By Konrad Kodjo Djaisi  The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) has refuted claims that it is not doing enough to get rid of foreign traders engaged in petty trading from the markets.  The Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) has asked government to with a sense of urgency eject foreigner retailers from Ghanaian markets after several failed attempts. The Director of Domestic Trade and Distribution, MOTI, Mr. K. N Atuahene, said GUTA is aware since they have two representatives on the task-force.  â€œWhen the inter-agency task force announced October 16 as the deadline for foreigners to comply with the GIPC directives, GUTA interpreted it to mean the task-force was going to enter the markets to close down the shops of the illegal operators. Therefore, when the deadline passed and GUTA’s expectations were not met, they thought government had reneged on its earlier pronouncement and decided to go public with a demonstration.” He told B&FT that he had just come out of a meeting with representatives of GUTA, where the issue was explained to them properly and they were satisfied.  He however indicated that the action initiated by the inter-agency task-force to ensure compliance with the GIPC Act is still in force, and the task-force will resume its checks soon to make sure foreigners do not engage in petty trading. The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC,) Act 478, bars foreigners from petty trading, hawking or small trading businesses. But over the last ten years, especially as the economy has expanded, there have been many foreign traders who have established in the country -- many of whom have not complied fully with the GIPC law. Mr. Atuahene however indicated that some exceptions to the GIPC Act were made for ECOWAS citizens in recognition of the ECOWAS Protocol on the right of residence and establishment. He said, specifically, ECOWAS citizens are not being asked to invest US$300,000.00 -- neither are they being asked to employ ten Ghanaians in their businesses. “They are however expected to meet the same conditions that Ghanaian citizens who start businesses are expected to comply with. This means that they are required to register businesses with the Registrar-General’s Department; they are required to register with the Ghana Revenue Authority and pay taxes in the same way as Ghanaians are expected to do. And because they are not our nationals, they are expected to properly apply for residential status in Ghana.” He indicated that this time around, no exceptions are being made for ECOWAS nationals in terms of being given a grace period to comply with the law. They will be rounded-up like any other foreigner found in breach of the country’s laws. The October 16 deadline was given to allow these citizens to comply with the law and not a day to make incursions into the market to effect the provisions of the law, he added. Mr. Atuahene noted that GUTA’s main concern is profit-erosion, but added that there are regional and sub-regional conventions that are binding to Ghana -- and all these considerations ought to be factored in when taking certain actions. The Ministry of Trade and Industry in July this year set up the National inter-agency task-force to get rid of non-Ghanaians operating in petty trading and other forms of business activities in the markets.

In a move that could create one of the most significant mergers in Ghana’s financial services sector, Transnational Holdings -- the majority shareholders of CDH Financial Holdings Ltd. -- and CD Investments, the majority shareholder of Phoenix Holdings Ltd., are presently engaged in negotiations to explore the possibility of merging their two groups of financial services companies.This potential merger could create a level of synergy that could make the new group the envy of any financial entity, and generate immense shareholder value. CDH Financial Holdings comprises Ivory Finance Company Ltd, CDH Commodities Ltd, CDH Securities Ltd, and CDH Asset Management Ltd.  Ivory Finance Company is one of the best-performing finance houses in Ghana, and CDH Commodities Ltd. is a licenced buyer of cocoa, grains and steel.  Other members of the CDH group are CDH Securities Ltd, a broker-dealer and a licenced dealing member of the Ghana Stock Exchange, and CDH Asset Management Ltd., asset and pensions fund manager.  CDH also holds a 20 percent stake in Accra City Hotel Ltd. (Novotel Accra). Phoenix Holdings is made up of Phoenix Insurance Ltd. and Phoenix Life Assurance Company Ltd.  Phoenix Insurance is a top Ghanaian general insurer, and the twenty-second ranked member of the Ghana Club 100.  Phoenix Life Assurance Company Ltd. is a specialist life assurance company, ranked seventy-second on the Ghana Club 100. Conceivably, the successful merger of these two financial services companies will create one of the most diversified groups in Ghana’s financial services sector to date.  A source close to the merger negotiation process indicated that CDH sold its stake in CDH Insurance (now trading as Nsia Ghana) in 2009, as part of the restructuring process of the group.  The source added that this process of restructuring has reached a crucial phase, with the possible merger of CDH and Phoenix. High level officials of the two organisations are now looking forward to a much bigger but more agile, flexible, nimble and efficient organisation that is better able to offer a diversified range of products and services.   The merged entity will effectively create a financial powerhouse with expertise and experience in securities trading, asset management, general insurance, life assurance, short- and medium-term finance, commodities trading, and the hospitality and leisure sectors. Divine Letsa, Chairman of Phoenix Insurance confirmed that the merger negotiations were indeed underway, adding that details will be made available at the right time.   Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodee, Group Chief Executive Officer of CDH Financial Holdings Ltd., confirmed the on-going merger talks and indicated that further details will be made available once a decision is reached and the regulatory requirements have been met.

