4 GRAPHIC BUSINESS journalists shortlisted for IFEJ awards

4 GRAPHIC BUSINESS journalists shortlisted for IFEJ awards: FOUR business and financial journalists with the Graphic Business have been shortlisted by the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) for various awards.
The four - Ama Amankwah Baafi, Suleman Mustapha, Maxwell Akalaare Adombilla and Emmanuel Bruce are among 11 financial journalists...

St Louis SHS inducts 7th headmistress

St Louis SHS inducts 7th headmistress: St Louis SHS inducts 7th headmistress

St Louis SHS inducts 7th headmistress

St Louis SHS inducts 7th headmistress: St Louis SHS inducts 7th headmistress

Ghanaian exhibitors express mixed reaction over patronage at Lagos Fair

Ghanaian exhibitors express mixed reaction over patronage at Lagos Fair: Ghanaian exhibitors express mixed reaction over patronage at Lagos Fair

Graphic tops with 15 GJA 2017 Awards

Graphic tops with 15 GJA 2017 Awards: The Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) continues to dominate the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) awards.

Increase women participation in mining -Stakeholders demand

Increase women participation in mining -Stakeholders demand:

Government rolls out policies to enhance women participation in mining

“Until we empower women to actively participate in the entire mining
value chain, optimising sustainability to avoid exploitation of our
mineral resources will be difficult and we will not achieve the gains
that we derive from the sector,” Mrs Oteng-Gyasi noted.



Government rolls out policies to enhance women participation in mining:

Establish sanitation fund to address financing challenges

Establish sanitation fund to address financing challenges: Establish sanitation fund to address financing challenges

Divine Mercy Catholic Church (Accra-Ghana) walks to build

Divine Mercy Catholic Church (Accra-Ghana) walks to build: On Saturday, 13th of October 2018 at exactly 7 am, the Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Accra, Ghana undertook...

Ghana makes strides in national electrification • Challenges remain in off-grid areas

Ghana makes strides in national electrification  • Challenges remain in off-grid areas : Ghana makes strides in national electrification  • Challenges remain in off-grid areas

Lower interest rates in high NPLs regime unattainable — Prof Gatsi

Lower interest rates in high NPLs regime unattainable — Prof Gatsi: Lower interest rates in high NPLs regime unattainable — Prof Gatsi

SLOPSANS appeal for support towards GH2.7m dormitory project

SLOPSANS appeal for support towards GH2.7m dormitory project:

Alternative source of feed needed to sustain livestock production — Research

Alternative source of feed needed to sustain livestock production — Research: Alternative source of feed needed to sustain livestock production

New bonded warehousing regime starts Nov. 1

New bonded warehousing regime starts Nov. 1: New bonded warehousing regime starts Nov. 1

Meat imports crippling local production

Meat imports crippling local production:

6.8million Ghanaians are poor — GSS Survey

6.8million Ghanaians are poor — GSS Survey:

Stop encroaching on CSIR lands — Unions

Stop encroaching on CSIR lands — Unions:

Deal with the root cause of Cedi depreciation - Prof Gatsi to govt

Deal with the root cause of Cedi depreciation - Prof Gatsi to govt:

Cattle imports to threaten local production

Cattle imports to threaten local production:

Is God concerned about our economy?

Is God concerned about our economy?: Is God concerned about our economy?

Rural banks shun credit reports, conduct searches on only first-time borrowers

Rural banks shun credit reports, conduct searches on only first-time borrowers: Rural banks shun credit reports, conduct searches on only first-time borrowers

22.1 million Ghanaians rely on harmful cooking sources

22.1 million Ghanaians rely on harmful cooking sources: 22.1 million Ghanaians rely on harmful cooking sources

CORRECTION: Govt to lift ban on small-scale mining soon; Roadmap rolled out

CORRECTION: Govt to lift ban on small-scale mining soon; Roadmap rolled out: A roadmap for the government to lift the ban on small-scale mining was rolled out in Accra on Thursday.

Use of credit bureau services surge • More financial institutions access information

Use of credit bureau services surge • More financial institutions access information: Use of credit bureau services surge • More financial institutions access information

‘Mentor youth to discover talents’

‘Mentor youth to discover talents’: ‘Mentor youth to discover talents’

Strategise to address gender inequalities in agric sector

Strategise to address gender inequalities in agric sector: A study on the impacts of climate variability has recommended that government policy addressing climate change in the agriculture sector should identify and implement options for each unique climate distress event that will reduce variability of the different gender groupings.

Monitoring of oil projects in B/A exposes low supervision

Monitoring of oil projects in B/A exposes low supervision: Monitoring of oil projects in B/A exposes low supervision

Pay mining royalties monthly — Steve Manteaw

Pay mining royalties monthly — Steve Manteaw: Pay mining royalties monthly
— Steve Manteaw

Pay mining royalties monthly — Steve Manteaw

Pay mining royalties monthly — Steve Manteaw: Pay mining royalties monthly
— Steve Manteaw

Nation loses US$1.4bn yearly - Illicit financial flows in extractive sector to blame

Nation loses US$1.4bn yearly - Illicit financial flows in extractive sector to blame: Ghana on the average loses US$1.4 billion annually in the natural resources sector to illicit financial flows (IFFS), a report has indicated.

Coalition slams govt over AngloGold agreement

Coalition slams govt over AngloGold agreement: The National Coalition on Mining (NCOM), has described as illegal the fiscal and development agreement between Ghana and AngloGold Ashanti (Ghana) Limited, and further asserted that it will remain, even after Parliament has ratified it.

