Ghanabizmedia February 2011 ISSUE

March 2011 ISSUE (Full Version)

Introduction

The essence of this month’s issue focuses on Ghana’s new private pension schemes, questioning Ghana’s potent mining industry and learning important lessons from the recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East.

Latest News:

Leader

Lessons for Ghana from Tunisia’s Jasmine...

The public demonstrations which culminated on January 14th in the departure of President Ben Ali of Tunisia put another African country in a state of political...Read More >>

Financial Markets

Ghana’s bonds gain as political turbulence...

As expected, Nigeria on Friday January 21st launched its B+ 10-year $500mn Eurobond issue at 6.75% coupon rate. The issue was successfully oversubscribed at 2.5...Read More >>

Wacam

Ghana’s Mining Sector: More harm than...

Mr. Daniel Owusu Koranteng makes a case against mining in Ghana at the 2011 Public Eye awards ceremony in Davos, Switzerland Ghana has had a long...Read More >>

Economy

The road to economic freedom, 54...

Ghana marks her 54th independence anniversary on March 6th. The government and Ghanaian citizens will likely celebrate their unity in diversity, political freedom, press freedom and...Read More >>

Trade

Welcome to the Ghana rice wars:...

In Accra's bustling market the effect of imported rice is easy to see. Bags of imported rice reach to the ceiling of narrow shops. Huge billboard...Read More >>

Taxation

Revenue authority balances its actions between...

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) barely managed to meet its revenue target for calendar year 2010, and is counting on the country’s new oil sector to...Read More >>

Agriculture

Venture Capital Fund helps boost local...

Ghana’s poultry industry, which used to be counted among the country’s major economic growth drivers two decades ago, is gearing up for a comeback to economic...Read More >>

Ecowas

Monetary union for West Africa: Great...

The question if and when the West African region can enjoy a common currency based on a monetary union continues to exercise the minds of the...Read More >>

Banking

Ghana’s parastatals to benefit from new...

Barclays Bank in Ghana Ghana has seen a significant boost in the appetite for a better road network, railways, reliable electricity and water supply as well...Read More >>

Energy

BOST: the logistics centre for Ghana’s...

Fuel tankers await their turn at one of the storage facilities of BOST The commencement of oil production in Ghana has brought about changes in the...Read More >>

Mining

In pursuit of economic independence: Too...

The refrain in Ghana about promoting local content has not changed, five months after the production of the country’s first oil and four years...Read More >>

Pensions

New pension law to mobilise major...

Mr. Wilson Tei, Managing Director of Provident Life Assurance Until January 2010, only workers in the Ghanaian formal sector could count on the state’s paternalistic role...Read More >>

Telecom
	Piloting mobile number portability: Time for telcos to... Telecom companies in Ghana are getting mixed feelings of apprehension and enthusiasm, as the test run of the proposed mobile number portability (MNP) system began...Read More >>

Bulletins
	Employers to engage Central Bank, Government on Interest...The Ghana Employers Association, (GEA) says it will engage the government and the Bank of Ghana to find ways of bringing down interest rates.The...Read More >>

Bulletins
	Hearts of Oak to list on GSEGhana’s oldest football club, Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, will become the first football club to be traded publicly if its application to list...Read More >>

Bulletins
	Fuel prices may go up againPrices of petroleum products at the pumps could go up again by the end of March if the rising trend in the price of crude...Read More >>

Bulletins
FABAG cautions government against ECOWAS tariff harmonisationThe Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has appealed to the government to halt the implementation of the proposed Economic Community of West African...Read More >>

Bulletins
President gets tough on Custom OfficersThe President, John Atta-Mills has directed that all officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority be made to declare their assets to...Read More >>

Insurance
	Provident Life Assurance: The private pension scheme specialistGhana’s insurance industry has seen a lot of vibrancy since 2006 when its legal regime changed to compel all composite insurance companies to separate their...Read More >>

Bulletins
	BIZDEX 2011 begins in MayA two-day Business Development Workshop & Exhibition (BIZDEX 2011) aimed at attracting and exploring business opportunities within the West Africa sub-region is scheduled to take...Read More >>

Bulletins
	rLG to flood market with locally assembled laptopsOne of Ghana’s electronic assembling companies, rLG Communications, is set to flood the local market with laptop computers assembled locally by the end of March...Read More >>

Bulletins
	Stanbic Income Fund IPO over-subscribedMr. Kwabena Boamah, Portfolio Manager, Stanbic BankThe Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the Stanbic Income Fund recorded 171% over subscription at the end of...Read More >>

Bulletins
Bank of Africa takes over AmalbankMali’s biggest commercial bank, Bank of Africa is set to take over the management and operations of one of Ghana’s indigenous banks, AmalBank, after acquiring...Read More >>

Bulletins
Savannah Cement Company workers on strikeWorkers of the Savannah Cement Company in Buipe in the Northern region have embarked on an indefinite industrial strike to demand higher pay raises....Read More >>

Bulletins
	Vodafone Ghana introduces mobile unit transfer serviceVodafone Ghana has launched the Vodafone Unit Transfer Service that gives prepaid customers the convenience of topping up their credit without going through the hassle...Read More >>

Bulletins
	Modern African Productions partners with Talpa MediaModern African Productions (MAP), a subsidiary of Modern Times Group (MTG AB), and Talpa Media, the media company of Dutch entrepreneur John de Mol, have...Read More >>

Bulletins
SIFE-KNUST ventures into exotic vegetable cultivationThe Students’ In Free Enterprise (SIFE) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has ventured into exotic vegetable cultivation as part of a...Read More >>

Bulletins
EITI Report shows discrepancies in mining revenue in...A glaring plunder of Ghana’s mining revenues has been revealed in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) aggregate report of Ghana. The aggregated audit report...Read More >>

Bulletins
GNPC to lift Jubilee crude cargo in MarchThe Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is set to lift its first Jubilee crude cargo by the second week of March.This will make GNPC the...Read More >>

Bulletins
EDIF boasts mango exportThe Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) has reached a marketing partnership deal with British produce buying company, Minor, Weirs and Willis, to purchase Ghanaian...Read More >>

Bulletins
NCA terminates 3,469 fraud numbers on AirtelThe Ministry of Communication of Ghana has accused Airtel Ghana of not doing enough to clean its network of fraudulent numbers used in terminating inbound...Read More >>

Bulletins
Airtel partners with 4Sight MicrosystemsAirtel Ghana in partnership with 4Sight Microsystems, an ICT firm, has launched the Directory Assistance System (DAS), a service which makes it possible for Ghanaians...Read More >>