Malcom Furber, the Global President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, has called on Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) members in the country to mentor young professionals in order to ensure a succession of well-groomed business leaders. “It is important for CIMA professionals in the country to mentor young professionals. Professionals must also make use of the network of CIMA members to continually upgrade their skills and to share knowledge on best practices,” he said. “One of the areas that we have picked up in our research is that there is shortage of skills. We are talking about the harder skills like finance, banking and engineering. People tend to take the easy way out in the social science and others.” Mr. Furber was speaking to the B&FT after conferring with management of McOttley Capital, an investment firm based in Accra, during an official visit to Ghana. He assured of more continuous support for members on the continent and in particular Ghana. ”I was here five years ago and saw the potential here. We then decided to open an office here. We will put more resources here and build the skills of professionals.” Mr. Kwesi Livingstone, Chief Executive Officer of McOttley Capital said it is important for accounting professionals to add value to their organisations by blending the accounting practice with entrepreneurial, customers service, marketing and strategic planning skills. “Mentoring young professionals and students is important and McOttley Capital has made it an integral part of the company’s policy to mentor young Ghanaians,” Mr. Livingstone said. CIMA is the world’s largest and leading professional body of management accountants. The organisation has more than 218,000 members and students operating in 177 countries. Members work at the heart of business in industry, commerce and not for profit organisations.     By Dominick Andoh

By Konrad Kodjo Djaisi   Over 60 top leaders and experts in the grains and food standards sector -- including state government officials, the private sector, academia, researchers and international agencies -- have convened in Nairobi to discuss the recently gazetted East African Community (EAC) standards and their effects on the grains sector. The meeting was officially opened by the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Kenya, Felix Koskei, and participants explored the best implementation and adoption strategies. The EAC Harmonised Grades and Standards have recently been enacted after high consultative discussions with stakeholders in the region. The standards were gazetted on December 6, 2013 and the enacted standards affect the various grains and pulses, namely maize, wheat, milled rice, pearl millet, chick peas and pigeon peas. Others include cow peas, dry whole peas, lentils, sorghum, finger millet, dry split peas, dry soy beans, faba beans and brown rice among others. The regulations are geared toward promoting regional trade, which is one of the key protocols and agenda for the community. Trade between the EAC countries has doubled to US$4billion in 2013, compared to US$2billion in 2010. The bloc has also registered growth in foreign direct investment from US$2.6billion in 2010 to US$3.8billion in 2013. In addition, the EAC was rated the fastest-growing region in the recent Africa Development Bank statistics, hence the dire need for harmonisation of standards in the region. At the meeting, experts agreed that standards are crucial for increasing efficiency -- while efficiency is crucial for success in today’s challenging and competitive economic environment. The issue of grain standards has drawn a lot attention as global and regional economies are challenged with sustainability and financial uncertainty. The adoption and implementation of these standards is expected to deliver a number of benefits, including increasing transparency, formalisation of the language of trade, and generating natural performance incentives whereby grain processors who pay a premium for higher quality products can eliminate costly additional processing steps and access higher prices and long-term contracts. Additionally, the standards are expected to promote fair trade and enhance transparency for increased trade in staple foods, promote trade in quality grains and enhance adoption of structured trading systems, while improving food safety and hygiene. The Chairman of the Eastern Africa Grain Council, Judah Arap Bett, said 80 percent of the people in Africa and across the world rely on grain for food security and income generation. However, the grain sector in eastern Africa is faced with the challenge of losses and poor quality of grains, thus increasing the risks to most of the population in Kenya and Africa in general. “The growth in regional trade, blossoming of the grain sector and improved food security will not be possible without grades and standards. For a long time, the lack of grades and standards has been documented as one of the barriers to trade within the region,” he noted. The Eastern Africa Grain Council is a regional organisation with membership drawn from across eastern and southern Africa. Members of the council cut across the grain value-chain and include all the key players in production, trade and processing in nine countries across Africa including Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