PPP can boost agric productivity — Study

PPP can boost agric productivity — Study: PPP can boost agric productivity — Study

Minerals Commission advocates integrated approach to artisanal mining

Minerals Commission advocates integrated approach to artisanal mining: Minerals Commission advocates integrated approach to artisanal mining

Blueprint for cattle ranches ready

Blueprint for cattle ranches ready: Blueprint for cattle ranches ready

Solidaridad to support responsible mining

Solidaridad to support responsible mining: Solidaridad to support responsible mining

Comply with mineral devt laws

An expert in the extractives sector, Mr Emmanuel Kuyole, has criticised the country's persistent and deliberate violation of tax laws during the signing of mineral development agreements.
He said the country had a lot of laws in the mining, oil and gas sectors, but did not always comply with them when it came to signing extractive sector agreements.

Workshop
My Kuyole, the Executive Director at the Centre for Extractives and Development, Africa (CEDA), noted that the 35 per cent corporate tax for the mining sector was sometimes reduced to 32 per cent during the development agreements, while some were exempted from paying local taxes.
"We violate the laws and when we even enact some specific legislations, we don't follow to the letter," he stated in an interview at a workshop on the "Need for Ghana to have a Mining Revenue Act" at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
The Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ), in collaboration with the German Development Corporation (GIZ), organised the workshop for selected journalists from across the country.

Other challenges
Mr Kuyole indicated that there were a lot of give-aways during contracting in the mining sector, and that the revenue due the country had become a function of some fiscal terms in some of the agreements.
He said there was too much focus on taxes, whereas an analysis showed there were a lot of opportunities the sector presented to the economy.
"The government tends to focus so much on the tax revenue to the neglect of local content, even though we can use that to build linkages with the rest of the economy,” he explained.

Mining sector to growth
The mining and quarry sector contributed GH¢1.3 billion and GH¢1.65 billion in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
The country recently granted tax concessions to Anglogold Ashanti. Therefore, the company will not be paying royalties at the current five per cent but three per cent, and has a US$177 million waiver on imported items due to stability agreements.

Mining for development
The Minerals Development Fund Act, 2016 (Act 912) was passed to provide financial resources for the benefit of mining communities and for related matters.
According to Mr Kuyole, there was a consistent violation because till date no regulations had been developed to back the law, although it was required within a year after it was passed.
“There is no board, and the 20 per cent community development scheme that is supposed to be sent to mining communities have not been sent.
“Since 2011, consistently no disbursement has been made,” he pointed out.
In 2017/2018, the Ministry of Finance has decided to apply the capping law and capped the Minerals Development Fund to 12.5 per cent instead of the 20 per cent.
"So far, only 3.2 per cent out of the 12.5 has been disbursed. When we do this, there is no way we are going to see development in the mining communities because the resources needed for their development are not being sent," he stated.
Mr Kuyole also indicated that there had been no comme                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               nsurate development in the mining communities after all the years of mining, and so it was important not to give away a lot during the signing of agreements.
"We should ensure that even what is currently allocated to the mining communities is sent, while we follow through to ensure they are used for important projects that will bring about improvement in the lives of the people," he added.

The Africa Economic Outlook report for 2018 has recommended urgent tax reforms in the mining sector which holds great potential for revenue generation in African countries.

Trade agreement too narrow and hasty — Yao Graham

Trade agreement too narrow and hasty — Yao Graham: Trade agreement too narrow and hasty — Yao Graham

Nation loses US$1.4bn yearly - Illicit financial flows in extractive sector to blame

Nation loses US$1.4bn yearly - Illicit financial flows in extractive sector to blame: Ghana on the average loses US$1.4 billion annually in the natural resources sector to illicit financial flows (IFFS), a report has indicated.

Savings and Loans Association urges public to deal with only licensed institutions

Savings and Loans Association urges public to deal with only licensed institutions: Savings and Loans Association urges public to deal with only licensed institutions

Adhere to conventions on crop chemicals — Dr Clottey urges authorities

Adhere to conventions on crop chemicals — Dr Clottey urges authorities: Adhere to conventions on crop chemicals — Dr Clottey urges authorities

Concerted efforts needed to promote responsible timber trade

Concerted efforts needed to promote responsible timber trade: Concerted efforts needed to promote responsible timber trade

Sub-Saharan Africa to receive £25M in new programme aimed at early career scientists

A new sub-Saharan Africa grant scheme, Future Leaders – African Independent Researchers (FLAIR) Fellowships, opens for applications today (21 May 2018). The scheme offers talented African early career researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their field, the opportunity to develop an independent research career in a sub-Saharan African institution.

The programme is being run in partnership with the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Royal Society, with support from the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund.

The aims of the FLAIR fellowship programme are:

• Developing Africa’s next generation of research leaders - supporting talented early career African researchers to establish their scientific independence, focus on developing their research and become leaders in their chosen discipline covering natural sciences.
   
• Supporting excellent research - enabling African researchers to address areas of global significance across the natural sciences through high-quality research, advancing knowledge and innovation which aims to benefit their country and address aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals.
   
• Enhancing research environments - working through relevant partners, awards will contribute towards institutional research capacity strengthening and establishing good financial grants practice in African universities and research institutions.
   
• Fostering collaboration and impact – establishing mutually beneficial long-term links between African Fellows and UK researchers to harness the expertise of the UK research base through equitable partnerships and enhancing knowledge exchange and translation into sustainable policy and practical benefits.

Professor Richard Catlow, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society said:

“We are delighted to have joined in partnership with the African Academy of Sciences, and are looking forward to working together with support from the Global Challenges Research Fund, to launch the FLAIR Fellowships.

