The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has resumed talks with the Volta River Authority (VRA) about using the capital market to raise funds for its on-going and future projects. A 10 percent year-on-year growth in electricity demand requires a sustained annual investment of about US$200million to bring an additional 200megawatts of power annually, but the Authority is unable to keep up with that investment from its under-par tariff. "We have resumed discussions with the VRA about coming

An inter-party committee made up of representatives from the various agencies in the maritime sector, convened by the Trade Facilitation Division of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), has called for a review of auctioning processes at the Tema and Takoradi Ports as part of efforts to decongest the ports. The committee, has also recommended that the validity period of permits for reefer goods -- commonly called refrigerated goods -- should be extended from the current three months to six months

The African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2014 -- the spirited gathering of more than 1,000 agriculture officials, farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists, civil society organisations and pioneers in agribusiness representing 60 countries --- concluded on Thursday, September 4 at the Nelson Mandela Hall of the African Union headquarters, with a forceful call for action to transform food production across Africa. After four days of extensive consultations on implementation of the African Union’s recent

Ghana’s forest cover stands the risk of being decreased by considerable levels in the next generation if illegal mining in forest reserves is not stemmed, the Forestry Commission, has warned. The Commission said it is the responsibility of stakeholders to tackle the menace with zeal to sustain the eco-system and biodiversity. Currently, forest reserves including the Supuma, Subri, Bonsa, Upper Wassaw, Apamprama, Desin, Oda, Atiwa, are being degraded at an alarming rate due to illegal mining. ,

The Assistant Director at the Financial Stability Department of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Settor Amediku, has advised SMEs to prioritise short-term contracts over long-term ones in order to guard against foreign exchange volatility. “When you enter into a long-term contract like two or three years in an environment of currency volatility like this, it exposes your business to a lot of shocks; but if it is a short-term contract with clauses inserted, then it will give you the opportunity to overcome

Blu Telecom, a licenced 4G network operator, is expected to launch its network by mid-October as it begins a 30-day trial exercise in some selected communities in the Greater Accra Region. The trial process, which involves 100 customers that Blu Telecom has dubbed “founders”, is intended to test the network’s readiness before it goes commercial next month. The Chief Commercial Officer, Tara Squire, explained to B&FT that the company has successfully laid down the necessary infrastructure

A monitoring and evaluation team from cement manufacturer GHACEM Limited has completed a tour of some project sites in the Central and Western Regions. The tour was to afford the team first-hand opportunity to assess progress of work on projects which GHACEM has supported with various bags of cement through its cement foundation programme. Officials on the team included Mr. John Savage-Mensah, a P.R. Assistant, and Solomon Ayiah, Acting Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs of Ghacem. In the

Students’ enrollment into polytechnics is fast dwindling due the increasing number of private universities which have the same entry requirements as polytechnics, Dr. Isaac Kwasi Asamoah, Chairman of Sunyani Polytechnic Council, has observed. He said: “Naturally, students would prefer attending private universities where after completion they will be awarded first degrees instead of Higher National Diploma (HND) and certificates at the polytechnics”. Students’ growing preference for private

The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has trained about 200 people in the Small and Medium Enterprise sector in an effort to boost their capacity to do business in other markets. The two-day training programme, which was on the theme “Support to Improve Services to Micro- and Small-Scale Enterprises in the Field of Food Safety and Quality Management”, seeks to support SMEs to achieve certification in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Programme (HACCP) – to ensure that their

UT Bank has rolled out a “100 for 100,000” promotion in a bid to mobilise deposits from banking consumers. The promotion, which is expected to end in December this year, will reward existing customers and entice new ones as part of efforts to strengthen the relationship between the bank and its patrons. Customers that want to enter the draw to win the grand prize of GH¢100,000 are expected to deposit a minimum of GH¢100 in their account to qualify for the draw. The Deputy Managing Director

BRICS- was an acronym coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in his publication,” Building Better Global Economic Brics ” representing five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. They are fast developing nations who have their own and varied interests in international trade and global matters. The grouping was originally known as "BRIC“, before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010. In the recently concluded 6th annual BRICS summit

Government has confirmed Dr. Prosper Akambong as the substantive Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital after the position became vacant a year ago. The appointment is expected to enhance management in the hospital to ensure quality healthcare delivery in the biggest referral medical facility that serves the three northern regions. The Minister of Health, Dr. Kweku Agyemang Mensah, who is on a working visit to Tamale, announced this to thunderous applause from medical personnel. He

E-commerce in Africa is set to receive a boost as United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has introduced an online payments and collections platform tagged U-bills. The online payment platform has been enabled in all the 19 countries where UBA has operations. U-bills, is a collection and bill payments platform that allows sellers to collect payments online or on their mobile devices like tablets and smart phones. It also provides a one-stop platform for customers to make payments for goods and services

Airtel Ghana, as part of its corporate social responsibility of making a change in the communities in which it operates, has taken the lead in securing the country from the threat of the Ebola pandemic by donating 70 hand-held infrared thermometers worth GH₵25,000 to the Ministry of Health in support of the Ministry’s preparedness-plan against Ebola. The thermometers, which are to be distributed to health workers at all 57 entry points across the country, will be used to detect temperature of

The Nwabiagya Rural Bank Limited at Barekese in the Nwabiagya District of Ashanti Region has posted another significant growth in all the financial indicators in the 2013 year under review. The Bank posted a net profit of approximately GH¢2.4 million in the 2013 period under review as against a little over GH¢1.9 million in the previous year, representing a satisfactory growth of 25 %. The Bank recorded a total deposit of about GH¢39 million in the year 2013 under review as against approximately

Ghana is recording “a lot of progress” in agricultural development despite the obvious challenges, the Country Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Dr. Lamourdia Thiombiano, has said in an exclusive wide-ranging interview with the Business & Financial Times. While this progress may not meet “ideal expectations”, it nonetheless ought to be recognised as the general trend of agricultural development is positive, he said. “There’s an African proverb which says

Good rainfall patterns experienced this year are expected to boost the country’s cocoa harvest beyond the revised output target of 850,000 metric tonnes for the 2013/2014 crop season. Stephen Yaokuma Komla, Director-General of Ghana Meteorological Agency, speaking to B&FT in an interview explained that the rainfall pattern the country is experiencing this year has been far better than last year. “The forecast indicates that even in the minor season we will have our normal rains, and we expect

Having acquired licence to operate non-banking financial services, home-builder ASN Properties says it intends to ease the burden of potential home-owners by underwriting its own mortgages at the much cheaper interest rate of 12% to 15% with thirty-year tenure. With interest rates on mortgages imitating the unbearably high rates of over 30% in the country generally, the company believes it is making it possible for the average middle-income earner to own a home. The subsidiary to offer the mortgage,

Government’s goal of achieving 5,000 megawatts of installed electricity generation capacity by 2016 has received a shot in the arm with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group agreeing to partner the Volta River Authority (VRA) in developing and financing power projects. A memorandum of understanding to that effect has been signed between the IFC and the VRA, under which identified projects will be developed in partnership with private sector power developers. “As

The Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF) disbursed GH¢47.58million in grants and credits to 13 beneficiaries to support their economic ventures in various sectors of the economy during the month of August. A statement signed by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Barfour Osei said a grant component amounting to GH¢31.3million was approved to eligible firms for both public and private sector initiatives in export trade and agricultural and industrial development. He said four