By Juliet AGUIAR, Takoradi Ghana Rubber Estates Limited has presented scholarship scheme awards for 16 brilliant but needy students in the Traditional Areas where it operates in the Western Region. Those who met the criteria for selection were 14 indigenes that excelled in their Basic Education Certificates Examination, and two who excelled in their West Africa Senior Secondary Certificates Examination. Mr. Eric Obese Amponsah, the Ahanta West District Director of Education, noted that education is a shared responsibility and as such government alone cannot shoulder all the cost. â€œIt is very important that parents, organisations, chiefs and all stakeholders play their roles effectively to ensure that all inputs toward quality education are provided,” he said. He added that a well-endowed and educated individual has the capacity to change the course of history bring desirable changes into society. Mr. Lionel Barres, Managing Director of GREL, said the company is committed to ensuring that it invests in the education of the children in traditional areas where it operates. â€œThis is a life-time opportunity and I urge you to take your studies seriously to become responsible people in the operational area, as well as get an employment opportunity in our company,” he said. Awulae Agyefi Kwame, the Chairman of the Association of Chiefs on Whose Land GREL Operates (ACLANGO), commended GREL for instituting the scholarship scheme seven years ago and sustaining it; adding “education is the bedrock for development in every society”. He urged chiefs, especially those in the areas where GREL operates, to use dialogue in solving issues rather than resorting to confrontation. GREL, as any human institution, can err -- but it is important to solve issues amicably for peace to prevail. He encouraged the students to take their studies seriously in order to continue enjoying the scholarship.

By Konrad Kodjo DJAISI The International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) launched a five-year USAID West Africa Fertiliser Programme in Accra last week. The programme seeks to increase the regional availability and use of appropriate and affordable fertiliser to stimulate agricultural productivity in the sub-region. This will be done through increased regional supply and distribution of fertilisers by the private sector. Performing the launch on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi, the Chief Director at the Ministry, Maurice Tanco Abisa-Siedu, expressed thanks to the US government for providing funds to the IFDC to implement a programme aimed at mitigating challenges farmers go through to access fertiliser for their businesses, thereby improving productivity to achieve food security for the nation. He said government instituted the fertiliser subsidy programme in 2008 to help farmers increase the rate of fertiliser application to at least 50 kilogrammes per hectare in consonance with the Abuja Declaration on fertiliser use for the African Green Revolution. He said that the constraints to fertiliser availability cannot be better-addressed by government alone, hence the call on the private sector to drive fertiliser use and promotional activities. “The private fertiliser companies and government should continue working hand-in-hand on the promotion of increased fertiliser use. The banks are encouraged to provide affordable loans to all actors in the fertiliser supply chain, while institutions that are capable of providing farmers with guarantees should assist smallholder farmers,” he added. He said government is in talks with investors to establish a fertiliser production plant in the country to take advantage of the by-products from the country’s crude oil production. In this light, the Plant and Fertiliser Act, 2010 (ACT 803), has been enacted to provide the necessary fertiliser regulatory system. “Whether fertiliser is imported or produced locally, it is our responsibility to ensure that the fertiliser in the marketplace is of the highest quality and contains the right nutrients and the right bag weights to protect the farmer, the honest businessman and the environment.” Although the programme has a regional focus and country-specific interventions that will target USAID’s Feed the Future focus countries -- which include Ghana, Liberia, Mali and Senegal.  Among the goals of the programme is establishment of a private-public sector West Africa Fertiliser Stakeholder Forum and the possible formation of a private sector-led West Africa Fertiliser Trade Association. The programme also intends to establish and monitor fertiliser quality standards to curtail incidents of adulterated fertiliser -- and provide business management and technical training to new fertiliser importers for more accurate forecasting of market demands and better linkages to global fertiliser markets.  The Chief of Party for the Programme, Kofi Debrah, said Africa uses only 3 percent of the world’s fertiliser even though its population is 12 percent of the world and the continent has a sizeable portion of the world’s land-mass.                                    