“Science is a truly global endeavour that benefits from a diversity of approaches and experiences. Our ambition for FLAIR is that it will help to establish the next generation of leading African scientists, supporting them in partnership with the African Academy of Sciences to realise their goals and forge independent paths in research, whilst addressing the global challenges that are directly relevant to their countries and developing countries more broadly. FLAIR also provides an opportunity for these future leading scientists to tap into the network of scientific excellence that both the Academies’ represent, to take advantage of training and mentoring opportunities, as well as building lasting connections and international collaborations with peers across Africa and UK scientists.”

Prof Felix Dapare Dakora, AAS President said: “The AAS sees postdoctoral training as a critical stepping-stone to a successful research career and to promote globally competitive research in African universities and research institutions.
This partnership with the Royal Society enables us to address critical gaps in the continent’s research capacity to ensure thriving ecosystems and catalyse science-driven enterprises as well as to help African scientists to develop their careers and to support them to provide solutions to improve the quality of lives for all Africans.”

---ENDS---

Ex-staff of Capital, UT banks to petition president over severance pay - Graphic Online

Ex-staff of Capital, UT banks to petition president over severance pay - Graphic Online: Ex-staff of the erstwhile Capital and UT banks are to petition President Akufo-Addo over delays in the payment of their exit packages, eight months after the collapse of their former employers.

Growing ‘Okada’ business; Time to act is now

Growing ‘Okada’ business; Time to act is now: Commercial motorcycle riders, popularly known as ‘okada’ riders, are having a field day in the national capital, Accra where heavy vehicular traffic is common. The traffic starts right from the morning, normally referred to as the ‘rush hour’ when most commuters leave home to transact their businesses. It is the same from 5 p.m. when most commuters are returning home after a hard day’s work.

Bush meat bounces back - Four years after Ebola

 

The once vibrant and lucrative bush meat market collapsed during the outbreak of the deadly ebola virus that hit some neighbouring countries four years ago.

Although Ghana did not record any case, stories that the disease was caused by bush meat scared many lovers of the Ghanaian delicacy from patronising the meat, rendering the market a completely dead one.

Bush meat is incontrovertibly a delicacy in the Ghanaian society enjoyed by all and sundry yet, news of the virus ruined livelihoods of Ghanaians in the game business, popularly known as ‘bush meat’ (grasscutter, deer and antelope).
Traders across the bush meat value chain, including hunters, retailers, wholesalers, bar operators and bush meat/ kebab retailers along some of the major roads across the country had their businesses run down.
Traders recount / narrate
A visit to Mankesim, through Winneba, both in the Central Region and major commercial centres for bush meat revealed that most traders totally had their businesses crashed and are now trying to pick themselves up.

The usual bustle of hawking of grasscutter (akrantee) kebab by traders was missing. Most of the women traders have diverted to selling bread, boiled egg, ‘abolo’and sea food such as fried octopus to be able to earn a living.

Most chop bar operators at Mankesim, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that hitherto, their bush meats were highly patronised such that latest by 1pm, one could not get some of the bush meat to buy.

However, the announcement that bush meat caused ebola changed customers taste from bush meat to dried fish and goat meat.

A chop bar operator at the Esuhye Lorry Station, Maame Efua Essilfua, said she had been in the business for over 20 years after inheriting it from her mother, and that she used to prepare meals with about five large-sized akrantee a day but during the ebola scare, she struggled to sell just one.

“Sales reduced drastically during the crisis. When people come to buy food and they realise it was akrantee they left. But now I can say akrantee sales has picked up. There is a change,” she said.

Another chop bar operator, who uses only fresh akrantee to prepare meals lamented that during the outbreak, he struggled to sell even two pieces of the meat.

“It really affected us. I personally found it difficult to believe it was the cause of the outbreak because it basically feeds on green leaves,”

“If you visit my bar around 12 noon, it will be difficult for you to get some of the bush meat to buy. However, since the announcement that bush meat causes ebola, not even a single customer has been here to ask of bush meat”,

“Customers’ preferences have changed from bush meat to goat meat and dried fish so we did not have any choice than to stop selling it,” he added.


Raw bush meat traders
The numerous spots along the Winneba -Mankesim road, usually inundated with bush meat, are being gradually reoccupied, unlike the empty sheds that characterised them during the period of ebola.

At Ekumfi Dunkwa, Mr Paul Cobbina, a trader of fresh and broiled bush meat of various kinds, said they could provide basic necessaries of life for their wives and children before the ebola crisis.

On weekends alone (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) he realised GH2,000 from the sale of bush meat not to talk of the week.

He said most of them had taken loans from banks and resorted to selling their vehicles to repay because their businesses totally collapsed.

At times, they were left to either consume the meat themselves or allow them to rot and throw them away.

“It happened that a whole month I couldn’t sell even one bush meat because all my retailers in our local market and other areas such as Accra, Cape Coast and Takoradi stopped buying from me as they also lost business,” he recalled.

He continued, “We really suffered. Commuters resorted to teasing us by shouting ebola oh, ebola oh. In fact, I decided to stop the trade.”

However, Mr Cobbina and his colleagues made some sales, especially during the Christmas festivities when bush meat was not in season.

Mr Kofi Nyarko, who has been  in the bush meat trading since 1979, also said  he was hit severely by the ebola problem.

“From a sale of about 10 bush meats daily I sold nothing during the outbreak. Thank God that now I can sell about six daily,” he recounted.

Price range
Big size of bush meat now sells at a maximum of GH₵200 and medium size from GH₵80 to GH₵150, while broiled one goes for a maximum of GH₵150 for large size and GH₵100 for medium size.

