Lawrence Quayeson, the embattled driver of Ms Victoria Hammah, has backtracked on an allegation that he was contracted by Ms Racheal Appoh to secretly record conversations of the dismissed Deputy Communications Minister. Quayeson, in an interview with RadioXYZ Sunday accused the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection of offering him S$2,000 dollars and a US visa in exchange for recordings of Ms Hammah's private conversations. He alleged that Ms Appoh had contacted him through a former Personal Assistant of Ms Hammah, whose name he gave as Ayitey Bastey. “It’s Ayittey Basty who came to me and told me that I should call Rachel Appoh, yeah, Rachel Appoh, and she'll tell me whatever I want to do, so she called me and said ‘have I seen Ayittey Basty?’ And I said ‘no’ and she said she'll call him and talk to him…and see him to come and see me," he said. He said Ms Appoh had called him on phone to issue the instructions. However, moments after the interview, Quayson abandoned the claim. In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, he said he had been coerced by his family members to frame Ms Appoh. Quayeson was arrested Friday in connection with the recording, but was granted bail after the police could not determine what offence to charge him with. The Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Freeman Tettey, said the arrest followed Ms Hammah complaint to the effect that her driver had secretly recorded her. Ms Hammah was sacked Friday morning by President John Mahama after the emergence of the recording, in which she was heard implying that she would not put her political career at risk by engaging in squabbles with political heavy weights until she had made $1 million. She was making reference to a series of disagreements-which have been reported on by the media- between Ms Appoh and Nana Oye Lithur, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection. In the recording, Ms Hammah could be heard chastising Ms Appoh for daring to pick up a fight with Nana Oye, whom she described as an “institution” with close links to President Mahama and Mr and Mrs Rawlings. As proof of Nana Oye's influence, Ms Hammah had claimed to have heard that she played a fundamental role in securing a favourable verdict for President Mahama in the recently-concluded election petition hearing. Describing Ms Appoh as “senseless, ugly, loud and egoistic”, she said it was unreasonable on her part to be to be standing up to Nana Oye when she (Ms Appoh) did not even have close to GHS100,000 in her account. “I’ve not made $1 million dollars and I’m going to fight?”, Ms Hammah asked rhetorically, adding, "If you have money then you can control people." Graphic.com.gh/Ghana  

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has taken over the management of the Kejetia terminal from Freko FD Limited with immediate effect. The company has been managing the facility, regarded as the biggest lorry terminal in West Africa, since 2001. A letter from the assembly dated November 8, 2013 and addressed to Madam Freda Darko, the Managing Director of the company, said the decision stemmed from various breaches in the agreement reached between the assembly and the company with regard to the management of the facility. "The KMA is constrained to take this instant action by reason of the fact that you have wilfully refused to remedy your breaches, notwithstanding that the KMA has, on several occasions, drawn your attention to same and has held discussions with you with a view to prevailing upon you to take your obligations under the agreement more seriously, " the letter, signed by the KMA Chief Executive, Mr Kojo Bonsu, said. Giving details, the letter recalled that by the agreement between the company and the KMA adopted on March 23, 2010, the duration of the agreement (2010-2015) was subject to satisfactory performance by the company. "We note that right from the inception of the agreement between you and the KMA, you have not only woefully failed to live up to your obligations under the agreement but also woefully refused to remedy your countless breaches of the terms of the agreement,” it said. Though the KMA stated that the breaches were many, it mentioned only two of them. One of them is the failure to maintain the toilet facilities at the terminal in good condition, which threatens the health of people who use them. Another major breach is what the KMA described as the company’s deliberate refusal to ensure transparency in the management of the Internet facility. "You have refused to make available to the KMA books reflecting the revenue collected over the period run to enable the KMA to verify the revenue collected," it said. It said the KMA would be failing the people of Kumasi if it allowed the funds derived from the Kejetia facility to go into wrong hands. The letter said the KMA had been extremely patient with the company with regard to the breaches and that it had no option but to take over the facility. When contacted by the Daily Graphic, Madam Darko said she had received the KMA letter but expressed surprise at the action taken by the assembly. She dismissed the allegations levelled against the company by the KMA, saying none of them could stand the test of law. Madam Darko said the toilet mentioned by the KMA was not managed by Freko Limited but another company. "It will, therefore, be wrong for the assembly to accuse Freko Limited of failing to manage the toilet well,” she said. On the failure of her company to render proper accounts of revenues received from the facility, the she said it was untrue and indicated that auditors had, over the years, audited the accounts of the company and had found nothing untoward. Madam Darko said she would consult her lawyers on the next line of action. Daily Graphic/Ghana