  By Ekow Essabra-Mensah The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is collaborating with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to host business executives from the private and public sectors at the Ghana Economic Outlook and Business Strategy Conference in Accra. The conference, which is aimed at synchronising the business plans and strategies of companies and the business community in general with government policies and targets for the coming year, is also being supported by the World Bank, Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Dominion University College Business School, and The Africa Business Media. Under the patronage of President John Dramani Mahama, the event is scheduled to take place on November 21st at the Accra International Conference Centre under the theme “Strategy for a Good Year 2013”. The Acting President of the Dominion University College, Dr. Ekoww Spio-Gabrah, and the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the GIPC, Mr. Edward Ashong-Lartey, announced this at a media conference in Accra. Dr. Spio-Gabrah said: “Strategic planning for businesses is almost always in the last quarter of the year, so most companies will not develop their 2013 strategic planning in April, May or June -- taking into consideration global projections for interest rates, exchange rates, and inflation among others.” He said it is important that institutions of learning in the country contribute to the process of encouraging much closer partnerships between the private sector and government, and that the right time to do this in the corporate and public calendar is when both groups are planning for the next year. “If we want to retain our status as the fastest-growing economy in the world, then we need to change the way we do business in the country; and to do that, businesses need to synchronise their individual plans, targets and operational previews with government policies,” Dr. Spio-Gabrah said. The conference is expected to attract the heads of key public sector institutions such as the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), and the chief executives of companies in the Ghana Club 100 to outline their plans and business ideas for 2013.  

By Dominick Andoh The Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) has recorded a total air-cargo throughput of 35,500 tonnes for the first three quarters of the year. The figure is projected to exceed the 50,000 tonnes of freight throughput recorded in 2011 by the end of this year. Within the last two years, air-cargo throughput has steadily increased -- leading to the realisation of increased cargo profits for the operator, GACL.  In 2010, freight throughput was 35,000 and the figure increased to 50,000 tonnes in 2011. The GACL earlier this year took over administration of the newly-built Perishable Cargo Centre (PCC) at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana programme. The project, which costs US$2.5million, is 1,200 square metres and provides handling and temporary storage for fruit and vegetables for export. It has a workroom of 600 square metres and a 200 square metres cold-room. The Centre now allows for the transportation of perishable food produce by air to any part of the country and outside it, in a very fresh state. This has attracted both foreign investments in the export business, specifically for agricultural and horticultural products. Cargo airline operators are also positioning themselves to take advantage of the booming cargo business. Air Commodore (rtd) Kwame Mamphey, Director-General of the GCAA, told the B&FT: “Several countries have indicated that they want to have such arrangements with us. I know certainly there are going to be more cargo carriers in 2013. “We are expecting growth. Turkish Airlines wants to fly dedicated cargo into Accra; Saudia also wants to fly dedicated cargo into Accra. Those that we have bilateral agreement with are prepared to comply with those agreements,” he said. Perishable fruit and vegetables, cargo operators say, make up about 90 percent of air-cargo exports from the country. Mr. Michael Maguire, Managing Director of Air Ghana, told the B&FT that “Ghana serves as one of the prime markets in Africa, and we see a tremendous future here”. Ghana Air, local representatives of Cargolux Airlines International, last week flew its Boeing 747-800 F into the country. The new aircraft can handle 139 tonnes of cargo -- 10 more pallets than a normal cargo plane.  The airline is expected to operate twice-weekly services to and from Accra.  The Boeing 747-8oo Freighter is the new, high-capacity 747 that offers airlines the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane -- while providing enhanced environmental performance.