“The price rise indicates that but for the ebola crisis, the price of bush would have soared  by now and we will be making good business,” Mr Cobbina said.

The Ebola Virus Disease
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines the Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, as a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. There were more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined. It also spread between countries, starting in Guinea then moving across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment proven to neutralise the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.

Artisanal miners want public educated on operations

Participants in a forum on sustainable practices in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in the country have called for more education on their operations to help clear the negative perception about the sector.

They said it was unfortunate that often, ASM was associated with illegal small-scale mining popularly known as galamsey, therefore, it was important to correct the notion because they were a vital part of the economy.

In an interview, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners, Mr Godwin Armah, disabused the minds of the gathering that small scale miners were all galamsey operators.
“We have been stigmatised for far too long. The fact that there are miscreants doesn’t mean we all are. The media has never been interested in the ASM sector until Operation Vanguard began so it is about time to follow through,” he stated.

Mr Armah added that the media should apprise itself with the differences between the ASM and galamsey and understand the mining methods employed by the licensed ASM operators.

Effective regulation
The Coordinator of the Third World Network (TWN-Africa), Dr Yao Graham, in an interview said because of the numbers of the ASM, it would require a much bigger decentralised state machinery to manage it on a large scale???

He deduced that the institutional mechanisms for managing the mining sector was devised primarily for large scale mining and that there was no institutional machinery to support the small-scale sector.

“The institutional machinery has not caught up with that. How do we accelerate it to take account of the small-scale sector not only in mining and gold but all business sectors?” he said.
He noted that there was a national uproar around ASM, looking at its perverse situation due to issues of galamsey operations in there, and which required a strong multi-dimensional approach.

Operation vanguard 
Some participants expressed concern that the government’s resolve to end illegal mining / galamsey through a ban on ASM generally, had brought real challenges with subsequent effects on the economy.

The Chairman of the Federation of Gold Jewelers Association, Mr Shallovern Srodah, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that gold was their major raw material and that currently, they had none to work with.

 “Our source isn’t from the multinationals but from ASMs. Most of us have closed our workshops. The ban has also affected the value chain and not only ASM operators,” he said.

Mr Srodah argued that for some Ghanaians to take steps to obtain license to operate legally in the presence of illegal mining should rather encourage the nation to support them instead of banning their activities as well.

“I cannot imagine the minister for transport announcing that because of the increase in accidents, all vehicles should come to a stop. We must find a suitable way to deal with the issue or else, there will be chaos,” he added.

Angloga fishermen cry for government’s support

“Only two people in our community here own canoes.

We are forced to hire a canoe at GH₵10 daily to fish because we cannot afford to buy a canoe at the cost of GH₵1,200 in addition to the fishing nets,” Nana Kojo Mmoyin, a fisherman with over 40 years experience at Angloga, (aka Akosua Village), a fishing community in Winneba, sums up the daily plight of fisherfolks.
 According to the fisherman, whose main source of income has been fishing, they have survived all these years through ingenious means and that continues to impact negatively on their businesses, hence it was time for government to come to their aid.

Sharing insights into the fishing trade with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS team in Winneba, he said assistance to get their own canoes and other inputs such as net to work with at a subsidised fee would ensure regular supply of fishing inputs which will have a positive impact on their businesses.

Nana Mmoyin said the lack of support for them as fishermen has been the case all these years and thus appealed to the member of parliament, the government, individuals and organisations to help their business by assisting them with the tools they use.

Fishing at Akosua village

There is a perception that living by the seashore may pose a danger during storms but that aside, the benefits outweigh the risks.

According to Nana Mmoyin, living by the sea gives one access to its numerous resources.

“With fish, crabs and other seafoods in our backyard, making a living isn’t that hard. If you are not lazy you can make a good livelihood out of what we have here,” he said.
  Nana Mmoyin explained that he feeds his family out of what his daily catch and sells the rest for cash.

“At least I have been able to live a productive life for the past 40 years through fishing. At least I can cater for my seven children, so I will say it is lucrative,” he stated.

Thirty-four-year-old Mr David Nimoh was originally a carpenter  has for the past four years resorted to fishing to earn a living because he no longer finds carpentry lucrative due.

He can sell between GH₵40 to GH₵60 worth of fish a day.

“If you remain focused you can make it in life through fishing,” he said.
Tales of a fishmonger
 

Madam Rebecca Tetteh preparing fish for a client

Madam Rebecca Tetteh started her trade around 1979 but said she has been unable to expand due to lack of access to capital.
As a result, she buys most of her inputs on credit to be able to sell her clients in Accra and surrounding towns.
“I buy everything I need to work on credit, so all the profit goes to my suppliers. If oil cost GH140 they give to me at GH₵170, firewood at GH₵150 is  to me at GH₵220, so not much comes to me,” she narrated.
Her son, Emmanuel Addy, corroborated that her mother, like other fishmongers, mostly women, needs financial help.
“I completed senior high school in 2011 and I have plans to become an engineer but there is no help from anywhere I have been forced to learn driving as trade,” he lamented.

ChallengeAnother problem fishermen face at the community is the cost of fishing net at GH₵500. They were appalled that help has never reached them, despite the numerous promises to assist them especially during electioneering campaigns.

Life at Akosua village

It is a community of about 500 inhabitants with access to social amenities such as electricity and water, though not all can afford.
The main economic activity is fishing. It has a school now, unlike formerly when pupils walked about three miles to attend school.
The months of August and September are their main fishing season and they do not fish on Wednesdays.

