United States, countries are putting in place new guidelines and regulations governing the digital sharing of financial data. The aim is to spur the creation of digital-data ecosystems that smooth and speed interactions between financial institutions and their individual and corporate customers. But successful adoption of open financial data could also provide a broader boost to global GDP. By enabling customer data to flow frictionlessly between financial institutions through application programming interfaces (APIs), open-data systems reduce or remove the need for manual data processing.

Strong consumer trust is the essential prerequisite for such a system. That can be secured only by establishing a protective cushion of user consent, data protection, and cybersecurity.

With safeguards in place, the benefits can be significant.

Individuals and small businesses can gain increased access to financial services; for example, data showing that a customer with a thin credit file reliably pays utility, rent, and other bills can improve their chances of receiving a loan, sometimes for the first time.

Other advantages for consumers include greater convenience – no need to continue filling out all those forms in triplicate – and a wider range of product options.

In the United Kingdom, where so-called open banking has been in operation since 2018, customers can easily switch accounts from one institution to another to earn a higher deposit rate, and can compare mortgage rates from different providers without needing to go through fee-charging brokers. In the US, President Biden’s July 9, 2021, executive order on promoting competition in the economy specifically referred to increased sharing of financial data, so that “consumers can more easily switch financial institutions and use new, innovative financial products.”

Financial-services providers benefit, too. Adopting open data improves their operational efficiency by providing them with verified data digitally, freeing them from the onerous tasks of manual entry or searching for information in data silos. This significantly reduces the costs associated with remediating bad customer-relationshipmanagement data, currently estimated at 20% of a typical financial institution’s income, and enables service providers to do more to automate their data operations.

Deeper data sharing also means that banks can allocate their staff resources to the most at-risk customers, and cut back on the need for data intermediation.

In the US, for example, nearly half of all mortgage providers rely on third-party data for loan origination, but open financial data are making much of this information publicly available.

Lastly, data sharing is an effective tool against fraud, as it provides more evidence and clues with which to flag suspicious activity, helping institutions strengthen their predictive fraud modeling.

Then come the macroeconomic gains. In a recent analysis of 24 financial data-sharing initiatives

in banking and payments, we found that broad adoption of open-data systems can deliver a sizable economic boost. This could range from about 1-1.5% of GDP in 2030 in the European Union, the UK, and the US to as much as 4-5% in India (see chart).

Moreover, all market participants – financial institutions; individual customers; and micro, small, and mediumsized enterprises (MSMEs) – will benefit, albeit to varying degrees depending on each country’s financial depth and structure and the characteristics of its opendata system.

For now, even countries in the forefront of open-data adoption are capturing only a fraction of its potential value. We estimate that the UK is currently accessing 3040% of the possible gains, and the US and Europe just 10%.

Realizing the full value requires a level of data standardization and breadth of data sharing that few economies currently have.

Standardization refers to the extent to which standardized mechanisms exist for sharing data and the associated cost of access, while breadth refers to the number of different types of financial data shared.

In some cases, data sharing is relatively ad hoc. In many countries, for example, consumers wanting automated access to competitive mortgages need to provide the same specific mortgage application data to multiple providers. But operating at scale – and thereby capturing the most potential value – requires a wide range of financial data to be sourced easily through standard APIs at minimal cost.

Two other aspects are essential: robust digital financial infrastructure on which to build a data-sharing system, and innovation to ensure that it continues to flourish.

During the COVID-19 pandemic,

countries with well-developed digital financial infrastructure have been able to disburse payments to businesses and individuals quickly and efficiently.

Such efforts rely heavily on digital payment channels, along with high-assurance digitalidentification systems that have broad population coverage and built-in consumer protection.

For many emerging economies, basic internet access, extensive smartphone penetration, and reliable power supplies also are prerequisites for capturing the full economic value of a datasharing ecosystem.

Innovation is the final frontier.

The more value from open financial data that becomes accessible, the more the potential for innovation will grow, and probably in ways we cannot envisage today. Different players, from traditional banking incumbents to technology platforms and new fintech startups, could all play meaningful roles based on their areas of strength and competitive advantage.

Establishing and expanding open financial-data ecosystems presents complex technical and regulatory challenges. But secure and trusted schemes also offer a large potential upside for consumers, financial institutions, and the economy.