By Leslie Dwight MENSAH South African national oil company PetroSA says its recently-acquired interest in the Jubilee oilfield offers access to the prolific Gulf of Guinea region where it intends to build relationships and strengthen its presence.   Kaizer Nyatsumba, Head, Corporate Affairs and Shared Services of PetroSA, told the B&FT on a visit to Accra last week that the company will establish a base in Ghana in order to make itself accessible to its partners. “Following the approval of the acquisition, we felt it necessary that we have a presence in Ghana as soon as possible. We want to have a presence here with effect from January so that we can have access to our partners in this deal,” he said. “The Jubilee Field is a prolific area. It gives us access to the prolific Gulf of Guinea area. It is our hope that our presence in Ghana will help us get to know the region better and strengthen the various relationships.” Last month, PetroSA announced its acquisition of Sabre Oil & Gas Holding Limited’s interest in the Jubilee Field, the West Cape Three Points block, and the Deepwater Tano block. The value of the sale was however not disclosed.  â€œWe have merely taken over the small percentages that Sabre Oil & Gas had in the three blocks. So we are a very small player. We are however grateful for the fact that we now have a foot in this market in an important country like Ghana,” Nyatsumba said. He said PetroSA will strengthen its partnership with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC, which has said recently that it intends to raise its participation and role in future oil licences in pursuit of its vision to become a dominant national oil company. “GNPC is a partner with whom we intend to strengthen and solidify our relationship,” Nyatsumba stated. Petro SA, which also produces petrochemicals from its refinery in South Africa, has exploration acreage outside South Africa in Equatorial Guinea and Namibia. It has said its expansion strategy will enable it to grow and diversify its revenue base and enhance its stature in the African energy industry. The company had revenues of 14.4 billion rand (US$1.6billion) in the 2011/12 financial year.

By Kizito CUDJOE, Kumasi The Acting Chief Executive the  Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF), Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, has disclosed that about GH¢300million has so far been disbursed by his outfit to 765 projects and beneficiaries across the country as part of its operations. Speaking to the press as part of a ‘Regional Stakeholders Townhall Meeting’ organised in Kumasi, Dr. Issahaku observed that though his outfit has made some remarkable progress since its inception in 2001 to date, there is still more to be achieved if more people are well-informed about EDAIF and its operations; hence the initiative to embark on a ‘road-show’ nationwide to  draw closer to potential beneficiaries and educate them on its operations and the latest development -- to include  the provision of financial resources for the development and promotion of agriculture relating to agro-processing and agro-processing industries.   The acting Chief Executive noted that his outfit is challenged to expand the human resource capacity, enabling it to respond to the increasing volume of applications that come before them.  However, the bigger challenge, he lamented, is getting more people to learn about the facility and apply for it. The Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) was established by Act 582 in 2000 to provide financial resources for the development and promotion of export trade in Ghana. However, by the Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund Act 823 of 2011, Act 582 was amended to include the provision of financial resources for the development and promotion of agriculture relating to the agro-processing industry. It is in view of this amendment that the Fund is now known as the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF), expanded to cover public and private sector stakeholders in the agriculture and agro-processing sector among others. The idea to expand the facility to cover agro-processing and agro-processing industries, it is believed, will go a long way to promote the consumption of locally-produced agricultural products; encourage to a higher extent value addition to agriculture produce for export; enhance the operations and livelihood of industries and farmers in agro-processing; and as well limit the importation of agriculture produce into the country. In a country where accessing of funds -- especially by SME’s -- is considered largely as an impossibility basically because of the forms of high-handed security requirements one maybe asked to satisfy before being offered the needed assistance, the facility appears to offer a rather modest form of security through Eximguaranty Company Limited. Funds under the facility are made available to applicants through designated financial institutions (DFI’s) at lending interest rates which are subject to periodic review.