History has it that they migrated from the Volta Region about 100 years ago in search of fishing.

An opinion leader, Efo Kofi Ahiadzor, appealed to the authorities to fix the road network in the village.

Food security

Fish is the most important source of animal protein and is consumed in all regions of Ghana, providing Ghanaians with up to 60 per cent of their animal protein requirements, states the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

For local consumption, fish is available in many forms, including fresh, smoke-salted, dried, salted and dried, canned and fried.

The FAO says the fisheries sector contributes significantly to Ghana’s economy in terms of food security, employment, poverty alleviation and foreign exchange revenues, with 4.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 12 per cent of the agricultural GDP, 10 per cent of the labour force, and supports the livelihoods of 10 per cent of Ghana’s population. —

writer’s email: ama.baafi@graphic.com.gh

GAWU galvanises support for women in agric

The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), has called for pragmatic means to alleviate the challenges facing women in the agricultural sector.

 

 Women make essential contribution to the agriculture sector in Ghana

Its General Secretary, Mr Edward Kareweh, said women in the sector faced enormous challenges, which when targeted, would eventually alleviate the challenges facing men and all others involved in agric.

In an interview in Accra on the International Women’s Day on March 8, 2018, Mr Kareweh indicated the contribution of women to the sector have been enormous and constituted the bedrock of agric.
He said rural agric was key to the sustainability of the sector generally in the country and that, women were highly represented and played a key role from production to distribution and to marketing.
“They normally do distribution. They carry the foodstuffs from the farm gate to the house whether for family use or for other purposes. Also, transporting to the market to sell is generally done by women,” he stated.
Challenges

Women lack access to credit to improve their agric activities, some largely due to social and cultural underpinnings.

They face the vagaries of transporting products to the market as they sit on the products in the buckets of trucks so presents a risk.
Again, the environment at the markets within which they sell the products are so poor.
The effect, according to Mr Kareweh, is that they are not as successful in agric as their male counterparts.

“One would expect that any form of relief or support will go to them but rather opposite.
It’s a paradoxical situation such that despite their predominant role they lack basic things,” he said.
  Realising their full potential
He noted that the agribusiness side was not well developed but left to the survival of the fittest and which often put women at a disadvantage.
However, if the system is regularised, structured and have rules that people can play by, the women could also become more effective.
“If the system provides some protection for anybody who wants play by the rules, that again will allow those women who want to go into agric do it just like the normal work place where the rules are clear and recognises everybody as equal,” he stated.
All these remedies, Mr Kareweh said even provide some level of protection and help women to explore their potential but did not seem to be the case of agric.

He emphasised the need to address these challenges, make it much formal and predictable so that women will know their boundaries, responsibilities and rights.
“We can’t seek to grow agric when we do not address the fundamentals of operating in that sector and if we don’t also focus on addressing the needs of women as major stakeholders.
We simply have to address their needs in terms of distributing at the marketing level and we will do a great service to them than mere rhetoric,” he said.

He added that the farmers awards programme should consider special prizes for women in various aspects of agric to take cognisance of the gender inequalities and different levels of access to opportunities within the sector.
International Women’s Day
This year day was marked on the theme: “Press for Progress”. It is marked yearly to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity across the globe.

I

Group proposes measures to manage fall army worm

The Ghana National Learning Alliance (GH-NLA), a stakeholder learning platform to discuss research findings and share knowledge and information to improve agricultural productivity, has said a multi-stakeholder action is key to check the entry and spread of fall armyworm (FAW) which attacks crops.

The FAW, known to have been in the country since 2016, became very visible in 2017 when large hectares of cropped fields particularly, maize, was attacked.

The facilitator of GH-NLA, Dr Naaminong Karbo, in an interview said about six types of pathways of entry were known.

These include contaminant of a commodity, stowaway on a vector and unaided wind dispersal. Generally, introduction takes the form of eggs, caterpillar, pupae or adults and or a combination of any of these.

 

The fall armyworm attacks maize and feeds on a range of other crops, including millet, sorghum, rice, wheat, sugar cane and vegetables. 

 

The spread of FAW
Dr Karbo said the adult moths fly actively and were known to move over long distances with air currents before depositing mass of eggs. This forms part of the wind–assisted method of spread.

“Transfer as a contaminant of a commodity, for example, fresh plant produce such as pepper, potato, tomato, fruits, cut flowers, seeds and other plant parts are mechanisms of transfer and spread within and between countries,” he stated.

Prevention 
The West Africa Regional Coordinator of the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), Dr Victor Attuquaye Clottey, said the FAW prevention called for a combination of strong phyto-sanitary precautions with thorough quarantine checks when trading in fresh produce between the countries.

He said farm and off-farm-hygiene within country will contribute to keeping FAW below acceptable thresholds and that transport systems such as aircrafts, haulage trucks and buses, plying between countries will require regular checks and sanitisation because the egg masses can be laid on inorganic materials and transported across borders.

“Pheromones as repellants and attractant traps may also be employed in the prevention of spread of FAW. Check excessive use of chemicals that may destroy the natural enemy of the FAW. Promote good agronomic practices, maintain crop diversity or intercropping, effective on farm monitoring (at least scout once a week) agro-ecological farming among farmers,” he stated.

Also, once there is the occurrence of FAW, using a combination of control methods– Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is ideal.

The GH-NLA
As a pillar of the Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Research and Learning in Africa (SAIRLA), a five-year programme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom (UK), the Alliance, seeks to generate new evidence and design tools and enable policy makers, researchers and private sector actors to engage regularly.