Olivia White is a partner in McKinsey & Company’s San Francisco office.

Anu Madgavkar is a New Jerseybased partner at the McKinsey Global Institute.

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Ghana’s energy generation must be non-weather dependent – Prof. B.J.B. Nyarko

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rofessor Benjamin Jabez B. Nyarko, DirectorGeneral, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), has advised that Ghana should have non-weather dependent energy sources to guarantee power for her industrialization agenda.

He said hydro and other renewable energy sources are weather dependent and unrealible, unlike nuclear power generation which is clean and non-weather dependent.

Prof. Nyarko gave the advice at the opening of the Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) media training workshop for Regional Managers and Editors of the Ghana News Agency in Accra, on the theme: “Strengthening and Sustaining Public Trust Through Accountable Reporting”.

He underscored the importance of nuclear power in Ghana’s energy mix, saying “we cannot put all our eggs into one basket,” else the country could run into great challenges as it had faced with both her energy and agricultural sectors which had being dependent on rainfall for decades.

“Ghana must shift its energy system sources from weather dependency to prevent this double agony,” hence the urgent need to increase the base load of energy, which included all other

sources for industrialization, he added.

Prof. Nyarko, who doubles as the Board Chair of the NPG, gave a brief overview of Ghana’s nuclear journey, saying, the successful completion of the first phase with the fulfillment of all the 19 infrastructural issues to be considered for the establishment of a Nuclear Power Programme, had been put into a comprehensive report for Cabinet approval, after which the document would become a reference guide for all.

He said the benefits of nuclear power are enormous and include reduced electricity tariffs, compared to the current energy cost of 18 cents per kilowatts hour, while in countries like

Korea electricity is being sold at five cents per kilowatt hour, because they had a strong and diverse energy mix dominated by nuclear energy.

He said nuclear energy is also a reliable and secured option, because “the power plant operates for 24/7 and could be operated for between 18 to 24 months before it is shut down for maintenance, so if it produces at least a 1000 megawatt of power for such a period is a lot”.

The director-general also cited environmental friendliness as a key feature of operating a nuclear power plant, because it has zero greenhouse gas emission.

Ghana could become the net exporter of electricity to neighbouring countries per her

location, bringing in more foreign revenue, he said.

He said nuclear power could further lead to a massive infrastructural development such as roads, hospital, and schools and the strengthen the national grid.

Prof. Nyarko encouraged the media to be very meticulous and circumspect when reporting on issues on nuclear energy and Ghana’s progress towards the construction of its first nuclear power plant.

Dr Robert Mawuli Sogbadji, the Deputy Director for Nuclear and Alternative Energy, Ministry of Energy, and Coordinator, Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation’s, commended the NPG for building a strong collaboration with the media.

He assured the media of opened doors at the Energy Ministry, for assistance and provision of education and information for the public.

Prof. Olivia Kwapong, the GNA Board Chairperson, said it is a joy to note that the mandate and vision of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was still ablaze within organisations such as GAEC and NPG, presenting the GNA, one of his creations, a golden opportunity of a collaboration to prosecute a worthy national agenda.

GNA

School feeding caterers receive first term payment

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overnment says it has through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection disbursed an amount of GH¢160 million out of the GH¢213 million required to pay caterers of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) for the 1st term of the 2021 academic year.

“The disbursement of the funds which commenced on Friday 20th August, 2021, covered 62 cooking days of the 1st term”, a statement issued by the GSFP said.

The statement said the ongoing payment does not include “some regions such as the Western and Western North regions due to limited funds”, however the GSFP says it has received “strong assurance from the Controller

and Accountant General” for the release of an additional GH¢53 million to pay the remaining regions as quickly as possible.

“In line with Government’s vision and commitment to sustaining the programme and improving upon its quality service to beneficiary pupils, caterers are assured that all outstanding arrears would be settled within the framework of the programme’s contractual obligation with them.

“GSFP also urges all caterers who have any payment related issues to contact our Regional Coordinators in their respective regions for speedy resolution.

“Finally, the Ghana School Feeding Programme on behalf of the Government and the Ministry

of Gender expresses its special appreciation to all Caterers for the services well rendered over the period; and encourages them to remain committed in

feeding the 3,448,067 beneficiary pupils under the Programme”, the statement signed by Head of Public Relations of the GSFP, Siiba Alfa, said.