Markets are places where food is sold but often, they are found in filth and stench, a situation which gravely affects public health.   To stem the tide and promote sound sanitation in markets, Zoom Alliance has introduced a ‘Cleanest Market’ competition to promote environmental sanitation in markets in the Greater Accra Region. The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, who made this known, said when the programme, now at the preparatory stage, began, the market which would emerge as the cleanest would be presented with a plaque to be displayed at a major point of entry into that market. Receiving the final report on a one-month intensive clean-up exercise in the Greater Accra Region by Zoom Alliance, Mr Opong-Fosu  stated that the leader of the cleanest market would also be adequately rewarded.  “The programme will reward the market that is adjudged the cleanest in that month, with a plaque and a huge media publicity to direct people to patronise goods from that market. Also to benefit would be the supervising assembly for having produced the cleanest market. Mr Opong-Fosu announced that the competition would be held every month and encouraged market leaders to participate in it. The report In the one-month exercise, personnel of Zoom Alliance, according to its Managing Director, Mr  A. B. Adjei, cleared 11 refuse heaps of about 50,000 tons of waste, cleaned 11 markets and cleared 12 choked drains. Mr Adjei indicated that sustaining sound environmental sanitation had never been more urgent, but indicated that indiscriminate littering had made solid waste management difficult and expensive. “It is a huge drain on our economy but the good thing is that it can be avoided,” Mr Adjei stated. Zoom Alliance embarked on the month-long intensive clean-up to support assemblies and solid waste contractors to deal with rising environmental sanitation challenges in their respective areas. Mr Adjei said the presentation of the report signalled the completion of its work, and urged the assemblies to engage competent solid waste contractors to continue. Draining resources into drains Drains at Agbogbloshie, for instance, were back to their usual choked conditions, mostly just a day after they had been cleared, and that, according to Mr Adjei, posed a huge challenge in desilting works in that market. According to Mr Adjei, it was also disheartening and discouraging to find people freely littering while personnel of Zoom Alliance attempt to clean the markets. Recommendation To address issues related to the constant choking of drains, the report recommended that open spaces should be specifically created in the markets to enable trucks which loaded and unloaded foodstuffs to do so there, thus discouraging them from doing so along the shoulders of roads by the markets, particularly at Agbogboloshie. The report also called for the strict enforcement of bye-laws, which, it said, was the only way to discourage people from indiscriminate littering and other negative environmental practices. Traders, according to the report, should also be prevented from selling on the shoulders of roads, as their food-stuffs, especially the rotten ones, easily found their way into the drains. Daily Graphic/Ghana

The management of United Steel Company Limited has refuted claims that the company has evaded tax to the tune of $86,059,463.   It said the allegation made by the presidential task force through the media was far from the truth but intended to bring the names of reputable companies into disrepute. A statement issued by the company said the presidential task force did not do any due diligence before issuing its press statement to the public. It said the data on which the task force based its statement showed that three of the entries made against the company (United Steel) belonged to another company. It said additional three entries were repetitions against it (United Steel). The statement explained that a thorough check of its records—verified by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)—showed that all that the company had utilised from the bonded warehouse had been duly paid for, stressing that the company was one of the highest tax paying companies to the GRA. It said the company’s tax records at the GRA attested to that fact and urged the task force to do due diligence before issuing such statements which tended to tarnish and destroy reputable companies doing genuine business. It was of the conviction that if the task force had done its due diligence, institutions such as the Customs Division, the Tema Oil Refinery, Electricity Company of Ghana, Hippo Limited and CCTC, among other companies, would not be refuting the claims of the task force. The Presidential Task Force recently issued a statement claiming that more than 280 private and public companies had been cited for allegedly evading the payment of taxes, amounting to $367 million over a seven-year period.  A presidential task force uncovered the alleged massive tax fraud which was perpetrated in bonded warehouses in Accra between 2005 and 2012. Daily Graphic/Ghana