It is being facilitated by CABI with support from the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-STEPRI), under the auspices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The FAW invasion    
As at November last year, the government announced that it had expended about GH¢10 million on insecticides to combat the FAW outbreak.

More than 112,000 hectares of farm fields were invaded by the pests across the country.

ACP seeks a win-win trade relation with EU

https://www.graphicbusinessonline.com/govt-business/acp-seeks-a-win-win-trade-relation-with-eu



 The Africa Trade Network (ATN) has rejected attempts to transform and extend the failed paradigm and agenda of the current Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) into a future relationship between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (EU).

 The ATN said any future relationship between the ACP and the EU must be one that creates space and support for strategic initiatives in the ACP countries individually and collectively, to transform their primary commodity economies, industrialise, and adopt strategies for development based on the needs and priorities of the people.

A communique issued by the ATN after a two-day consultative seminar in Accra on the Africa-EU relations after the expiration of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) called on the ACP countries to rise above their obsession with aid from the EU, which was already diminished in value and has been transformed by the EU into a means of promoting European corporate interest.

“Instead, they must concentrate on delivering on their long-standing obligation to the citizenry of a vision and agenda for the inclusive, equitable and gender-sensitive transformation of their economies, driven by their own self-determined national and regional imperatives built primarily on their human and natural resources, and in a manner that best equips their societies to meet the challenges of our times,” the communique stated.

Some participants at the seminar. Picture: Maxwell Ocloo 

 

The consultative seminar
It was hosted by the TWN-Africa with support from OXFAM.

The CPA succeeded the Lomé Convention, first signed in 1975 and renewed for four successive times until 1999, and for which a quarter of a century defined the trade and economic ties between the ACP countries and the EU.

 It is almost two decades since the CPA came into being. Its promise was that European aid, in the context of comprehensive reciprocal trade liberalisation and economic deregulation, and managed by politics of mutual respect, would contribute to modernise the ACP economies and deliver the proclaimed benefits of globalisation. 

The EPA processes
According to the ATN, attempts to conclude the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), a key element of the CPA, got stranded over the EU's agenda that sought to open the ACP economies for the free entry of European goods and free operation of European investors, while undermining the capacity of the ACP governments to give preferential support to domestic products, producers and investors.

The Executive Director of the TWN-Africa, Dr Yao Graham, said the contestations around the EPAs and the CPA, as well as the broader development in the global political economy over the past 20 years, raises issues of equitable development that must be addressed as part of any possible post-Cotonou framework.

He said that for the 79 countries in the ACP, Europe remains a very important part of the political-economic regime within which the countries operate.

“The EPA threatened to pull us off in different regional directions, but we survived. The Post-Cotonou offers a chance for us, in terms of geography and political pattern, a return to a much bigger unity in terms of how the ATN works,” he said.

The Head of Political Economy Unit at the TWN, Mr Gyekye Tanoh, said if developing countries continued to deepen their integration with the powerful northern economies, as rapacious as they are, under conditions of simultaneously increasing trade and financial liberalisation, they may be piling up a mess.

“You are undermining the possibility of building and transforming productivity in your own economy. You are undermining the possibility of using all these tools to enhance competitiveness or to safeguard against global volatility,” he said. 

“In fact, the only way of keeping up is through devaluation, impoverishing people and deflating domestic values assets,” he added.

Future relationship
The ATN has demanded that in the future the EU-ACP trade and investment framework should protect ACP producers and domestic and regional markets; respect the principles of non-reciprocity and special and differential rights; exclude the pressure for trade and investment liberalisation; and support the space of the ACP countries to formulate and pursue their own development strategies, and choose their own allies and formulate their own positions in international fora even at the World Trade Organisation.

“As free trade agreements, the discredited EPAs have no place in any future relationship with Europe. Thus, further planned or intended negotiations aimed at broadening or deepening the EPAs must cease,” it stated.

It added that the EPAs that have so far been adopted must not be implemented, while the ATN expressed solidarity with the countries that have so far refused to sign any form of the EPAs.

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Stable prices of goods prior to Xmas

By Ama Amankwah Baafi & Jessica Acheampong
With just a few days to the celebration of Christmas, traders have positioned themselves in the markets in anticipation of a sales boom this season.
They have displayed a wide variety of goods which are mostly patronised by shoppers during the Yuletide. In shops, big or small, on table tops on the pavements of every street in the business district of Accra, for instance, traders are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to attract the most of shoppers during the period.

Price trends
 On a  visit to the various market centres in Accra, it was revealed that unlike some other years, the prices of goods meant for the celebration of Christmas have remained fairly stable, perhaps, as a result of the fierce competition among the traders.
At the CBD area, which is the hub of trading in clothing and other personal accessories, brand new kids clothing are going for GH¢35 upwards, just around the same price last year. Similarly, shoes for kids are ranging between GH¢25 and GH¢40 depending on the type and quality preferred by customers. Also, Christmas hats, sunglasses, hairbands and watches for kids are also selling for between GH¢2 and GH¢10.
Women and men apparel, sewn with different materials and in assorted colours and designs are also from GH¢40 upwards, while prices of shoes also start at the same price.
For those who desire to sew their own clothes, there is also on display, a wide array of lace, flowered and plain materials both locally made and imported, on display. Some of the cloths are going for between GH¢8 and GH¢15 per yard depending on the quality. Valuable, authentic Ghanaian prints such as Printex, ATL and GTP are going for a minimum of GH¢85 for six yards.
Also on display are decorative Christmas items from GH¢10 upwards. For instance, a 4-feet green Christmas tree is going for GH¢32 on the average.
For food items, depending on the brand, a 5-litre bottle of cooking oil sells at GH¢40 upwards, 2 litres for GH¢22 and one litre at GH¢8.
A large-sized canned mackerel goes from GH¢4 upwards depending on the brand; corned beef is also selling at GH¢8 at the least.
Rice is a common staple during festive seasons and this is the period when traders in this common staple make money.  On the average, a 5-kg bag of rice is selling at GH¢27, 25kg at GH¢140, 50kg from GH¢200 upwards depending on the brand (local or imported rice).
A 5kg live broiler goes from GH¢45 upwards, while the layer is selling at GH¢40 upwards.  For food stuffs, about five medium-sized tubers of cassava go for GH¢5. A tuber of yam is selling at GH¢5, a bunch of plantain at GH¢15 upwards.
A medium-sized basket full of tomatoes sells at GH¢65, pepper at GH¢20, onions at GH¢30 while garden eggs is going for GH¢12.
 A quantity of fresh vegetables such as sweet pepper, carrots, spring onions, cabbage, lettuce, green beans are also selling from GH¢5.
A carton of non-alcoholic beverage sells at GH¢20 while the alcoholic beverages are from GH¢70.