  Airtel Ghana has donated 1,500 mobile handsets and Airtel SIM cards to the Ministry of Health in support of the ministry’s community-based health planning and services programme (CHPS). These mobile lines will be put in a Close User Group service, so that calls made on the network within the service group are free. The community health programme is an initiative by the Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Health aimed at providing on the ground health-care to inhabitants of the community. The phones, which will be distributed to the CHPS compounds spread across various communities all over the country, are to facilitate the communication on the network between these health centres and health workers in the execution of their duties. In effect, beneficiaries of these handsets can call other health workers or centres in case of emergency, or solicit for assistance on a daily basis free of charge. Presenting the phones and SIM cards to the Ministry, Managing Director Philip Sowah said health care systems in developing countries like Ghana can be more effective with proper communication support. He explained that Airtel Ghana is determined to help the Government attain its Millennium Development Goals by making available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications. “Communities -- rural and urban -- are at the centre of our operations. We therefore support any initiative that will improve the standard of these communities, healthcare and education being the topmost.” Accepting the items, the Minister of Health, Sherry Ayitey, acknowledged the fact that this is one clear step that will help acceleration toward the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. The Minister said: “We are proud to partner Airtel in this direction, and by this singular gesture Airtel has set a new standard in the roll-out of our close-to-client policy”. Airtel Ghana has over the years distinguished itself as the leader in corporate social responsibility by initiating projects like Touching Lives which have greatly impacted communities and individuals in Ghana.

Marthinus Van Schalkwyk  South Africa Tourism, the nation’s tourism promotion agency, has officially opened its first regional office in Lagos, Nigeria, targetted at boosting its African market and reinforcing economic diplomacy with the region. “Our foreign policy puts Africa in the centre for our continent’s regeneration. South Africa’s diplomacy and bilateral relations are based on the history we share together with other West African countries,” said South African Tourism Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk at the opening ceremony in Lagos. He said opening of the regional marketing office is an invitation for Nigerians, Ghanaians and other nationals in West Africa to explore the beauty of South Africa. “This marks an important milestone, but it is exactly that: a milestone along a road we have long been walking with the travel trade of this region. During this time we've invested heavily in understanding the needs of the West African traveller, so as to ensure that your holiday experience is as rewarding or memorable to you as it is to us,” said Mr. Van Schalkwyk. According to him, 73,282 Nigerian tourists visited South Africa in 2012 -- an overall 13.8 percent increase from the 64,402 tourists in 2011. At the end of June 2013, Nigerian arrivals had continued to grow on a strong trajectory of 15.9 percent compared to the same period in 2012. “Likewise, tourist arrivals from Ghana to South Africa grew a phenomenal 23.8 percent in 2012, when South Africa welcomed 22,953 Ghanaian tourists. Up to end June 2013, arrivals from Ghana were growing at 27.3 percent to 13,663 tourist arrivals for the six- month period. Global interest in visiting Africa is at an all-time high, and it is also our intention to do our bit to convert this interest into increased arrivals across the continent,” the Minister said. He added: “As a nation, we see the special and longstanding relationship between Nigeria and South Africa as pivotal toward building an Africa that is economically vibrant and resilient. “Key to creating economic vibrancy and resilience is working together to develop tourism industries that have the potential to contribute meaningfully to gross domestic product and job-creation on the African continent. “Growth in African arrivals is what shielded our tourism industry from the worst of the recent economic downturn and is what we believe is going to keep our continent’s tourism industry on a sustainable growth path going forward.” Chief Edem Duke, Nigeria’s Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, said: “This is a great stride -- not only in deepening the bilateral relations but also creating a platform for our citizens to grow. This partnership will be mutually beneficial to stakeholders in both economies”. Chief Duke called for special treatment for West African travellers due to their cultural differences. “West African travellers should be treated with dignity, respect and special understanding.” He urged South African authorities to ensure that the generated wealth be spent in Africa to help grow the continent’s economy. “The Nigerian government will give support and remove all encumbrances that stand in the way of the project,” he remarked. By Ekow Essabra-Mensah

