Emirates, the first airline to be named an official partner of the FIFA World Cup, yesterday hosted a cross-section of journalists and football aficionados to the screening of the Ghana-Portugal game at the plush Moevenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. The Dubai-based airline, which is one of the main partners of the on-going 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, is renowned for sponsoring sporting events and teams across the world. Mr. Hendrik Du Perez, Country Manager of Emirates, said the airline “has

This weekend could be crucial for many consumers as Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) meets to decide whether to increase the prices of fuel or maintain it. It is widely speculated that on Tuesday July 1, 2014, fuel prices will go up by about 20% to enable oil distribution and marketing companies to recover the cost in procuring crude oil into the country as the fall in the value of the cedi against the US dollar has increased crude oil import cost. The Public Relations Officer of the

Government has reacted to the acute fuel shortage which has hit several parts of the country. A statement issued by the Information Minister said government has taken steps to remedy the situation. Read the full statement below. Government has released its strategic reserves of petroleum products from the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport company (BOST) onto the market to address current shortages of the products in the country. These products should be at the filling stations shortly. Government has

Introduction In a recent interaction with some MBA students, some key issues to explain the less than excellent service culture in Ghana came up. One problematic observation that came up was the fact that superior customer service is mostly advanced to people who are well-known in society or to individuals with family or relational connections to the service provider. This leaves people without any social ‘class’ not enjoying superior customer service. Other issues that came up included poor

The latest World Bank review of government policies and institutions in Africa shows that 20 percent of countries improved their policy environment to boost growth and cut poverty in 2013. The review is the annual Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA), which rates the performance of poor countries. Since 1980, CPIA ratings have been used to determine the allocation of zero-interest financing and grants for the 39 African countries that are eligible for support from the International

Paying a third party through the banking system will be a lot faster with the planned introduction of an instant payment system this year. This electronic payment system will enable money transferred from one account to another to be credited to the receiver instantly, making interbank payment happen in real-time. The Ghana Interbank Payment Systems (GhIPSS) is introducing the instant payment system and has already completed its’ end of the process. What is left is for the banks to connect and

Foreign direct investment into Ghana in 2013 defied analysts’ fears of a large drop, as the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said this week in its annual World Investment Report that inflows were relatively stable. FDI amounted to US$3.2billion last year, according to UNCTAD, compared to US$3.3billion in 2012, showing a two percent marginal slide. The figures will surprise analysts a little as FDI was expected to drop by a large percentage because of political uncertainty during

Garage owners are bitter about the current poor sales of automobiles, particularly sports utility vehicles (SUVS), as a hike in fuel cost has pushed consumers to cut down on fuel consumption. According to some of the garage operators, car sales have dropped by about two-thirds since the year began -- dampening the mood in the car sales industry. Esther Attamah, the Sales Executive of Europa Motors said: “We used to import 20 to 30 cars in a month, but now we import about ten cars in a month. And

A rare push from agriculture boosted Ghana’s GDP growth to 6.7 percent in the first quarter compared to 4.9 percent in the last quarter of 2013. Agriculture, which remains the economy’s main source of jobs, has experienced relatively slow growth since 2010 -- raising concerns about the sector’s ability to keep up with the rate of population growth. But data issued this week by the Ghana Statistical Service showed agriculture expanding at an annual rate of 12.7 percent between January and

The Managing Director of Solidaridad West Africa, Mr. Isaac Gyamfi, has called for concerted efforts to tackle the threat posed to the nation’s cocoa production by illegal gold mining. He said the danger is real and must never be underestimated, adding that decisive action must be taken to deal with it. Solidaridad is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) engaged in the training of farmer groups in six countries of the sub-region, to increase agriculture production. Mr. Gyamfi said

Petrel Resources PLC has said that its pretax loss widened slightly in 2013 and warned that its assets in Ghana, Ireland, and Iraq all face difficulties. The AIM-listed oil-and-gas explorer, which is yet to produce any revenues, said its pretax loss widened to EUR526,783 from EUR469,767 the previous year. The explorer said the vast majority of its costs were administrative expenses, which increased to EUR528,597 from EUR481,427 during the period. n Ghana, the company has struggled with a dispute