Christmas promotions
Many companies have also taken advantage of the season and are currently running promotions on various items ranging from kids’ clothes, hair extensions, ladies accessories and other items on online platforms, as well as in the market places where they have their outlets.
Also heavily advertised are electrical appliances such as fridges, cookers, washing machines, blenders, television sets and mobile phones among many others. These are also displayed in different brands with traders pricing to outdo each other.

What the traders say
Interactions with traders, however, revealed that they were divided in their expectations of how sales would turn, due to the apparent slow start in business.
While some are hopeful of increasing sales, others have given up on any anticipated boom in sales, explaining that sales would have picked up by now if they were indeed in for a bumper harvest during this festive season.
Although the traders are fully ready for business, it appears patrons are yet to catch up with the euphoria that would translate in more cash for the traders.
While some have gone as far as reducing their wares by 50 per cent, others have varied theirs between 10 and 30 per cent all in a bid to boost sales.
Hair extensions that originally cost GH¢900 have been slashed to GH¢450. Prices of mobile phones have also been discounted with companies running various adverts in both the traditional and social media ahead of the festive season.  

Good sales
For Madam Ophelia Nyantakyi who trades in men’s shirts, children’s clothing and ladies handbags, business was good. She expressed optimism that sales would pick up during the Christmas break.
She said no matter how slow sales turned out, she was able to at least sell some of her wares before going home.  
“Business is good because this year is better than last year. Since school reopened, people have been buying so I have been able to continue trading without going for a loan to buy goods this Christmas.”
“At least we have some capital to trade with this Christmas. I know sales will pick up so there is no cause for worry,” she said in an interview.
Another trader, Mr Charles Kumi, who deals in men’s footwear, told the team that although sales hadn’t been stable, it was likely to pick up in a few days to Christmas.
“Yesterday, for instance, I made GH¢600 but three days earlier it was about GH¢1,200. It is not stable but I believe that sales would pick up starting from next week,” he said.
For some traders who interjected intermittently during the interviews, the fact that they were alive and could even come to the market to trade was enough motivation that sales would be good.


" At least we have some capital to trade with this Christmas. I know sales will pick up so there is no cause for worry."


Slow sales
For a section of the traders, last year’s Christmas was more lucrative for them compared to this year as they were yet to fully come to terms with how sales would turn out in the next few days.
During an interaction with Madam Grace Quansah who sells ladies accessories, she said, sales had been very slow and she was yet to see the excitement heralding the festive season.
Although she was expecting sales to pick up, she wasn’t so excited about the slow nature of business in the build-up to Christmas.
“Let me be honest with you, this year’s sales have been very slow. Last year was far better,” she said.

KEYNOTE
The Christmas season is a time where traders expect to record bumper sales. Although this is yet to materialise for many of them, there is still hope that they would rake in some few cedis before the New Year.    

Labour Commission needs support

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises has urged the Ministry of Finance to consider the role of the National Labour Commission (NLC) in fostering national peace on the labour front as an important national priority and timeously release funds to facilitate its operations.
It also recommended that adequate funds be made available to enable the NLC to build the capacity of its human resource, most of whom, it said, lacked the requisite knowledge and expertise in labour and industrial dispute resolution issues.
The recommendations were made by the committee in its report on the 2018 annual budget estimates for the NLC.
Challenges
The Select Committee has also recommended a review of the Labour Act, Act 651, 2003 to make the NLC more responsive to current issues in the labour market.
The committee observed that the NLC had operated with various challenges since the passage of the Labour Act; and that currently, the commissioners work part-time and sit once a week, and it was not allowed to generate funds internally to support its operations.
It has no offices in the other regions and districts, apart from a small office in Takoradi manned by one staff.
Consequently, all cases from the various parts of the country have to be settled in Accra, which puts a lot of pressure on the commission and also creates difficulties for many complainants in other parts of the country.     
“The NLC plays an important role in promoting national security and peaceful industrial environment. It is imperative for the commission to be given all the necessary support and the requisite resources to enable it to effectively pursue its mandate to the benefit of the country,” the report by the committee said.
Budget allocation
The committee further recommended that Parliament approves the allocation of GH¢6,277,229 million to the NLC for the 2018 fiscal year.
The commission was allocated a sum of GH¢2,863,532 million for the implementation of its programmes and activities in 2017.
The 2018 amount, which shows an increase of 119 per cent over that of 2017, saw compensation accounting for GH¢2,490.529 (39.7 per cent), compared to GH¢1,450,516 in 2017; goods and services GH¢2,786,700, against GH¢1,313,016 in 2017 and capital expenditure GH¢1,000,000, compared to ¢in 2017.
Following the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2018 financial year to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the annual budget estimates of the NLC were referred to the Committee on Employment by the Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders (140(4) and 184) of Parliament.
Subsequently, the committee held a meeting with the Executive Secretary of the NLC, Mr Ofosu Asamoah, and his technical team on December 12, 2017 and considered the referral.
The NLC explained that the increase in compensation was to cater for the payment of salaries and related allowances of 41 personnel at post.
It is also meant for the replacement of three resigned staff and the recruitment of four personnel for the head office and six personnel for new offices to be established.