Tourism fetched Ghana US$2.5 billion last year, confirming the sector as the fourth largest export after gold, cocoa and remittances.  The amount was spent by 1,263,857 international tourists who visited the country during the year, according to an official of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) who disclosed this at the just-ended World Travel Market in London.   Ghana set a national target of one million arrivals five years ago and that target set by the Authority and was envisaged to be achieved by 2010. The achievement, however, offers cold comfort, for, although officials of both the Ministry of Tourism and the GTA think that “we are living up to our dream”, Ghana’s piece of the global tourism pie is considered an insignificant drop in the vast global ocean, seen from the universal perspective. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international tourism receipts reached an estimated US$ 1,075 billion worldwide. Over the decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening ‎diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. ‎Modern tourism is closely linked to development. Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, ‎food products or automobiles. Tourism in Ghana In Ghana, however, the dream is far from to the reality.  Successive governments, without exception, have not shown enough commitment beyond rhetoric and good intentions. To succeed as a tourism destination, the intentions have to translate into larger budgetary allocations for the sector. The current Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, with an eye on the one per cent Tourism Levy (also known as Bed Tax) collected by private operators, is determined that “the dreaming must stop”. She is “looking forward to the day when the Ministry of Tourism will not be part of budget hearing”. She has plans to call a stakeholder meeting soon, partnering with the umbrella Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF), to strategise the way forward for collection of the levy. At the moment, although 90 per cent of the tourism plants have been registered to collect, only the big hotels are doing so faithfully. “Every tourism facility everywhere in the remotest part of Ghana must be registered to pay the one per cent,” she urges in an interviewed. On the country’s inability to attract greater arrival numbers, the Minister says “our pricing is good, but our challenge is the packaging and marketing to popularize Ghana as a destination. For example, she queried, “have we been able to put Kakum strongly on the international tourism map? Our challenge is selling what we have.” Domestic Tourism On the domestic tourism front, Mrs Ofosu Adjare mentioned a number of interventions planned to lure Ghanaians to travel outside of their regions or districts of abode. The campaign, says the Minister, targets “even the so-called ‘ordinary Ghanaian’ whose net-worth may not be high.” The target of the ministry’s promotional drive includes children and churches. A sensitization programme will be unveiled to get the churches to encourage their members to, once or twice a year, undertake tours to local attractions. They will, in addition, be urged to programme their annual conventions to allow their congregations to visit tourist attractions in the district where the convention takes place. The programme targeting children has already taken off. To instill the culture of travel and leisure in them, the Ministry, through the Ghana Tourist Development Corporation (GTDC) has been facilitating travel by school children from one region or district to another. Daily Graphic/Ghana

The visiting International Evangelist, Daniel Kolenda, has indicated that the surest way to stay away from the attractions of corruption is to surrender to Jesus Christ.   Preaching on the topic: “The Power of Jesus”, the evangelist recounted the story of a very corrupt tax collector, Zacchaeus, in Luke 19 who had a change of heart when he met Jesus, and drew an analogy between that one and the story of a very corrupt accounts officer who stole to build a house. The evangelist said when that accounts officer met Jesus Christ, he confessed his misdeeds to his employer, who not only forgave him but also made him the chief accountant for being truthful and the most honest employee of the company. He, however, cautioned the crowd not to go and steal and later confess, since they might not be that lucky to get away with it when found out. Instead, Evangelist Kolenda asked them to strive to be truthful and honest in their work, which was possible if they gave their lives to Jesus. Church Leaders Leaders of the churches that collaborated with evangelists Reinhard Bonnke and Daniel Kolenda in the four-day mammoth gospel crusade in Accra from November 7 to 10 also prescribed an encounter with Jesus Christ as the surest way to reduce the high incidence of corruption and crime among public officials in the country. In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic at the ‘Greater Peace Gospel