Mr. Michael Adrian Norton Olsen and Mr. Richard Edzeame have been appointed the new Marketing and Supply Chain Directors of Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) respectively, effective 1st November 2012.   Mr. Olsen replaces Mr. Philip Norley, who has left the company, while Mr. Edzeame is to take over from Mr. Tony Medway who departs at the end of the year.   Mr. Olsen has a firmly established marketing background in SABMiller, the parent company of ABL, where he has been working for the past 36 years in various roles at several locations. His portfolio of recent roles include Category Marketing Manager, Africa; Marketing Director at Nile Breweries Ltd, Uganda; Marketing Director of Tanzania Breweries Ltd; District Manager (Kei Region) South African Breweries, East London; and Operations Manager (Western Cape), South African Breweries, Cape Town. Richard Edzeame is not new to ABL:  He has spent 14 years of dedicated service with the company -- four years as Technical Director. Having briefly left the company in 2011, his return marks an addition of outstanding experience to the Supply Chain Department. Commenting on his new appointment, Mr. Edzeame said: “I’m indeed delighted to be back home. Having spent 14 exciting years here, it wasn’t a hard decision to return. The business has improved tremendously over the past two years, and I am very keen to be a part of this.” Sharing similar sentiments, Mr. Olsen said: “I am delighted that I am joining Team ABL.  I have watched with admiration the growth and success of the business, and look forward to working with everyone as we take this company to new levels of achievement and recognition.” Stating his thoughts on the two new appointments, Managing Director of Accra Brewery Limited Gregory Metcalf said: “We are indeed happy to have Mike and Richard joining our team.  Their wealth of experience will undoubtedly be of immense value to the company as we work together to attain growth and success.”

By Ekow Essabra-Mensah Australian trade and investment missions are in the country to explore trade and investment opportunities. The business missions, which include Austrade and Austmine, represent Australia’s mining equipment, technology and services sector, and have formed a partnership to stage the West Africa Mining Mission 2012.  â€œThe fast-growing region of West Africa offers great potential in exploration and mining, while demand for skilled workers in mines, agriculture and infrastructure is expected to provide opportunities for Australia’s international education institutions,” David Landers, Austrade’s General Manager for Growth and Emerging Markets, said. He said the mission will be a useful way for Australian resource companies to get to know the West African market better. “Australian mining companies recognise the potential of Africa, but this mission gives them actual exposure to the mines and the broader market conditions,” Mr Landers said. “Participants will be able to meet the mine managers and see at first hand the potential for their goods and services,” he added. West Africa is enjoying a period of stability and prosperity and the Australian Government recognises its economic potential, as well as that of Africa as a whole. Craig Emerson, Australian Trade Minister, in early 2012 announced that Austrade would open a post in Accra as part of a broader effort to support Australian engagement in the region. The Australian government also announced in May that it would open an embassy in Dakar, Senegal. Currently, Australian firms have about 90 resource projects in West Africa and Australian investment in Africa, actual or committed, stands at more than US$50 billion. Austrade’s Accra office services the neighbouring African nations of Burkina Faso, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The mission will visit mines in Ghana and Burkina Faso over a two-week period, and participants will be briefed on the mining sector and other aspects of commercial life in West Africa.