Government’s short-term borrowing costs are picking up again as a disturbing combination of surging inflation, a tumbling currency and the prospect of the budget deficit exceeding the target drive down investor sentiments. The cost of 91-day borrowing rose for a sixth straight week to 19.62 percent on January 24, when the last auction of the bills was held. The yield on the debt rose nearly one percentage point in the six-week period, reaching its highest since November 1. The yield on 182-day bills also increased for four straight weeks since December 27 to 19.44 percent on January 24. Yields on one- and two-year debt, which have more or less stabilised, as well as bond yields may also pick up as the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) attempts to engineer a downward-sloping yield curve -- the situation in which yields rise with longer maturities -- backfires, warned Dr. Joe Abbey, economist and head of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA). “For some time, we were wondering how yields could be falling when inflation was picking up. But clearly, there’s a trend reversal in the market,” he said. Inflation soared to 13.5 percent in December, 4.5 percentage points above the central bank’s key target. Dr. Abbey said foreign investors -- whose bids for a higher interest rate on seven-year debt sold in November were rejected -- will return demanding high yields when the first three-year bonds in 2014 are sold next month. The last sale of the bonds, in May 2013, was at a yield of 19.24 percent, but foreign investors -- who can only buy debt of three-year maturity or longer -- are set to bid for higher rates due to the sliding cedi, which has lost 21 percent to the dollar from a year ago. “There’s a certain reality confronting us next month. The BoG shut out foreign investors last time, but now the chickens are coming home to roost and the three-year rate could shoot up,” said Dr. Abbey. “The reality is that foreign investors do not seem to be impressed, and by many criteria Ghana’s [foreign exchange] reserve adequacy is questionable.” Reserves rose by US$300million to US$5.6billion in the 11 months to November 2013, but fell in terms of import cover from 3 months to 2.9 months, the central bank said in November. It also said it will introduce rules to harmonise the way banks trade foreign currency and quote the exchange rate of the cedi, a move expected to improve transparency amid a wide disparity between official exchange rates and those quoted by banks. The regulator will also allow banks to sell the yuan, the Chinese currency, to traders who import from the Asian nation as the current reliance on dollars puts pressure on the cedi. Chinese trade with Ghana topped US$5billion in 2012 from US$434million in 2005 as more Ghanaian businesses started sourcing goods from the world’s second-biggest economy, where suppliers are noted for their cheap prices. Soaring interest rates may also reflect concern about the government’s deficit, which could rise above a projected 10.2 percent of GDP for 2013. Aside more borrowing to clear payment arrears, the government will find it difficult to get the deficit down and stabilise debt ratios as economic growth -- which averaged more than 8 percent per annum between 2008 and 2012 -- begins to falter. According to CEPA, GDP growth -- which plunged to a record low on quarterly basis between July and September last year -- may at best be 4.8 percent for 2013, meaning a bigger deficit and more trouble with international ratings agencies. Fitch Ratings downgraded the country late last year, while Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s put it on a negative outlook, implying a high likelihood of a downgrade. “We need to get back to what was the final deficit outcome of 2013. Even the projected outcome of 10.2 percent was very disappointing,” said Dr. Abbey. By Leslie Dwight MENSAH

