The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry has warned of “catastrophic” consequences if government fails to intervene to stem spiralling costs of production and declining confidence among businesses. In a statement whose tone underlined the growing impatience of companies with the lack of improvement in the economic situation, the chamber said it is gravely concerned about the rising Producer Price Index (PPI) and its ramifications on businesses. July’s PPI, issued by the Ghana Statistical

Africa has been urged to do away with the era of “prodigal economics”, whereby it ignores its own agricultural potential and turns itself into a net food importing region, spending a whopping US$35 billion on food imports annually. This is in spite of the fact that 65 percent of the available arable land to feed the 9 billion people expected in the world by 2050 lies in Africa. Delivering the keynote address to mark the opening of the 2014 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF 2014) on Tuesday

Telecom companies have revised their mobile data charges upward by about 11 percent as they choke on taxes and inflationary pressures. B&FT analysis of data provided by the National Communication Authority (NCA) shows that over the past two years telecom companies have consistently increased their data charges, but it has been marginal year-on-year. In 2012, companies were charging consumers about 10.67 pesewas per megabyte, which increased to 10.92 pesewas in 2013. But as of the end of August

President John Mahama says the expected benefits to the country from the delayed Gas Processing Plant at Atuabo will be the game-changer, as he looks forward to the start of operations by Ghana’s first-ever gas plant. The US$850million project was supposed to have opened in December, but stalled largely because of difficulties securing the disbursement of US$600million from the Chinese Development Bank -- part of a US$3billion loan agreement signed in 2011. “This project is much anticipated by

Former President John Agyekum Kufour has observed that if humankind is to seriously address climate change, then there is a need to change the way agriculture is done so as to drastically reduce its contribution to the phenomenon. Agriculture is said to contribute about 14 percent of greeenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, while deforestation and land degradation that are associated with uninformed agricultural and other practices also cause an additional 17 percent of the increased greenhouse

Two irrigation sites at Tanoso and Kaniago in the Techiman Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region with a land cover of about 300 acres are underutilised. This is due to farmers’ inability to finance the cost of electricity and fuel to power pumps at the various irrigation sites. Farmers who ply their trade at the now rain-fed sites mostly cultivate crops such as tomatoes, pepper, garden-eggs and watermelon, Takyi Effah, Techiman Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), told B&FT

The Shai Rural Bank is inching toward insolvency after depositors panicked and reacted to alleged stealing and misapplication of funds by withdrawing their deposits in droves. A high ranking official at the bank, who pleaded anonymity, said loans were rampantly given out to both staff and favoured customers without recourse to banking rules and best practices. According to the source, for some time now even pensioners have struggled to access their stipends due to the bank’s liquidity problems.

Vivo Energy Ghana, the company that distributes and markets Shell-branded fuels and lubricants as part of its retailer site expansion initiative, has inaugurated its new service station at Ashaiman in the Tema Municipality. The inauguration of the station brings to 138 the number of Shell service stations owned by Vivo Energy Ghana, and the second station is located in the centre of Ashaiman Municipality which serves as the hub of commercial activity with heavy vehicular movements. The Retail Manager

The Head of Proven Trusted Solutions -- an employee training and development and marketing research firm in Kumasi -- Mr. Joseph Akossey has asked the central bank of Ghana to consider revising the interest rates on Treasury bills to encourage more people to deposit with banks as one of the approaches to rekindle the savings culture of Ghanaians. He said taking this step to reduce the current soaring interest rates on Treasury bills would discourage individuals from investing heavily in Treasury

Emirates has announced its first-ever television reality show sponsorship of the widely popular Arab Idol music reality show. Arab Idol, is a popular reality show watched by Arab audiences of over 100 million, including an estimated 400,000 viewers in the UAE alone. The airline will take to the stage with a sponsorship agreement for Arab Idol Season 3 which starts screening this week on MBC1 and MBC MASR simultaneously. Explaining why Emirates is entering the reality show arena, Sheikh Majid Al