Crusade’ held at the Independence Square on Saturday, the leaders were unanimous in their thoughts that when people had personal encounters with Christ, they were bound to be faithful in their areas of work and thereby turn around the economic fortunes of the country. The Chairman of the Church of Pentecost and President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), Apostle Dr A. Opoku Onyinah, said, “When people accept Christ, truly their lives are transformed. When the lives are transformed, it affects the economy of the people because they will be faithful at their workplaces. Bribery and corruption will reduce when they begin to put the values of Christ into practice.” He said every Ghanaian ought to pray for people’s hearts to be changed “in order for us to be faithful wherever we are. It is people whose lives have been touched by Christ who are transformed – Godly people who fear the Lord — and those people transform nations”.  Apostle Dr Stephen Kwame Ntow Amoaning, the Chairman of the Christ Apostolic Church, intimated that the crusade sought to seek the prosperity and peace of Ghana. “We all know that the country is going through challenges and so we’ve been praying so much for peace and stability and also for God to grant our leaders the wisdom and knowledge to manage the resources of our country. This is because we believe that where there is peace, there is also prosperity and so if we continue to experience stability in our nation, prosperity will be ours. “When a person is changed, sometimes all that we talk about is the spiritual aspect of that person, but we also believe that when someone experiences change, that change has to be reflected on the outside,” he said, adding, “If there should be any change in the country, Christians must also reflect that change.” Unity Bishop Yaw Adu, the General Overseer of the House of Prayer Church International and Life Patron of the Local Council of Churches, Koforidua, said, “If we have many Christians in the nation, it helps mould the character of the people. People begin to understand the gospel and it takes people from the prisons; it prevents people from going to prison and also makes people do hard work because Christianity encourages hard work. It also lets people love one another, do the right thing and reduces crime. Christianity helps a nation economically and in all aspects of life.”  Bishop Charles Agyin Asare, the General Overseer of the Perez Chapel International, was of the view that the crusade would encourage many young men to know that God could use them and, therefore, asked them to make themselves available and allow God to use them. Apostle Samuel Yaw Antwi, the General Secretary of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), said the crusade was organised to bring Ghanaians together in prayer and worship to God for the peace and prosperity of Ghana and also bring people to God. Speaking on the significance of the crusade to the country, he said, “We believe that with the repentant message that has been preached and people coming to confess their sins, we expect that there is going to be a change of attitude in this nation and we expect that one of the things that we as a nation have been battling with — corruption — is going to come down because people are going to get changed hearts and it’s going to be a great benefit.” Daily Graphic/Ghana

Electricity tariff has been reviewed from 78.9 to 59.18 per cent, following calls from the labour front to reduce the recent upward adjustment in utility tariffs. The new tariff shows a 25 per cent downward review and takes effect from October 1. A communiqué signed by the Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, said the government would have to pay over GH¢400 million subsidy to the utility companies to maintain a steady supply of energy. The communiqué was, however, silent on water tariffs, even though the concerns of the public have been over the upward adjustment of 78.9 per cent in electricity and the 52 per cent increment in water tariffs with effect from October 1, 2013. This means that the water tariff remains the same. The decision, which is expected to “cushion the effect of utility tariff increases on consumers” was taken in consultation with the Ghana Employers Association, the Association of Ghana Industries, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry and organised labour led by the Trades Union Congress.  The government said it had followed developments in the country since the PURC announced the increases and that “since the PURC has already gazetted the 78.9 per cent increase in the electricity tariff, government will absorb the difference between the gazetted increase of 78.9 per cent and the 59.18 per cent, including all levies and charges as agreed with the social partners”. In line with the new arrangement, the government expects to attain a full-cost recovery for electricity within nine months, from October 2013 to June 2014, using an automatic adjustment formula. “The PURC is encouraged to implement the automatic tariff adjustment formula starting from January 2014,” it said. According to the communiqué, the government also notes the observation that the assumptions underlying the recommendation to reach a full recovery could change based on certain variables