Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) is offering to its retail customers electronic self-service offerings free of charge. Under a slogan, the GCB Advantage, customers using GCB’s proprietary card, Readycash, can access their account through any of GCB’s 230 ATMs across the country. As part of the offer customers can check their balance at the ATM, and they can transfer funds and request mini-statements at no cost to the customer. Mrs. Doris Wunu, Head of Consumer Banking at GCB, sees this offer as a

Shipping agents have suspended freight-collect transactions, which allowed shippers to pay for freight upon the arrival of the vessel at the port, and are currently running a freight prepaid regime until further notice. The decision has come about in the wake of the new directives from the Bank of Ghana on foreign exchange transactions in the country. Mrs. Adobea Asiamah Aboagye, Chairperson, Greater Accra Regional Shippers Committee, who disclosed the problem to the B&FT in an interview, cited

The Sunon Asogli Power Company has said that it is ready to roll-out the second phase of its power project, involving some 360megawatts -- except that a gas supply agreement is yet to be finalised. “So once the gas-fuel agreement for the project is settled, the Phase 2 project is expected to start as early as possible; and it is the plan for Shenzhen Energy Group to complete the engineering and then put the power plant into commercial operation within approximately 12-18 months,” the company

The Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG) at Fiapre near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region has held its 10th congregation ceremony to graduate 774 students, putting the cumulative number of graduates from the University College to 2,681. The occasion also marked the 18th matriculation of CUCG as 366 new students were inducted into the institution, pegging the total number of students admitted in the 2013/2014 academic year to 1,262. In an address, Prof. James Hawkins Ephraim, Vice-Chancellor,

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated has announced that it has set up a new committee to search for new Board members. The seven-member search Committee consists of two former chairmen -- Mr. Gervais Djondo and Chief Philip Asiodu, two representatives of the current board and three shareholder representatives. The Committee has been established as part of the detailed 51-point Governance Action Plan agreed by shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting held at Ecobank’s pan-African Centre in

The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has received a US$2.4million grant from the Switzerland government to implement initiatives aimed at boosting its capacity to effectively regulate the pensions industry. Under the terms of the agreement, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) will support Ghana to strengthen the regulation provided by the NPRA through training of staff and improvement in the regulator’s institutional framework. SECO has contracted Swiss-based

Mr. Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has bemoaned funding challenges as some of the constraints affecting the newly-created districts resulting in renting private apartments for official accommodation. He said renting of private properties comes at a cost to the country, and gave the assurance that construction work would begin in all the newly-created districts. Opong-Fosu said made the remarks in Tamale during a meeting with various heads of departments and

As part of its national branch expansion programme and its commitment to bringing further convenience to the doorsteps of customers and the general public, Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited has extended its footprints to the Central Region by opening its 27th branch in Cape Coast. This brings to seven the number of country’s regions in which GTBank operates. The others are the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Western, Volta and the Northern Regions. The newly-opened Cape Coast branch which

Iberia and Samsung have signed an agreement to introduce new technologies at airport check-ins and boarding at airports for a significant improvement in passengers’ travel experience. The “near field communications” (NFC) technology allows Iberia customers with a Samsung device to use it to pass through security control and boarding gates, even when the device is switched off. To use the technology when checking in online for a flight, the customer must click on the option to have the boarding

Last week, a sit-down strike action by the Air Traffic Controllers affected all domestic flights nation-wide. The otherwise rarely-heard group plays one of the key functions that ensure hassle-free air-transport. But what exactly does an air traffic controller do? ATCs, among other things, issue instructions, advice and information to pilots by radio to ensure flowing and safe air transport in an efficient and quick manner. They track the progress of pilots using the latest in radar and software

In line with its thought-leadership role -- and being a catalyst for economic development -- Access Bank Ghana has partnered the Business and Financial Times (B&FT) as a Platinum Sponsor for the 2014 edition of the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF), to be held tomorrow at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. This is the second successive year that Access Bank has partnered the B&FT in organising the Ghana Economic Forum, which is a platform to debate and decide viable solutions to Ghana’s

Kenyan entrepreneur Ayisi Makatiani scrapped his first effort to launch a private equity fund 10 years ago because his pitch to invest in Africa couldn't raise enough cash to make it work. Fast forward a decade and he is now managing partner of Fanisi Capital, a $50 million fund that has investments across east Africa in agri-business, healthcare, retail and education. A second $100 million fund is on the way. "The returns in Europe and the rest of the world have been low so the only place

Mobile technology could become a game-changer in Ghana’s socio-economic development, but there is a need to empower non-governmental organisations and development planners to include it in solving social problems, key speakers declared at Vodafone Ghana Foundation’s ‘Mobile for Good’ summit in Accra. They were also quick to point out that major investments are required to make mobile technologies available for social improvement in a sustained manner. “The creation of applications to

GH¢3.15million meant to compensate communities affected by the cyanide spillage into the Yaakye stream that served as a source of drinking water to communities in the area is yet to be utilised since 2012 when the money was released. The Newmont Ghana Ahafo Mine that caused the spillage had to pay compensation to the affected communities after the incident took place in October, 2009. The Asutifi North Assembly and traditional authorities of the affected towns -- Kenyasi No. 1 & 2 and Ntotroso

The Trade and Industry Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, has assured investors that the recent foreign-currency control measures announced by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) are only to tackle the “dollarisation” of the economy and do not affect any of the incentives the country offers them. In February, the BoG announced measures to stabilise the cedi, reinforce its tight monetary policy stance as well as restore stability and transparency in the foreign exchange market. The measures outlawed transfer of foreign