A three-day National Economic Forum was held at Akosombo from 13th to 15th May 2014 and adopted a 22 point communiqué christened the ‘Senchi Concensus’. The main themes discussed centred on macroeconomic policy, strengthening institutions for formulating and implementing socio-economic policy, the development of the private sector, and good governance among others. Clearly absent from the communiqué was any discussion of the application of science and technology to production systems in the

Dr. Pikay Richardson, a visiting senior fellow at the Manchester Business School, Manchester, UK, says a dose of leadership skills is vital for steering an organisation through change, and that good management is no longer enough in the current dispensation. He said the fast pace of change in a globalising world demands that companies become fast and flexible enough to meet the changes. He was making a presentation at an executive summit/lecture aimed at enhancing business transformation and public

Air travel used to be stressful and overwhelming, especially at the airport. Issues such as the risk of being late for a flight, the time spent in queues and the sheer volume of harassed people could ruin a holiday or business trip before it even starts. In today’s world however, time and convenience have become prized commodities and airlines are making use of modern technology to provide a travel a much-needed shot in the arm, to help passengers accomplish their goals faster and with less stress.

ZTV Ghana, a wholly owned Ghanaian television station, has pledged its support to the Ebola Education Fund. The station will be broadcasting events and activities associated with the Ebola Education Fund as its contribution to the fund. The station aims to develop good quality informative, educative and entertaining programmes for viewers to identify with content, style and presentation. Located at Tse Addo behind Trade Fair, at Fire Junction within the Goil fuel filling station, ZTV is currently

Global Solutions Limited (GSL) has appointed Olufemi Muraino as its new Regional Country Director to provide overall leadership and strategic direction towards growing the company’s market. He is also expected to ensure that GSL maintains strong partnership with its existing software and hardware partners as the company strives to strengthen deals with customers. The appointment follows the licensing and authorization of GSL to sell and install Nautilus Hyosung range of ATMs in the country. Global

While plying the motorway on the Accra-Tema side of traffic one Monday morning, I flipped through radio channels searching for inspiration in order to change the texture of what was clearly threatening to be a morningof blues and stone-cold lethargy. Many things had happened leading to the week-ending August 22nd 2014 that had power to evoke a spectrum of emotions in any attentive observer; emotions that ranged from bewilderment and amusement to confusion and hopelessness. As I continued my scanning

The Bosomtwe Rural Bank Limited at Kuntanase in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region has posted another remarkable operational performance in all the financial indicators for the 2013 year under review. The bank posted a total net profit of GH¢1,024,543 in the 2013 period as against a little over GH¢784,007 in the previous year, representing a satisfactory growth of 27.29%. The bank recorded a total deposit of about GH¢23.6million as against a little over GH¢21.5million in the previous

Last Friday’s Tulip Mirror Ball could not have had better attendance to mark the prestigious event’s third anniversary in Accra. Stopping short of breaking the city ordinance codes for public gatherings, the massive turnout reflected the overwhelming endorsement by Accra’s trendsetters of it as the most consistent monthly premium event in Ghana. The popular “Denim Dance” theme deserved the honour of coinciding with the third anniversary as a sea of white shirt and blue denim clad “delegates”

Sub-Saharan Africa needs to increase crop production by 260 percent in order to feed an estimated 2.4 billion people by 2050, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the ongoing fourth African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF). With rising population levels, demand for food will increase and higher production has to be achieved without degrading the environment, he said. But this cannot be achieved unless there are significantly

Equity Assurance Limited has presented five office desks and chairs worth GH₵3,000 to the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service in Sekondi. Mr. Kingsley Agyemang, the Western Regional Manager of Equity Assurance Limited, presenting the items explained the donation forms part of the company’s social responsibility -- this is to enhance the police’s work. He said the Ghana Police Service has been the company’s major stakeholder in its operation, since it depends