such as availability of more gas supply for generation and a reduced reliance on expensive light crude oil. “The PURC would in such circumstances factor these changes into any adjustment made in the future under the automatic adjustment formula,” it said. Calls for reduction Since the increases were announced, groups such as organised labour, the Socialist Forum of Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) had condemned the measure as unreasonable and insensitive and called for a downward review. A group calling itself Citizens Awake Forum threatened to stage a naked demonstration over what they said was the spate of corruption in the country and the recent utility tariff hikes. The leader of the group, Mr Ernest Kojo Smith, said the date was yet to be decided but the demonstration was expected to draw about 10,000 people from all the 10 regions of the nation. Another civil society group, the Truth and Accountability Forum (TAF), stated that it would stage a demonstration to force the PURC to reduce the utility tariffs. One of the leaders of TAF, Mr Shaka Salia, said the PURC had failed to ensure that the utility service providers gave good and reliable service to consumers, adding that the increment would overburden Ghanaians. Government’s intervention Consequently, President John Dramani Mahama set up a Technical Working Group to study the new tariffs and submit a recommendation for consideration. Taking into consideration the demands of organised labour and looking at various scenarios of tariffs, the group recommended a 60 per cent tariff to cover, at a minimum, the cost of generation and transmission. 10-day ultimatum Before the Technical Working Group submitted its report, organised labour, led by the Trades Union Congress, on Tuesday, October 8, held a press conference during which its Secretary General, Mr Kofi Asamoah, gave the government and the PURC a 10-day ultimatum to reduce the utility tariffs or face a nationwide strike. When the Technical Working Group’s report was ready, organised labour said it failed to address their concerns and, therefore, urged all workers in the formal and the informal sectors to lay down their tools on November 18 and also stage nationwide demonstrations. Daily Graphic/Ghana

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MFAD) has received cheques for various amounts totalling GH¢45,900, cash and items from 11 institutions in support of this year’s Farmers Day celebration.   The donation is to support the 29th Farmers Day celebration slated for the Volta Region on December 6, 2013. Gabassa Enterprise and Caitec Delta, an electrical company, each gave GH¢10,000, while Prudential Bank Limited and Owakus Enterprise each donated GH¢5,000.   The rest are: Zoom Alliance, GH¢2,000; Bilford Marine Services, GH¢1,000, and Veronica Enterprise, GH¢500. Texstyles Ghana Limited presented 200 pieces of wax cloths, amounting to GH¢10,000, with Special Ice Mineral Water donating 100 cartons of bottled water worth GH¢1,500. Traore and Brother, dealers in fishing equipment, presented nylon fishing nets and twine amounting to GH¢400, while the old students of the Ghana Secondary Technical School donated products worth GH¢500. The deputy minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, thanked the companies for their gesture and called on all Ghanaians to contribute towards the success of the celebration. He said over the past years the government had made huge investments in the agriculture sector, since the sector continued to be the backbone of the country’s economy. Daily Graphic/Ghana

The discovery of oil and gas, seen by many as a blessing, is turning into a misfortune for those directly involved in it, as 35 per cent of burns reported at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is from the petrochemical industry.   Incidentally, Ghana has only eight plastic surgeons, a number that is woefully inadequate to deal with the rising cases of burns. The frequent domestic and industrial fire outbreaks have also contributed to a rise in the cases of burns. Speaking at the opening of a three-day conference of the Pan African Burns Society in Accra, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the KBTH, Reverend Albert Botchway, stressed that “though many see the oil and gas discovery in Ghana and some other African countries as a blessing, ironically, injuries from petrochemical products accounted for 35 per cent of admissions to the Burns Centre in Korle Bu.” Burns-related injuries, according to Reverend Botchway, claim the lives of about 300,000 every year in developing countries, but very little attention, by way of infrastructure and resources, is given to burns treatment. He announced that to ensure patients received best care, the KBTH, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), would build a burns intensive care unit to augment the existing facilities at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre at the KBTH. Reconstructive plastic and burns surgery is a speciality of plastic surgery committed to the restoration of form and function of any body part. Plastic surgeons routinely deal with burns, facial, limbs, nerves, tendons and blood vessel injuries, skin cancers, birth anomalies, lymphoedema and cosmetic problems. The conference The meeting