Ghana’s insurance industry is in a new era; cash-strapped insurers are now being made solvent with the coming into effect of a new policy that forbids insurers from selling products on credit. Early signs of the policy, dubbed ‘No premium, No cover’, illustrate an industry that is ready to chart a new path and restore public confidence. Over the years, many people in Ghana have perceived insurance as one of the sophisticated products that just promises one peace of mind, as claims payment challenges

Representatives of domestic airline operators are scheduled to meet the Minister of Finance for a discussion in the coming weeks over the imposition of 17.5 percent VAT on domestic travel. Operators contend that the imposition of 17.5 percent VAT in addition to existing taxes will lead to an increase in air fares and deter people from choosing air transport as an option. They say the new tax, which is not being charged yet, will erode airlines’ ability to raise fares to match rising costs. The

She is just 23 years old but Nunana Vanessa Awoonor is currently riding high on both the corporate and academic ladder. With a highly successful modelling career and the establishment of a marketing management company here in Ghana, Nunana is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Architectural Design in the United States of America. Born in Ghana to Vivian and Christian Besa Awoonor, Nunana’s dream is to bring what she has learnt and practiced in the US for five years in marketing management to

Helios Towers Africa has raised US$630 million from investors to help buy 3,100 telecoms towers from Bharti Airtel as it seeks to capitalize on Africa's fast-growing mobile market, its chief finance officer told Reuters last week Thursday. The number of mobile users in Africa has increased 30-fold to 500 million over the past decade, and operators like South Africa's MTN, India's Airtel and the United Arab Emirates' Etisalat, need extra capacity to cope with demand. However, they

Competition in Ghana’s non-life insurance industry deepened in the year gone by as companies with relatively lower business volumes continued to chip away at the market share of the biggest five. Four years ago, the biggest five – made up of SIC, Enterprise, Star Assurance, Metropolitan and Vanguard – accounted for 63 percent of the industry’s underwriting revenues; but this ratio has declined gradually and reached 57 percent last year. In the same period, the five lowest premium-earning

PwC, the accountancy and consulting firm, is soon to be named transaction advisor for the establishment of a new national airline, as government seeks to tap into the glowing prospects of the aviation industry. Minister of Transport Dzifa Attivor said in an exclusive interview that only PwC submitted bidding documents at the closure of the call-for-proposal process, adding that their bid was a good one. “We had negotiations with them and the documents will have to be submitted to the World Bank

The Bank of Ghana is seriously considering a new directive that will compel banks to use the national switch to process and settle payment card transactions in the country. According to the Central Bank it has already begun discussions with the banks on the scope of the directive, which will help it to have total control over financial transactions that occur in the country. Mr. Archie Hesse, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) Limited -- a subsidiary

Frank Adu Jnr, Managing Director of CAL Bank, has taken a swipe at critics of the Governor of Bank of Ghana -- asking them to rather direct their vituperations to the government for the woes of the cedi. Mr. Adu said the governor of the country’s Central Bank does not manufacture foreign currency, but the cause of the problem has been the result of years of “economic and fiscal misadventure”. Dr. Kofi Wampah, the Governor, has received a lot of flak over the continuous slide of the cedi which