"It is significant to note that 87 per cent of industrial disputes on issues that could have triggered industrial strikes were resolved by the commission. Furthermore, it received and paid a total amount of GH¢562,479.75 as compensation to beneficiaries following settlement of their cases"
 2017 performance
 The report by the committee said as of October last year, the NLC had a little over 50 per cent of its total allocation released, with no release made for capital expenditure, which is said to have affected the NLC’s ability to expand infrastructure and procure critical office equipment.
This notwithstanding, the commission, on the average, was able to resolve 56 per cent of the cases it received.
“It is significant to note that 87 per cent of industrial disputes on issues that could have triggered industrial strikes were resolved by the commission. Furthermore, it received and paid a total amount of GH¢562,479.75 as compensation to beneficiaries following settlement of their cases,” the report said.
The committee recommended the effort of the NLC, particularly in areas of dispute resolution and industrial harmony, given the resource constraints within which it operated in 2017.

Outlook
The NLC will, in 2018, open three regional offices in Kumasi, Tamale and Sunyani and also revamp its Takoradi office; organise enterprise-based training on labour issues for identified sectors; and undertake sensitisation programmes for labour market players for effective labour/management cooperation.
It will also organise training programmes for its staff and strengthen the institutional capacity of the commission to enable it to effectively to manage industrial disputes.

Key Note
The National Labour Commission is mandated to develop and sustain peaceful and harmonious industrial relations using effective dispute resolution practices within the context of the law, promotion of cooperation among the labour market players and mutual respect for their rights and responsibilities.
 

Business support programmes must be institutionalised

A business management consultant, Ms Aba Quainoo, has called for the institutionalisation of government’s support to businesses through the various programmes designed to encourage and assist businesses to thrive.  
She said apart from lack of knowledge on how to access such support, there was a perception of politicisation of the support which had led to most entrepreneurs declining from accessing some of the packages.
The government has introduced several initiatives, including tax rebates for young entrepreneurs, opportunities in the Planting for Food and Jobs programme and increased to US$50 million the amount allocated to the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan to provide an integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses.
She, therefore, suggested that such support programmes should be formalised such that changes in political power would not affect lending to businesses.
Ms Quainoo, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mels Consulting Limited, said it was important to find a way to erase the perception which was not discussed.
She spoke in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS during the Women in Agribusiness Development Summit organised by the USAID –Financing Agriculture Project (USAID-FinGAP) in Accra.
She explained that although the support from government through the various programmes were laudable, some entrepreneurs were reluctant and scared to take advantage of them for fear of being tagged as affiliates of the government in power and that their businesses would go down when the government was out of power.
“Due to the history and what people have seen to be happening to other businesses that signed on to some government initiatives they are shying away from some of these supports. We must find a way of making the criteria work regardless of one’s political affiliation,” she said.
 “Let us institutionalise it, let the criteria work. People will relax, and it will come to stay when people realise that you can get it on merit. Governments should be able to build on it when they come,” she said.

The agribusiness summit
It was on the theme, ‘Women at the Frontier of Agribusiness Development; Financing and Business Support for Enhanced Food Security,’ and brought together women-led agribusinesses, farmers, processors, business service providers, financial institutions, government and development partners.
It promoted investment opportunities and linked women-led agribusinesses to business advisory service (BAS) providers and financial institutions.
A panel discussion saw female agribusiness experts and operators sharing their knowledge with the women-led agribusinesses on how to secure their chosen ventures.

Challenges
The panellists said farming, unlike other professions, faced a lot of problems. They mentioned lack of data, capital, insufficient managerial and operational skills, and lack of ready market for agric produce.
The CEO of Samba Foods, Ms Leticia Osafo-Addo, said women-owned agribusinesses must be singled out and given structured and targeted support to grow.

"Due to the history and what people have seen to be happening to other businesses that signed on to some government initiatives, they are shying away from some of these initiatives. We must find a way of making the criteria work regardless of one’s political affiliation." 

Empowering women
The Head of Agricultural Services, Nestle Central and West Africa region, Mr Faith Ermis, said women were key contributors to development and so empowering them to have reliable livelihoods helped to ensure long-term sustainable development that transformed communities.
He added that Nestle had provided 600 women cooperatives with high-yield disease-resistant cocoa seedlings and the technical assistance necessary to set up a nursery. 
“Empowering women, particularly women farmers, to participate fully in society and the economy across the value chain is how Nestle is committed to addressing the issue,” he said.

Key Note
-

- The USAID–Financing Agriculture Project, is a five-year project (2013-2018) with the goal of goal to facilitate finance and investment in the maize, rice and soy supply value chains in the northern part of Ghana has to date facilitated a financing gap of about US$150 million to 2,500 small, medium in facilitating finance and investment in the maize, rice and soy supply and value chains in Northern Ghana large enterprises (SMiLEs) out of which 1000 are female-led.