brought together about 100 participants from Canada, Benin, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Rwanda, and Togo. Among other things, the delegates shared ideas, networked and learnt best practices in dealing with burns cases, which according to the Director of the Ghana Ambulance Service, Dr Ahmed Nuhu Zakariah, could make patients carry both physical and emotional scars for life. While many lose their lives, those who survive burns, according to Dr Zakariah, lived with the disfigurement for life. He observed that the major challenge facing the African burns surgeons was the management of major burns. “Survival is greatly dependent on adequate therapeutic measures, including resuscitation, infection control, early wound closure and management of inhalation injury, among others.” The Pan African Burns Society Founded by its President, Dr Elbie Van der Merwe of South Africa, the society is working towards raising awareness of burns, which many governments have ignored, citing lack of resources as a major reason. Ghana, however, has a 68-bed Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre, which according to the Director of Administration at the MoH, is the only facility in West Africa. Daily Graphic/Ghana

The Kpone District Police Command has instituted investigations into an alleged attack on security men at the uncompleted Kpone Affordable Housing Project. The attackers, who were said to have injured two of the security persons,  Issaka Abdul Salam, 38, and Richard Safo, 32, also vandalised some of the houses. Police confirmation The Kpone District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Abraham Apusuyine, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic, said the victims had alleged that their attackers were members of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Task Force. He said the district police command had, accordingly, written to the management of TDC to release members of the task force who were on duty at the affordable housing unit on that particular day to the police for interrogation. Victims’ ordeal Narrating their ordeal, Salam said at 11 a.m. on October 28, 2013, the attackers, who were in khaki uniforms, rushed to the building and destroyed doors, fiberglass nets, construction equipment and personal belongings of the victims. He said the attackers claimed that their action was an administrative order but did not indicate which administration they were referring to. The buildings, some of which are almost complete, were left with broken doors, locks removed, nettings torn and material rooms vandalised.Salam disclosed that for some time now thieves had been threatening their lives in the area. He said before the attack, a warning had been sounded through neighbours in the vicinity that the security persons should either vacate the area or face the wrath of the attackers. Salam indicated that they were hired by the Ministry of Works and Housing to guard the area. One of the contractors, Madam Esther Armah, confirmed the attack and appealed to the government to consider their plight to avoid the situation in which the money spent would go down the drain. She denied that the project had been abandoned, adding that “we have our materials  and some workers there”. Daily Graphic/Ghana

Loan recipients and prospective ones should expect the rate of interest charged on the loans to come down following an easing in the benchmark interest rate, the 91-day Treasury bill.   According to an economist, chartered accountant and auditor, Dr Setor Amediku, going by the new formula the Bank of Ghana had agreed with commercial banks to use for determining their effective rates, borrowers should see the interest rates and loan repayment schedules reduce. Dr Amediku, who handles some of the technical issues regarding the financial services sector at the Bank of Ghana, was speaking in his private capacity to an elite class of customers who come under the personal banking clientele of Stanbic Bank Ghana. Stanbic Bank had brought that segment of their clientele – usually business owners and executives – to interact with them, receive feedback, while inviting experts to discuss issues on the economy, with emphasis on the opportunities available for the business community. “I expect that the interest on loans should drop as per the new formula,” Dr Amediku said, making reference to the fact that the new formula commercial banks used in calculating interest rates now has interest rates of government papers as a variable. The 91-Day Treasury bill started the year at around 23.03 per cent and the 182-Day bill at 22.99 per cent, with the 91-day ending the month at 22.80 per cent. In August, when the country went for the US$1 billion Eurobond, both rates started easing and have since been trending downwards. As of November 8, 2013, the 91-Day bill was 19.35 per cent, with the 182-Day settling at 19.25 per cent. Banks and other financial institutions would rather invest in the government papers, such as the treasury bills, when their interest are high, therefore, hold back the funds that would have gone to individuals, businesses or institutions that want to borrow from them. The best they do in such situations is to increase their effective interest rate above the government rates before lending to the