  Large-scale oil palm growers in the country have threatened to abandon their farms for the cultivation of rubber and other cash crops if government does not end its neglect of the industry. Growers complain of lacking financial support from government and banks, lack of appropriate pricing for their commodity, no input subsidies or state-sponsored extension services -- all of which combine to deprive them of a decent livelihood from the crop. “In the oil palm sector, farmers experience very little help from government. There are no extension officers to provide training to any farmer. Nobody tells us what to grow, how to farm, how to get higher productivity or learn new farming and agronomic techniques. We are left alone in the business, unlike farmers of cash crops such as cocoa and rubber,” said Kwame Adentwi, an oil palm farmer in Abekwasi in the Western Region, in an interview with the B&FT. “If this continues we will convert our farms into the cultivation of rubber, which is more lucrative and can earn us decent livelihoods.” Oil palm is the fifth-largest crop in Ghana in terms of area planted after cocoa, maize, cassava and yam. Approximately 305,758 hectares of plantation is being cultivated nationwide, with an additional 20,000 hectares needed to meet local demand. In 2012, oil palm processing groups projected a production output of 260,000 metric tonnes, and a deficit of 35,000 metric tonnes that is met by imports. More than 80 percent of the crop is grown by private small-scale farmers who mostly use unimproved planting materials, leading to the very low productivity of farms. Oil palm from Ghana is exported mainly to neighbouring ECOWAS countries and the EU on a small scale. Edible oil palm and palm-based products are also imported into the country in significant quantities. “We are being cheated always by the big companies who buy the produce from us. There is no regulatory body to speak for us like the cocoa sector. We need financial support in the form of loans for farm maintenance, fertilisers and planting materials,” Mr. Adentwi said. He spoke to the B&FT during a training programme organised by Solidaridad, a global investor in sustainable agricultural supply chains, to educate oil palm farmers on new farming techniques to increase productivity and profitability. The programme, the “Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Project”, assembled oil palm farmers and millers at Twifo Praso in the Western Region. Three years ago, the government published an oil palm master-plan that set out a strategy to boost production and farmers’ competitiveness, but growers say the words have not been followed by actions. Current forecasts suggest the ECOWAS market faces an unmet demand of up to one million metric tonnes of the crop. In Africa, where production was 1.75million metric tonnes in 2009, Nigeria accounts for about half of the output; followed by Côte d’Ivoire with 16 percent; Cameroon and DRC with 10 percent each; and Ghana accounting for 6 percent. Côte d’Ivoire is the only net-exporter of the crop in the region. Ghana’s first international commercial trade in oil palm took place in 1820. Starting from wild harvesting, oil palm evolved into an agricultural crop and plantations were established by 1850. In the 1880s, the crop accounted for 75 percent of export revenue until it was overtaken by cocoa in 1911.Global production of oil palm is estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture at 50.28 million metric tonnes in the crop-year ending September 2011. Africa’s share has dropped from about 27 percent in 1980 to 3 percent in 2011. Indonesia and Malaysia are the top-two growers, accounting for 85 percent of world production. By Ekow Essabra-Mensah

The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) says it plans to introduce an electronic payment system that will allow seamless instant interbank transfer of funds via mobile devices as well as Internet platforms. The gh-link Instant , when introduced, will ease the reliance on the previous payment system wherein interbank transfer of funds take three hours even under express transactions through a system known as Direct Credit, under the Automated Clearing House (ACH), and 24 hours if it is not under express transaction. Speaking to journalists in Accra, Archie Hesse Chief Executive of GhIPSS, said: “We are coming out with a development such that will allow interbank payment to be made instantly. It will be available to all banks that are connected to the gh-link system.” gh-link is a GhIPSS interbank switching and processing system that interconnects switches of financial institutions and systems of third party institutions to enable them utilise a common platform for interbank transactions in an effective and efficient manner. “In jurisdictions where instant pay has been introduced, you see a drastic reduction in the use of direct credit because some banks tend to hold onto funds to keep up with the float, so people start migrating to the use of the instant payment service,” Mr. Hesse said. The service payment system will come in handy for businesses that want a quick and safe way of making or receiving payments. He added: “One added benefit that will come with the instant pay system is the supply-chain system that we refer to as the e-Bills pay. This is used mainly by wholesalers. It is appropriate for wholesalers who are required to make payments before dispatch is done. We are also in talks with some wholesalers to sign them onto the platform. This system has been tried by our counterparts in Nigeria and it’s working very well”. By Richard Annerquaye Abbey