public, thus making loan repayments biting on the borrower. Dr Amediku encouraged the business executives and other entrepreneurs in the country to devise innovative means of keeping their businesses afloat and also take advantage of opportunities which exist in the economy, in spite of the challenges besetting it. He said the challenges were partly due to the recession in some of the world’s advanced economies, as well as dwindling inflows from commodities due to global price reductions. The local economy had also had its own challenges emanating from power crises and the recent hikes in utility prices which would have impact on general output in the economy, and consequently on government inflows and outflows. The Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Mr Alhassan Andani, said the economy had a lot of prospects and local businesses should see the silver lining in the challenge and take advantage of them. “We started the year with the 91-Day treasury bill at 23 per cent. But this has come down by about four basis points. The three-year and five-year are all congregating on the same line. So this means there is hope, especially for those who need longer term facilities,” Mr Andani said. Mr Andani said from where he sat, he could see a lot of investor confidence in the economy and that the public discourse should focus on the positive sides of the economy and how to move things forward, rather than the cacophony of negative noise that hindered investor capital. Daily Graphic/Ghana

Organisers of the 2013 edition of West African Clean Energy and Environment Exhibition and Conference (WACEE’13) have launched an interactive online portal to connect buyers and sellers all week round.   The portal, known as Online Market Place, the first of its kind in West Africa, allows exhibitors and visitors to connect before, during and after the event, which starts tomorrow at the Accra International Conference Centre. According to the Head of Marketing and Public Relations of fairtrade, Mr Dominik Rzepka, more than 500 professionals from 27 countries have pre-registered online to visit the fair. The delegation of the German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana), in collaboration with the German trade fair specialist, and fairtrade, is organising the event with support from GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). A statement from the organisers said exhibitors of WACEE ’13 expected a Business to Business (B2B) audience of professionals from all over West Africa. The WACEE 13, slated for November 12-14, will present 41 international market and technology leaders from five countries and attracts key players of West Africa’s energy industry. For three days, the 41 exhibitors will discuss business with more than 800 expected professional trade visitors. Several Ghanaian ministries, notable sponsors and international institutions, including Energiebau and SMA Solar Technology, PwC and the Daily Graphic, are already supporting the B2B event which will have a free entry for its exhibition and conference for all professionals from the industry. The delegate of the German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana), Mr Patrick Martens, said the specialised conferences would follow immediately after the official opening of WACEE ’13 on Tuesday morning. “Ghanaian-German Renewables Business Forum – Setting the Ground for Sustainable Energy Development and a conference under the theme, ‘Achieving more with less: Resource and energy efficiency for a greener future,’ will be held alongside the trade fair,” he said in a statement made available to the Daily Graphic. In addition, the statement said, Germany would leave a heavy footprint at WACEE'13, with full participation consisting of the German Federal State of North-Rhine Westphalia and individual exhibitors. Daily Graphic/Ghana

First National Savings and Loans Ltd has introduced Internet banking services to enhance its service delivery with convenience, safety and fast banking for customers. The service allows the customer the opportunity to conduct basic banking services such as money transfers and checking of balances from the comfort of their homes, offices or shops through personal computers and smart-phones with Internet access. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First National, Mr Patrick Anumel, mentioned some of the E-banking products as Mpos, which was the device used in their branchless banking; automated teller machines (ATMs), E-Zwich services, SMS banking and electronic statements (E-statement). The CEO said the purpose of pursuing the E-banking products was to provide their customers with alternative delivery channels, adding “they don’t have to come to the banking hall at all times for them to access basic banking services.” The Head of Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Mr Franklin Belnye, commended the company for taking steps towards enhancing the quality of the country’s banking services. He added that continuing technological innovation and competition among existing banking institutions and new entrants had allowed for the supply of a wider array of banking products and services to retail and wholesale customers through various electronic distribution channels, collectively referred to as  E-banking.